Statement from PD. Central Committee

Printed above is the full text of a statement which appeared, in part, in the ‘Irish Times’ last week. The statement was issued to the Press by the Revolutionary Citizen Army and a copy was sent to “Unfree Citizen”’. The Peoples Democracy ‘welcomes the support of the Revolutionary Citizen Army and sees its formation as an important development in the working class movement in Ireland.

For over two years now the Peoples Democracy has warned of a Loyalist takeover in the 6 Cos. and the dangers of compromising, through talks or otherwise, with extreme Loyalist groups.

The British plans for the 6 Cos. become clearer every day. They are trying to “Ulsterise’ the 6 Cos. through handing power to the Loyalists. Already through increasing the RUC and UDR massively, the British have already handed security over to the Loyalists and when the British withdraw the Catholic minority will be faced with the armed force of Loyalism — in the form of the RUC and UDR which has in its ranks many of those who now form the para-military groups like the UVF, UDA etc.

On the political end the Convention Elections will have a massive majority of hard-line Loyalists who will not be prepared to share power with it was not at an ministerial level!) their support for us.

The Catholic anti-Unionist minority must resist with all their might, the takeover of power by the Loyalists and a return to the old sectarian Stormont, which will be worse than ever before. Despite the attempts by the British Army to beat the Catholics into the ground so that they will show no resistance when the crunch comes, we must not allow ourselves to be stopped. We must unite, DESPITE our political differences and form resistance and defence committees all over the 6 Cos.

But that will not be enough, It will be necessary to mobilise the people in the South too if we are to defeat the forces of fascism and reaction. There is support throughout the 26 Cos. for the anti-imperialist struggle being waged by the Catholic minority, it only needs to - be mobilised. P.D. have been organising support in the South for the past 3 years. We have at all times opposed collaboration and the repressive measures brought in by the 26 Co. Govt. to repress Republicans and Socialists. At the moment, through Unfree Citizen and meetings throughout the 26 Cos. we are trying to prepare the workers for the part they will have to play in the next few months. even the SDLP (John Taylor said he It is in this context that we would be prepared to share power welcome the formation of the with the Catholic minority — provided Revolutionary Citizen Army and Pts: intention to let it remain that way.

The Union of Students in Ireland has been ‘unavailable’.

DEC. 25th Gardai, without giving any warning, hounder). They barricaded themselves into the Secretary's office. Within an hour, the

Saturday 16th November saw the successful conclusion of a 4-week unofficial strike by members of the Transport & General Workers Union in Northern Ireland. They had succeeded in doing in those 4 weeks what the Officials of the Union had failed to do in several months of negotiating with the bosses of the transport industry. In terms of hard cash, it meant raising wages of the drivers from £26.65 to £39.65 and helpers wages from £25. to £38 for a basic 40 hour week.

The price of victory History has shown time and time again how the working class have had to suffer in the struggle for decent wages and conditions, but not since the 1930s has a Trade Union member had to pay with his life for these basic rights. Mr. George Hamilton of Muckamore, Co. Antrim was killed in cold blood by a scab lorry driver who drove through a picket while Mr. Hamilton was on duty. The driver of the scab truck, a Mr. Allen has subsequently been charged with the killing of George Hamilton. Mr. Allen is a small business man, the owner of several lorries whose business was affected because of the strike. It’s interesting to note also that it was the small transport businessmen and owners of lorries who brought economic chaos to Chile during the last weeks of President Allande’s Govt., proving once again how the petit bourgeoisie can be the greatest enemy of the working class during the struggle for working class control of the economy.

The trade union and the Road Transport Association (the bosses) are members of the Joint Industrial Council (J.I.C.) a talking shop where all grievances can bevaired (in a civilised manner no doubt). So while the bosses and the Trade Union bureaucrats talk, the workers are driving 60 hours a week to bring home a living wage. Consequently when the Scottish and Nottingham workers won their demands for £40 per week after striking, the transport workers in Northern Ireland became more frustrated with the negative approach of the Trade Union officials to their needs. So on Monday 21st October 500 employees of Northern Ireland Curriers (H.I.C.) went on strike.

Their demands: £40 for 40 hours + cost of living increases.

Tactics of strikers As their action was not sanctioned by the union the men elected a 16-man committee which would not negotiate directly with the R.T.A. but would act as a pressure group on the Trade Union representatives, as well as being responsible for co-ordinating activities to ensure success of the strike.

The activities engaged in by the strikers were basically 2-fold. On the one hand to gain support for the strike from all the drivers in (NIC) z = place. Just over a year ago in a series of articles entitled “From Revolution to Reform” we analysed the degeneration of the Official Republican movement into a Parliamentary-oriented reformist clique. Their recent Ard Fheis completed the process.

In a staggering piece of political cynicism, after 2 years of correctly announcing the S.D.L.P. for betraying their pledge to the internees, the Officials have done precisely the same thing and decided to take their seats on Councils and in the Convention if they are elected, despite the fact that internment is till very much with us.

Sean Garland, a member of the Ard-Comhairle gave an indication of their attitudes when he said now was the time to get out of the trenches when there was no-body else left there. In fact the Peoples Democracy and Sinn Fein (Provisionals) have stayed loyal to the pledge to the internees but obviously Garland wasn’t thinking of revolutionary socialists or republicans but of the SDLP and their cronies. As the SDLP pander'more and more to the Loyalists — and now they’re talking of dropping the Irish dimension — the Officials are moving into their OFFICIALS JOIN CRUISE O’BRIEN, COONEY AND BISHOP DALY IN CONDEMNING THE PROVOS But the generation isn’t just on the question of Parliamentarianism. The major resolution on the North clearly linked an end to internment with an end to the Provisional bombing campaign — equating the violence of a guerilla force fighting imperialism, with the violence of the imperialists themselves, and virtually accepting the Meet SRE ec

a strong bargaining position.

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MARCHES TO LONG KESH

People’s Democracy TO ARMAGH JAIL: JAN. Ist