Workers Socialist League

Socialist Press, Trotskyism Today and the Trotskyist International Liaison Committee, 1975–1984

Socialist Press no. 22

26 November 1975 · 8 scanned pages · about 10,645 words of machine-read text

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Scan page 1

LABOURS CUTS BOOST UNEMPLOYMENT

SOCIALIST

PRESS

PORTUGAL:

DOWN WITH

MILITARY

GOVERNMENT!

With two opposed class forces vying with increasing ferocity to control tbe dastiny of Portugal, the crisis of revolutionary work ing class leadership places the revolution, de developments, in great danger.

On the one hand is the crumbl- wearing safety helmets, surged ar- ing, faction-ridden Armed Forces ound the house of Premier Azevedo Movement with their Sixth Prov- forcing him to concede to the isional Government of the bour- trade unions massive 44% wage geois PPD and the traitorous demand. After refusing for more than Socialist Party leaders (Soares now threatening to fight on the streets 24 hours to enter into an agree- with arms against revolution) ment under duress, Azevedo backed down just before dawn.

trying to shore up the vestiges when faced with the impossibility of Portuguese capitalism with the backing of the discredited of mobilising any soldiers in his right wing movements, the reac- defence. tionary armies over tne border and the dregs of the old fascist

TRANSMITTER

Standing against these reaction- Previously a group of parachut- ary groupings is the organised ists had tried to settle the struggle working class, the agricultural for power by blowing up the labourers, and the rank and file transmitter of Radio Renascenca in order to prevent it remaining under the control of the left strength, expressing their indep endence, and reaching for state Having performed this wing. power - which alone can guar- task, they voted never to do such antee the future of the revolut- a thing again. By now virtually no section of ion. The crumbling authority of the the military could be relied upon Sixth government was finally to support the government or Shattered two weeks ago when thousands of building workers, unstable centrist Otelo de Car- The Wilson government is eagerly participate in such broad, brutal and blatant attacks on jobs hell-bent on creating a pool and wages. of unemployment which will The Ryder plan to speed up and make Heath's figure of 1 mill- rationalise British Leyland, ion on the dole seem like a steam-rollered through against the wishes of the membership charity picnic. by trade union bureaucrats, , now Every statement, every document, becomes the blueprint for the issued from the Labour Cabinet Chequers plan to attack the whole shows an arrogant contempt for of industry, throwing up thousands the workers who elected them, and hundreds of thousands of and a determination to make redundancies. workers pay for the profits crisis And the TUC's only action on of British capitalism. unemployment has been to attack the lobby of Parliament called by

TUC

the North-West TUC. Meanwhile, from the Health And yet every statement, and Service to the car industry, from every document. Is now openly British Steel to British Rail, from backed by the TUC who ally machine tools to the bus service, themselves with Wilson and the every field of work, and every job employers against their members.

is coming under the twin hammers Workers are witnessing a historic period of betrayal by these ref- of speed-up and redundancy.

Latest to rome in for treatment armist leaders. Not even in 1926, nor in 1931 did the TUC so in the national drive for de- vahlo put it to a (Le Monde) reporter, There is not, at the moment, in the entire Pottuguese army, a single oteer who table to give an order and be sure that it will be carried out". Even the superior officers themselves have revolted over the efforts to replace Carvahlo as commander of the Lisbon military region.

WEAKNESS

The continuing weakness of the forces supporting the Sixth government was shown on the demonstration on November 9th in Lisbon sponsored by the right wing PPD and the Socialist Party in defence of the government.

About 40,000 turned out to gr greet premier Azevedo, but they broke up in confusion when gas grenades were thrown into the crowd. Since that time the Soc- ialist Party has been compelled to show its distance from the bourgeois PPD, though a long televised debate between SP leader Soares and Stalinist leader Cunhal did not discuss the ob- vious question of unity between the two workers parties. manning is spending in local government - which, of course, is responsible for education, housing, community needs, and a whole range of services basic to workers' living standards.

AXE

The axe is to be brought in on jobs, and services reduced. Wilson last week spelled out that in allocating cash-spending limits, the Cabinet will start from the of priane in constr. its and the needs of manufacturing industry mean we cannot afford such continuing expansion. This outline was followed next day by the announcement from Environment Secrétary Crosland of figures showing this i the gov- ernment will cut its fihancia support of local authority spend- ing next year.

FORTNIGHTLY PAPER OF THE

WORKERS SOCIALIST LEAGUE

No 22 * 26th November 1975 * 10p Building workers besieging Azevedo 's residence Within the next tew days off- icers in the Oporto military region had to announce their agreement to the demands of rank and file soldiers. The pace of farm occupations in the central and southern areas of the cout- ry is said to have been stepped "Then on the 1 6th of November there took place in Lisbon the largest dempostation the city had seen since the famous mob- ilisation of Ist May 1974 shortly after the overthrow of fascism.

This demonstration was said by (Le Monde) reporter to have been over 100,000 strong. It was called by numerous workers' comm- ittees, the Communist Party and many centrist and left organisa- tions. It included rows of building workers, shipbuilders, dockers, peasants, fishermen, and every section of the armed forces. 1 even included the parachutists, once considered irredeemably right- wing.

AZEVEDO

The political slogans of this dem- onstration were distinctly left of those which preceded the setting up of the Sixth Government.

Azevedo was a "clown", a "reac- tionary, who should "get out" During the following days, the right-wing were in disarray.

The PPD wanted to move the Constit- uent Assembly to the north on the grounds that mob rule had taken So the New Year promises new wayes of redundancies in town halls and schools - while the man- agement offensive within the Health Service also really begins to get under way with all-out attacks on manning levels now combining in nearly every area with cuts in the service provided.

The disruption of the Health Service also shows sharply the other prong of the Labour Gov- ernment's attack on workers- the £6 state pay laws. It is purely Castle's defence of this reaction- ary legislation which has forced junior doctors into the arms of the Tory-led associations who at present lead the strikes and threats of resignation.

CASTLE

But Castle, in defending the pay laws, is well aware that their edge is not felt simply by doctors but containing TROTSKYISM TODAY, no 2 over in Lisbon. The government decided that they too would go on strike. wemandig tual Its authority should be recognised.

An enormous dispute broke out about the leadership of the armed forces, concentrating in particular on the position of Otelo de Car- valho.

MANOEUVRE

In a situation where the working class is moving rapidly to the left, it is inevitable that the Social Democrats and the Stalin ists will manoeuvre. The moves of Soares to dissociate himself from his bourgeois allies of the PPD are an obvious example of this. So also is the participation of the Stalinists in all the recent strikes and demon- strations, actions which they cert- ainly would have condemned before the summer. Another one of these actions is the one-day General Strike called in Lisbon by the CP-dominated trade union con federation, attempting to pressurise the revolutionary council of the AFM into accepting a CP majority.

This reflects not in any way a break from support for the AFM but a political manoeuvre to sec- ure Stalinist political influence.

The question now for the Port uguese working class is the need to break from these treacherous and counter-revolutionary leaderships The SP has been cooperating with continued on back page by all trade unionists and their families who now see living standards slashed as a result of the TUC - Labour leadership deal Castle's position shows that the Wilson Cabinet is united on these questions. For them, if the Health Service, along with all the most basic living standards of workers must be demolished in the name so be it! of profit -

LEADERSHIP

And the encouragement given them by the TUC shows that the only challenge to this must come from building newleadership which wil struggle for the independence and the interests of the working class In every school, hospital, factory, foundry and pit the demand must be raised that those leaders who will not lead a struggle to reject continued on back pass

Scan page 2

Page = INTERNATIONAL nEWS

QUEEN SACKS AUSTRALIAN

LABOUR GOVERNMENT

of a squire evicting cottagers Garfield (Australian Liberals are the equiv- millionaire ultra-right Liberal his bombshell dismissal of Whitlam.

Minister in the run-up to a than $1 million worth of television time, now to be used in the elect- The Governor-General's action with a majority in is a lawyer and former intelligence returned equivalent of the House of Com- electols rank of Colonel, then held posts angry protest from the trade union

COULS.

justice of the state of New South to oust an elected Labour govern- Kerr put in theoretically to play ment is the same a "caretaker" role, is already using election campaign. Sehior civil servants have al- ready complained that they were Tories in Britain cond oniy be provided with free massive clerical support and body Vietnam - as Prime 101S. All police leave in New South Wales - à traditional Labour strong- a hastily-concocted political con- WILSON's WAR

IN THE GULF

Sultan needed any advice on the 1970 the British In Arab and Pakistani selection installed the Sandhurst train- horses for his well stocked stables, ed Sultan Qaboos as ruler of or on the building of a new palace standing on the reconstruction of Oman, which, in Muscat, the south west corner of the the old palace at Sulalah, and the building Arabian peninsular, is at the or a new himself just outside that city.

Gulf - the to the entrance source of more than a third of all the world's oil supplies.

INTERESTS

The British airbase on the off- island of Masirah is also shore However, Wimpey and Taylor of US available for the use Woodrow both seem aricraft, according to extensive interests in Oman. But Oman's foreign minister. In return as the world economic crisis has US has pro- for this facility led to civil develop- for use cutbacks 1r vided anti-tank missiles the Sultan equipped ment, has against the struggles of the Pop- himself not only with a 30 million Front for the Liberation Of ular Hitler's old dollar yacht and Oman. Bavarian residence, but also with the latest British Jaguar military

BRITISH-LED

aircraft and Rapier missiles.

The war against the FPLO has recently «been with But the Sultan is not facing the bombing last month of Hauf, handed. His the single inside the border of S. Yemen - quadrupled armed forces, which supports the liberation 15,000 in the last five years, are movement. 400 British led by more than Most fighting is in Dhotar, at officers two of, whom were the west of Oman, but the Sultan in fighting earlier this killed able to secure the road 1s not year. Sulalah to Muscat through from Kenneth Major General the central region of the country, Perkins and Brigadier John Ake- and fear of ambushes forces sup- hurst, of the British Army, are in plies to Dhofar to be airlitted.

command, with the full author also Jordanian isation of Britain's Labour govern- active in support of the Sultan's A report in the Times ad- ment. regime, but the US Phantoms used mitted that: in the attacks on Hauf belong to "Britain remains the dominant the Iranian Air Force. foreign presence in both military FPLO spokesman estim- and civil matters. Several of the ated that there are 15,000 Iran- government ministries have British supporting the ians Oman advisors. Sultan against what the Shah des- As the Sultan himself put it: and cribes atheism". "communism "relations couldn't be better. We couldn't be closer each other. Here we are accustomed to British faces in our army, in our

SECRET

training, and so on." the the war until to go

FICTION

all foreign continue intervention eliminated, the 1S But to maintain the fiction of British Labour government con- last year's independence he insists that: 84 Labour MPs 'There is a difference between request by to from colonisation and saying, I am still withdraw this _ imperialist here if you need my advice."

it waI which helps along as clear whether the secretly as it can. It not "violence" against during the campaign. The organised working class have reacted with shock and anger the dictatorial political con- Lo Whitlam's news of AS solary, sacking the radio, thousands struck and demonstrated in Sydney and Brisbane. Liberal Party headquarters were besieged in Sydney and in Melbourne a call for a four-hour general strike by local trade union leaders brought out hundreds of thousands.

But the trade union bureau- crats have acted to squash even token mobilisation in defence of democratic rights National trade union chief Bob Hawke has urged all trade unions "not to be prov- industrial oked", arguing that action will damage Labour's elect- oral chances.

ANGOLA

The People's Republic of its struggle for survival against world imperialism. With military aid only from democratic republic" by UNITA "troops". the United States through military backed by Zambia, which cynically supports whichever regime controls to the sea for Zambain exports,

DEFEAT

LIBI RIIIS

REJECTE

RULING

CLASS

TTAC

the building industry, and is likely Meanwhile the ruling class add their political representatives are - and was voted of office in a vote of no confidence only hourssafter Kerr had appoin- government "news" to his advan- in the Labour Caninet, press has been crammed for mon- Mao greets CIA's Kissinger

MAOISTS BACK

CIA INVASION

Angola which would be struggle in Namibia (South West forces in the south of Angola have pushed rapidly up the coast as far as Novo Redondo while in obvious preparation for an attack on the left flank of the MPLA'S

SOUTH AFRICAN

ployed by the FNLA in its rapid move up the coast) are only poss of Panhard armoured cars.

imperialist powers to "work out a new solution even if this means a

... REFDED

5 FENSIVE

'Australian Labour Party demonstration.

CRISTS

Whitlam and the Labour leaders preaching. It is false for then are to claim that it is a purely Aust manity n to remove Whitlam could be used osals to tinker with the constitut- offer no protection with the mobilisation of the Aus- gle for socialism can beat the con- temporary de facto division of the country between the two claimant must be absolutely that the situation in Angola is not last sentember and Portuguese ex-colonial troops who have stayed behind to "win present he is leading a band of African mercenaries. The armoured reporters on the spot, by whites who refuse to disclose their nation- alities but speak with strong South is covered up be serpenden South African newspapers, includ- the Rand Daily all military aid to Zaire is a cal- judges that a victory of the mer- cenary armies is now reasonably It therefore in the interests of front of acting military aid to the MPLA.

There must be no compromise.

the Labour government. Drive the imperialist invaders out of Angola!

Scan page 3

FRANCEECP BACKS ARMY DISCIPLINE

SOCIALIST PRESS, Wednesday November 26th 1975 32 doctors have fortu- nately failed in their struggle to hold grotesque disintegrating the together body of Franco. Now, every sign is that his political heirs will find it just as difficult to keep his collapsing regime alive. less political ministry party of the chestrates of public Its political weakness helps growth of ultra-right which, encou- raged by police and Guard (the the powerful have worker the of the merciless Civil Guardia which the dictatorship But rested. within the between the Aware that not the The architect purpose was kill to the supported movencil. Juan on becoming successfully the SUDDOlLCE withdrew, subsequently a victory for army and illustrates than to International" that will stand by the army Line preseve though its eaders are the inis 1s arrest Demo- cratic Military movement bourgeois of In the Army has custom of conscripts conscripts have Six trade union militants arrested in Soissons, were north-east of Paris, last week and charged with a series of criminal offences, including "inciting military personnel for distrib- to disobedience" uting leaflets drawn up by a of the soldiers' committee 67th (infantry) regiment.

The six - four members of the reformist trade union federation (CFDT), and two from the Com- Party-dominated munist

CGT,

France's largest trade union fed- eration - were released on bail but face possible jail convicted. Their arrest came only a few Clermont- days after police Ferrand (near Lyons) had pulled in a Portuguese left-wing soldier, Joachim Ferreira Fernandez. He

SPANISH RIGHT REGROUPS

danger of mutinies. reance Ine This move must be seen in conjunction with an emergency Morning plan (callea uperation star) to be implemented at the first signs of mass political action on the death of Franco. The includes hundreds plan of arrests of known political activists (from revolutionaries to christian democrats) the confining of 'uncertain' sections of the army to barracks and the call-up voluntary reservists who, with the more reliable Guardia Civil and police, would control the streets of the major cities. As we go to press Operation Morningstar has not been activated in full though a massive security the attors, as been mounted cities, and during illness the already high level of since July) was stepped up still further. All these are signs of a des- perate fear of any movement of the masses. Its political weakness also reflected the 1n major political about of the the initial some from selection mentioned, Ruiz minister, the present the Irabane are Fraga currently am-

CURIOES

might attempt legality to parties and bring odher into coalition. But out' of the two One is on the situation in Portugal.

Fernandez is a militant of the 'Soldiers United Shall Win' (SUV) movement rank-and-file soldiers in Portugal which has won the support of thousands in the Portuguese armed forces against the attempts of the government officer caste restore 'discipline' and use the military army to enforce state policy.

LEAFLETS

The crack-down by the French police followed a wave of demonstrations and leaflet cam- paigns among conscripts against their oppression. At the begin- month the military ning of the intelligence services launched probe into. and-file soldiers 19th the regiment at Besancon - supported by local militants of the CFDT - to form a trade union branch.

of main immediate One the the growing demand in the wor king class for the immediate anc total overthrow of all aspects of the fascist regime. of As the recent strikes shows, workers will use the western European countries, growth rate of production has been ment has now begun and the rate of The slump has been tempor- arily been held at bay by a huge the wage control law justifying the measure by saying that even the British Labour gov- concernore omic crisis impels them to make allies: the reformist and Stalinist After Franco's death, the first reaction of Socialist Party leader the same spectacle as portugal Party The orees out: forces day and propose a realistic provis.

ional government able to achieve Carillo pro- words, poses not even a popular front alliance alliance of the Communist Party "governmental with fascists! Francoism is mort- and Carillo wishes to ally sick; play the doctor. The working class is capable in Spain of completely overthrow- not only • Francoism but cap- ing italism itself - but only through the most determined and cipled struggle for the political of workers movement against leaders who threaten to destroy it in alliances with the bourgeoisie and with tascism. Unofficial ficers in the barracks. sources close the military heirarchy claimed that clandestine of committees soldiers influ- enced by the movement in Portu- gal - had been active in the region since June. the brought in forbidding year trade unions political under this, Besancon are Charles Page 3

WHAT IS THE

WORKERS SOCIALIST

LEAGUE?

The Workers Socialist League was formed in Decembe 1974 to struggle for the continuity Trotskyism in Britain and towards the rebuilding of the Fourt Since then our work in the mass movement has seen the Leagu develop into an expanding organisation with important new areas of wor enlarge In the daily struggle to take the demands and principles of Trotsky wages, and work sharin on full pay - demands which at the T&GWU Conference were the onl alternative to Jones' treacherous £6 pay plan and the wholesale acceptanc of redundancies ov the bureaucracy.

WSL comrades have led the struggle for th sliding scale of NHS spending and for trade union committees to open ti along with the fight to end all private practice policies adopted by ASTMS National Conference.

In local disputes also, WL comrades have tested and developed th demands of the Transitional Programme, putting forward in every cas the only real opposition to the Stalinists and the right-wing. Our strugg for the "open the books" demand in the motor industry has won a mas The WSL alone among the groups on the left has fought th speed-up proposals of the Ryder Report since its very publication, and » nationa campaign against its implementation.

to fight unemploy At the same time we have put forward a policy ment, calling for unity of employed and unemployed through the fight te mobilise the trade union movement, and following this iniative, the firs fight for these policies has alread every issue facing workers today the WSL is the only movemen that fights consistently for transitional demands, going beyond mere trad union militancy to pose the political issues to workers.

While these practical interventions have developed the League's g of Trotsky's Programme there has been a consistent drive to deepen of the Fourth International, as an essential part of any iniative towards its reconstruction.

This has gone alongside the development in the International Pages of Stemational strugger against emper pen, it wei again the me rand a o the Transitional Programme are an essential startin on many of which no other movement puts forward any join our fight in the labour movement.

I would like more information about the WSL COMPLETE and SEND to: 31 Dartmouth Park Hill, London NWS 1HR Socialist Press Subscriptions 6 Issues... ....21 12 Issues. .22 24 Issues. •EA i would like to take out a subscription to Socialist Press; I would lik sues, I enclose £.. Name.... Address. attempt to organise soldiers into infantry regiment at Clermond- the trade unions as an attack on Ferrand and from units in Verdun, "the freedom of our country to There has Limoges and Grenoble. be independent within the frame- been leaflet campaign wOrk temptist alances, among the ranks in the very heart and an attempt weaken the of French militarism - the officer instrument of defence, and thus school at Saint-Cyr. defence itself" limits The political of the movement are set by the fact that

DENOUNCED

it has been, so far largely influ the PSU (a 'left' social- enced by The Stalinists, for their part, democratic party, with several denounced "the anti-militarism of parliamentary deputies) and that leftist elements" Both of them not yet gone beyond th IL Ilas thus put themselves shoulder to basic demands for democratic rights General for soldiers. Bigeard, appointed Defence Minister But it clear that it is is as earlier this year political movement pushed forward by the In rallying reshuffle aimed at the revolution in Portugal, where the 'confidence' of the right wing resistance of the rank-and-file sol- behind the deter- one of the strongest government s "indiscipline' in in the offensive of the working mination to crush the ranks class. Despite the unanimous hosti- Even while faced with the lity from the government and the enmity of the labour leaders and bureaucrats, the threat of harsh labour the struggle military against the officer corps and the cipline, the French soldiers involved army regime is spreading.

picked gauntlet layt areas local trade union organisa- challenge the very existence of capitalist standing army and disposal committee in the disposal the right of the ruling dess to committees in bodies barracks. organise of armed Toml monk and he

Scan page 4

WORKERS CONTROL

IN THE FIGHT TO FORCE

NATIONALISATION

Page 4 One of the most abused ers to their present break irom reformist and Stalinist leaders, and and misapplied slogans current sees the need for these struggles workers movement in the begin from the daily class LU today is the call for "workers battles fought by control". It is used to mean conditions, the indep- wages, endence of the unions, the nation- all things to all tendencies.

alisation of bankrupt Ilms - l The Workers Socialist League order to advance their political founded on the basis of a understanding. deep going struggle to return to the method and principles of Trot-

TODAY'S STRUGGLES

sky's Transitional Programme, and central to that programme is the Transitional demands are there- fight at every level for forms of fore demands - such as the sliding workers control. For this reason scale of wages, work sharing we have the task of restoring the full pay, or the opening of revolutionary content of this slogan, tne employers' books - which begin in and exposing the perversions of it material struggles faced today and by other groups which today drag which the demand in the mud can ne seetas Recent demands con- The Transitional Programme is to solve problems fronted by workers, but which a guide to action, a Marxist prog- cannot be fully conceded within ramme to develop and strengthen the of capitalism. framework politically the working class in the process of Trotsky makes this clear in daily struggles, discussion on the Programme with through the intervention and build- American SWP in March 1938: of the revolutionary party. Its the Ing "Naturally goal isito prepare the working class we must make our first step in such a way as to and organisationally for the struggle for accumulate experience for prac- power. Sane Trade union officials and businessmen, member sof the Anglo-American Council on Productivity, in the post 1945 reformist drive for productivity This, like today's Chequers plan, was class collaboration not workers control of social Unlike the programme in tical work, not to engage which completely sep- democracy, abstract formulas, but cle "socialism" talk OI elop a concrete programme of prospect for the indefinite future) action and demands in the sense rom its actual programme or min- that this transitional programme the Transitional imal reforms, of from the conditions Programme grasps the necessity to: capitalist society today, but help the masses in immediately leads over the lim- process of the daily struggle to of capitalism. It is not the

LIS

ind the bridge between present reformist minimum programme, demands and the socialist prog

CLOBIN

Cao Lars. ramme of the revolution. This IL] which never included work- bridge should include a system ers militia, workers contro of transitional demands, stem- These demands are 01 production. today's conditions ming Irom transitory because they and from today's consciousness from the capitalist society of wide layers of the working the proletarian revoluton, class and unalterably leading to insofar they consequence one final conclusion: the con- become the demands of power by the prolet- quest as the proletarian masses ariat" (Pp 1415) government. We can't stop only In other words, under condit- with the day-to-day demands ions where capitalism in crisis can proletariat. We of the must no longer improve or even maintain give to the most backward workers' living standards and the concrete słogan Morers existing productive forces, the tran- that corresponds to their needs with the sitional demands begin that leads erically to sential contradiction between the the conquest of porrer." struggle of otential strength (Discussions on the Transitiona working dass, and its political Progretame, 1938: cataras as reflected in The demands of the Transition CONsESE not ideal of a Programme utopian demands for the indefinite

I ES

bur to be made shit 8a.• to be popularised, to enable.them to become a material factor in developing the political awareness of workers. The objective in fight- ing for transitional demands is to point large where for forces within the organised labour movement: "The old 'minimal programme' is superseded by the transitional the task of which mobilisation systematic f the masses for the proletariar (TP p 16 revolution". But of course demands do not in on their own produce changes workers political thinking. It is print not sufficient merely transitional demands in papers and leaflets, hoping some day workers will spontaneously take up the fight for them.

LEADERSHIP

The struggle to win support for the demands must begin with the revolutionary leadership and their fight in the mass movement The lessons from this fight contin- enrich understanding uously

OUT

of the role and impact of transit- ional demands and strengthen the work that follows. only experience of the Thus struggle in the workers movement

WSL

comrades that the taught demand in the Transitional Prog for the "sliding scale of ramme hours" best be grasped by can workers if expressed in the popular of "work sharing on full of the slogan pay". The content is the same, but the impact much greater on the workers movement.

In a similar way the call for the "abolition of business secrets" hạs the Programme won a mass response in the British Leyland Cowley factories in the "open the form of the demand to elected trade union

BOOKS • •

committees" Here a basic slogan from the Trotskyist programme has been brought both popularised and centre of workers right to daily struggles against speed up and redundancy. whelmingly adopted both by the and by shop stewards committee meeting at the Assembly las. Plant, and played a key challenging the extreme right wing leadership in the plant. All this would of course have been lost if the WL had regarded transitional demands the propaganda statements simply an ultimatum to thrown down to the working class.

ESSENCE

In their essence, the transitional embody demands the fight fDI The initial dem- and struggle for the sliding scale of wages to be on figures assessed union committees: for by trade the books to be opened to elecies trade union represeniatives erd sympathetic chosen experts fall them; for pay to be edministered by trade union committees on manning the at each step setting up independent bodies of the workin class counter position employers and the state itself demands is Each of these herefore completely in opposition joint involvemeat of trad to any management unionists with on used by committees, which is Stalinists to mas- reformists and querade as "porkers' control".

by John Lister where at each level within the com bine there will be "participation" Note reference of which is to "improve "executive responsibility rests with a complete fraud, with the straight forward job of imposing speed up trade union movement. • 1S Common Market plan to legislate with the storm of Tory press host- ility to the workers councils and which really are coercing the em- ployers and controlling their actions within the factories ist Party and the right wing who are involved up to their necks in volved in the collaboration leading committees, or subsequently stood

SLOGAN

WRONG

It is no accident that these share three groups also pletely wrong slogan on national- isation which again diverts away from the fight for workers' control.

Each of them (with only minor the demand for variations) carries "Nationalisation of major indus- ry without compensation unde vorkers' contro What they leave completely in the any struggle to bring about such nationalisation. Indeed the demand for workers control, tacked on the end of the slogan, suggest that it is only to be fought for after nationalisation presumably must be legislated through parliament while workers look on passively from the side- lines.

SUPERVISION

Lenin and Trotsky never used the demand for nationalisation or for workers control in this way. FOr fight for them the workers control was the fight for the cont- Iol supervision elected OI oi an committee of workers over the decisions of an employer, who still owned the factory. Workers control of production is a transitional demand which leads workers from their present reformist, level of trade union, consciousness, to the point wher they compel nationalisations an will struggle for state power. Trotsky summed this up. writing "COrIO" lies in the hands of thee workers This means: are i'm and capitatines

MAL MUEL

station opposei There the plant the autborities on bourgeois management on the one and the factory committer hand. on the other ad either to the re • cn SOCIALIST PRESS, Wednesday November 26th 1975 power of the employer, or to the revolutionary expropriation of the employers as a class. To achieve this expropriation the assertion of workers' control must take on a national rather than a local character - and lead the on to consolidation and broadening of factory committees into soviets - challenging the power of the capitalist state. Trotsky again makes this clear "Workers' control is thus not a prolonged 'normal' condition, like wage-scale agreements or social insurance. Control is a transitional measure of the conditions highest tension of the class war and conceivable only as a bridge to the revolutionary nationalisa- tion of industry. So what does it mean to call as do the revisionists, for "national- isation .. under workers' control"?

Only that this bridge is to be left out, that the struggle to force nationalisation is set aside, while the abstract slogan of 'socialism' (the of basic expropriation '250 monopolies' in industry, the case of the Militant phrase- mongers) is wheeled in to fill its place. we find At the same time have revisionists these 11( of fight to open conception the The the books of the employers.

International Socialists ops raised wherever it raised; demand Militant as usual vary their verbal but position from place to place, carry out no fight; while the WRP words committed to fight for In the demand, has done nothing to carry it forward in the unions, and Cowley where least of all in the first despite their position, Books' Committee 'Open the actually functioning.

LINKED

Yet for Trotsky the two demands are completely linked - indeed section nole Transitional Programme is entitled and Workers' " 'Business Secrets' Industry", Control of where he writes: "...The abolition of "business secrets' is the first step toward actual control of industry.

Workers no less than capitalists have the right to know the of the factory, of the 'secrets' trust, of the whole branch of industry, of the national econ as a whole first and omy banks heavy foremost, industry and centralised trans- should be placed under port an observation glass." (Emphas is added) The whole section (which any call for nationalisa.

precedes tion in the Transitional Programme) ends by stressing: of "The task is one re organising the whole system of prodaction and distribution on a Pe digited of bacted easies condition to work is the control the road to the е об сколом! takiaz provide a road of approact wins support and understandin revolution masses transitional deman

Scan page 5

SOCIALIST PRESS, Wednesday Norember 26th 1975 control of production as the preparatory plan of industry. Every. direction thing must be controlled by the workers who will be the masters of society tomorrow. But to call for conquest of Lie. nationalisation of power industry without basic compensation (JL)] - ... that seems to the American workers illegal, fantastic. But if you say: The capitalists refuse to pay for the unemployed and hide their real profits from the and from state the workers by dishonest book-keeping, the will understand that workers formula." (March 21, 1938)

APPROACH

And by that road of approach the demand for nationalisation can within workers' emerge integrated struggles as the logical answer to material problems, and not simply ultimatum the an to movement tacked on to the end of a series of demands. course an important question arises, if we accept along with Trotsky that workers' control control by

WOIKCIS

over capitalist. That is, what form of would take its place atter nationalisation. the Transitional Again clearly that Programme states lurther role of workers' control is class prepare the working to to the replace altogether old managers and specialists who could otherwise sabotage a socialist plan: "Committees representing ind- ividual business enterprises [this is still before detailed of discussion nationalisation (JL)] should meet at confer- ence to choose corresponding committees of trusts, whole branches of industry, omic regions, and finally of national industry as a whole.

Thus, workers' control becomes a school for planned of the economy. On the basis of control, the experience proletariat will prepare itself of for direct management nationalised industry: when the that hour. eventuality (Transitional Progra- mme p. 23, last emphasis added) Once nationalisation has taken place, then the need to 'control' employer is replaced by the establish need to workers' which course in the final analysis rest the backing of working class tate power. But simply to call for under workers 'nationalisation control (or, still more confusingly "under workers' control and management" [!] as advocated by Militant oroun) leaves out this crucial step as well as turning the force nationalisation. whole demand into an abstraction.

At the same time it challenges employers monopoly of in- the This does not mean to say formation opening the avenues of that workers control cannot play In such struggles key struggle. a role in preparing workers to political lessons will be learned assume management of their by the workers involved. industries even after the taking of Only in this way can national- state power. Indeed in Russia pre- anything other than a cisely this development did take weak-kneed reformist, parliament- first place. The nationalisations ary demand. This is what Trotsky other than the banks and the land that in when he means

SLICSOOD

under Soviet rule dated from June calling for nationalisation "we call 1918, and we find Lenin states upon the masses to rely only upon clearly five their own revolutionary strength.".

monts aller tue rey- olution, in April 1918: "We have to expropriate them [the trusts]. That is not where the hitch lies. • I told every workers delegation with which I had to deal when they came to me and complained that their factory was at a standstill: You would like your factory to be confiscated? Very well, we have blank forms for a decree ready.

They can be signed in a minute.

But tell us, have you learned production to take over and have you calculated what you will produce? Do you know the connection between what you are producing and the inter- national market? Whereupon it turns out that they have not learnt this yet. The period of control of prod- Trotsky is at pains to emphas- ise that the Transitional Program- me not In lals sense departure but rather a summation of the history of struggle of com- munists up to 1938: programme is not the of It is invention one man. derived from the long exper- ience of the Bolsheviks. I want to emphasise that it is not one that it comes man's invention, from long collective ex es the of revolutionaries. application of old principles to this situation. It should not be considered as fixed like iron but flexible to the situation...

They not sterile slogans; bourgeoisie and will on the give the greatest possible mat- erial results immediately' (Discussion on the TP, May 19, 38; emphasis added) Or again, in an earlier discuss- ion: What is the sense of the trans- itional programme? We can call it a programme for action but for us, for our strategic con- transitional ception, programme - it is a help to the masses in overcoming the in- methods, herited ideas, and forms and of adapting them- selves to the exigencies of the Lenin addressing a crowd in Red Square May Day 1919 That is objective situation. why I cannot overestimate the uction is thus seen as a training, importance of the transitional a preparatory stage before manage- programme" It may be longer or shorter ment. (Discussion on March 23rd 1938, some cases accord- or eliminated in emphasis added ing to material conditions - but the struggle for workers control and, centrally, the opening of the books, is a fight to be begun in today's conditions to prepare the basis of implications the propagan- socialist planned production.

And left-talkers dists, centrists and in such a fight the complete politic- slogan and throw independence of the working mud concept of control". class is crucial. also by the They hopelessly so-called "Institute

METHOD

How then should we approach demand for nationalisation? the 'left' bureaucrats and Trotsky's OT Clearly it we follow of method platform in the by programme utting forward at each point i st leade transitat co deusion, the which that conclusion, going beyond the bounds of capital- ism - sliding scale of wages, work principles of Trotskyism, enable the sharing on sathe books of ay, the opening Col. demands of the employers who be refuse to guarantee jobs and living ramme to the standards. The for the opening slogan of the books is always posed by the WS in such ating backed by way as lead towards nationalisation. aims to provide the documented central to the attacks of the case to back up our demands for employers occupation in defence of jobs and establish ers of the Socialist nation wide struggle within the labour movement

DEFEND YOUTH

FROM POLICE

ATTACK

A series of arrests and trials particularly involving black youths throughout the suggests that police country harassment of young people is on the increase. Such harassment is, of course, In working nothing new. most class areas of Britain, and partic- ularly the larger council every youth has a story estates, lo leu about tne narassment of driven hang young people, to around on the streets because of a lack of youth facilities.

These youth constantly 'moved on' by the police, some- times they are arrested and even ocater uo In the latest series of incidents it has been black youth who have been the victims of police activity First of all there was the raid on Carib the Club in Cricklewood. Dozens of police poured into the club in search of a 'suspect' (who was never found or produced at the subsequent trial) and turned the place over.

PROVOCATION

This massive provocation led to a fight between the youth and police as a result of which the twelve youth were arrested on a variety of serious charges. At the end of a trial lasting 81 days and million, not a costing over fl single youth youth four streets 'obviously IoI "panda of an on an car was police of which where keep auty incidents occur trouble because previous tion.

BLACK

ASSOC-

*all out that the tion incidents of November Sth must be put into the wider context of continual police harrassment of the black community, What lies behind this increased police activity againacy touth?

particular, youth? Certainly it is no accident that these raids and trials take place at a time when unemployment stands at its highest level since the 1930s. The policies of the Labour government have led to a massive increase in unemployment as the Labour leaders try solve the to economic crisis at the expense of the working class. has Youth unemployment increased alongside this and each year school-leavers sign on to the dole increasing numbers. Amongst black youth, , unemploy- ment at an than white faster rate amongst youth. The trade union leaders refuse Page 5 to fight for the defence of jobs Not only have they kept silent as number of jobless passed the the million mark and headed towards million, but one and a they have officially attacked the lobby of Parliament called by the North West TUC which took place they This is are Labour government's so-called fight which involves up class is deprived of ing an and wages. unemployed Stall dos lead by union increase. youths these do and al c deal with any of working class Trade order to ment. Young must be Trades Councils exist. union bodies defence of At the time, the have also attacked trade the justified hostility of the The police raid on the WRP education centre and the arrest of Southampton trade unionists in shows that the problem of polic harrassment faces the whole the working class, both black and white. Young workers cannot defend themselves from such attacks as Where individuals. assaults become a real problem, workers' defence squads must organise to protect working class youth.

question which The main arises out of the Carib Club trial police evidence whether fixed. This would certainly be the conclusion of the jury who refus ed to convict a single defendant in Local trade union case. bodies must set up committees of into cases of suspected enquiry police harrassment, to establish the facts of the case basic questions on the These defence of the working class from physical attack must go hand in hand with fight around the programme to unite the broadest layers of the working class in the defence of jobs and wages.

by lan Swindale

Scan page 6

Page 6

DAYS OF HOPE

series produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach.

act of posing The very while the International Socialists?

the revolutionary tasks of the British working class before awarded a mass audience is guaranteed were cose to cause consternation in many quarters. This is why the recent Days of Hope series of TV plays, and the Star paid the series the compliment Allen which novel by Jim the bureaucratic, right wing leader- has followed it, has aroused InOR 1N- a chorus of indignation and 'leftist dismissal of the controversy in the Tory press.

for the Stalinists ere nee sare The series of stories of working because series clearly ran counter to the class life, polttical and industrial between 1916 and movements the Communist Party". (Morning 1926 is linked by a small group of well-drawn fictional characters 'Ben' a young most importantly worker. who first a soldier militant in and then a the new- born British Communist Party- Almost alone among the papers and a galaxy of real but now of the left, the Workers Revolut- historical figures. ionary Party's Workers Press main- With skill and warmth the tained a complete silence on the Loach-Garnett-Allen team put to- gether a gripping series of plays, with numerous well-observed in- cidents - from the struggle against becasue it is well known that Jim imperialist war in 1916, the Irish war of independence of the follow- miners' lock-out of ing year, Also Loach and Garnett, more 1921. the 1924 Labour Govern- ment and culminating in the last part in the General Strike.

Allen's book, equally vivid in its dialogue, covers the same span of history and captures much of Moreovety particularly the same spirit. in the section covenng the Genera many of the key questions of the origin and political basis of the the TV produced ot reactionary opinion as the Daily helen makers' own political development Times It is not the aim of this review screen. programmes slight unevenness of the TV series put on reflects its struggle to find forms point. 'tolerance. from the of At all points it stands head smell of action, classes and shoulders above the routine the their shoulders uctions. And in Jim Allen's novel ism' to the wheel they again metaphors in the descriptive pass- Durham dealing ender y journalistic always striving to frame defenders

WELC

which the solidity of a moment that is hostile LO brought vividly It is necessary to destroyed the and right General Strike, were not employed for some of Third Inter- ists. And it is impossible also, to national. on TV and radio, using the straight Equally predictably, various papers of the centrist left lauded the programmes to the sky. The his collaborators International Marxist Group's Red to work through certain key polit- Weekly, trayth opterhe riches, ical questions in a 'fictional' form; portrayal "the it is certainly right,

STICSS,

the unity and the courage of the the

"GET IN THERE!"

IS CAR WORKERS ACCEPT "PARTICIPATION"

To read 'Socialist Worker', the attendance was only 40 people of the International paper - not delegates - from the whole Socialists, you would think that organisation was opp- "workers' particip- was dominated osed to ation". But as we showed in our last this subject, Willy Fay, a steward issue of Socialist Press, in Leyland file' spent the time rationalising why Worker, a 'rank and paper which they control, they have himself was against they of standing for positions the BLMC participation set up.

the On the 15th November their that You can't stick front: organisation, inte Rank and File Movement, held a conference on "The Crisis in the Motor Industry". This would have been accurately entitled to get in there". more by Harry Weston this leads them. And if the Morning Star can characterise their work as kyist line", we must consider how The decade 1916-1926 covers October revolution, young Soviet Republic, and tasted first bitter fruits of Stalinist Strike (in which it succeeds) but also with problems and differences within the Communist Party and the Third International - in which problems of the British Trotskyist movement, adn the experience of : their political ancestors or Communist Party evance to today. No wonder, since these events were not intelligible as a Trotsky as early as were joining the Soviet Commun- chronistic in a number of ways.

Not only was no-one at that time really aware of the social structure of the Soviet Party, even in Russia itself, knew any- died - there could not have been any such clear awareness of Stalin- ism as a political force, because together to form the still fighting dangerous tendencies again in the hours after the TUC - rights and 'lefts' - have called off militants are desperately trying to understand how the Party leader- power to the TUC and to support by several IS members from the might be "a bit too soon to go in" mention "worker participation" calling for the nationalisation of the motor industry - thus leaving ation" up to the point where the trade union and able to provide opportunistic- fight agaisnt Measured Day Work was the same. Initial verbal opp Lenin met British Shop Stewards as part of the fight for the Communist International for the 'left', pro-Soviet bureau- Goldman crats. tired, almost cynical - explains it as the out- come of Stalin's "peaceful coexist- ence' with capitalist states.

(In the parallel scene in the explains the role of Stalinism in a series further way that is not only historically but implicitly icorect, give credibility to Stalinist policy of the late 20's and early 30's - that gains for the fascists would work the advantage of the Communists.) Goldman articulates in theoretical form what is implicit and unformed in the shock and resistance of Ben, the CP worker- militant. Yet Goldman is an artificial character, not only dramatically Of course, Jim but historically. Allen can answer that in their chosen 'semi-fictional' form it not compulsory to be completely in terms of chronology, accurate or of what peodle at a given tim‹ could have known, even those who actually existed.

FOUGHT FOR

This is true. But more is in- volved here than matters of detail.

For the opposition to Stalinism was never somethi ven the heads of theoret bristlig icians before the event. It was fought for through of enormous battles and many def- of which the British General eats, Strike was a crucial but individual instance. In 1926 the Internation- Left Opposition's defence of internationalist principles and of class intransigence was only just beginning in an organised form.

The principles etched out in Days of Hope, and particularly in conclusion that Ben draws from his crushing frustration with the CP's support for the lett union leaders - that a new organisation was needed, could only take real shape much later. There is thus an artificial and idealised strana runnng trough Days of Hope which tends to see revolutionary leadership as some- thing ready-made, formed before.

hand in a glass case by the insights giants such as Trotsky. From this point of view there is nothing the word NPENSATION nO SACK Platform at the 'Rank and File' Carworkers Conference company fought to impose MDW, acceptance. under tho

COVET

of the call to control manning the opportunist "rank and file' policies of the IS SOCIALIST PRESS, Wednesday November 26th 1975 This strand clearly in common their refusal to study living development, in Dans of ope ply contradicted in Days of Hope noveltel ing it is the author's real portrait of a class on the move, muscles for practical tasks, peeling the skin from the onion of British 'fair play' and hyp crats scurrying to lick the boots of the employers. In the alternation of scenes one can sense the team's difficul ties in bringing together the two elements they correctly feel are essential - the practical struggle of working clas against its and the forging of leadership to give conscious dir- ection and victory to the class And there is no mistaking the conviction in Days of Hope that this is not only the task of 1916- 1926, but also of the 1970's To this task people with the of Allen, training Loach and Garnett have an im- portant contribution make. And it would be impossible to be fighters in the Trotskyist move powerful as Days of Hope without being aware of this.

CONFUSION

But the plays and the nove also contain an element of confusion and almost of contemporary cynicism. The intel- lectual Goldman, leaving the Communist Party before the General Strike declares: "For twenty-eight I've years been trying to think dialectically but from now on I'm just going to think." But as the events which the team brought to life on the screen so clearly show, thought can move forward and take effect only with- in the struggles of the present day working class The task is not simply to think about the world but to participate in the fight to change and the right wing with a "left", "revolutionary' cover, at a time when the working class are show- ing at Rover-Triumph and at Cowley their hostility …to the Days of Hope by Jim Allen (Futura Publications, 1975, 75p); based on his script for the

Scan page 7

WRP MUST QUIT SCAB

PARTICIPATION' COMMITTEE

SOCIALIST PRESS, Wednesday 26th November, 1975.

of that proud history into squalid Lord Ryder's first act in taking up his new post as opportunisin We would like to hear the National chairman the WRP's case Ryder. for entering Enterprise Board last Thurs- Healy must know that these com- day - which gives him effect- mittees have nothing at all to do and that trade unionism, ive control cash over entering them is quite different injections into British Ley- in principle from working within land - was to launch a bitter and the most even Ilgull-wing ultimatum to B.L. workers.

corrupt trade union body.

aimed The ultimatum, workers in a series of plants who are taking action to defend their jobs against speed-up, threatened to withold finance and force the government offensive against Ley- closure of factories. Responding to this in Cowley.

management issued the following be done by sucking in key layers blunt which was scalecill handed to workers in the North and Works of the Assembly Plant or Friday afternoon (19.11.75): "Effective fail- immediately, ure to achieve the required ave- rage programme objective of 28.5 Leyland plants at per hour to sales will result in closure the North Works". is under these conditions it that Gerry Healy's Workers Rev- Party has joined the revisionists of the 'state capitalist' Ryder acting with the Socialists the and Stalinists of the Communist Party, and decided to "work within" the reactionary, class collaborationist trade union leaders. Joint Management Councils set up under the Ryder Report.

TAKEN SEAT

sit on them will be on the wrong side of the fence in the coming Indeed, the WRP has already taken its seat in this management Because of the importance of body. Last week, Tom wnite - a the principles at stake, Healy must leading member of the WRP for a number of years, the WRP's only Last Saturday's Workers member in the Cowley factories Press (21.11.75), two weeks after of the convenor deputy

T&GWU

- stood for election to the plant's Ryder "participation' committee. Although the right-wing took and expense negotiating the form- the he was elected as seat, of the corporatist 'worker- stand-in delegate, and 280I now. place takes his that capacity, alongside the representatives aboration of some leading stew- superintendants, work- foremen. study men and works policemen "trade union decorate the who side" of the committee. of depth the treachery of the WRP's opportun- right to strike and management ist decision to enter the so-called up exploitation on "participation" shop floor to whatever level they scheme was ham- require to make profits."

mered home by last Thursday's Oxford Mail. In a report headed the term "corporatist" - but since "Leyland Talks Keeping on up Japanese", Mail have WRP members with the the states that: for election to bodies defined as "A report which says that when has the WRP involved itself of Leyland Cars must employees work harder to reach the product.

denying workers the right to ivity levels the Company's Japanese rivals is to be of

OIC

SILENCE

the first topics for the newly- formed Employee Participation Committees" Indeed the final decision of Healy) to Mail explains WRP (or Gerry The that the the enter committees, though first meeting of the Committees the taken shortly before Tom White's in December will consider how to election, make BL workers equal the effort has never appeared of their Japanese counter-parts.

Workers Press. Significantly, Workers Press has Questioned on the report, Ley- carried no reports on the battle were reluctant to commit the stewards committee themselves: 0l l "We do not want to preempt the discussions with the partici- pation committees," said their spokesman.

JOB

That in a nutshell, is the job of the committees. And the WRP is giving credibility to the whole set-up. This is the clearest demon- stration yet of the deep degener- ation of the WRP, and its depart- ure from principle. The involvement of Healy and what was then the Socialist abour Leagu in Cowley began

ORT

the mid 1960's. From then until the pulsion of virtual e whole WRP factory cadre la December only political tendency

SLL-WRP

had been upholding the principles and the independence of otskyism the working class in the plants Those who stepped out of line in this fight were excluded. Yet now the tragic negation * Mock pody on 600 Paint and - electrical shhen. Oieanel.ng we Couse Statement by Workers Press

DOWLEY ASSEMBLY PLANT

CLOCH MOTICE

AMASTE TON CONSTAENEN

Elected

AL RAGHAN

248

I TAYLOR

194 412 "Felixstowe dockers have struck a powerful blow against corpor atist worker 'participation' by re- moving their convenor who bec ame a director. The convenor, Larry O'Donn- ell, lasted just five days as both union convenor and director of the Company... that 'participation' is a trap des- igned to weaken on jobs and hard-won conditions".

Cucu tell your readers is not only thor.

unprincipled IS), but shows that Healy is con- When the Ryder Report was published in April Workers Press Later distributed as a mass leaflet "massive investment of capital by government under a capitalist ap- will take ponica ward wau declare that the era of industrial democracy has begun The same article correctly goes on to conclude: "Not a single job or basic right in this giant combine can be saved without a bitter struggle against Ryder". This was a statement from the Workers Press Editorial Board incy nave Issuca no new stale ments. Their paper continues to oppose Ryder. Do they know that Healy has switched horses and opted for "participation"? How many WRP members know their party is involved in a cor- poratist committee? Healy - drop We challenge the pretence and tell your mem- Explain to them bers the truth. your opportunist reasons for enter- ing Ryder. Justify openly - using (as you will have to) the same the Stalinists and arguments as the state capitalists - your reasons for sitting on committees designed to break the strength of the shop stewards movelcut "Working from within" these from being committees, apart unprincipled, is impossible.

Shop floor representatives are in the minority, and the management Page :: final have an absolute right decision. The committees do not even have the right to vote Meanwhile, movi:: IO i right wing opportunist the

WRP

confronts the of Leyaind workers who are cleari!

against 'participation'. In the Cowley Assembly Plant Ryder was never put to the mem bership. It forced through was after a two-day shop stewards meeting, hostile to Ryder, which was swung to acceptance at the manipulation by the Cy Blake and the chairman, inted that dee saint inst argued that Ryder was the steps towards workers' control" Thè vote was 128 to 72. In the shop floor elections that followed workers registered their hostility to Ryder by a mas from the vote. This abstenton became national news - but was Workers still not reported in Press.

PRINCIPLED

A number of principled shop stewards - including WSL members electo will be movement y vas thread- bare maximum under workers' control of all basic industry" which the WRP claimed was a 'programme, and showed departure SnOW Trotsky's Transitional Programme working class.

WORDS

During that struggle Healy demonstrated his opportunism by adapting words to the prog of those he was to expel ramme a few weeks later. At last year's Sth Anniversary of Workers Press, Alan Thornett, the one main speakers, made the first SIL-WEased on the in the based on the demands of the Transitional The Programme. previous day Workers Press had carried a front page full of transitional demands after years of hardly referring to Trotsky's programme. When the expulsions came Western - over 200 in the Area alone - Healy told the WRP that we had "moved to the right" and "would join the trade union but - a charge carried con- tinuously in Workers Press We ask WRP members now to examine our record, that of the WRP. Have we moved to the right? Have we joined the bureau Have we capitulated social democracy? We WRP members to this against the actions of check you icadesmo, culmmating m u acceptance of Ryder. Now is the fight time the opportunis degeneration your leadershir before it is too late.

Scan page 8

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