AROUND THE WORLD
Australian Fourth Internalists hold successful conference
SYDNEY - The Resistance and Socialist Education Conference held near here in early January culminated a year of steady the revolutionary socialist movement in this country.
Attendance at the six-day conference peaked at 420, a 35 per cent increase on the previous record established in January 1983. Over half those in attendance were born outside Australia with the largest contingents coming from Turkey, Chile, El Salvador and Sri Lanka. nationalities were represented.
The average age of participants was 25 and 51 per cent of those who registered as members of the Socialist Workers Party and/or Resistance had joined the movement since 1980. Fifteen people decided to join during the course of the confer-
The participants included members of 42 different trade unions with the largest numbers coming from the Amalgamated Metal Foundry and Shipwrights Union, Forty-six different political and solidarity organisations were represented and 40 per cent of all participants were
The presence of such a wide cross secthe Australian working showed that the SWP and Resistance made the most of their opportunities in
During the year a group of Turks in Melbourne, members of the organisation Revolutionary Path, fused with the SWP Discussions held during the conference leader of its Swedish section; Peter Camejo, a well-known United States socialist who is also a member of the International Executive Committee of the Fourth International, and Byron Ackerman representing the North Star Network, a revolutionary socialist organisation presented a well-received feature talk on recent workers' struggles in Europe. He described the growing isolation of the Mitterrand government in France; the anti-working class policies of the Socialist government in Spain; and the development of the 1983 strike movement in Belgium. Turning to his own country he described the effect of the return of the Social Democrat government of Olaf Palme.
Camejo presented two feature talks, on US politics and on the possibility of socialist revolution in advanced capitalist
Both were enthusiastically He ended his second talk by urging all young people to join Resistance: "I would if I could, but I can't, but you
The conference also heard presentations by representatives of the revolutionary movements of El Salvador and the
Raul Torchez is the Australian repre sentative of the Mexico-based Front in Solidarity with the People of El
His speech was punctuated with chants of "FMLN" and at the end he was given a standing ovation as memcrisis and the policies of the Hawke Labor government elected in March 1983.
He pointed out that the Prices and Incomes Accord, a social contract similar to that of the British Labour government of Harold Wilson, had done nothing to stem rising unemployment and falling wages During the elections, he reminded the audience, Hawke and his colleagues had promised tax reforms to favor the poor, yet their first budget had increased indirect personal taxes and reduced com-
Symon stressed the need to continue the work begun by the SWP and the SPA in forging a united front against the Prices and Incomes Accord, and the importance of continued co-operation in the peace
In response to the fund appeal made at the rally 52,000 Australian dollars was pledged towards the year's target of
Jim Percy, the national secretary of the SWP, gave a major address on the theme of revolutionary unity. He pointed out that the election of a Labor government with pro-capitalist policies in the midst of a capitalist crisis made the construction of a viable socialist alternative both more urgent and more feasible. The need to build broad movements in opposition to the Labor government's social contract policies presented the socialist movement with big challenges.
Observing that the penalty for failing to rise to these challenges would be costly Percy examined the plight of the Communist Party of Australia. Leaders of this party were important in convineing the trade union movement to accept the soc ial contract with the Labor government. Eight months after the election of the Hawke government this party was clearly bers of the audience returned his clench- in a rapid membership decline and conresulted in a similar group from Sydney also deciding to unite with the SWP.
A highlight of the conference was a panel featuring militant zine miners'
Rosebery in Tasmania. They told of their long struggle to prevent the closure of their mine and their town by the mining bosses. Also on the panel were SWP members who provided valuable support during a bitterly fought
Another significant feature of the conference was the attendance of a number of supporters of a socialist journal distributed inside the Labor Party. had carried out its own fusion at the end of the year and the presence of these people indicated the growing interest in Marxism in the ranks of the Australian
International guests included Frej Anderson, a member of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International and a ed fist salute.
Equally inspiring was the presentation of a representative of the New Democratic Front of the Philippines. His talk demonstrated the similarities between the struggle in his country and that in El Salvador, in particular the military tactics used by the repressive regimes and the progressive role of sections of the Catholie church. He gave a vivid account of the innovative tactics of the Filipino revolutionaries, and described the situation in the wake of the assassination of Benigno
Always a highlight of conferences of the SWP and Resistance is the rally to launch the fund drive for the following
On this occasion the panel of speakers included the general secretary of the Socialist Party of Australia, Peter Symon. The SPA is a party that looks to the Soviet Union as a model.
Symon's talk focused on the economic vulsed by an internal debate whether or not to liquidate into the Labor Party.
The conference had two major com-
On the first four days Resistance held its 13th national decision-making conference. This involved discussion and adoption of resolutions on the international situation and the fight against war, how revolutionaries relate to the Labor government, the role of youth in the class struggle and building Resistance. At the end of this process a new National Committee was elected by the the conference it was announced that the weekly socialist newspaper Direct Action would become a joint publication of the SWP and Resistance and that its size would be increased from 16 to 24 pages. These steps will coincide with a vigorous campaign to increase the circulation of the socialist press.
For further details about the Trade-Union Opposition, see the background inter-
"Ten years of building class-struggle unionism in Sweden's biggest plant, " International Viewpoint, No 34, July 11, 1983
The other part of the conference spanned the full six days and involved the feature talks, the rally, a cabaret of political skits and music, and a series educational talks on various aspects of Marxist theory.
Several Latin American participants commented that the conference had been the most internationalist event they had been involved in during up to 10 years in Australia.
Peter Camejo pointed out in one of his talks that if we were able to have it out in a worldwide poll between capitalism and socialism, we socialists would be sure to have a big majority. What emerged from the conference was a better-educated movement, confident that it will continue growing and deepening its its political abilities so that it will prove equal to the task of organising the socialist victory.
"But at Volvo, the union elections are often fought out on the shop floor. Various trade-union currents campaign with leaflets and posters. The whole membership can thrash out the arguments and then cast their votes for the line they want to see carried out in the union officers' next term of office."
Obviously, it would be a sign of health in the trade-union movement as a whole if this sort of election became the rule instead of the exception. What chance is there that the oppositionists at Volvo can promote the development of a more militant line in other places?
Important new gains for Swedish trade union opposition STOCKHOLM GOTEBORG - The trade-union opposition at Volvo-Goteborg, Scandinavia's biggest workplace, made further advances in a series of elections at various levels held at the end of January. The biggest gains, as earlier, came in the Lundby truck assembly section. This has historically been the stronghold of the opposition.
The opposition won the section chairpersonship, to which Goete Kilden, also a leader of the Socialist Party (Swedish section of the Fourth International) was reelected by a big majority. It also won all the other posts up for election, including three full members of the board, three alternates and 22 representatives to the Volvo works Union Council [which represents all union members in the
On the average, the opposition candi-
This fight will reach a new peak in a few weeks when the elections are held for the leadership of the whole Volvo works Union Council.
Goete Kilden commented on the significance of the Volvo elections for InCouncil are something of a rarity in the union movement," Goete said. Swedish unions the leadership posts are filled at poorly attended annual general meetings, without any campaign by representatives of different trade-union lines. At most, there might be some personal infighting and intrigue among the Social Democratic leaders in the workplace.
Because of their national importance, the union elections at Volvo get a lot of publicity, especially - but by no means only — in the regional papers and on the local radio in Goteborg. More than a few trade-union radicals in other parts of the country draw their lessons from what happens at Volvo — through direct contacts with the opposition, through discussions at union conferences, or through the revolutionary socialist press.
This time, the effects were still more direct. Goete explained:
"In this year's group leadership elections in the shop where I work, about forty workers on temporary transfer from other Volvo plants in the country are studying our elections with some amazement. All the discussions at the coffee table in the cafeteria, the "leaflet war" and the high level of participation in the elections have planted important seeds in
The development of the Trade Union Opposition dates got 60% of the votes in the Lundby assembly section.
Some 90% of
For nearly ten years now the Trade-Union Opposition at Volvo-Goteborg, with its which must be a the workers voted,
12,800 workers, have been the driving force behind the demands of the memberrecord for Swedish elections.
The opposition ran slates in five of the
The Trade-Union Opposition has become a general label for the radical tradeother sections, as well as in several group elections in the truck factory and also in statutes, a membership list, an elected leadership or finances of its own. Rather, it is a movement, a loose current, given form by the initiatives of the shop stewards who represent it and by the leadership of campaigns for contract struggles and
Some new oppositionists were elected in the car-painting section, with strong
Like any current, the opposition ebbs and flows. In every upturn, it has filled support from the big group of Finnishspeaking workers.
•They now represent play a more important role. In many union actions as well as elections, the name of about a thousand workers.
the Trade-Union Opposition is not used, but in most cases the workers involved
In other sections, the opposition's vote identify with the current or base themselves on its platform.
varied from 40% to just under 30% in the
Nationally, the opposition has perhaps become best known and had the biggest car-assembly section.
nIn the latter impact in connection with the demand for more rank-and-file democracy, in parthe opposition remained far ticular for the right of the membership to vote on their contracts. But the opposition's Jong-term struggle against the Social Democrats' incomes policy has struck a the record vote it got in 1979, which provoked an intensive campaign by
Moreover, the fight against poor working conditions and the speedup, especially the Social Democrats, who resorted to on the assembly line, has been one of the opposition's main concerns the crudest anti-Communist scare mon-
In the fight against increasing the number of days that workers have to be out sick before they can collect full benefits, the opposition has also been in the fore-
Both Volvo's size — there are 12,800 workers in the Goteborg works alone -
The name "Trade-Union Opposition" came into use throughout the whole the local Union Council's role as and
Volvo-Goteborg works for the first time at the time of the local Volvo elections in the "pace setter" for Swedish union elec-
1975. It represented an electoral bloc including politically unaffiliated forces, the
Socialist Party activists and the Swedish Communist Party (VPK).
tions made the elections at Volvo a topic other left groups besides the VPK, but they have since died out.
of national concern.
self underwent a split, with its former members going to the Workers Communist
This attention has increased since the
Party [APK, the anti-Euro-Communist wing].
union opposition emerged ten years ago.
the Socialist Party is the only organized political force that supports
The union contests have more and more become a political confrontation between the local Social Democratic leadership and the opposition fighting for decent working conditions and union democracy.
26 ship.
union left in the Volvo Union Council.
up with politically unaffiliated workers.
view with Goete Kilden,
It is not a structured organization with
In downturns, the political elements
The VPK it-
International Viewpoint 12 March 1984
the minds of many of them that may take root in other places in the country.
"Overall, we are satisfied with the results. Where things went well, we gained new bases for the future. Where things did not go so well, in general this was because the mobilization was not strong enough, because the opposition's arguments were not got out. Here we can draw some important lessons for the future, because we are still far from getting the results we could get."
Goete thought also that the severe handicaps imposed on could not be overstressed. tion, for example, under the name of the "Trade Union Op-
The engineering workers congress decided this in 1980 in an obvious attempt to limit the room for union opposition currents.
The Volvo opposition now has to run its candidates either on a general "strikeoff" slate, that is, one where all the candidates are listed, and the voters strike off the name of those whom they do not want; or else run them under a party
For an opposition that is broader than the support for any party, this is a
"In particular when the elections cover large groups of workers and there are a lot of candidates, since it is harder for the workers to have personal knowledge of them, the strike-off slate is a big handicap," Goete said. "I can cite just one case that I know about personally that happened at the polling station in my group. The vote is supposed to be secret, and a lot of union members found it difficult to know who to strike off, since it is forbidden to ask for help from fellow
In this same election, outside the Lunby plant, the opposition had to cope with this handicap.
"Outside Lundby, for the first time, we tried running under the name of a bloc between the Socialist Party and unon the average is a good indication that this can be a better method for overcoming the hurdles set up by the bureau-
" Goete said.
The SP-Volvo leader was convinced, moreover, that the Volvo election should be taken as a warning by the Democratic leaders in other places.
"The results indicate a reaction against the poor polices of the Social Democrats and bureauerat the use of poteiy policy
This opinion is supported by other local elections recently where candidates who distinguished themselves over a long period through consistent defense of the of their fellow workers made gains against graa sossar ("grey SDs," a term used for right-wing Social Democrat-
However, Bjoern Mattsson, the spokesfor the Social Democratic Party leadership at Volvo, has tried to present the opposition's gains as a purely personal triumph for Goete Kilden. He denies that the Social Democrats' big losses in the International Viewpoint 12 March 1984
Lundby plant reflect a lack of confidence in the policy of the Social Democratic Party, either nationally or locally.
continued from page 28 ment.
It was proposed that in each neighbourhood should be set up that would carry out the various tasks decided whether these were committees, women's leagues, etc., women to participate and allow for the exchange of experience and ideas. the Conamup itself it was decided to set up a national co-ordinating committee in which all the regions belonging to the Conamup would be represented. structure would also have a certain flexibility, allowing specific working groups to also function. A second meeting should take place within a year.
It is important to point out that a number of male comrades attended the
The organising committee for the conference had decided that men who wished to could attend, and that they would discuss the different topics among themselves, thus allowing the women to express themselves freely and openly, without any inhibitions. Thus there was one workshop of some twenty men. the end of the meeting they read a message containing their conclusions.
La series of errors and wrong ideas that capitalist society had educated them in, and called on their companions in struggle to make an effort to abandon
This contribution of the male comrades was warmly welcomed.
Although the content of the different resolutions was a sign of the broad character of the conference and a general consensus emerged in the plenary session, there is still a long way to go in the ideo-
Some very different positions were put forward on the specific problems of women and possible solutions, and the debates were not always easy in either the workshops or the plen-
'Women decide' - everywhere! (DR)
mujeres
ANDSOTRAS 9
DECIDİMOS
This sort of self-satisfaction can set the Social Democrats up for some serious shocks in the future.
All the organisations represented were certainly in agreement on the existence of the oppression of women, but the extent of this oppression and the ways of fighting it were far from being commonly
In the women's movement, or certain components of it, there is the idea that the socialist revolution, and women's participation in the process of bringing it about, will liberate them and they have no need to undertake a specific struggle for their liberation. ism in general - without taking account of the different currents who describe themselves thus - creates divisions be tween men and women is deeply rooted As if this division did not already exist clear from all the discussion and experiences put forward that the inhabitants of the colonias have to
But they particular conditions to which they are subject, both in the family and society as
Some women were reduced to tears as they told of their own personal experiences, their life as the mother of more than ten children, the fact that they were beaten by their husbands, or that their daughters were raped and sacked from work because they were pregnant. Women who for years and years had been only doing the cooking, the washing and giving birth. However, the idea of fight. ing for something a bit more than sheer survival had got into them.
For some women from political or ganisations who can choose whether to have children, who are not battered wo men, who benefit from a different cultural level, this reality of the situation for women of the poorer and working-class layers of society seemed not very impor tant, secondary. For them the only contradiction is the class contradiction. For us, wrote Bandera Socialista, we have to fight this society from every standpoint.'
What came out as the most important at this meeting is that the discussion stays open and that it is not now limited to small groups of radicalised women but can be taken into the heart of the organised mass movement. It was decided that there should be space set aside in the Conamup bulletin for the question of women, which in the future could be a place for debate.
A plan of action was also widely dis cussion, many proposals put forward and experiences of struggles such as the first national protest exchanged. The reso lutions adopted at the Durango confer ence represent a big step forward for wo men's struggle and open up the possibility of very good perspectives for the future. All the organisations interested in the struggle for women's liberation should seize this opportunity, particularly in order to prepare for International Women's Day.
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A world