Labour movement left challenges 'new realism'
As the strike by the National Union of Mineworkers enters its ninth week there is every indication that it will be one of the most bitter and lengthy industrial disputes in Britain since the Second World War. Conservative government's desperate attempts to defeat the coal miners have been underlined by the poor showing of the Tories in parliamentary by-elections and municipal elections on 3 May.
While every political party claimed a victory from the election results, the real picture was that Margaret Thatcher, in her fifth year of office, suffered a political setback at the hands of the opposition parties. elections showed that Labour is becoming stronger in the big cities and industrial areas outside the relatively prosperous southern region.
In a by-election held in a Welsh mining valley Labour increased its vote from the general election, with the Tories coming fourth behind the Welsh nationalists. Labour also won a majority on Birmingham's council — Britain's second largest city - as well as adding Edinburgh and Southampton to the number of cities they already control. And, in what was a clear rejection of Tory attempts to abolish the largely Labour controlled metropolitan authorities and curb local government spending, Liverpool increased its majority. 18 power.
elections.
----- pull-quotes on this page -----
NOTTS •NUM STRKE FORCE International Viewpoint 21 May 1984
miners have assembled outside scab pits. Mass pickets ally because of the miners' strike. It did not
The left wing of the Labour Party Neil Kinnock, where management and right-wing steel Benn, is bringing pressure to bear on union officials have collaborated to bring in scab coal. Labour's new leader to fully support the miners. They
The mass pickets have been met by a huge police want him to break with the 'new realist' strategy that presence, with 1,500 arrests being made so far. has led Kinnock and other prominent Labour leaders
The miners are receiving strong support from the to join in the calls of the media for the miners to stop left of the labour movement, with a day of action be- the militant tactics being advocated by their union ing called by the left-wing Scottish Trades Union Con- president, Arthur Scargill.
gress and action being taken by the rail and transport As the strike continues it has become clear that flying pickets and active solidarity from the whole of the unions to make their boycott of coal movement more effective. Other sectors of workers are also beginning labour movement are the only way that the strike will to move into action - most notably the railworkers be won in the face of intransigent opposition from the coal employers and the government. International soli-
One early victim of this rising militancy is the archi- darity is needed too. Donations and messages of suptect of the 'new realism' policy of class collaboration, portanese use Vicar tone, Shetfield, Souty Yors the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress Len
Murray, who announced an early retirement. Labour's shire. (Telephone: Sheffield 700388).
right wing too have suffered a bloody nose with their prediction that the Labour Party would suffer electortoo have started to appear outside and teachers. Pat HICKEY
The miners strike has developed into the most important test of strength between the government and the unions since the 1980 national steel strike in the first Tory administration. The stakes for the working class are very high. miners lose, the government will rapidly push through a series of anti-union measures; against the closed shop, for compulsory secret ballots before strikes, and severance of the links between the unions and the Labour Party. win, the whole anti-working class project of the Tories will be derailed and the days
Thatcher government will be numbered. The decisive question for the therefore, to what degree the strength of the whole class can be mobilised behind the miners. means that one of the decisive issues in the strike as it enters its fifth week is the balance of forces between the left and the right in the labour movement. will seek to isolate the miners and leave them to fight alone. The line of the right has been made clear early in the strike. Denis Healey, deputy leader of the Labour Party, has supported the calls of the Tories and the media for a national ballot - a move aimed at demobilising the strikers, and allowing the miners in 'safe' (i.e. not due for closure) pits to vote others out of a job. Bill Sirs, leader of the ISTC (the steel workers union) has declared that he 'will not allow the steel industry to be sacrificed on any one elses
Terry Duffy of the AUEW (the main metalworkers union), in response to a request for aid, said tht he 'regretted that the miners had not been able to secure the unity necessary to defeat an employer. The TUC has so far remained
The left leaders of the Labour Party and the unions have rallied behind the
Tony Benn has given the miners full support. The leaders of the major transport unions have agreed to stop the movement of coal.
At the base of the movement activists have organised a whole series of initiatives: rallies, factory tours, support committees, International Viewpoint 21 May 1984 etc., and large amounts of money have been raised for the strikers. battle of the miners has become not just government, also a battle between the left and right in the labour movement.
The divisions in the dispute run from top to bottom of the movement. These divisions reflect a situation that has been slowly maturing in the movement since the labour government of 1974 to 1979. The state of readiness of the left for this battle will be a crucial factor in the outcome of this dispute. It is to this question that we now turn our attention.
Since the return of the Tory government in 1979, the trade unions in Britain have suffered some heavy blows. ish Leyland carworkers, steel, rail and health workers have been taken on by the Tories and have gone down to defeat. Only the waterworkers scored a real victory against the government. Unemployment weakens unions
Unemployment has grown to 4 mil-
This has particularly affected the traditional sectors of industry: steel, engineering, shipbuilding, etc. As a result, the number of strike struggles declined dramatically between 1979(29.5 million days lost) and 1983 (3.6 million). Trade union membership has dropped from 52% to 49% of the workforce. The number of shop stewards has fallen from over 320,000 to about 200,000. decline has been most marked in the inddustrial sectors: a fall from 130,000 to
This has been partially offset by an increase in white collar and public sector unions.
The political result of this situation, and the refusal of the labour leadership to (NGA), one of the major print unions, had a North of England against attempts to break up battle was lost because of the deal negotiated
GCHQ (government centre) dispute came about because of the government's decision to ban trade-union membership for employees at this centre for 'security
The TUC was forced to call a one-day strike in support of the GCHQ employees by the breadth of protest against government atled by Tony Vicar Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkfight, was a disastrous result for the Labour Party in the June 1983 general
- under 30% of the vote, and only 39% of trade unionists. element in the election result was the emergence of the SDP/ Liberal Alliance as a third force in British politics. This took of Labour's support and allowed the Tories to win a landslide victory with only 42% of the total vote.
The first consequence of this was a big shift to the right at the 1983 Trades Union Congress (TUC). unions were defeated on a series of
In particular, the TUC adopted a policy of talks with the Tories, to try to soften the edge of their anti-union legislation. This reversed a previous position of no talks while the anti-union legislation was on the statute
TUC general secretary, further stated his intention of talking 'to any party capable of forming a government'. This position was to take account of the rise of the SDP/ Liberal Alliance and the lack of confidence of the TUC right wing in the ability of labour to win a general election. This policy has been widely welcomed in the bourgeois press, and dubbed the 'new realism'.
The first fruits of the 'new realism' seen in the betrayal of the NGA and GCHQ disputes. 1) At Labour Party Conference this change was also reflect-
The victory of the 'Dream Ticket' in the Labour Party leadership elections was a compromise between the centre (Kinnock) and the right (Healey) which reflected both the gains of the right and the continuing strenght of the Bennite forces in the constituencies and at the base of the unions. Its basic aim, tempts to buy the right to union membership from the workers with £1,000, but this was fizzled out - this and all following notes by
The right for the whole Labour Party to vote in elections for the leader and deputy leader of the party the major gains of the left's struggle for democ
The 'Dream Ticket' for the 1983 leader ship elections (so dubbed by the media) was for Neil Kinnock (representing the moderate left)
(representing the right) to signify a 'new unity' in the party.
OF MINE WORK
NATONAL UND
SCOTTISH AREA
SM SP° OSPERITY The militant Scottish NUM (DR) however, is to break up the left wing of the party, Tony Benn's base. Changing union left
Despite the compromise line of the 'new realists' the Tories have not eased up on their attacks on the unions. The result has been a much clearer political polarisation in the trade unions than has existed for many years. Over the NGA dispute the left trade union leaders have publicly attacked the line of the right wing. In the current miners strike, the left has organised independently to stop the movement of coal. They have also divided over Labour Party issues.
These divisions are not confined to the level of the bureaucracy. They run from top to bottom of the labour movement, in both the unions and the Labour Party. Moreover, these splits take place in a situation in which despite the defeats, the basic organisational strength of the class is still intact: 49% of the workforce in trade unions, over 200,000 shop stewards, a strong minority in the unions and 20 the Labour Party prepared both to fight the Tories and to oppose the collaborationist line of the right. The left in the unions and in the Labour Party now have a much sharper political focus than at any time for many years. It is also a very different left from even ten years ago.
Then the dominant political force at the base of the unions was the Communist Party (CPGB). It based itself on a network of shop stewards in cars, engineershipbuilding and the docks. response to attempts to introduce anti-union legislation it was able to organise the Liaison Committee for the Defence of Trade Unions (LCDTU), which was capable of calling a national strike involving over 600,000 workers in December
Within the unions the CP, in alliance with other left forces, organised through Broad Left bodies which concentrated on electing left trade officials. They succeeded in transforming the leadership of the two main unions, the Transport & General Workers Union - over two million members at its height - and the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers from right-wing dominated unions to the leading left unions.
This combination of forces, strong rank and file organisation at the base politically led by the CP, and left bureaucrats whose base depended on this rank and file organisation, gave rise to the huge wave of resistance to the attacks of the employers in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These struggles broke anti-union legislation, defeated incomes policy and eventually toppled the Tory government of Ted Heath. They also led to a massive spread of trade union organisation into white collar and public sector workers, e.g., unions like NALGO (white-collar local government employees) grew by 60%, NUPE (public sector manual workers) by 116%, CPSA (national government employees) by 6.5%. By 1976 almost 85% of white-collar workers in the public sector were unionised. There was also a big influx of women into the workfoce and into the unions. In 1976 the NUT (main teachers union) was 75% female, CPSA 68%, NUPE 65%, NALGO 43%.
However, the limits of this industrial militancy was soon revealed. The Labour government which succeeded Heath was unable tossecure an overall majority. Labour got its lowest share of the vote since short, the militancy of the workers in industrial struggle did not translate itself into support for the only workers
The turning point was the recession of 1975. The Labour government, in alliance with the trade union bureaucrats imposed an austerity policy which cut living standards by 10% in under three years. The CP refused to break with the bureaucrats who supported this policy. They surrendered the leadership of the shop stewards. The dam broke in 19781979, and the Labour government fell in a wave of industrial struggles. It was replaced by Thatcher.
The experience of the Wilson/Callag han government, and the failure of the CP to lead brought about a major change in the left in the unions and the Labour Party. The focus ceased to be exclusively the direct industrial struggle led by fac tory-based shop stewards organisations.
fight developed through the unions and the Labour Party to change the Labour leadership and to make it accountable to the base. This was the first wave of what came to be known as Bennism, and it provoked the most wide ranging political discussion in the trade unions since the war. From 1978 to 1982 this Bennite left wing succeeded in winning a series of democratic reforms in the Labour Party, as well as important policy changes on unilateralism and opposition to incomes policy, etc. Left Labour Party frightens ruling class
For the British ruling class these developments were alarming. The Labour Party was the main alternative to the Tories, so they were faced with the prospect of Thatcher being replaced by, at worst, a left led Labour Party, or, at best, a Labour Party which was an unstable and unreliable instrument. The Tory vote had been declining for half a century: they had lost their base in the cities, lost Scotland, lost their majority with women voters and lost their base in the North of Ireland. (3) A section of the labour right split off to form the SDP, and linked up with the Liberals to form the Alliance. In the June 1983 general election they came within a couple of points of the Labour vote. More importantly, they split the anti-Tory vote.
As a result, Thatcher won the largest majority in parliament this century, with only 42% of the popular vote. Labour Party got under 30% of the vote. Even amongst trade union members it got only 39% - which meant that a majority of trade union members had Alliance or Tory. bureaucracy blamed the Bennites for this result, and they launched their counter-attack, aimed at defeating the Bennites
The aim of the right is to make Labour a party acceptable to the ruling class, and if this does not work, to prepare for a possible coalition with the SDP/Liberal Alliance. Some of the right have openly stated their preference for the SDP over a Benn-led Labour Party. These forces link with some of the Labour Party right who favour moving towards a Europeantype social democratic party, with much less direct links with the trade unions.
Up until 1974 the Conservative Party was directly linked to those in the North of Ireland Unionists. who supported This direct link was broken in 1974. the union with Britain, TELE and there are three "Unionist' parties, which have had major differences with the Tories on its Irish policy, although some individual Tory candidates may describe themselves as *Conservative and Unionist.
International Viewpoint 21 May 1984
To sum up, the trade union and Labour Party bureaucracy has three currents within it at present: a right wing which seeks to weaken the links between the unions and the Labour party, and favours a move towards an individual membership social-democratic party, and towards 'non-political' business unionism. objective dynamic of this current is towards coalition with the SP, to keep the Tories out.
There is a middle of the road current which hopes both to make Labour an acceptable government for the ruling class and to rebuild its vote. This current project is a hopeless one in the present crisis. The ruling class will continue its attacks on the unions in an effort to break their organisational strength. And it will continue its efforts to destroy Labour as the main alternative to the Tories. It will tend constantly to be pushed into the arms of the right.
The third current is the one around Benn in the Labour Party, and miners' leader Scargill in the unions. This is the most significant left politics today, supporting democratic reforms in the Labour Party, opposing the coalitionist trajectory of the right, and
The aim of this current is to rebuild the Labour Party labour, based on the unions, the mass movements - especially the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the struggles of the most oppressed groups in society, women, blacks and
The outcome of this battle is vital for the labour movement in Britain.
At the base of the unions the left is getting organised, with the fight around the Labour leadership as its main objec-
The CP-led Broad Lefts, which based themselves on electioneering polities tied to sectoral issues, have wiped out as a significant force at the base. The new lefts are tied to forces in the Labour Party, and organise around a range of policy questions: union policy, unilateralism, positive discrimination for women and blacks, support for struggles. These lefts are most advanced in the white collar and public sector unions -NALGO, NUT, ASTMS, POEU, etc. the main manual unions, such as AUEW, TGWU, GMBATU, the old lefts have not yet been replaced by significant nationalorganised formations. suffered by the shop stewards and the weakening of the CP's base has inhibited developments in the industrial sector. There is, however, strong support for left leaders and their policies. organising increasingly around the structures of the unions, and seeking to make the leadership accountable.
The dominant political pole for the left at the base is the current represented by Benn, and Scargill. So far, these left leaders have not turned to organising their base on a national level. The failure to do so could exact a heavy price. example, in the National Union of Mineworkers a recent election for general secretary saw left-winger Peter Heathfield only narrowly beat a right-winger.
In the 1.5 million-strong T&GWU the election for general secretary is under
It seems likely that the right-wing candidate, George Wright will run the left candiate, Ron Todd, very close indeed, and may even win. Such a result would be a big blow to the left. The T&GWU is the largest union in the cuntry and currently lines up with the left against the 'new realists'
In a series of major disputes over the past three years (train drivers, health service, the NGA) the right has been able to sell out the struggles because the left were not organised to oppose them.
This issue will undoubtedly surface again in the miners' strike. All of these disputes have demonstrated that there is a strong minority in the unions and the Labour Party prepared to fight both the Tories and the sabotage of the right. The organisation of these forces across the unions and the Labour Party is a crucially important step for the battles ahead. It is also the main failure of the left bureaucracy that it has not done so. For socialists in the movement developing every possible step towards such or ganisation is the priority task.
The crisis in Britain is bringing about a fundamental reorganisation of bourgeois polities, with the emergence of the SDP Liberal Alliance as a third force. This crisis is also forcing a fundamental shakeup of the labour movement. The basic choices facing the working class over the next period will be to accept the coalitionist/ business unionism line of the right, or to fight for political trade unions, linked to a party of labour that champions all the struggles of the oppressed.
Tories have declared their intention of Polmaise workers fought to defend their pit from closure (DR) outlawing the closed shop, of attacking the unions' political funds, and of attackthe bastions of Labour in the big cities. They also intend to take on some of the strongest sections of the class and inflict decisive defeats on them. The line of the right is to adapt to these attacks and avoid big confrontations. course would mean a dramatic weakening of the Labour Party and the unions, and a coalition with capitalist parties. Organising the left
The Labour Party has become the decisive issue in this battle between the left and the right. The CP has been marginalised in this confrontation: its Eurocommunist wing openly advocates coalitionism, while its Stalinist wing has seen the destruction of its base in the shop stewards organisations. There is no significant force to the left of Bennism in British politics today. The left oppositions in the unions are now animated by forces based on the Labour Party. This was dramatically confirmed by the ability of Militant, a right centrist tendency in the Labour Party which claims to be Trotskyist, to organise a conference for the left in the unions in March this year which attracted over two thousand delegates. International Viewpoint 21 May 1984
TAISE
SUPPOR
90
COLL
21
----- pull-quotes on this page -----
SCOTTISH AREA ION THE ROAD 10I - POLMAISE WILL NOT SURRENDER