Free subscriptions for fighters
In previous issues, we reported the launching of a defense
150 British miners jailed by the union-buster Thatcher government. The imprisonment of large numbers of union activists, however, is not something specific to Britain under a regime determined to revive the
It is becoming a sign of our times, the epoch of international capitalist economic crisis and of a general offensive against the rights and living standards of working
Two unionists are still in prison in Denmark on charges arising out of the dockers strike two years ago. The main leader of the dockers union was held for many months on frame-up charges before being finally released as a result of a large-scale campaign of solidarity in Denmark and internationally. In the current protests against the Schlueter government decreeing more deep cuts in real wages for Danish working people, many union activists have been arrested and face trial. Many others have been fired already from their jobs.
Today, when the great majority of "troublemaker People are wage earners, firings, denying who live from wages their means of livelihood, is a more and more widespread method of repression - sort of an outdoor imprisonment. This device is used with the same brutality by Stalinist regimes and a government like Thatcher's, which proclaims its dedication to "individual liberties."
Both fired and imprisoned class struggle fighters need material support to survive and keep on fighting. But not the least material need they have is for revolutionary publications to keep them aware of the broader picture of the class struggle, both to maintain their morale and to help them fight more effectively when they get the chance.
Over the past two decades, it has been a usual thing for revolutionary publications in the developed countries to get requests from political prisoners asking for free subscriptions. We began to get such requests from our first issue, from countries as far apart as Ireland and Israel. Obviously, under the impact of the economic crisis, even a few free subscriptions are a serious expense for a publication such as International Viewpoint. We have the same economic problems as any small capitalist enterprise, with the difference that we cannot retrench in hard times; that is precisely when we have to make the biggest effort.
Now, we not only have to try to meet requests for free subscriptions from political prisoners in the strict sense, but we have to try to respond to the needs of more and more imprisoned and victimized union activists, even local union leaderships whose funds have been drained by strike-breaker governments.
For example, local leaders of the British National Union of Mineworkers have asked us to send them a number of copies of International Viewpoint. We look forward to many more such requests from Britain and countries around the world. Fourth Internationalists throughout Europe, moreover, have proposed sending International Viewpoint to NUM members and other victimized unionists they have worked with. Some have already begun doing this on their own.
So, it has become obvious that we need a special fund to finance sending International Viewpoint to activists who cannot pay because of capitalist victimization. This is the only way that we can ensure that such comrades who have already been sent International Viewpoint will get it regularly and that we will be able to meet the growing demand for complimentary subscriptions. We simply cannot afford to do this without the help of our readers and supporters.
If you can help, please send you check or money order to International Viewpoint, 2 rue Richard Lenoir, Montreuil 93108, France, accompanied by a note saying that it is for the International Viewpoint for Fighters Fund. The checks should be made out to International Viewpoint.
International Viewpoint 22 April 1985