Workers' Weekly V.28 No.23

In recent weeks, there has been an escalation of violence in Kosova in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Serbian repression of the Albanian population has intensified and become an all-out war against the Kosova Liberation Army, which is fighting for the independence of Kosova. News agencies are already describing the Serbian repression, which includes artillery and mortar bombardment of towns and villages throughout Kosova, as "ethnic cleansing" and there are reports that whole towns have been abandoned by the Albanian population and that there are now some 100,000 refugees.

Britain and the other big powers in NATO, the EU and the so-called "Contact Group" of the US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia have already imposed economic sanctions on the Belgrade authorities and threatened NATO military intervention if the violence was not ended. Now the EU and the US are again interfering, apparently to arrange new "peace talks". However, their bullying and threats far from bringing peace to the region have led to increased violence. Press reports say that "diplomatic sources" have already admitted that the big powers are "turning a blind eye" to the Serbian offensive in order to weaken the KLA, whose struggle for an independent Kosova the big powers oppose.

The British government has been at the forefront of attempts to use military force in the Balkans. The Ministry of Defence has recently announced that British troops and aircraft will participate in two NATO exercises in Albania and Macedonia this summer, in order to "promote stability in the Balkans." Exercise Co-operative Assembly will take place from August 17-22 and include 60 British soldiers, two jets and two Hercules aircraft. Exercise Co-operative Best Effort will take place from 10-18 September and will include 15 British soldiers as well as jet fighters. These "exercises" which are allegedly "designed to develop a common understanding of peacekeeping and humanitarian aid operations" will allow NATO to more fully control the armed forces of Albania and Macedonia as well as strengthening its presence in this region. What they will not do is produce anything positive for the Kosovars or for the other peoples of the Balkans.

Britain and the other major powers are trying to justify their interference in the Balkans by claiming that they are trying to create the conditions for peace. Or they say that unrest in Kosova poses a threat to the imposed "peace agreement" in Bosnia and Herzegovina and threatens to bring instability throughout the Balkans, and use that as a pretext for intervention.

But the big powers, including Britain, have no mandate to interfere in the Balkan region, to issue military and economic threats nor to make pronouncements about the future of Kosova or who should be included in the so-called "peace talks". The fact is that the interference of the big powers has not in the past brought peace to the Balkans and is not designed to do so now. Indeed the violence against the Kosovars has escalated, and a volatile situation has been created which the imperialists are exploiting for their own strategic advantage. History shows that foreign intervention will not bring peace and security to the Kosovars or the other peoples of this region. This can only be brought about by ending foreign intervention in the Balkans and leaving the people to sort out their own affairs. The imperialists who are the cause of such problems around the globe cannot be called upon to solve them.

All democratic people must oppose the sending of NATO and other troops and demand that no British armed forces be sent to this region. They must develop the whole movement condemning the chauvinism and arrogance of the government's foreign policy in the service of the monopolies, upholding the right of peoples everywhere to determine their own affairs.

Return to Article Index

NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE CONFERENCE

The Present Situation Nationally and Internationally

The following are some of the points made in the paper on the present situation, nationally and internationally, presented to the first session of the National Consultative Conference of RCPB(ML) on July 18 by a member of the Central Committee. The first part of the article appeared in the last issue of Workers' Weekly.

ONE YEAR OF TONY BLAIR

The turning back of world capitalism to its trusted agency, social democracy, the speaker went on, sees its reflection in Britain in the bringing to power of Tony Blair and New Labour. It is now just over one year since the financial oligarchy, having carefully over several years prepared New Labour to be its government, staged what amounts to an electoral coup by which they brought Tony Blair to power. That this was so is surely clear from all subsequent events.

This was in fact the third great electoral coup staged against the working class and people in Britain since the Second World War, all of which show the bourgeoisie manipulating the opposition against the existing order. The first occurred in 1945. Conservatism was discredited and a new society beckoned. With the Soviet Union in the forefront, the peoples of the world had dealt a crushing blow to fascism, which the bourgeoisie, including the English bourgeoisie, had nurtured. Everything cried out for genuine socialism. But the Attlee government, which was swept to power, opted for the social welfare state, in order to divert the working class and preserve capitalism. Subsequent governments, Conservative and Labour, administered the welfare state until the economic crisis of the '70s rendered this impossible. Again the times cried out to go on to socialism.

But the second great coup was staged. By mobilising the most backward elements, Margaret Thatcher was brought to power. A wholesale programme of privatisation was begun. The national assets, both material and human, were sold off to the highest bidder. Massive cuts in social provisions began, with the state funds turned over to the pursuit of "business success" in the global market. Again this policy, carried on by John Major, only led to deeper crisis. Again the times cried out for socialism. So a third and more subtle coup had to be prepared. A wolf was needed in sheep's clothing, a Thatcherite in a different coat.

There was growing revolt against the anti-social offensive being carried out by Major's government on behalf of the rich. The Tories had become very discredited. They had lost the ability to accommodate the various sections, especially of the middle strata, who were needed for smooth implementation of the programme. Most importantly, there was emerging a growing crisis of credibility of the parliamentary system and the way the country was governed - a crisis of the capitalist system itself. The struggle against the Tory government policies threatened to grow into a powerful movement which would be transformed into a conscious movement for a new society. The financial oligarchy knew such a movement can only go towards socialism unless subverted or blocked. And yet they had to press ahead with their Thatcherite plans, even develop them, if their desperate quest for maximum profits was to carry on. Fortunately for them, the discontent was largely identified with the Tories.

The experience of one year of Tony Blair's government demonstrates without doubt the task New Labour was fashioned and brought into power by the bourgeoisie to accomplish. Under the guise of "modernisation", of reform, of "fairness" and "partnership", the anti-social offensive against the people has not only carried on but intensified. The system of paying the rich has been embraced with absolute enthusiasm and with no effective parliamentary opposition, and with many of the sections disaffected with the Conservatives placated, even if temporarily. In many respects the attacks on the people have gone beyond what even Thatcher in her prime was capable of. Not for nothing does Blair retain and even praise the so-called "Thatcher Reforms", but boasts that he is taking them a stage further.

The speaker then went on to detail some examples of how the Labour government is acting to carry out the plans of the rich.

In the economy, for instance, he pointed out, the cutting of social programmes and the robbing of the state treasury, plundering and destroying the national assets - natural, material and most importantly human - in order to finance the monopolies to compete for success in the global market has not only gone on apace but accelerated. All manner of new privatisation initiatives, designed to make facilities as well as skills developed with public funds into sources of maximum profit for the rich, have been introduced. By giving debt repayments priority over all other expenditure and in a thousand and one other ways, they are handing billions upon billions over to the rich while services for the people's wellbeing continue to deteriorate.

On the constitutional front only the policy which has been carried through by Labour of establishing a Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly while maintaining all sovereignty at Westminster was capable of heading off the demands for national self-determination and alleviating the growing crisis, even if only for the time being. The fact that the establishment of these institutions will only fuel the respective movements and lead to greater demands, as is already becoming clear in Scotland and creating fear in government circles, only further exposes the reactionary role of the Labour government.

Another example is that there is no mention even, let alone legislation, to rescind racist legislation such as the British Nationality Act, which creates a second class citizenry, encourages discrimination, and gives a green light to the most backward elements to carry out attacks, even murders, on the national minority communities.

Regarding Ireland, the government has pushed through a new arrangement aimed to maintain the interests of English and other capital and frustrate the legitimate demand of the Irish people to end British rule, end partition and sort out their own problems on the basis of their right of national self-determination. The Good Friday agreement institutionalises British rule and the sectarian divisions resulting from that rule. The fact that the Irish people and the political organisations upholding their interests are treating the Agreement as a stage towards their objective of ending British rule and extending their sovereignty over their whole territory only underlines the filthy and reactionary role played by Blair's government.

On foreign policy, with New Labour's dangerous and warmongering slogan of "Make Britain Great Again" and the shameless lauding of 19th century imperialist values and the "glories" of the British Empire, which Margaret Thatcher herself would have hesitated to proclaim, Blair's government has outstripped the Tories in its reactionary nature.

In short then, the speaker said, Tony Blair's government has carried forward, indeed intensified, the programme of the rich where the Tories left off. And what will happen when disillusion with the Labour government reaches crisis point, as it inevitably must? The Tory Party is hardly in a fit shape to pull the bourgeoisie's chestnuts out of the fire as did New Labour in May last year, nor is likely to be for decades to come. It could well be, and Tony Blair's policies open the way for such an outcome, that the bourgeoisie will introduce a most reactionary national coalition government or even some even more draconian form. Whichever way, the present direction leads only to disaster for the people.

THE NATURE OF THE STRUGGLE AT THE PRESENT TIME

The direction in which the rich and their New Labour government are taking society however is not without opposition. In fact a great class struggle has been waging and is being waged. This struggle is centred around the question of the "cuts" and is the current manifestation of the fundamental struggle between capitalism and socialism, as seen in the necessity to create a new society. It is manifesting itself between those who are using the pretext of the primacy of the success of the "private sector" as the basis for prosperity, in order to plunder the state treasury and block the path to progress for their own benefit, and those who are demanding investments and public guarantees for the well-being of all. It is a class war designed on one side to take society back to medievalism and on the other to take it forward towards the creation of a new system truly fit for human beings.

As was pointed out in There Is A Way Out of the Crisis, the speaker said, our Party has a great role to play as the most important subjective factor in this struggle. It has the task of raising the consciousness of the class and organising it to lead this battle, in terms of both the immediate aim of blocking the government and the monopolies in their drive to shift the burden of the economic crisis onto the shoulders of the workers, and the long-term aim of creating a socialist society.

Neither of these aims, immediate or long-term, can be conceived except in terms of the most advanced thinking and the most modern definitions. It must be taken into account that, historically speaking, one of the greatest achievements in the struggle against medievalism was the recognition of the responsibility of the state for the preservation and continuous raising of what has been universally recognised as social or public well-being. This began as far back as Henry VIII's time and, whatever the shortcomings, saw its development through such things as the great public works of the Victorian times right up to the education acts and the establishment of the NHS of the Second World War and immediate post-war years. What is happening now is that instead of taking this great achievement over medievalism to its logical conclusion – by guaranteeing such services to all members of society from the day they are born to the day they die – these services have been and are being withdrawn on the basis of first the bald justifications of Margaret Thatcher that "there is no such thing as society" and now on the no less reactionary if less blatant arguments of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and others that it is not the state, but individuals, families and communities which must increasingly fend for themselves (with the help of the local monopoly if that assists their profits).

The struggles both immediate and long-term can only be waged successfully by recognising that people are born to society, a highly complex, integrated social system, and that the claims of all individuals and collectives – workers, women, youth, national minorities, disabled and others – must be met in full by that society to the highest available level, as of right simply by existing as humans and residents of the country, irrespective of wealth, position, gender, nationality, skin-colour, life style or any other characteristic.

They can only be waged successfully also by recognising that at the turn of the 21st century the people themselves must be the decision-makers, must be empowered, at every level and in every endeavour affecting their lives.

The speaker went on to explain the necessity for an independent programme for the working class. He gave many examples of the struggles being waged against the "cuts" and against privatisation, against the whole direction of government policy.

The working class is, and has to be, the central force in these struggles. As the most numerous, the most revolutionary, the class with nothing to lose, the working class must rally around itself all other sections and lead it out of the crisis. But to do so it must have its own independent programme. It manifestly cannot rely on New Labour to uphold its interests and those of society generally. Nor can it confine itself to merely putting pressure on the government in order to limit its excesses. It must have its own agenda which leads to it constituting itself as the nation. The working class has to capture the initiative by developing its own independent programme on behalf of the entire people.

The speaker ended by citing the conclusion of the 1994 draft document, There Is A Way Out of the Crisis, with its call to "all the communists, the progressive and democratic forces and all those who are aspiring to a modern society, to take up the task of building a mass Communist Party based on modern definitions, uniting all people in a storm against 'the cuts' and against a return to medievalism, and working together with all for the empowerment of the people and for the creation of a socialist society". After one year of Tony Blair, with the new century approaching, such a call is of crucial and immediate importance.

Return to Article Index

NEWS OF THE FIREFIGHTERS

Cost of the Essex Dispute

It was announced on August 10 by the Fire Brigades Union that the Essex dispute has cost the Essex Fire Authority some £2 million. The FBU estimates that police costs have so far topped £1.5 million, while £500,000 has been spent keeping 25 Green Goddesses on standby. The dispute is over cuts in services which would cost 16 jobs at a "saving" of £1.2 million a year.

The firefighters' just stand has already been condemned by Home Office Minister George Howarth, who blamed them for imposing additional financial burdens on the fire authorities. What is left out of this equation is the cost to the people's wellbeing in terms of cuts in fire cover and possible loss of life. Such a cost can never be balanced against the "financial constraints" imposed on local authorities which are resulting in the cuts in public services.

Firefighters Protest in the North East

It is reported that on Monday August 10, 50 firefighters staged a demonstration outside a North East Fire Station at Fulwell in Sunderland against proposed cuts. Firefighters took part in the action against the axing of an appliance at the station as well as an emergency tender at South Shields by Tyne & Wear Fire Authority. The Authority are presently seeking Home Office approval for these cutbacks which will reduce their budget by £900,000 a year, and up to 32 jobs could be lost through "natural wastage". This protests follows on from a picket by firefighters from Sunderland and South Shields of the Tyne & Wear Fire Authority meeting the previous week and the handing in of a petition signed by 25,000 people opposing the cutbacks.

ESSEX STRIKE DATES

FRIDAY 7th August 1998 13:00 hrs UNTIL SATURDAY 8th August 1998 13:00 hrs

WEDNESDAY 12th August 1998 09:00 hrs UNTIL THURSDAY 13th August 1998 09:00 hrs

SATURDAY 15th August 1998 13:00 hrs UNTIL SUNDAY 16th August 1998 13:00 hrs

TUESDAY 18th August 1998 16:30 hrs UNTIL 18:30 hrs

WEDNESDAY 19th August 1998 16:30 hrs UNTIL 18:30 hrs

THURSDAY 27th August 1998 16:30 hrs UNTIL 18:30 hrs

FRIDAY 28th August 1998 16:30 hrs UNTIL 18:30 hrs

ESSEX HARDSHIP FUND C/o Sean Walshe, 12 Riffhams Drive, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, CM2 7DD

(Cheques payable to Essex Hardship Fund)

Return to Article Index

NEWS IN BRIEF

Job Losses at BOC

Five hundred workers are to lose their jobs at industrial gases group BOC as part of a worldwide restructuring. BOC plans to reduce its employment worldwide by 3,700 initially, followed by a further 1,200 job cuts at associated businesses - over 15% of its workforce.

"These changes will impact both our short-term and long-term profit favourably, making BOC significantly stronger as we enter the 21st century," Chief Executive Danny Rosenkranz said. "The scale of the change is massive and touches all parts of BOC. We will complete it within two years and hope to have much done within 12 months. It will lead to a jump in our performance."

The company announced its third quarter results, with profits for three quarters down to £272.4m from £325.5m last time. It claims that competition from the Far East, and the high pound, has hurt sales and profits.

Further Blow to North-East

Grove Europe Ltd in Sunderland confirmed on August 10 that 670 workers are to lose their jobs when its crane factory closes at the end of the year. The news comes hard on the heels of the announced closure of Siemens on Tyneside.

The regional industrial officer of the GMB union, Ron Bales, criticised the Labour government, saying: "We want Labour to defend the people who put it into power – this is Prime Minister Tony Blair's backyard and it is still a great manufacturing centre." Engineering union AEEU regional official Davey Hall said: "It's another colossal and brutal blow to the manufacturing industry in the north-east of England."

As the financial oligarchy prospers despite the Asian crisis and the impending recession, the workers are forced to pay the price of competing in the "global market".

Return to Article Index

Glasgow Social Workers' Strike

OVER 1,200 social workers have been on unofficial strike since the beginning of August after the suspension of three of their colleagues by Glasgow City Council.

The three social workers were suspended on August 3 after refusing to cooperate with the council's controversial plan to transfer 3,000 home helps from social work department to the catering and domestic care services department. The workers believe the move will lead to privatisation and job losses: the council is insisting that the transfer will not lead to compulsory redundancies and that staffing levels will remain the same. The workers' fears have been fuelled by the revelation that the UK Home Carers Association, which represents companies providing home care services on contract to councils, already has 100 members in Scotland and a development officer to further expand their operations in Scotland.

At a mass meeting on August 10, the workers voted to return to work in the afternoon after marching with the workers, who have now been reinstated, back to their workplace. Strike committee spokesperson Roddy Slorach congratulated the strikers on achieving the reinstatement of the suspended workers. UNISON has said that it will hold a ballot on the question of official strike action.

In England and Wales, businesses providing home-helps and care related to nursing services have grown rapidly following the directive that local authorities should contract out 85% of their services. In Scotland, recent policy changes have made chinks in the blanket council provision. A requirement that individuals' ability to pay should be assessed along with their needs so that those not dependant on state benefits make at least a contribution to their care costs has resulted, according to Age Concern Scotland, in some elderly people preferring to make private arrangements. The Glasgow social workers have seen the transfer of the home help service from social work to the new department covering catering and domestic care services as an indication that the recognition of society's responsibility to provide such care as of right was being withdrawn. John Brown, the council's head of public relations, said, "The council is being pushed by the government to look for best value and this move, part of a much larger exercise in telescoping 21 departments into 12, is part of that," adding, "but it won't affect the social work department's policy."

Return to Article Index

Portugal, June 6-7, 1998: UDP Image

12th Congress of UDP Successfully Held in Lisbon

THE Uniao Democratica Popular (UDP) Portugal held its 12th Congress in Lisbon on June 6-7 on the theme: Europe of the People against Imperialism. Over 200 delegates from across the country participated in the Congress, including the autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira. Invited guests included political personalities within the country and representatives of fraternal parties and organisations from around the world, including Canada, Catalogna, Denmark, Galicia, Ireland, Norway, Poland and Timor. Messages of greetings were also received from revolutionary parties and organisations from Belgium, Britain, the Dominican Republic, Greece, Italy, Japan and Peru.

Luis Fazenda, General Secretary of UDP, in his opening address, appealed to the peoples of the world to intensify the class struggle against imperialism and the globalisation of the monopolies, characterised by the danger of global wars and the increase in poverty on the world scale.

The UDP points out that the concentration of capital and the impoverishment of the workers as well as the population of the world is accompanied by a merciless assault on employment, health, housing and education. Here one sees the essence of the neo-liberal ideology which gives ground to imperialist propaganda of a "world without boundaries", "free enterprise", the "American democratic model" of the "new order". This ideology, in the service of the oligopolies, translates into political, commercial and military strategies launched from within the White House, the powers within the European Union and Japan, and further elaborated and revised by the G-7, the World Bank, the IMF, the World Trade Organisation, etc. This aggressive strategy is imposed through the domination of capital, control of markets and raw materials. Imperialism, through manipulation and intrigue, controls states, creates cross alliances and political blocs and as a last resort, increases the military blackmail of NATO, predominantly controlled by the US.

UDP is committed to working to create a broad, united front with an alternative proposal for a Europe of sovereign peoples and nations. Luis Fazenda pointed out that millions of people in Europe oppose the neo-liberal agenda which is inflicting misery on the peoples. He spoke of the need for political renewal towards a socialist Europe in order to paralyse the path to the European Union of the monopolies.

In Portugal, through privatisation, in the name of social reform, structural changes are being made at a time when 50 percent of Portuguese workers have only part time or temporary work and the population at large is facing job insecurity, unsafe working conditions, a downward pressure on wages, decreased services in social programmes, health care, education, housing, etc. The UDP is calling for public investment in health as well as the taxation of the rich, as a step towards social justice for the recognition of the rights of the Portuguese people. At present, the workers in Portugal are the only ones who pay taxes and on average, earn four times less than workers in Germany. Through the Amsterdam Treaty, further cuts will take place in social expenditures, while the monopolies attempt to secure markets. The tendency will be for Portugal to become even more peripheral, marginalised through reduced development, thereby causing further dependency.

The UDP also supports the decentralisation of powers for Portugal's autonomous regions, Madeira and the Azores, which have their own government. The UDP has fought to strengthen economic and social cohesion with them. It supports regionalisation as an expression of decision making of the people at the base, in order to encourage better development.

The UDP is participating in all levels of elections within the country and has been very active at the neighbourhood level in putting forward demands in defence of the rights of the people. The present government is taking measures to stifle the UDP's participation in elections by imposing restrictive financial ceilings and by requiring audits of only the smaller parties such as the UDP, while the larger parties benefit from subsidies and are not audited. Within this framework, the UDP is looking at different alternatives to develop their financial resources. The UDP has reaffirmed that it will continue the struggle in this arena.

Through the April 25 Revolution in 1974, Fazenda pointed out that the revolutionary forces of Portugal not only interpreted the world, but also made their own contribution by defeating the fascist Salazar regime, a historical initiative on their part. The main sectors of the economy were nationalised, such as the steel industry, announcing a bright perspective for the future. However, since the coup d'etat in November of 1975, Portugal has never produced a surplus in steel and for a period covered 50% of its needs. In March of 1994, the steel sector was dismantled, followed by privatisation. In 1995 alone, over 4,000 jobs were lost in this industry alone.

Within the country, the UDP is working for the controlled decriminalisation of drug consumption and the setting up of a public health programme and support system for those suffering from this social ill. Around 80% of those in prison have been incarcerated due to drug related problems. The present government's position is to clamp down even harder on the youth who are principally afflicted by this problem, by turning it into a law and order question. The UDP sees this as a social problem and is working to provide assistance to victims and their families.

Another demand emanating from the Congress is for the depenalisation of abortion, which is presently illegal. The UDP's position is that abortion is a woman's choice and that a woman must not be condemned for taking this decision. In Portugal, a referendum on this question is to be held on June 28. Abortion in Portugal is presently illegal and because of this, women are endangering their health by seeking abortions clandestinely or by attempting to abort themselves.

The UDP's influence amongst various sectors of the population is growing, particularly amongst the youth who have always fought against fascism and the repressive measures of the state.

Within the country, there is also a crisis in the fishing and agricultural sectors and many companies are closing down their operations and relocating, in search of better returns on their investments. Workers face unsafe conditions and the pressure of lower wages. The government is introducing measures for employers to participate in drafting labour legislation and lengthening collective agreements.

The UDP has taken the decision to reinforce its political action to challenge the government which is following the neo-liberal agenda. The UDP will work to develop mass struggle, by contributing to the development of a strong alternative left which breaks with the hesitation of the present party of the opposition, the Communist Party of Portugal, against the neo-liberal agenda.

On immigration, the UDP stands for the defence of immigrants' rights and is fighting against present immigration laws, in defence of human rights, family reunification, the right of immigrants to participate in their communities and the defence of their culture.

The UDP is also calling for a minimum retirement pension equivalent to the minimum national salary, defence of citizenship within a secular state, a 35 hour work week with no pay cut, guaranteed employment, the elimination of the SIS (Portuguese Intelligence Service), and punishment for environmental crimes.

Chris Coleman, on behalf of the Central Committee of RCPB(ML), sent a message to the General Secretary of UDP, Luis Fazenda, on the occasion of the Congress. This is printed below.

Letter from RCPB(ML) to UDP

May 29, 1998

Dear Comrade Luis,

On the important occasion of the 12th Congress of your Party, we send to you our heartfelt congratulations and warmest good wishes.

We are passing at present, since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the bipolar division of the world, through a period of retreat of revolution, when all the Marxist-Leninist parties and organisations have had to find their bearings in the new circumstances, and put forward a line and programme for the working class based on the concrete conditions in their own countries and internationally. It is to the great merit of your Party, with its heroic history stretching back to the revolutionary days of April 1974, that it has continued to hold high the banner of revolution and communism, and has put forward a programme for the class to lead the people out of the present predicament.

We trust that the long-standing relations between our two parties will continue to strengthen. We wish all success to the proceedings of the 12th Congress and to the implementation of its important decisions.

With warm fraternal greetings

Chris Coleman on behalf of the Central Committee RCPB(ML)

Return to Article Index