Fight for

Scan page 1

Campaign Cash!

Socialist Organiser has been dipping into its funds this week to help the Leyland Action Committee produce its new bulletin and organise its conferWe're also beginning to run up expenses on the trade union conference jointly sponsored by London Labour Briefing and us, on March 6. And that's on top of the regular, ever-increasing bills.

Keep the contributions coming in! Send to Socialist Organiser, 28 Middle Lane, London support from the labour movement elsewhere.

Domination

In British labour movement, the Polish workers should specially be able to expect support from people like yourselves, the best-known leaders of the Labour and trade union left.

If trade union militants were being killed, wounded, interned, and given long sentences by military authorities in Britain, You would protest loudly.

Yet on Poland Tony Benn has been silent. And last Sunday's Observer reported this interview with Arthur Scargill:

Do you agree with Solidarity's opposition to the Polish government?

Scargill was doubtful. Solidarity, it seems, was not quite as bad as the SDP, but all the same...

'Solidarity's not a trade union. That's been clearly established'.

*You're saying it's a catholic, reactionary movement , the interviewerl suggested; and Scargill didn't dissent.

We agree that Solidarnosc was not simply a trade union. Despite its proclaimed aim of reforming the state, reaching some comence on January 23. N8. promise with the Party, and not questioning the Russian domination of their country, every single contest between Solidarnosc and the state/ Party elite deepened further the drive of the working class to take over power in society.

Arthur Scargill is a believer in proportional representation. He was elected at pit head ballots by 70 per cent of his members, and has promised to re-submit himself to a vote every five years. He has demanded a greater say and power for working people in this country.

But he suddenly draws the line at the River Elbe.

Worse: the Observer also asked if his leaving the CP in 1961 was over Hungary. Scargill replied, "Oh no! | supported the Soviet Union over Hungary. The Hungarian Revolution was joined by known fascists"

Over past months Tony Benn has himself pointed out the parallels between the fight for democracy in the Labour Party which he heads, and the fight for workers' democracy in Jaruzelski: The workers, not Thatcher, will setle with him But now he is silent.

Indeed, with the honourable (and ironic) exception of Scottish miners' leader and Communist Party member Mick McGahey, who proposed a minute's silence at a miners' conference last month, no prominent leader of the left in the trade unions or the Labour Party has spoken out loudly in defence of the Polish working class.

Do you want to maintain relations with the State functionaries of Eastern Europe, in the belief that they are somehow, after all, part of the socialist movement? Do you, Arthur Scargill, support and wish to maintain the NUM's contacts with official USSR state-run unions contacts which led the NUM to accept the Kremlin story that the Russian miner and campaigner for free trade unions, Vladimir Klebanov, was 'mad'? (Klebanov IS now being tortured In 'psychiatric hospital').

Surely the experience of Poland shows that the bureaucrats of the Kremlin and Eastern Europe are in fact among the most bitter enem ies of working-class The labour movement needs to organise its own class solidarity with the Polish workers, completely independent from the cold war politics and actions of Reagan and Thatcher. End martial law. Free Lech Walesa. Release all political and union prisoners. An end to all restrictions on Solidarnosc.

No Warsaw Pact intervention.

No to the state unions: build links with the underground workers' resistance. Send money, food Is it that you accept the 'socialist' power as an accomplished fact? Can you identify socialism with the self-defence of a privileged bureaucracy against the mobilised workers (whatever confused ideas may or may not be in those workers' heads)?

How from that standpoint could you prove to be adequate leaders of the British working class when we too start challenging 'accomplished facts' more boldly than we have yet done?

Do you fear to aid the anti-communist Right by vocally, supporting Solidarnosc?

Thatcher's or Chapple's propaganda antics are a tenth-rate issue compared to the fate of the Polish workers' movement. But in fact the leaders of the Left have only themselves to blame if the professional anti-communists have been able to have a field-dayand literature to the organisations.

Unconditional sup] the Polish workers' fi (Signed):

Reg Race MP Jonathan Hammond President, NUJ)

Oliver McDonald (Labour Focus on Eastern Europe) (all in personal capacity)

Socialist Organiser Alliance London Labour Briefing Socialist Challenge Tories, Liberals, and righ wing Labour and trade unior personalities have all madi their appearance at rallies at demonstrations, and or television and radio, t solemnly declare thei absolute 'solidarity witl Solidarity'.

They are liars. Facer with a movement like Solid arnosc here in Britain, the! would be its most venomou enemies.

But Poland is a long wa away, and in the present wa against the Left in the labou movement here every littl bit helps. Side by side witl bureaucratic manipulation 'democratic' phrase-monger ing and hypocrisy also ha its part to play.

The problem is that ther are only small voices t unmask them from the Left.

This week Len Murray has been refused permiss ion to visit Poland on a fact finding mission. But evel this move by Murray is tor little. too late. the TUC to establish link with Solidarnosc, the livin! ten million strong labou movement, and to junk it relations with the polici state unions.

When the letter finally arrived from Len Murray ir early January, the Polish trade unionists' first react ion was: "Who's he? What" that?"

But if Len Murray is nov prepared to do somethin! positive, let's see the leader of the Left act too.

Instead of hearing Reag an brandishing his trade san ctions, let's hear you, Tom Benn and Arthur Scargill calling for trade unior blacking of Polish trad (food and essential supplie excepted) in solidarity wit the workers. Let's hea you cutting relations wit the Stalinist bureaucrats an pledging yourselves instea to hlep Solidarnosc an movements like it through out the Stalinist bloc.

Let's hear you proclaim ing the truth that Reaga must lie about - that Solic arnosc was indeed movin towards a challenge for pov er - for workers' power and it was quite right to d so!

Socialist Organiser will i any case be working flat-ou to gather support for th solidarity appeal we ha launched with other socia ists, and for solidarity actig wherever possible.

Scan page 2

Socialist Örganiser no. 68 January 14; 1983 Page 27 abo