Not Free Trade

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Air lobour movement solidarity—p.3 Post to: Socialist Organiser, 28 Middle Lane, London N8 far more powerful message of solidarity was the mass decision of Massey Ferguson workers to black Polish components.

It has been Solidarnosc trade unionists in Britain who have been centrally involved in visiting factories up and down the country, drumming up working class support for Poland.

A national demonstration is now being jointly sponsored by the Socialist Organiser Alliance and London Labour Briefing. The demonstration will be on Saturday March 13 in central London.

There will be speakers and representatives from the Solidarnose Trade Union* Group in the UK.

It is a specifically labour movement initiative and demonstration and we appeal to all Labour Parties, trade union branches and all left groups to sponsor the demonstration and help build it into as big an event as possible.

Down with the Polish Junta!

Free all political and union prisoners!

Free Walesa!

No Warsaw Pact intervention!

No to the state unions!

Unconditional support for the Polish workers' fight!

Katy We're offering bundles of five each week for £1 post free, and bundles of 10 for £1.75 post free.

That's £12 for three months for bundles of 5, and £21 for bundles of ten.

Regular subscription rates are £5 for three year.

From: Socialist Organiser, 28 Middle Lane, of so London N8. Please make cheques payable to SocNIONS breaking the ASLEF strike flopped dismally last Wednesday and Thursday, as NUR drivers rejected BR's appeal to cross the ASLEF picket lines at Aylesbury.

Now-according to the Guardian on Monday 8th-the BR bosses are considering:

*An Edwardes-style declaration that everyone must turn up to work on BR's terms as from a set day, or be suspended without *An outright union-busting move against ASLEF, telling its members that they must join the NUR or be sacked.

*A lock-out, shutting down the whole rail network.

Their strength to push through any of these is doubtful. So in the meantime BR are trying to bolster themselves with Workers occupying Plessey's Bathgate factory have voted to dety a court order (interdict) instructing them to leave the premises. The factory which employs 350 workers, 90% women, was occupied by the workers at 6 am on Monday 25 January.

Plesseys had announced complete closure of the plant to be effective from the end of February, and with Bathgate alread one of the unemployment blackspots in Scotland, this proved too much for a workforce which had never before been on strike.

On Thursday 4 February Court of Session for an interdict to remove them from the premises. Three senior stewards attended the threats of more line closures and a show trial of ASLEF at the McCarthy inquiry.

Their reserve weapon is NUR general secretary Sid Weighell, who despite his union executive's declared support for ASLEF's case joined BR's attack on the train drivers for boycotting the MoCarthy inquiry. ever, were under no illusions about the law. A mass meeting held after the court hearing decided unanimously to continue the occupation and are showing more determination than the BL strike committee which had meekly surrendered their position the week before.

Blacked

The unions with members involved in the dispute are AUEW, TASS and APEX, all of which have declared the strike official. AUEW have written to other Plessey plants in England informing them of the situation and instructing them to black any work transferred from Bathgate.

What is urgently needed Since ASLEF's demand is for the 3% already agreed to be paid without productivity strings, the McCarthy terms of reference are in effect to investigate how ASLEF can best be sold out. An attempt by McCarthy himself to modify the terms and draw ASLEF in was blocked by BR-again action by other workers.

Bathgate supplies circuits for washing machines, calculators, computers and a whole range of other products. The steering committee has not yet organised around this demand although deputations have already been to visti other workplaces.

The Beeston factory will be visiting Bathgate on Friday 12, and it is to be hoped that the action will spread.

Play down

As usual, STUC have managed to play down this dispute. The workers are waiting for some concrete leadership but none is yet forthcoming. Time will run uing its one-day strike policy, can in the end only wear down the drivers' militancy without delivering the knock-out blow. ASLEF militants are more and more convinced that an all-out strike is necessary.

Such an all-out strike, backed up by energetic picketing at docks, coal stocks and steelworks, could mobilise the strong support that exists for ASLEF in the rank and file of the labour movement, and hit not only BR but also employers dependent on supplies carried by rail like coal and steel.

It could transform the Triple Alliance of rail, coal and steel unions from a good idea existing only on paper and in official speeches, to a force capable of beating the Tories.

Already Yorkshire NUM has voted to extend their blacking support by adopting a policy of picketing coal depots to prevent coal shipments being diverted from rail to road transport.

Local liaison commitees and strike committees can create the leadership necessary to push the ASLEF leadership into this all-out mobilisation, and to take it through to victory. that they are fighting not only for their jobs but are doing so with the full weight of the labour movement behind them.

Noone ever believes that the law can benefit anyone in their situation, but the feeling is that if 200 bailiffs turn up, what can they do?

Susan Bradley, who has worked at Plesseys for 25 years, told me:

"I have spent a large part of my life working for the firm and feel that 1 am entitled to be treated better than a number."

Funds are" urgently required. Noone has had any income since 15 January and they are thoroughly dependent on donations. Strike pay has not yet filtered through, and although

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