Answering the question of solidarity

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The car firms are the centre of union organisation 'A Question of Solidarity: Independent Trade Unions in South Africa' ', by Bob Fine and Laurence Welch. Published by SOFSAS; available for 90p plus 20p postage via SO, 28 Middle Lane, London N8.

AT last we have a pamphlet that offers to trade unionists and solidarity workers in the UK the straightforward information necessary for effective working class solidarity. with the South African struggles. It provides a very powerful argument for direct links between British workers and independent unions in South Africa, and a critique of those who resist a socialist perspective on the struggle against apartheid.

Independent unions are those: committed. to the democratic organisation of black workers in South Africa, and independent of the state.

Support for South African workers is difficult, the authors argue, for four reasons. The first is lack of information about the trade union movement in South Africa - its size and structure, its demands and the actual disputes taking place. While it is known that some unions are racist, or the stooges of the state, it is not widely known which ones these are. This makes people hesitate to support any Worse, management in Britain can deflect solidarity by claiming. that a genuine dispute is really only inter-union strife. The pamphlet seeks to combat this ignorance directly by providing information on the structure of the South African trade union movement, its history, its demands, and its relationship with the nationalist struggle. To facilitate the direct links called for a list of Trade Union centres and their affiliates is included.

The second difficulty is the lack of experience in Britain of the many ways in which solidarity can be expressed.. These range from letters of sympathy, through protests to parent companies in the UK, to exchange visits, sympathy strikes and blackings. state.

nationalism Monday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday extremely unfortunate side-effect of isolating from workers inside SA who are also fighting the apartheid The pamphlet discusses at some length the implications, for the growth of working class intera stage-ist strategy for revolution in South Africa.

While supporting absolutely the demands for an end to apartheid articulated by the AAM, the authors expose the essential contradiction of its positon in calling for a broad front of Il groups fighting agains partheid while denouncing resemble of the January 17 24 31 3 10 18 25 19 26 5 12. 27 6 13 20 28 8 23 30 14 29 15 22 9 16 The fourth obstacle to the development of clear solidarity strategies by workers is the confusion on the question expressed by leading Trade Union bodies who have, in various ways, fallen short of effective leadership despite being generally sympathetic to the struggles of South African workers. This failure of leadership derives in part from the general lack of information available to all trade unionists, but also has a darker side, with serious implications for socialism.

There are elements in the trade union movement, especially, perhaps, leadership levels, whose grasp of socialism extends no further than economistic demands for a bigger workNOTTINGHAM Campaign Against Racism and Fascism: public launch meeting, with speaker. Vron Ware (editor of the antifascist monthly Searchlight), 7.30pm, International Centre, 61b Mansfield Road. ing class share of the capitalist cake. When united, as it usually is, with national chauvinism, this orientation leads to a reluctance to support worker demands overseas which may threaten British capital, and therefore the size of the cake to be divided.

Direct links would by-pass this, and demonstrate in very practical ways the essential unity of the working class struggle.

Here Fine and Welch touch upon, brat do not develop, perhaps the most intractable problem all; the defeats that internationalism must often suffer in the course of a recession, when workers seek to protect their own interests, often without ployed, Hounds Gate. Creche and lunch available. Morning includes speakers from CPSA NEC and Child Poverty Action Group, and a Labour MP; afternoon workshops on ESSP, job centres/ethnic monitoring, new supplementary benefit legislation.

Open to all unemployed people and delegates from trade union and labour movement organisations.

LABOUR democracy and local government: day conference for District Labour Parties, Saturday March 26, 10.30 to 4.30, at Manchester Poly Students' Union. Sponsored by Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester DLPs. Contact: Frances Done. Manchester City Labour Party. Hulme Labour Club. 1 Stonestow Cuse Mincbesier ·15 Rowntrees: a case for solidarity regard for those workers in other countries. There are no concrete solutions to this problem. Specific counter-attacks can only be worked out by activists in the context of local conditions in each branch and shop.

However, this pamphlet makes a major contribution to the problem by providing facts and arguments necessary to back up calls for international solidarity. It is especially useful in showing how this solidarity has been important both to the South African struggles concerned, and for the broadening of the horizons of British workers.

Moreover, in one of several quotes from trade unionists, the pamphlet points out that one of the provisions of Tebbit's laws is the prohibition of any form of trade union action in solidarity with workers abroad, whether or not they work for the same multi-national corporation. The penalties include hefty fines for the union, or the imprisonment of officials. Tebbit's proposals must be opposed on international as well as domestic grounds.

In South Africa the LONDON ASSEMBLY: the second London Assembly will take place on Saturday January 29 1983, from 10 am to 1.30pm at Friends Mouse, Euston Rd, London NW1. Called by the Greater London Council and other groups to 'bring Londoners together to discuss bow we can defend, extend and improve our services' . Organisations are invited to nominate up to two representatives.

SCOTTISH Labour CND conference: Saturday January 22, City Hall, Candleriggs, Glasgow, 10am-5pm. Open to delegates and to visitors (£l admission). LABOUR CND national conference: Saturday February 19. West Midlands Counte Hall. Lancaster Circus. Birmingham.

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Wiehahn Commission on Labour Relations of 1979 took very seriously the threat of international labour opposition. The government has since set up a special sub-committee of the National Manpower Committee to study international labour issues, and appointed labour attachés in Brussels and Washington. The governments of our two countries are well aware of the threat of international working class solidarity. This pamphlet urges us to ensure in concrete ways that their fears are justified.

The authors base their argument firmly on the concrete lessons to be drawn from five casestudies of actual struggles in South Africa in which direct support from British workers was called for and given. They call unequivocally for direct links between unions at shop floor level as being the only way to overcome the problem of lack of information, and to bypass the actions of possible well-meaning but basically obstructive elements.

Lack of contact weakens workers in both countries, and serves the purposes of management only, prolongLabour Movement Campaign for Palestine public meeting:

THE FIGHT FOR PALESTINE Speakers: Tariq Ali, Brown MP (Leith), Jeremy Corbyn, and speakers from Women for Palestine and Lebanese National Movement.

Wednesday February 23, 8pm at County Hall, London SE1.

LABOUR Committee on Ireland: annual general meeting 1983 will be on March 26. Resolutions to be in by February 27. There will be an extended meet.

90p Bob Fine ing the time before socialism is achieved in either South Africa or the UK.

Strikes and blackings in support of South African workers may sometimes be called for, and have, as Fine and Welch show, often been successful. However, even small actions, such -as writing fraternal letters or making collections for material aid can be extremely important to morale in South Africa, and effective forms of support.

A trade unionist committed. to internationalism could begin solidarity work at his or her next branch meeting bv initiating a discussion, inviting one of the authors to speak or proposing opening contacts with a sister union in South Africa.

Telling

Perhaps the simplest and most telling argument for direct links between workers in South Africa and Great Britain is that the democratic independent unions in South Africa call for them.

Sarah Murison Islington South LP Just returned from South Africa.

ing of the ICI National Council on January 22.

Hand-printed silk-screened T-shirts: • Socialist Organiser: paper masthead with option of local group's name added at 20p per T-shirt extra. • Solidarnose logo, red on white. • Labour against the • Red star on white ground.

£2.50 each except SO T-shirts, £3. Postage 50p. T shirts come in white or yellow, please state preference. Also individual designs undertaken, cost 26, must have details of design and idea. Allow 14 days for delivery. Send orders Kevin Glover, 19 Ranton Way, Leicester.

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Sarah Murison reviews a pamphlet black unions in S. Africa.

Lawrence Welch