[page 4]
power in favour of the employers" as the engineering bosses quaintly put it in a secret memorandum to the National Industrial Relations Court, (published in Tribune 18.5.73). Their hirelings in the Tory Party, by means of the Act, hoped they could roll back the wheel the right to strike, to infringe on the right of solidarity action, to financially weaken the unions, to undermine the closed shop and to force the And there were many, even within the Labour Movement itself, who expected that this programme could be carried out, that British society was moving into the era of the the rights of the working class had been gained in generations of struggle and at the cost of enormous sacrifices in blood and suffering. These conquests cannot be erased by the stroke of a legislative pen, even one wielded by the 'Mother of Parliaments' itself. It is one thing to pass an Act, it is another thing entirely to carry it out. class and Labour Movement far stronger and more cohesive than at any time in its history. Marxists have pointed out that one effect of the post-war economic upswing was undoubtedly to soften class relations, in the advanced capitalist countries. side of the boom was that it enabled the working class to heal the wounds of the mass unemployment and misery of the inter-war period, to build up and strengthen the organisations Over 10 million workers are now numbered in the ranks of the unions tremendous increase compared to the inter-war period, when they were only established in a few industries with the best union organisation. For the Tories to challenge head-on this power of the workers' organisations was a guarantee of a gigantic social explosion, which would either lead to a general strike or When the 'cooling-off' procedure was used against the railwaymen it only served to Pentonville Five had not been released. The TUC were forced to go on record for a 24 The use of black-legs like Snute in the docks and Goad in the engineering industry to undermine the principle of the closed shop and class solidarity rebounded on the capitalists. The threat of widespread retaliatory action was sufficient to force the employers to lay-off with generous terms of course, the self-styled proponents of 'liberty', (ie, for the bosses) All these events have forced the strategists of capital to reassess the Industrial A measure which promised to usher in an era of 'social peace' While it may have cost the unions a certain amount - the AUEW has lost £770,000 in financial impositions and an extra £200,000 in forfeited income tax concessions, this is as nothing to the colossal sums lost in the biggest strike wave since 1926. the same time it has been powerless to fundamentally curtail the rights of the working class. Confirmation of this has recently come from the most unlikely quarter, the Commission on Industrial Relations, (C.I.R.), itself a creature of the Act. Thus in its annual report, the C.I.R. says in relation to the closed shop, "By the end of 1972 the only approved closed shop was that between the British Shipping Federation and the National Union of Seamen. Yet our enquiries indicated that the practice of history.
They sought to limit union leadership to act as open 'labour Any attempt to implement the Act would meet with of the Trade Unions.
compared to just under 5 million in 1930.
a million, a a retreat on the part of the bourgeoisie.
opposite effect to what its authors intended.
EFFECTS OF THE ACT ...
hour general strike.
Relations Act.
opposite result.
of the closed shop was still widespread."
'Tieutenants of capital', as policemen over the the furious resistance of a working But the other positive The shop stewards number a colossal quarter of And so it proved to be. The I. R Act had the , has bad the 3
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The Act had declared the closed shop not as 'illegal' but as 'void' ! Even the hard nosed engineering capitalists, who would dearly love to eliminate the power of the unions in their industry, have understood that they would be callea on to pay a high price in terms of strikes, sit-ins etc, in order to rid themselves of the 'scourge' It is a price they are not prepared to pay at this stage. In: the memorandum mentioned above, arising from secret talks with Donaldson N.I.R.C. chief (which in itself speaks volumes about the so-called 'impartiality' of this body), they informed him to suspend non-union men rather than use the lav." (our emphasis) The ineffectiveness of the Act is further highlighted by the comments of the C.I.R. on legally binding agreements. Searching for some crumb of comfort it hopefully declares: •come across some instances of legally binding agreements", but then disconsolately adds, "In general these appeared to have been the result of oversight." evidence even the most zealous defenders of the Act find it difficult his own words is Eric Jacobs, industrial correspondent of the 'Sunday Times' "Those of us who thought the Act would have a useful and constructive effect on industrial It was those ideologists of capitalism like Jacobs who pressed on the Tories the need to arm themselves with all the necessary legal paraphenalia of the Act. But the medicine they prescribed has only worsened the patients malady. They declaimed against strikes, particularly the unofficial short/small strikes of the '60s. Sure enough the Act diminished these but at the cost of 'larger and longer' official strikes, with an increase in the number of days lost rocketing from almost 7 million days in 1969, the year The Act was fashioned as a weapon for Big Business, to be used as a last resort. 'small fry', both the employers and those scabs like Goad, have rushed to characterise it at the time of the imprisonment of the dockers as a :- .... "disordered slot machine, which produces a succession of unforeseen results, mostly The spokesmen of capitalism have called either for its complete abandonment, its shelving until a more suitable occasion arises, or such amendments as will render it completely far in embroiling them in a confrontation which they wish to avoid at this stage. They are not prepared to risk losing the very healthy protits which the accumulated power of the Trade Unions is seen. Due to the restraints imposed by the leadership only a portion of this power has been brought to bear on the Government. Yet this has been sufficient to compel Heath to do a U-turn on all aspects the Tory Government has been allowed a temporary victory on Phase II of its wage freeze is of the closed shop.
that:
"the closed shop provisions are viewed with suspicion "We did.
(our emphasis).
In the face of such to put on a bold front in its defence.
relations now look a little foolish."
before the Tories came to power, to 24 million last year. Instead, all the to exploit the Act for their own ends.
'The Times'
raspberry flavoured."
ineffective.
Meanwhile they are using the decision in the London docks.
Toom, for the sake of Shutle's laudable principles. THE POWER OF THE UNIONS of his programme - on 'lame ducks', on 'pruning 4 of the Appeal Court against Shute ......employers generally prefer One of those bourgeois commentators forced to eat This prompted the journal of Big Capital, their Courts to prevent the 'small fry' from going too and his campaign against the closed shops the nationalised industries' etc.
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a consequence of the restraining influence of the leadership. At each sta e they have attempted to blunt the bitter hatred felt by the mass of the workers to the Tory Government. without them, the capitalists, their Government and their State would not be able to last The Trade Unions are the single most powerful force in society. by way of a warning to the Tory Government declared last year that, proof of this can be furnished than the virtual sabotage of this years May Day strike. Despite'the lack of a lead from the top a magnificent 3 million workers came out in the greatest May Day for 50 years. But a successful one day stoppage with a turn-out of 10 million in demonstrations and meetings would have given an enormous impetus to the workers to even the politically inexperienced worker, the power of the explaining to all strata of the working class the stark réalities of the capitalist system and become the starting point for a campaign to force an election to bring down the Tory For these very reasons the T.U. leaders feared a successful May Day. For the whole period of the Tory Government they have acted as a gigantic brake on the movement of the working class. Nothing illustrates this more than the ill-fated attempts, one after another secret negotiations between the TUC, both Left and Right, and Heath. This at a time when of the TUC were supposed to be co-ordinating the battle plans for May Day! more than a few days.
MINERS SHOWED THE POWER OF UNITY to the unions, that the unions do not want done." T.U. leadership, the consequences of this power opposition to the policies of the Government.
it would have demonstrated Labour movement once it moves into action.
Government.
to seek an accomodation with the Tory Government. 'generals'
even victor feather "no one can do anything Yet he tears, along with the rest of the even more than the capitalists. No better By binding the class together, as a class, It would have allowed the possibility of The latest efforts were preceded by the 5
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Unless the unions are won over to a policy of Marxism, of uncompromising class struggle, the process whereby the leaders seek the embrace of the State is inevitable, irrespective even of the sincerity of the present 'left' union leadership. Such is the potential power ways the capitalists strive through pressure on the tops of the unions, to bind The recent announcement that Feather will be joining the B.B.C. as a part time director when he vacates his position at the T.U.C. in September is just one But try as they will, there is no possibility of the union leadership reaching any branches has compelled them to break off past flirtations. be the class struggle which will protrude its ugly face between the hapless suitors. Tory offensive and the terrific resistance of the working class is not at all accidental. Its causes lie in the desperate economic plight of the British bourgeoisie, and its attempts Almost daily its own press spell out in the language of facts and figures the catastrophe Although ship building is not a decisive industry for the capitalists today, it was a field where British capitalism was once pre-eminent. The decline in its power can be measured by the drop in Britains' share in world shipbullding; The doling out of National Assistance to the tune of £160 its nearest rivals on the world market can be seen throughout the whole of British industry. The use of machine tools is one of the barometers of the health of the capitalist economy. Yet while 35% of machine tools in Germany are over ten years old, and 37% in Japan, fully Latterly the ruling class has taken refuge from these uncomfortable realities in the prophecies of its economic witch doctors who fortell of a re-birth of the British economy! This on the basis of a couple of months favourable trade figures. This is like a senile old man who dreams of recapturing his youth on the basis of one day free from illness. The economy is undoubtedly growing by about 5%, fuelled by the deliberately inflationary The serious capitalist economists have pointed out that it is bound In the process of the upswing which is under way the insoluble contradictions of these exports into the home market, hence aggravating the balance of payments problem. Already capitalist economists are speculating on a deficit in the balance of payments of the An attempt to correct this deficit, as in similar situations, through the cutting of state expenditure on the social services, housing etc, and/or and standards of the working class, can only act to depress 'demand' and will lead to a responsibility for the economic collapse at the door of the Trade Unions. The working class will in turn be forced to resume the battle as the consequences of the Already retail prices have officially increased by 9% between March 1972 and April of the unions that unless they are used as a lever must try to come to an agreement with the Governmert. of the T.U. tops with the State machine different the latter to the State.
glimpse of the methods employed by the capitalists. lasting agreement with the Government.
to solve its problem at the expense of the working class. ECONOMIC DECLINE which faces it in the future.
from 50% in 1950 to 5% today.
million has done nothing to arrest the decline.
building power by Japan, West Germany and Sweden. 59% are in Britain.
measures of the government.
but a very shaky one.
to go 'bust' as have British capitalism will be revealed.
on the world market but in its own back yard.
manufactured and semi-manufactured goods.
order of £750-£1000 million this year.
slowing down in production.
of the strategists of capital will evaporate.
Tory Governments Phase 2 and 3 hits home.
6 to change society the union leadership The tendency for this growing together In a thousand is inbred in the whole situation.
The pressure of the workers through the union So too in the future. It will It has been eclipsed as a leading ship The same catastrophic falling behind of 'boom'
So far as the capitalists are concerned there is a all the other post-war 'booms' of the British economy. British capitalism is increasingly beaten not only 50% of imports into Britain in 1971 were The 'boom' will have the effect of sucking in 'consumption' i.e. the wages The sunny optimism The cycle of stop - go will recur again.
With increasing vehemence they will lay the
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