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WORKERS SOLIDARITY NO 40.
Irish Anarchist Paper
electronic addition
Winter 1993
CONTENTS
Part 1. (This mailing)
For starters an overview of our recent activity
Thats capitalism Funny and tragic facts
Turn the anger into action Job losses at Aer Lingus
1913 lockout replayed at Pat the Baker strike news
Interview with pat the Baker Striker
Bigots send in sherrif Anti-choice bigots
Low wages don't mean more jobs.
New law aids pimps and protection rackets
Part 2
Very profitable slaughter The arms trade
Legal limits or the limits of the law
Japenese government is doing alright
Catholic church seeks state aid for child abuse
Cuba socialist paradise or Castro's fiefdom
Australian workers banned from job creation
The myth of the student radical
Part 3
How to change the unions rank and file
Anarchisms greatest hits review
Remembering the Lockout review
Landless struggle in Brazil
Nepal strike ends in victory
Japenese/U.S. workers banned from solidarity action
USSR coup, Anarchists banned
==========================
FOR STARTERS
WHEN IT WAS learnt that nazi historian and organiser
David Irving was to visit Ireland the WSM joined
with other anti-fascists in a broad Stop Irving
Campaign. Such was the strength of opposition to
his proposed visit that all four separate
invitations to him were cancelled. We produced a
pamphlet, Stop the Nazi, which explained Irving's
background as an organiser for fascism and why
anarchists would deny him a platform from which to
recruit for nazi terror gangs. A few copies are
still available for 30p.
During the summer we helped the "Pat the Baker"
strikers to organise a support group. This
attracted SIPTU members, people in other unions,
unemployed and students. Each week this group is
leafletting between six and twelve supermarkets
urging shoppers to boycott 'Pat the Baker' products.
It has also helped raise cash for the strikers and
arranged a feeder march to join the 1913 pageant in
August.
Also during the summer we debated with
representatives of the Anarchist Communist
Federation and the Direct Action Movement from
Britain at a summer camp hosted by the Belfast and
Bangor-based 'Organise!' group. Useful discussions
were had on trade union work, nationalism and ways
to organise.
While many anarchist organisations and publishing
houses do a good job of reprinting the 'classics',
there is a shortage of cheap pamphlets addressing
current issues. As a small contribution towards
redressing the balance we have published Kevin
Doyle's Parliament or Democracy. This explains why
anarchists don't vote for governments. If democracy
really means those affected by decisions having a
say in making those decisions, then the choice is
Parliament or Democracy.
August marked the anniversary of the 1913 Dublin
Lockout. Eighty years ago four hundred employers of
the city - led by Irish Independent, Irish Catholic
and Dublin United Tramways owner - William Martin
Murphy set out to smash the unions. The ITGWU was
recruiting the unskilled in their thousands and
winning claims through sympathetic strikes and
blacking.
It is important to reject the common fallacy that
change "just happens". Determined to reclaim our
working class history and to mark this historic
occasion a commemoration committee was formed. Its
brief was to remind people that the improvements we
enjoy today were won through struggle and
solidarity. Composed of a handful of anarchists and
socialists, including members of the Workers
Solidarity Movement, it drew up an impressive list
of events and won the formal support of several
major unions.
These events included three public meetings,
publication of a pamphlet, a walking tour of sites
connected with lockout, an exhibition in an inner
city community centre, and a radio show (on local
station Anna Livia FM). Some were well organised,
some not so well prepared. This reflected the small
number of people involved in the organisation of the
events, for while there was a lot of verbal support
for this initiative there was a shortage of willing
workers.
Very noticeable was the almost complete media
blackout of the events. Only the pageant was
covered. Everything else was ignored. The bosses'
media were not in a hurry to give publicity to
workers' struggles. No surprise there. Just one
further reminder of how the "free press" has the
limits of its freedom set by its millionaire owners.
==============================
THAT'S CAPITALISM
The latest firm to claim it can't pay the last phase
of the PESP on time is Albert Reynolds C+D Petfoods.
It must be awful to be a poverty stricken
millionaire Taoisheach!
In the six counties, supposedly an "integral part of
the United Kingdom", average income has dropped from
83% to just 70% of the British average.
60% of Reagan's cabinet were millionaires or near
millionaires. This rose to 71% under George Bush.
But Clinton, the great hope of the liberals, has
seen to it that 77% of his nominees are millionaires
or within spitting distance.
After all the promises of job creation in return for
votes and PESP agreements, there are now more people
unemployed in the 26 counties who have been on the
dole for over three years than the total
unemployment figure for 1971.
The British government plans to sell off Belfast
International Airport at Aldergrove. Millions of
pounds in EC grants were given for its
modernisation, and now all this will go to
capitalist privateers at a knock down price.
Allied Irish Bank have announced that they will soon
be putting up bank charges because their "margins
are nder pressure". Their idea of being "under
pressure" is a strange one as they also announced
increased profits of #139 million for the first half
of 1993, an increase of 42% in six months.
While the bosses' organisation IBEC moans about
"excessive" public sector wages the OECD has
reported that the pay of clerical assistants in the
civil service dropped from 60% of the average
industrial wage in 1981 to 50% in 1991. Some earn
so little they qualify for the Family Income
Supplement.
=========================
As the government look for more privatisation,
pay cuts and job losses at Aer Lingus...
TURN THE ANGER INTO ACTION
THE CAHILL PLAN is a devastating attack on workers'
conditions in Aer Lingus and its subsidiaries.
Unlike Digital, where #4 million was promised to try
and save 800 jobs, the government are offering Aer
Lingus #175 million in return for 1,500
redundancies.
Those who keep their jobs will get no pay rise for
the next two years, losing out immediately on a
5.25% rise due under the PESP. In Aer Lingus #34
million will be cut from payroll costs. Overtime
will be virtually abolished. Shift pay will be
dramatically cut.
TEAM Aer Lingus are facing #14 million in cutbacks.
The Shannon stopover is going to be phased out
costing thousands of jobs in the West of Ireland.
DARE TO FIGHT - DARE TO WIN
Attacks like these can be fought against. Already
TEAM Aer Lingus have had an impressive victory.
When 300 TEAM workers were temporarily laid off,
workers fought back by blocking the highway, holding
pickets and public meetings. In the end all 300
workers were reinstated.
What this shows is that direct action does work.
But more than protests and road blocks will be
needed to reverse the Cahill Plan. What will be
needed is industrial action effective enough to make
the State think twice about imposing their cuts.
All out strike action, closing down Dublin, Shannon
and Cork airports would do just that. The loss of
business and tourism would cost the state and
employers millions of pounds in a short space of
time. If the strike lasted long enough it would be
cheaper for the State to get rid of the Cahill Plan
completely rather than go on losing a fortune.
Strike action, if it was supported by enough Aer
Lingus workers and went on long enough would
succeed, the problem is how to get there.
FROM ANGER TO ACTION
There is no point in looking to the union officials
to provide the lead. The Aer Lingus unions are
already negotiating with management on where exactly
the cuts should be.
The workers themselves must provide the lead, acting
on their own initiative to save their own jobs.
This is not as impossible as may first seem. The
workers already closed down Dublin Airport for two
hours on Saturday 17th July while having a union
meeting. There is clearly deep anger and resentment
within the company and in North County Dublin which
will feel the redundancies most.
The anger and resentment must be converted in to
action as soon as possible. A good start would be
to get SIPTU to organise a major national
demonstration in support of the Aer Lingus workers.
With a large show of support the Aer Lingus workers
may gain the confidence to take matters further. To
gain more confidence and experience a campaign of
protests and stoppages could begin with the eventual
aim of an all-out strike. In this way the
government can be defeated.
Whether Labour is in power or not the State will put
the interests of the ruling class first. The Aer
Lingus workers have the power, if they choose to use
it, to move towards redressing the balance of
inequality.
Andrew Blackmore
=======================
On strike since March 28th for
the right to join a union.
1913 LOCKOUT REPLAYED AT PAT THE BAKER
LAST MARCH twenty five workers at Pat the Baker's
Cherry Orchard plant in west Dublin joined SIPTU.
They wanted to improve their lousy pay and
conditions. The company, owned by Pat Higgins and
based in the Longford town of Granard, responded by
sacking them.
A bitter battle has gone on ever since. Management
has used all the tricks at its disposal including
employing two public relations firms to vilify the
strikers, 24 hour video filming of the picket, and
the invention of a "works committee" for Cherry
Orchard. SIPTU has responded with an expensive
publicity campaign. A newsletter, Breadline News,
have been delivered to homes all over the country.
Tens of thousands of leaflets and stickers have been
printed.
However, this kind of response has had very little
effect. Despite what many union officials think,
publicity alone, without wider industrial action,
does not win disputes. The 1990 Industrial
Relations Act is crippling the workers' ability to
strike back at management.
NO SUPPORT ALLOWED
It forbids secondary picketing, lays down long
procedures for getting blacking (which include
giving seven days to the employer so that he or she
can make alternative arrangements), and even bans
having supporters on the picket line.
It must be obvious to everyone who has taken any
interest in this strike that the SIPTU leadership is
using the excuse of the Act to avoid taking any
effective action to win. Only after six months did
they begin to ballot members to black Pat the Baker
bread in the five Midlands supermarkets which are
organised by SIPTU. This should have been the one
of the first things done, not one of the last.
As this article is written the number on strike has
been reduced to fourteen. Financial hardship and
demoralisation caused by lack of action from the
union has led to the others moving on in search of
jobs elsewhere. The fourteen strikers who have
stuck it out since the Spring have to survive on #36
a week strike pay plus whatever donations arrive
when rank & file union members take up collections
in their jobs.
POVERTY AND PERKS IN SIPTU
Workers on strike for this length of time and
fighting for union recognition should now have their
full wages paid by the union. SIPTU can well afford
it. #1 million is taken in every three weeks in
members subscriptions. The three general officers
are believed (union members are not allowed to know
the exact figure) to earn at least #90,000 annually
in salary and expenses.
Above all, SIPTU could have made a stand early in
the dispute and broken the Industrial Relations
Act's prohibition of effective picketing and
blacking of tainted goods. If the biggest union in
the country won't do it in a recognition dispute,
what hope is there that a smaller union will? It is
beyond doubt that if the union had its funds seized
by the courts for breaking the Act that enough trade
unionists would answer a call to take immediate
action and force the state to back off.
A support group exists in Dublin to help the
strikers and has been active in leafletting
Quinnsworth and Crazy Prices supermarkets asking
shoppers to boycott Pat the Baker bread. Similar
support groups are needed in other cities and towns,
especially in County Longford.
BREAKING OUR UNIONS OR BRREAKING THE ACT?
The strikers have visited the Granard plant to try
to talk to the workers there. They were beaten up
by supporters of Frank Sheridan's "works committee",
a gang of thugs paid by the boss to break the union.
The workforce there is afraid. They remember that
two years ago twenty six joined the union and all of
them were fired. However a victory in Cherry
Orchard can turn things around and provide the
confidence to unionise.
When the Industrial Relations Act was introduced,
organisations like Trade Union Fightback and the
Workers Solidarity Movement were dismissed as
alarmists. Now even 'moderate' union officials are
making noises about the restrictions the Act places
on what used to be normal trade union practices. In
the run up to a new PESP, however, the possibility
that these people will make any serious attempt to
get rid of the Act is remote.
Pat Higgins is not some giant multinational. He is
a gombeen boss with a #3 million a year turnover and
a profit of #300,000. He could have been brought to
his knees within a few weeks if the traditional
methods of industrial action had been used.
Secondary pickets (on Pat the Baker suppliers and
customers), blacking and openly seeking support from
other trade unions; these were the teeth drawn by
the Act.
If we don't want every tin pot dictator running a
small business believing he can smash unions with
impunity we have to make a decision. Do we meekly
surrender and live with the Act? Do we wait for the
Dail to amend it (and remember that means trusting
the same people who brought in the Act)? Or do we
break it? Anarchists prefer to break the Act than
see our unions broken.
=======================
paid #5 if you abuse a picket
INTERVIEW WITH PAT THE BAKER STRIKER
As the "Pat the Baker" dispute entered its 18th week
Workers Solidarity interviewed Noel Forbes of the
strike committee on the August 3rd.
WORKERS SOLIDARITY: Can you tell us how long the
dispute has been on and how many are out?
NOEL FORBES: This is the 18th week of the dispute.
Twenty five workers went on strike and that's down
to fifteen today. Three went back almost straight
away and have been sacked since. The rest - a few
got jobs and the rest took redundancy.
What are the main issues in this dispute?
It's about recognition - union recognition. The way
the company acts you'd think it was a crime to join
a union. Look at the surveillance cameras over
there - there are three outside here and more inside
the plant. The canteen was bugged before we came
out on strike. He (Pat Higgins, the owner) is
spending a security firms and now has two P.R. firms
working for him. We find it very hard to get
publicity. His P.R. firms are making out its not a
union/management dispute at all but a dispute
between workers. This is a total lie.
Tell us about the works committee who say they
represent the workers.
This is a made up thing by Frank Sheridan who works
in Granard (the company's H.Q.). Neither Sheridan
nor the works committee were ever seen in Cherry
Orchard by John (the striker who worked longest for
Pat the Baker in Dublin - 7 years) until the strike
started. They're just a made up job, they don't
represent anyone properly.
Tell us about the situation in Granard.
Well, there's 120 people working there, not 400 like
Higgins claims. There's maybe 40 more in depots in
Limerick, Cork and Cavan. The rest in sub-contract
work. We have two letters from workers in Granard
waiting to join the union. But the workers there
are afraid of Sheridan and his thugs. We went up
there to picket the place four weeks ago - six of
us. We were beaten up, spat on, threatened, abused
- all by Sheridan's gang and locals paid #5 a day to
abuse the pickets. The Gardai helped us out in the
end. The parish priest denounced us as communists
off the pulpit on Sunday. They knew too much about
us personally and about the SIPTU official in
Mullingar too. It was ridiculous carry-on - the
personnel manager and his wife and daughter spiting
at the pickets.
Have you managed to effect production here with the
strike?
Oh yes. It's down 15 - 20 %. Hospitals, the fire
brigade, some supermarkets have all cancelled. They
are using the plant here as a depot. They are
wrapping the bread somewhere in Rathmines now -
we're are trying to find out where.
Do you think the workers in Granard will ever come
out in support?
No, they're too scared. Two years ago 26 workers
joined SIPTU in Granard. There are only two of them
still in the job. Frank Sheridan, chairman of the
works committee has been with Pat the Baker for ten
years. He's getting well paid to run the works
committee farce.
SIPTU have done a good leafleting and publicity
campaign but what more would you like them to do?
Well, the Industrial Relations Act is the the
problem. We have to get the bread blacked by the
supermarket workers. That's what we want to see.
One supermarket has voted to black it but we need
lots more. The lads are getting fed up now. We're
only on #36 a week strike pay. One of the lads is
about to loose his house over the strike. Four of
them have given the union until the end of the month
to get some serious blacking done or they will jack
it in too. I mean we appreciate all the support
we're getting but it is not enough to win the
dispute without blacking.
Thanks for talking to us. Best of luck and we will
be continuing to leaflet Quinnsworth in Rathmines
every Saturday 12 -2pm about the strike.
Thanks very much, one of the strikers will be there
with you.
A support group in Dublin works with the
strikers - leafletting supermarkets,
organising collections and publicising
their struggle.
Get involved. It meets every Tuesday at
8pm in the Ha'penny Bridge Inn (top floor),
Wellington Quay.
=============================
Student unions ordered to fund
SPUC's anti-choice case.
BIGOTS SEND FOR SHERRIF
THE FIGHT between SPUC and the student unions over
the provision of abortion information has entered a
new phase. SPUC's solicitors, are now seeking costs
from the student unions for the earlier stages of
the case. This is despite the fact that the legal
case is ongoing. In fact this is the first time in
the history of the Irish state that one party has
been awarded legal costs over the other while the
case is still being disputed. Talk about
impartiality!
What this means is that SPUC will be able to use
this money to fight the later stages of the case, as
well as providing resources for its other anti-
choice agendas, while the student unions will be
left stuck for cash if not financially insolvent.
All this for fighting for a woman's right to choose.
The sheriff has been called in to collect the amount
involved, #29,000. At the time of writing he has
sent several final notices and even made
appointments to collect the money. The last one of
these was on August 30th at the Union of Students of
Ireland (USI). Having been given 24 hours notice
the students assembled journalists and photographers
to cover the story. That morning USI received a
phone call asking if they had any assets of value in
their office. When they replied that they had not
the sheriff said he wasn't coming.
RELUCTANT STATE?
This would seem to indicate a reluctance on the part
of the state authorities to test the public climate.
Nonetheless the students response to all of this has
unfortunately been quite weak. Given the current
weakness of the student movement it is possible that
they will decide to pay the money involved. In the
absence of a large campaign of support, not to pay
the money would inevitably mean the loss of the
student unions through the legal liquidation
process.
However they have not decided to fight in any
meaningful political manner. The "X" case was
successfully fought by spreading the campaign to as
wide a number of people as possible. The students
appear to be concentrating their efforts on raising
money through reliable but narrow channels.
The three student unions involved have combined to
set up a student trust with the sponsorship of noted
liberals like Nuala O'Faolain and David Norris.
While these individuals can be quite good at raising
money within certain sectors, e.g. university
lecturers, they do not see any necessarily to spread
the political campaign to the widest number of
people.
COURTS OR CAMPAIGN?
With many trade unions supporting a woman's right to
information, arguably the most effective way to do
this is to work on trade union involvement. This
can be done by providing a model motion for union
meetings, putting posters on union noticeboards
pledging support to the students, asking union
executives to distribute information packs to
members. In this way political support and money
can be raised to support the students and to
solidify support for a woman's right to information
when the government brings in its legislation next
year.
After all a majority of the country's population
voted for a woman's right to have information and to
utilise that information by travelling abroad for an
abortion in last November's referendum. SPUC is
seeking to penalise organisations for fighting for
these rights. The courts are unlikely to be
responsive to polite liberal appeals, having imposed
the costs in the first place. More recently they
refused to lift the injunction on the Well Woman
Centre and Open Door Counselling which prohibits
these organisations from providing information.
The more support the students gather now against
this penalty for providing information, the stronger
the pressure will be on the government to provide a
broad framework for the provision of information.
Emma Slevin
Contributions may be sent to the 'Student Support
Trust', A/c 8827 1085, AIB Bank (sort code 93-10-
55), 10/11 Lower O'Connell Street, Dublin 1.
==========================
European Commision report
LOW WAGES DON'T MEAN MORE JOBS
According to the European Commission's latest
employment report, Ireland has the third lowest
manufacturing employment costs for the bosses.
Despite all the whining about the indirect costs of
employing extra workers, Ireland has the 4th lowest
indirect costs - only slightly above Britain,
Portugal, Greece and Denmark.
The figures also demonstrate how there is little
link between accepting wage freezes and employment.
The countries with the highest wages are also those
with the lowest unemployment. The countries with
the highest unemployment are also those with the
lowest wages. The bosses tell us accepting wage
freezes will help create jobs. This is crap. It
will, however, give them even larger profits. Once
again there is no common cause between the bosses
and the workers.
=========================
NEW LAW AIDS PIMPS
AND PROTECTION RACKETS
IT IS IRONIC that the Act to decriminalise
homosexuality also contained provisions for
increased victimisation of a marginalised group.
Tagged on to the end of the Criminal Law (Sexual
Offences) Act 1993 were further restrictions on
prostitution. Under the new act, prostitutes are
now liable to fines of up to #1,000 and up to six
months in prison. In addition anybody caught
soliciting sex from prostitutes or believed to be
"kerb-crawling" face fines of up to #500.
Most political parties raised no objections to this
attack on prostitutes' right to earn a living.
They wanted to decriminalise homosexuality with the
least fuss possible. Governments since 1988 had
promised - but failed to deliver - compliance with
the European Court of Human Right's decision in the
case taken against the State by David Norris.
FIVE YEARS ON
The Court had insisted on the decriminalisation of
homosexual acts between consenting adults. Five
years later the government was finally going to do
something about it and politicians did not want to
rock the boat on this sensitive issue.
The Council for the Status of Women welcomed the
proposed legislation without raising a single
objection to the sections on prostitution. These
restrictions will cause further victimisation and
hardship for women working as prostitutes but as
suspected, the Council is only concerned with the
status of some women.
The Minister for Justice argues that these
restrictions will "provide further protection
against the exploitation of people who feel they
have no choice but to prostitute themselves". In
fact, they will have the opposite effect.
PIMPS AND PROTECTION RACKETS
In the past, prostitutes could sometimes call on the
police for protection. Under the new act, if a
prostitute calls on the police to protect her from
attack, she is liable for prosecution herself. A
possible outcome of this is an increase in pimps and
protection rackets.
The increased fines means prostitutes will have to
work longer hours in order to cover the cost of
fines. The increased penalties for keeping a
brothel means that more prostitutes will be forced
to work on the streets rather than in the safer
conditions of a massage parlour.
As anarchists we are against all forms of
exploitation. But restrictions on prostitution
will not make it any less exploitative. Rather they
will make it harder for a marginalised group of
workers to make a living.
We believe that prostitutes have a right to earn a
living. They have a right to working conditions
where they can feel safe and work without fear of
victimisation from the police, pimps or anybody
else.
Kathleen O'Kelly
The arms trade, the "free market"...
VERY PROFITABLE SLAUGHTER
AS THE UN is currently claiming to be trying to
bring peace to Somalia by disarming the 'Warlords" a
recent US congressional study reported in the July
issue of the US magazine Financial Review makes
interesting reading. It shows that the people who
pumped arms into Somalia in the 1980's are still
pumping arms into the third world in the 1990's.
The United States remained the biggest arms supplier
to the third world in 1992, increasing its share of
the market to 57% from 49% in 1991, according to the
US Congressional study. For all the scare mongering
about Russian arms exports they only comprise 5.4%,
of the world trade with arms deals in 1992 of US$1.3
billion. The US total is however US$13.6 billion..
At the moment the west is trying to build a fear of
third world nations acquiring weapons as a way of
maintaining social peace at home. For years we were
kept in line through the use of the cold war. Now
instead of Russia, North Korea and Iraq are supposed
to be big threats. States which fulfil the wishes
of the Western bosses get armed regardless of their
record on democracy or human rights. Yet the bosses
tell us that they are against arming undemocratic
states.
Two of the top three recipients of US arms exports
were Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Both of these
countries are amongst the most undemocratic on the
planet with despotic rulers and viscous anti-women
legislation which even bans women from driving cars.
Both have been highlighted by human rights
organisations like Amnesty International as
routinely making use of torture against political
opponents.
The rest of the top ten is not surprisingly composed
of other states claiming to be bringing peace to the
world. In order these are France, the second
largest arms supplier in 1992 (US$3.8 billion),
Britain (US$2.4 billion), Russia (US$1.3 billion),
Germany (US$700 million), Spain (US$600 million),
Italy (US$400 million), Israel (US$300 million),
Iran (US$200 million) and China (US$100 million).
That's all the permanent members of the United
Nations security council in the Top Ten dealers of
death list.
The West and the UN can not be part of the solution
to any of the words problems. They are the police
for the bosses' profit margins. From the former
Yugoslavia to Somalia they have no progressive role
to play.
=========================
LEGAL LIMITS OR THE LIMITS OF THE LAW
For those who put their faith in good laws to stop
racism, sexism, etc; a cautionary tale from
Minneapolis, USA. These events occurred in the
course of an abortion clinic defence campaign.
A group of 'pro-choicers' was tailing Operation
Rescue for several hours to find out what clinic or
doctor's home they were going to hit - standard
practice for 'pro-choice' groups when OR plans a
hit. The bigots spotted them, so they pulled into a
police station and got them busted. For what? For
violating an "anti-stalking" law designed to stop
bigots who tail & harass clinic doctors. Later
outside the clinic pro-choice activists were
threatened with arrest for wearing masks, by
invoking an old anti-Ku Klux Klan law that prohibits
hiding your face. The masks were to frustrate
Operation Rescue attempts to video tape them and a
protection against the tear gas being fired by the
police.
===================
JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IS DOING ALRIGHT
A recent survey of Japan's 749 lawmakers in both
houses of the legislature showed, as in all other
countries, Japan's rulers come from the rich. Those
from the Liberal Democratic Party own an average
$1.2 million in personal wealth. Parliamentarians
from Komeito (Clean Government Party) held average
assets of $508,000, followed by $440,000 of those
from the Democratic Socialist Party (SDP), and the
$404,000 of those from the Social Democratic Party
(SDP). Assets held under the names of spouses and
family members, jewellery, precious metals and gold,
did not have to be declared. Parliamentarians in
both houses own an average $835,000 of personal
assets but the list was topped by Takashi Sasagawa
with $40 million.
============================
CATHOLIC CHURCH SEEKS STATE AID FOR CHILD ABUSE!
THE CATHOLIC Church is looking for payment in return
for sexually abusing children! Right up to the
1960s young children from Catholic orphanages in
Britain and the six counties were shipped out to
Australia. There the boys, some as young as eight
years, were used as almost slave labour by Catholic
farmers and the Church itself. Girls were sent into
domestic service in the homes of rich Church
members.
In Western Australia the Christian Brothers are
facing over 50 compensation claims by former child
migrants who say they were sexually abused while in
Church care. In July, in the Western Australian
newspaper, the Christian Brothers admitted that
"physical and sexual abuse took place". But rather
than face up to their responsibilities, the Catholic
Church asked the government to help fund
compensation claims. They wanted taxpayers -
Catholic and those of all other and no religions -
to pay for their crimes.
This is an amazing display of arrogance from one of
the richest institutions in the world. The Western
Australian provincial government thought so too, and
turned down their plea. With the victims of sexual
abuse at the hands of clerics telling their stories
all over the world, will we see Archbishop Cathal
Daly getting out the collection can and asking us to
pay for the crimes of his child molesters?
========================
CUBA
socialist paradise or Castro's fiefdom
"..the major event of the twentieth century has been
the abandonment of the values of liberty on the part
of the revolutionary movement, the weakening of
Libertarian Socialism, vis-a-vis Caesarist and
militaristic Socialism. Since then, a great hope
has disappeared from the world to be replaced by a
deep sense of emptiness in the hearts of all who
yearn for Freedom...."
('Neither Victims nor Executioners' by Albert Camus)
AS CAMUS SAYS, a deep sense of emptiness is felt by
all those who wish for a revolution leading to the
creation of a society which is classless and truly
socialist. As the history of the 20th century has
unfolded we have witnessed the repeated failure of
vanguards and leaders to create the society for
which the true-hearted revolutionaries have fought
and died. Not so long ago most of the left held up
the Soviet Union as an example of Socialism or
something with some socialist features.
As the Eastern Bloc crumbled and the true horrors of
sick states like Ceaucescu's Romania were exposed
Cuba became the new Mecca for the left. What we
find there is unfortunate and there is little to
inspire us in the country which has had Fidel Castro
at the wheel of power for over 30 years.
Cuba, about 90 miles off the coast of North America,
is the largest of the Caribbean islands. The social
services are in a far better condition than they are
in other Latin American countries. Virtually every
Cuban under the age of 30 can read and write. But
the cost of these benefits is high for the working
class who have never been in the saddle of power in
Cuba. This is not their role as the doting Father
looks after their interests. While the figures
about literacy and health are good there are a
number of statistics which aren't so impressive.
One Cuban in every 340 is in prison. There are 400
political prisoners. Around 50% of the Cuban male
population are known to the police or have criminal
records. The Cuban police force regularly carry
revolvers, tear gas and electric truncheons. The
crime rate itself is very low, so the equipment of
the police and the jail population would seem to
indicate a state that is repressive in it's dealings
with the people.
BATISTA
To understand how Cuba functions now, why it
developed the way it did and why socialism was never
on Castro's menu, we must look at the origins and
path of the revolution. Fulgencio Batista y
Zaldivar had taken control of Cuba in a military
coup called the 'sergeants revolt' on September 4th
1933. He promoted himself to the position of
Commander in Chief of the armed forces and
comfortably ruled through a host of puppet
presidents.
Batista contested and lost the presidency 1944,
after which he exited to Florida with millions from
the small country's coffers. He returned to power
in a coup d'etat in 1952, three months prior to the
presidential elections.
An interesting point to note is the cordial
relationship between Batista and the Cuban Communist
Party. They were allowed to function openly and
supported Batista's candidates in the 1940
elections. As their reward they got control of the
state controlled trade union, the Cuban
Confederation of Labour (CTC-Confederacion de
Trabajadores de Cuba). The First Secretary General
was Lazaro Pena, a post he would later hold under
Fidel Castro.
The 26th of July Movement was born out of an attack
on the Moncada military barracks in 1953. The
attack, though brave, was bungled and failed. The
movement really grew during the subsequent trial
where Castro successfully gave the impression of the
July Movement as being nationalists who would no
longer be restrained.
The political aspirations of the movement extended
no further than "total and definitive social
justice" and "absolute and reverent respect" for the
1940 constitution. Incidentally the attack on the
barracks was condemned by the Cuban Communist Party
who defined their role as being to "unmask the
putschists and adventurous activists as being
against the interests of the people".1
SIERRA MAESTRA YEARS
The July 26th Movement grew in prestige from the
trial of the Moncada attackers. Two years later,
after the movement had been in exile in Mexico where
Castro met the young Che Guevara, they returned on
the "Granma" pleasure cruiser in December 1956. The
80 strong insurrection failed in the Oriente region
and they retreated to the Sierra Maestra mountains.
It is here according to the folklore historians,
whom Castro had later appointed, that the
discussions of Marx and Lenin took place into the
long hours amongst the revolutionaries around the
camp fires.
Castro had been a follower of the Partido Ortodoxo
which was a nationalist organisation who put their
faith in the 1940 constitution. Now, according to
re-written history he became a Marxist-Leninist.
Che Guevara's story of this time is more
enlightening, they "...had neither ideological
awareness nor 'esprit de corp'.... "2. Castro goes
on to contradict this history of his own making by
saying that "the proclamation of socialism during
the period of instructional struggle would not have
been understood"3.
In 1958, a year prior to the revolution, Castro said
"true, the extension of government ownership to
certain power companies - US owned - was a point of
our earliest programmes; but we have currently
suspended all planning on this matter."4 What the
26th July Movement was seeking was
"industrialisation at the fastest possible rate.
For this purpose, foreign investment will always be
welcome and secure here."5
THE REVOLUTION
By 1958 the Batista troops had retreated to their
barracks. The rebels stepped up their attacks.
There was broad popular support for the 26th July
Movement, and mass strikes and demonstrations
followed. (Che Guevara said that the Batista regime
collapsed under the weight of it's own corruption.)
Many who weren't in the July movement lost their
lives, yet they seem to be forgotten in the process
of deification which has taken place around Castro.
There was the raid on the Mantanzans garrison in
which all the young members of the radical
nationalist Autentico Party lost their lives in
1956. Then there was the attempted assassination of
Batista in 1957 by the Revolutionary Student
Directorate. All of them were massacred.
It is important to remember that the Cuban
revolution was the work of a few armed insurgents.
It was the work of a few hundred armed guerrillas in
the Sierra Maestra mountains and various other
rebels. The working class supported the rebels but
it was a passive support that did not extend beyond
strikes and demonstrations when the dictatorship was
close to crumbling. "The emancipation of the
working class is the task of the workers" and
unfortunately in Cuba true emancipation was not to
follow the revolution.
YESTERDAY'S NATIONALISM - TODAY'S SOCIALISM
Following the toppling of Batista the first cabinet
contained a judge, a lawyer, the head of the Havana
Bar Association, a member of the Orthodox Party, and
the ex-president of the national bank. (Within 14
months all of these disappeared to the USA and
became 'contras'.) The 1940 constitution was
reinstalled. The first office set up was the
National Tourist Board. All this would not seem to
indicate a very socialist revolution had taken
place.
In April 1959 Castro went to America to visit and
talk with vice president Richard Nixon about
securing a development loan. Castro made assurances
to the White House about protection of American
interests but he stood firm on Cuban sovereignty.
However, even the demands for very limited economic
control were against US interests and therefore Cuba
was portrayed as part of the "world communist
conspiracy". The imperialist USA set out to smash
small independent Cuba.
The Americans had wanted Batista to capitulate to a
caretaker government before Castro could come to
power. They were never really prepared to do
business with the man. The further down a road one
travels the less options one is faced with. Castro
had reached a 'T' junction. The first road would
have been to concede sovereignty to the Americans
and keep a section of the old ruling class on his
side. The second road was to industrialise the
country, using the confiscated wealth of the ruling
class.
Cuba was going "Socialista". In October 1959 Che
Guevara becomes head of the National Bank. In
February 1960 a new agreement is reached to supply
sugar to the USSR. In July of the same year Castro
nationalises American owned sugar companies and oil
refineries. By the end of the year few foreign
industries are not nationalised. Castro had made a
decision, America had refused to budge an inch and
now it was time to side with the other major power.
So began the myth of the July Movement always being
Marxist. As the plaque reads at Havana's main
cemetery "What the imperialists cannot forgive is us
having made a socialist revolution under the very
noses of the United States."
CUBA : CASTRO'S PLAYGROUND
It comes as no surprise to learn that Castro chose
to call himself a Marxist-Leninist. "I am a
Marxist-Leninist and will remain one until the last
day of my life" said Castro in 1961. This is a
good political philosophy to adhere to if one
intends to remain in power for 30 years and never
release the reins of control to the working class.
How does Cuba function? On this Caribbean island
you have a ruling class composed of the bureaucracy
which came from the July 26th Movement. You have
the remnants of the Stalinist Partido Socialista
(Cuban Communist Party) who saw the Revolution and
the nationalisation that followed as a means to
strengthen their positions.
To the Cuban Communists their own survival is
paramount, principles were abandoned as unhealthy a
long time ago. Then you have the professionals such
as academics, scientists and management. They have
fewer privileges than their counterparts in the
'West' but are rewarded with praise and prizes as
long as they remain uncritical. The ruling class is
bonded together by a fear of the working class.
Castro is the cement which holds Cuban society
together. As Che Guevara wrote "It is true that the
mass follows it's leaders, especially Fidel Castro,
without hesitation but the degree to which he has
earned such confidence is due precisely to the
consummate interpretation of the peoples' desires
and aspirations."6 This is the cult of Castro's
personality which cannot be underestimated, he is
the consummate master of telling the people what
they wish to hear. As rumblings of discontent come
from the working class about the bureaucrats, they
still look to the father figure of Fidel to deal
with the nasty bureaucrats.
The 'internationalist' policy of armed support for
nationalist regimes in Africa and the scientific
work all gives credence to the popular story of one
little island standing strong against the wicked
winds of imperialism. The economy of Cuba has been
distorted for years so that it is like looking at
something at the bottom of a pond. The funds from
Russia are drying up. The Cuban cigars are partly
filled from Bulgarian tobacco. There is little to
be said when you find out that there have been sugar
shortages in a country where about 50% of the
economy is based on this crop.
The embargo is blamed for everything covering vast
areas of inefficiency. Trading has been going on
with the USA for years through a series of front
companies. When the squeeze had to be put on in the
1980's Castro, "El Lider Maximo", came up with the
process of 'rectification'. This ingenious plan
involved going back to the past and digging up the
immortal legend of Che Guevara and returning to a
'high moral socialism'.
Castro came up with such perils of wisdom as
"Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of
rectification has been to persuade the workers to
give up the excessively high wages stemming from
implementation of outdated norms, or erroneous
criteria". When one distils the true meaning from
such pedantic language, we get the old maxim, work
harder and ask for less. The words of a leader who
is prepared to squeeze the working class more rather
than attack the inequalities of the society which he
helped create.
WHAT NOW?
The Cuban regime is called many things as people try
and categorise it, and excuse it for its policies
and glaring faults. The working class did not
create the revolution and they have been crippled
since Castro and his cohorts installed a new
bureaucracy. The aspirations of the workers are low
and so is their confidence. However, as you can
ascertain from the steps preceding and following the
revolution Castro did not set out to even create
'socialism on one island'.
Recognising that Cuba is not 'socialist' does not
mean, however, that anarchists and socialists ignore
the U.S. blockade of the island. This attempt to
starve the island of even medical supplies is yet
one more attack on the working class. The
Washington government are happy to sqeeze the
ordinary people of Cuba in the hope that the
resultant discontent will lead to Castro's
overthrow.
The American ruling class hate his regime, not
because it is some sort of 'socialist' paradise but
because its very existence challenges Washington's
political monopoly in Central and South America.
Their hope is to replace Castro with a government
obedient to their wishes, like those of Guatemala or
El Salvador.
The revolution was nationalist inspired and Castro
adopted the political ideology of Leninism to suit
his needs after his courtship of American investment
had failed. The working class in Cuba need to unite
and fight the ruling class who reap the rewards from
their island. Those who see something inspirational
in the way Cuba functions today are those blinkered
to the possibility of the only true socialist
society, one where freedom and equality are central.
Dermot Sreenan
Notes
- . All statistics quoted in the remainder of this
paragraph are taken from Analysis, Winter 1991-1992.
1. Daily Worker (Paper of the U.S. Communist
Party), August 10th 1953
2. Castro's Revolution (New York 1964) p.35.
3. Granma (Cuban paper) 28th December 1975.
4. Cuba, an American Tragedy (R. Sheer & M.
Zeitlin) Penguin 1964. p. 61.
5. Cuba, an American Tragedy (R. Sheer & M.
Zeitlin) Penguin 1964. p. 63.
6. Venceremos, the speeches and writings of Che
Guevara, London 1968 p.388.
===============================
THE MYTH OF THE STUDENT RADICAL
THERE IS a commonly held idea that universities are
some sort of "red nucleus", a hotbed of activism and
socialism. The fact is that students come from many
different backgrounds and classes, although mainly
'middle' and upper class. There is no underlying
political or economic interest that unites or could
unite all students.
You would think that poor housing, low grants and
student poverty would have everybody flocking to
become socialists but surprisingly these are
tolerated by many students because of the promise of
wealth at the end. In reality therefore only a
small fraction of the student population ever become
active in the "student politics".
This happens most commonly through student unions.
The largest part of any student union's work lies in
welfare and provision of student services. In many
student unions much more time is spent arguing about
control of the student bar than on any political
issue.
THE POLITICS OF PHOTOCOPYING!
The candidates who win elections are often the ones
who promise an increase in student services like
photocopiers. In the last decade the only
politicised part of the students unions' ongoing
work has been fighting the increasing cuts in
education being made by government. The only
notable exception was the campaign for abortion
information.
The way these campaigns are fought is important. If
the campaign is fought only through full-time
student officers writing letters to the press and
lobbying ministers then the majority of students
remain uninvolved and often uninterested. While the
cuts are making an impact on their lives they do not
see how, practically, they can stop them. This type
of campaign is good for a full time official looking
for credibility with the minister but not very good
for winning improvements.
The kind of tactics which win are the kind of
tactics which get students involved. The only way a
student union can show the government that it means
business is to show that it has most of the the
student body behind it. This means tactics like
occupations, sit-ins and marches. These cannot be
just for show but must be part of a well organised
and co-ordinated campaign. As anarchists we would
argue that structures must be democratic, with
decisions being made by everybody involved.
GETTING ACTIVE
The value of campaigns like this must not be
underestimated. While fighting only on a student
issue may seem quite narrow, it does teach the value
of struggle and the empowerment of taking control
over an issue that affects your life... in short
Anarchism. Trinity College Students Union won,
through an occupation, an extra library earlier this
year. If they had relied on representatives sitting
on the College Board they would still be waiting.
While the student movement can be a way for students
to learn the need for struggle, it is only through
building links with the working class that the
potential for a proper class struggle movement is
created. The best known example is what happened in
Paris in 1968 with students joining workers in
struggle.
Closer to home, the fight for abortion information
did involve Irish students in something happening
outside the four walls of their colleges. If, when
the summer dole was abolished, students had fought
its the loss in terms of the broader issue of
unemployment and joined forces with the Irish
National Organisation of the Unemployed and the
trade unions, then this would have been a small step
in the right direction.
It is not enough for students who have become
politicised to sit around and talk all day in
socialist discussion groups. It is only through
getting involved in struggles both inside and
outside the colleges that students can really make a
contribution to the class struggle.
CATHERINE BYRNE
========================
Lack of democracy.....'social partnership'
bureaucracy....demoralisation
HOW MUCH CHANGE CAN WE
ACHIEVE WITHIN THE UNIONS,
...HOW DO WE DO IT?
STRONG workforces like Aer Lingus stand to be
decimated. Strong unions like SIPTU are humbled by
a minor union busting boss like Pat the Baker. Job
losses mount while top union officials earn top
salaries. Cynicism and demoralisation are found
among trade unionists in almost every job and union
branch. Everyone knows that big changes are needed
in our unions, but what changes?
There is a great potential power in the trade union
movement. According to the Department of Industrial
Relations in University College Dublin (DUES Data
Series on Trade Unions in Ireland) 54.6% of
employees in Ireland are trade union members. This
means that throughout the public sector and in most
private sector employments which are not just small
family businesses most workers are in a union. Of
course this potential is not being used.
US AND THEM
To join a trade union implies, although it may not
be clearly thought out, that we have different
interests to those of the boss. It further
recognises that to look after our own interests we
have to get together with other workers. This is the
beginning of class consciousness, an understanding
that our interests are different to to those of our
employers.
In 1990 over 350 shop stewards and union Activists
sponsored the unofficial Trade Unionists &
Unemployed Against the Programme grouping which
campaigned for a NO vote to the PESP. Over 100
regularly attended TUUAP meetings in the main towns
and cities. Many of these had long records as
militants fighting against centralised bargaining,
for more democracy in our unions and for solidarity
with workers n struggle.
Given the small numbers involved in taking the anti-
PESP arguments into jobs where there was no TUUAP
contact, leafleting, postering and organising public
meetings, TUUAP did very well. Where there were
TUUAP contacts explaining the case against the PESP
the vote almost inevitably went against it.
Even in SIPTU 33,244 'NO' votes were won against the
57,103 in favour. Unions that turned in majority
'NO' votes included the ATGWU, MSF, IDATU, IMETU
(now part of IMPACT) and the FUGE. While TUUAP can
not claim the credit for all of this, it is
indisputable that it made a significant
contribution.
'TRADE UNION FIGHTBACK'
After the ballot TUUAP became a lot less visible but
did not disappear. It had organised almost solely
on the single issue of the PESP. Once the vote was
in most supporters did not much point in going to
meetings. With another PESP-type deal being put
forward TUUAP has relaunched itself as Trade Union
Fightback. It is continuing to make the case
against 'social partnership' between government,
employers and unions.
It is also taking up the issue of the lack of
democracy and membership involvement in our unions,
and is hoping to be able to do a lot more solidarity
work with workers who are in struggle. Although the
number of activists in most unions is declining, due
to most decisions being taken at a national level
and a bureaucratic control that takes the initiative
away from the rank & file, there is still a layer of
people who are prepared to fight against both the
bosses and bureaucracy. The question is how do we
organise? What are we up against in our unions and
what can we do about it?
Anarchists have always said that workers organised
on the job have tremendous power. This is a power
that can and should be used to win day-to-day
improvements. It is also the power that can
overthrow capitalism, replacing it with genuine
socialism and liberty.
DIRECT ACTION
Anarchists have also said that even a small amount
of direct action is better than a lot of
conciliation, arbitration and mediation. This is
action that is taken collectively by workers and
which remains under their direct control. It is no
exaggeration to say that there is a grave shortage
of direct action at the moment!
Trade unions were set up to defend workers under
capitalism, to stop he bosses having a completely
free hand in setting wages and conditions. They
organise workers to get the best possible deal (at
least that's the idea) under the present system.
Their goal is to get the best price for heir
members' ability to work, the highest possible
wages. It is not to get rid of exploitation and the
wages system.
Their preferred method is negotiation rather than
struggle. This is not to say that trade unionists
are naturally conservative or meek. It merely shows
how the ideas of capitalism are reflected inside our
unions. Part of this is that here must a division
into leaders and led, order-givers and order-takers.
The initiative is very much with the full-time
officials, many of whom are not even elected but
enjoy considerable power and influence. Most of
these see their union work s a career.
IT'S A DIFFERENT LIFESTYLE
Most of them have jobs for life. They are paid more
than people they are supposed to represent. SIPTU's
Billy Atley gets about #90,000 per year in salary
and expenses, the exact figure is kept a secret from
the members. The vast majority are unresponsive to
the needs of their members.
They live a different lifestyle, often being found
alongside employers and senior civil servants on
commissions and the boards of semi-state companies.
Quite a number never even had an ordinary job but
came straight from student politics.
A few worth mentioning are Kieran Mulvey, ex-General
Secretary of ASTI and now head of the Labour
Relations Commission; Pat Rabbitte and Eamonn
Gilmore, ex-SIPTU officials now Democratic Left TDs.
Another is SIPTUs National Nursing Officer, Pat
Brady. All of these went straight from the Union of
Students in Ireland (USI) to full-time jobs as union
officials. A problem with this is that they have no
direct experience of the daily realities
experienced by their members.
No matter what ideas they have at the beginning they
quickly have to accept that their career is that of
an arbitrator, a smart talker, a fixer. What is
important to them is proving their skill as smart
negotiators, not helping their members to fight for
their demands.
IT'S NOT OUR PICKET!
They have narrow sectoral interests, only looking
after their own sector regardless of the general
interests of workers. That is why we saw SIPTU
officials telling their members to pass the NBRU
pickets in the rail strike last April.
These people rarely lead strikes. Instead they will
have you 'making submissions' to the Labour
Relations Commission, to 'impartial mediators', and
to every other other talking shop they can find.
They seem thrive on almost endless negotiation,
aimed at finding a 'reasonable settlement. Some
negotiations go on, literally, for years.
They see taking any form of industrial action as
very much a last resort and are very quick to
condemn unofficial action (i.e. action that hasn't
been sanctioned by them). The 'correct procedures'
and negotiation machinery are vitally important to
them. Confidence among the members at workplace
level rarely merits even a second thought. The
official believes it is his or her negotiation skill
that wins concessions from the boss. The activity
of the rank & file is seen, at best, as secondary.
MAKING THE MEMBERS OBEY
Once a deal has been struck the official has to see
that the members stick to it. The continued
existence of the negotiation machinery depend on an
element of trust. If the employer can't be sure
that the union official can ensure that the members
adhere to the deal, why should any boss enter
negotiations? The union official's career depends
on being able to make the members comply with
agreements.
The result is a cautious, conservative bureaucracy
at the top of the unions that seeks more and more
control over the members, and opposes any
independent organisation among the rank & file.
This does not mean that these people will never give
a lot of support to struggles. While they don't
exactly make a habit of it they are capable of
leading and supporting strikes when the negotiation
machinery is brought into question. This is why,
for instance, SIPTU's leaders were prepared to spend
a small fortune explaining the case of the "Pat the
Baker" strikers who very bravely fought for union
recognition.
However, in many strikes even verbal support is slow
in coming, if it comes at all. With the PESP and
the anti-strike provisions of the 1990 Industrial
Relations Act (which was agreed as part of the PNR
and hailed by ICTU's Kevin Duffy as leaving us
"better off") we are seeing even less support for
strikers.
WHAT WAY FORWARD?
So, how can activists inside the unions organise to
combat the authority of the officials and bring
together workers who take their trade unionism
seriously? Three options can be put forward. Let's
take a look at them.
1. Building Broad Lefts. These are groups within
individual unions whose main purpose is to elect a
"left wing" leadership, though as part of this thy
will also try to generate support for workers in
struggle. Sometimes they also argue for officials
to get no more than the average wage of their
members and to have to stand for regular re-
election.
It is correct to raise demands like these and it can
be useful to support candidates who are more
responsive to the needs of the membership. In
circumstances where we feel there is a value in this
anarchists can and do support such candidates. A
problem arises, however, when electing leaders
becomes more important than winning support for rule
changes which wold allow for more participation and
democracy.
WHO NEEDS LEADERS?
As the Broad Left idea concentrates on leadership we
must start off by asking if leaders are a good
thing, and are they necessary. These are not two
separate questions since if leaders are necessary
they must also be good. Here we are not talking of
a 'leadership of ideas', of those whose ideas are
accepted because they make sense to the rest of us.
We are talking about the leadership which divides us
into leaders and led, the leader being the man or
woman who - as a representative - has acquired
combined administrative and decision making powers.
As such he or she sees no need for any high level of
debate or activity among the rank & file. Indeed,
from the point of view of the average official, such
thought and action - by encouraging questioning and
criticism - is an obstacle to 'normal' trade
unionism. Leadership implies almost absolute power
held by the leader. All leaders become corrupt to
some degree despite their own good intentions.
Nobody was ever good enough, brave enough or strong
enough to have such power as real leadership
implies.
The power of initiative, the sense of collective
responsibility, the self-respect that comes from
making decisions is taken from the members and given
to the leader. Most of the members are reduced to
inactivity and passivity. Attendance at meetings,
participation in internal union life, and even basic
identification with the union, declines as power
shifts from the workplace and the branch.
Of course not all advocates of the Broad Left
strategy see things this way. Though constantly
proclaiming the need for a "fighting leadership"
they also look for more internal democracy and
activity. In reality, however, the main task is
still seen as getting Broad Left supporters elected
to positions of influence. The rank & file are to
elect a new leadership who will then bring about
change from the top. That's he theory anyway.
RANK & FILISM
2. The Rank & File Movement. This is a strategy
for organising within the union to win more
democracy, more struggle against the bosses and more
involvement by the membership. Its attitude is best
summed up by the slogan "with the officials when
possible, without them when necessary". Where there
have been large rank & file movements they have
always been based on combative workers who find the
union bureaucracy is an obstacle in their way. They
are hen forced to ignore the instructions of the
bureaucracy and disobey them if their struggle is to
be won.
This can start with problems about spreading
strikes, refusing to get sucked into endless rounds
of mediation, or being denied official sanction for
a strike. The point is that large rank & file
groupings are created when workers are fighting the
bosses, are confident, and then find the union
officials are trying to sabotage their struggle.
The need for independent organisation within the
union is then posed. Struggle creates genuine rank
& file movements, not the other way around.
At a time when most workers are on the defensive and
lacking in confidence, any attempt to create such
groups will attract only small numbers of activists.
This is not to decry such attempts (where they arise
from a genuine desire to take on the bosses and
bureaucrats) but to warn against setting any
unrealistic goals at this time.
GETTING TOGETHER
3. Building a Solidarity Network. We have to face
the fact that mass unemployment, growing poverty and
two decades of centralised wage bargaining have left
many good union activists demoralised. They are
doubtful about the possibility of fighting back
against the Larry Goodmans and Billy Atleys.
Another PESP certainly won't improve matters.
But all is not doom and gloom. They are militants
who want to fight back. The 1990 TUUAP campaign
and, more recently, the support for the "Pat the
Baker" and Nolans strikers are signs of this. There
is a need for a structure to bring these people
together, a visible network that can attract other
activists. Trade Union Fightback, which is not
under the control of any political party, could
become this.
It wants to break down the isolation that makes us
weak, to combat 'social partnership' deals, to
support all resistance to job losses and cutbacks,
to fight for more democracy in our unions, and to
organise solidarity with workers in struggle. It
could, if it gets enough support, produce a magazine
with factual information on disputes, wage deals,
the behaviour of union leaders. It could also be a
forum for debating different ideas for changing our
unions.
A network such as this would allow us to pool our
efforts while at the same time discussing the
different strategies for putting trade union power
where it should be - in the workplace. It is a
moderate proposal but one which could provide a
springboard for real rank & file organisation. The
conditions for it will reappear, now is as good a
time as any to start making preparations.
======================
Review
ANARCHISM'S GREATEST HITS
WHAT IS ANARCHISM? AN INTRODUCTION edited by Donald
Rooum. (Freedom Press). #1.95
FREEDOM PRESS is an anarchist publishing house in
Britain. They also hold meetings and run a shop in
Angel Alley, Whitechapel, London. Books such as
'Anarchy' by Malatesta; Kropotkins's 'The State, its
Historic Role'; Vernon Richards 'Lessons of the
Spanish Revolution', among others have been produced
by Freedom over the years.
'What Is Anarchism? An Introduction' is their latest
offering. The booklet begins with a long
introduction by Donald Rooum, best known for his
'Wildcat' cartoons. He writes under the headings
'What Anarchists believe', 'How Anarchists differ',
'What Anarchists do' which were lifted from Nicholas
Walter's 1969 pamphlet 'About Anarchism'. Donald
gives us a theoretical introduction to some
anarchist basics. His writing style is very clear
and the points he makes are easy to understand.
The rest of the pamphlet is given over to the
Freedom Press equivalent of a K-Tel greatest hits
album. Old essays resurface, this time with a new
cover. Over twenty short works by the old (mainly
dead) favourites; Malatesta, Kropotkin, Godwin and
Woodcock, etc, writing on topics from the meaning of
the word 'Anarchy' to 'Is Anarchy possible?'
The secret of reading this pamphlet is to understand
where it comes from. The anarchism of Freedom Press
is intellectual and almost entirely theoretical.
They are not involved in the activities that most
anarchists in the world take part in; trade unions,
campaigns, etc.
This emphasis on theory is reflected in the
pamphlet. In the introduction names of groups are
not mentioned. Facts and figures are rare. In
theory there is nothing wrong with theory. But
unless you link your ideas up with day to day
struggle it is very hard to see the relevance, if
any, of those ideas. Secondly they do not further
the class struggle by encouraging action which
should be the whole point of getting involved in the
first place.
500,000 ANARCHISTS!
Donald claims on page 20 that there could be half a
million anarchists in Britain. It is interesting to
see how he got this estimate. At some of the anti-
nuclear marches in the late 50's and early 60's
about one in forty marched behind anarchist banners.
Donald claims that "it seems fair to extrapolate
from this that anarchists numbered more than one in
forty of all those in favour of nuclear disarmament,
perhaps one per cent of the total population".
Another method is to use the numbers not voting in a
general election. "There are many reasons for
refusing to vote, but it seems a conservative
estimate that one in seven of the refusers, or more
than one per cent of the population, refuse to vote
for the anarchist reason that "it only encourages
them".
"If it is correct that the anarchists are between
one and two per cent of the adult population, then
there are about half a million of them; a small
minority, but not a minuscule minority".
There is no reason to take these "estimates"
seriously. Even if they were true, these
"undercover" anarchists are politically useless.
They are sitting on their backsides watching TV or
thinking anarchist thoughts at the football match.
They are certainly not agitating, educating and
organising.
HOMOGENISED ANARCHISTS
Donald also gives a homogenous view of anarchism,
"Anarchists believe this. . .anarchists believe
that". In fact as he says on the cover he means "I
believe this. . ." or at most, "Freedom Press and I
believe this. . ."
"The differences which most often causes anarchists
to separate into different groups is a difference,
not of political opinion, but of presentational
style" Page 13
Anarchists are made out to be essentially one happy
family, but squabbling over trivia. Freedom Press
has one set of anarchist ideas. There are other
strands of anarchism such as anarcho-syndicalism or
anarcho-communism and there are clear political
differences between them. That is why we are in
different groups.
In fighting the Poll Tax differences between groups
were clear. Freedom held a number of discussion
meetings and in the end could not decide whether or
not the Poll Tax was bad.
Other groups such as the Anarchist Workers Group and
the Direct Action Movement got involved in anti-poll
tax groups in the unions and in the community. To
say that this is only a difference of presentation
only trivialises the politics involved.
PERSPECTIVES AWRY
Any short introduction to anarchism must contain
generalities but too many important facts are left
out. Under "How anarchists differ" there is no
mention of the anarcho-communist strand of
anarchism.
The relevance of Makhno's 'Platform of the
Libertarian Communists' written from the
experiences of anarchists in the Russian revolution
is not mentioned. Nor are the 'Friends of Durruti'
in the Spanish revolution.
The only mention to communism is "Some anarchists
are communist in the strict sense, maintaining that
all goods should be held in common". Apart from
being a pathetically small reference it is also
wrong. Anarcho-communists do not want to hold all
goods common. I do not want to share my toothbrush
or razor with anyone. Likewise I have no desire to
wear a communal set of underpants.
We are communists because we believe that the means
of production should by controlled by the working
class and not by some rich elite. It is only in
this way that we can eliminate the exploitation of
the working class and have the basis for an
anarchist society.
The reference to anarcho-syndicalists is roughly the
same length as the reference to Individualists.
Anarcho-syndicalists have a long and rich history
and have played by far the most significant role,
going by numbers, of any strand of anarchism.
In the Spanish revolution the anarcho-syndicalist
National Confederation of Workers (CNT) numbered up
to two million and led the fight against Franco.
The militant Industrial Workers of the World were
among the first to unionise unskilled, black and
low paid workers in the USA. To give them the same
space as Individualists who have played a relatively
insignificant role in history is to loose all sense
of perspective.
WHAT IS NEEDED
Today, for the first time ever, the two other
strands of socialism, Leninism and Labourism, have
been completely discredited. The only socialist
current with any credibility is anarchism, which
throughout its existence has contained the most
advanced political ideas of the socialist movement.
Now the potential for growth in anarchist numbers
and influence is very real. Anarchist groups are
organising, campaigning and growing. Groups are
forming throughout the old Eastern Bloc but notably
in Russia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech
Republic and the Ukraine. Already existing
anarchist groups are growing in Ireland, France,
Spain, USA, Peru, Uruguay and elsewhere.
In Britain this is not happening. All the groups
appear to be shrinking, splitting or disbanding.
The pamphlet is a sad reflection of this. We should
be getting stimulating pamphlets, written by
activists, debating, urging us into action and
realistically assessing the future.
'What is Anarchism? An Introduction' rehashes and
reprints articles which could have been written any
time this century. It is a good read and of
historical interest but nothing more. What is
needed are the ideas, the organisations and the
activists. Hopefully we will see a resurgence of
this sort of anarchism in Britain in the near
future.
Andrew Blackmore
=======================
Review
REMEMBERING THE LOCKOUT
THIS SUMMER the Workers Solidarity Movement was
involved with other activists in organising events
to commemorate the 1913 Dublin lockout. The lockout
happened when the bosses got together to try and
smash the ITGWU, workers who were members of this
union were locked out. The workers held out for a
year, fighting the combined forces of the bosses,
the church and the cops. In the course of which
they set up one of the first armed workers defense
forces, the Citizen army.
One part of the commemoration was the production of
a pamphlet called Lockout. This pamphlet ties
together the events of then and now with articles by
trade unionists on the Industrial Relations Act,
poverty in Dublin to-day, the national plans between
the bosses and the unions and of course a piece on
to-days lockout at the Pat the Baker plant in Cherry
Orchard. There are also two historical articles
looking at nationalist politics at the time and the
formation of the Irish Citizen Army.
Lockout available from the WSM Bookservice, P. O.
Box 1528, Dublin 8 for #2.
====================
LANDLESS USE ANARCHIST METHODS
TO IMPROVE THEIR LIVING STANDARDS
BRAZIL is the world's fourth largest food exporter.
Yet 40 million of its 155 million people go hungry,
even in good times. Millions of peasants are
landless; while American, Japanese and European
multinationals control 36 million hectares of prime
farmland.
The Movement of Landless of Brazil (MST) has been
organising landless rural workers to seize large
estates and work them themselves. One such
occupation lasted for more than two years and
involved 600 families.
Some 1,400 families are camping on lands in the
state Rio Grand do Sul, while there are another 30
encampments in the state of Parama. The landless
share the work necessary to run these camps.
Hygiene, education and food producation are all
organised co-operatively. Decisions are taken after
discussion at general assembles, which in turn take
place after discussion in smaller groups.
Of course, the authorities don't sit around with
their arms crossed - police regularly attempt
evictions and more than 100 activists have been
assassinated since 1991. But this hasn't ended the
occupations because, as a government study admitted,
participants have seen their purchasing power
double, while infant mortality has fallen well below
the national average.
============================
LONGEST EVER STRIKE IN NEPAL ENDS IN VICTORY
WORKERS at the Nepal Battery Company, a subsidiary
of Union Carbide, returned to work at the end of the
summer after winning 15 of their 16 demands. The
222 day strike was longest in the history of the
Nepalese trade union movement. The dispute was for
sick pay, protective clothing, health & safety
standards, life insurance and against intimidation
of union activists.
Anarcho-syndicalist unions and anarchist
organisations were among the organisations from all
over the world who aided the struggle. Messages of
support and donations arrived from India, Hong Kong,
Japan, Australia, Germany, the Ukraine, Britain,
Sweden, Spain and France. The Workers Solidarity
Movement also expressed its support.
The NIWU union and the GEFONT trade union congress
wrote to the Workers Solidarity Movement with their
greetings and thanks. The victory "was possible
because of our militant solidarity and solidarity
support from our comrades abroad".
======================
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MADE ILLEGAL
IN THE GOOD OL' USA
Solidarity is illegal, and so is internationalism.
That was the ruling of a US federal court when it
issued an injunction barring the International
Longshoremens Associations (dockers union) from
asking unions in Japan for help in dealing with two
non-union companies. The companies load citrus
fruit in several Florida ports, and the ILA hoped
that Jap[anese dockers would refuse to unload the
ships when they arrived there.
The ILA argued that the courts have no authority
over the actions of unions outside the United
States. The court - surprise, surprise - took the
bosses side and ruled that the ILA's request for
help from Japanese workers amounted to an illegal
secondary boycott.
Source:Libertarian Labour Review
=======================
After the Russian bosses finish
fighting over the spoils of power
ANARCHISTS BANNED
As we go to press the 'coup' in Moscow has just
ended, although the question of whose coup it was
still seems open. In any case it was no more than
an argument between two equally undemocratic wings
of the ruling class. It was clear that whoever won
it would be the workers that lost, as the victors
would use the events to clamp down on some of the
democratic gains won over the last few years.
Yeltsin won and sure enough he has began the process
of eroding these gains.
According to news received from Moscow Yeltsin has
moved against all his opponents, whether or not they
were connected with or supporting parliament. It is
reported that
"On October 4th it was announced that the Ministry
of Justice (sic!) declared illegal a broad variety
of "pro-communist and nationalist organisations"
that supported the parliament, including the fascist
Russian National Unity and the social-democratic
Party of Labour. The list of organisations was kind
of weird since there was nothing about the Civic
Union (the association of entrepreneurs and
industrial managers) which supported parliament and
declared it's loyalty to Rutskoi, but the
Confederation of Anarcho-Syndicalists was in the
list together with "pro-communist and nationalist
organisations" though it declared that it supports
neither Yeltsin nor Rutskoi and instead called upon
people to stop work and create popular organisations
from below."
The severe beating that Boris Kagalitsky underwent
when he was arrested shows how serious such a ban
could be. Kagalitsky is a social democrat well
known in the West and it was probably only the rapid
response of the Western left to his arrest that
resulted in his quick release. The Confederation of
Anarcho-Syndicalists is the largest of the Russian
anarchist organisations. Its banning represents a
serious threat. As of the time of writing no
further reports have been received of suppression
against Russian anarchists but when they are
received anarchists will need to organise
demonstrations and messages of protest in support of
them rapidly. If you want to get involved in
organising such activity write to the WSM today.
============================
Permission to reprint granted if source cited.
Workers Solidarity is the publication of the Workers
Solidarity Movement, an Irish anarchist
organisation.
Aer mail printed subscriptions can be obtained at
the following rates
Ireland #5.00 for 9 issues.
Britain stg#5.00 for 6 issues
W. Europe stg#5.00 for 5 issues.
E. Europe $1.00 for 4 issues.
Rest of world $10 for 4 issues.
A free copy of either Anarchism and Ireland or
Ireland and British Imperialism is sent with the
first issue.
Smail Workers Solidarity, P.O. Box 1528,
Dublin, Ireland.