CLASS STRUGGLE WAVE stage in the class struggle has been reached in Britain. The offensive of Macmillan and the Conservative government in imposing the credit squeeze and other measures, as a means of exerting pressure for a wage-freeze, despite rising living costs, has not succeeded in its objective. In the last few the resistance of the workers has stiffened. There has been a wave of struggle to improve wages and conditions among engineers, and meat-workers. Apart from the busmen's, these were unofficial strikes, waged with stubborn endurance and willingness to struggle on the part of the workers: The engineers at Pressed Steel, were victorious against employers who were backed by the engineering employer's national organization. In this instance, the ployers, wanting a showdown, were compelled to retreat and to make concessions. workers returned victimization guarantee, but after the return fresh conflict broke out over a demand for transfer of scabs, with whom the workers refused to work after the strike. This dispute lasted more than a month, without strike pay. At Smithfield Market, London, meat distribution centre for the whole country, meat transport strikers came out in a dispute lasting nine weeks (again without strike pay). Here again the employers intended the strike to be a showdown workers: they set out to break the militants' off 600 porters and tried demoralize the meat-workers, who had refused to scab transport. This, in its turn, resulted in a standstill in the market, the meat-workers striking against the lock-out of the 600. As a further complication, resulting from the strong bonds between food-workers and dockers forged in past struggles, the dockers came out in an unofficial sympathy strike at Tooley Street Docks, which handle meat imports In spite of the efforts of union officials, adamant in their refusal to touch "black" meat. Nothing could break their class solidarity. When the employers drafted scabs to handle the imported all the London docks ground to a halt. In the enc otwithstanding the past stand of the emplovers in refusin unofficial strikers, compelled to step in with an "enquiry." The real test of strength between British workers and employers, with the Tory government at the latter's beck and call, was provided by the busmen. It had been the intention of the government, in deliberately provoking this strike by awarding 8s. 6d. to a section of the men and nothing to the others, to break the resistance of the busmen and promote a wage-freeze in other industries, making the busmen the example. The cohesion and solidarity of the busmen was a surprise to the London Transport Executive and the government. Out of 50,000 busmen, there were only nine blacklegs. Fresh workers — Irish, West Indians, women - who had been only a few years in the industry and were new to trade unionism — stood solidly with their fellow workers; there was not a sign of a crack in the ranks even after six weeks. The provocative boast by the authorities, issued at the beginning of the strike, that they would provide protection to those willing to work, was exposed as empty bombast. Thank daed no, leader of the ransport d eneral Worker' Union, was caught between the conflicting pressures of em-
68 ployers and workers. Despite all his attempts at compromise, the government and the employers were adamant in torcing the issue. The militants wanted to extend the strikes to the underground train operators and the power workers, and Cousins was forced to consider this. The busmen's struggle resulted in increases to the railway workers, electric power workers, and other sections. Cousins manœuvred very successfully, placing the responsibility for failure to broaden the strike on the shoulders of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress; the latter body was terrified at the demand for extension, as this would have provided an open challenge to the Tory government. The government would have replied to the bringing out of the power workers and petrol lorry drivers by calling in the Army, and this in turn would have promoted further extensions of the stoppage and the rapid development of a pre-revolutionary situation. This frightened the Trades Union Congress more than anything. Behind the scenes, the TUC leaders were whimpering that "constitutional" government would be threatened under such conditions. Thus once again was the lesson brought out that inherent in reformism lies the inevitability of betrayal once a mass movement of the working class gets under way. On the other hand, the strength of the resistance shown by the bus and other workers compelled the Tory government to retreat - for the time being. The Tories await a more favorable occasion to come to grips with the working class. For the last three years the Federation of British Industries, the banks, the Tory backbenchers and the right-wing press have been clamoring for action against the workers. They were held back, first by Eden and now by Macmillan, on the ground that any gains from a head-on clash would be cancelled by loss in trade and the possibility of provoking a revolutionary outbreak on the part of the workers. Reluctantly, the government has retreated to a formula of 3% wage increases, as compared to the retreat to 5% in former years. The government is waiting for the onset of mass unemploy-
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL ment in the winter of 1958-9, with the spread of the slump, when it will be impossible any longer to postpone a showdown, betore moving again to settle accounts with the workers. While the trade-union and Labour leaders are lulling the workers with a perspective of "compromise" with the employers and the government, the latter is preparing its implacable revenge. A new consciousness has been developed in the last period within the working class. The attitude of the mass of the organized workers to both economic and political problems is on a far higher level than before the war. In the last months, apart from the big strikes mentioned, been a wave of disputes up and down the country in defense of union organization and to prevent the victimization of shop stewards and other militants. The workers, instinctively, have in all disputes regarded with loathing and abhorrence those tools of the class enemy who scabbed or refused to join the unions under these conditions. They have refused to work with, speak to, or have anything at all to do with, blacklegs. This "harsh" and uncompromising attitude has alarmed the employers, who have tried to exert pressure on the workers to change it, through the press, the Church, and even the reformist leaders. Yet, despite this tremendous barrage of propaganda, the workers have proudly maintained their class', stand. The workers have understood class solidarity as the most important aspect of all these struggles. They have grasped the necessity of defending. their organization, their cohesion and solidarity, as the most, precious of weapons. In this way, they are prepared and hardened, at this level, for the great struggles ahead. On this basis, the revolutionary current must explain the need to preserve a class front and to launch an offensive against the bosses at a time favorable to the workers. The revolutionists must consistently expose the cowardice and pusillanimity of the TUC and the reformist leaders. *
Greece