An estimated 30,000 students (and one trade union contingent) converged on London over the weekend 22/23 January to demonstrate their opposition to the Government's proposals for the reform' of students unions. Most stayed the weekend in the various London colleges occupied for this purpose, with LSE and North London Poly having the added attraction oi using the sit-ins as direct challenges to their college authorities.
This demo was dramatically smaller than the pre-Christinas NUS estimate of more than 100,000. This confirmed the view of those who predicted that the DES manoeuvre of postponing a decision on the proposals for a year would affect the size of the mobilisation. Most students, under the illusion fostered by the NUS leadership that nothing more is at stake than an economic cut-back on their clubs and societies, saw no pressing reason to appear on the streets. Having mobilised on a completely apolitical level, nothing more could be expected.
POLITICAL AUTONOMY IS INTERVENTION IN THE CLASS STRUGGLE As we have consistently argued in the pages of The Red Mole, the Government proposals are an attempt to destroy the influence of revolutionary students on the rather larger radicalised mass. Their particular concern is to block off any large scale mobilisation of students against the State-particularly in solidarity with workers' struggles and anti-imperialist struggles. Given this, an essential weapon in fighting these proposals is precisely the strengthening of this sort of activity and the winning of broader layers of students to this perspective. This is what strengthening the power of students actually amounts totheir only power being political.
The situation where union solidarity is broken up by the union leadership's failure to wage a united struggle is unfortunately not a new one. It has happened only too often. Here, for example, is a description of two strikes in the United States at the beginning of the century-which show only too clearly that failure to wage a united struggle leads to defeat for all sections of the working class. "Take for example the first street car workers strike in San Franciso .........Not only were all motormen, conductors and ticket agents organised..... but all the bammer, linemen and repairers, and many of the repair shop AND POLITICS The Liaison Committee for the Defence of Students Unions (LCDSU) was set up with just this perspective. At its second national conference the previous weekend (see The Red Mole,35) it had decided to make a major intervention on the question of the miners' strike. This had the aim of taking forward the fight against the Government's student union proposals as much as for the concrete help that could be offered to the miners. This demo provided a superb opportunity to put this perspective into effect. The objective of the march would be to demonstrate solidarity with the miners outside the offices of the National Coal Board.
The LCDSU came to the assembly point at Hyde Park as one contingent, marching from Euston Station via Malet Street and picking up its supporters on the way. Refusing the attempts of the NUS stewards to split it up at Hyde Park, it raised the demand that a miner should put the case for going to the Coal Board to all the other students assembled there. This was refused —not, however, before scuffles had occurred between the NUS stewards and supporters of the LCDSU. TO THE COAL BOARD: THE MINERS' STRIKE MUST WIN!
Once arrived at Trafalgar Square, the only bright spot in all the speech-making was a speech by Mike Cooley. Digby Jacks, who ended the dirge, made passing reference to the miners' struggle but made no attempt to get the march to go there. The end of his speech was the signal to line up supporters of the LCDSU for the march to to the Coal Board, and led by the DATA banner, about 5,000 students set off. No police opposition was encountered this time although they completely surrounded and cut off the Coal Board itself.
teachers conference On the weekend of 12/13 February, the teachers' paper Rank and File is holding its annual national conference. On the Saturday morning one of the main discussions will take place around the theme-Aims and Principles of Rank and File.
Since the journal was set up about three years ago, there has been one set of principles, published in issue 7. For this conference there have been two papers circulated to Rank and File supporters. The first of these, written by some I.S. teachers, is based upon an extension of the old aims and principles.
This document first explains that a radical transformation of society is necessary, and then goes on to demand the democratization of schools and the union-as interlinking factors and with no explanation of which is to be the priority for the organisation.
The other document has been produced by IMG teachers. They argue for the establishworkers...also the engineers, the firemen, the electricians, the ashwheelers, oilers, etc.
in the power stations. The strike ended with a signal victory for the workers; this was accomplished because the workers had quit their work spontaneously.....In the second strike of street car workers in 1907 the absolute failure, the complete disaster, was solely due to the fact that the workers, separated in several staff groups, could not strike together and win.....if the investigator will follow the investigation of facts and underlying causes, he will be surprised to see how the employers take advantage of this divide-up policy. He will see how the capitalists gleefully helped to pit one portion of the workers against others in the same or other industries, so that the latter, while busy fighting amongst themselves, had no time nor strength to direct their fight against the employers and exploiters." (Why Strikes are Lost' -W. Trautmann)
Sixty-six years later the TUC still hasn't learnt the lesson. The concentration in this way of the forces which we could mobilise had an impact in a way that our dispersed forces on a picket line could not. The question of mass student support for the miners raised here (as elsewhere) the issues involved in a much sharper way than revolutionary organisations could with just their own forces. Not only does it give much greater weight to the struggle for our politics in the colleges-actually challenges an offensive against us and raises the fight to a much higher level; not only this, but such an action adds a not insignificant weight to the importance of this issue in society generally. This also puts the trade union bureaucracy on the spot and quickly reveals their position. Their abhorrence of mass student action in solidarity with the miners has already in several instances brought them into conflict with their own men. FOR UNITY WITH THE MINERS:AGAINST UNITY WITH RIGHT WING STUDENTS As students have no economic power, the question of student unity cannot be posed as an end in itself, but must be around clear ment of Rank and File as a united froat paper-within the National Union of Teachers-working to change the union. The unity of the left would be based on four principled demands. bathgate s.s. occupied Over fifty miners occupied the offices of the Bathgate Social Security offices, which serves a number of the pits in Scotland, on Wednesday 26th January as part of a campaign organised by the NUM to make sure that the miners get their full SS entitlement while on strike. Also taking part in the action were members of the Cumbernauld and Clydebank Claimants and Unemployed Workers Unions, and militants of the IMG.
At the offices staff were taking no details of the men's situation save that they were on strike and single, before handing them a prewritten refusal slip. Faced with a mass claim the SS staff first tried to outflank them by calling claimants to other interview coun Following the incident at Dover docks where a miners' strike picket was threatened by a scab lorry driver wielding an iron bar (see political principles. A student demonstration is strong as much for its political depth as for its size. It can only be a weakness to unite with right wing students, more especially since they are opposed to unity with the workers in struggle. As Steve Vines, Union President at the University of Reading, put it to the students outside the Coal Board offices: "The NUS are full of words about solidarity with the workers, but they leave it up to us to take action. It is they who are spliting the Union by their complete lack of leadership in this kind of action." It is quite clear that the LCDSU action here has posed in a clear way an alternative strategy to the CP leadership of the NUS. What we have posed is the mass activity of students in the class struggle not only on this occasion but in other actions that have been taken up and down the country. In this way and in this way only a real fight against the Government's student union proposals can be conducted and a continuing role for students in the class struggle forged.
-J.R. Clynes ters, but eventually gave up and called the police, who arrested three people. However, payments have already been made to single strikers by this office, and the NUM and the CUWUs intend to repeat this kind of operation as often as is necessary until all claims of this kind are met. The announcement of the occupation at the miners' demo stration in Edinburgh last Saturday was greeted by a standing ovation from all those present.
coventry face closes Comrades from the Coventry area report th there has been no loss of solidarity among the miners despite the enforced closure of the Daw Mill face due to spontaneous com busion -which apart from the loss of thami worth of machinery has also put 150 miner on the dole.
The strikers are also getting solid support from the collegés in the area, almost all of which have voted them money.
photo) a complaint was made to the Direc of Public Prosecutions. The following lette was received in reply.
Birector of Public ProsecutiON 12 Buckiogham Gate London SWi SPB/PY.15 Dent Bir inner to your letter or -7 h Ate encloeure, 1 I do not therefore propose to t in the matter:
Toura feithfully,
Derry will be avenged only by the extension
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THE OLD, OLD STORY...