The coming rail strike: This has now been fixed for the Tuesday, Yednesday
and Thursday of the week AFTER the Municipal Blections, The date is probably a concession to the myth being spread by the capitalist press that industrial action is injurious to Labour's electoral prospects, We need to counter this myth, but to do so is fairly easy, In Municipal Elections, Labour's biggest enemy is apathy, A vigorous campaign and espousing of the railwaymon's case by Labour candidates would mobilise ell the railway trade union activists (and many more besides.) An army of angry railwaymen, filled with hatred for the Tories, would be the finest counter to apathy that could be devised, The fact that a few old ladies would be stirred to vote against Labour should worry no one, The Tories are the ones who should be worried, The reaction of the Association of County Councils shows the the feelings aroused in the countryside, Dozens of safe Tory seats will be completely denuded of railway services ~ surely, if a national campaign was mounted which gripped the imagination of people, big Labour inroads could be made.
Wilson has promised a big campaign on the whole transport question, This is clearly going to be one of the most important domestic issues in British politics for a long time, Circumstances are very favourable for the left to achieve the aim of turning this into a com combined industrial struggle (against sackings) and political struggle (against the social effects of the Besching plan.) For once the left will be swimming with the stream, But it is up to the left to be to the fore in the campaign, to take the running of it out of the hands of the tureav cratic fuddy-duddies who, regardless of their orders or personal opinions, are incapable of organising in a clear-cut class way.
The offer by the London busmen and the response of the delegates to tha Scottish T.U.C, to Green show that tho strike is popular among the advanced sections of the work einp alan This augurs well for any campaign to extend the scope of industrial. 6 strategy of the left must be to bring about such a campaign that the bourgeoisie hesitate and have a erisis of policy, This in itself would be a big victory in the class struggle, It would help expedite a Labour Government, it would be a big blow to the plans of the British capitalist class to rationalise the British economy at the expense of the working class, and lastly and most important it would demonstrate to British workers that strugele pays off. The Murder of Grimau: The international rayul ion against this crime is
= almost unanimous, The ©.P.s are, of course, well to the forefront, but despite K's personal message, the workers statos have not suggested taking real action against the Franco rogime, Griman was in charge of the CID in Barcelona during the period when terrible crimes were committed against the left forces of the Spanish revolution by the Stalin-— ists. However, we should support the campaign against Grimau's murder = Franco killed him because he was a threat to Fascism in Spain. The murder was a sign of nervousness in face of the upswing of the Spanish workers! movement. By using the feeling aroused to get real action against the Franco rogime we will be helping our class brothers still in Franco's jails and the Spanish revolution,
The aim should be to do economic damage to the prison house economy of Spain, Moves made by various unions to dissuade their members from spending holidays in Spain should be supported and emlated, A boycott of Spanish goods should be discussed. Most important, the coming Labour Government must be committed to breaking relations with Franco and actively helping the anti-Franco socialist forces in Spain,