THE WAGE FREEZE
Since October, 1964, when Labour was elected to power a series of vicious attacks have been made against the trade union movement. Whilst this is not surprising to those whe have studied the performance of previous Labour governments, it has helped . to confuse the majority of the rank and file. What has perhaps been more surprising is the lack of response from the movement. Despite many heroie struggles, the number. of strikes in 1965 was the lowest for over a decade, and the number of workers involved in strikes the lowest for 7 years. And this in the year of the wage freeze! Although the major responsibility for this lack of response mst be laid at the doer of trade union and Labeur leaders who have refused to fight Wilsen this is not the whole story. Neither can we believe that the British trade union movement - ge jealous and proud of its rights - has lost the will to fight. Confusion and the lack ef a fighting strategy has been the main cause of lack of rank and file response. This conffision has been made worse by some on the left: those who have refused to fight Wilson for "tactical" reasons; and those who have predicted that the rank and file would automatically break with their leaders - and organisations! - once an attack was made. To meet this situation the movement needs to work a strategy. But such a strategy can only be worked out by a thorough discussien and in struggle. Every initiative and every struggle must be supported by the whele movement. The organising of a discussion which tackles both the political and industrial aspects is difficult. As a first step we would suggest the calling of a conference of the left, to draw in the leaderships of those unions which oppese the wage freeze and the rank and file of those unions which are dominated by supporters of the freeze. Such ea conference should be open to all socialists, including Labour Parties, which oppose the freeze, and there should be no bans and proscriptions. Such a conference should be the first step towards building a left which will appear in the eyes of millions of supporters of Labour as a real alternative to Wilson. As a bas® for discussion we suggest the . following points:
Immediate abolition of the wage freeze and anti trade union legislation;
full freedom for trade unions to negotiate;
a sliding scale of wages to meet increases in the cost of living;
Huge cuts in military expenditure;
nationalisation ef the commanding heights of industry;
a workers’ plan to develop the economy at the expense of the employers;
opening the books of employers and workers' control of hiring and firing, ete.;
a socialist foreign policy: Labour should on the side of the oppressed; and
an all-European conference of labour to meet the threat of the Common Market, etc.
Week would be pleased to hear from anyone who has ideas on this proposition.