Editorial: Their alternative and ours

Editorial Their alternative and ours *Many trade unionists seem to have accepted Mrs Thatcher's argument that the plight of the unemployed is in large part the result of fellow union members pricing them out of jobs.' The Economist 20 December 1980 The Economist's observation that British trade unionists had no answer to Thatcher's arguments was not an idle boast. Today, trade unions are on the defensive and are losing the battle over redundancies and wages. To be sure, the employers' success over workers is not due solely to the compelling arguments of the ruling class. Mass redundancies and the prospect of a deteriorating economy have placed considerable pressure on those still at work. As the Engineering Employers Federation director of operations, Mr Peter Ball noted, the falling rate of pay settlements *is a reflection of realism that is being shown at domestic level, where companies are still faced with short-time working, redundancies and hard business prospects'.!

How were the arguments lost?

Nor was it Margaret Thatcher on her own who won the arguments for capitalist realism. That honour also goes to the left wing of the Labour Party and their co-thinkers in the labour movement. The British left has no distinctive Its response to the world recescapitalism. theory of sion of 1974 was to draw up plans to eliminate capitalist anarchy and inequality through a progressive Labour government. But this naive belief that workers' interests could be defended by economic reforms was soon exposed by Labour's period of office, 1974-79.

The experience of the notorious Social Contract showed that the interests of the working class and of British capitalopposed. This merely confirmed Marx's proposition about the fundamental antagonism of class interest between workers and capitalists. Unfortunately the lessons of these years have not been assimilated by the workers' movement. regenerating British industry Restoring profitability and became the shared objectives of left and right alike. The left has no distinct objectives: it only puts forward distinct policies for achieving these national aims. Economic salvation, according to the left's Alternative Economic Strategy (AES), could be achieved through state investment, state planning of industry and trade, state ownership and industrial democracy. The main effect of the AES has been to draw workers closer to the bourgeois state and to educate them about capitalist reality. A recently published pamphlet by the Labour Coordinating Committee boasts about this achievement: 'investment in the National Economic Development Council (NEDC) and other related bodies, coupled with attempts by the Labour governments to rejuvenate industry in cooperation with the unions' led 'to a far higher degree of expertise about, and knowledge of, the economy and or particular industries by trade unions'.< Initially supporters of the AES emphasised the 'bold socialist potential' of this alternative. But as the capitalist economy fell into recession, the utopian elements of the AES were compromised. The ruthless anti-working class measures required for the regeneration of capitalist industry meant the left reformists had to retreat. But the most important point is that during 1974-79 the AES encouraged militant workers to find a solution to their problems through class collaboration and persuaded them to accept responsibility for the state of the capitalist economy.

Workers became uneasy about defending their living standards because this was 'unrealistic' from the point of view of industry. Once the left reformists had educated trade union militants, it only remained for Thatcher to complete the process. An alternative business strategy During the past two years British capitalism has declined further still. Those who take responsibility for the state of British industry in the labour movement have been forced to lower their sights, and in practice most of the socialist rhetoric of the AES has been abandoned. The aim of the left reformists is to save what's left rather than promise grand reforms. A leading article in a recent issue of Tribune, the paper of the Labour left, warned: "There are no immediate economic miracles for capitalism and there will be no immediate economic miracles for socialism either.

Even if the most radical elements of the alternative economic strategy were put into operation by a future Labour government within the first few months of achieving office, the results would take two or three years to have any effect.

The need for re-investment in industry is so great and the damage which the Tories have done to the economy is so enormous that, apart from the redistribution of wealth between the rich and the poor, there would be little or no room for much increase in our general living standards."

The need for investment and the criterion of profitability override the interests of workers. It never occurs to these left economists that the condition for more investments is more unemployment, more attacks on working conditions and lower pay. That the restoration of profitability requires enormous sacrifices from workers is dishonestly passed over. Instead labour bureaucrats fall over themselves to demand more investment and state subsidies.

The TUC's Plan for growth: the economic alternative exemplifies this approach. This 'alternative' consists demanding that the state invests £6.2 billion over two Others have modified versions of this investment years. plan. Recently the engineering union's white-collar section, AUEW-TASS, published a pamphlet on GKN. Noting that 25 000 jobs have been lost since 1976 at GKN, it proceeded to ignore the question of fighting redundancies altogether. Instead it argued that KN must stop investing capital abroad. According to TASS, investing in Britain is

good business and is incidentally good for jobs: 'KN should, for example, base its automotive sector here in the UK instead of investing heavily in Europe and the USA. Its virtual monopoly on constant velocity joints gives it an important advantage which would aid our Uk export performance and provide much needed employment." During the past year trade union bureaucrats have become investment specialists. In the nationalised industries union leaders have united with employers to demand more investment. Railway leaders have even threatened strike action unless more investment was forthcoming. In engineering, the AUEW has taken to articulating the demands of the bosses - lower interest rates, a weaker pound and lower energy prices for the engineering industry.

It is not surprising that with this wholesale acceptance of capitalist economics by both the left and the right wing of the labour movement the capitalist class has taken the Preparing for power The present capitalist crisis will not be resolved in the sphere of economic policy. There are no technical solutions to the crisis of imperialism. The stabilisation of capitalist rule requires the defeat of the working class. And that's just the beginning. It will be the outcome of imperialist rivalries which will determine who invests where and which capitalists will enjoy the fruits of a restructured system. But one thing is clear: the losers will be the working class.

The article World in recession' in this issue of Revolutionary Communist Papers outlines the main trends in the world economy today. The Marxist analysis of the crisis shows that the issue is not one of economics but of power.

Class power will determine whether it is the realism of the bourgeoisie or the interests of the workers which will prevail. It follows that the job of Marxist theory is to strengthen the anti-capitalist potential of the labour movement, both to give it a wider focus and to expose the reactionary character of reformist 'alternatives. Theory must be brought to bear on the day to day struggles so as to bring about the emergence of a distinct proletarian alternative. Workers will of course go on fighting regardless of this ideological struggle. But they will fight for more investments, import controls and, ultimately, fight the imperialist war for the bosses. This journal is sponsoring 'Preparing for power', an international conference on the working class movement in the 'eighties. The conference will work towards identifying the political obstacles to building an independent proletarian movement. It will outline the key ideological issues that arise on the shop floor and the wider problems that face the working class as a whole. Shop-floor activists as well as speakers from overseas will examine the experience of the international labour movement over the past decade.

We welcome the participation of readers of Revolutionary Communist Papers at this conference.

Frank Richards July 1981 The Times, 11 May 1981 Labour Coordinating Committee, Trade unions and socialism, 1981, p12. Tribune, 24 April 1981. AUEW-TASS, GN: a case of British industry at risk, 1981, p8.

2 Preparing for power Dates: 11-13 September Venue: University of London Union, Malet Street, London WC1 Registration: £6.00 (£3.00 unemployed) At a time when the British left is in disarray, active workers need to get down to considering the major problems thrown up by the deepest capitalist recession in fifty years. This is what the next step conference on the working class movement in the 'eighties aims to do.

When there is so much at stake understanding what is going on in the labour movement is crucial. The traditional reformist parties of the working class are in crisis. Yet there is no convincing political alternative to the social-democratic and communist parties. Preparing for power will address the major theoretical and practical questions facing active workers. A wide range of workshops will examine such important issues as the transformation of the labour nature of reformism, the movement in the post-war period and the impact of the recession on the working class. Other workshops will draw together the recent experiences of active trade unionists in their fight against redundancies. Come along and participate in these important discussions and debates.

Three days of workshops, discussion and debate • The tasks of the Revolutionary Communist Party in the 'eighties • Workers' struggles - Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Eastern Europe... • What's going on in the unions. Fighting redundancies.

The problem of sectionalism. Occupations: the recent • Social democracy and the working class. The Labour left and the unions. The Left Alternative Strategy • Stalinism, past and present. What happened to Euro- • Fighting the divisions in our ranks. Racism and the unions. The position of women workers. Is there an aristoc racy of labour? For registration write to BM RCT, London WIN 3XX Cheques and postal orders payable to RCT Association Enquiries: phone 01-274 3951

WORLD IN RECESSION