FIGHIBACK AGM Arming ourselves for new battles

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Gerry THIS WEEKEND (28-30) sees the Annual General Meeting of Women's Fightback.

The campaign, which Socialist Organiser has solidly supported and in which Socialist Organiser women have played a leading role, has shown that it is possible to gain a wide response for militant campaigning politics among women who . may have little experience of the organised labour movement - some of whom may even have been deeply suspicious of it because of its male domination.

It has shown that women are prepared to organise in support of their sisters in struggle on a wide range of issues.

But there will be no time for self-congratulation. It will be an occasion for sober assessment of the last year, of honest weighing up of strengths and weaknesses and lessons learned.

Some of the strengths are clear. "Women's Fightback" paper is lively, easy to read and easy to sell: "It's like giving away pound notes" - one seller commented.

It has done an invaluable job reporting, publicising and building support for women's struggles whether in defence of jobs like Lee Jeans, or nurseries or the fight of black sisters against the racist Home Office. It has helped to break the isolation and spread the word that women are fighting.

But it needs to do more than that. It will be one of the jobs of this AGM to crystallise out the lessons that women have learnt through sweat and tears in these struggles. We need to build up a stock of experience, of political wisdom, so we can come to new battles armed and ready to Fightback set itself the task of taking the fight for women's liberation into the labour movement, of boldly going where no woman had gone before. We wouldn't run away from the all pervasive sexism and male dominance, but fight to have women taken seriously and issues we raise taken to the heart of the movement, not ghettoised as "women's issues" unworthy of the attention of august male Lee Jeans - trade unionists.

This has been a big factor in the increasing respect for socialist ideas in the women's movement, breakbarriers of suspicion towards down some of the socialist women.

One of the areas where this has borne fruit is in the Labour Party, where issucs of positive discrimination and serious stance on women's rights has moved very much to centre stage. (One wonders whether, for instance, Tony Benn's prioritising of women's rights in his deputy leadership platform would have happened without the ferment in the Labour Party on women which we had no small part in crcaling.).

only highlights OUT weakness in another area, the trade unions, where we have made very much smaller advances. This is one area that must be strengthened.

At a time of downturn in industrial struggle and a degree of demoralisation in the face of mass unemployment, it is significant that very often women have taken the lead, for example in fighting for jobs, with enormous courage in the face of their own inexperience and lack of confidence the oppostion from the men who claim to "lead" them and the patronising sneers of the media.

From Lee Jeans Io Anwar Ditta to Beal Street nursery, women have slammed home the message to an often incredulous labour movement women can fight. and with the support we can win.

One of the vital tashis that faces the AGM and the weekend school that follows it, will be to infuse that confidence in ours oWn strength and the bitterly bought wisdom from those struggles into every woman round lightback.

For that will be the real test of the campaign whether we can go beyond commenting on struggles it; build a self-confident, politically sure-footed network of women who can lead tomorrow's battles, and draw round themselves wider forces, thoroughly steeped in that same fighting spirit.

Detailed policies and programmes for the struggle will be discussed, summing up the lessons.

And much of the emphasis in the school is on seltdevelopment in political discussion (ranging far wider than what is generally patronisingly deemed women's province - drawing on Marxism and feminisin. reform or revolution, Stalinism) and building organising skills.

Women will have the priceless opportunity to draw on sisters' experiece of fighting nursery and hospital closures, organising unemployed women. unionisation battles, occupations and battles against sexism at work.

Mu phy trialist car WINNIE MURPHY, a supporter of Socialist Organiser, has declared herself as a candidate in the forthcoming elections for the Executive of the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers.

This union was shot to prominence when 240 of its members occupied the Lee Jeans factory in Scotland to stop closure.

Winnie spoke to Socialist Organiser about the problems facing clothing workers.

THE CLOTHING industry is notorious for bad conditions and low wages. Is this inevitable?

No! Low wages result from bad organisation.

In the past, not much capital was required to set up in business, so the clothbosses, a fragmented merbership, and sweat shop conditions.

Now the industry is dominated by multinationals, and we have the possibility of better organisation. With combine committees, it is now feasible to raise the question of national planning of the clothing industry.

The industry doesn't have a vital role in the economy, but no boss can do without his profit. We need to discover our own strength.

The major issues clothing workers are:

1. Jobs. In 1980, 50% of clothing workers were either redundant or on short time.

Union membership has dropped from over 120,000 to about 85,000.

Lee Jeans shows the way to fight back, but the union has failed to see its political significance.

2. Wages. The clothing industry has the highest proportion of any industry on piecework, which means Muctuations in wages, cither through shorlage of work or through management attacks. need a campaign for a guaranteed wage.

3. Women's rights. The NUTGW has the largest percentage of women members of any union. We must raise women's issues in the membership.

If things are so bad for the membership, why is the NUTGW so conservative?

This results from the lack of rank and file activity, which in turn has many reasons.

The high labour turnover leads to difficulties in buildThe problem must be put in perspective. More jobs are lost by increased productivity and government policies than by Far East imports.

The siave labour factories of the Far East are set up by western multi-nationals. We should use the fact that Hong Kong is a British colony to highlight British complicity in sweated We Hong Europe.

But the most rapid ra in imports is from the bette: paid countries, eg. LSA Sweden, and elsewhere i Europe. This is due to betie: productivity.

If we go for the idea the imports are the probler then we can't blame thi bosses: instead we shoul join with them agains imports. Look at where the would take us - clas collaboration!

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