Momentous appeal to East European workers SoliDARNosi

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week 0f "AN APPEAL to All Workers of Eastern Europe"

"The delegates (of Solidarnosc's First National Congress,, greet the workers of Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, and all the nations of the Soviet Union.

"As the first independent trade union in our post-war history, we are deeply aware of the common aspirations of our peoples.

Despite the lies spread in your countries, we assure you that we are an authentic representative of the working class - 10 million strong born from workers' Vision Our aim is the fight for better living conditions of all workers. We support those among you who have decided to take the difficult road of struggle for a free trade union movement. We believe that, in the future, which is not that far off, our representatives will be able to meet one another and exchange experiences."

It is only at rare moments in history that such appeals can be made to the working classes of the world The appeal of the newly established revolutionary Soviet Government in 1917 - "To all the Toilers of the World" the founding addresses of the revolutionary Communist International are some of those few.

They represented a working class on the advance, confident of its own strength and vision of a future society.

Solidarnose's Address to the Workers of Eastern Europe - similarly falls into this category of proclamations when not only these self-same workers have found their own powerful democratic voice - but reaching out their hand to their brothers and sisters of the other Stalinist dominated states - see the necessity of raising to their feet all the oppressed and downtrodden* of Eastern Europe.

It is an address which needless to say must have sent chills down the backs of all bureaucrats, careerists and those used to exercising untramelled arbitrary fiat for years (and years), without a murmur of protest from their victims.

It is an address, short and to the point, but portentious and great. It is the signal of the coming East European political revolution.

Contrast this Appeal, unanimously voted by hundreds of delegates representing a genuine ten-million strong working class movement with the vicious yet frightened reaction of the Kremlin leaders.

The contrast is remarkable. The response purports to be a proclamation issued by a group of car workers from the Likhatchev factory!

Future

Fi he statement bears the unmistakeable imprint of the Moscow bureaucracy: * "Those force instigating anarchy and chaos, who have nidden behind the call to "rectify" and "renovate" socialis . . . have let slip their mask and are now deliberately exalting and acclaiming the counter-revolution."

Not satisfied with this rubbish "the Likhatchev car workers" go on to sing the priases of "existing socialism" , and assert that:

"The authors of the appeal call on us to disown, to betray the millions who perished in the struggles against imperialism ... to betray our communist future It has always been the case that all oppressor clases groups and castes in history have wilfully identified their role and vision of society with the common good.

Camps

The "communist iuture" talked about so lat Rhably in this "workers' deply" is nothing more than the contrived future of bureaucratic power, wealth and privilege of the Stalinists, which is now being •mortally threatened.

For the real communist future lies not with them, but with the countless imprisoned working class militants, like Klebanov and the Association of Professional Workers incarcerated in the prison camps. and psychiatric hospitals of the bureaucracy.

For them. Solidarnose Appeal will be like a trumpet call of sanity. A vindication, tearing through all the cant and madness of the bureaucracy's terror.

Solidarnosc's message will reach them, wherever they are, as no doubt now despite the

SOLARMON

bureaucracy's grasping control of the means of information - millions of workers throughout Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union are talking of Solidarnose's open challenge to their common masters.

Tor Solidarnose has A SUCCESSI UL week of solidarity activities including meetings, demonstrations and a rally in central London marked the first anniversary of the military coup in Turkey As well as a lobby of the TUC - drawing attention to the threatened execution of trade union leaders from the Turkish DISK confederation, well. attended meetings were organised in Newcastle and Bradford, the latter in association with the Bradford Palestinian Campaign. Useful meetings were also held in Leicester; Leeds and Oxford.

On the morning of September 12 a demonstration was mounted outside Downing Street and a letter by Carras managed to survive a year. As Moscow says, it has finally thrown off its mask. This is the mask of a rather unconvincing , and fictitious "syndicalism" and political disinterest.

Not only has the "leading role of the Party" been handed in to the Prime Minister' 's office in protest at the Thatcher government's continued links with and economic aid to the junta.

• The question of Dogan Tarkan's threatened deportation was also referred to, as it had been throughout the week. Dogan Tarkan reported directly on the progress of this defence campaign at the rally held later in the day, which ended with a fund-raising social.

Many useful contacts. have been made, particularly with trade unions, which will strengthen the TSC's work in the future, and local committees will be set up in some towns for the first time.

Contact: TSC, BM Box 5965, London WC1N 3XX. by Alexis as junked openly (including by PUWP members of Solidarnose themselves) by Solidarnose delegates, but free elections to the Sjem have been demanded, with all the Pandora's Box of dilemmas and dangers that implies for the PUWP.

And along with the persistent and determined call of the movement for workers' control and access to the media - Solidarnose has sharply nailed on the head what the stakes are in Poland today:

"The authorities, scared by the perspective of the deprive us of the right to manage the factories and above all to elect and recall the directors. All this is covered under references about the defence of socialised property and the State. In fact it's done in the name of the egotistical interests of the bureaucratic Party-State."

Censorship

The opening part of Soldarnose's nirst congress, originally planned to run only three days, (in fact it went way over time, and is to be continued later in the month) was by any standards momentous.

It was a Congress held, in effect, under siege, as 100,000 Soviet troops played their war games just across the border in Bielorussia to the East, joint Soviet-Polish manoeuvres were held in Silesia to the South, Soviet-East German exercises to the West across the Oder, and the Warsaw Pact fleet sailed ominously amidst the fog off the Baltie coast.

Yet if they were meant to silence the delegates into cautious self-censorship, the manoevures were visible failure.

It is not possible to cower and bully a movement down after years of silence and oppression - as the Catholic-sponsored right wing within Solidarnose discovered to its own embarrassment as well.

These more conciliațory elements, fearful of. the "secular left" around KOR, proposed a vote that every morning at 8, before each Congress session - mass should be said by all delegates.

It was meant as a clear slap in the face for Kuron's KOR, especially in congress overwhelmingly composed of practising Catholics. To the credit of the delegates, the right in fact lost the vote.

It was only after another delegate got up and somewhat red-faced screamed that attendance at mass was "of course" voluntary matter of personal choice -that the vote was overturned.

Solidarnose and in particular the KOR wing. of the movement, for the "secular left") have once again been showered with a veritable storm of abuse and lies by the Russian press and their lackeys in Eastern Europe.

The fact that Soviet reaction has for the time being, once again remained at the level of vilification and ominous military games, must not blind us to the very real possibility that an intervention is always an option the Soviet leaders will never renounce.

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INTERNATIONAL ACTION urkey action

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