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50p "Capitalist Crisis and Socialist Alternative' ', a detailed study of the breakdown of the boom, by Bob Sutcliffe. 50p plus postage from PO Box 135, London N10DD. CAPITALIST :RI;16 119:00 NUTER: СAPIT4410 CRICI;

..:14 CA PIT40: GENERAL Jaruzelski has tried it before.

At the end of October, after the fourth plenum of the Central Committee of thoated the idea or a ben on the General strikes in Poland.

Within days, this plan was blocked by the prospect of a Parliamentary revolt.

Such a ban would have meant a head-on confrontaton with Solidarnosc -which rightly would have seen any such law as a frontal attack on its most important victory since August 1980, the right to strike.

If would have exacerbated the deep rifts in the PUWP, and pushed the normally compliant small parties in the Parliament (Neo-Znak, Catholics, etc.) to an open rupture with the PUWP.

In the end Jaruzelski had to settle for a rather lame motion - passed unanimously in Parliament - deploring Lots of bark, but no bite. This motion was easily passed - no doubt with the agreement of Solidarnose's national leadership, or the wing of it round Walesa.

Walesa himself was touring the country, appealing, threatening, and cajoling the membership of Solidarnose to stop wildcat • strike activity. Such an overture was vital if the tripartite national negotiations of union/state-party/church - for a makeshift 'national salvation front' - were to get off the ground.

Muzzle General Jaruzelski is now reportedly trying his luck again. However, what seems to be emerging this time round, rather than i headlong assault, is that the PUWP will attempt to formally guarantec in law the right to strike - bul only as an ultimale resort. (At present the right to strike is codified only in the Gdansk agreements).

The party hopes lo tie down the union activists in all sorts of bureaucratic timeconsuming procedures and arbitration. Wildcat strikes would be illegal -and the PUWP thus hopes lo muzzle and stifle any direct action by Solidarnose rank and file militants.

If greater cooperation develops between the PUWP, the Church, and the Walesa wing of Solidarnose, then wo could see very soon the legal working class into line.

The virtual breakdown of the country's supply and distribution system, and the continued export of much of Poland's agricultural produce to the West - to pay off the massive debts the bureaucracy accumulated over a decade of economic mismanagement - mean that millions of workers, pensioners, housewives, and children will be suffering acutely this winter.

Thousands of old people are expected to die from land, of nutritinn and hunnthermia. Millions of workers world's tenth most industrialised country in the throes of such social disintegration.

The Solidarnose presidium must cease air colaDora- 11--11.L -11-L..ton with Poland's Stalinists. If sacrifices and hardships have to be born by Poland's workers - then let them be in the fight to construct a working class power, exercised through • workers' councils, not for the sake of propping up a repressive bureaucratic system.

If the bureaucracy says there is no food available -then onen the books! Organiser last week is still valid and of vital importance. There is no respite for the Bolivian proletariat and we, as requested by our comrades, must make a positive contribution to the struggle, in which truces are notoriously short.

SANTIAGO FORTIN

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