Fighting for Solidarity in Britain

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"THE ENEMY is not deThe simmering Polish crisis could result in a violent explosion yet. December 13th was a serious blow against the rights and confidence of the Polish working class, but it is now clear that it did not result in its total dismemberment.

For Jaruzelski to achieve totally his designs of pacifying the country, he would probably have to institute methods of political terror not seen since the 1930s in Stalin's Russia.

It is highly dubious how far he could go ahead with such a purge, even if he wanted to. Equally, any attempt to erect a new trade union bureaucracy composed of repentant and renegade elements from Solidarnose has fallen flat. • Walesa's latest communiqué from house arrest -'Not a single step backward. This "partner' never has been, nor ever will be, honest!" - will further dissuade any potential collaborators.

This statement came after the junta stated that he had been under arrest since December . 13th. Although entirely obvious, this admission by the junta puts an end to the cant about Walesa 'aiding the authorities with their negotiations'. MANY hundreds of supporters of Polish Solidarity marched through Birmingham on Saturday to protest the continuing state of martial law in Poland.

Among the delegations on the march were the West Midlands branch of the Confederation of Health Service Employees and the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (Birmingham branch).

Paul McNee, president of the Trades Council stressed the importance of linking the struggle of British trades unionists with those of the Polish workers.

The meeting concluded with an appeal to all trade unionists in the city to raise the question of blacking by British workers of goods produced under the military dietatorship.

IN SCOTLAND, the occupied Plessey factory at Bathgate weicomed speakers from Solidarnosc.

Marek Garztecki by Bruce Robinson Piotr Kozlowski, Solidarnosc shop stewards who were in Scotland to speak to Grangemouth dockers to call for blacking of trade with Poland, visited the plant on Tuesday 9 February. Piotr spoke of the similarities in their struggles. "Our rights were taken away by the gun while yours are being taken away by more subtle means, but the result is the same. You must not give an inch, and you must not listen to anyone who tells you to go easy. I. you surrender any ground you will have lost.

Meanwhile the NUJ National Executive has adopted a resolution committing the union to lead a campaign in the British labour movement against the censorship imposed upon the Polish media by the junta.

Lynn Gregory