Gains in Welsh Anti-Apartheid

Scan page 5

Libel writ will be contested With the legal processes continuing, it now seems almost certain that the libel case brought by Vanessa Redgrave of the WRP against Sean Matgamna and John Bloxam of Socialist Organiser will go to court. We reprint the appeal of the Labour Movethat have been conducting the armed struggle against him since 1979 turn to seek an alliance with him in the name of democracy!

The fact is that there can be no "normal' , parliamentary democracy in El Salvador. The requirements of capital in El Salvador can only be secured through the ruthless dictatorial suppression of all formas of organised MARTIN BARCLAY Wales AAM NC (in a personal capacity) AFTER a year of mixed success and tallure, the tirst AGM of the wales Anti-Apartheid Movement attracted over 60 people to Pontypridd on Saturday 27 March.

The most crucial discussion, on trade union work, spelled out some of the successes of the past year. Largely as a result of the support of a number of NUM lodges, the Cwmbach Male Voice Choir cancelled their visit to South Africa.

This led to the Rhos Orpheus Choir cancelling their visit, and indirectly, to the Welsh Rugby Union's decision not to send national team to tour South Africa.

The basis for the Cwmbach victory was laid by the production of a bulletin on mining in South Africa comparing wage rates and ment Press Defence Fund. weeks ago and made a mass distribution at British Leyland's Cowley plant of a printed broadsheet, which, among other things, implied that he was a police agent;

(b) an article by George Novack, on behalf of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, to. reply to the WRP's libellous campaign; conditions of black miners to those in South Wales.

Since then WAAM has produced a series of bulletins on Car Production, Education and Sport, which hopefully will do the same in these other areas.

The AGM also agreed to mount a campaign against cultural and sporting links with South Africa, centred on Cardiff Rugby Club's coming tour and South (c)an article by the Stalinist Iraqi Communist Party, the slaughter of whose members 'Newsline' has publicly justified; (d) an article by Sean Matgamna, discussing the recent statement by Colonel Ghaddafi calling for the rehabilitation of Hitler and Nazism.

Span Mataamna has alon offered to confirm that he accepts that it is no part of African participation in the Llangollen International Eisteddfod.

The only real debate came on a motion on the Wilson-Rowntree strike in South Africa. This strike is now more than a year old, and, despite the fact that the parent company is a British firm - Rowntree MacKintosh - almost nothing has been done by Anti-Apartheid nationally to build support and solidarity for the strikers.

The union involved, the South African Allied Workers Union, has been subjected to systematic harassment by the South African government, who have shut down its office and arrested and tortured its leaders. At the AGM, a resolution on the strike proposed by a Socialist Organiser supporter, called on Anti-Apartheid to:

1. Support the the WRP's objectives to use violence against the state. And Sean Matgamna has proposed that a labour movement inquiry be set up to investigate the statements made in his article, in the interests of contributing to the continuing public debate on the issues. These offers were made by Sean Matgamna in a letter dated 26th February 1981 to Vanessa Redadopted by the RowntreeMacKintosh Joint Craft Shop Stewards Committee at York in January, calling for a TUC convened conference of all shop stewards and officials of all unions organising in Rowntrees to hear a representative from SAAWU and discuss ways and means of organisirg solidarity.

2. Urge the TGWU 1› agree to SAAWU's request t • send a delegation to Sout Africa from all levels in th 3. Produce a broadshee on SAAWU's struggle in con junction with Rowntree: shop stewards to mobilise support for the strikers.

4. Call on the TUC to organise a joint week of action on Rowntrees and a national demonstration in York.

The arguments against the resolution all boiled down to the accusation that we were being dangerous 'naive' and 'patronising' i putting forward these pr posals.

Other arguments sugge ted that these contac should be made secretly an should not be the subject c motions at AGMs. Hardly trade unionist approach to strike that is over a year old An amendment was pi forward which deleted tt whole of the motion an which failed to call on Ant Apartheid to do a sing thing to support SAAWU.

Instead, it laid all tl campaigning work at it door of the trade unionis in Rowntrees.

In the event the motic was heavily defeated and tl amendment carried.

Unlike the British Anl Apartheid's AGM in Londe we did actually manage: hold a debate and we fe that, though we had lost ti vote, we had clearly won ti arguments.

N1 2SY. Cheques able to 'Labour M ove ment Press Defen ice Fund'.

Name:

Address:..

Organisation: