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The Solidarnose ranks are rebuilding their links The undernourished sprat thrown out by Poland's Stalinist rulers last month has failed to lure their intended mackerel - the leadership of the still functioning underground trade union Solidarnosc.

Military leader General Jaruzelski outlined proposals for a few cosmetic changes in the martial law repression which has been in force since last December.

1,227 internees were released - including all of the women internees. Domestic and foreign postal restrictions were marginally eased. A handful of societies suspended under martial law were reactivated. There was vague talk about a possible suspension of the martial law before the end of this year 'if there is no return to tensions and if the changes in the country indisputably show that the situation is normalising and calming down."

Quite apart from the evasiveness of this commitment, Jaruzelski made it clear that the suspension of martial law would mean little in real terms, since it would be replaced by "special powers" for the government, almost certainly including a continued ban on the right to strike and the militarisation of some sectors of the economy.

Meanwhile an idea of the unease felt by the ruling bureaucracy is given by the cancellation of the planned visit to Poland of the Pope, originally scheduled for this month.

Jaruzelski and his fellow Stalinists plainly fear that the huge crowds that would certainly turn out for the Pope's visit could get out of control, and that the occasion could rekindle the flames of Solidarnose militancy.

But the bureaucrats have found a reserve of political support from the Church leaders themselves. Archbishop Glemp was quick to welcome the puny liberalisation' measures, and lent his effective endorsement to the cancellation. The Polish Church, he declared, wanted to receive the Pope in an atmosphere of calm rather than 'irritation" or "commotion"

This stance by the Church echoes the consistently conservative line taken by its leaders in the face of the rising tide of militant working class struggle from 1980 up to the declaration of martial Having established what for them is an advantageous mutual working relationship with the Stalinist leaders, Glemp and his henchmen do not want their position jeopardised by revolutionary changes.

Yet if Jaruzelski knew in advance he could count upon Catholic Church backing, he may well have been disappointed that his so-called "concessions" were rejected by the underground leadership Solidarnose.

In. expectation that there might be something more approaching a compromise in the offing from the bureaucracy, these leaders Gdansk, Krakow, ( Warsaw and Wroclaw, had issued an appeal on June 26 for a suspension of strikes and demonstrations during the month of July.

The statement claimed that the extent of strikes and demonstrations up to that point had proven the strength of Solidarnosc, and "c eated a new political situa on" , in which "the authorives are now aware of the extent of resistance and the degree of determination among society."

"We will never give up the battle for the return of society's inalienable rights.

'Let the suspension of strikes and street demonstrations till the end of July 1982 be proof of our own strength, unity, discipline, organisational effectiveness and immunity to provocation."

The appeal makes no secret of the intention of the Solidarnosc leaders to seek a deal with the bureaucracy: it almost amounts to asking Jaruzelski to make an offer which the more 'moderate" Solidarnose leaders could accept.

'Suspension of strikes and demonstrations is yet another expression of our readiness to seek a national understanding. We expect concrete moves by the authorities indicating their readiness to renew the dialogue."

Balancing In fact Jaruzelski, balancing between the most authoritarian hardliners in Moscow and Warsaw on the one hand, and more "liberal' elements who look to some form of accommodation with Solidarnosc on the other, did reject the initiative. His proposals proved inadequate to draw even the more moderate leaders into collaboration with the government's projected "social coordinating committee" which has the task of finding a suitably subtle means of asserting state controi over "reborn" trade union movement.

The Solidarnose leaders on August 1 opposed Jaruzelski's proposals, pointing out that the release of internees leaves over 2,000 people under arrest or already in jail having been sentenced for violating the martial law. He offers no plans for economic recovery other than making people work harder, they argue.

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Solidarnose supporters should mobilise on August 16, the two-year anniversary of the establishment of the inter-factory committee in Gdansk, they say.

And the statement calls for demonstrations . on August 31 to mark the second anniversary of the historic Gdansk agreement which first conceded the right to independent trade unions and paved the way for Solidarnosc.

There is no doubt that these Solidarnose leaders have misjudged the position of the bureaucracy, and are sailing dangerously close to the wind of a compromise which would question the genuine independence of the Yet there are signs that Solidarnosc rank and file members at factory level are far more hostile than their leaders to any accommodation to the bureaucracy, and rebuilding their organisation and interfactory links under conditions of clandestinity.

Obviously this groundswell of unbroken militancy is a major factor limiting both the scope of Jaruzelski's "compromise" proposals and the ability of Solidarnose leaders to accept what was on offer.

While the constant pressure of the martial law has plainly taken a toll of the leaders it has not cracked the resolve of the membership.

The international workers' movement - and in particular the British labour movement - must take its responsibility to render political and practical support to Solidarnose in its struggle.

A genuinely independent workers' movement is incompatible with the Polish bureaucracy which - like its fellows in Eastern Europe, the USSR and other Stalinist states -feeds off nationalised property relations, relying for preservation of its power and privilege upon a dictatorial repression of the working class.

By supporting the Polish strikes and demonstrations on August 16 and 31, workers throughout the world can lead their support to the struggle for the political overthrow of the Stalinist bureaucracy and the establishment of a revolutionary government in Poland based upon the mass organisations of the working class.

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