< neal | : Continued from page 1 ys.” | 80Vernment to starve the embattled’ union _ Into accepting the layoff of thousands of he . . . ig ihe miners and the demise of scores of mining i communities. % Ys For 150 years our fathers and fore- , fathers fought to put us in the position we're , sup}. ‘ today,” Frank says in his broad ‘York- ware" shire accent. “They went through greater Mail | hardships than we have. Jabot | We're not going to accept that the Struggle has been for nothing — and the §0vernment can now put our members out of work and close down our communities.” Clarke and his wife, Val, spent six days in ists, addressing meetings and explaining the Cight-month old strike by the National Union of Mineworkers that, in the words of | KentNUM president Malcolm Pitt “is now ' the world trade union movement’s strike.” € support has come from all over the World but first of all from across Britain. € miners’ wives committees which sprang Up early in the strike have mobilized mas- Sive food aid in communities throughout nitain, Clarke says. In his own community of South Kirkby in Yorkshire, where he ts NUM branch president, they provide 750 Meals a day in addition to the 200 to 300 food packets prepared each week for the _ Single miners, «.,/stound the world the support has been “fantastic,” he adds, pointing out the con- { tbutions that have come in: from Austra- «lia, £80,000;:from New Zealand, £60,000 _ 4nd tonnes.of frozen lamb; from France’s f T, £60,000 in donations and 35 truck- loads of food and other goods; from the Soviet Union, £100,000 and holidays for ors of miners’ families... The list goes n, “But all you read about in the papers is se support from Libya and how Arthur _ Scargill isin cahoots with Khadafy,” Clarke f ae ‘ Rotes in a bitter comment on the ferocious eae “ampaign against the miners waged in the sil®" British press, a campaign that buttresses gl atcher’s own. an f! But the strike has now reached a critical Us ag” Stage, with Christmas approaching and the Mari) — 8vernment shifting its tactics, Clarke as emphasizes, ye! t From the second week in March when re ae NUM first struck across Britain, the Ory government and National Coal Board Chairman, American millionaire Jan in“ .» Gregor have declared that the miners ae pould eventually be starved into capitula- SO! by nand would begin drifting back to work Prot by the hundreds. With that misguided con- ng Ni ~ “iction went a policy of repression virtually _ "nPrecedented since the general strike six Thatcher has mobilized an army of thou- The families of striking British coal miners marched in a giant Parade through downtown London to drive home to the National Coal Board and the Thatcher government that the miners have the support of their communities behind them. Aid crucial to NUM strike =~ this province last week, meeting with union-* ~~ sands of police across the country to herd scabs across picket lines and to thwart any efforts at picketing by NUM members. “Wherever we picket, the sheer numbers of police overwhelm us,” Clarke says, adding, “if we go with 5,000 pickets, the police will bring 8,000 officers. “Convoys of 100 police vans travelling on the roads are not unusual,” he says. “They take over whole schools and welfare offices to billet thousands of police offic- CIS: _ At one colliery, the NUM estimates, the costs of maintaining a huge police force to get two miners across the picket line has reached-£23 million. The cost in human terms is far greater. “It’s knocking up close to 8,000 arrested now,” says Clarke, “‘as well as 3,500 injured and five of our lads killed.” For the Tory government the objective is much more than the stated aim of the clo- sure of 20 “uneconomic” pits and the elimi- nation of 20,000 miners, disastrous as that alone would be. “By 1988, 70 pits and 70,000 miners are scheduled to be elimi- nated,” Clarke emphasizes. Over 50,000 coal miners’ jobs have already been lost since 1979, as a result of pit closures and Thatcher’s monetarist policies which have reduced coal-using industry. But the government wants to cut coal use even more drastically, shifting instead to nuclear energy with the stated aim of emas- culating the NUM. A leaked cabinet document in 1979 admitted: “A nuclear program would have the advantage of removing a substantial proportion of electricity from disruption by miners and transport workers.” The attack on the trade union movement -— prepared four years ago by the passage of the Pryor Act which outlawed the closed shop and banned secondary picketing — has coincided with heavy cuts to the work force in nationalized industry. In British Steel, 115,000 jobs have been cut; in auto, 85,000. McGregor masterminded both. “We're not the first to feel the effects — but we are the first to fight back,” he says. For that, the NUM has been dealt all the ferocity at the Tories disposal. But even the massive show of force — which now includes the seizure of all the union’s finan- cial assets — has not bent the determina- tion of the miners to see their struggle to defend their union, their jobs and their communi- ties through to the end. And now Thatcher is dangling the carrot — promising bonuses of £650 a week for each miner if they return to work Nov. 19 for four weeks. rare: no sign that this latest act of Mine union leader Arthur Scargill, told the crowd ‘thousands of women are beginning to understand their power, ability and: organized strength to save not only their husband’s jobs but their community and the jobs of their sons and daughters. bribery is having any effect,” says Clarke, who adds that he’s been on the phone to his NUM branch in South Kirkby where he was told that miners have not been swayed by the scheme. “But it will be hard in some places to convince young miners who have a couple of kiddies and see Christmas coming with- out anything for them. : “But why are they offering this — and only for a month? I'll tell you why — because there’s 20 million tonnes of coal stopped at the pit-tops and they can’t get at it because we guard it 24 hours a day with as many pickets as we can muster. “They know if those pits work for a month, than can move all that coal and put it where they want it — and then slap us in the face again when they’ve got enough coal to keep us out again another six months. That’s why they’re dangling the carrot.” He adds, emphatically: “If we can see this strike through Christmas, there’s no way we will lose. There is no way Thatcher will beat us.” For the Tory governmment the next few weeks are also critical and Clarke warns that Thatcher may wield the stick with even greater force if the strike holds. Most of the coal stocks needed to avoid power cuts over the winter are behind picket lines and the government may resort to draconian measures — possibly even cal- ling out troops — to move them. In the meantime, the campaign to raise aid and solidarity for the miners has been stepped up world wide. “We really have to rely on the trade union movement and the working class to survive,” Clarke says. NUM branches are all trying to organize special efforts for members and their fami- lies at Christmas, he says “‘but unless we get the money to assist us, it will be hard.” Clarke says that the NUM is currently meeting to organize mass support rallies for the miners in key centres around Britain — in Scotland, Wales, Yorkshire, Not- tinghamshire, Kent. At those rallies, as they have done throughout the eight long months of strike, the NUM will stress the solidarity that is urgent not just for the miners but for the whole trade union movement. “There’s a grave danger to the trade union movement from Tory governments all across the western world,” he says, point- ing to Thatcher and newly-elected conserva- tive governments in Ottawa and Washing- ton. “It’s important for people to see what’s at stake in our strike, to see that you can fight back against Tory attacks,” he says. “We've all got to. start opposing Tory policies and get a strong labor movement back on its feet again.” > Classified Advertising a8 COMING EVENTS NOV. 15 — Hear Barrie Zwicker, media critic & journalist, speak on “The Media, Cold War & The Arms Race.” At Langara Campus Audito- rium, 100 W. 49 Ave. 8 p.m. Free adm. Spon- sored by Physicians for Social Responsibility. NOV. 24 — Canadian Farmworkers Union Benefit. 49th & Fraser Legion. East Indian dinner and dance with Communique. Tickets: $10, $7, $5. Phone. 430-6055. NOV. 27 — Hear James A. Lamond, British MP, Chairman of British Peace Assembly, and Satish Chandra, member Indian Ministry of Education. Robson Square. Media Centre, 800 Robson St., 7:30 p.m. Free adm. Spons. by Vancouver Peace Assembly, B.C. Peace Council. NOV. 28 — Hear Ben Swankey, author of “The Fraser Institute: A Socialist Perspective” speak on The Fraser Institute, Government Pol- icy & Women. 7:30 p.m. Seniors Lounge, Bri- tannia Community Centre, 1661 Napier (at Commercial). For more info call Anna Holbech, _ 294-6775. Sponsored by CCW. FOR RENT SENIOR CITIZEN in Langley looking for indi- vidual to “‘live in.” Free rent in exchange for companionship. For more information call 888-2362. LOOKING FOR long- or short-term housing? Have to live in Kitsilano, but need reasonable rent? Willing to help build a secure, non-sexist, non-competitive. living environment? Call Juniper Co-operative Community Society, 738-1753 (Lynn) or 734-7391 (Brigitta). FOR SALE MOVING SALE. Furniture, household items. Call.Carlos or Amada 432-7857. NOTICES CONGRESS OF CANADIAN WOMEN urgently requires donations of goods and money for the Women’s Hospital in Nicaragua. Especially needed: cotton sheets & pillow cases, cloth diapers, baby bottles, sewing supp- lies, light clothing, surgical gloves, etc. For pick up in the Coquitlam/Burnaby area phone Gor- don Parker 936-4467; for more information phone Susan Lockhart at 254-9797. “Tools for Peace” ship leaving end of November. COMMERCIAL GRAMMA PUBLICATIONS. Complete print- ing services. Brochures, menus, leaflets, etc. A union shop. 1595 W. 3rd Ave., Vancouver. Hours: Mon-Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., 733-6822. ELECTRICAL, plumbing, appliance repairs. Don Berg. 255-7287. MINI-CARTAGE and storage. 254-1336. GENERAL INSURANCE, home, business, trade unions. Dave Morton, bus. 986-9351; res. 433-4568. LEGAL SERVICES RANKIN, BOND, McMURRAY. Barristers and Solicitors. 2nd Floor, 157 Alexander Street. 682-3621. DIRECTORY COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA offices located at 102, 2747 E. Hastings St. Vancouver. Phone 254-9836. Office hours 9:30-12 noon; 1-5 p.m. Mon. to Fri. For information on political issues or assistance in political activity. HALLS FOR RENT RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME — Available for rentals. For reservations phone 254-3430. UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CULTURAL CENTRE — 805 East Pender St. Vancouver. Available for banquets, weddings, meetings. Phone 254-3436. RANKIN & COMPANY Barristers & Solicitors 4th Floor, 195 Alexander St. Vancouver, B.C. V6A IN8 682-2781 | Offers a broad range of legal services including: Personal Injury & Insurance claims Real Estate & Conveyancing Divorce & Family Law Labour Law Criminal Law Estates & Wills PACIFIC TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 14, 1984 e 11