As long as capitalism exists, economic crises and class struggle are inevitable The capitalists who ceaselessly preach ac commodation and halting the class strug gle to the unions and the workers are in fact, through these arguments and sooth ing speeches, waging a relentless clas struggle. Their aim is to swell their profits In treezing wages, restraining demands and preaching the need for "sobriety," the Dosses and neir pomacal representauve: claim to be defending "monetary stability" and the "general interest (or the nationa interest). Actually, they are only defending their money bags.
It is utopian to hope for an "equal" restraint on wages, prices, and profits. Not one capitalist government has yet suc ceeded ma moosme suct control over prices. On the other hand, control of wages i quite easy if the union leaders make a deal, and the workers let them get away with it. The result is predictable-a rela tive (or even absolute) decline in wages The British workers have learned about this procese through painful experience and it should be a lesson to the workers movement in all countries. In order "to break out of the so-called wage-price spiral, they agreed to limit their demands to a straignt 4 or o%, woule innamon developed that exceeded that percentage The upsnot was a decrease in unelr buying of more than 5%! Was rising unemplovment at least stemmed? No. b no means. There are now one and a half million persons out of work! Was inflation overcome? Absolutely not. Despite the modest 5% wage increases, inflation har risen to 15%. This is the fault of the currency speculators, the bleeding heart complain. But where is it written that the workers, who have nothing to do with such things, are obliged to pay the costs of capitalist mismanagement and cheating, including currency speculation? Moral What is the moral of this tale? Union ists, batten down the hatches! Don't trade your gains for vague promises. Defend the jobs and wages of your comrades uncom promisingly. And fight to end the capital ist system. Otherwise you are going to be confronted more and more with "choos ing between the devil and the deep bru sea, between massive unemployment and laling wages. in tact, you will get unen