THE 11 JULY mass picket showed the potential strength of the working class in fighting back against reactionary forces and the hold of the trade union bureaucracy. I know a lot of comrades came away from the picket feeling disappointed and even betrayed that the picket had been called off for a march around North-west London.
I think that it is important that our frustration and anger is directed clearly at those forces who were responsible for that: the TUC and APEX leadership who are only too keen to diffuse the struggle when it appears to be out of their control. But to direct abuse at the strike committee (including calling the secretary a 'scab') as some people did on the picket is to misunderstand the difficulties and pressures that the strikers, who have been on the picket line for eleven months, have faced, particularly in constantly opposing APEX restrictions on mass picketing. It is not just a moral question: attacking the strike committee can result in isolating them from the rank and file support and pushing them into the hands of the bureaucracy.
There were problems on that mass picket: the stewarding was negligible and often left in the hands of unknown individuals. It must also be said that the confusion caused on the week before as to whether the mass picket was to be called at all on 11 July did not help matters either.
But these are lessons which both the strike committee and all those on the picket must learn. And we must take up those lessons in the most fraternal way possible, especially with those who are actually in the forefront of the struggle.
TESSA VAN GELDEREN [Brent]