by Ramon CoRRa

Just a few weeks ago, we had the nationalassembly elections where Welsh Labourlost its slim majority. now we moveforward to the June 23 referendum onEuropean Union membership.

The Communst Party is playing aleading role in Lexit - the Left Leavecampaign, alongside other socialistparties, trade unionists, the IndianWorkers association-Gb and the UKbangladeshi Workers Council. We areputting the progressive, left andinternationalist case against the bigbusiness, anti-democratic EU.

as shown by Cameron’s sham‘negotiations’, the EU has no mind forreal change. as its neo-liberal anti-worker agenda, the attacks on Greece andother sovereign countries by the ‘Troika’(the EU Commission, European Centralbank and ImF) and the secretiveTransatlantic Trade and InvestmentPartnership talks with the US governmentall demonstrate, the EU protects thebanks and multinational corporations atthe expense of the working class.

This year’s Wales TUC conferenceagenda promises lively debate as ourunions come to terms with a Torygovernment in Westminster. In the CardiffSenedd, the evolving situation indicatesthat a new approach to government willbe needed, as Welsh Labour is forced towork with others to deliver a programmefor trade union members and theirfamilies.

May 2016 Welsh Communist Party Plaid Gomiwnyddol Cymru

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BY ROBERT GRIFFITHS

PUBLIC OPINION pollsshow a narrow majority inWales in favour of

remaining in the EuropeanUnion.Pro-EU campaigners have

made much of their claim thatWales receives around £18m ayear (£92m according to PlaidCymru) more from EU fundsthan it puts in. Leaving aside the fact that it is

impossible to calculate with anyaccuracy the amount of taxrevenues generated in Wales,these sums are petty cash interms of public finances. The£18m is less than one-fifth ofone per cent of Britain’s netcontribution to the EU Budget(£15.2bn in 2016) and of theNational Assembly’s annual blockgrant from central government(£15.5bn in 2016).Even with only a tiny fraction

of the money saved by leavingthe EU, Wales would be betteroff.Nor is the EU any friend of

devolved governments seeking toinvest in public services withoutprivatising them. In July 2015, it was revealed

that the SNP government hasbeen compelled to drasticallyamend its Scottish Futures Trustproject for public investment inschools, hospitals and roads to

give the private sector a bigger,more profitable role. Scotland and Wales have

suffered heavily from the exportof capital and jobs to southernand eastern Europe, wherelabour is skilled but cheaper andenergy and transport costs arelower. European Union treaties

demand that all member stateshave ‘free market’ economiesfree from government regulationof capital and trade. Commercialsubsidies to strategic industriesand services are banned, as areany measures to favour home-grown industries, redirect privatesector investment or controlimports.Outside the European Union,

the Scottish, Welsh and Britishgovernments would be free todecide whether and how tofinance public expenditure andsupport strategic industries andservices. Free from the EUClassical Directive on publicprocurement, local governmentcould award larger contracts tolocal suppliers.Democratically elected

governments could intervene inthe economy to ensure planned,balanced and sustainabledevelopment - somethingoutlawed according to thecapitalist ‘law of the jungle’ inthe big business European Union.

Wales, Scotland and the EU

THE RULING by JudgeElisabeth Laing that it wasunlawful for the

Department for Work andPensions (DWP) to stop the use ofthe check-off system by the Publicand Commercial Services Union(PCS) is a rebuff to thegovernment’s anti-union offensiveand a satisfying slap in the face forthe unsavoury former CabinetOffice minister Francis Maude.Confronted with a revived

Labour Party and firm unionopposition the Tories, alreadyforced to carry out U-turns onsome of their legislation, havebacked down on some aspects ofits Trade Union Bill. But the newact still carries great dangers.Still a useful read is the

Communist Party’s pamphletTrade Union Bill and how to kill itAvailable from the online shop atwww.communist-party.org.uk£2 A5 sized

unity!undod!

Greetingsto allWalesTUCdelegates!The CommunistParty welcomes alldelegates and visitorsto the 2016 WalesTUC Conference.This year’s eventtakes place just ayear since theGeneral Election andafter theoverwhelmingelection victory inSeptember of JeremyCorbyn as leader ofthe Labour Party.

SAVE OUR STEEL

Only public ownership profits the people

#Lexit the Left Leave campaignpublic meetings

Hear the left, trade union andinternationalist case againstmembership of the EU!

* LLANDUDNO this Wednesday 25 May,Wales TUC fringe, Cae Mor Hotel 6 Penrhyn Crescent, Llandudno LL30 1BA, end of afternoon session

CARDIFF Tuesday 7 June, Jolyon’s Hotel,10 Cathedral Road CF11 9LJ 7pm

PONTYPOOL Wednesday 15 June The Unicorn Inn, Albion RoadPontypool NP4 6LE 7pm

MERTHYR TYDFIL Thursday 16 JuneCanolfan Soar, Pontmorlais CF47 8UB 7 pm

SPEAKERS PANEL *Carolyn Jones Director, Institute of EmploymentRights, *John Hillary Chief Executive, War onWant), *Lindsey German Convenor, Stop the WarCoalition, Liz Payne Secretary, National Assembly ofWomen *all in a personal capacityGeorge Galloway, Robert Griffiths Chair, Lexit - the Left Leave Campaign.

undod!unity!PO BOX 69, Pontypridd, CF37 9AB

www.welshcommunists.orgwww.facebook.com/

Welsh-Communists-193872893988869

I want to join the Communist Party/Young Communist League

name

address

post code

age if under 28 email

return to Welsh Communist Party PO Box 69 Pontypridd CF37 9ABwww.welshcommunists.org H Wales TUC 2016

your next step. . .Join the revolutionary partyof working class power andliberation

The Morning Star is the world’sonly English language socialistdaily paper. Founded in 1930 asthe Daily Worker, the organ of thecentral committee of theCommunist Party, it is today runby a co-operative, the People’sPress Printing Society whosemanagement committee includesnine national trade unions.It provides day to day coverage

of the fight for workplace rightsand the struggle against the cutsand the Tory government. Untilhis election as Labour leaderJeremy Corbyn was a weeklycolumnist. Leading figures in the Green

Party and Plaid Cymru, inMomentum and CND, Stop the

War write regularly in the paper. Its online edition is proving very

popular with busy trade unionactivists who want and needreliable and informed labourmovement news. A top flight design team from

the famed Danish Robotnikdesign agency are working on arelaunch.Its sports coverage, especially

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www.morningstaronline.co.uk

Communist ReviewTheoretical and discussion journal of the Communist PartyNumber 79 • Spring 2016

The 1916 Rising: A risen peoplechallenges the empire Eugene McCartanState monopoly capitalism Part 2Gretchen Binus, Beate Landefeld and Andreas WehrMarxism versus reformism in the1926 General Strike Jack CohenThe French anomaly Jimmy JancovichWomen workers and trade unions:still much room for improvementReview: Mary Davisplus letter, further review and Soul Food

Buy and read the Morning Star £1 weekdays, £1.20 weekends from your newsagent

www.morningstaronline.co.uk

Books@manifesto

Building an economy for the people An alternative economic and politicalstrategy £6.95 (+£1 p&p)

The Empire and Ukraine the Ukraine crisis in its context by Andrew Murray £11.95 (+£1.50 p&p) 138 pages

Proud journeyA Spanish Civil War memoirby Bob Cooney

£5 (+£2 p&p), 124 pages, This new pamphlet from the CommunistParty, written by John Foster, ends with awarning. The EU’s imposition of neo-liberal policies on all governments,including those led by the traditionalparties of the Left, has resulted in thecollapse of support for social democracy.In the coming referendum voters will beasked to support an even more neo-liberal and probusiness EU. Such anoutcome would pose an additional dangerthat Cameron would use it to argue thatthe electorate has voted in support of theEU’s so-called free market policies andtherefore against Labour’s programme forpublic ownership and enhanced publicspending. £2 from online atwww.communist-party.org.uk/shop/

manifestopress.org.uk

The crisis in the steel industry cannotjust be blamed on Chinese imports.britain imports seven times more steelfrom the EU than from China. Tata’sdecision to walk away from its operationshere puts thousands of jobs at risk intheir plants and supply chains.

The Communist Party’s view is that thesteel industry is a vital strategic assetwhich has to be protected in the workingclass and national interest. Its fate shouldnot be left to market forces or to anyshort-term deal that could quicklyunravel.

a sustainable steel industry whichmaintains the maximum number of jobshas to be fought for. If that can only beachieved by public ownership, then theunions have to support this position.Likewise, if commercial subsidies andimport controls are necessary to ensure itssurvival, then EU rules will have to bedefied.

It is likely that the Wales TUC GeneralCouncil will be issuing a statement toConference on the steel industry. Thismay not be available to delegates beforeregistration, allowing no time for priordiscussion and decision about itscontents. Therefore it is all the moreimportant that a full and proper debatedebate takes place on the conferencefloor.

The strongest possible message mustbe sent to Tata, business Secretary SajidJavid and both the british and Welshgovernments that workers are prepared totake action to save the steel industry, notonly in Wales but throughout britain.

The Trade Union bill has now passedthrough its parliamentary stages, receivingRoyal assent on Wednesday may 4 —ironically, the 90th anniversary of the 1926General Strike.The act appeared in the queen’s speechlast week, with implementation dates set atthe convenience of the government.It’s true the act is a shadow of the bill firstproposed, but dangerous details hide inthose shadows. Rather than congratulateourselves on what has been achieved, wemust shine a light on the dangers ahead,exposing the intentions behind the act andbuilding on the growing opposition to it. Todo otherwise would be a disservice tofuture generations.

It’s our children and grandchildren whowill suffer if the power of trade unions toorganise, represent and defend workers,their families and their quality of life ischoked off by this new anti-working classlegislation.

This was a nasty bill whch has turnedinto a nasty act. Parliamentary activity hasdelivered what it can in the face of agovernment determined to silence politicalopposition, outlaw collective action,criminalise picket-line solidarity andstrangle unions with bureaucratic red tapecontrolled by a state surveillance officer. 

If this act is to be defeated, - like the1971 Industrial Relations act - theimmediate battle will be extra-parliamentary, led by workers respondingto attacks on their living standards andworking conditions. Communists urge the

labour movement to do all it cancollectively to educate, agitate andorganise against this undemocratic,unnecessary and unfair Trade Union act. 

The public sector in Wales is vital, bothin terms of employment and the servicesit provides. While the approach of theWelsh government has been differentfrom that the Tories in Downing Street,workers still face constant attacks ontheir terms and conditions while enduringmounting pressures to deliver ourinvaluable public services. Trade unionmembers know that neither outsourcingnor ill thought out, badly organisedreforms are the way forward. Theincoming Welsh government must workwith the unions to ensure that theseservices are of the highest quality,delivered efficiently and freely availableright across Wales.

Services based on centralised locationsare not in the best interests of the users andare inevitably to the detriment of workersunable to either travel great distances ormove home to follow a job they know canbe delivered at the present location.

Unhappily, Wales in the 21st centurystill faces poverty and homelessness asall too many people rely upon foodbanks.many of the problems are the direct resultof the Tory government austerity agenda.Welfare ‘reform’ and the introduction ofUniversal Credit affects those both in andout of work.

Wales needs further powers to providegreater protection for all our people. Theseshould include revenue-raising powers thatdo not trigger a reduction in the alreadyunfair barnett formula block grant.

The labour movement should embracea fully federal britain, combined withradical measures to redistribute thewealth created by working people frombig business and the super-rich to all thenations and regions.

The recent national assemblyelections and the rise of UKIP have to beseen as a wake-up call. They highlightthe necessity for a political andprogressive trade union movement todefeat those who do not share our valuesof equality, fairness and social justice.

This Conference must aim to deliver forthe thousands of trade union memberswho seek leadership, support and abrighter future. Delegates have aresponsibility to build the labourmovement - including its CommunistParty - and increase trade union densityacross Wales. Workers, whether they arein large workplaces or in small andmedium enterprises, need our organisedstrength in their workplaces.

Just as the Welsh government requiresan industrial strategy to build oureconomy, trades unions need to reach outacross all economic sectors to build astronger collective voice that canrepresent all workers across Wales.

Communists wish delegates asuccessful conference: build unity andmove forward to socialism!

RAMON CORRIA IS A MEMBER OF THE WELSH

COMMUNIST PARTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

2015: A year of struggle. Morning Star pamphlet. £2 www.shop.morningstaronline.co.uk