Vol. 80/No. 48      December 26, 2016

 

25, 50, and 75 Years Ago

 

December 27, 1991

LONDON — In what is believed to be their largest ever joint operation, more than 200 police supported 38 Home Office officials raiding Smith’s Meters, a South London factory, in a crackdown on immigrant workers. The raid occurred on November 27 as the night shift arrived for work.

The entire shift of 250 workers were taken to the company cafeteria where, surrounded by police, they were addressed by Home Office officials. Following three hours of questioning, 35, including 29 from Ghana, were arrested for allegedly breaking immigration laws. One woman was arrested later. Sixteen have since been released. Several of those arrested had previously applied for political asylum.

A Home Office spokesperson said they had “the full cooperation of the company” in the operation.

December 26, 1966

Washington made another phony Christmas “peace offer” at the United Nations. U.S. Ambassador Goldberg instructed Secretary General Thant to “bring about the necessary discussions which could lead to … a cease-fire.” But Goldberg’s note expressed no change in Washington’s policies towards the war. It boils down to the totally unacceptable position that if Hanoi agrees to negotiate, Washington might cease fire.

This has been rejected by Hanoi before and it will be again. Washington is the aggressor in Vietnam and has no right to dictate terms to anyone. Even though north Vietnam is being battered by U.S. bombing attacks, Hanoi refuses to negotiate in the name of the South Vietnamese National Liberation Front.

Johnson was perfectly aware of the orders to bomb workers’ homes in Hanoi — he gave them.

December 27, 1941

Last week the employer representatives at the Washington labor-industry conference on war labor policy extracted a no-strike pledge from AFL and CIO leaders under Congressional threat of anti-strike laws. This week they are pressing for an agreement to “freeze” the open shop for the duration of the war.

Their objective is to prevent further organizational drives and to establish the most favorable conditions for undermining present union strength. Given a hand by the labor leaders, the employing class is trying to slice off a whole arm.

The employers are following a long-term plan aimed at paralyzing or destroying the union altogether. Agreement by labor to “freezing’ of the open-shop will be a sign for the employers to extend their demands still further. The next step would be the “freezing” of wage levels.  
 
 
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