Revolution no. 7

PLUS: CHECHNYA LEE CLEGG. DONESTC VIOLENCE. WORKING FOR MCDONALOS. ETC. €TC

= : ~ yee = ~

What was the demo about? __-The Griminal Justice Act —— 100 people turned up Pepe ell Wavertised. ° Sri started at ipm. I got there att1am and already there __Wwer i there.

baG What ened once people _ alle led?

People got together and started plowing whistles. The police over a loud speaker said “this is an illegal demo, disperse immediately” and of course people didn’t. That’s when it kicked off, when the police kicked it off, because people started going down the street blowing whistles and horns and that.

What were the tactics of the police on the day?

_. Basically they were ‘very

heavy handed. They weren’t taking any shit. There were so many of them about 80. About 30 people got arrested, which was well out of order. The crowd were quite determined but unfortunately it wasn’t very

~~ well organised. People didn’t

“teally know what they was doing. People didn’t really stick together and were targetted by the police and arrested.

You yourself were arrested... Yeah, I was. About five minutes before I was arrested, I was involved in a massive fight and the police tried to arrest me then but some demonstrators pulled me back into the crowd. This was happening all the time, the police were trying to drag people away and demonstrators were dragging them back. I saw this bloke

Revolution

interviewed Lee, :

an FE student, - who had gone

on the Maidstone .

anti-CJA

protest about three hunt

being prosecuted under the CJA.

standing on his own on the comer and about three riot

police charging towards hirh ~

and since I'd been saved by some demonstrators before I ran over to him to try and save him. Unfortunately I didn’t

succeed. Next thing I know’ :

was surrounded by what seern

like hundreds of people. I'was “**

being pulled one way and pushed the other way by the police and and trying to strug-

gle out and then I felt a hand: «

cuff go round my right hand.

Next thing I was falling to’the

was told to “roll the fuck over “ __ by the police, they hand cuffed both my hands. Another demes -onstrator tried to help me back a and he got arrested as well.

ea were taken to the police station. How long did they hold you for?

I was arrested at2.15pm and

ie ES I didn’t get out ‘til 9pm. . demonstration to.

. What were you and other people charged with? I was charged with obstruc-

= . ‘tion. The majority of people saobers Who are «.

were charged with failing to leave the road we were on and

. a couple of people were

charged with assault. One bloke said he put his hand on a policeman’s shoulder and he got charged with assault.

What do you think people should do about these arrests and the CJA?

We need to get together and discuss how we can defend ourselves. I'll be in court in late Marchandas faras I know - most people arrested will be in ~court that-day too. We need some kind of demo outside the courts. Already three are up this Thursay who were arrested under the CJA for hunt sabbing and there's ademoon that day. I think we need to get

..when you go on the streets

organisedagainstthe CJA. But |

we need to get organised against the CJA”

4 FE ay ha, [hit my nose and felt “my earring being ripped off. I

you've got be so careful, you've got to look after everyone, including yourself.

You've got to stick to together, if you start straying from the

massive pack of people then they can getyou,Ifyouareina ~

massive group of people then it’s less likely the police can arrest you.

Some people on the demo _

__ were saying there’s some good police and there’s some bad police and if people had sat ~~

peacefully in the street then nothing would havehappened.

What do you think?

There are some good police and some bad police. I’m not saying that they are all pig faces but there are some fuckers on the streets, no question. They're not all bastards. The point is it doesn’t matter whether they are in favour of the Act or not - they have got to implement it.

Unfortunately there are some police on the streets who do mis-use their power, they get “power happy” and think they can push people about and arrest people. If we had sat down in the streets they would have arrested people, no question - it would have been suicide.

They did that in Essex when they tried to stop the lorries and everybody got arrested.

No, it’s nota tactic I'd advise people to get into.*

wasted no time in using the CJA. The reaction of the Kent police in nicking 34 people and the Leicestershire police in trying to ban that demo shows that they are trying to stop us

us march or not we have to resist. And that means we have to get organised to defy the Act. pee back page for details of demonstrations

— CDONALDS. opens every day.at Mes= am and-closes at: 11pm: although many ‘stay open’alf night

in areas where there's a lot of night life.

[usually work fom 3pm-9pmalthough I have started at 5.30am-and ‘finished at i arrive at work 10-20 mins before I Start to change into my uniform.

anes ng room is very small and

y really big enough for two people (the

ilet has more space). Sometimes there

can be as many as five people trying to change their clothes.

When I start work, I have to clock in and go to “the front” (where the tills are) and wait fora manager to tell me whether I will be on “dining area” (cleaning tables), on “the front” or in “the back” (kitchen). Most of the time I workon “the front” but occassionaly I work in the dining area. I have never actually worked in the kitchen except for once when a customer wanted a salad and I had to makeit.

I always (at least I’m meant to) ask the customer “may I help youplease” or “may I take your order please”. After that I ask them ifthey want “anything else”, to which I always get a dirty look and a stern “no” because as a friend once told me “If I wanted anything else I would have asked for it in the first place.” (I know it’s a stupid question but I have to ask as it’s partofmy job) I then get the food “quickly, efficiently and using TLC”. TLC stands for tender, loving, care which is supposedly how the food should be handled so that it “reaches the customer in the best possible condition”. Ifa customer is rude to me I make sure I squash the food or just chuck the chips in a bag so the food all falls out.

| will do this forthe next four hours. | am allowed to ask for a “drink break”, which is enough time to geta drink take it into the back, drink itand start work gain, about five seconds!

When I get my break, I have to clock out (as you don’t get paid for your break) and I can then take up to £4 worth of food (but you can get away with taking more) and you have between 30 to 45 mins. Sometimes a manager will come and ask you to finish your breakearly because of a sudden rush of customers and you have to go back and finish your break later.

At the end of your shift you usually have to tell a manager that your shift has finished. Occasionally they know and they say you can leave. I have never left work

ar Vi

ER mo as

oy z

A day in the life

cDonalds

McDonalds uses young workers as cheap labour. A Revolution memloer in London speaks out about pay and conditions working for big Mac. If you work for McDonalds, and you want to get organised contact Revolution or the McDonala's Workers Support

Group (see below).

right on time but once or twice I have been able to get off early after requesting to.

Your first three weeks of work is your probation period. You wear a green badge and are assessed during this time and if you fail you get sacked. When I finally passed I got my yellow badge and a pay rise of 5p! When ‘stars’ are gained you get pay rises of 5p,1lop,I5p or 20p. My manager told me the pay rise depends on how much money the store is making but this cannot be trueas McDonalds makes loads of profit.

I have been working in McDonalds for nearly a year now. Ineed £65 every month

fora travelcard to school as well as money for clothes and going out and my mum can’t afford to pay for these things. This means I have toI work two or three days a week which doesn’t leave much time for homework.

If the pay was better at McDonalds then I wouldn’t have to work as much and would then have enough time to finish all my homework on time. Sometimes I try to stay in at the weekend instead of going out with my friends but after going to school every day and then working as well, the weekends are the only time I can let myself go and not worry about the work I have to do.*

McDonald's spends £1 billion a year on publicity to boost their image, but they can't find a single penny to pay workers

overtime...

McDonalds Workers Support Group

071 249 8086

c/o Hackney Trade Union Support Unit,

Colin Roach Centre

10a Bradbury Street, London N16

N 11 December 1994, Boris O Yeltsin unleashed a full military

attack on the Republic of Chechnya. The Chechnya Volunteer Army made the Russian Army pay heavily on the ground- official reports say 3000 Russian troops are dead or injured. Soldiers coming back from the front re- -port figures up to ten times more than this.

Faced by brave, fierce and determined resistance by the volunteer army, Yeltsin decided to bomb Chechnya to hell. The volunteer army does not have the guns to bring down the bomber planes.

Most of the capital city, Grozny, is now rubble. The 150,000 people left there are struggling to survive with no food or water. Most of the population —- some 400,000 have fled to the countryside and mountains.

The Russians seem to have won the battle for the capital but the war continues in the suburbs, villages and the mountains.

The Russians are bombing the roads to the mountains to cut off the retreat. Villages suspected of harbouring fighters are being flattened.

What have the Chechen people done to provoke this slaughter? They have demanded their right to be a nation independent from Russia. The Chechen people have suffered centuries of domination from Moscow — first under the Tsars and then under Stalinism. {see box]

Yeltsin’s excuse for the brutal attack is that Chechnya’s leader Dudayev isa gangster. It is true the Dudayev is little more than a gangster who has made a fortune from the nation's resources. But so are the new leaders of Russia and most of the leaders all over the world for that matter. Yes, the Chechen people should overthrow Dudayev but that is their job.

Itis not for Russia to come in and do it for them killing thousands in the process. In fact Russian attempts to topple Dudayev have actually made him popular and the centre of resistance.

The excuses of Yeltsin for the invasion - that Dudayev is a gangster - is of course a cover up.

Chechnya contains vital oil refineries, and pipe lines that mun through it. Yeltsin is afraid that ifhe lets Chechnya become an independent nation then other nations in Russia will follow and take their natural resources with them. This would weaken Russia’s economic and military power.

The green light to launch the attack was given by gentle encouragement from the USA and European governments. The USA declared that they understood Yeltsin's problem in Chechnya. They said it was an internal matter for Russia to deal with and they indicated that they would not interfere with his “domestic” problem.

The British government's attitude to the invasion (when they are not hypocritically expressing regret) is summed up by a comment by Douglas Hurd. He said that the operation had been a ‘botch job’. In other words the attack should have been more efficient and the crushing of

HE RUSSIAN take over of the Cauca 7 sus was finally completed in 1864

under the Tsars. The Chechen people fought back then and have been doing so ever since - revolting several times.

In 1944 Stalin, leader of the supposedly “socialist” USSR, deported almost the entire population of Chechnya - 800,000 people - to Siberia. 200,000 died on the way. This was punishment for nationalist uprising two years earlier.

The exiled Chechens were let back home only after there was rioting in the streets of Grozny in 1958.

“Hands off Chechnya!

the resistance should have been quicker and quieter.

As always the so called New World Order is being built on the bodies of thousands of dead.

So what do we say about it?

If we were in Chechnya we would be fighting side by side, guns in hand with the volunteer army, while making it clear we had no allegiance to Dudayev.

In Russia we would fight to get the troops out.

The Russian troops being killed are young conscripts, some only just seventeen, who probably don’t wantto be there. They should mutiny, refuse to fight and turn their guns on their officers.

The Russian working class has no interest in a war with people who only want the right to be separate from Russia.

We should fight against the chauvinism being encouraged and fight for the right of any nationality within the Caucasus to determine their own future.

Throughout the Stalinist years racism against the Caucasian people was fuelled and encouraged. They suffered discrimination in housing, education and jobs.

In 1991 the stalinist USSR was in turmoil. Dudayev, just like Yeltsin, took the opportunity to take power. In 1992 he refused to sign up to the Russian Federation, with the support of most Chechens.

Since then Yeltsin has been trying to topple him by funding and arming opposition in Chechnya and sending in mercenary units. These forces attempted a coup in October - November 1994. It failed. x

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

GOOD number of Brookside fans must have seen Eddy’s reaction ; ‘when he shook hands with the : buried body of Trevor Jordache..Mandy and Beth prayed they had seen the last of the man that had terrorised them for years, but his body was discovered by their next door neighbours. No doubt the next few weeks will concentrate on the reaction of “the Close” to the news that Mandy stabbed her husband to death and buried him under the patio. Should she get done for murder or was she acting in self defence?

Brookside may have had a few ridiculous storylines in recent months (Simon, the religious nutter and Terry on a mad one to name but a few) but the story of Jordaches is all too real for thousands of women today.

Bastards like Trevor Jordache are not just creations of script writers - they exist and they rape, torture and physically abuse their wives and children, often threatening to kill them if they try to do anything about it.

Kiranjit Ahluwalia’s husband used to stub cigarettes out on her arms and beat her up. After ten years she couldn't take it any more and burnt her house down with him in it. She was given a life sentence, but last year released by the Court of Appeal. Sara Thornton, after suffering 14

years of physical torture and threats of -

murder by her husband finally killed him. She was sentenced to life imprisonment. Sara is still in jail demanding the right to appeal against the conviction.

It is a crime that women like Sara and Kiranjit should be given life sentences for trying to protect themselves and their children against violent husbands. But British law isn’t fair, especially ifyou’re a woman. There have been many examples ofmen being let off (Bisla Rajinder, Joseph McGrail) for killing their wives when the judge has agreed that the wife’s “nagging” behaviour “provoked” these men into battering them to death. In reality the law dismisses the evidence of years of rape, beatings and mental torture. While men can argue that they killed “in a blind rage” and use the Law of Provocation, women cannot afford to confront their husbands in that way. They know that they could end up getting killed in sucha confrontation. That is why some women kill their husbands in a premeditated way.

The law should’ be reformed to take into account what women with violent

THE

RIGHT TO RESIST!

Brookside’s Beth was raped and abused—and it happens in real life. Women have a right to fight back against domestic violence

violence in the home but a life sentence for trying to free themselves from hell. As Sara Thorton explains: “I’m nota pathetic figure of a woman... because I take responsibility for my life, because I dare to fight.” *

husbands and boyfriends have to put up with. This means that women should not be penalised for fighting back in self defence.

We should demand the Home Office releases all those women who are being punished twice - not only for the years of

PACT FILE

20% of all cases reported to the police are a result of domestic violence. In London alone 750,000 cases of domestic violence are reported every year.

Home Office figures show that the largest single category of murders committed are against partners and that 80% of those victims are women.

70% of wives who petition for divorce do so because of serious brutality.

60% of all female murder victims are killed by their husbands or lovers.

Only 25% of men who kill their wives receive life sentences, while 40% of women who kill their husbands receive life sentences.

rooftops that Private Lee Clegg is a

victim of injustice. The Daily Telegraph reported that “the nation demands: Clegg must go free.” Even Judy and Richard got in on the act, having a phonein on morning TV to support his case.

But Private Clegg is no victim of the judicial system. He is one of ten soldiers in a patrol who gunned down teenage joyriders in West Belfast.

On that night three teenagers nicked a Vauxhall Astra and took it for a spin. For two of them, 17 year old Martin Peake and 18 year old Karen Reilly, it was the last thing they ever did. When the car didn’t stop at the army checkpoint the ten soldiers, members of the parachute regiment, opened fire. In all thirty six shots were fired, nineteen hitting the vehicle.

Yet only two of these soldiers were tried for this. One for the attempted murder of Martin Peake and the other, Lee Clegg, for the murder of Karen Reilly.

The press defended Clegg claiming that the soldiers were in a difficult position, not knowing whether or not the occupants of the car were “terrorists” about to fire on them. Yet the officer in charge of the patrol that night admitted in court that he had been briefed they were to intercept joyriders.

Maybe then they fired in selfdefence as the car was driven straight at them? Clegg and his mates did try to argue this at first saying one of them had been hit by the car. But an officer of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (the Northern Ireland police force) stated at the trial that he had seen one soldier being struck by his colleagues in attempt to make it look like he had been hit by the car.

Not content with carrying out the murder of these teenagers the regiment involved decided to gloat about it. In their barracks they hung up a sick montage of a Vauxhall Astra riddled with bullets. This was accompanied with the words “Vaux-

T HE MEDIA have shouted from the

hall Astra — built by robots, driven by joyriders, stopped by A Company.”

This is not just the attitude of a few psychopaths in the Parachute Regiment (although the Paras are well known for their particular brand of visciousness — see below). The British state has always encouraged soldiers on duty in the six counties to view the Irish people and particularly the republicans who resist British rule, as fair game. The murder of Martin Peake and Karen Reilly are not isolated incidents. Since the British army went back into Northern Ireland over three hundred people have been killed by them. There has been a long list of joyriders shot in the same way and of children killed by plastic bullets.

So of these three hundred murders how many other soldiers are the British TV and newspapers fighting to release? Well none, because only one other soldier since 1969 has been convicted of murder. That soldier, Private Ian Thain, was quietly released from prison after serving less than three years, and has been allowed to rejoin the army.

The message is clear - any soldier can go out and shoot-to-kill, safe in the knowledge that they probably won't even havea trial let alone end up in prison.

Private Clegg's conviction is the exception to the rule. But even that tiny amount of justice is unpallatable to those who would like to see the army and police

Above: Lee Clegg Below: victim Karen Reilly

given a free rein to do what they like.

Lee Clegg should be kept in jail but he should be joined by all the officers and government ministers who are also responsible. x

Bloody Sunday

nd of January marked the twenty third ersary of Bloody Sunday. On that day, 72, the Parachute Regiment shot 14

unarmed demonstrators dead. *« Not one single soldier involved has ever had to face charges arising from that day. In fact the officer in charge was later given a medal.@

Lambeth Council: too tight and cant

be bothered...

Dear Revo, |

The Borough of Lambeth is simply blessed with problems when it comes to-my well - being. Iam seventeen years old now and have been attending Pimlico School since September 1989. Pimlico School is just -over three miles away from where I live so

why on earth do I go there? I go to Pimlico School because its a - decent school and I want a decent education. There are very few local schools near me. Lwouldn’tattend them because they don’t have enough staff and don’t have good reputations. The schools in Lam-

_ age °

hoppy drug users?

Dear Revo,

By the time most people leave school they have tried some form of illegal drug, usuaily cannabis.

Drug dealers use schools and school kids as easy selling spots, this is because lots of school kids enjoy getting high or

* simply relax. You can usually buy weed at school and get contacts to buy anything-like speed, trips orE.

| think that as most of us do drugs or will

“etd sient “3 3

beth are being closed down, but Lambeth does not want to help pay out money for students to go to schools within other boroughs. My travel was paid until the end of my compulsory year. Now I pay to travel to school which is hard because my mother doesn’t have much.

Lambeth gave me a grant of £140 for each term but that was hard enough to claim and this could only buy me three monthly travel cards.

If Lambeth is too tight and can’t be bothered to hand out money to us students that need it why don’t they sort out

do drugs by the time we finish school, we should be taught how to do it properly and safely.

| think that drugs are illegal because, supposedly, people take drugs to get high, go out and rob some shop or kill someone but they are wrong because we only do drugs for fun.

Because of the illegality of drugs, big drug dealers and barons can put any type of impurities in our drugs and we can’t do

aHis-wasting our time!

Dear Revo, Last month the National Union of Teachers (NUT) called:offits:boycott of National Cur riculum tests (SATs) after a ballot vote by its members. The boycott had been a strong ‘campaign by teachers, alongwith support from students and parents, against what the government and the NUT leaders wanted. The vote was lost because the union executives announced the ballot just before the Chnstmas’ holidays; allowing only-a short voting period and wording the vote in a confusing way.

In October last year, NUT members voted 92.6% in favour of continuing the boycott.

The tests introduced by the Tones are in no way beneficial for students or teachers. They have been introduced so ‘performance-related’ pay for teachers, wages depending upon how many students in a class pass the tests, can be used. The Tories are

not the only supporters of testing for students, the Labour party also favours it.

For us, the school students, the tests have no valid purpose. They will mean that we have to be taught how to pass tests, instead of learning a subject decently.

Testing us also means that our time is being wasted by sitting pointless exams and by giving us extra unnecessary revision time. It will mean that we are being taught what the Tory government want us to learn, so that we are more nationalistic, as well as teaching us that they are doing things correctly.

This will give us no opportunity for fair arguments within our education and not give us any choice for ourselves and our learning.

Another argument used in support of National Curriculum testing is that it shows up where we need progress and what we're

schools in the area so we are given the same opportunities as those who live in Westminster.

This is my problem and it sometimes makes plans for the future lookvery bleak. I think its about time this borough sorted it out and dealt with the problems at hand.

Ann-Marie, London

anything about it. | think that drugs should be legalised and some sort of system to discourage overuse and abuse should be set up and in this world the police would have to do their job.

But in a perfect world the perfect, law abiding police who are happy with drug use and don’t beat up junkies or hippies would do the job and let drug users be happy drug users.

Steve, London

doing wrong. This is not right as the tests do not take each individual student or the amount of funding going into the school or the type of school into account. If the government really wanted to improve our education then they should put up the money to make sure that we have enough books and equipment in schools.

Despite the NUT calling off the boycott many teachers want to continue the boycott on these tests and disagree with the testing system as it stands. We have to link up with all students, teachers and parents who do not want these tests, building up groups in every school so that we can carry out a national boycott of the tests.

We need to unite all these groups, organinsing joint meetings and planning direct action to stop the governments useless tests.

Dave, Brent, North London

Revolution is written and produced by youth

supporters of Workers Power (Britain)

and the League for a Revolutionary Communist Intemational.

INE SOLUTION

E LIVE in a world full of injustice; oppression and poverty. While millions starve, food is destroyed in order to keep its price up. The

latest technology in health care cannot be used in many countries because of the payment of foreign debt.

Even the most basic provisions of a good water supply and decent sanitation are denied to people all around the world. Meanwhile ever greater ecological disasters loom on the horizon.

REVOLUTION does not believe there is anything ‘natural’ about the state of the world. We believe that what is happening is because of the world wide system of capitalism.

It is a system that runs with the sole intention of making money fora tiny handful of capitalists who own and control industry and the land.

We believe that it is possible to create a new and better world system, a socialist system. It would be an international system which means the fight to achieve it must be international and is why Workers Power (Britain) is part of the League for a Revolutionary Communist International that organises groups from Bolivia to New Zealand.

Because we are internationalists we support all struggles by people oppressed by imperialism - including the struggle to get British troops out of Ireland.

Because we are internationalists we oppose imperialist militarism: we say not a penny or a person for the defence of this system.

A socialist system would be based on common ownership and would produce and organise society to provide the necessities and luxuries of life for all according to a democratically worked out plan.

This means instead of having people homeless because the privately owned land and building companies only build houses when they can make money, we will all own the land, collectively and we will plan that to use the bricks that lie unused and the building workers who are unemployed to build the homes needed.

To get this, industry and land will have to be taken out of the hands of the few. But this group of people, the ruling class, will never allow us to do this without a fight. The government was prepared to mobilise thousands of police to attack the Unity Demo last October, just imagine what they would be prepared to do to protect their whole system of wealth and power. That is why we believe we need a workers revolution.

But we cannot wait until then, we have to fight against exploitation and oppression now. We support all workers’ struggles. We support the struggles against women’s oppression, racism and homophobia.

Whether it is workers on strike, women fighting for abortion rights or black people fighting against racism it is often young people who are leading these struggles.

We fight for action that will win and in such a way that the struggles of today can prepare us for the revolution of tomorrow. We try to tu today’s struggles into a struggle for power by fighting for workers control, workers self-defence etc.

REVOLUTION stands in the tradition of over 150 years of revolutionary socialism. Our movement is based on the ideas of Marx, Lenin and Trotsky, applied to today’s conditions.

REVOLUTION aims to build a revolutionary youth movement, to win thousands and thousands of youth to supporting and building a revolutionary party that can lead the working class to power.

So don't just sit there sell REVOLUTION and become a supporter! ©

LEICESTER

“We are ... unable to give our approval for the proposed march on 3 December 1994” —- Letter from Leicestershire police to the Coalition 18/11/ 94.

This was the first time in at least seven years that the police had refused approval to anyone wanting to protest. We told them that we would march against the CJA regardless. By sticking to our guns the police had the choice: ban the demo, creating even bigger problems for themselves, or let it go ahead. They backed down.

Their attempt to stop the demo backfired. Refusal to approve the demo gave us more publicity (mostly inaccurate!) in the press and on the radio than we could have hoped for.

The demo was a great success, by the time we got into town there were about 400 marching and dancing. This was despite a large and intimidating | police presence and Special Branch videoing demonstrators along the route.

The lesson is clear -—if the cops don’t want you to demonstrate do it anyway.

ACTIVITIES

Sat 11 Feb Loughbrough 12 noon Southfields Park/Council Offices Leicester transport 11am Humberstone Gate (opposite Sainsburys)

Birminct Demonstrate Sat 11 Feb 12 noon Victoria Square

Glasgow Sat 25 Feb 12 noon _ George Square

ew @) |

REVOLUTION!

¢{ want to join Revolution *Please send me[ Jcopies to sell at 20p a copy

Name: Address:

Tel:

Revolution BCM Box 7750 London WC1N 3XX