S. African unionists resist attacks; demands for U.S. sanctions mount

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By MICHAEL Sit-down strikes and mass boycotts have erupted throughout South Africa to combat the effects of the government's new repres -sive security measures. The protests come in the wake of the largest work stoppage in the country's history-the successful June 16 general strike marking the 10th anniversary of the Soweto uprising Black retail clerks, farmworkers, food and cannery workers, and workers in the record -ing industry went on strike last month to back demands that trade-union officials and shop stewards be released from jail. The strikes were coordinated by union leaders from their places of hiding.

Over 70 top leaders of the country's Black and non-racial trade-union movement were jailed in the weeks following the government's state-of-emergency decree on June 12. In all, some 3000 anti-apartheid activists were placed in detention.

But the continuing activism of Black workers, points out Jay Naidoo, secretary-general of the 650,000 member Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), shows that it has become "impossible to kill off the union movement in South Africa." The political strikes of recent weeks have been dress rehearsals for major confrontations with the government.

On July 1, fugitive members of the COSATU leadership plan to further challenge the government by returning to their offices and trying to operate normally. On the same day, contracts in the metal industry and in mining come due.

The National Union of Mineworkers has broken off talks with the employers since the state of emergency makes it impossible to consult with the union membership. Strike action in the mines could cripple the country's most important industry and send the economy hurtling.

As The New York Times recently commented, "The vulnerable underside of Spanish white power in South Africa is an industrial economy's dependence on 6 million Black workers."

Although the fight for freedom in South Africa will be led by the Black workers of (continued on page 12, in “Free Zbigniew Bujak!”) Democrats, were not opposed to aid to the contras. The Democratic Party "opposition" bill would have given the contras $30 million in so-called economic aid, while considering the additional $70 million sometime in the fall.

Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega strongly condemned the House vote, describing it as "nothing more than the ratification of the warlike and criminal policy of the United States against Nicaragua." He said that the action repre -(continued on page 13, in “Black unionists say workers must lead apartheid fight”)

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