Lithuanians confront an escalating war of nerves

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VILNIUS, Lithuania-At first glance, there are few signs that this is a country in revolution. No political banners hang from the windows. In general, the people of this capital city go about their daily work, swarming onto the trolley buses or lining up to purchase necessities in the shops.

But beneath the surface, a jittery war of nerves is taking place. The Soviet leadership is determined to thwart the desires of the large majority of the population for independence. And people here are angry.

When Moscow sent elite military units to occupy several public buildings, thousands of people massed in front of the parliament hall. They set up barricades, determined to block any attempt by Moscow to depose the Lithuanian government.

In some districts, a single slogan is scrawled on the walls in English: "Red Army Get Out!"

Lithuanians want more goods in the shops-but more than that, they want to rule their own lives without interference from corrupt Russian-speaking officials and the threat of military repression.

"We are through with all that now," people told me. "We are an independent country. Moscow may send troops, but we won't back down."

Columns of tanks

I came to Lithuania by train from Poland. The republic had declared its independence less than two weeks earlier, on March 11. Soviet military aircraft were making runs over Vilnius, and tension was high.

As we approached the Lithuanian border, one of the people sharing my compartment announced, "There's the Soviet army!" Looking out of the window, I saw that we were passing columns of troop carriers and tanks.

If the military had meant to impress us, they certainly succeeded. Two days later, in fact, more than 100 of these vehicles, carrying hundreds of soldiers, drove past the Lithuanian parliament building in a massive show of force.

My companions on the train wanted to know what Americans think of the situation in Lithuania. In my opinion, I replied, most Americans think they have a right to settle their own affairs-including the right to independence. That met with approval all around.

Several told me, however, that as members of the Polish minority they are apprehensive about the future. Even now, people of Polish descent are often relegated to the lowest jobs. Recently, the people of the Polish-speaking region outside Vilnius declared themselves an "autonomous region" in an attempt to secure their civil rights. Nevertheless, my companions supported independence.

I soon became aware that I had been on "the last train to Vilnius," since permission for Westerners to enter Lithuania was re(continued on page 13) driving for 13 miles before turning himself into the California Highway Patrol. He has yet to be charged with any crime.

Meanwhile, the capitalist-owned media has been highlighting isolated incidents of sniping at Greyhound buses. The culprits, of course, are allegedly the striking workers, whom the media portray as increasingly frustrated by the union-busting tactics of Greyhound. They neglect to make the point, however, that the only fatality has been a striking worker.

For the Greyhound workers, the logic of concession bargaining has come full circle. A company that lost money for over eight years is now making money, with a large part of the profit based on reductions that workers agreed to in 1983 and 1987. Justifiably, the workers believe they are now entitled to restoration of the wage cuts.

The Greyhound workers are now faced with a situation-reenforced by the government and police-where the company is in dead earnest about breaking the union. This strike is important for the entire labor movement because Greyhound is "walking point" for the attacks that will come down on other unions in the future.

Defeatism of labor bureaucracy Unfortunately, the Greyhound workers are saddled with a labor bureaucracy that is sympathetic to the profit needs of U.S. corpora(continued on page 4, in “International Women's Day celebrated in Canada”) que