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THE WORLD SPANISH STATE Women against violence MORE THAN 2,500 women participated in three days of meetings organized around the theme of Violence Against Women, sponsored by the Coalition of Feminist Organizations in the Spanish state on December 4, 5 and 6, 1988, in San Diego de Compostello, Galicia. The mere presence of so many women, drawn from every region in the Spanish state, testifies to the remarkable health, vigor and militancy of the women's movement and the political space it has carved out in recent years.
More than thirty reports enabled those gathered to get an idea of the broad array of institutions that have an effect on the socialization of children. One of the themes raised was violence against women in the workplace, and the Women's Secretariat of the CCOO (Workers' Commissions, the trade-union confederation with links to the Communist Party), described workplace harassment in the following terms: "...a problem that is not named, that is not mentioned in statistics, that is not documented, nor defined, nor ruled on".
Three proposals were made after this report. First, that women report these attacks, and no longer stay silent; second, that the unions take this theme up as a regular part of their daily activities; and third, that the reports become more public, not restricted to the workplace where they occurred.
Although it was clear that much progress has been made in bringing domestic violence and rape out of the shadows of the "private" and into the public sphere, it was equally obvious that many public institutions still do not take sexual harassment seriously, and that the government's response of endowing women's commissariats, information centers, and battered women's shelters is no more than a bandaid. The fact that violence within the home has been officially recognized is, of course, a gain for the women's movement, but the women's commissariats have not made inquiries more efficient, and the shelters do not cover existing needs.
Nonetheless, the outcome of the meeting was upbeat, as women reaffirmed their self-activity, and celebrated the movement that has permitted so many new ideas, reflections and actions to grow. They ended by endorsing the general strike called for December 14 (see IV 155). * FRANCE LCR congress THE Revolutionary Communist League, (LCR, French section of the Fourth International), held its ninth congress from January 19-22 in St. Denis, near Paris.
AROUND THE WORLD
Around 250 delegates and observers were present to vote on documents covering the political situation, women's liberation, and the construction of a revolutionary party. One thing they could all agree on was that their gathering had certainly provided a very high level of discussion, and demonstrated the active involvement of the LCR's members in all the major working class struggles taking place in France today.
The major area of contention for the competing platforms, whether they supported the general line of the outgoing Central Committee's political theses or not, concerned the LCR's involvement with and attitude towards the ex-Juquin committees, most of which have now been transformed into an organization called the Nouvelle Gauche (New Left).
The general line of the political theses presented by the outgoing CC majority was approved by a clear majority of votes (55.3%), but the congress was much more divided on the theses on the construction of a revolutionary party.
One grouping of the outgoing majority received largest minority vote of 38.86%, and another, in agreement with the general line of the political theses but not with the line taken over the last few months in the ex-Juquin committees, got 13.74%. The largest tendency opposed to the majority line won 25.12%, and another, 12.78%.
Finally, two smaller groupings received 5.68% and 2.08% respectively. The new 55-member Central Committee was elected on a proportional basis according to the support for different positions.
The other major discussions were around texts presented on women's liberation work and feminization of the LCR. The document of the Women's Secretariat was adopted by a 52% majority, and the delegates voted to elect a minimum of 30% women onto the Central Committee (36% were actually elected), with the aim of reaching gender parity by the next congress.
Unfortunately, against the decisions of the congress, a few comrades from "Tendency 3" (represented by two delegates) decided to leave the LCR and join the Nouvelle Gauche, which they saw as the only existing framework for a political recomposition to the left of the traditional workers' parties.
Now that the show is over, the real task of continuing to build an active force to intervene in the workers' movement and French political life must be resumed. The League Communiste Révolutionnaire will be standing independent candidates in the forthcoming municipal elections, and organizing a campaign around the European elections — against the Europe of the bosses, of austerity, of unemployment and armaments.
OBITUARY Max Geldman (1905-1988) ON DECEMBER 23, 1988, a memoral meeting was held in Los Angeles for comrade Max Geldman, dead at the age of 83, after literally a lifetime of revolutionary commitment. Many speakers, both from Solidarity, the revolutionary organization in which Max was active even in the last few weeks of his life, and from the Socialist Workers Party, his former party, gave moving commentaries on his life of activism, and read some of his poems.
Max was born in Jacobovitz, Poland, In 1905, and came to the United States at the age of eight. He adapted to the new country quickly, and studied hard at school. Although he had to leave school at thirteen to work and help support his family, he never lost his desire for learning, managing to take night courses in Philosophy, History and English at the New York City College. After finding Max Eastman's Russian Revolution in a bookstall, he became interested in the socialist vision of a world free from want, misery and violence, and eventually dedicated his life to the fight for such a world.
His life spanned the working class and progressive struggle of the twentieth century, from the Sacco and Vanzetti defense campaign in the 20s, to organizing the unemployed in Minneapolis in the 30s, to the civil rights and anti-war struggles of the 60s, to pro-choice demonstrations in the 80s.
His organizational ties were just as consistent to his principles. After first joining the Young Communist League in 1926, he quickly saw the process of degeneration taking place, and before even reading Trotsky's draft program, decided to join the Communist League of America, forerunner to the SWP. After his expulsion in 1983, he began the search for a new revolutionary direction that would protect the continuity of revolutionary Marxist thought. He helped found Solidarity, and both he and his wife Shevi made an invaluable contribution to that newly conceived organization.
The International revolutionary movement will miss his dedication, knowledge and the historical link he represented. He will not be forgot- 27 ten. *
POLAND Deepening economic crisis forces Jaruzelski to negotiate THE FAMOUS ROUNDTABLE around which Jaruzelski's right-hand men were supposed to sit along with Solidarnosc leaders has been reinstalled in the Jablonna Palace near Warsaw, after being dismantled last fall. There is renewed talk of legalizing the banned union under certain conditions, as well as an agreement on a social pact enabling the regime to carry through its economic reform. CYRIL SMUGA highly precarious situation. The aim of the reform is to at least partially give nomenklatura members the legitimacy conferred by genuine ownership."
This phenomenon is not new. What has changed is the scale. In a telephone interview, Andrzej Gwiazda, one of the founders of the independent union and vice-chair of Solidarnose when it was legal, said:
"We are seeing a generalization of phenomena such as the creation by several directors of limited companies taking exclusive charge of selling all the products made by the factories that they manage....The managers thus profit from their positions and from the public infrastructure to pocket income from selling state production to other state enterprises. This is robbery."
### Solidarnosc activists should organize
A similar view was taken by the Working Group of the National Commission of Solidarnose in a document drawn up in December and republished in mid-January December and republished in mid-January in the official weekly Polityka.
"Thanks to the support of the US State Department, the policy of an understanding and reform has gotten the upper hand....The understanding in question has to be one by which the group ready for compromise... will get political concessions in exchange for guaranteeing the economic interests of the system. That means a commitment on the part of the opposition groups to keep the society from rebelling against a decline in its standard of living and therefore against an increase in exploitation. The economic reform, as can already be seen, means transforming the state enterprises into limited companies formed by, private organizations and individuals.
Therefore, the Working Group is calling on Solidarnosc activists to fight for wage increases everywhere, to organize union groups in the limited companies and in the private sector.
Lech Walesa has said that he is ready to negotiate, and this agreement was confirmed by National Executive Commission (KKW) of Solidarnosc. This does not mean, however, that the Solidarosc leaders are ready to accept all of the regime's conditions.
The KKW resolution stresses in particular the need to protect the interests of society [i.e., the masses] harmed by the economic reform and to respect Solidarnosc's statutory framework.
If the union negotiators maintained this position at the roundtable, the negotiations could not lead anywhere, unless that bureaucracy were driven into a corner by a new nationwide wave of strikes. Thus, simply agreeing to negotiation may be badly received by many opposition activists, who consider that overthrowing the regime is on the agenda. *