Militant Rally 1985 Harry DeBoer

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• published: 30 Jun 2014
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5,000 crammed in to the Albert Hall on the 3 November, 1985 for the Militant Rally. Harry De Boer, at 80 years a living legend, was a veteran of the workers' struggle in the USA, one of the pioneers of the flying pickets in the Minneapolis general strike of 1934. The result of this struggle was the movement to organise the unskilled workers in the USA, and the foundation of the CIO, which merged with the existing, more conservative skilled workers federation to become the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the leading confederation of US trade unions. Here is how the event was reported in The Rise of Militant, by Peter Taaffe: 'If the attack on Liverpool and Militant was meant to cower us it had the opposite affect. For the first time Militant had organised its National Rally at the Albert Hall. 'Reporting on the event Militant stated: ' "5,000 people cheering for socialism in the Albert Hall. £26,587 raised in the fighting fund collection. Last Sunday's Militant Rally broke all records." 'Alongside myself and Ted Grant spoke Harry De Boer, veteran of the workers' struggle in the USA, one of the pioneers of the flying pickets in the Minneapolis general strike of 1934 when he was shot in the leg. He had also met Leon Trotsky in Mexico in 1940 and was imprisoned for his opposition to the second world war. At the age of 80 Harry De Boer had not lost any of his socialist and revolutionary commitment, telling the rally: 'Trotsky told me, a trade union movement alone cannot solve the problems of workers. You need a Labour Party controlled by a democratic trade union movement. Lots of people are elected to office and then forget who put them there and why. Our slogans in 1934 were "every member an organiser" and "make Minneapolis a union town". The labour movement's slogans internationally should be "Organise the world's workers" and "workers of the world unite". 'Alongside him spoke Terry Fields who declared: 'The gloves are off. The people of Liverpool are fighting back as never before under the banner of Liverpool city council. They are resisting the lies, filth and distortion of the press. 'Jack Collins, the general secretary of the Kent NUM, declared: ' "We have got to project what socialism means... if we are to protect the interest of the working class." (See http://youtu.be/IKaVLWMComo ) 'This rally, which "broke all records", was the best answer to the venomous press campaign and that of the right wing of the Labour and trade union movement.' End of quote. See http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/militant/mil2frame.htm?ch28.htm For Jack Collins' speech, see: http://youtu.be/IKaVLWMComo Sitting beside Harry is Derek Hatton and by his side is Peter Taaffe. For Peter Taaffe's speech, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Jr3HbzFp8 Also speaking was Terry Fields at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yn6XzhuZeA The Militant became the Socialist Party in 1997: See www.socialistparty.org.uk