1988. március (32-68. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
I iíif1í?rs)r)^ " “^1 ®ÉÍ Editor: György Krassó * 24/D Little Russell Street * London, WC1A 2HN * Tel. 01-430 2126 (írom abroad 441-430 2126) 33/1988 (E) lst March, 1988 Prp.sidium of the Trade Union Gouncil Suspects Those Formine Independent Unions of nIll-Willed Political Ambltions11 On Budapest Rádió on the evening of February 29th there vas a report about the National Trade Union Council’s (SZOT) statement, which rejects "the attempts to destroy the unity of the unions". According to the rádió broadcast it states "that there are somé nameless, email groups which want to form organisations which oppose the Trade Union Movement, . . . by citing problems, which undoubtedly exist, they blame the unions fór the conflicts within the economy and the political establishment. . . the SZOT Presidium emphatically rejects these ill-willed political ambitions". The statement recognises in part that there are criticisms of the official unions bút opposes and condemns attempts to establish new ones. It states that it would accept individual trades "establishing independent sections within their own existing unions". The statement was made four days before the broadcast bút no explanation was given fór the delay in publication. Today, March lst, a leading SZOT official, Magda Kovács, called these still nameless "unity destroying" groups "faceless" and compared them to pamphleteers. SZOT’s statement is presumably directed against the workers in the Hungárián Academy of Sciences* Historical Institute and Sociological Research Institute. This is because they organised a debate on February 19th in which they announced the formation of a new unión fór scientific workers. A number of people joined the initiative, fór example workers in the Kari Marx University of Economics* Sociology Faculty, who announced in the last edition of the university magaziné "Közgazdász" (Economist) that they would jóin on the condition that the new unión would be truly autonoraous and independent. However the announcement did nőt state whether they would form a completely new unión or whether SZOT would still represent their interests; this will havse to be decided by the participants. 6 Subscribers can use or quote the Hungárián October newsletters in totál or in dctail as long as the source is acknowledged.
