Archive for February 2000

4 February 2000

Rail strike victory

DRIVERS FOR for Connex South-East railways have won a stunning victory. The drivers, members of rail union ASLEF, forced the employers to concede most of their demands after just one day's strike action...

4 February 2000

Immigration - what's the problem?

Home Secretary Jack Straw's response to the rise in asylum seekers in Britain has been to clamp down on so-called 'fake immigrants.' He suggests that "access to social security cash benefits in Britain acts as an incentive for many seeking a better life."NAOMI BYRON unravels some immigration my...

4 February 2000

Tobogganing towards disaster

THE WORLD Economic Forum in Davos has been punctuated by the shrill pronouncements of the crusaders of capitalist triumphalism, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton...

4 February 2000

Sweden's YRE exposes racist hypocrisy

WHILE TWENTY heads of government and politicians from more than 50 countries attended a conference to discuss the Holocaust in Stockholm, Elevkampanjen, (Sweden's YRE - Youth Against Racism in Europe) mobilised thousands of school students in three demonstrations around the country, writes Laurence Coates, Socialist Justice Party, Sweden.

4 February 2000

Student Protest Grows

A FOUR-day occupation by students at the School of Oriental and African Studies was brought to an end in the early hours of Saturday morning, writes Kieran Roberts, Save Free Education (SFE).

11 February 2000

No Return to Payment by Results

"WE'RE NOT going to let Blunkett divide and demoralise schools". That will be the message from hundreds of teachers rallying against performance-related pay (PRP) this Saturday, writes Martin Powell-Davies, Lewisham NUT.

11 February 2000

Austria Alert!

Robert Bechert explains the urgent need for the movement developing in Austria against Haider to be supported by workers and youth internationally - separately, however, from the hypocritical posturing of the corrupt EU politicians...

11 February 2000

Austrian workers' heroic anti-fascist past

COMMENTARIES ON Haider's rise make much of 'Austria's failure to come to terms with its Nazi past'...

11 February 2000

What We Think: Haider's Threat

WHY HAS this monster Haider been allowed even a sniff of power in Austria? Does his party's participation in the government mean a return of Nazism?...

11 February 2000

The Northern Ireland 'Peace Process' in crisis - where to now?

FOR A few brief months local government had returned to Northern Ireland. After 25 years of bloodshed, and negotiations that seemed to go on forever, 'agreement' was achieved a few weeks before Christmas...

11 February 2000

Bannister rocks UNISON leadership

ROGER BANNISTER'S campaign in the UNISON general secretary election is rocking the confidence of the national full-time officials and the establishment candidate Dave Prentis...

11 February 2000

Oppose Far Right Menace

THE ANGRY scenes in Austria this past week have shown that the entry of Jorg Haider's Freedom Party into the Austrian government will not go unchallenged...

18 February 2000

Sudents Defiant

ABOUT 400 students marched through Oxford in protest against tuition fees and the abolition of the grant, writes Kieran Roberts.

18 February 2000

India - 50 years of a failed "republic"

IN STARK contrast to the lavish celebrations marking 50 years of independence nearly three years ago, the ruling elite in India is not that enthusiastic to rave about the anniversary of the formation of the Republic on 26 January 1950...

18 February 2000

Northern Ireland: On the horns of a dead-end dilemma

THE NORTHERN Ireland 'peace process' has stalled. The Assembly and other institutions set up after the 1998 Good Friday agreement have been suspended, returning direct rule to London. The IRA has withdrawn...

18 February 2000

Teachers march against performance pay

LAST SATURDAY, 12 February, up to 1,500 teachers and parents marched through London against Performance-Related Pay (PRP) in schools, writes Martin Powell-Davies, chair STOPP.

18 February 2000

Austria: A Socialist Campaign to defeat the far-right

MORE THAN 20,000 people took to the streets of Vienna on Saturday 12 February. This demonstration, lasting more than five hours, became the most lively and determined march organised so far against Austria's...

18 February 2000

Striking Against Low Pay

NEW LABOUR has backtracked on its refusal to raise the minimum wage. Growing anger from low-paid workers and even union leaders and MPs has forced the government to concede a paltry 10p a week increase.