Archive for February 2010
3 February 2010
Bob Crow launches Portsmouth TUSC
"Every victory we've won since the war is up for grabs." That was the rallying call from RMT general secretary Bob Crow as he launched the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) general election campaign in Portsmouth North by outlining the need to defend jobs, homes and services from the, writes Ben Norman, Socialist Party Portsmouth.
3 February 2010
Scottish TUSC steering committee set up
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition held a successful meeting in Glasgow on Saturday 30 January...
3 February 2010
Weak growth - the best that capitalism can offer
After the longest and deepest recession since 1945, which saw the economy shrink by 6% in under two years, a battered UK finally limped into 'growth' territory last week, writes Robin Clapp.
3 February 2010
Fight new attacks on London's NHS
HOSPITALS ACROSS London will close, accident and emergency departments will be lost, and thousands of beds will go, writes Paula Mitchell.
3 February 2010
East London: DESPITE OVERWHELMING public opposition, health bosses are pushing through their plan to 'reconfigure' NHS services in north east London, writes Simon Carter.
3 February 2010
Fujitsu strikers determined to save jobs and pensions
A delegation from Warrington trades council visited the Unite members picketing at Fujitsu's Warrington site on 1 February...
3 February 2010
Betrayed - PTSD casualties of war
With over 250 UK servicemen and women tragically dead on Afghan soil since 2001, generals, politicians and tabloid editors regularly weep crocodile tears for the 'fallen heroes' - but they say much less about the damage suffered by the survivors, writes Paul Gerrard.
3 February 2010
Sri Lanka: Violent election campaign puts Rajapakse back in power
AFTER THE most violent election the country has seen, Mahinda Rajapakse remains president of Sri Lanka, writes Elizabeth Clarke, Committee for a Workers' International, CWI.
3 February 2010
Tekel workers demand general strike in Turkey
STRIKING WORKERS at Tekel, the former state-owned tobacco and alcohol monopoly, travelled last December from all over Turkey to protest in the capital, Ankara, writes Stephan Kimmerle, CWI.
3 February 2010
Crozier exit: 'GOOD RIDDANCE' are the printable words many a postal worker and Royal Mail customer said following the announcement of the departure of the company's boss, Adam Crozier...
3 February 2010
Socialist councillors back school's protest
ON 20 January, for the second time in two months, over 50 parents came out to protest against horrendous conditions at John Gulson primary school in Foleshill, Coventry, writes Rob Windsor, Coventry Socialist Party councillor.
3 February 2010
"You're committing a crime. Do you like being a criminal?" These were the words of Waltham Forest's Environmental Crime enforcement officer as he confronted members of Walthamstow Socialist Party...
3 February 2010
No cuts and no fees in further education
With unemployment continuing to rise, anyone would expect to see greater numbers of adults returning to education to re-train, writes Rae Lewis Ayling, National YFJ school and college student organiser.
3 February 2010
Young people blocked from access to education
New Labour plans to reduce the higher education budget by £2.5 billion and already the Higher Education Funding body for England (HEFCE) has begun to outline how spending on teaching, research and university facilities will be cut this year, writes Matt Dobson, Socialist Students national organiser.
3 February 2010
'Filthy rich' get richer: Challenge the bosses' greed!
Dave Nellist (2nd left) and Bob Crow (right) with supporters launch No2EU, photo D Carr
Record wealth gap: AFTER 13 years of Labour rule, the gap between the rich and the rest of us is now wider than at any time for nearly 70 years, a new 460-page report from the 'National Equality Panel', a group of academics, shows that the wealth of the richest 10% of Britain's population is now 100 times that of the poorest 10%, writes Dave Nellist, Coventry Socialist Party councillor.
3 February 2010
More declarations of support have come in this week for the TUSC general election challenge, some of which are listed below. All sponsors appear in a personal capacity...
3 February 2010
Defend the four: Courts show what side they're on
Once again the courts have shown their class prejudice in the recently-published employment tribunal ruling against the four Socialist Party members fighting the witch hunt in Unison...
3 February 2010
Youth Fight for Jobs (YFJ) activities
Demonstrations and gigs orgainsed by Youth Fight for Jobs in Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Barking, London and Newcastle
3 February 2010
Civil service: young workers get organised
The PCS young members' network is one of the best organised youth sections in the trade union movement, giving young workers the confidence and skills to change their situation at work...
3 February 2010
Taliban insurgency, poverty and corruption Brown's Afghan crisis deepens
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair as Pinocchio - cartoon by Alan hardman
WITH THE body count of UK troops at over 250 and with a general election looming, Gordon Brown is desperate for an exit strategy from Afghanistan, writes Dave Carr.
3 February 2010
Chilcot Inquiry: Millionaire Blair has no regrets
WHILE HUNDREDS of anti-war protesters gathered outside the conference centre in Westminster, inside, Tony Blair gave his 'evidence' to the Chilcot inquiry on 29 January, writes Chris Newby.
3 February 2010
Civil service strike ballot as talks fail
PCS members protest against compulsory outsourcing, photo Paul Mattsson
Negotiations between civil service union PCS and management and ministers to reach a settlement on plans to change the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (see Civil service compensation scheme: A fight for jobs and services) have failed, writes John McInally, national vice-president PCS, personal capacity.
3 February 2010
Unison general secretary election: Fighting left challenge needed
Roger Bannister, photo by Paul Mattsson
Following the announcement of an election for the general secretary of Unison, a meeting of the left in the union took place on 30 January. This was an attempt to reach a consensus on standing one left candidate to confront the incumbent Dave Prentis, writes Glenn Kelly.
5 February 2010
"Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil"
Michael Moore's Capitalism - a love story, photo Michael Moore
Karl Marx likened capitalism to a vampire which sucks "living labour" from the worker.
But that is while the worker lives. Now we learn through Michael Moore, the US radical film-maker, that the biggest vampire, Wal-Mart - "a company with revenue larger than any other in the world" - actually bets on its "workers dying.
8 February 2010
Over a hundred students occupy conference room at Sussex University
Hundreds of students have occupied a conference room in Bramber House, Sussex University in anger at hundreds of job cuts and course closures...
8 February 2010
PCS ballot over Civil Service Compensation Scheme has begun
The ballot organised by the civil service union PCS for industrial action over plans to change the Civil Service Compensation Scheme has began, writes John McInally, national vice-president PCS, personal capacity.
9 February 2010
Press release: Sussex occupation gets bigger after mass demo
Hundreds more students have stormed the Bramber House Building and have reinforced the continuing occupation organised by Stop the Cuts...
10 February 2010
Preying on the living and dead
Vampire capitalism: Socialist Party general secretary, Peter Taaffe, comments on an interview with film director Michael Moore by Chris McGreal in the Guardian (30/1/10)...
10 February 2010
Waltham Forest: Campaigners score a victory
Waltham Forest: Campaigners score a victory with a mass stall protest for the right to campaign, photo Sarah Sachs-Eldridge
"Next thing you know they'll be prosecuting residents for sticking up 'missing cat' posters on lamp-posts" I joked when Waltham Forest's enforcement officer initially challenged us over the right to campaign in the local town square, writes Sarah Sachs-Eldridge, Walthamstow Socialist Party secretary.
10 February 2010
Fiddling MPs: Jail the whole lot of them!
THREE MPs and a Lord could face seven years in jail over their expenses claims. Only four! What about the rest of them? And what about the bankers who caused the devastating financial crisis? They should...
10 February 2010
Vulnerable lose out on benefits
WHILE PRIVILEGED MPs and City fat cat bankers appear to have public funds coming out of their ears, millions of low paid workers are missing out on their entitlement to tax credits and housing benefit, amounting to a staggering £16 billion a year...
10 February 2010
Northern Ireland: An agreement to cement division
ON 5 FEBRUARY the DUP and Sinn Fein agreed a deal on policing, justice and parades. The deal was announced in triumph as a "historic breakthrough" by First Minister Peter Robinson of the DUP and his...
10 February 2010
Around 80 people packed into a Hazel Must Go campaign meeting in Salford on Thursday 4 February to decide who would stand as a candidate to rival disgraced local Labour party MP and former cabinet minister Hazel Blears in the general election, writes Alex McElroy and Paul Gerrard, Salford Socialist Party.
10 February 2010
Trade union rights for service personnel
UK SERVICE personnel urgently need the right to join and organise in a trade union. In several other countries, including some whose soldiers are currently serving in Afghanistan, service personnel have...
10 February 2010
Greenwich Unison backs victimised branch secretary
THE 2010 annual meeting (AGM) of the Greenwich Unison branch has unanimously backed Onay Kasab, the witch-hunted secretary of the branch who currently faces a three-year ban from holding office in the union...
10 February 2010
Civil service strike ballot: Vote 'yes' for action
The ballot organised by the civil service union PCS for industrial action over plans to change the Civil Service Compensation Scheme has begun, writes John McInally, national vice-president PCS, personal capacity.
10 February 2010
Bristol job centre workers fight transfer
Last Friday the civil servants' union, PCS held a meeting in Fishponds, Bristol attended by workers from Job Centre Plus, writes Tom Baldwin.
10 February 2010
Boycotting the 2010 SATS in schools
At the end of January, I attended a training meeting for teachers' union NUT reps in London. Only a day or two previously, a joint NUT/NAHT press statement had been issued stating that both unions will...
10 February 2010
Coventry youth workers' strike
Youth workers in Coventry were involved in a solid one day strike on 5 February. The CYWU Unite members held a rally outside the Council House to protest at the imposition of new contracts, writes Clive Dunkley, Coventry Socialist Party.
10 February 2010
Members of the Halifax Socialist Party branch have been keen to lend their support to the workers at the Metaldyne engine parts factory who took strike action for the fourth time on 3 February, writes Bradley Chambers.
10 February 2010
Stoke: Axiom workers in overtime ban
After ten weeks of strike action - two days each week - Axiom Rail workers in Stoke have decided to return to work and impose an overtime ban in their fight for a decent pay increase, writes Andy Bentley.
10 February 2010
Construction protest: Unemployed construction workers from around Britain took part in a roving protest around central London on 3 February, writes Chris Newby.
10 February 2010
Saving jobs and services in Worcestershire
LAST YEAR Worcestershire county council announced £45 million cuts over five years with talk of job losses in all areas, including teachers, writes Sean McCauley, Worcester Socialist Party.
10 February 2010
Tamil Solidarity -: Successful northern conference
THE NORTHERN conference of Tamil Solidarity took place in Manchester on Saturday 6 February with a dozen members of the Tamil speaking community in attendance, writes Paul Gerrard.
10 February 2010
Socialist Women: Fighting for equality through socialism
On 6 and 7 February, 30 women from across England and Wales attended the Socialist Women weekend school, writes Indie Purcell.
10 February 2010
Energy price shock: AHEAD OF its expected announcement of an "embarrassingly high" record £540 million profit for 2009, British Gas has announced a small cut in consumer prices of 7%...
10 February 2010
Claire Laker Mansfield, photo Alex Ivanov
Students and workers unite
Since last autumn, when the vice chancellor of Sussex University announced a savage programme of job losses and cuts, we have been organising protests through our 'Stop the Cuts' campaign (StC), writes Claire Laker Mansfield, Sussex Socialist Students.
10 February 2010
TUSC: Wellingborough socialists make a stand
What started out as a meeting called by Independent Socialists in Wellingborough (ISW) aiming to discuss tactical voting in the general election, ended in the ISW deciding to stand a candidate itself, writes Lee Dunkley, Northampton Socialist Party.
10 February 2010
Armed forces: Release Lance-Corporal Joe Glenton
JOE GLENTON, a Lance-Corporal in the logistics corps, was always described by his superiors as a model soldier, writes Christian Bunke.
10 February 2010
Onay Kasab addressed lobby of Unison HQ to protest against banning from office of Socialist Party members, photo Alison Hill
Unison witch-hunt: Employment Tribunal: Trade union activists expect class bias in the courts and employment tribunals. But rarely has a tribunal delivered such a blatantly biased judgment based on class interest. The employment tribunal judge...
10 February 2010
Trade unions in Britain - are they ready for the coming battles?
Recently, chancellor Alistair Darling said that halving the government's deficit in four years was 'non-negotiable'...
10 February 2010
Sri Lanka President Rajapakse removes his rival, Fonseka
SRI LANKA'S former army chief and main opposition presidential election challenger, Sarath Fonseka, was dragged from his office late at night last Monday...
10 February 2010
PCS young members network conference
PCS workers strike , photo Paul Mattsson
Almost one hundred young civil servants gathered in Birmingham to discuss continuing to build the PCS young members' network in 2010. It was an excellent weekend with a focus on fighting cuts, organising in the workplace and supporting initiatives such as the 'Youth Fight for Jobs' campaign, writes Kyly Wilson.
10 February 2010
Fighting leadership needed in Unison - Nominate Roger Bannister for general secretary
Roger Bannister, photo by Paul Mattsson
Whoever wins the general election, members of Britain's largest public sector union Unison, like all other public service workers, are in for a hard time. All three capitalist parties have declared their intention to make the working class pay for the financial crisis through attacks on jobs, pay, pensions and public services.
12 February 2010
Cat and the fiddle: Waltham Forest Council's sorry tale
Waltham Forest's sorry tale of Fluffy the cat, a repressive regime and a council under suspicion:
12 February 2010
15 cabin crew 'suspended by BA management '
According to the BBC, 15 members of cabin crew have been suspended by BA management for allegedly making 'inappropriate' comments about the company on social networking sites...
17 February 2010
THE FAR-RIGHT British National Party (BNP) has amended part of its constitution to allow non-white people to join, writes Naomi Byron.
17 February 2010
Capitalist crisis threatens the eurozone project
THE ECONOMIC and political crisis in Greece and other member countries of the eurozone has thrown the single European currency into its deepest crisis since its introduction in 2002, writes Kevin Parslow.
17 February 2010
Greece: Massive public sector workers' strike against savage austerity plans
HUNDREDS OF thousands of public sector workers took strike action in Greece on Wednesday 10 February, writes Andreas Payiatsos, Xekinima (CWI Greece), Athens.
17 February 2010
It's all for the best: THE NUMBER of housing repossessions for 2009 was the highest since 1995. Some 46,000 homes were repossessed last year, an increase of 6,000 on the total for 2008. In addition, 188,300 homeowners were in...
17 February 2010
Oppose university cuts - defend jobs
Universities today are under attack. The Socialist has reported in recent weeks on attempts by bosses at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) to cut 127 members of the university's support staff...
17 February 2010
According to UCAS, the university admissions body, 570,556 applications for university places were made by the end of January, a rise of 22.9% on 2009, writes Glyn Matthews.
17 February 2010
Winter Olympics: Shortage of snow but no shortage of debts?
THE 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics have started in the Vancouver-Whistler area of Canada. Many Canadians are looking forward to the sports and hoping for gold, especially in ice-hockey. However there...
17 February 2010
Protests as Canada's Tories suspend parliament
CANADA HAS been without a working parliament since 25 January, after the Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, prorogued (suspended) parliament until 3 March, writes Clare Hudson, Socialist Alternative, British Columbia, Canada.
17 February 2010
Celebrate May Day this year with The Socialist
The Socialist appeals to all its readers to support the 2010 May Day greetings appeal, helping the paper to celebrate International Workers' Day, writes Bob Severn.
17 February 2010
The construction industry blacklist: Paltry punishment for attacks on workers
Construction workers have been fighting an employers' blacklist for many years. The big construction companies have been using it to try to stop workers on their sites joining trade unions and getting...
17 February 2010
TUSC to fight cuts in Spelthorne
"I will refuse to take any more salary than I currently earn, if elected, and I will publish details of my salary and expenses online for my constituents to see, examine and to hold me to account as their representative", writes North Surrey Socialist Party.
17 February 2010
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition reports more sponsors this week, some of which are listed below. All appear in a personal capacity...
17 February 2010
Don't get between me and my profits - Alan Hardman cartoon, photo Alan Hardman
17 February 2010
Wales: New challenges for socialists
Campaigners against youth unemployment from all over Wales converged on the Welsh Assembly on Wednesday to highlight the scourge of youth unemployment in Wales. , photo Sarah Mayo
Socialist Party Wales recently held a very successful conference in Swansea that discussed future developments in Wales...
17 February 2010
Nominate Roger Bannister: Council workers need a fighting union
ROGER BANNISTER is a member of the Unison union's national executive, and campaigning to stand for election as Unison general secretary. Roger says the union must fight the cuts in Birmingham, which are being repeated by councils, health authorities and the education sector nationwide...
17 February 2010
Notts Tories attack the vulnerable
Kay Cutts, the aptly named Tory leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, said when elected last June that she would run a "business administration", writes Jon Dale.
17 February 2010
Sussex student union elections: Support for socialist campaigners
Sussex university students demonstrate, photo Socialist Students
A busy week at Sussex University has left Socialist Students proud of the progress we've made, if a little exhausted, writes Sussex Socialist Students.
17 February 2010
New health inequality report reveals widening class divide
"IN ENGLAND, people living in the poorest neighbourhoods, will, on average, die seven years earlier than people in the richest neighbourhoods" the health inequality report states, writes John Sharpe.
17 February 2010
Youth Fight for Jobs: Leeds march for jobs and education
Leeds Youth Fight For Jobs demo February 2010, photo Leeds Socialist Party
A loud, lively Youth Fight for Jobs (YFJ) demonstration stopped traffic and drew widespread support from shoppers in Leeds city centre on Saturday 13 February, writes Ian Slattery, Huddersfield Youth Fight for Jobs.
17 February 2010
Ministers and MI5 colluded in the cover-up of torture
FOLLOWING HIS detention by the Pakistani secret service in 2002 and his sale to the US for a bounty of $5,000, Binyam Mohamed lived a shadow existence, deprived of his basic human rights, writes Ken Douglas.
18 February 2010
Youth Fight for Jobs protest in Wales
Campaigners against youth unemployment from all over Wales converged on the Welsh Assembly on Wednesday to highlight the scourge of youth unemployment in Wales...
18 February 2010
Wales Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC)
"Milford Haven ruling against these workers show why we are standing in the election": A new electoral alliance is standing candidates in the forthcoming general election. In Wales, two prominent trade unionists and socialist campaigners are amongst the candidates. Rob Williams, reinstated...
19 February 2010
High Court ruling halts Milford Haven strike
The High Court ruling to stop the Unite union's strike this week by port workers in Milford Haven will anger many rank and file workers throughout the country, writes Socialist Party Wales.
22 February 2010
University day of action against cuts, job losses and fees
The government is planning to make £2.5 billion worth of cuts in higher education. Every student and university worker faces attacks on their education and jobs. Whoever wins the general election is it...
23 February 2010
Demonstration against Neath/ Port Talbot local authority's threat to jobs
Approximately 300 people attended a demonstration and rally held in Port Talbot, South Wales, on Saturday 20th February, a Welsh Unison member writes.
24 February 2010
How to stop cuts and defend public services
Nationally civil servants are facing an attack by the government on their 'compensation scheme' - their redundancy rights...
24 February 2010
Port workers battle bosses... and high court
Around 50 pilots and other crew members at Milford Haven dock in south Wales are in dispute with the port authority over pensions, writes Socialist Party Wales correspondents.
24 February 2010
Anger on Teesside over Corus closure
AS THE process of shutting down the blast furnace at Teesside's Corus steel plant began, hundreds of steelworkers, their families and people from the local community turned out, writes Elaine Brunskill.
24 February 2010
Unison has continued its witch-hunt by banning Alan Docherty, the Darlington local government branch secretary, from holding office for three years...
24 February 2010
CWU women vote for political review
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) annual women's conference took place on 20 February. Delegates discussed the impact of the economic crisis on working class women, their jobs and their work-life...
24 February 2010
RMT branch supports challenge to Denham
A meeting of the Rail Maritime and Transport workers' union (RMT) local branch held in Eastleigh near Southampton was attended by a candidate for TUSC, Tim Cutter, who will be standing in Southampton Itchen in the general election, writes Kevin Hayes.
24 February 2010
Support the TUSC election challenge
In the forthcoming general election the three main parties will offer a diet of cuts in public services and attacks on pay, pensions and working conditions...
24 February 2010
ID cards - an expensive threat to civil liberties
NEW LABOUR has brought in several pieces of repressive legislation recently that attack our civil liberties but at least they've abandoned the unpopular plan for compulsory ID cards, haven't they, writes Tom Baldwin.
24 February 2010
Iraq: All eyes on the oil prize
IT IS nearly seven years after the US-led invasion of Iraq. US imperialism had hoped for a quick war, the Iraqi oil industry under the control of US companies and a compliant, stable regime. However, the...
24 February 2010
Staythorpe: the fight for workplace safety
Over 500 construction workers at the Staythorpe power station site near Newark in Nottinghamshire took immediate strike action last week, staying out for three days, writes Jon Dale.
24 February 2010
On the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first Labour Exchange it was disappointing to see criticisms by the government and the Tories of the under-resourced services in Jobcentre Plus, writes Katrine Williams, PCS DWP group vice president, personal capacity.
24 February 2010
Leeds university: Support lecturers striking to save jobs
Lecturers at Leeds University will be taking strike action this week to defend jobs and services against the proposed £35 million cuts that will lead to an estimated 700 job losses, writes Sean Clothier.
24 February 2010
Fighting leadership needed for UCU
Members of the University and College Union (UCU) are currently voting for positions on the national executive committee, as well as for a vice president from further education...
24 February 2010
Safety strike ballot: A ballot for national industrial action involving rail maintenance workers across the country begins on 25 February...
24 February 2010
Comment: HAS DAVID Cameron swapped his top hat for a cloth cap by calling for public sector workers to set up their own co-operatives?, writes Nancy Taaffe.
24 February 2010
Tories attack community café...
ON 13 February, over 200 people marched through Bracknell in protest at the Tory council withdrawing financial support from the Look In Café, a town centre community café used mainly by the over-50s, as well as voluntary groups, writes Val and Terry Pearce, Save the Look In committee, personal capacity.
24 February 2010
UP TO 30 women detainees at Yarl's Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire are continuing a hunger strike...
24 February 2010
CWI Latin America school: A continent on the brink
CWI Latin America school, photo CWI
Members and supporters of the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) in Latin America met for a very enthusiastic and successful political education school in Brazil between 3 and 7 February...
24 February 2010
How can the racist BNP be defeated?
UAF conference shows debate needed: Thousands of pounds of trade union members' money is given to campaigns such as Unite Against Fascism (UAF) and Hope Not Hate every year to help combat the rise of far-right, racist groups like the British National Party (BNP), writes A GMB member.
24 February 2010
Scottish Defence League defeated: Working class political alternative urgently needed
THE SCOTTISH Defence League (SDL) tried to carry out a major show of strength in Edinburgh on Saturday 20 February, but it ended in farce and humiliation for the fascists and racists, writes Philip Stott, CWI Scotland.
24 February 2010
Young people deserve a future: Join the Manchester march for jobs on 13 March
Leeds Youth Fight For Jobs demo February 2010, photo Leeds Socialist Party
"Hundreds queue for 56 jobs at Selfridges", reported the Manchester Evening News before Christmas, when 600 job-seekers waited for hours in a queue stretching two blocks for a handful of temporary posts, writes Poppy Hamilton, Manchester YFJ.
24 February 2010
Campaigning rights victory: But questions remain on new Waltham Forest policy
The Waltham Forest campaign2campaign, initiated by the Socialist Party, has recorded a victory as the north east London borough's council has announced that no campaigning groups will have to pay a fee or face a fine for setting up a stall in the town square, writes Bob Severn, Walthamstow Socialist Party.
24 February 2010
South Wales: Demo against council cuts
Approximately 300 people attended a demonstration and rally in Port Talbot, South Wales on 20 February, a Welsh Unison member writes.
24 February 2010
Nominate Roger Bannister: Unison's leadership battle
Roger Bannister at Unison conference
Roger Bannister, who is seeking nominations to stand in the Unison general secretary election, commented on the latest round of job cuts announced by councils across the country...
24 February 2010
Private 'vultures' to run NHS hospital
PRIVATE 'VULTURE' companies are licking their lips at the prospect of taking over and running a NHS hospital for the first time...
24 February 2010
British Airways cabin crew v management: Round two
THE UNITE union announced on Monday that British Airways (BA) cabin crew voted overwhelmingly for strike action, writes Neil Cafferky.
24 February 2010
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition General Election launch rally
Thursday 25 March, 7.30 pm
Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ
Speakers include: Bob Crow, Rail, Maritime and Transport union general secretary; Brian Caton, Prison Officers Association general secretary;
Chris Baugh, Public and Commercial Services union assistant general secretary; Dave Nellist, Socialist Party councillor; Michael Lavalette, Socialist Workers Party councillor
24 February 2010
Demo opposes £29m Notts county cuts
Around 150 people gathered in Mansfield Market Place to show their opposition to Nottinghamshire County Council axing £28.7 million from its budget this year and cutting several hundred jobs, writes Karen Seymour, Mansfield and North Derbyshire Socialist Party.
24 February 2010
NHS demonstration, photo Paul Mattsson
"YOU CALL this cuts - I'm not scared to say cuts... I have to balance the books." So says a £140,000 a year NHS chief executive...
26 February 2010
Revisiting The Road to Wigan Pier
George Orwell was perhaps the best known of the English socialist writers of the 1930s and 1940s. He is justifiably famous for books like 'Homage to Catalonia' and 'Animal Farm', as well as '1984'. Peter Taaffe reviews The Road to Wigan Pier.
26 February 2010
British Airways cabin crew joint branch meeting
For the third time in four months hundreds of British Airways cabin crew assembled for a joint branch meeting on 25 February at Kempton Park race course...
26 February 2010
Anti-poll tax victory: How 18 million people brought down Thatcher
The majority of trade union leaders are completely unprepared to meet the onslaught on jobs and public services, the worst for 40 years...
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