Archive for July 2003

5 July 2003

Kick Low Pay Out Of The NHS

PORTERS AND domestics at Royal Bolton Hospital are striking against poverty pay employers ISS Mediclean, writes Hugh Caffrey, Manchester Socialist Party.

5 July 2003

Words Of Mass Distraction

A LOT is at stake for Blair's government. MPs are trying to get it to admit that the dossiers it produced on "weapons of mass destruction" to justify war on Iraq were lies, exaggerations and anything...

5 July 2003

Fuel price rises provoke general strike in Nigeria

NIGERIA CAME to a halt on 30 June as millions supported the general strike called by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in protest at a massive 54% fuel price rise...

5 July 2003

LGBT rights: 'Family values' fears produce confused equality measures

CAMPAIGNERS HOPED that same-sex partners would get similar legal rights to married couples as the government published its white paper on civil partnerships this week, writes Manny Thain.

5 July 2003

Socialism 2003: Enjoyable And Inspiring

Socialism 2003 took place over the weekend of the 28 and 29 June. Below are reports from the main rallies and interviews with participants. We welcome any further comments that you might have, writes Hannah Sell.

5 July 2003

"There's A Woman Out There Asking Questions!"

A FEW weeks ago an article in the socialist recalled the discovery of the structure of DNA. Francis Crick and James Watson took all the credit, not even acknowledging the ground-breaking work undertaken...

5 July 2003

Rail Union's Historic Rule Change

DELEGATES TO the rail union RMT conference in Glasgow, backed a potentially historic rule change that opens the way for the union to affiliate to the Scottish Socialist Party and possibly even to back the Socialist Party and other independent and Left candidates in England and Wales, writes Ken Smith, at RMT conference.

5 July 2003

Glad to be groovy at TGWU conference

BILL MORRIS' final speech at the TGWU conference, as outgoing general secretary, was notable for an outrageous attack on socialists, writes Kevin Parslow, at TGWU conference.

5 July 2003

Building A Mass Alternative To New Labour

FOR THE first time since September 2000 - the time of the fuel protests - the Tories have inched ahead of New Labour in a national opinion poll...

5 July 2003

Israel/Palestine: What's Behind The 'Ceasefire'?

PALESTINIAN MILITIAS have declared a three month suspension in armed attacks against Israel and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has withdrawn from parts of the Gaza strip...

5 July 2003

SATs conference: End These Nightmare Tests

WE'VE HAD "tears in the morning" said Socialist Party member Suzanne Muna, speaking from the platform at the 'Stop the SATs' conference in London...

5 July 2003

Iraq: Who's Winning The War Of Occupation?

THE PEOPLE of Basra will "look back and remember what you did and recognise that as the start of their future and a life of hope and the possibility of prosperity," said Tony Blair to British troops on a visit to the city on 29 May...

5 July 2003

Northern Ireland; Has The Peace Process Permanently Stalled?

THE PEACE process remains in deep crisis. Despite desperate efforts by the British and Irish governments, it has not proved possible to re-establish the Executive, and Assembly elections have been postponed...

5 July 2003

Bosses Get £Millions: Workers Get Sacked

TWO GROUPS of vitally important workers could face huge job cuts, just as the crisis in Britain's capitalist economy gets worse, writes Roger Shrives.

12 July 2003

German Socialist victimised

JENS FERTSCH, a member of the German section of the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI - the socialist international organisation to which the Socvialiat Party is affiliated), was suspended from his workplace on July 8th...

12 July 2003

Victory For The Socialist Party And The Left In PCS

THE LEFT have swept to victory in the elections for the national executive (NEC) and president of the PCS civil service union, writes Bill Mullins, Socialist Party industrial organiser.

12 July 2003

Victorious nursery nurses say: No More Penny-Pinching, End Low Pay

Tower Hamlets (east London) nursery nurses have won their regrading claim. The council eventually backed down and have agreed to pay them approximately £20,000 a year without deductions for the school...

12 July 2003

Iraq Watch

Polls apart: THE DEATHS of US and British soldiers in Iraq have cut support for the war this spring both in the USA and Britain...

12 July 2003

Vauxhall school: Privatisers Bring In Agency Staff

SECURITY GUARDS were hired recently to evict teachers from the premises of Vauxhall school special autistic unit, writes Rob MacDonald, Lambeth Socialist Party.

12 July 2003

The real cost of privatisation

BACK IN 2000, the government ordered Southwark council to bring in a "private education provider" after a critical report on the council's education...

12 July 2003

Come to Summer Camp

SUMMER CAMP has long been a national event of the Socialist Party and its forerunners. The camp is now regularly held over the August bank holiday weekend and the numbers have increased steadily over the...

12 July 2003

Editorial: War in Iraq - Blair's Not Off The Hook

THE FOREIGN Affairs Select Committee spent four weeks investigating the reasons Blair gave for taking Britain into a war against Iraq...

12 July 2003

Pensions: We Won't Work Till We Drop!

FOLLOWING ITS decision to raise the retirement age for women from 60 to 65, the government is now encouraging workers to go on working until they're 70, writes Peter Redfarn, postal worker.

12 July 2003

Making The Break With Labour

THE INCREASING strains between the unions and Blair's party are showing. Last week, rail union RMT conference decided to further cut its ties with New Labour - by slashing its level of affiliation and...

12 July 2003

Nigeria: Leaders End Mighty General Strike

THE EIGHT-DAY Nigerian general strike, which ended on 8 July, was a marvellous demonstration of the strength of the working class and the weakness of the political class, writes Robert Bechert, Committee for a Workers' International (CWI).

12 July 2003

Review: George Monbiot's Utopia - Capitalism Unchallenged

PETER TAAFFE, general secretary of the Socialist Party, reviews The Age of Consent - A Manifesto for a New World Order...

12 July 2003

We're Fighting For A Living Wage

LOW-PAID domestics and porters at Royal Bolton Hospital are entering a new phase of struggle. Fighting the poverty pay of multinational company ISS Mediclean, UNISON members have struck at the heart of...

19 July 2003

Devon Bus Workers Fight Low Pay

ON 8 July rail and transport union (RMT) members working for bus company Stagecoach Devon took the first of a series of one-day strikes, writes Steve Bush, Devon.

19 July 2003

Right Wing Booed Out Of PCS Leadership

THE VICTORY of the left and the demise of the right wing in the PCS civil service union has to be one of the most significant developments in the trade union movement in recent years, writes Bill Mullins, Socialist Party industrial organiser.

19 July 2003

Say No To Poverty Wages

Kick big business out of the NHS: HEALTH WORKERS at Royal Bolton Hospital (RBH) are continuing their fight with ISS Mediclean for a living wage, writes Hugh Caffrey, Manchester Socialist Party.

19 July 2003

Iraq Watch:

Debts and democracy: IRAQ'S POVERTY-wracked people face being "lumbered with billions of dollars of debt" under US plans to mortgage future Iraqi oil supplies, claim campaigners for debt relief...

19 July 2003

Whipps Cross hospital workers: "Where we fight, we win"

LOW-PAID health workers at Whipps Cross hospital, east London, have scored an important victory in their fight for a living wage...

19 July 2003

Asylum Seekers Fear Repression

SHAHIN PORTOHFEH, an Iranian asylum seeker living in Coventry sewed up his lips, eyes and ears in protest at the threat of deportation last week. He took no food or fluids for nearly five days, writes Rob Windsor, Coventry Socialist Party councillor.

19 July 2003

Kirklees Nursery nurses: United Action Gave Us Confidence

KIRKLEES NURSERY nurses recently won a regrading battle through strike action. Like their fellow workmates in Tower Hamlets, this victory was only achieved by a hard-hitting and united combination of strikes,...

19 July 2003

Fight For Trade Union Rights In Colombia

There are many companies in Colombia who use violence and repression to try and stop trade union activists, writes Wales ISR.

19 July 2003

Low Pay - No Way!

Did you know that the chief executive of Tesco receives £916,000 a year basic salary? If he works a 40 hour week this means he gets £440.38 an hour! On top of this obscene pay, he received 'additional...

19 July 2003

Genetic engineering: Science And Big Business

'Engineering', 'modification' or change?: A CABINET office report on genetically modified (GM) crops has concluded that, in spite of claimed long-term benefits, GM crops will not be profitable until demand increases...

19 July 2003

Kazakhstan: Foundry workers fight for nationalisation of factory

The struggle to defend the jobs and living standards of the workers at the Irtyishskii Foundry in Glubokii, near Ust-Kamenogorsk, in East Kazakhstan, has been stepped up and workers are appealing for support, writes Ainur Kurmanov, President, Workers' Movement of Kazakhstan.

19 July 2003

Tony Blair: Time To Go!

Tony Blair - Bosses' puppet, photo Alan Hardman

He lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction. 66% of people think Blair misled us about going to war with Iraq...

19 July 2003

Africa in Crisis: Development reversed by Capitalism

BUSH'S VISIT to Africa, no doubt to pave the way for more privatisation contracts for US multinationals, has seen a lot of media interest in the continent that will be dropped as soon as Bush returns to the US, writes Chris Newby.

19 July 2003

"Stop The Reform Or We Will Stop The Country"

TRADE UNIONISTS in France and Austria have fought major battles this year to stop their right-wing governments attacking workers' pension rights...

19 July 2003

Reclaiming Feminism?

THE EQUAL Opportunities Commission recently published an 'equality' survey to coincide with the 75th anniversary of all women over 21 securing the vote, writes Carol Edge.

19 July 2003

Weapons of mass destruction: A Web Of Lies From Day One

THE JUSTIFICATION for Bush and Blair launching a destructive war on Iraq was based on a lie. Who says so? CIA director George Tenet...

19 July 2003

Gay Rights Aren't Only For Bishops

GAY RIGHTS campaigner Peter Tatchell, with six other members of Outrage disrupted the Church of England's General Synod on 12 July for 30 minutes over the C of E "withdrawing" the appointment of a gay bishop, writes Marc Vallee, Socialist Party LGBT Group.