Archive for November 2011
1 November 2011
A recent trip to Cuba reminded me that it is a land of contrasts, writes Tony Mulhearn. Magnificent beaches, luxurious resorts and hotels, contrasted by poor wages, poor housing and, particularly in Havana, evidence of neglect and poverty
1 November 2011
On Wednesday mass meetings of Unite and Unison Southampton council workers will discuss the next steps in their fight against cuts...
2 November 2011
Liverpool council 'does its best' for the bankers
In rejecting the option to stand up and fight for Liverpool's hard-pressed working families, council leader Joe Anderson, at Liverpool council's Question Time public consultation on 27 October, claimed that he was doing his best for the people of the city, writes Tony Mulhearn.
2 November 2011
Tony Blair advises Kazakhstan's dictatorial regime
Press reports in the past week have revealed a very close relationship between former Labour prime minister Tony Blair and Nursultan Nazarbayev, the dictatorial ruler of mineral-rich Kazakhstan, writes Ken Douglas.
2 November 2011
Spare no expense: Former prime ministers Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair together have claimed over £1.7 million in 'expenses' in the last five years...
2 November 2011
1985 school strike exhibit shows how young people can organise to fight back
The school student strikes of 1985 showed how young people are able to organise and fight back when their futures are under attack, writes John Cosgrove, Liverpool Youth Fight for Jobs.
2 November 2011
Review: Salford Socialist Party member Paul Gerrard has produced a new pamphlet on Salford's 1931 'Battle for Bexley Square'...
2 November 2011
TV review: This documentary dealt with the nuclear arms race between the USA and the Stalinist USSR from the late 1940s, culminating in the USSR detonating the world's largest nuclear device in 1961, writes Andy Ford.
2 November 2011
Workers can show their power in 30 November strike
Behind all the events being covered in the media at the moment, looms the massive 30 November strike (N30) to defend public sector pensions
2 November 2011
Mick Dooley, barred from standing for UCATT general secretary after he exposed previous election to be illegal, photo by Paul Mattsson
Defending building workers' rights: The election for the general secretary of the building workers' union Ucatt starts on 11 November. This election has been called after the 2009 general secretary election was found to be illegal. Then,...
2 November 2011
Tunisia: Elections mask the growing anger from below
Following the revolutionary events at the start of 2011 in Tunisia, in which the country's youth, unemployed and workers overthrew the 24-year long dictatorship of president Ben Ali, elections have recently taken place for a constituent assembly...
2 November 2011
Lansley closes another hospital A&E department
Government health minister, Andrew Lansley, has decided to press ahead with the closure of the A&E department and maternity services at the King George Hospital in Goodmayes, east London
2 November 2011
Why you should join the Socialist Party
Half-million strong TUC demo, central London, 26 March 2011, against the government's cuts, photo Paul Mattsson
The 'Occupy' movement has rapidly spread across the world. Support for it is huge. Why? Because of the growing understanding that we, the vast majority of humanity, are being forced to pay for a crisis that is not of our making
2 November 2011
Read the Socialist - the paper that fights all the cuts
The Socialist is a weekly paper that opposes all cuts to jobs and services. Why should we suffer cuts to pay the bankers' deficit, while those very same bankers - many of whom financially back the Tories, continue to enjoy a life of luxury?
2 November 2011
Support Vik Chechi: As reported in the last issue of the Socialist, Vik Chechi, Unison branch secretary at Queen Mary university in east London has been suspended from work...
2 November 2011
Building a coordinated strategy for strike action against the Con-Dem cuts: The joint strike against the Con-Dem attacks on pension rights on 30 November could be one of the biggest strikes in modern trade union history, John McInally writes...
2 November 2011
As the Jarrow March for Jobs arrives in London... Youth demand their future!
On Saturday 5 November join the final leg of the Jarrow march! 12 noon at Temple tube on the Embankment to march to a rally in Trafalgar Square
2 November 2011
Construction protests showing results
Continued protest at the Carrington paper-mill site in the north west halted traffic this morning, causing it to back up for miles. In London, protesting continued too, gaining media publicity. NB: Newcastle report added on 3.11.11
2 November 2011
Bradford joins the 'Occupy' movement
Following Occupy London Stock Exchange (LSX), and similar protests in Glasgow, Nottingham, Bristol and Newcastle, among others, a group has now established Occupy Bradford
2 November 2011
Ireland: Spectacular election result for socialists
Along with the Irish presidential election, a parliamentary by-election took place in Dublin West on 27 October which Ruth Coppinger of the Socialist Party Ireland contested...
2 November 2011
Pension talks: Opponent wavers, now's the time to push ahead with action!
Martin Powell-Davies, an executive member of the NUT and a Socialist Party member, commented on his blog on the government concessions on pensions. [Also see the NSSN statement: Reject the government's new pension offer - all out together on N30!]
2 November 2011
Bosses prosper, workers suffer...
Join the 30 Nov strike: A recent survey of top 100 FTSE chief executives has shown that in the last year these bosses have received, on average, 50% pay rises
2 November 2011
No return to hire and fire - Tories consider abolishing more workers' rights
It's not the endless pursuit of profit or the speculation of bankers that has caused economic crisis; it is 'unproductive' and 'underperforming' workers, writes Dave Gorton
3 November 2011
Mark Serwotka calls pensions raid only "slightly less"
Commenting on the latest government offer on pensions, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said it "would still force public servants to pay more in and work longer for less in retirement".
3 November 2011
Jarrow marchers to meet Iain Duncan Smith
On Friday 4 November six Jarrow marchers (who are part of the recreation of the Jarrow March of 75 years ago) will meet work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith in his Chingford constituency...
3 November 2011
Unison: 78% of voters say 'yes' to strike
Members of UNISON, the UK's largest union, have today voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action to protect their pensions...
3 November 2011
Bombardier protest against job losses
10,000 marched against job cuts at Bombardier on Saturday 23 July in the biggest demonstration in Derby for decades, backed by the RMT and other trade unions, photo Paul Mattsson
Around 40 Bombardier workers, trade unionists and others protested outside the Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum conference
4 November 2011
Unison members say YES to strike
Half-million strong TUC demo, central London, 26 March 2011, against the government's cuts , photo Paul Mattsson
Unison members voted overwhelmingly to strike in defence of their pensions. It means 30 November will witness one of the biggest single demonstrations of working class power since the 1926 general strike and is a decisive step against the Con-Dem government and its austerity and cuts
5 November 2011
Jarrow marchers march into history
Jarrow Marchers 2011
Jarrow marchers march into history
7 November 2011
Paul Murphy MEP detained in Israeli prison
Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy, from Dublin in Ireland, was part of the aid flotilla to Gaza that was stormed by Israeli troops on Friday
8 November 2011
Virgin boss Branson not stopping low pay of train cleaners
Hundreds of cleaners working on Virgin west coast trains will strike for 48 hours on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 November, against insultingly low pay 'rises'
9 November 2011
Sites shut as construction workers march through City of London
Construction workers, electricians, demonstration 9 November 2011, photo by Neil Cafferky
Today's national demonstration of construction workers in London started with a rank and file led protest outside the Pinnacle tower building site on Bishopsgate, near Liverpool Street station
9 November 2011
We won't pay £9K! - Scrap tuition fees
Last month it was revealed that as the Ucas university application service opened for 2012, applications were down by 9% on last year...
9 November 2011
Jarrow march ends, fightback continues
Jarrow March 2011: Jarrow March for Jobs arrives in London, photo Paul Mattsson
On Saturday 5 November the Jarrow March for Jobs came to an end with a demonstration of thousands in central London, writes Ollie Fournier, Cambridge.
9 November 2011
Vik Chechi: On 18 October, Queen Mary University (QMUL) Unison branch secretary Vik Chechi was suspended from his post at the east London university...
9 November 2011
1935 - when angry Welsh protests forced a government u-turn
On 4 February 1935, Ceridwen Brown of Aberdare led an army of women, some carrying babies, to Merthyr Tydfil Unemployed Assistance Board (UAB) offices, writes Geoff Jones.
9 November 2011
1915 - How strikes and rent strikes won gains for Scottish tenants
In this article Sinead Daly from Socialist Party Scotland shows how working class families resisted rent rises and appalling housing conditions in Glasgow nearly 100 years ago...
9 November 2011
Bonus bonanza: RBS, the bank that became synonymous with greedy speculative bankers (Fred 'the shred' Goodwin), huge corporate losses and publicly funded bailouts, has once again rewarded its top investment bankers with a £500 million pay and bonus pot...
9 November 2011
Miliband the militant? No way!
Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has come out in favour of the occupation at the London Stock Exchange, writes Paul Gerrard.
9 November 2011
Failed G20 summit takes eurozone nearer to the abyss
The G20 meeting of the world's most powerful government leaders on 3 and 4 November was a 'No Cannes Do' summit. The discussions were hijacked by the Greek crisis...
9 November 2011
Greek workers must resist the dictatorship of finance capital
'National unity' government will pursue same austerity measures: Greek prime minister George Papandreou has been forced to leave office. His Pasok government will be replaced by a 'national unity' coalition government.
9 November 2011
Socialist MEP among Gaza peace activists kidnapped by IDF
Solidarity action urgently needed: On 4 November, Socialist Party Ireland MEP, Paul Murphy, was detained by the Israeli Defence Forces, along with other activists from the Freedom Waves Flotilla
9 November 2011
Israel: General strike over job security
A general strike took place in Israel on Monday 7 November, with workers in the civil service, public transport, universities, airports, sea ports and local authorities among those striking
9 November 2011
A housing protest on the Seven Stars estate in Wrekenton, Gateshead, photo Elaine Brunskill
The ever deepening housing crisis has been revealed by the latest new build figures. They show that the number of new homes built in 2010/11 in England has slumped to 121,200
9 November 2011
Construction workers kettled - please send urgent protests!
After the construction workers' demonstration today, 200 protesters from the demo marched off to join the student demonstration that is also taking place today, but have been kettled by the police near Blackfriars Bridge...
9 November 2011
Build for 30 Nov strike - The fight of all our lives!
Photo P Mattsson
We’re just days away from 30 November, when up to three million public sector workers will be striking to defend their pensions. This will be an overwhelmingly popular strike because all those who have suffered from these cuts want someone to stand up for them.
9 November 2011
At mass meetings of Unite and Unison Southampton council workers, it was agreed to carry on with industrial action short of a strike until the ballot result on the council's latest offer is known
10 November 2011
Thousands say no to fees, cuts and privatisation
Wednesday, 9 November, saw up to 10,000 students take to the streets to protest against the government's plans to snatch away the future of young people
10 November 2011
The National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) condemns the actions of the police in kettling over 200 construction electricians for well over an hour...
13 November 2011
Videos of speeches at Socialism 2011
Videos of speeches at the Socialism 2011 Saturday rally have been added to article: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/13116...
15 November 2011
While the 30th November public-sector strike dominates the news, contract cleaners working on West Coast mainline trains have won a 10% pay rise, writes Hugh Caffrey, north-west Socialist Party.
16 November 2011
Irish Socialist MEP Paul Murphy speaks out: solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza will continue
Paul Murphey MEP press conference on his release from Israeli prison
On 4 November Socialist Party Ireland MEP Paul Murphy along with other peace activists from the Gaza Freedom Waves Flotilla were arrested in international waters and held in Israeli prisons for one week...
16 November 2011
A recent opinion poll shows clear opposition to Welsh Labour's plans to cut hospitals in Wales - despite health bosses claiming that the poll supports their plans to downgrade general hospitals in Wales...
16 November 2011
Southampton - opposing all the cuts
Southampton council workers on strike 6.10.11, photo Nick Chaffey
Southampton council workers have been at the forefront in recent months in fighting savage pay and job cuts by the Tory council, writes Nick Chaffey.
16 November 2011
Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) Unison is currently running a public campaign demanding the reinstatement of its suspended branch secretary Vik Chechi...
16 November 2011
The first shop stewards movement
Rent strike on Clydeside
The outbreak of World War One in August 1914 cut across the great industrial unrest which had been gathering pace since 1911...
16 November 2011
End the dictatorship of the markets!
The imposition of the 'technocrats', in reality bankers, in both Italy and Greece, shows the seriousness of the crisis for the capitalist class nationally and across Europe, writes Paul Murphy, Ireland Socialist Party MEP.
16 November 2011
Jobs crisis - 'We can't afford capitalism'!
"Decent jobs and decent pay!" That was the modest demand of the young people on the Jarrow Youth March for Jobs, writes Sarah Sachs-Eldridge.
16 November 2011
Riot cops assault Occupy protesters
Friday, Day 14 of w:Occupy Wall Street - photos from the camp in Zuccotti Park and the march against police brutality, walking to One Police Plaza, headquarters of the NYPD, photo by David Shankbone
Riot police in the USA attacked, arrested and evicted people from the anti-capitalist camps in New York, Portland and in Oakland, California...
16 November 2011
Pollution ignored: According to the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee inquiry report published last week, the government has "failed to get to grips" with the human cost of air pollution...
16 November 2011
To cheers from the press, David Cameron and Prince William intervened so the England football team could wear the poppy during their match against Spain...
16 November 2011
Strike together, Protest together, Win together
30 June coordinated strike action by the PCS civil service union and NUT, ATL and UCU teaching unions, photo Paul Mattsson
Get ready for 30 November: On Wednesday 30 November (N30), up to three million workers will strike to defend their pension rights against this Con-Dem government of the rich for the rich
16 November 2011
Electricians march to defend pay and conditions
Construction electricians entered the next phase of their battle to maintain terms and conditions following their national day of action on 9 November, writes Kevin Parslow
16 November 2011
All out together on 30 November
30 November is going to be a momentous day. Millions of workers across the country will strike together in a mighty show of force to warn the Con-Dem government and its cabinet of millionaires that we will not accept drastic cuts to our pensions
16 November 2011
Support Paul Kelly!: Transport union RMT rep Paul Kelly has recently been involved in protesting against the imposition of new rosters at Wightlink Ferries in Portsmouth
16 November 2011
Cuts kill - Poverty, despair and a suicide pact
Cuts to public services and benefits are causing massive suffering and misery. Tragically, the bodies of a vulnerable couple, Mark and Helen Mullins, were found in their Warwickshire home this month.
16 November 2011
Berlusconi quits as debt crisis hits eurozone's third largest economy
The deepening eurozone crisis has claimed another government with the departure of Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi...
16 November 2011
Stop the government austerity juggernaut
Government ministers are considering ending the rise in benefits linked to inflation and threatening to cut benefits to the working poor if claimants don’t work longer hours
16 November 2011
After a heroic six-hour stand off, South Wales police physically forced supporters of Occupy Cardiff off their protest site at Cardiff Castle
16 November 2011
Weekly construction protests continue as Unite ballot begins
Electricians gathered at Farringdon station in London this morning in the struggle to defend the JIB agreement [NB: reports from Liverpool and West Burton added on 17.11.11; Redcar on 18.11.11]
16 November 2011
Murdochgate scandal shows need for democratic and accountable media
Cameron, the Murdoch empire and the police have been involved in a corrupt attempt to subvert the democratic rights of the British people, photo Paul Mattsson
"You must be the first mafia boss in history who didn't know he was running a criminal enterprise", said Labour MP Tom Watson to James Murdoch, chairman of News International
16 November 2011
Rob Williams, chair, National Shop Stewards Network, addresses the Construction workers, electricians, demonstration 9 November 2011, photo Neil Cafferky
Emboldened by the construction electricians' protest in London on 10 November, around 200 sparks turned up at Corus Steel on Teesside on 14 November, writes Elaine Brunskill.
16 November 2011
Cartoon A Hardman
Stop the privatisation vultures: On 10 November, a £1 billion contract was announced for the private firm Circle Health to run Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon, for ten years 'on behalf of the NHS'
16 November 2011
Defend the right to strike and protest
Photo Paul Mattsson
Build for 30th November strike: Twenty eight unions are now expected to join the strike against cuts to public sector pensions, showing the massive potential power of the working class
17 November 2011
Unite votes Yes to strike action on 30 November
Members of the union Unite who work in the public sector have voted resoundingly in favour of industrial action to defend their pensions...
18 November 2011
Support Egyptian students' struggle at the German University in Cairo
The CWI website socialistworld.net has reported this week on a students' struggle for an independent, democratic students' union at the German University in Cairo (GUC)...
18 November 2011
List of union ballot results for action against pension cuts
21 November 2011
Capitalism is crisis - there is an alternative - fight for socialism!
The titanic 30 November strike will display the colossal power of the working class to resist the savage cuts demanded by the capitalists and Con-Dems, writes Peter Taaffe, General Secretary, Socialist Party.
22 November 2011
22 November 2011
Siteworker leaflet: Balfour Beatty (BBES) ballot - The Truth - Why you should vote for the strike
The pressure is building on the 'Big 7'
construction companies who want to
withdraw from the JIB agreement and impose
the new BESNA contracts which will cut pay
by up to 35%. Electricians all over the country
are fighting back. Last week saw walkouts
and stoppages at many sites, including
Corus on Teesside, Ratcliffe and West Burton
power stations, Saltend and Farringdon in
London.
23 November 2011
Northern Rock and Branson's present
The latest Con-Dem jape is to con the long suffering taxpayer who will stump up £13 a head to give Richard Branson the 'good' part of Northern Rock, writes Tony Mulhearn
23 November 2011
South Yorkshire Fire Authority is planning to close four fire stations, take three engines out of service and cut 140 firefighters' jobs (20% of the workforce) by introducing four consecutive 24 hour shifts...
23 November 2011
South Yorkshire bus drivers, members of Unite the union, took strike action on 18 and 21 November. Many pickets were out all day on both days at the Barnsley and Rawmarsh (Rotherham) depots, writes Alistair Tice.
23 November 2011
What a tragic waste of human life this economic crisis is creating! In the Socialist (issue 694), we read about the Warwickshire couple who committed suicide because they didn't have enough to live on...
23 November 2011
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of comrade Geoff Atkins following a long struggle with cancer, writes Nick Chaffey.
23 November 2011
Con-Dems worsen the housing crisis
Homelessness protest, photo Paul Mattsson
It isn't surprising that the Con-Dems fear that housing is becoming a toxic issue. New housing proposals, announced on 21 November, are woefully inadequate. They come nowhere near reversing earlier cuts...
23 November 2011
Massive job cuts undermining NHS
Hardly a day passes without another revelation about devastating cuts undermining the National Health Service (NHS)...
23 November 2011
Rock bottom: Northern Rock, the failed bank rescued by the previous Labour government, has been sold off on the cheap to Virgin Money by the Con-Dems...
23 November 2011
Why Europe's capitalist leaders cannot save the floundering eurozone project
Workers from European countries protest against the European Union neoliberalism and austerity cuts, photo Paul Mattsson
Europe in turmoil, a socialist analysis, 18 June 2005: The capitalist leaders of the European Union are incapable of resolving the ever deepening sovereign debt crisis afflicting many countries in Europe today...
23 November 2011
Egyptian masses fight for real change
Thousands of activists have fought running battles with security forces for control of Tahrir Square, Cairo...
23 November 2011
Tories and Labour fail to give 'Any Answers'
I went to a recent recording of BBC Radio 4's programme Any Questions in Worcester, writes Peter Scott, Worcester Socialist Party.
23 November 2011
Women: sick of sexism, discrimination and cuts?
1500 marched on the Fawcett Society demonstration 19 November to tell the government
It doesn't have to be like this!: On 30 November millions of workers will participate in what is likely to be the biggest coordinated strike action since the 1926 general strike, writes Eleanor Donne, Socialist Women steering committee.
23 November 2011
Earlier this year Coventry's Labour-led council proposed to remove £1 million from the annual £1.8 million budget for day care at Sure Start centres in the city, writes Dave Nellist, Socialist Party councillor, Coventry.
23 November 2011
Cardiff: Occupy Cardiff outmanoeuvred both police and Cardiff council by starting a camp in the grounds of the Unite union offices in Cardiff...
23 November 2011
Jarrow marchers put forward an alternative
The Jarrow March for Jobs 2011 ends with a demonstration in London on 5 November , photo Sujeeth
Minimum wage not to blame: On the day that the latest unemployment figures were announced I was asked to debate with Mark Littlewood of the Insititute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on the Tony Livesy show on BBC Radio 5Live, writes Paul Callanan, Youth Fight for Jobs national organiser.
23 November 2011
30 June coordinated strike action by the PCS civil service union and NUT, ATL and UCU teaching unions, photo Paul Mattsson
Union reps prepare for N30: My partner and I are union reps in the public sector. Over the last few weeks we have been giving people information on pensions and the strike ballots
23 November 2011
Pension mythbuster: Teachers' union NUT has revealed that £46.4 billion more has been paid into the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) since its foundation in 1923, than has been paid out
23 November 2011
As a teenager in 2008 I left college with great confidence in finding work. However life is all about timing. I had 'chosen' one of the world's worst recessions to try to find my first job
23 November 2011
Ruling PSOE battered in Spanish general election
Poisoned chalice of dealing with the crisis handed to PP: As widely expected, last week's Spanish general election saw the right-wing Popular Party (PP) win an overall parliamentary majority, although its percentage share of the vote barely rose
23 November 2011
Support the anti-cuts election challenge
Oppose Tory, Liberal and Labour cuts: As trade unionists prepare for the biggest ever public sector industrial action, many are also thinking about the political side to their struggle
23 November 2011
Pensions protest in Maude's constituency
West Sussex Teachers' Association (WSTA), with the backing of Unison and other public sector unions, is holding a protest in Horsham, Sussex
23 November 2011
Mansfield - build houses, create jobs
2,000 young people in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire can't find work. Over 9,000 people in Mansfield are on the council housing waiting list. So why have building workers been thrown on the dole?
23 November 2011
No answers from politicians on Newsnight
Ian Pattison, Jarrow marcher, addresses the Jarrow March for Jobs 2011 which ended with a demonstration in London on 5 November , photo Sujeeth
On Tuesday 15 November, I was asked to appear on a live Newsnight debate alongside 29 other young people who were either unemployed or underemployed, writes Ian Pattison, Jarrow marcher.
23 November 2011
State intimidation of young protesters
On 14 November, my nephew was arrested after taking part in a protest outside Knowsthorpe incinerator in Leeds against Stericycle, writes Dylan Murphy.
23 November 2011
Greece and Italy get unelected technocrats - Southampton gets chief executives!
Southampton protest on 13 June, photo Paul Mattsson
A November Southampton city council meeting approved the 'change programme', newspeak for the wholesale privatisation of council services, writes Gavin Marsh, Southampton Anti-Cuts Union.
23 November 2011
Construction workers fight pay cuts
The pressure is growing on the 'Big 7' construction companies who want to withdraw from the Joint Industry Board agreement and impose the new BESNA contracts which will cut workers' pay by up to 35%...
23 November 2011
Syria: Eight months of mass protests met with bloody brutality
United working class-led movement needed for real regime change: Grenade attacks by Syrian army defectors on the ruling Baath party headquarters in Damascus and a few days earlier on an air force intelligence centre mark a new phase in the Syrian uprising
23 November 2011
Electricians occupy building company headquarters
This morning 150 construction workers occupied the head office of Grattes Brothers in Kings Cross, protesting against the tearing up of the JIB agreement.
Articles added 24.11.11: Pay-slashing construction companies lose £billions; + North East report
23 November 2011
Enough is enough! Make N30 the start of a fight to stop all cuts
This government of millionaires claimed that its savage cuts in public spending would eliminate Britain's structural deficit by 2014-15, but it has now admitted this is impossible
23 November 2011
Millions unemployed - workers and students must unite and fight!
Jarrow March for Jobs
Unemployment is now 2.62 million in the UK, and youth unemployment stands at 1.2 million - the highest number since records began, writes Alex Moore, Jarrow marcher.
24 November 2011
Arrested in Kazakhstan - Free Georgii Epshtein!
Georgii Epshtein, a leading member of the Russian CWI, on a visit to Kazakhstan, was arrested by the police in the office of the "Leave People's Homes Alone" campaign in Almaty
24 November 2011
1.16 million NEETs - Youth Fight for Jobs demands a better future
Official figures today show that a record high of 1.16 million 16- to 24-year-olds in England are not in education, employment or training, almost one in five...
25 November 2011
Honda convenor Paddy Brennan has suspension lifted
Paddy Brennan, Unite convenor at the Honda car plant in Swindon, has finally had his suspension lifted...
28 November 2011
100,000 demonstrate in Brussels in 2010, photo Paul Mattsson
The Eurozone is at a tipping point. EU leaders are in disarray and have no clear strategy for resolving the crisis.
Fragmentation of the Eurozone could trigger another deep financial crisis and global economic downturn. Lynn Walsh, Editor, Socialism Today, monthly magazine of the Socialist Party, analyses the crisis.
29 November 2011
'Not guilty' - support for Cardiff activists
On 11 November six Occupy Cardiff activists were arrested by South Wales police, simply for exercising their right to protest peacefully
29 November 2011
Con-Dems' autumn statement: 'pain now, pain tomorrow and more pain for longer'
"The train is heading over the cliff", declared an MP, about the economy. Now George Osborne has taken some desperate measures to try to partially alleviate the nightmare, but the autumn statement is not a 'Plan B'
30 November 2011
Unprecedented support for N30 strike
PCS reps across the UK are reporting more activity than ever on strike day as they join millions of members of other unions taking action to defend their pensions
30 November 2011
30 November shows... We can win!
N30, pic Paul Mattsson
TUC must set the date: next united strike before 31 January: Extract of the speech given by John McInally, PCS civil service union vice-president, at the Bristol strike rally on 30 November
30 November 2011
Solidarity message to UK public sector workers, from Berlin, Germany
Striking health facility workers in Berlin, Germany, have sent the following solidarity message to public sector trade unionists in Britain
30 November 2011
Scroungers: There are today in Britain a group of well-paid public sector workers who are bleeding the economy dry, not creating any wealth and just contributing to the debt, writes Dan Gillman, Waltham Forest teacher.
30 November 2011
Stoke Socialist Party's public meeting success
The Socialist Party's public meeting in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on 24 November was packed. This compares to Labour, the Tories and Lib Dems, who have had no public meetings locally to outline their policies...
30 November 2011
Leeds Against Cuts: defiant mood to fight 'daylight robbery'
A Leeds Against the Cuts public meeting during the build-up to the 30 November strike action saw a resolute and defiant mood as people agreed the government's plans were a daylight robbery of pensions, writes Nial Vivian, Hyde Park and Headingley Socialist Party.
30 November 2011
Egypt: Millions cast their votes in the first post-Mubarak elections
But military-controlled elections do not signal transition to democracy: Long queues formed at many polling stations, on 28 November, in Cairo and other Egyptian cities and towns, writes Niall Mulholland.
30 November 2011
Tommy Sheridan, class fighter and socialist ex-Member of the Scottish Parliament, sent this message of solidarity to be read out to the Socialism 2011 rally on 5 November...
30 November 2011
Ian Hislop's BBC documentary 'When Bankers Were Good' starts by quoting ex-New Labour minister Peter Mandelson's line "I'm intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich", writes Ian Pattison.
30 November 2011
Sepp Blatter, the reactionary, out of touch head of FIFA (world football's governing body), recently told a CNN interviewer that there is no racism in football, writes Chris Newby.
30 November 2011
The Tory solution to pensioner poverty?
The winter fuel allowance scandal: You will have heard of Good King Wenceslas. You may not have heard of his evil twin Bad King Wenceslas, writes Derek McMillan.
30 November 2011
Electricians occupy building company HQ
Construction electricians brought their campaign of defiance to the home of one of the 'Dirty Seven' contractors in London on 23 November, writes Rob Williams, National Shop Stewards Network chair.
30 November 2011
Usdaw: Fighting against the policies of 'social partnership'
Activist is the paper of Socialist Party members in the shop workers' union Usdaw. Recently it carried an article explaining how, after 12 years, Robbie Segal has decided not to stand for re-election...
30 November 2011
Youth Fight for Jobs Jarrow March 2011 launch demonstration in Jarrow, photo Paul Mattsson
Preparing the ground for a mass movement of young people: On 1 October a group of young people from every corner of the country - mostly strangers to each other - gathered in Jarrow, just south east of Newcastle, writes Sean Figg, Jarrow marcher.
30 November 2011
Brighton Greens fail to fight the cuts
Brighton local government elections in May 2011 resulted in 23 Green councillors, 18 Tories and 13 Labour, giving the Greens, elected on an 'anti-cuts' election campaign, control over the council cabinet
30 November 2011
London trade unionists support electoral opposition to cuts
Trade unionists are supporting the call for anti-cuts election candidates in the 2012 London assembly elections
30 November 2011
Kazakhstan: Demand Georgii Epshtein's release!
There is new evidence that the Kazakh authorities' charges against Russian Committee for a Workers' International member Georgii Epshtein have been completely fabricated
30 November 2011
Construction workers defend the JIB
Construction workers' national protest outside the Pinnacle site, London, 9.11.11, photo Harry Smith
Strike to fight pay cuts: The pressure is building on the 'Big 7' major construction companies who want to withdraw from the Joint Industry Board (JIB) agreement and impose the new BESNA contracts which will cut pay by up to 35%.
30 November 2011
The Con-Dems don't: Two recent reports highlight the plight of the elderly in England and Wales. Firstly, the Office for National Statistics reported 25,700 deaths due to cold weather in 2010/11
30 November 2011
Supporting N30: Steve Hedley, London regional organiser, RMT explained how the RMT is supporting N30: "We're organising a march from the RMT HQ to support everyone who's on strike...
30 November 2011
As almost three million workers prepared to strike against one onslaught on their future, business secretary Vince Cable was announcing another, writes Dave Gorton, Unite LE/372 branch.
30 November 2011
Why I joined the Socialist Party
'Thanks to my Tory MP': I know it might sound a bit strange but I've got so much to thank my Tory MP for, writes Darren Gibson, Brighouse.
20 Jun Waltham Forest Socialist Party: Can the US go socialist?
20 Jun East London Socialist Party: After Grenfell and Barking - fighting for safe homes for all
24 Jun Wales NSSN: Support the Ford Bridgend workers - No Closure
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