Archive for November 2013
1 November 2013
FBU strike: Determination to force government back
Over 30 joined the picket line in Gipton, Leeds, as firefighters walked out to be joined by fellow off-duty FBU members
4 November 2013
Socialism 2013 - reflecting a thirst for ideas
Socialism 2013 audience at rally 2 November 2013, photo by Senan
Socialism 2013 was a powerful tonic for everyone who participated. Taking place on 2nd and 3rd November and organised by the Socialist Party, it comprised two large inspiring rallies and dozens of lively discussion sessions and forums. With around 1,000 people taking part over the weekend it isn't surprising that many sessions were overflowing.
4 November 2013
Anti zero-hour campaigners to target CBI
Anti-zero-hour contract campaigners in Youth Fight for Jobs are planning to target CBI headquarters as part of a national day of action on 5 November
5 November 2013
End the witch hunt of Stevie Deans and Unite
Sections of the capitalist media and the Tory Party leadership have gone into overdrive in their denunciation of the trade union Unite and its former convener at Grangemouth, Stephen Deans
5 November 2013
6 November 2013
Nationalise the energy companies
MPs' bills paid - we struggle to heat our homes: We're being ripped off. The profiteering big six energy companies are taking us all for a ride, hiking their prices, jacking up profits, avoiding taxes, and leaving the majority of us in abject misery
6 November 2013
No Fire Zone reveals truth of war crimes against Tamils
"Reeling from No Fire Zone" was actor Hugh Grant's tweeted response to Callum Macrae's latest documentary
6 November 2013
Trade union action needed to protect London NHS
The campaign to stop cuts in Barts Health NHS Trust has entered a new phase
6 November 2013
Bosses find new ways of turning the screw
At Yodel Cardiff parcel delivery operation, workers are finding it impossible to earn a living
6 November 2013
NUT vice-president: As national strike action by teachers is postponed, now, more than ever, NUT members need to vote for clear, consistent leadership
6 November 2013
Postal strike called off for now
Communication Workers Union (CWU) members are worried that their union was the first to blink as they stared into the eyes of the privatised Royal Mail bosses
6 November 2013
The UK economy will shortly become the fastest growing economy in the western world predicts the ICAEW (the body which represents accountants), writes Ross Saunders.
6 November 2013
Wet rags: After the recent energy prices handbag fight between Labour and Tory MPs, expect a new bidding war for voters' attentions over water bills, which have soared by more than 60% over the past decade
6 November 2013
The cost of living is soaring but real wages for millions of workers, as opposed to the millionaires, have fallen by around 9% in the UK since the financial crash and recession began
6 November 2013
Build a mass movement to defeat workfare and all cuts
On 30 October the Supreme Court quashed the government's appeal against Cait Reilly and Jamieson Wilson legal victory over workfare, writes Helen Pattison, Youth Fight for Jobs London.
6 November 2013
Waltham Forest's 'join' week of action success
Waltham Forest Socialist Party's recruitment week of action was a great success, writes Sarah Wrack, Waltham Forest Socialist Party.
6 November 2013
Huddersfield students say: Save our bar and café!
The bar and café at Huddersfield Student Union is set to close when the union moves to the university's new learning and leisure building, with around 100 jobs to go
6 November 2013
Nuneaton: 18-year old student stands for TUSC
"From a young age I've been aware of the injustices we face at the hands of the current ruling elite, whether that be the Tory Party or the Labour Party"
6 November 2013
Book review: Marxism in Today's World
A new edition of Marxism in Today's World, about the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI), the international organisation which the Socialist Party is affiliated to, was released this year, writes Tom Baldwin.
6 November 2013
Answering Tory lies about teachers
I work in education and see the effects that cuts to jobs and services have on our younger generation and the toll that constant stress takes on our teachers and school staff, writes Monique, Bradford Socialist Party.
6 November 2013
John Pilger
An interview with John Pilger, who has recently completed a new film, Utopia, dealing with the subjugation of the Aboriginal First Australians.
6 November 2013
Campaign for a public inquiry on undercover policing
We the undersigned are a mixture of individuals, organisations and lawyers affected by undercover police operations or representing people who believe that they have been the targets of undercover policing
6 November 2013
First Great Western Mitie cleaners strike for third time
http://www.rmt.org.uk/news/first-great-western-mitie-cleaners-strike-for-third-time/
6 November 2013
Probation officers in the union Napo walked out of their offices at 12 noon on 5th November, for a 24-hour strike against privatisation [Reports added on 6.11.13]
7 November 2013
8 November 2013
Nationalise to defend the shipyards
Working class communities in Portsmouth, Glasgow and Fife have been dealt a devastating blow by the announcement on Wednesday that 1,775 jobs are to go in the shipbuilding industry
10 November 2013
11 November 2013
The case for joint coordinated industrial action
In light of recent setbacks for the working class, does the trade union movement need to reconsider how it uses industrial action? John McInally writes
11 November 2013
Appeal from Workers and Socialist Party, South Africa
The Workers and Socialist Party - born out of the South African mineworkers' struggles - is appealing for support for its election campaign for the South African general election which will be held in April or May next year
11 November 2013
11 November 2013
Blacklist Support Group demonstrates
Activists protested outside Alder Hey hospital construction project against blacklisting
11 November 2013
Portsmouth BAE workers rally to defend all jobs
Over 200 trade unionists and community activists rallied in solidarity with workers at the Portsmouth BAE shipbuilding yard
11 November 2013
Interviews with director of 'No fire zone' and David Cameron
12 November 2013
York university Student Socialist Society is celebrating a referendum victory after months of campaigning on the quality and price of housing in York
13 November 2013
Probation officers plan more action
Despite a virtual news blackout nationally, the strike by probation workers in Napo on 5 and 6 November has brought the campaign against privatisation to prominence in every community, writes Chas Berry, Chair, Kent Branch, National Association of Probation Officers (Napo).
13 November 2013
One year after being unfairly sacked, 183 ex-Tesco drivers will march again in Doncaster on Saturday 16 November, writes Alistair Tice.
13 November 2013
NSSN lobby and rally of the TUC congress 2013 - Martin Powell Davies, photo Paul Mattsson
As national strike action against education secretary Gove's attacks is postponed again, now, more than ever, NUT members need to vote for clear, consistent leadership
13 November 2013
Firefighters' strike: FBU members are striking for a fourth time over pensions between 10am and 2pm on 13 November in England and Wales
13 November 2013
Russell Brand - reasons to be cheerful
Sometimes celebrities and popular figures reflect a mood in society at a particular moment without being fully conscious themselves of what they are expressing, writes Nancy Taaffe, Prospective TUSC candidate for 2014 council elections.
13 November 2013
Play review: Sandpits Avenue/League of St George
"You kiss a lot of frogs in fringe theatre," said one audience member. "But this one is definitely a prince." London's latest 'new writing' house, the Hope Theatre, has just opened in Islington
13 November 2013
Government set back over Independent Living Fund
TUC demonstration in Manchester against Tory Party conference 29/09/13 demands Save our NHS, photo Paul Mattsson
I was part of a successful legal challenge to the Tory-Lib Dem government decision to close the Independent Living Fund (ILF) by April 2015, writes Stuart Bracking.
13 November 2013
NHS crumbling in Con-Dem Britain
Warning signs flash red as the most critical NHS services gallop towards disaster but Prime Minister David Cameron steams ahead, regardless, writes Ross Saunders.
13 November 2013
A small victory for democratic rights
Waltham Forest: campaigners scored a previous victory with a mass stall protest for the right to campaign, photo Sarah Sachs-Eldridge
Socialist Party members in east London are celebrating a small but important victory over Labour-run Newham council's effective ban on public campaign stalls in the borough, writes Simon Carter.
13 November 2013
Young workers say: Zero hours no way!
"Zero-hours no way, decent jobs and decent pay", was the slogan shouted outside the bosses' CBI headquarters in London on 5 November, writes Claire Laker-Mansfield.
13 November 2013
Further to the reports in last week's issue of the Socialist on the hugely successful Socialist Party's annual weekend of discussion and debate, Socialism 2013, the Socialist has received some more positive feedback from readers
13 November 2013
Benefit sanction figures expose Tory lies
On 6 November, the DWP issued figures for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) claimants sanctioned under new rules brought in from October last year, and last June, writes an advice centre worker.
13 November 2013
South African socialist speaks in South Wales
The meeting room in central Cardiff was packed with trade unionists and young socialists to hear Mametlwe Sebei, of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM, the Socialist Party's sister organisation in South Africa) - active in supporting the South African miners' strikes and building the new Workers and Socialist Party (WASP)
13 November 2013
TUSC film showing - Riot from Wrong
Hackney and Islington Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) held a very successful showing of the film 'Riot from Wrong' and presented some of its candidates for the 2014 council elections
13 November 2013
Firefighters determined to fight on
Following the solid national FBU strikes on 1st and 4th November, firefighters struck again on Wednesday 13th November
13 November 2013
US election campaigns: Socialists make history
Kshama Sawant
Long-time Seattle City Council member Richard Conlin conceded to Socialist Alternative challenger Kshama Sawant last Friday evening, after new election numbers showed her 1,640 votes ahead and with an ever-widening lead in the race for ‘Position 2‘ on the council.
13 November 2013
Forever and ever: Austerity set to last until 2020? Wrong! It's going to persist until 2030 according to rapacious capitalist bean counters, PwC. This forecast exceeds David Cameron's sanguine perspective of austerity
13 November 2013
BAE takes the axe to shipyards: Defend every job
BAE Shipyard in Govan, Glasgow, photo by wiki commons: user:bjmullan
The shocking news that 1,775 jobs will go at BAE in Glasgow, Fife, Bristol and Portsmouth has angered thousands of workers, writes Chris Pickett, Portsmouth Trades Council, personal capacity.
13 November 2013
Sri Lanka: spotlight on a blood-stained regime
Tamil Solidarity protest scored a victory when Sri Lanka president Rajapaksa canceled his speaking engagement (13-06-2012), photo Sarah Sachs Eldridge
With the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) taking place from 10 to 17 November all eyes are on Sri Lanka
13 November 2013
A Labour motion calling for the bedroom tax to be abolished at once is being debated in parliament
13 November 2013
TUSC: We need councillors who refuse to implement cuts
Councils have experienced one of the biggest government 'departmental cuts' with 27% slashed by 2014-15 compared to 2009-10. It is not true however that councils have 'no option' but to pass on the Con-Dems' cuts.
18 November 2013
One thousand march against EDL
A counter demonstration took place against a 'national mobilisation' of the racist EDL
19 November 2013
Manchester meeting hears about strike wave in Brazil
"The people want FIFA-standard housing, FIFA-standard hospitals, FIFA-standard schools"! Brazilian trade unionist and socialist councillor Paulo Eduardo Gomes addressed a packed meeting in Manchester
20 November 2013
Fight the Tory witch-hunt against Unite
Tory Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered an investigation into Unite's use of 'leverage' when trade union members are defending jobs and conditions
20 November 2013
Victory for socialist in Seattle!
"Earth-shattering consequences" in the US and internationally: The evening of 15 November will go down in history. Kshama Sawant, candidate of Socialist Alternative (co-thinkers of the Socialist party in the US), was poised to win a seat on the Seattle City Council
20 November 2013
Unite sector conferences: Union delegates seek strategy for resistance
Unite the Union held its biennial sector conferences from 11 to 14 November. They took place in the midst of attacks on the union's methods of campaigning from the Tories, the capitalist press and Labour
20 November 2013
Boris's bull: Tory London mayor Boris Johnson is standing up for minorities, "from the homeless to Irish travellers to ex-gang members... and the very, very rich"!
20 November 2013
Glasgow strike builds momentum
Pupil Support Assistants (PSA) staff organised by Glasgow City Unison took a third day of industrial action on 14 November
20 November 2013
UPS workers resist bad working conditions
Unite members working at the UPS Parcels depot in Camden, north London, will be on strike on 22 November. Workers have had enough of being forced to work overtime, impossible workloads and bullying
20 November 2013
Blacklisting: There is a TUC day of action on blacklisting on 20 November. The battle against blacklisting in the construction industry is also a battle for trade union organisation and for good standards of health
20 November 2013
Birmingham children's services - a victim of cuts
Birmingham city council's Children's Services Department faces the real threat of being taken over and possibly privatised by the hated government education minister Michel Gove if the upcoming Ofsted inspection fails to find significant improvements
20 November 2013
Labour MPs absent in bedroom tax vote
On 12 November the Labour Party put forward an opposition day motion in the Commons calling for the immediate ending of the bedroom tax
20 November 2013
JFK assassination: Who gained?
Andy Ford reviews The Dark Side of Lyndon Baines Johnson by Joachim Joesten.
20 November 2013
We need a real energy bill revolution
Soaring prices of gas and electricity make the onset of winter a season of dread. So I was pleased to come across a campaign called Energy Bill Revolution
20 November 2013
Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance launched
The Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS) is a group of organisations, individuals and lawyers acting for or advising organisations and individuals who know - or have reason to suspect - they have been the targets of undercover policing
20 November 2013
TUSC byelection candidates: opposing all cuts
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is contesting eight byelections over the next few weeks
20 November 2013
Students must 'fight for the right to fight'
Footage published on the Guardian website provides categorical evidence of paid informants being used to target peaceful protest groups and student activists, just two days after London students were violently confronted by police
20 November 2013
'Labour is indistinguishable from the Tories'
I have recently left the Labour Party and joined the Socialist Party. I joined Labour because I confused my hatred of the Tories with the hope that Labour would one day stand up for working people
20 November 2013
Portsmouth: 30 students debate to vote or not to vote?
More than 30 people attended the 12 November Socialist Students discussion at the University of Portsmouth over the impact of Russell Brand expressing socialist views
20 November 2013
Obituary: It's with great sadness I have to announce that Daphne (aka Pat) Cross passed away peacefully on Tuesday 12 November 2013 at 12.30pm
20 November 2013
We need you to stand against cuts
In the weeks running up to Christmas, local authorities around the country will be announcing more savage cuts to local services
20 November 2013
Sri Lanka: Cameron's empty promise of war inquiry
Prime Minister David Cameron recently shook the blood-stained hand of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity
20 November 2013
90,000 votes for socialist change in Seattle
4,500 miles away, in Seattle USA, the possibility of building a mass electoral voice for working class people has been glimpsed. In the most powerful capitalist country in the world, socialist Kshama Sawant has been elected to Seattle's council
20 November 2013
Portsmouth: 'Save the yards, nationalise'
The fight to save jobs at Portsmouth dockyards continued on 16 November with 300 trade unionists giving support and solidarity
20 November 2013
Drive the profit vultures out of our NHS
The vultures are no longer circling our National Health Service (NHS). They have swooped in and are tearing it apart. Billions of pounds in profits are being bled from the NHS by private healthcare companies
20 November 2013
Philippines: Typhoon damage worsened by capitalism
Typhoon Haiyan ('Yolanda' in the Philippines) has caused destruction on a massive scale. This storm was three times more powerful than Hurricane Katrina, which killed 1,400 people in the United States
20 November 2013
Philippines: Typhoon Haiyan destruction aggravated by capitalism
Thousands killed and 13 million affected by strongest storm ever
20 November 2013
Bedroom tax: Words are cheap - we need action now!
On 12 November I was part of the lobby that met in the House of Commons prior to the vote on Labour's motion to scrap the bedroom tax
21 November 2013
Socialist Students helps force NUS to back education strike
The National Union of Students' NEC voted "to stand in complete solidarity with workers taking strike action" in the December 3rd strike in higher and further education
21 November 2013
Anti-blacklisting campaign will not go away
Comedian Mark Thomas joined blacklisting protesters outside the Merrion centre in Leeds on Wednesday 20 November
22 November 2013
On December 2nd, Kent says No to Cuts
Kent County Council has announced cuts of £273 million over the next three years (BBC Radio Kent, 8th November), including £24.8 million in staffing costs
25 November 2013
Labour flies the white flag in face of call to fight back
Southampton's council has announced a further £60 million of cuts
26 November 2013
Tony Benn's latest volume of diaries continues his frank and honest appraisal of his political life. He has campaigned long and hard - but in vain - to halt the degeneration of the Labour Party. Peter Taaffe reviews A Blaze of Autumn Sunshine: The Last Diaries, by Tony Benn in the forthcoming Socialism Today
26 November 2013
Massive campaign planned against savage cuts on Underground
The Evening Standard heralded all night running of the Tube, but hidden in the small print were details of savage attacks on the jobs and conditions of staff
27 November 2013
Russ Bowering has won a victory against victimisation by Hull waste disposal contractor FCC
27 November 2013
Flower power - downfall of a banking boss
If the much repeated cliché that the British Labour Party owes more to Methodism than to Marxism is true then it must have got more than it bargained for with the Reverend Paul Flowers, writes Roger Bannister.
27 November 2013
Energy rip-off: Millions of hard-pressed households have just had their energy bills ratcheted-up to stratospheric levels by the 'big six' companies, accompanied by apologetic letters saying their 'hands are tied' due to government taxes, transportation costs, etc
27 November 2013
UK governments approved secret mass surveillance
"The key question is what was authorised and what was not authorised," said Richard Ottaway, Tory MP and veteran of the Intelligence and Security Committee, over the revelation that from 2007, British intelligence officials agreed to allow the US National Security Agency (NSA) the right to spy on, writes David Semple.
27 November 2013
We need a pay rise! The sums just don't add up. We're told there's a recovery but if feels more like a robbery
27 November 2013
Europe - centre of capitalist crisis
Greece: Xekinima - Socialist Internationalist Organisation, sister party of the Socialist Party in England and Wales, at the anti-government demo at Thessaloniki, September 2013, photo Xekinima
Despite capitalist 'experts' predicting that the world economy would by now be experiencing 'escape velocity', capitalism is still in deep crisis. And Europe is most acutely affected, writes Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party general secretary.
27 November 2013
SNP's white paper will not deliver decisive change
The Scottish government has produced its white paper on Scottish independence.
27 November 2013
Nigeria: A political party of the working class is born
Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) holds inaugural convention:
27 November 2013
TUSC byelection candidates show cuts aren't necessary
Cardiff: The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coaltion (TUSC) is standing in two 5 December Cardiff byelections, called following resignations
27 November 2013
Joe Etherington introduced Bristol North Socialist Party's discussion on Art and Revolution, feeding back from the session at Socialism 2013, writes John Yeandle.
27 November 2013
One Housing success: After a long dispute involving eleven days of strike action members at One Housing Group have voted to accept a significantly improved management offer, writes Paul Kershaw.
27 November 2013
NUT election: Support for national action call
Socialist Party member Martin Powell-Davies recently stood in the election for vice-president of the National Union of Teachers
27 November 2013
Criminal justice: More privatisation problems
Secretary of State Chris Grayling's plans to privatise large parts of the criminal justice system suffered a severe blow last week with the announcement that three prisons in South Yorkshire set for private takeover will now remain in public hands, writes Chas Berry, Kent branch chair, National Association of Probation Officers (Napo).
27 November 2013
Will angry youth turn to Labour?
Polly Toynbee's recent Guardian column (22 November) contained a damning criticism of the Con-Dems' treatment of young people, writes Ian Pattison, Youth Fight for Jobs.
27 November 2013
NUS NEC votes to support education workers strike
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Union of Students (NUS) voted "to stand in complete solidarity with workers taking strike action" in the higher and further education strikes on 3 December
27 November 2013
Referendum victory for York housing campaign
York Student Socialists celebrated a significant referendum victory recently after months of campaigning on the quality and price of housing in York, writes Jamie Chatfield, Treasurer of York University Student Socialist Society.
27 November 2013
TV review: Amazon's exploitation exposed
The conditions revealed in Panorama's exposé on working conditions in Swansea Amazon came as no surprise to Socialist Party members, writes Ronnie Job.
27 November 2013
Nothing achieved by UN climate talks
Contrary to the misleading upbeat media reports, the United Nations climate change conference in Warsaw, which was meant to agree binding reductions in CO2 emissions, effectively ended in failure
27 November 2013
Councillors: Say no to Tory cuts!
TUSC logo
The Tories, Lib Dems, Labour and Ukip all agree that the decimation and privatisation of public services has to continue to keep their big business backers happy
27 November 2013
Iran nuclear deal reflects changed world relations
The interim nuclear deal between Iran, the US, and other world powers has grabbed the world's attention
27 November 2013
No recovery for Britain's young people
Tale of Two Cities - Youth Fight for Jobs protest against Workfare in Stratford's Westfield shopping centre in London 25 February 2012 , photo senan
The supporters of capitalism might be calling the feeble growth in the economy a "recovery" but Britain's young people are still left reeling
27 November 2013
Brazilian socialist councillor speaks in Britain
Manchester: "The people want FIFA-standard housing, FIFA-standard hospitals, FIFA-standard schools!"
27 November 2013
Hull city council unions force cuts climb-down
The threat of industrial action by Hull council unions has forced a climb-down by the authority in its attempts to impose huge cuts in terms and conditions
27 November 2013
End the pay freeze: A united fight in post-16 education
On 3 December both university and college workers will be taking action
28 November 2013
London University: strike by support staff
After a two-day strike on 27 and 28 November low-paid workers at University of London (UoL) have won important concessions [Updates added 29.11.13 and 04.12.13]
29 November 2013
Council uses court against Bedroom Tax victims
Labour-led Nottingham council took its first court action against rent arrears due to the Bedroom Tax
29 November 2013
Anger against Portugal's PM in London
Socialist Party members joined emigrants from Portugal, on Thursday 28th November, to protest the presence of Pedro Passos Coelho, Portugal's PM, in Britain, writes Ian Pattison, Waltham Forest Socialist Party.
23 Apr Leeds Socialist Party: Lessons from Liverpool City Council 1983-7
24 Apr Coventry TUSC: Council cuts - how can we fight back?
25 Apr Lewisham & Southwark Socialist Party: A socialist perspective on antisemitism & the left
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