Archive for November 2015
1 November 2015
The socialist case for nationalisation of the steel industry
Whoops and cheers greeted Jeremy Corbyn's visit to Scunthorpe
3 November 2015
The shift in the political landscape marked by Jeremy Corbyn's election to Labour leader will be central to discussions at Socialism 2015, an event organised by the Socialist Party, formerly Militant.
3 November 2015
Rally against the Trade Union Bill
Thousands of trade unionists came to London yesterday to lobby their MPs as part of the TUC rally against the Trade Union Bill
3 November 2015
Determined DLR strikers to "fight all the way"
The Docklands Light Railway has been shut down for 48 hours
3 November 2015
Jeremy Corbyn comes to Leeds university
Several hundred students crammed into the Great Hall to hear Jeremy Corbyn speak
4 November 2015
Tory bid to turn co-op tenants against one another
The government's Housing and Planning Bill is the greatest ever threat to the UK's 836 housing cooperatives and their 196,000 homes.
4 November 2015
US: #blacklivesmatter movement challenges racism
The #blacklivesmatter movement (BLM) has overtaken the traditional 'civil rights' campaigners, seen as too close to corporate interests.
4 November 2015
Turkey: Erdogan's victory based on fear and intimidation
The recent Turkish election took place against a backcloth of deepening economic and political insecurity in the country - a situation engineered by the ruling class.
4 November 2015
Unions must capitalise on mass anger at austerity and anti-union laws
Cameron and Co are rushing their anti-union legislation through parliament ahead of the next wave of vicious cuts that would see £12 billion cut from welfare and a further £20 billion slashed from public services.
4 November 2015
Struggle for solidarity with refugees must be anti-austerity
Under huge pressure Cameron has agreed to take in 20,000 refugees.
4 November 2015
The Socialist: A fighting antidote to the mainstream media's lies
We are not a paper like any other. Our journalists are Socialist Party members and supporters: workers, trade unionists, young people, community campaigners
4 November 2015
The Trades Union Congress reports that nearly six million workers in the UK earn less than the voluntary 'living wage'.
4 November 2015
Long hours ruining health without lifting productivity
Studies now show that working long hours doesn't just damage your health - it doesn't even get more done.
4 November 2015
Doctor Who argues against imperialist air strikes - and wins socialist support in Wales.
4 November 2015
It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us. Pharmaceutical profiteering, unemployment benefit decreases versus bosses idling on Twitter.
4 November 2015
Wrong: Owen Jones tells Labour "abandon anti-austerity"
Owen Jones is completely wrong to write in the Guardian that it's time to "abandon anti-austerity".
4 November 2015
Cycle cheat Armstrong's hypocrisy and bullying
The Program is a biographical drama about Lance Armstrong, the disgraced former professional cyclist - and the efforts of investigative journalist David Walsh to expose him.
4 November 2015
Fire service cuts put people at risk
At a recent Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service review consultation meeting firefighters and ex-firefighters in attendance were initially prevented from speaking.
4 November 2015
Socialist Party joins campaign against NHS bullying
Socialist Party members have joined others in forming a group in Worcestershire called 'Betrayed by Their Trust', to document reported cases of bullying in the NHS.
4 November 2015
Super Southampton fighting fund campaign
Southampton Socialist Party branch raised over £1,000 for the fighting fund between July and September to smash our quarterly target. The majority came from public stalls.
4 November 2015
Strike together to Kill the Bill
Action gets results: The trade union bill being rushed through Parliament aims at removing any effective opposition to the Tories' austerity agenda.
4 November 2015
The Socialist campaign: buy it, sell it - read it, write it
For just £1, a fraction of the cost of a pint or cup of coffee, you can get a paper unlike any other. And many people are willing to donate a lot more to support a workers' paper.
4 November 2015
Short stories on workers' struggles around the world. Kshama Sawant's re-election campaign in the US, Russia enters Syrian quagmire, Polish elections.
4 November 2015
Where did the unions' money go?
Labour Party elections: Over £440,000 was donated by trade unions to candidates in this summer's internal Labour Party elections, according to the official figures published by the Electoral Commission.
4 November 2015
Unison general secretary election - vote Roger Bannister
Vote Roger Bannister for a flexible political fund that works for members.
4 November 2015
London Underground rep targeted for trade union activity
Glen Hart, RMT activist and a station supervisor on the London Underground Northern Line, is facing disciplinary action allegedly for not being deferential enough to a manager.
4 November 2015
Solidarity action for victimised Unison rep
Unison activist Sandy Nicoll was suspended on 28 October by School of Oriental and African Studies management which led to an unofficial walkout by staff and students.
4 November 2015
Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles. Strike at Barnet council, strike planned at secure hospital, strike ballot at Manchester University.
4 November 2015
The 'tampon tax' is a tax on being a woman
An argument over whether tampons are a 'luxury item' seems ridiculous. The tampon tax is nothing less than a tax on being a woman.
4 November 2015
Transgender woman locked up in male prison
Tara Hudson, a transgender woman, was locked up in an all-male prison after her conviction for assault.
5 November 2015
Kshama Sawant re-elected - Seattle's political revolution continues
Socialist Alternative and Kshama Sawant have achieved another momentus victory in Seattle!
5 November 2015
Johannesburg university struggle - solidarity needed
The Workers and Socialist Party (WASP) in South Africa is appealing for letters of protest to be sent to the management of the University of Johannesburg (UJ)
10 November 2015
On 10 November UCU members in FE in England took action
10 November 2015
Socialism 2015: Socialist ideas back on the agenda
Up to 1,000 working class fighters, socialists, trade union militants and young people discussed and debated, hammering out clarification on analysis and tussling with questions of tactics and tasks in 38 workshops and forums and in two massive rallies
11 November 2015
Seattle's political revolution continues: At the time of writing, 55.5% of voters (15,054) in Seattle's District 3 have chosen Kshama Sawant of Socialist Alternative (US co-thinkers of the Socialist Party) to serve another four years on the city council.
11 November 2015
Jeremy Corbyn visits Leeds Uni
While the right to vote is important, what you do with it is more so. Corbyn understood this far more than the Blairite Labour Students group who invited him, and indeed made it the focus of his speech.
11 November 2015
Campaign for socialist nationalisation: Steelworkers are already on short time working and there is limited time. But still time exists for the unions to mobilise mass support from the working class to bring pressure on the Scottish government.
11 November 2015
Can biomass energy be part of a socialist plan of production?
A reader criticised the idea of using 'biomass' as part of green, socialist energy production. We publish this letter, along with a reply.
11 November 2015
Unions should keep independence to lead fight to defend Corbyn
The civil war in Labour took a further step into the open when Labour's shadow defence spokesperson supported an outrageous attack on Jeremy Corbyn by a top general.
11 November 2015
Southampton council: cutters or Corbynistas?
Southampton council meets on 18 November in the next round of council budget consultations. Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) supporters will be lobbying the council to defend jobs and services and back Jeremy Corbyn's call to stop cuts.
11 November 2015
Fight now on to save disabled respite centre
Gateshead's Labour council plans the closure of Grove House, a respite centre for mentally and physically disabled children between eight and 18 years of age, among the most vulnerable members of society.
11 November 2015
Buyers queue overnight for 'affordable' London homes
The news broke recently that people were queuing overnight to buy studio flats in far-west London for £200,000. Very few Londoners will have blinked an eye. Because this grim scenario is becoming the norm.
11 November 2015
Victoria Coren Mitchell calls for a "proper revolution" and Jeremy Corbyn backs Arsenal FC workers' living wage campaign.
11 November 2015
It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us. Benefit sanctions versus corporate welfare.
11 November 2015
UK trade props up Kazakh dictatorship
Featured letter - 'British values': Following the much-publicised and criticised recent visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the British government is greeting Kazakhstan's leader Nursultan Nazarbayev. He is a dictator in all but name.
11 November 2015
Hull council in aggressive attack on trade unions
Trade unionists representing the Hull council workforce tried to move a resolution condemning Labour councillors halving our facility time. The officers of the Labour Party branch ruled the resolution out of order, despite the fact that North Hull branch had discussed and passed the same resolution a week earlier!
11 November 2015
Huge support for socialist in Northern Ireland union election
The last six weeks have seen one of the most high profile trade union elections in Northern Ireland for decades. The election was for general secretary of public sector union Nipsa, the largest union in Northern Ireland.
11 November 2015
Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles. College and uni lecturers lead the fightback.
11 November 2015
Government departments agree to hack budgets
Four essential government departments have signed up to cuts of around 30% over the next four years.
11 November 2015
Fury as India's leader Modi plans to visit Britain
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, a religious sectarian responsible for brutal austerity, will visit Britain from 12 to 14 November.
11 November 2015
School kids must walk hands behind backs says head
Students at one London primary school are being forced to march with their hands behind their backs.
11 November 2015
Comment - Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Numerous themes of revolution and mass struggles in recent entertainment show the politically volatile nature of the period we are living in.
11 November 2015
Tories open the door to further rises in tuition fees
The government is planning to remove the £9,000 fee cap
11 November 2015
Step up the fight for trade union rights
The Tories' anti-trade union bill could be law as early as January or even December.
11 November 2015
£4 billion funding black hole: NHS hospitals may run out of money next year and be unable to pay their staff.
11 November 2015
Workers dig in for fight over job threat
Up to 290 JCB permanent shop floor workers could be made redundant
11 November 2015
Socialist policies get results!
Following an electrifying and historic campaign Kshama Sawant, Seattle's first socialist city council member, was re-elected on 3 November.
11 November 2015
Clive Walder, a long-standing Socialist Party member in the CWU had an appeal against unfair dismissal rejected by British Telecom on 9 November, confirming his sacking after 38 years of service.
11 November 2015
Trade union action needed to fight for steel jobs
1,000 steelworkers and supporters marched
12 November 2015
13 November 2015
14 November 2015
Sickening violence has struck Paris once more. Over 120 dead and dozens of injured in places where workers and young people had gathered
17 November 2015
Leicester is facing some of the most severe fire service cuts in the country
18 November 2015
Tories flog bank assets to hellhound US profiteers
Chancellor George Osborne is hailing his £13 billion sell-off of Northern Rock mortgages as a success. But overall, the taxpayer has made a big net loss on sales of public assets.
18 November 2015
Athletics doping scandal: big business profits behind global sports corruption
In a dramatic move, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF - the world's governing sports body) has provisionally suspended the Russian athletics federation. This follows a damning report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) accusing the Russians of "state-sponsored doping".
18 November 2015
A Labour councillor responsible for closing all his area's public toilets has been caught relieving himself on the street.
18 November 2015
Thousands march against India premier's bloody sectarianism
Thousands gathered outside 10 Downing Street on 12 November to protest against the visit of Narendra Modi, prime minister of India.
18 November 2015
It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us. Over 100,000 children in the UK will be homeless this Christmas. Meanwhile, the number of 'property millionaires' has doubled since 2012.
18 November 2015
All NHS unions should join junior doctors' strike
Featured letter - health service: My trust boasts of £36 million of "savings" last year and has a target of £20 million this year. But what has this meant in practice?
18 November 2015
Robert Tressell's characters are all too real to me
Comment - The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists: I have only been a member for a year, and have recently read Robert Tressell's classic socialist novel. I was recommended the title as I am also a decorator like the characters in the book.
18 November 2015
How to defend Corbyn and defeat austerity
Jeremy Corbyn continues to face savage and relentless attacks from the capitalist establishment and also from within Labour. The latest example has been scurrilous attacks by the Murdoch-owned Sky News website, which ran a 'Jihadi Jez' headline following the horrendous terrorist attacks in Paris.
18 November 2015
Momentum in Lewisham could play an important role in coordinating this work inside and outside the Labour Party so that a fighting alternative to austerity is built in Lewisham and nationally.
18 November 2015
London bus driver and Unite branch secretary Joanne Harris has been barred membership of the Labour Party for five years.
18 November 2015
Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles. Secure hospital strike, sacked university rep reinstated, defend victimised CWU reps.
18 November 2015
A day in the life of a Game retail worker
"Zero-hour contract means I struggle to make my rent": I wish I could describe a standard working day but being on a zero-hour contract, days are anything but standard.
18 November 2015
Pro-Corbyn mood among Usdaw members
The shop workers' union Usdaw's Eastern divisional conference on 14 and 15 November took place against the backdrop of Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader and the changed situation since.
18 November 2015
As reported in the Socialist last week, Clive Walder, a longstanding Socialist Party member in the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) has had an appeal against unfair dismissal rejected. Also John Vasey, a CWU postal rep, has been sacked on what his work colleagues recognise as stitched up charges.
18 November 2015
Support for Roger Bannister in Unison election
There has been widespread support for Roger Bannister in his campaign to be elected Unison general secretary, with Unison members leafleting workplaces and announcing on social media why they have voted for him.
18 November 2015
Historic London bus drivers' agreement
London bus drivers have won a city wide collective agreement for the first time since privatisation over 20 years ago. This had unanimous support from trade union reps and convenors.
18 November 2015
Why I joined: "I already feel as if I am finally home"
I have been a socialist ever since the day in 1984, when nine years old, I recall my father swearing about Maggie Thatcher during news coverage of the miners' strike.
18 November 2015
Strike to save Lambeth libraries
Labour controlled Lambeth Council in South London plans to devastate library services in the borough. It plans to close down five of its ten libraries in order to sell them off to private gym companies. Lambeth's residents are not prepared to put up with this attack.
18 November 2015
A facility called Oakdene, used by adults with learning difficulties, is in need of refurbishment. But the council is considering finding a new place for them by closing an elderly care home and moving the facility there instead!
18 November 2015
Cutting Cameron complains to local council: As council budget proposals for next year see the light of day, opposition to further cuts is shaking the ground beneath the sheltered gardens of West Oxfordshire MP, David Cameron. He was forced to write a letter to the council criticising cuts!
18 November 2015
How can young people organise to support Jeremy Corbyn?
Report - 'Labour Young Socialists': The raging civil war within Labour formed the backdrop to the 'Labour Young Socialists' rally on 11 November. But the approach of the meeting's organisers failed to offer a way forward.
18 November 2015
My struggle for an income I can live on
"Please Sir, can I have a job?": I have multiple disabilities that include mobility post-traumatic stress disorder and dyslexia.
18 November 2015
Only workers' unity can end terrorism, division and war: The atrocities committed by Isis in Paris last Friday have stunned and appalled people anew. Young people out enjoying themselves on a Friday night were particularly hit.
18 November 2015
The end of social housing? How can we solve the housing crisis?
The cat is out of the bag. As the Financial Times reported: "Chancellor George Osborne is considering a radical multibillion-pound plan to privatise the government's stake in housing associations".
18 November 2015
Junior doctors: first strikes in 40 years
The British Medical Association has announced three strike days - the first since 1975. A 24-hour strike with emergency cover from 8am on 1 December will precede all-out strikes between 8am and 5pm on 8 and 16 December.
18 November 2015
How to defend Corbyn and defeat austerity
Jeremy Corbyn continues to face savage and relentless attacks from the capitalist establishment and also from within Labour.
25 November 2015
Firefighters rally to defend pay and conditions
Firefighters demonstrated outside a Fire Service Authority meeting
25 November 2015
Leicester is facing some of the most severe cuts to the fire service in the country.
25 November 2015
Protesters demanded a rethink on the threatened closure of four respite and day care centres in Kent. £80 million of cuts are coming and there has been an online consultation requesting suggestions on what to cut!
25 November 2015
Steelworkers demand government action to Save Our Steel
Hundreds of steelworkers from across all the steelmaking heartlands of Britain - Wales, Scotland and the north of England - took to the streets of Sheffield on 21 November to demand government action to save the steel industry.
25 November 2015
Solidarity with sacked BT worker
Clive Walder, a longstanding Socialist Party member in the Communication Workers' Union, has had an appeal against unfair dismissal rejected. This is a message of solidarity to Clive from William.
25 November 2015
Protest demands reinstatement of John Vasey
Supporters of the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) protested on 23 November outside the final appeal hearing of sacked CWU postal union rep John Vasey.
25 November 2015
Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles. Derbyshire college strikes, BBC cuts protest, junior doctors' ballot results.
25 November 2015
Police finally own up to spies' relationships with target women
The Metropolitan Police have finally apologised to seven women who undercover officers had intimate relationships with under false pretences.
25 November 2015
It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us. Flatshares v Bond lairs, Tory baron v retail workers, budget cuts v corporate handouts.
25 November 2015
Tory MP made me sick with tax credit cut lies
Featured letter - 'Tory trash': I have spoken to other members of my Socialist Party branch and they agree that my recent efforts to oppose the tax credit cuts could do with some exposure in our paper.
25 November 2015
Transgender access to healthcare is worsened by cuts
NHS staff, including one trust chief executive, called in September for a full debate on access to healthcare for transgender people. Discussion is a step forward - but nowhere near enough.
25 November 2015
Dictatorship's methods still reign in 'democratic' Chile
Police torture 15-year-old socialist: The legacy of that brutal dictatorship continues. While formally extinct, the "transition" to so-called democracy left intact the dictatorship's state machine - and even constitution!
25 November 2015
Myanmar: electoral defeat for the military, renewed class struggle ahead
International capitalism will exert huge pressure to keep Myanmar safe for their system. Pro-democracy election winner Aung San Suu Kyi gives no reason to believe she will not oblige.
25 November 2015
Bombing won't halt Isis terrorism: The Tory government is beating ever louder its war drums, while the mass media churns out pro-war propaganda and presses Labour to follow suit.
25 November 2015
Autumn statement: bonanza for bosses, pain for us
As we go to press, Tory Chancellor George Osbourne is due to deliver his autumn budget statement. The Socialist expects the usual tax cuts and freebies bonanza for big business and the rich. But for working class people, it can only be more misery.
25 November 2015
'Antibiotic apocalypse': profit system holds back research
Drug-resistant infections could kill an extra ten million people every year by 2050. A potential 'post-antibiotic era' is fundamentally due to the profit system.
25 November 2015
Sun's racist lie about Muslim support for terror
Lying Tory 'newspaper' the Sun ran a front page on 23 November condemning "One in five Brit Muslims' sympathy for jihadis". This was a naked attempt to whip up racism after the recent atrocities in Paris.
25 November 2015
Lambeth library workers' wildcat strike
Library workers in Lambeth, south London, shocked Labour's cuts councillors with a lightning strike on 18 November.
25 November 2015
Save our NHS: Following a refusal to negotiate by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, junior doctors will stage their first ever full strike
25 November 2015
Waltham Forest march demands homes for all
Upwards of 150 gathered to express outrage at the terrible housing crisis
25 November 2015
While Cameron's plan to bombard Isis can weaken it, it cannot remove it completely; and extending Britain's military action from Iraq to Syria will make terrorist attacks on British targets more likely.
25 November 2015
"I'm voting for Roger because I believe we need change in our union"
Unison members have been leafleting workplaces
25 November 2015
Trade Union Momentum launched to organise to defend Corbyn
Over 700 gathered at Westminster Central Hall on 21 November
25 November 2015
Transgender woman dies after spiteful courts pick men's prison
A transgender woman has died after courts sentenced her to 12 months in a men's prison. Vicky Thompson was found dead on 13 November at Armley Jail in Leeds.
25 November 2015
Socialist change not climate change
The climate summit in Paris meets as evidence continues to grow of the threat of global warming.
26 November 2015
UCU members in the Open University took strike action on Wednesday against plans to close the university's regional offices, threatening over 500 jobs, writes Tom Baldwin.
27 November 2015
TUSC says: Councils must say No to Osborne austerity
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition has responded to the Comprehensive Public Spending Review
27 November 2015
Autumn Statement u-turns: austerity can be defeated
In his autumn review, the Tory chancellor announced the government's first U-turns
17 Feb Nottingham Socialist Party: How do we build fighting lefts in the trade unions?
18 Feb Bristol North Socialist Party: Question & Answers
18 Feb London NSSN meeting: Fight the anti-trade union laws, support the strikes!
18 Feb Birmingham SE Socialist Party: The history of immigration
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