Archive for September 2013
2 September 2013
Miliband expected to promise repeal of bedroom tax
As reported in the Sunday People, Ed Miliband is expected to announce that a Labour government would repeal the bedroom tax
3 September 2013
Blacklist beaten - Frank Morris reinstated on Crossrail
Blacklisted Unite shop steward Frank Morris is returning to work on the Crossrail project. This is a massive victory, not just for Unite but the whole of the trade union movement
3 September 2013
Syria: Cameron defeated; Now defeat Tory cuts!
"I get it." Through gritted teeth Tory Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged an historic defeat. MPs had just voted by a margin of 13 to oppose British participation in a military intervention in Syria
4 September 2013
London protest against attack on Syria
People broke into spontaneous applause as anti-war protesters marched into Trafalgar Square on Saturday, writes Paula Mitchell.
4 September 2013
Bristol TUSC - we're fighting the cuts
Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts (TUSC) aims to stand anti-cuts campaigners in every ward in Bristol to give a voice to ordinary people
4 September 2013
Firefighters' strike vote: Firefighters have voted overwhelmingly to strike over government attacks on their pension scheme. 78% of FBU members balloted have voted for national strike action
4 September 2013
Build partnership in action against austerity
The TUC Congress of 2012 agreed to look seriously at the feasibility of the organisation of a one-day general strike, so Merseyside TUC started work mobilising and organising both within Merseyside and speaking out to our sister county TUCs across the North West, writes Alec McFadden, NW TUC JCC Rep.
4 September 2013
Help fund the anti-austerity fightback!
As Spanish youth ask: 'Where's our Bale-out?': The sports pages have been full of the news of the transfer of footballer Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for £85 million and that he is set to earn £250,000 a week there, an obscene amount - especially given there is 50% unemployment in Spain among young people, writes Ken Douglas, Socialist Party national treasurer.
4 September 2013
Burston strike school celebrated
Every year hundreds of trade unionists and socialists commemorate the longest strike in history at the Burston Strike School Rally
4 September 2013
Don't fall for the shares-for-rights scam
The Con-Dems' shares-for-rights scheme came into effect on 1 September. The TUC is warning that as well as taking away basic employment rights, the scheme could cost taxpayers £1 billion, writes Ronnie Job.
4 September 2013
Falling wages: A new report for the Resolution Foundation has found that a growing number of people getting their first job, and particularly women, quickly get stuck in part-time, low-paying roles
4 September 2013
1993: BNP racists forced off Brick Lane
Twenty years ago, on Sunday 19 September 1993, 1,000 people gathered on Brick Lane in Tower Hamlets, east London, to stop the racist, far-right British National Party (BNP) from having its regular paper sale.
4 September 2013
TV review - MLK: The Assassination Tapes
There's been no shortage of material in the mass media commemorating US black civil rights leader Martin Luther King's (MLK) landmark 1963 'I have a dream' speech in Washington
4 September 2013
Appeal for TUSC candidates - as GMB cuts funding to Labour
Paula Mitchell, London Socialist Party regional secretary said: "The funding cut shows that union members and ordinary working class people have no confidence in the Labour Party"
4 September 2013
When the world economic crisis makes landfall in S Asia
Until recently, the 'emerging' economies of the BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - were growing at a steady rate, writes Clare Doyle, Committee for a Workers' International (CWI).
4 September 2013
Police spies and the workers' movement
Hannah Sell examines the role and the background to police spy Peter Francis as revealed in the book Undercover: The True Story of Britain's Secret Police.
4 September 2013
Lift the ban on campaign stalls in Newham
Newham council has effectively banned community activists from publicly campaigning against punitive attacks
4 September 2013
Whipps Cross is mired in crisis. Following a merger with three other hospital trusts, it is run by the Barts Health NHS Trust, which is crippled by PFI debts
4 September 2013
United strike action against the Con-Dems
Twelve months ago TUC Congress overwhelmingly passed the prison officers' union POA motion, calling on the TUC to consider "the practicalities of a general strike" to oppose the crushing Con-Dem austerity offensive.
Lobby the TUC, Sunday 8 September, Bournemouth
5 September 2013
Council workers' fury at large pay increases for senior managers
Unison, GMB and Unite have challenged proposals being considered by full council on 9th September to implement a new pay and grading structure for senior managers
5 September 2013
Uplands junior school strikes again
Support staff at an inner city school took strike action on 4 September against plans to halve the number of teaching assistants
5 September 2013
POA members hold meeting outside HMP Leeds
POA members at HMP Leeds held a gate meeting this morning to discuss yesterday's announcement that four prisons will close
5 September 2013
Tunisia - Freedom of speech attacked
Two young Tunisian militant rappers have recently been condemned to heavy prison sentences for having produced and performed rap songs criticising the police and the corruption, nepotism and violence rooted within it
6 September 2013
Merseyside People's Assembly - A lost opportunity
At the Adelphi hotel: An anti-austerity attendance of 800-plus. An atmosphere of expectation for a fighting programme of action to defeat the Con-Dems...
9 September 2013
Campaign to save facilities for disabled children in Salford
Thirty people joined a protest against Salford council's disgraceful proposals to send disabled children, who currently attend the Grange centre, to an adult facility, writes Paul Gerrard.
9 September 2013
BFAWU strike action at Hovis Wigan
Strike action has brought about the end of zero hour contracts at Hovis
9 September 2013
PCS president calls for mass joint strikes
Mass coordinated strike action is needed to stop the government's cuts to living standards and jobs and to defeat austerity, the Public and Commercial Services union said at the TUC congress today (9th September)
10 September 2013
NSSN rally calls for mass action to stop the cuts
The hundreds of trade union activists who attended the NSSN rally and lobby of the TUC on Sunday will have left certain that the boiling anger at the tsunami of austerity is pointing towards an autumn of important battles.
Along with this is an ever-growing call for the TUC to name the date for a 24-hour general strike.
10 September 2013
Large counter-demo against racist EDL
Several thousand anti-racists turned out on Saturday afternoon to prevent the EDL from marching to the East London Mosque in Tower Hamlets
10 September 2013
Miliband's speech offers nothing different
Ed Miliband has proven time and again that he does not want the Labour Party to represent organised workers within the trade union movement - and his policies don't represent the interests of workers
11 September 2013
Kick out the corporate vultures: In 2004 Tory cabinet minister Oliver Letwin boasted that "the NHS will not exist" within five years of a Conservative victory, writes Chris Moore, Gloucestershire Socialist Party.
11 September 2013
The government's Alice in Wongaland recovery
Following a series of improved economic data and forecasts over summer, Tory Chancellor George Osborne announced on 9 September that Britain's economy was "turning the corner", writes Alistair Tice.
11 September 2013
Bolton victory shows we can beat the bedroom tax
Last month the Bolton at Home housing association became the first in the country to introduce a policy of "no homelessness" for tenants in arrears because of the bedroom tax
11 September 2013
Zero faith in Labour on zero-hours
New research by Unite the Union has found that as many as 5.5 million workers could be on zero-hour contracts, writes Helen Pattison, East London Socialist Party.
11 September 2013
27% of parents with children aged 21 to 40 still have at least one adult child living at home, according to research by the National Housing Federation (NHF).
11 September 2013
TV review: Failed by the privatising NHS
A recent BBC documentary "Failed by the NHS" shows the inability of the NHS and the government to help young people suffering from mental illness, writes Josh Asker , Southampton Socialist Party.
11 September 2013
Book review: Capital - in Manga!
'Capital - in Manga!' is a Japanese style illustrated story about a cheese-maker, Robin, who sets up a factory with a loan from a financial speculator, writes Tanis Belsham-Wray.
11 September 2013
TUC congress dominated by questions of joint action and links to Labour Party
"Your policies seem contradictory and they're confusing people. Can we get a clear answer: are you for or against austerity?" This question put by PCS president Janice Godrich to Labour leader Ed Miliband
11 September 2013
Teaching unions prepare for campaign of autumn strikes
Teaching unions NUT and NASUWT have confirmed the dates of regional strike action. On Tuesday 1 October there will be strike action in the Eastern, East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside
11 September 2013
Blacklisting: The TUC has called a day of action against blacklisting on 20 November. They are planning a lobby of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly as well as a number of other protests
11 September 2013
Let's organise an autumn of action against austerity
In the last 12 months the destruction of the NHS, the proposed privatisation of Royal Mail, the disappearance of vital council services in whole swathes of the country, together with the scandals of blacklisting and zero-hour contracts, have contributed to a seething anger which is reflected even in the TUC
11 September 2013
The bloody coup against the Popular Unity government - lessons for workers' struggles today: In Chile on 11 September 1973 a bloody coup, led by general Pinochet and backed by the US administration, overthrew Allende's government
11 September 2013
Art review: The vanity of small differences
It is rare today for an artist's work to address the existence of class. The self-appointed arbiters of culture tell us that class is outdated and irrelevant save for the occasional, fearful, pause to shout 'chav' at working class youth
11 September 2013
One Housing Group (OHG) workers blowing vuvuzelas and whistles and waving Unite flags and placards made sure that no-one in Chalk Farm, north London, was unaware of their latest five day strike
11 September 2013
Obama's drums of war fail to win support for Syria strike
As the G20 summit in Russia ended, the capitalist powers internationally were divided into two opposing camps on whether to launch a military attack on Syria
11 September 2013
Yorkshire Ambulance: The battle against union derecognition
Around 40 Unite members and supporters protested outside Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) headquarters near Wakefield on 3 September
11 September 2013
TV review: Vietnam's 'children of Agent Orange'
The deadly chemical Dioxin was 40 years ago dropped from airplanes by US troops over the countryside of Vietnam
11 September 2013
Reinvigorate the student movement: Protest, occupy, strike for our education
This autumn's new students will be the second batch forced to pay the Con-Dems' extortionate £9,000 a year price tag for university education, writes Ian Pattison , Socialist Students national chair.
11 September 2013
Disaffiliate from pro-capitalist Labour
In a speech at the 2013 congress of the TUC, PCS president Janice Godrich set out the reality of Austerity Britain: 13 million people live in poverty, up by a million since the Coalition came to power; 1.8 million families are on housing waiting lists; half a million people are now reliant on food banks
13 September 2013
YFJ continues fight against zero-hour contracts at Sports Direct
Activists in Youth Fight for Jobs pledge to continue their fight against zero-hour contracts after news that Sports Direct joins the FTSE 100
13 September 2013
Protest against police brutality in Turkey
Once again police violence results in another death. Police attacked protesters gathered in Hatay-Armutlu who were demonstrating
16 September 2013
Bus drivers at Network Warrington are staging a number of one-day strikes against a pay freeze and also a lack of investment which they fear is setting the company up to fail
16 September 2013
Train cleaners fight for a living wage
Transport cleaners working for cheapskate contractors ISS on the East Coast mainline are taking further strike action today and forced ITN to take note of their dispute
16 September 2013
Warrington town hall unions lobby councillors
About 100 members of GMB, Unison and Unite lobbied the full council meeting at Warrington town hall on Monday evening
16 September 2013
The verdict from UN official Raquel Ronick confirms what socialists and anti-bedroom tax campaigners have said all along
17 September 2013
Glasgow council workers walkout
Around 60 Glasgow City Council staff, Unison members employed as part of the Social Work Homeless Team, have agreed to walk out on unofficial action tomorrow
17 September 2013
Lively demo against cuts at Whipps Cross hospital
A stream of nurses, domestics, porters, doctors, technicians, paraded back and forth over the zebra crossing outside the hospital
17 September 2013
Firefighters: 4-hour strike on 25th Sept
Firefighters in England and Wales will go on strike for four hours on 25 September against an attack on their pensions
18 September 2013
Leicester council feels the pressure
There's been a small victory for Leicestershire Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation and the Unite Community trade union, writes Steve Score.
18 September 2013
The director of public prosecutions, Kier Starmer QC, has announced that you could now be locked up for ten years for benefit fraud
18 September 2013
Overwhelming opposition stuns Hull council
Hull city council workers have rejected the worsening of terms and conditions
18 September 2013
TUSC campaigners look to shake Fleetwood
Ray Smith is the prospective candidate for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) in the forthcoming Fleetwood town council byelection in Rossall Ward, writes Jane Hersey.
18 September 2013
One week left to smash fighting fund target!
The news that MPs are claiming more expenses than they did in 2009 when they were last caught fiddling them will sicken ordinary people who are bearing the brunt of the Con-Dem cuts, writes Ken Douglas, Socialist Party national treasurer.
18 September 2013
MPs still have their snouts in the trough
The results are in! MPs' expenses for last year have been published, and it's time for the Socialist to dish out the honours, writes James Ivens.
18 September 2013
Hillsborough: even more cover-ups revealed
Twenty four years on from the Hillsborough Disaster there have been yet more revelations about the apparently limitless mendacity of the South Yorkshire Police, writes Matt Gordon.
18 September 2013
Anger at zero-hour contracts in universities
Rent-a-prof?: Sports Direct, McDonalds, Wetherspoons, Cineworld and... Britain's universities. Many people were no doubt shocked to hear that the use of zero-hour contracts is endemic not just among employers in retail
18 September 2013
Commonwealth governments' meeting: Protest against despot Rajapaksa
Tamil Solidarity is at the forefront of protests against this year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, in November, writes Keerthikan Thennavan, Tamil Solidarity joint national secretary.
18 September 2013
Oppositionists condemn murderous Iran regime
In the 25 years since the revolution against the Shah thousands of political prisoners have been massacred by the Islamic Republic of Iran
18 September 2013
Glasgow Unison walkout: Council workers in Glasgow walked out on 13 September after a social worker was suspended in a row over workloads. The action continued by members of the Homeless Team on 17 September
18 September 2013
Recently, Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) held its biennial arms fair event at the Excel arena in Newham, east London
18 September 2013
A Trade Union Congress (TUC) press release after Miliband's speech to Labour conference shows how ties with the Labour Party hold back trade union struggle.
18 September 2013
We went to an anti-bedroom tax meeting in Manchester. The UN officer was there to see how the bedroom tax is affecting people.
18 September 2013
When they let their guard down, politicians can reveal their true colours...
18 September 2013
Wolverhampton councillors slash jobs
Wolverhampton council has announced it is seeking 1,000 voluntary redundancies, and if they were not forthcoming it would be making them compulsory
18 September 2013
The Socialist: Swansea achieves subscription goal
As part of the 'year of the paper', Swansea Socialist Party was determined to meet its target for subscriptions
18 September 2013
Britain: a seething cauldron of class anger
The historic defeat of Prime Minister David Cameron's plans to bomb Syria was only the latest in a long list of crises, but Labour is failing spectacularly to forge ahead in the polls.
18 September 2013
Second seven-day strike at Hovis
Hundreds of bakers in Wigan are mounting a second seven-day strike against casualisation [updated 18/9/13]
18 September 2013
Scotland: Bedroom tax close to death
Bedroom tax non-payment levels are soaring in Scotland, with £25 million likely to be unpaid this year
18 September 2013
Kazakhstan: Jailed activist awarded human rights prize
Imprisoned human rights lawyer, Vadim Kuramshim, has been awarded the 2013 Ludovic-Trarieux Human Rights Prize, the "oldest and most prestigious award given to a lawyer in the world"
18 September 2013
Strike against privatisation:
It is no surprise that the Con-Dems are rushing the privatisation of Royal Mail through as quickly as they can. They face overwhelming opposition. A Royal Mail worker writes.
18 September 2013
David Cameron's 2010 election slogan was: "I'll cut the deficit not the NHS". Unfortunately for us, since he became prime minister of the Tory-led coalition, the National Health Service has been savaged.
18 September 2013
Royal Mail: Con-Dems and 'the mafia'
The following letter from Tony Mulhearn, Socialist Party member and Liverpool 47, was published in the Liverpool Echo
18 September 2013
Strikes force One Housing Group into talks
Following action by Unite members, OHG has agreed to refer the dispute to Acas
19 September 2013
19 September 2013
Stop privatisation of Probation Service
On 19 September Chris Grayling put the Probation Service up for sale in the European Journal. The trade union Napo called widespread lunchtime protests.
20 September 2013
Hovis strike - BFAWU press release
With the second week of strikes at the Hovis bakery in Wigan coming to an end, the company have informed the BFAWU that they have no intention of settling the dispute
20 September 2013
The Causes of Capitalist Crisis; Reply to Andrew Kliman
This document is on the causes of capitalist crisis, replying to the ideas of Andrew Kliman; written by Peter Taaffe and Lynn Walsh and endorsed by the Executive Committee of the Socialist Party
23 September 2013
Scotland: 20,000 march for a Yes vote in 2014
Over 20,000 supporters of Scottish independence marched through Edinburgh on 21st September. This significant mobilisation was double the attendance at the same Yes Scotland demonstration in September
23 September 2013
24 September 2013
Hovis - strike leads to settlement
The BFAWU would like to thank Hovis (Premier Foods) for finally sitting down with us in order to find a solution to what was becoming a very bitter dispute over the use of zero hours contracts and agency labour at the Wigan bakery
25 September 2013
Rotten, wasteful capitalism has to go - the case for a socialist alternative
The pioneer of the NHS in Britain, Aneurin Bevan, drove the bill through parliament to establish what became a treasure of the British people, particularly for the working class and the poor writes Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party general secretary.
25 September 2013
University unions' ballot: Students and staff - unite and fight!
After another year of being offered real-terms cuts to pay, university workers represented by UCU, Unison and Unite are balloting for a major national campaign of strike action and industrial action against cuts, against zero-hour contracts and the gender pay gap, and for job security, writes Edmund Schluessel, NUS National Executive & UCU member (personal capacities)
25 September 2013
While most of us have to struggle just to get by, the pockets of the rich and powerful in Britain are rapidly filling with wealth, writes Lenny Shail.
25 September 2013
'Success' for owners - zero for workers
With £200 million profit, a company valued at almost £4 billion, and 90% of staff on zero-hour contracts, many in Britain's ruling class see Sports Direct as a modern success story, writes A zero-hour contract worker.
25 September 2013
Greece: Neo-Nazis murder Pavlos Fyssas, a left activist and rapper
On the night of 18 September the municipality of Keratsini, in greater Pireas, was overwhelmed by tens of thousands of anti-fascists, writes Andros Payiatsos, Xekinima (CWI Greece).
25 September 2013
I am sad to report that long-standing Grimsby Militant and Socialist Party member Steve Draper died on 9 September from a heart attack, writes Alistair Tice.
25 September 2013
Industrial and political battles at Hull city council
It has been a week of twists and turns in the battle to defend terms and conditions for Hull council workers, writes Mick Whale.
25 September 2013
Stop privatisation of the Probation Service
On 19 September Chris Grayling put the Probation Service up for sale. The trade union Napo called widespread lunchtime protests. Hopefully, industrial action will follow. We need public protection, not
25 September 2013
Glasgow Unison strike wins important victory
Three days of strike action by at least 80 Glasgow City council homelessness social workers have resulted in an important victory, writes Philip Stott.
25 September 2013
Grangemouth: As we reported last week, workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland are balloting for strike action over attacks on working conditions and pensions, including the victimisation of a Unite senior steward
25 September 2013
Another crackpot scheme for the NHS
Tory Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's latest plan for the NHS is to send up to 50 'of the best doctors,' nurses and businessmen to the USA to learn how to become top managers, writes Jon Dale.
25 September 2013
Lawrence lawyers to close: Tooks Chambers, the civil rights barristers' group set up in 1984 during the miner's strike which has represented Stephen Lawrence's family, is set to close due to the Con-Dems' legal aid cuts
25 September 2013
Socialist Students gains new members
At the University of East London (UEL) over 70 people have signed up for Socialist Students. The university's draconian attendance policy was beaten last year through a campaign launched by Socialist
25 September 2013
Labour to scrap bedroom tax in 2015 - we demand an amnesty now!
Labour's promise to scrap the Con-Dems' bedroom tax will be welcomed, especially by the 600,000 people suffering it, writes Hugh Caffrey.
25 September 2013
Labour conference - no socialist policies
What we think: Asked by a member of the public when he would "bring back socialism" Ed Miliband replied: "that is what we are doing, Sir". Unfortunately, it would be impossible to spot socialist policies at this year's Labour conference.
25 September 2013
Support Teachers' fight to defend education
"We can't afford not to strike": Last term's strike in the North West showed how determined teachers are to defend their pay, pension and working conditions
25 September 2013
Bakers rise against Hovis: Victory shows zero-hours can be beaten
BFAWU bakers stop Hovis from using agency workers and zero-hour contracts to drive down wages, terms and conditions
25 September 2013
Greek teachers show the way forward
Public sector workers have, yet again, demonstrated their determination to resist the Greek government's austerity attacks, as demanded under the bailout conditions of the Troika (International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank)
25 September 2013
Book review: Militant Liverpool - A City on the Edge
Between 1983 and 1987 Liverpool's Labour council, then led by socialists, refused to transfer the burden of Tory government cuts, introduced by Margaret Thatcher, onto the backs of Liverpool's working people
25 September 2013
Socialist Party public meetings after the 29th September national demo
26 September 2013
Sudan: No cuts in gas subsidy!
Solidarity with workers, youth and women protesting against Sudan's hated Al-Bashir regime.
26 September 2013
Labour to freeze energy prices - we say nationalise to end fuel poverty
A Labour government would temporarily freeze energy prices, Ed Miliband announced at Labour Party conference, writes Pete Mason.
27 September 2013
Victory for workers against anti-union boss at King & Fowler
Metal workers in Liverpool achieve stunning victory after six strikes
29 September 2013
Firefighters' four-hour strike - determined and clear that coordinated action needed
FBU firefighters strike against Con-Dem attacks on pensions
27 Jan Cardiff West Socialist Party: Saving the music industry from pandemic and austerity
27 Jan Bristol North Socialist Party: Open discussion
28 Jan Cardiff East Socialist Party: Saving the music industry from pandemic and austerity
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