Archive for September 2020
1 September 2020
No Covid penalty on our future
With youth unemployment expected to skyrocket, Young Socialists and Youth Fight for Jobs will be out once again on Saturday 12 September
2 September 2020
Don't blame asylum seekers for Tory cuts
The plight of refugees was grimly highlighted by the Channel death of a Sudanese migrant
2 September 2020
Demand a fightback from the TUC and unions
Come to NSSN 2020 Trades Union Congress online rally!: If thousands of students can force the Tories into a U-turn... think what 6.4 million workers organised in unions can do!
2 September 2020
Even before Covid-19, poorer secondary school students were the equivalent of 18 months' learning behind better-off students
2 September 2020
Eviction ban extension not enough: make it longer, forgive the arrears!
At the last minute, on 22 August, the government announced the eviction ban would continue for another four weeks, along with a temporary extension of the notice period to six months
2 September 2020
Capitalism cause of disproportionate disabled deaths and isolation
Covid-19 has disproportionately hit disabled people. This is one of the effects of capitalist society, which is disabling, and puts profit before lives, including of the people it disables.
2 September 2020
Manctopia: billion pound property boom
Manctopia is a four-part documentary about housing in Manchester, filmed over the course of one year
2 September 2020
West Midlands journalists strike against pay and job cuts
It's "nepotism not journalism" said one picket. The Bullivant Media National Union of Journalists (NUJ) chapel (branch) were out on their first ever strike on 25-26 August, opposing compulsory redundancies,
2 September 2020
Nottingham: Socialists and anti-racists oppose right-wing march
Around 300 trade unionists, socialists, anti-racists and anti-fascists mobilised for the local trade union council counter-protest to oppose a right-wing march into Nottingham city centre on 22 August
2 September 2020
B&Q worker reinstated: Organised response successfully challenges unfair dismissal
After months of struggling with Covid-19, a worker at B&Q was greeted upon her return to work with a disciplinary, followed by dismissal, for failing to follow absence procedures
2 September 2020
Support Ikea workers - reinstate Richie Venton
Glasgow Ikea worker, trade union rep and Usdaw executive committee member Richie Venton has been sacked for opposing the company's sick pay policy of removing wages from those forced to self-isolate with Covid-19, putting them on the measly £95 a week statutory sick pay instead
2 September 2020
London bus drivers poised for strike action
The Unite union is in the process of preparing to formally ballot all its bus drivers employed by Singapore-owned Metroline in a dispute over 'remote signing on'.
2 September 2020
Staines Socialist Party members are seen by many as the 'go to' people on issues like fighting cuts in local services, and campaigns against racism and discrimination, such as Black Lives Matter (BLM)
2 September 2020
Scrap hospital parking charges
When Coventry Socialist Party was campaigning to scrap hospital parking charges, NHS workers told us how much they had to pay - £40 a month to park at their own workplace, with no guarantee of a space
2 September 2020
No to polluting incinerator, dumped in working-class Edmonton
A plan to build a giant new waste incinerator in Edmonton Green would produce health-threatening air pollution across north London and Essex. The current incinerator is coming to the end of its life
2 September 2020
Trotsky online rally - watched across the world
Over 6,000 people have watched our rally - Leon Trotsky: Why couldn't his idea be killed? - commemorating the 80th anniversary of his assassination. It was organised by the Committee for a Workers' International
2 September 2020
Liverpool: Support 15% pay rise for NHS
There was a bold, lively demo in front of Aintree hospital on 26 August. It's great that NHS staff have taken a bold step and are continuing with action for a 15% pay rise.
2 September 2020
Black Lives Matter: Fighting injustice, fighting for our rights
Protesters marched in Cardiff on 30 August, part of the wave of international solidarity for Jacob Blake after he was shot in the back by police in Wisconsin.
2 September 2020
Fundraising: An example to follow
I just collected the latest membership subs payment off Vi John from Maesteg, south Wales. £447 raised in four months during lockdown.
2 September 2020
The Socialist Party condemns the decision by Lincoln council to cut support for Drill Hall. The Labour-controlled council voted to fully end funding, after years of cuts, placing the service in jeopardy
2 September 2020
No one could watch this five-part documentary series about the Iraq war and come away with the feeling that the war was anything but a catastrophe for the people of Iraq, the Middle East and humanity as a whole.
2 September 2020
Mass protests in Israel demand Netanyahu's resignation
Every weekend evening, in Israel's biggest protest movement since 2011, angry protesters have besieged the official residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding his resignation
2 September 2020
Tory schools chaos - Unions must fight for safety
Schools and colleges have returned with bulging classrooms of over 30 and packed corridors of 100 students, just separated with yellow tape.
2 September 2020
Fight racism, Trump and capitalism
Angry young people poured onto the streets of US cities following the police shooting of unarmed black man Jacob Blake in Wisconsin
2 September 2020
Tate strike: "Coronavirus - no reason to fire us!"
Striking Tate workers in the PCS union have moved into indefinite action
2 September 2020
Between February and June 2020 the number of claims for Universal Credit doubled
8 September 2020
Fight the schools Covid crisis
Schools have gone back overcrowded and under-resourced, with more infections reported daily.
8 September 2020
The 2020 TUC congress takes place at perhaps the most critical time facing workers since the second world war, meeting six months after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the UK into lockdown
9 September 2020
Jobs, training, pay, we want a future!
Covid has had a devastating impact on global capitalism and exposed the system's flaws
9 September 2020
NSSN rally: Workers must not pay the price of Covid
"TUC congress has never been more important. Workers are fighting for our lives and livelihoods. We need workers' control over workplaces to make sure that they are safe. And increasingly, we are fighting
9 September 2020
Callous Tories threaten not to uprate the minimum wage
'We're all in it together' chirped Boris Johnson at the start of lockdown - which is presumably why he's considering not uprating the paltry minimum wage next April, because the bosses say they can't afford it
9 September 2020
As the Tory government opens up schools and workplaces to benefit employers, Covid-19 infections are spiralling upwards.
9 September 2020
Caerphilly lockdown puts profits before safety
The Welsh government has imposed a lockdown on Caerphilly county as the number of confirmed cases of cases of Covid-19 has risen above 50 per 100,000
9 September 2020
XR blockade: Don't let the Tories criminalise protest
The billionaire-owned UK newspapers, along with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, decried the blockade by Extinction Rebellion (XR) environmental activists outside a number of printing presses last weekend
9 September 2020
Video game developer attacks Black Lives Matter
Just two months ago, French video game giant Ubisoft joined the hollow chorus of corporations exclaiming that black lives matter
9 September 2020
Grenfell fire inquiry stops victims attending
Grenfell Tower residents have been denied the right to attend the restarting inquiry into the causes of the June 2017 fire which resulted in 72 deaths
9 September 2020
Nottingham City Council: The (mis)adventures of Robin Hood Energy
The 'not-for-profit' energy company set up by Nottingham's Labour council has collapsed with the loss of 250 jobs
9 September 2020
Covid-19 pandemic increases financial pressures on Welsh local government
A report from the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) finance subgroup paints a bleak picture for the future of local government and the important services it provides in Wales.
9 September 2020
Trade unionists will be outraged by the dismissal of Tony Smith at an FCC company disciplinary hearing. His appeal hearing is on 15 September.
9 September 2020
Fight Amazon's anti-union spies
Amazon is spying on its 'flex' drivers in dozens of Facebook groups in the US, the UK, and Spain, according to the Vice Media Group. Flex drivers are the workers who deliver the items to your door.
9 September 2020
Ireland: Debenham's workers occupy stores
Debenham's workers in Ireland occupied the Dublin (above) and Cork stores in protest at the derisory redundancy settlement offered.
9 September 2020
Trade unionists held a solidarity demo outside of Ikea Braehead in Glasgow, demanding the reinstatement of sacked Usdaw rep Richie Venton, and the reinstatement of sick workers' wages.
9 September 2020
A critical election for Unison general secretary
The Covid pandemic has exposed what decades of underfunding, cuts and privatisation have done to our public services
9 September 2020
Dover: Solidarity with refugees - applause and cheers for socialist ideas to unite working class
Trade unionists, anti-racism and refugee rights campaigners rallied in Market Square on 5 September in Dover to show solidarity with refugees, fleeing war and persecution, who have faced vile racist abuse from Tories and the far right in recent weeks
9 September 2020
Big push to hit finance target
Socialist Party campaigns on the streets of England and Wales, on safety in schools, welfare payments after coronavirus, and defending the NHS, have met with enthusiastic support.
9 September 2020
Strike wave marks new stage in revival of Iranian workers' movement
Since the beginning of August, Iran has seen more and more workers from different sectors follow the example of the Haft Tappeh sugar cane workers who went on strike on 14 June
9 September 2020
Belarus: Mass opposition continues to defy repression by Lukashenko's regime
For the fourth Sunday in succession there were mass protests. Up to 100,000 people poured onto the streets of Minsk
9 September 2020
U-turn Tories' splits are growing
Fissures have reopened between the Tory party's wings and could quickly become chasms
9 September 2020
Safety overridden in drive to bolster the economy
Even as cases of Covid-19 infections are rising dramatically, the Tories are desperately trying to get workers back to their workplaces and spending money in city centres.
9 September 2020
BLM: Socialist alternative to racist capitalism
Black Lives Matter (BLM) held a demo in Newport calling for justice for Jacob Blake, shot seven times in the back by police in Wisconsin, and Mercy Baguma, a Ugandan asylum seeker who was found dead in her Glasgow flat alongside her one-year-old malnourished son.
9 September 2020
TUSC to stand in elections again against pro-austerity politicians
Starting in the contests scheduled for next May.
16 September 2020
Two weeks to donate: we need your help
We need to raise £2,750 a week to hit our new target by 1 October. With government credibility crumbling, a socialist voice is needed.
16 September 2020
Nigerian police repress peaceful anti-government protest
On 10 September, Nigerian police arrested members of the Socialist Party of Nigeria and journalists.
16 September 2020
Our lives and livelihoods at stake
Covid testing chaos, mass job losses: Fight for safety, and 'work or full pay'!
16 September 2020
Sketch: The rule of six - some guidance from your government
"As a guideline, if you aren't at school or work, then any breach of the rule will kill your gran"
16 September 2020
Johnson's brinkmanship over EU deal deepens capitalist splits
Johnson is under pressure from the two wings of his own party as well as the capitalist class
16 September 2020
Blame politicians, not workers and young people
Covid-19 lockdown in Birmingham: Low-paid workers are forced into work and overcrowded housing
16 September 2020
'Covid marshalls' must be accountable to communities
They could be used to harass socially distanced protests and campaigns
16 September 2020
Coronavirus news in brief: bosses' pandemic profit bonanza, privatised testing and treatment fiasco
16 September 2020
PCS members in DWP reject unsafe extension of hours
77% of PCS union members have voted in favour of industrial action in a consultative ballot
16 September 2020
Ireland: Debenham's occupier speaks out
We were arrested, held in individual cells, and then released
16 September 2020
London bus drivers begin strike ballot over remote sign-on dispute
There is no benefit to passengers, and remote sign-on could well disrupt services
16 September 2020
Tate workers on indefinite strike hold march and rally
PCS union members marched alongside other arts and culture workers against job losses in the sector
16 September 2020
Sacked Unison rep Tony Smith in Hull has attended his appeal hearing, accompanied by supporters
16 September 2020
Hundreds of trade unionists have signed an open letter to Ikea demanding sacked Usdaw union rep Richie Venton be reinstated
16 September 2020
Angry health workers demand 15% now!
'Mobilise the members for national industrial action': Furiours NHS workers organised local demos for a pay rise
16 September 2020
Covid and the third sector: for public planning, not charity stopgaps
The government has shown the potential for a coordinated, fully funded, public effort - but refused to deliver it
16 September 2020
Capitalist profit and the race to develop a vaccine
The pharmaceutical industry needs to be in public ownership and democratically planned to meet the needs of the world's population
16 September 2020
NHS workers: "We deserve a fair wage" - 15% now!
"Claps don't pay the bills and our pay deal is a farce. Stand with us and fight for 15%."
16 September 2020
Egypt: Support for al-Sisi dwindles as his regime increases repression
Popular support for Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's dictatorial regime is vanishing
16 September 2020
Non-fiction: Left Out - the inside story of Labour under Corbyn
Retreat and hesitation could not beat the relentless right wing
16 September 2020
Coventry: scrap 'profit before people' hospital parking charges
The Coventry Socialist Party campaign to scrap hospital parking charges continues
16 September 2020
Covid generation says 'fund our future'
As part of the Young Socialists national day of action, we brought an open letter onto the streets
16 September 2020
Why I joined the Socialist Party: Tories and Blairites only care about corporate greed
I joined the Socialist Party following the class battle in Labour between left and right
16 September 2020
Just some of the events where the Socialist newspaper was sold in the past week...
17 September 2020
Britain's fragile Covid equilibrium is coming to an end
It is now over six months since the World Health Organisation declared the Covid-19 outbreak to be a global pandemic, and two weeks later, that Britain went into lockdown.
23 September 2020
Johnson's schools social-distancing lie
In a big PR exercise designed to reassure us that it was safe for schools to reopen, Boris Johnson visited Castle Rock High School in Coalville, Leicestershire
23 September 2020
'FinCEN Files' expose rampant financial corruption: nationalise the banks!
The intimate connections between organised crime, high finance and the capitalist state have been exposed
23 September 2020
The Times and the Mail report the prime minister is "subdued" and "moody," due to struggling for money
23 September 2020
Cardiff's council-owned bus operator is threatening to axe 20% of workers. Cardiff Bus has told staff it "will need to dismiss as redundant at least 130 members of staff across the entire workforce"
23 September 2020
Dispatches from the front - chaotic schools are not safe!
Two weeks in and we are already down from seven year groups to four because of whole year groups having to isolate after confirmed cases
23 September 2020
Liverpool Council must save care homes
Politicians, speaking at the protest to stop the closure of two care homes in Liverpool, made false promises to silence families and lessen anger on 21 September.
23 September 2020
Sussex: Hands off Peacehaven schools
Parents in the town of Peacehaven, on the Sussex coast, have relaunched their campaign to save their primary schools from academy privatisation.
23 September 2020
Fighting fund: One week to raise £3,444
"Thank you for your articles - the voice of sanity in all this chaos" writes an anonymous donor, sending the Socialist Party £20 after reading the Socialist newspaper.
23 September 2020
Why we joined the Socialist Party
Why I became and remain a socialist: In the early 1950s, I joined a trade union. Although I didn't realise it, like a lot of youth today, I was thinking along socialist lines before that.
23 September 2020
TV: The English Game - how the working class made football the people's game
The English Game tells the story of how football was transformed in the 19th century. It was revolutionised from the Southern-dominated amateur, public school sport, dominated by individualistic, dribbling
23 September 2020
Send your news, views and criticism, in not more than 150 words, to editors@socialistparty.org.uk - or if you're not online, PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT
23 September 2020
Thailand: Youth rising against hated junta
Protest leaders call for general strike on 14 October: Since the beginning of this year, Thailand has witnessed the rising up of young people and students, who have launched massive pro-democracy protests in several major cities, colleges, and universities.
23 September 2020
To the surprise of absolutely no one, given the disastrous Tory record so far, we face a new Covid peak this autumn. And Johnson's amendments to the Covid laws solve none of the threats to our lives and livelihoods.
23 September 2020
As we head into a second Covid wave, NHS workers need a pay rise and more resources to cope.
23 September 2020
North East lockdown: simmering anger at Tory incompetence
Around two million people have coronavirus restrictions imposed.
23 September 2020
University workers and students must unite in a fight for safety
23 September 2020
Testing shambles: unions must fight back
The government claims that testing for key workers in the NHS, care and schools is provided.
23 September 2020
A day in the life of a salon worker
I work in a salon in Cardiff. It was bad before the pandemic began, and some employers are using the crisis to either drag more work out of their staff for little to no more rewards, or to cut hours, cut
23 September 2020
Coventry: Socialist Students is back
At Coventry University, we talked to students angry about the crisis gripping universities.
23 September 2020
The Socialist: More than a newspaper
I was delivering copies of our paper to subscribers on 17 September. I share bits from the Socialist a lot on Facebook, but with good reason.
23 September 2020
Extend eviction ban! Cap rents! Build council homes!
The six-month eviction ban has come to an end. Hundreds of thousands of people could now be threatened with eviction. The Social Housing Action Campaign (Shac) participated in a protest in London on 16
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