The Socialist 21 July 2009

Defend every job

Corus... Vestas... Defend every job!

Vestas: Support the occupation

Vestas jobs fightback

Action to save steel jobs at Corus

Defend the Four: Protest at the Unison witch-hunt

Unison witch-hunt verdict causes outrage amongst trade unionists

Youth fight for jobs fortnight of action

National strike action to halt attacks on workers and our postal services

Tube workers' action wins concessions

South Yorkshire First Buses strike over pay

London Met Uni strike

Every little helps Tesco's as they attack workers

Teachers strike against job cuts

Care homes public meeting

Union action to fight the attacks on our pensions

Pensions - in brief

Pensions: We say

BNP get police to arrest socialists

Lincoln fights back against racist BNP

Stop the BNP's 'festival' of hate

Rock Against Racism

Keep Deptford Jobcentre open!

Build the Tamil Solidarity campaign

Devon residents against incinerators: Alternative waste schemes needed

Another stepping stone towards health privatisation

20th anniversary of Soviet miners' strike

40th anniversary of the moon landing What steps has humanity taken?

Previous issues, etc

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London Met Uni strike

Support and admin staff, technicians and lecturers organised a solid strike at London Met University on 14 July against massive cuts. Dozens of people from all departments are threatened with losing their jobs by the end of this month.

Naomi Byron

A library worker said: "Everyone in the library is on strike except top management.

"The cuts are a disaster for students - many of their courses will no longer be available, even ones they've already signed up for. There is talk of reducing the number of libraries to two, but this will lead to job cuts and a much poorer service for students.

"Most of the buildings students study in have a library, but if this happens they will have to go to Holloway Road or Calcutta House."

London Met is scattered over a large number of sites on two different campuses - students could face a long journey from where they normally study just to get to a library if the local ones are shut down.

London Met is not run by putting education first, but as a business, with the same disregard for both staff and "customer service", ie the education students receive.

A striking worker told me: "A lot of the media staff have worked here for more than 30 years, they've given a lot of their lives to the university, they have families and financial commitments, and they are just being cast on the scrapheap.

"There's no need for cuts - what are the contingency funds for? Why doesn't the government step in to help education in the way they stepped in to help banks?

"This university specialises in providing education for people who were not from traditional backgrounds who attend university - older people, students with families and in more difficult circumstances. Rather than punish them the rules should be relaxed."

In this issue

Corus... Vestas... Defend every job!