| The Socialist 20 April 2001 |
Fight The Job Cuts Avalanche |
| Fight The Job Cuts Avalanche | FOLLOWING THE pattern of closures and job losses across Britain, Scottish electronics has been faced with a series of blows in the last fortnight. First of all Compaq announced 700 job losses at its plant in Erskine. This was followed by the devastating news of the possible closure by the US multinational Motorola of its West Lothian mobile phone plant. Harvey Duke, Scottish Socialist Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Dundee East |
| Climbdown On Childcare Charges | Socialist councillors force Climbdown On Childcare Charges: COVENTRY LABOUR council have had to withdraw proposals to increase 'Wraparound' charges by 76% for low-income families. 'Wraparound' is the scheme of after-school care provided by the city council. |
| New Labour's menacing Zero Tolerance | What we think: A SPRING chorus of police chiefs and Home Office spokespersons are menacingly claiming this year's May Day anti-capitalist protests will be met with Zero Tolerance. An orchestrated media offensive warns of how the police will clamp down upon any dissent. |
| Growing anger at racism |
Huddersfield: A MOOD of anger and disbelief gripped Huddersfield's Asian
community following the acquittal of Mohammed Asghar's killer at Bradford
Crown Court three weeks ago.
Mohammed was knifed to death outside his restaurant following weeks of racist abuse. His killer, Jonathan Fairbank, had actually returned with a six-inch knife following another night of racist taunts and plunged it into Mohammed's chest killing him almost instantly. |
| Manic Street Preachers: Review | Preaching revolution or rhetoric? Manic Street Preachers: 'Know your enemy' and live at Cardiff Coal Exchange March 2001, reviewed by SARAH MAYO. STUNG BY accusations of selling out with their 1998 album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, the Manics have very consciously embarked on a new radicalised era, musically and politically. Know Your Enemy is an ambitious, eclectic record which wears the Manics' much-vaunted 'socialism' on its sleeves, so to speak. |
| Cuba At A Crossroads | ONE OF the consequences of the worldwide revolt against global capitalism, is the newfound popularity of Cuba. Tourists attracted to Cuba in their millions in the 1990s, and offering a lifeline to the Cuban economy, are now followed by Western rock groups, such as the Welsh band the Manic Street Preachers. Socialist Party general secretary PETER TAAFFE looks at the recent development of Cuban society: |
| Socialist Party fights right-wing smear campaign |
SOCIALIST PARTY general election candidate Wally Kennedy has become the
victim of a disgraceful smear campaign. It is led by right-wing members of
the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU).
Wally is himself a member of the TGWU and, since he has announced he is standing against local Hayes and Harlington Labour MP John McDonnell, a small unrepresentative group in the union have been attempting to sling mud on Wally's record in the union. |
| Reinstate Martin Warsama | AFTER FIVE months of delay, Doncaster UNISON branch secretary Martin Warsama's disciplinary hearing has been organised for 2 May. Mike Forster. Martin is facing three separate charges, two to do with alleged leaks to the local press concerning one of his clients when he was a social worker. |
| NUT conference: For real unity through action | THE CONFERENCE of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) met at a crucial time for teachers. As well as conditions of service and salaries, the main issues concerning rank and file teachers were performance-related pay (PRP) and performance management. Bill Mullins, Socialist Party industrial organiser |
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FOLLOWING THE pattern of closures and job losses across Britain, Scottish electronics has been faced with a series of blows in the last fortnight. First of all Compaq announced 700 job losses at its plant in Erskine. This was followed by the devastating news of the possible closure by the US multinational Motorola of its West Lothian mobile phone plant.
Harvey Duke, Scottish Socialist Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Dundee East
Fear and anger spread amongst 3,200 families in Bathgate, West Lothian, when Motorola failed to deny their plant would close.
The price of shares in Motorola fell dramatically on 6 April, a few days before the closure news hit the media. Rumours spread that Motorola, which manufactures chips for PCs, semi-conductors and mobile phones, had a financial crisis.
Hit by a drastic drop in sales, they were heading for their first quarterly loss in 16 years. In the first three months of 2001, Motorola faced a loss of £140 million compared to a profit of £338 million for the same period last year.
There is an eerie similarity between the Motorola closure and the loss of thousands of jobs at the Corus steel plants in Wales and England.
As soon as the Motorola closure was rumoured in the press, the share price recovered. Exactly the same happened when the Corus job losses were announced.
Both closures are evidence of the US recession spreading internationally. This week an avalanche of job losses were announced in the hi-tech sector worldwide: 7,500 at Philips, 8,500 at Cisco and 2,000 at Texas Instruments.
Workers at Motorola were deliberately left in the dark. "There are a lot of young people with families and mortgages and they are left hanging not knowing if they have a job", said one.
Demonstrations in support of the Bathgate workers, linking up the struggle with those plants facing the axe by Motorola internationally would get a big echo.
A workers' plan of production based on need not profit is necessary as an alternative to the chaos of the capitalist market, which is destroying jobs and communities across Scotland and internationally.
THE LAST time Bathgate workers faced this scale of job cuts was in the 1980s when British Leyland pulled out, putting 6,000 on the dole. With the additional loss of the mines, unemployment rocketed to 25% at that time. Now with unemployment at 4%, it looks like a return to the darkest days of the 1980s, unless a big fightback can be mobilised.
Bill Spiers, Scottish TUC general Secretary, describes Motorola as a "classic example of a company where workers are denied union representation, and told their fate by the media."
Tony Blair had a 15-minute phone call with the company president, allegedly stalling the closure. Scottish Executive minister Wendy Alexander claimed to have pushed her way into the company's Chicago HQ to demand a meeting.
New Labour are terrified that this closure would damage their electoral prospects. In an act of insensitive bad timing, New Labour are to give an MBE to Motorola's British chairman for services to British industry.
Thousands of workers would rally to a campaign to save the plant. Internationally Motorola announced 22,000 job losses in March. A further 3,500 workers in Scotland work for Motorola either in phone assembly or semi-conductor production at East Kilbride and South Queensferry. These jobs could well be next on the hit list, as Motorola profits are squeezed by the developing world recession. Across the globe there is an over-capacity of phones and a crisis in semi-conductors. It is the workers who will be made to pay for this crisis unless a fightback is organised.
So far, the unions have given no lead. The STUC and the engineering union AEEU have called for a 'task force' to save jobs in the Silicon Glen. New Labour, the Scottish Nationalists and the Tories will go along with this approach.
Socialists should call for a programme of action by the working class to fight this jobs slaughter.
We call for the nationalisation of Motorola and all other firms threatening redundancies, under democratic working class control and management.
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COVENTRY LABOUR council have had to withdraw proposals to increase 'Wraparound' charges by 76% for low-income families. 'Wraparound' is the scheme of after-school care provided by the city council.
Like many other Labour councils throughout Britain they are making a mockery of pledges to bring in improved, extra childcare. They are using the fact that low-income families are supposedly receiving extra cash from Working Families Tax Credit as a justification for massive increases in charges.
As has been the case with other Labour promises on education, the spin is far removed from the substance. New Labour government minister Margaret Hodge pledged to create 1.4 million new child care places for young children.
Yet, under the guise of introducing new, improved after-school childcare services, Labour councils - such as in Hammersmith and Camden amongst others - have in reality proposed cuts and increased charges which provoked huge opposition campaigns amongst parents and staff.
Similarly, Coventry council were proposing to increase charges by 76% but were forced to withdraw them for 'further consideration' after fierce and detailed criticism from Socialist Party councillor Dave Nellist.
Dave, a councillor for St Michael's and leader of the Socialist Group, pointed out how the increased charges would hit low-income families hardest of all, despite the council's spin on the issue.
The Labour council Cabinet member for Education had proposed that the overall hourly charges rise by 10%. He also wanted to move families which receive Childcare Tax Credit from the current position of paying a reduced fee of 85p per hour to the full rate of £1.50 per hour.
Dave Nellist said the council was trying to justify the "huge leap in charges by selective examples which only told part of the story" and exposed as "simply not true" the council's claims that the new rates would still leave a low-income family £6.99 a week better off than before the introduction of Labour's Working Family Tax Credit.
Dave added: "Even under the last Tory government, families paying for after school care had increased entitlement to Family Credit, the forerunner to Working Family Tax Credit. The council's proposed rise to £1.50 an hour would be a straight 76% rise in charges for low-income families. They'd be worse off, not better off."
Dave Nellist wants the council to go further than simply withdrawing and reviewing its proposals. He said: "I believe charges should be frozen and the council should lobby the government for sufficient extra funds to both expand Wraparound and all after-school clubs, so that they can be provided free of charge."
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A SPRING chorus of police chiefs and Home Office spokespersons are menacingly claiming this year's May Day anti-capitalist protests will be met with Zero Tolerance. An orchestrated media offensive warns of how the police will clamp down upon any dissent.
In previous years the police have been frustrated by their inability, despite their savage repression, to catch the alleged ringleaders of the anti-capitalist protests. Nor have they been able to contain small sections of demonstrators, who have caused massive damage against targets in the heart of the capitalist class's City of London.
So, the police's sabre rattling this year is a concerted attempt to decrease the turnout for the anti-capitalist May Day Monopoly - hoping they can more easily contain events.
Blair and Straw don't want big anti-capitalist protests in the run-up to the election and are putting the squeeze on police chiefs to clamp down. Police chiefs who don't enforce strict control could face the sack, according to one report.
This year, like previous years, even though Jack Straw has given them added powers to conduct Big Brother-style operations, the police still fear they will be humiliated.
The media hype and the government's involvement bears out something The Socialist has warned about, that New Labour is an intolerant, authoritarian government prepared to use a wide range of repressive laws to stifle dissent.
These laws will not just be used against sections of the anti-capitalist movement. They also pose a threat to the labour movement and all those who protest against the 'free-market', neo-liberal policies of New Labour and other similar governments internationally.
This weekend there will be big demonstrations in Canada outside the Summit of the Americas gathering. Protests against various gatherings of world leaders are planned by anti-capitalist movements throughout the spring and summer.
Anti-capitalist protests have represented the beginnings of a new generation getting politicised and active. Last year's May Day events involved thousands of young people and many more enthusiastically supported their protests.
The capitalists and politicians alike fear that such protests will keep growing. Sections of the ruling class fear even more that the working class could take action and strike real blows against capitalism's interests, as disenchantment with New Labour and big business grows.
We also argued there were lessons to be drawn from last year's May Day anti-capitalist protest - about the role of the police and the state and how capitalism can be effectively challenged.
The press furore after last year's demonstration and the police's unsubtle warnings in the run-up to this year's demonstration, again raises questions about how such protests should now be organised.
We argue that it's now more necessary for organised demonstrations and stewarding to make it harder for the police to attack protesters.
Understandably, given the mistrust of the right-wing leadership of the Labour and trade union movement, there is an extreme scepticism about organisation and structures among many young activists. A fear exists that any 'organisation' will lead to bureaucracy.
Yet, it is a myth that any demonstration takes place entirely spontaneously. One of the most successful anti-capitalist demonstrations was at S30 last year in Melbourne.
There, the labour movement helped to ensure organised and democratically elected stewarding, which enabled the demonstration to be capably defended from attack.
Forcing concessions from capitalism, and ultimately replacing it with a new system will come up against the state's opposition. The capitalists possess a highly organised state that is willing to use force against its opponents.
Fundamental change can only be effectively won by anti-capitalist groups linking up with properly organised, mass working-class movements. The anti-capitalist movement could play a valuable role in helping build new mass organisations of the working class opposed to New Labour and the rule of big business.
Such an organised mass struggle could help popularise anti-capitalist ideas, rebuild the traditions of May Day as an international workers' day of revolt against capitalism, and put a real socialist alternative to end the scourge that is the global capitalist system.
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A MOOD of anger and disbelief gripped Huddersfield's Asian community following the acquittal of Mohammed Asghar's killer at Bradford Crown Court three weeks ago.
Mohammed was knifed to death outside his restaurant following weeks of racist abuse. His killer, Jonathan Fairbank, had actually returned with a six-inch knife following another night of racist taunts and plunged it into Mohammed's chest killing him almost instantly.
Incredibly, the jury was directed to regard this as self-defence by the overtly racist judge in the case.
His biased summing-up amazed even Fairbank's own solicitor who was convinced his client was going to jail.
The jury was selected from the Bradford area, but there wasn't a single representative of the black or Asian community. Instead an all-white jury allowed Fairbank to walk free.
Two weeks later, another reactionary judge ruled that the trial of Leeds footballers Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate couldn't continue in Hull because there was no evidence that this was a racist attack! Little wonder Britain's justice system retains little credibility with such double standards.
This latest miscarriage of justice is being challenged.
There have already been three demonstrations against the court's decision, two in Huddersfield and one outside the Crown Court in Bradford. Each time 100-200 people have come together to vent their anger.
The Crown Court protest was significant because of the big involvement of Asian women who at one point tried to rush the court building, but also because of the massive police presence.
Horses, dogs, and at one stage a police helicopter were engaged to police a peaceful demo of about 150 people.
The family, advised by lawyer Imran Khan, will push for a judicial inquiry. Petitions are already circulating and getting a marvellous response. All sections of the community, Black, White and Asian are united in their reaction to this outrage.
A public meeting is planned for 21 April where it is hoped to launch a national campaign and to stage another demonstration, this time on 5 May. There has been a very encouraging response to Socialist Alliance and Socialist Party involvement in the campaign, which will help to cement unity in the struggle to secure justice for Mohammed Asghar.
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Manic Street Preachers: 'Know your enemy' and live at Cardiff Coal Exchange March 2001, reviewed by SARAH MAYO.
STUNG BY accusations of selling out with their 1998 album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, the Manics have very consciously embarked on a new radicalised era, musically and politically.
Know Your Enemy is an ambitious, eclectic record which wears the Manics' much-vaunted 'socialism' on its sleeves, so to speak.
The album veers from edgy, abrasive punk rock (Found That Soul and Intravenous Agnostic), glittering, swirling disco (Miss Europa Disco Dancer) to the warmer REM- like tones of Let Robeson Sing.
The album bursts open with the charged metal assault of Found That Soul - the soul misplaced somewhere between all those Brit awards and stadium tours.
The Manics attempt to recapture the creativity previously fueled by indignant anger, despair and frustration. But now the Manics are so entrenched in the mainstream, can they 'keep it real'?
They do their best on Know Your Enemy, a great but flawed record. And in rhetoric at least the Manics reaffirm their revolutionary politics.
THEIR FUTURE single Let Robeson Sing is a tribute to actor and activist Paul Robeson, a victim of the McCarthy witch hunts in 1950s USA. Inspired by Robeson, the Manics wonder: "Can anyone make a difference anymore?/ Can anyone write a protest song?"
Well they can but they should be careful. A major theme of Know Your Enemy is Cuba.
The Manics celebrate the Castro regime, not because it's above criticism but as one of the few places on earth that's largely managed to actively resist American Imperialism.
In interviews the Manics acknowledge the Castro regime's limitations - its lack of democracy, its dubious human rights record, its past treatment of gays and the poverty that still exists in Cuba, to give a few examples.
However, on record, Castro and his ruling elite are treated largely uncritically. Baby Elian dissects the custody battle between Elian Gonzales' father and his US relatives in a decidedly rose-tinted way.
Lyrics like "You cannot buy a nation/ not even the Miami mob/We follow a shining path/ that you will never destroy" sound like Nicky Wire has been appointed as Cuban propaganda minister.
This is, at best, an odd line to take from a band who always stressed their depth of political knowledge.
Meanwhile their recent intimate gig in Cardiff was a triumph for the Manics. Singer James and Nicky were in their element, while Sean pounded away on drums, delivering an often impassioned performance.
The gig was mostly a launch pad for Know Your Enemy although the 'older' songs were best received by an eager crowd.
Motorcycle Emptiness was steeped in raw beauty and melancholy while Ocean Spray - James' tribute to his late mother - was understated and affirmative.
The gig was brilliant yet nagging doubts remained about how genuine the Manics' revolutionary politics are.
Backstage Nicky told us that he's a 'situationist socialist', without elaborating what he meant by this. (The situationists were a Paris-based group of radical intellectuals that rejected 'old' left-wing ideas).
Nicky, though, defended New Labour (an ally of the USA) on the spurious basis that they're "better than the Tories". This hardly tallies with Know Your Enemy's revolutionary rhetoric.
The Manics' politics are at best confused and inconsistent. However, because they still recognise the revolutionary potential of music they can still be celebrated.
See also feature on Cuba, below
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| ONE OF the consequences of the worldwide revolt against global capitalism, is the newfound popularity of Cuba. Tourists attracted to Cuba in their millions in the 1990s, and offering a lifeline to the Cuban economy, are now followed by Western rock groups, such as the Welsh band the Manic Street Preachers. Socialist Party general secretary PETER TAAFFE looks at the recent development of Cuban society: |
THE MANICS - who have put the Cuban flag on the sleeve of their recent hit record Masses Against the Classes - received widespread publicity in Cuba and in Britain during their recent visit to the island.
Contrasting Cuba to their native South Wales, one of the band, Nicky Wire, declared: "What about the human rights of the 5,000 people who lost their jobs in South Wales last week... who are now having to work in call centres? No one talks about that. [Cuba] may be imperfect," he says, "but Cuba is the nearest thing we have on the planet to a true socialist state... it has higher literacy levels than the UK. There is a decent health service available to all and the average life expectancy is 76, which is higher than in the US."
Fidel Castro recently tapped into this mood by declaring that he is now a "Lennonist", as he unveiled a statue to John Lennon in Havana. The head of the Cuban writers association has stretched the truth somewhat, however, in declaring: "The tenets of our Cuban Revolution match the beliefs of John Lennon". Nevertheless, the stance of the Manic Street Preachers does illustrate the growing rage amongst young people in particular against neo-liberal policies.
As we have documented elsewhere, especially in the book Cuba Socialism and Democracy, there is much in Cuba which contrasts favourably with the situation in the capitalist world.
Before the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the average life expectancy of men was 48 and 54 for women. Now male expectancy is 74 - the same as in the UK - and for women it is 76 (79 in the UK). Infant mortality is 7.1 per 100,000 births, which is not much higher than Britain's.
THE ADVANTAGES of a planned economy, even in the poor besieged fortress which Cuba is today, are undoubtedly shown in welfare. Officials from the Department of Health in Britain, together with 100 General Practitioners, recently visited Cuba and were astonished at what they saw.
Healthcare expenditure is £750 a head in Britain, whereas in Cuba it is £7. Cuba has 7,000 GPs, the same number as Britain, but with a fifth of the population. There is one family doctor for every 500 to 700 people in Cuba, compared to 1,800 to 2,000 here.
These and similar achievements in housing and education have been in the teeth of the economic vice which US imperialism has used against the Cuban economy, particularly in the precarious 1990s.
This, together with the spiteful withdrawal of the huge subsidies from the former USSR, which previously underwrote the Cuban economy, struck a savage blow against Cuba's economy and the living standards of its people.
The country's fate hung by a thread in the early 1990s, with a drop of 13.7% in the economy in 1993. Cuba has since managed to painfully crawl out of the abyss and now it has one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America - growing by 6.2% in 1999 and 5.5% per cent in 2000.
Having a planned economy still has big advantages over a so-called 'free market' capitalist one. This is despite the drawbacks of Cuba's inefficient bureaucratic one-party system of government, with power concentrated in the hands of an elite in the Cuban 'Communist' Party.
However, it has also been boosted by tourism, which has grown massively in recent years bringing in excess of $2.2 billion of revenue to the Cuban government. The estimated $3 billion annual remittances from Cuban exiles, which are received by about two million of Cuba's eleven million population, has also buoyed up the Cuban economy.
The Castro government was compelled to retreat in the 1990s with the introduction of partial 'dollarisation' and the opening to the market through both foreign capital and small-scale industry. This has some parallels with the introduction of the New Economic Policy in Russia in 1921-22.
Since the green light was given to foreign capital in 1995, 370 'mixed enterprises' - partnerships between outside investors and the Cuban government - have been formed. European capitalism, particularly Spanish capitalism, has been the main investor.
This roughly translates into foreign investment of over $4 billion. This has generally benefited the Cuban economy and helped compensate for the disappointing sugar crop of just under four million tonnes, the lowest in 50 years.
Cuba is still dependent on foreign oil imports and has been prey, like much of the neo-colonial world, to the vagaries of oil price on world markets.
In 1999, it owed more than $300 million to oil 'providers'. However, some salvation was at hand as a result of the radicalisation in Venezuela, which brought to power the Hugo Chavez regime.
Following Castro's visit to Venezuela in October 2000, Chavez agreed to supply Cuba with crude oil to the equivalent of about one-third of domestic consumption over a five year period, at an average price of $25 a barrel. Moreover, repayment by Cuba - unlike other deals which Venezuela has cut with neighbouring countries in Central America and the Caribbean - will be in bartered goods and services.
But, the economic concessions that the Cuban government has made have, particularly through 'dollarisation', opened the pores through which elements of capitalism have developed. The number of small businesses and legally 'self-employed workers' has mushroomed.
A parallel economy has also developed in dollars, to which the government has been compelled to turn a blind eye. The average monthly wage is 232 Cuban pesos ($11). This is not enough to cover the basic needs of the average Cuban worker or family.
Those in the 'informal sector', reliant on tourism, linked to the 'mixed enterprises', can not only get by but also live relatively well. According to the Chicago Tribune (28 January 2001), "bell boys are better paid than surgeons".
This inevitably undermines the very supporters of the regime, who are the majority, who work largely in the official sector and are paid in pesos. In order to make ends meet they are inevitably compelled to 'moonlight' in the black economy, working two or more jobs.
DESPITE THE iron grip exercised over information by the state, enough accounts come out of Cuba to show the contradictory mood of the population. There is undoubtedly still mass support for the gains of the Revolution but a growing discontent is also evident with the continued shortages.
The crisis in transport, for instance, has led to a black market for spare parts for state-owned buses and taxis.
One taxi driver declared: "If we don't buy the parts, we cannot work... my family has to eat... I haven't worked for two months because the engine in my vehicle needed a part worth 10 pesos. Yet to solve the problem I had to pay $10".
This contrasts with a recent case of a provincial chief from the Interior Ministry who was found using prison labour to build a house for himself.
Prostitution, commonplace in pre-revolutionary times but largely eradicated by the revolution, has reappeared. Crime is on the increase and even in the much vaunted educational and health sectors, shortages have undermined the achievements.
Fewer teachers are signing up for training courses because more can be earned now outside of education than the $20 a month salary for the average teacher.
Unlike the Russian Revolution, the break with landlordism and capitalism carried through by Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and their compatriots in the 26 July Movement in 1959-60, was not the product of a conscious socialist working class with clear national and international aims.
They came to power largely at the head of a peasant and rural movement and were pushed by events - a combination of the pressure of an armed and aroused mass movement and the threats and actions of the US Eisenhower/Nixon administration - into breaking with landlordism and capitalism.
The regime which developed, while enormously popular and resonating throughout Latin America and the world, was not a regime constructed on the lines of the October 1917 Russian Revolution.
That Revolution saw the working class as the dominant force, ruling through democratic workers' and peasants' councils (soviets) and consciously seeing their revolution as the beginning of a European and world revolution. Workers' control and workers' management operated in this first phase of the Russian Revolution.
In Cuba, there were elements of workers' control and 'popular power' but real power was in the hands of a charismatic Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and their group. There were no elections for officials or right of recall, no soviets and the other features which were present in the Russian Revolution.
What we saw established in Cuba was a planned economy but shackled by a bureaucratic regime and heavily reliant for support, economically in particular, on the Stalinist regimes of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
It was this support which propped up the Cuban economy but at the price of a more and more bureaucratic regime.
Power was concentrated in the hands of an elite and wielded in particular by Fidel Castro and the group around him, who were not, and are still not, fully and democratically accountable to the mass of the organised working class and poor peasants and farmers.
Rock groups, and other workers and young people, in their hatred of what capitalism does to working people, sometimes support what appears to be the most extreme opponents of this system. They can understandably, but mistakenly, describe Cuba as 'socialist'.
However, socialism is not possible without democratic control and management. Even for a transistional regime between capitalism and socialism, like Cuba, to move towards the beginning of socialism there must be democracy and the revolution needs to be spread internationally.
WE OPPOSE and work to break the blockade of Cuba and do not side with the capitalist enemies of Cuba. But we also support the implementation of workers' democracy, including the demands raised above, together with the independence of the trade unions and the right of all parties which accept the planned economy to fight in open, free and fair democratic elections for the support of the Cuban working people.
We implacably oppose a return back to capitalism, which is now the declared approach of all shades of capitalist opinion. The main body of US capitalist opinion is also in favour of lifting the blockade of Cuba.
Its maintenance is seen as completely counterproductive to their aims of seeing a repetition of what happened in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union unfold in the Caribbean island.
However, US Vice-President Dick Cheney recently declared: "I don't think there is any prospect certainly for lifting those sanctions as long as Fidel Castro is there" (NBC's 'Meet the Press'). But the chorus clamouring for concessions to Cuba stretches from the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, to Wayne Smith, former Chief US diplomat in Havana, and the International Chamber of Commerce.
Yet, despite in words partially lifting the ban on US sales of food and medicine to Cuba, the restrictive conditions which still prevail, in effect cancel out this 'concession'.
Bush is also caught between what Wall Street and business wants and having to pay back those Miami groups who helped him steal the US presidential election, conscious they could also determine his brother Jeb's fate, in his bid for re-election as Florida state Governor in two years' time.
CASTRO SEES the danger for him and his regime, and has recently clamped down on dissent. He has also been encouraged by the international situation, particularly the growing crisis of world capitalism.
Castro also needs the threat posed by the blockade to bolster his support in Cuba itself.
The more farsighted US capitalists calculate that by lifting the blockade this will open the floodgates to a capitalist restoration in Cuba. Such a development will be a blow, not just to the Cuban people, but to the struggle of the working class and poor peasants on a world scale.
Cuba is at a crossroads; the only sure guarantee that the counter-revolutionary schemes of the various groups of capitalists who greedily look for a 'slice of the action' in Cuba is by introducing a democratic socialist regime in the island.
To continue as before, as Castro clearly intends, risks the liquidation of the great gains of the Cuban Revolution. In the event of his death, the situation could change fundamentally, with the Cuban elite now divided as to the way forward.
Sections of the Bush administration believe that they can repeat the alleged experience of Reagan and Thatcher in bringing the USSR and Eastern Europe to its knees in the case of Cuba. However, the international background is entirely different with the onset of a world capitalist crisis and the greater room for manoeuvre of the Cuban regime.
Ultimately, however, only workers' democracy in Cuba can regenerate the Cuban Revolution, consolidate and improve on all its achievements and ideals, sparking off in turn a renewed wave of successful democratic socialist revolutions in the Latin American continent.
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SOCIALIST PARTY general election candidate Wally Kennedy has become the victim of a disgraceful smear campaign.
It is led by right-wing members of the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU).
Wally is himself a member of the TGWU and, since he has announced he is standing against local Hayes and Harlington Labour MP John McDonnell, a small unrepresentative group in the union have been attempting to sling mud on Wally's record in the union.
Wally and Socialist Party members in the area immediately sent out a full response to the local paper demanding that they print it and give it the same prominence as the original article.
In the same issue of the local paper that carried the attack there was an extensive selection of letters supporting Wally and defending him from previous attacks that had been made by New Labour members.
We carry below the text of the reply sent by Socialist Party members and Wally Kennedy to the Hayes and Harlington Gazette.
THE REPORT alleging that I am to face a union cash probe will have been met with astonishment by local people who know my record in the Labour and trade union movement. Indeed the crude attempts to play fast and loose with the facts of what happened and smear myself, and by implication the Socialist Party, will backfire on those who instigated them.
Certainly, Socialist Party members have encountered many people who were disgusted at the publication of these smears and at the people in New Labour who were behind them.
Many have also said that they will not be voting for John McDonnell and will instead be voting for the Socialist Party in Hayes and Harlington.
It is disappointing also that some of John McDonnell's leading supporters should stoop to such desperate levels and that our MP does not disassociate himself from such disgraceful attacks.
This unrepresentative group who have made these attacks have known my political history for many years and have worked with me on many occasions throughout this time. They never once raised their 'new' allegations with me from 1983 when the events that are alleged took place to the present time - a period of 18 years!
During this time I was elected as a Labour councillor in 1990 and again in 1994 when they did not dredge up these smears. When I worked alongside John McDonnell, Peter McDonald and others during the general election in 1992 - not a word.
What has changed? Could it be that when I stood as a Socialist Party candidate in the Botwell by-election in March 2000 we gained over 17% of the vote. Is it because I am now standing as a Socialist candidate against New Labour's John McDonnell and as a workers' MP on a worker's wage?
Why do this group of mudslingers feel so threatened? Perhaps it is because for years they have presided over the worsening of conditions for working-class people in Hayes, who now know their true record.
In desperation these people are now resorting to smears and innuendoes which they have not substantiated because they know they would face legal action if they did so.
I have nothing to hide. The events of 18 years ago implicitly referred to in these smears are in fact a matter of record inside the Transport and General Workers' Union. There was never any suggestion of impropriety and the matters involved were resolved to everyone's satisfaction at the time.
Following this episode I had the full support of my union members who elected me Branch Minute secretary, then shop steward and subsequently the region trained me as a union organiser. Then, in October 1993 after a detailed examination of my record and character, and after my involvement in the anti-poll tax campaign which brought down Thatcher, I was appointed by the national union as a parliamentary A-list candidate.
It was only after I was expelled from Labour in 1994, because of my involvement in fighting Thatcher's hated poll tax, that there was an unsuccessful political attempt to bar me from holding union office - unbelievably on the grounds that I had joined the Socialist Party.
Indeed, it was the same group of people who are behind the current allegations that attempted this authoritarian measure against me at that time. Their banning attempt was never carried out, however, because regional union officials did not back their undemocratic action.
I am sure that the people of Hayes and Harlington will not be swayed by this attempted character assassination. They will also be disgusted that supporters of John McDonnell MP have stooped to such tactics and will wonder why the MP has not disassociated himself from this disgraceful behaviour.
John McDonnell should immediately repudiate these attacks on another candidate. Also, I would challenge him to publicly debate with me and other candidates where he can try to defend the record of Blair's New Labour, which has resulted in a million more people now living in poverty than in 1997.
Wally Kennedy, 12 April 2001
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AFTER FIVE months of delay, Doncaster UNISON branch secretary Martin Warsama's disciplinary hearing has been organised for 2 May.
Martin is facing three separate charges, two to do with alleged leaks to the local press concerning one of his clients when he was a social worker.
The journalist involved in writing the story and the councillor who actually contacted the press have both sworn statements in Martin's defence to say he was not the leak.
However, the third charge Martin is facing is from the joint branch secretary and regional UNISON treasurer, Frank Perks who is appearing for the management against Martin, with a trumped-up charge of harassment!
Many UNISON activists will be asking how such a senior UNISON official can be allowed to sit on the employer's side of a disciplinary hearing to try and sack his fellow branch secretary.
Doncaster UNISON members are disgusted. They have been let down again by the regional officials.
A ballot over a single status deal, brokered with management, took place two weeks ago for which hundreds apparently did not receive ballot papers. And the first to be told the result were the council leaders!
The Doncaster UNISON branch committee has demanded a special meeting to discuss single status. A vote of no confidence has already been tabled in the UNISON officials involved in the deal.
Unfortunately, some activists think it's now not worth being a member of the union. They have to be persuaded to stay and fight. A battle has been lost but there is a more important struggle to transform the union into a fighting unit.
There will be a mass lobby of Martin's disciplinary hearing on 2 May. The anger in Doncaster has to be channelled to ensure that Martin's suspension is lifted and that he is allowed to continue as branch secretary.
Please keep the letters of support flooding in, thanks to all those who have so far pledged support.
Messages of protest: Melvyn Thomas, Executive Director, Social Services, PO Box 251, The Council House, College Rd, Doncaster DN1 3DA. Fax: 01302 737857
Messages of support: Doncaster UNISON, 55-57 Netherhall Rd, Doncaster DN1 2PG. Fax: 01302 368968
Demand UNISON Support Martin: Cliff Williams, Regional Secretary, UNISON, Commerce House, Wade Lane, Leeds LS2 8NJ. Fax: 0113 2448852.
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THE CONFERENCE of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) met at a crucial time for teachers. As well as conditions of service and salaries, the main issues concerning rank and file teachers were performance-related pay (PRP) and performance management.
Just before the conference, teachers around the country were already taking action. At least 50 associations (branches) were either taking part in or preparing for the 'cover to contract' action. This meant exposing the shortage of teachers by refusing to cover for absent teachers for more than three days.
But as the delegates gathered for the conference, they were astounded to learn that the national executive committee (NEC) of the union had voted by 23 votes to 19 to suspend the action.
General secretary Doug McAvoy said they wanted to 'maintain maximum unity' with the other teaching unions.
But in the debate, it was revealed that the other main teaching union, NASUWT, had suspended its action and told the government before it told the NUT!
Socialist Party member Bob Sulatycki, from Kensington and Chelsea NUT, seconding a reference back of the NEC report said: "We had no campaign against the imposition of the 3.3% pay award last year. We've had no campaign against the £2,000 threshold payments, which only a minority of teachers are getting.
"The leadership have abandoned teachers to performance-related pay and performance management. And after the last conference, which voted for a one-day strike against PRP, the NEC called off the strike.
"What's been the result of all these sell-outs? Teachers have a two-tier pay scale and the government is boasting of a victory.
"The fact that only a minority are getting the threshold payments has resulted in many younger teachers voting with their feet and leaving the profession. The conference debate is about the democratic rights of the conference and the accountability of the leadership. The NEC have ignored the conference and our job is to build real unity in action."
Deborah Morano, a Socialist Party member from Newham NUT, got a standing ovation when she spoke.
A resolution calling for a national ballot to boycott performance management was moved by Socialist Party member Martin Powell-Davies, with only the lukewarm support of the rest of the Left, who said this was 'not an issue'.
But Deborah reflected the anger of many young teachers, by saying she had joined the profession to teach children. If she had wanted to concentrate on targets and league tables, she would have become a salesperson. The NEC arrogantly used their usual argument that the NUT needs the support of other unions to do anything but the resolution was carried on a card vote.
Martin Powell-Davies also exposed the weaknesses of the right-wing's arguments about salaries. The average graduate teacher gets £22,000 a year while other graduates get £33,000 a year. 70% of teachers do not get the £2,000 threshold payment.
He made a devastating exposŽ of the so-called McCrone report in Scotland which the right-wing have held up as the model for England and Wales.
Yet McCrone increases working hours for many teachers and management will define what is included in the 35-hour week. The 22% pay rise is in effect over three years. It's a competitive two-tier system.
When the Left tried to suspend standing orders to allow a proper debate on the suspension of the action, the right-wing tried to argue that this would mean other items would drop off the agenda.
This is a conference which is continually interrupted by guest speakers in the middle of important debates.
That majority voted for the debate but not by the two-thirds required. Predictably, immediately after the vote, the president introduced another guest speaker!
Over £550 was collected at the Socialist Party fringe meeting.
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