Archive for August 2006

10 August 2006

Inspiring film of GAMA struggle

IF YOU want to show a film at a Socialist Party or trade union meeting that inspires people to struggle against the bosses' system then you should get a copy of the DVD about the action by the Turkish migrant workers employed by Turkish multinational Gama in Ireland last year...

10 August 2006

Lincs firefighters fight cuts

LINCOLNSHIRE FBU has been campaigning recently against proposed cuts in local services. They have taken to the streets to protest at the way the cuts are being brought in through the back door following alleged consultation, writes Marc Glasscoe.

10 August 2006

DWP: Action gets results

STRIKE ACTION by PCS members in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has brought management to the negotiating table and forced them to make an offer to settle the dispute, writes Jane Aitchison, PCS DWP president, personal capacity.

10 August 2006

Sinking under a debt mountain

"ANOTHER DAY older and deeper in debt" goes the lyric of the 16 Tons song. Unfortunately, this is an all too accurate description of personal indebtedness in Britain today...

10 August 2006

Tommy Sheridan's victory over News of the World

TOMMY SHERIDAN has won his libel action against the News of the World (NoW) and Rupert Murdoch's media empire. It is a victory not only for Tommy Sheridan, but for socialists and the left internationally over one of the most most reactionary, anti-working class news organisations in the world, writes Sinead Daley, SSP executive member and CWI.

10 August 2006

Young = exploited

ISR takes to the streets! Reports from swansea, Bristol, Huddersfield and Leeds.
Swansea ISR members held a protest on 22 July against the brutal Israeli bombardment of Lebanon. In just over an hour we managed to speak to over 50 young people by going round where they hang out with the petition and leaflets.

10 August 2006

Fighting to defend the health service

THE GOVERNMENT is hell-bent on slashing the National Health Service to the bone. Its attempt to protect the profits of its big-business friends means that the NHS must suffer. And it will be working class people who will suffer...

10 August 2006

Police given licence to terrorise

NO POLICE officer will face charges for the shooting of Mohammed Abdul Kahar in an 'anti-terrorist' dawn raid at Kahar's home in Forest Gate, east London, on 2 June...

10 August 2006

Huge protest against the invasion of Lebanon

UP TO 100,000 lively, angry protesters marched through central London on 5 August to demand an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and to show their disgust at the Blair government’s continuing support for US and Israeli policies in the Middle East...

10 August 2006

Iraq - a country splitting along sectarian lines

FOR GEORGE Bush and Tony Blair, the architects of 'regime change' in Iraq, their swift victory over Saddam Hussein in 2003 must seem like another era as the country descends into sectarian conflict and chaos...

10 August 2006

Afghanistan - NATO troops face a resurgent Taliban

THE RECENT horrors in Lebanon and the ongoing quagmire for the occupying forces in Iraq have pushed the war in Afghanistan out of the main news headlines, writes Steve Score.

10 August 2006

Israel out of Lebanon now!

AS ISRAELI missiles continued to bombard Lebanon, an immediate ceasefire was demanded by an emergency demonstration of 100,000 people in London on 5 August, writes Jenny Brooks.

24 August 2006

National trade union meeting

Saturday 2 September, 10.30am - 5pm, central London...

24 August 2006

Crown Post Offices

MEMBERS OF the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) held a protest outside the Swansea branch of WH Smith last week to highlight the threat to jobs and services if the city centre Crown Post Office is closed and franchised out...

24 August 2006

Prison officers vote to strike

PRISON OFFICERS have voted to take industrial action, up to and including a strike. 71% voted for action in an 83% turnout in the ballot...

24 August 2006

Visteon workers fight for their future

WORKERS IN Ford's parts business Visteon are facing rumours that the company is looking to sell. Union representatives met the European management in Germany last week to get an update on the sale of the chassis division, writes a Visteon worker.

24 August 2006

Cream for fat cats - debts for us!

TOP EXECUTIVES' pay is still soaring. Chief executives from the 100 biggest UK-based firms received average pay rises of 10% last year, more than twice as high as increases across industry...

24 August 2006

Liberal U-turn stops tenants' ballot victory

"YOU CAN'T trust the Liberals", an angry council tenant said on leaving the 26 July meeting of Lewisham council. Socialist Party councillors Ian Page and Chris Flood had moved a resolution calling for tenants to be balloted, writes Clive Heemskerk.

24 August 2006

Lincoln launches anti-BNP campaign

Lincoln Socialist Party held a public meeting on 16 August to build a coalition against the rise of the BNP and far right in our area. Over 30 people, including trade unionists, campaign organisations and local activists supported the initiative to launch Lincoln against Racism and Fascism.

24 August 2006

Preparing for the new term

SOCIALIST STUDENTS is planning its campaigning activity in colleges and universities across the country for the next term, writes Matt Dobson Socialist Students national co-ordinator.

24 August 2006

Tony Blair takes the biscuit...

...so let's give him one at schools and colleges around the country!
Many young people see Tony Blair as a poodle to the foreign policy of warmonger George Bush...

24 August 2006

The NHS: What we say

*No to NHS job losses, cuts and closures.
*No to NHS privatisation and 'the market'...

24 August 2006

Cuts and sell-offs in Birmingham

AT BIRMINGHAM Socialist Party's city centre stall on 19 August some health workers including trainee doctors and nurses, told us they don't have jobs at the end of their training...

24 August 2006

Sheffield - stop these attacks on children's health

THE NHS in Sheffield faces huge cost-cutting measures. Over £100 million has already been announced in cuts over the next three years. About 10% of this is based at the Sheffield Children's NHS trust, writes Jon Smith GMB branch secretary, Sheffield Children's hospital.

24 August 2006

Ballots and lobbies in Pontefract

PONTEFRACT'S 70-strong "Keep Our NHS Public" meeting unanimously supported the proposal to set up a broad-based campaign to defend local health services and fight NHS privatisation, writes Mick Griffiths Wakefield and Pontefract hospitals UNISON branch secretary (personal capacity).

24 August 2006

Protests in Nuneaton

OVER 300 people demonstrated against proposed hospital cuts in Nuneaton on 17 August. The Acute Services Review wants to transfer some emergency care along with children's and maternity services from Nuneaton to the new PFI hospital in Coventry.

24 August 2006

PFI scams exposed

CHANNEL FOUR'S Dispatches programme on 14 August gave a detailed exposé on the costs of PFI to the public services...

24 August 2006

PFI - Labour's binge profiteering

THE GOVERNMENT has announced that a new £1.5 billion wave of new hospitals will be built under the costly but profitable (to private firms!) Private Finance Initiative (PFI)...

24 August 2006

Strike ballot begins

ON 21 August, UNISON issued ballot papers to over 750 members across the five NHS Logistics (NHSL) depots at Alfreton, Bury St Edmunds, Maidstone, Normanton and Runcorn. The ballot will close on 11 September, writes Brian Loader, NHSL National Staff Side Secretary, personal capacity.

24 August 2006

"We won't be treated like dirt"

LOW-PAID ancillary workers were on the picket line outside Whipps Cross hospital in east London on 14 and 15 August. "We are determined to get a just settlement of our claim", joint UNISON branch secretary Len Hockey told the socialist.

24 August 2006

Wars and terrorism

THE LATEST alleged terror plot in the UK has brought memories of 7/7 flooding back, when more than fifty people were killed while travelling to work in London, writes Hannah Sell, Socialist Party deputy general secretary.

24 August 2006

Unite against war, terror and racism

THE ISRAELI ceasefire was met with great relief in Lebanon. During 34 days of intensive shelling, over 9,500 Lebanese 'targets' had been hit by the Israeli army and navy, writes Jenny Brooks.