4 October 2007

Swansea meeting

Swansea meeting

SWANSEA TRADE Union Council public meeting.

Stop the bed closures, Stop the job cuts, Defend the NHS.

Dolphin Hotel, Swansea city centre.

Wednesday 10 October, 7.30pm.

4 October 2007

Stop the War Coalition (STWC) national demonstration

Stop the War Coalition (STWC) national demonstration

Monday 8 October

Assemble 1pm in Trafalgar Square

Although the demonstration route has not been agreed by the police, the STWC is planning to go ahead with it. See www.stopwar.org.uk for details.

4 October 2007

EU's anti-working class 'reforms'

Give us the right to reject...: BITTER DIVISIONS over the European Union (EU) continue to gnaw at the mainstream political parties... By Manny Thain

4 October 2007

"We've had the battle - now this is war!"

London postal strike: Postal workers in North and East London held a one-day strike on 29 September against the imposition of different start and finish times... By Naomi Byron

4 October 2007

Protests make bosses ditch closure plan

Gloucester Mail Centre: THE COMMUNICATION Workers Union (CWU) campaign to fight plans to close Gloucester Mail Centre has forced Royal Mail to abandon its proposal to move work from Gloucester to Swindon... By Chris Moore, Gloucestershire Socialist Party

4 October 2007

Tory party fears an autumn election

Editorial: The Tories were beaten 10-0 on the eve of their conference in a football match with the press...

4 October 2007

Corporate Labour

LORD GOLDSMITH, Blair's former attorney-general, has a new job at a US law firm on a salary of about £1 million a year. The government's former chief legal adviser 'advised' Blair that Britain should join Bush's imperialist war in Iraq in 2003...

4 October 2007

Banking turmoil continues

The governments's effective nationalisation of the deposits in the stricken Northern Rock bank and guarantee of deposits up to £35,000 in all banks, have not ended the financial turmoil... By Judy Beishon

4 October 2007

Iraq: end the occupation nightmare

THE LIVING nightmare of occupation and sectarian bloodshed continues without relent for the people in Iraq... By Greg Maughan

4 October 2007

Che Guevara - revolutionary fighter

Forty years after his death, flags, banners, portraits and the slogans of Che Guevara are carried on the mass demonstrations in the new revolt that is sweeping Latin America...

4 October 2007

Classroom assistants on strike

Brown dashed from the TUC to meet the hated Margaret Thatcher

Northern Ireland: OVER 2,000 classroom assistants took part in a solid one-day strike across Northern Ireland on 26 September against a pay cut and attacks on working conditions... By Gary Mulcahy Socialist Party Belfast

4 October 2007

Fighting nuclear power

Anglesey: HUW JONES from People Against Wylfa B spoke to IAIN DALTON about how they are campaigning against the building of a new nuclear plant in North West Wales....

4 October 2007

Socialism 2007: Ideas for our future

For young people new to the ideas of socialism, Socialism 2007 will be an indispensable opportunity for you to gather new knowledge, new ideas and new hope that a socialist world is possible.... By Richie Clesham, Somerset Socialist Students

4 October 2007

Burma: Dictatorship under threat

BURMA'S MILITARY junta, through shootings, beatings and mass arrests has, for now, managed to quell weeks of pro-democracy protests...

4 October 2007

QPR buy-out - Reclaim the game!

AT LONG last Formula 1 moguls Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone have revealed what Queen's Park Rangers fans can expect from their takeover... By Jacqui Berry

4 October 2007

It's a free world, a film by Ken Loach

GOING TO the cinema is normally a pleasure but last Thursday was also a privilege as I attended and was asked to speak at the special preview of Ken Loach's new film, It's a free world... By Glenn Kelly, Unison national executive, (personal capacity)

4 October 2007

Anno 1701 - Dawn of Discovery

FANCY GOVERNING an 18th century New World colony for the queen of a fictional European country... By Lindsay Wheatcroft, Mansfield

4 October 2007

Students want to fight back

University is becoming an absolute rip off! £3,000 a year for top-up fees. £100 a week rent in many student halls. Brighton University is charging students...

4 October 2007

Supermarket price-fixing scandal

"WE REQUIRE you to work Christmas Day and Boxing Day this year. Other companies are doing it and we have to compete with them". "We need to extend our...

4 October 2007

Success! Double whammy for nursery campaign

Kirklees Council has performed its second u-turn in two weeks. Having planned to close three nurseries, it was forced to lift the axe hanging over Tiddlywinks... By Mike Forster Huddersfield Socialist Party

4 October 2007

Come to the NHS demo!

Demonstration against cuts in the NHS, 1 November 2006, photo Paul Mattsson

WHEN LABOUR ministers show themselves only to be concerned with glad-handing private-sector bosses and potential privatisers, it is clearly time for the trade unions to start organising against their plans to decimate our public services.

4 October 2007

Local government pay offer: It's time for action

Once more workers in the public sector are finding themselves being forced to take action to hold back the rising tide of New Labour attacks... By Marc Glasscoe, branch secretary, Lincoln City Unison, personal capacity

4 October 2007

Remploy workers win partial victory

Remploy workers won a very important partial victory from the government at Labour Party conference... By Mariam Kamish

4 October 2007

Care workers on strike

Bolton: Bolton Council is attempting to cut holiday and sick pay for carers by removing the right to claim for 'sleep-ins', an essential part of many carers' duties and wages... By Robert Mitchell, Bolton Socialist Party

4 October 2007

National Shop Stewards Network makes plans

The latest meeting of the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) steering committee took place on 29 September against a growing tide of trade union action, particularly in the public sector... By Kevin Parslow, assistant secretary NSSN, personal capacity

4 October 2007

Support postal workers: decisive action can win

Postal workers on strike in June 2007, photo Paul Mattsson

Royal Mail's unrelenting attacks on postal workers' conditions have forced the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to re-start strike action... By Jane James

11 October 2007

Gloucestershire shows determination

THE RESPONSE from CWU members in Gloucester to renewed strike action has been overwhelming...

11 October 2007

Marching in support of the Burslem 12

ON SATURDAY 6 October more than 100 postal workers and supporters marched two miles from Burslem delivery office, Stoke-on-Trent, to the city centre for a rally at Fountain Square...

11 October 2007

Anger at Leighton, Crozier and Brown

ACROSS TYNESIDE the strike was solid. One picket commented: "The strike is 100%. Nobody went in. We've got massive support from the public."

11 October 2007

Picket line round-up

Devon: SOCIALIST PARTY and Socialist Students members visited the picket line at the Mail Centre in Exeter twice, at midday and at midnight on Friday 5 October... By Jim Lowe, Devon Socialist Party

11 October 2007

Determination to continue the battle

Postal workers' strike rally: Around 700 postal workers attended the Communication Workers Union (CWU) national rally on Monday 8 October in London... By Jane James and Bill Mullins

11 October 2007

Brown's expedient election climb-down

Gordon Brown and David Cameron play 'Snap'

Editorial: Gordon Brown's rapid recoil from the idea of holding an autumn election was a blatant example of the opportunism that typifies all the leaders of the main political parties...

11 October 2007

Socialism 2007: Debates to sharpen your socialism

Socialism 2006, photo Paul Mattsson

Socialism 2007, the annual weekend event hosted by the Socialist Party, is the ideal opportunity to witness and participate in key debates that deal with issues confronting every labour movement activist and Marxist.... By Paul Hunt, Coventry West Socialist Party

11 October 2007

Private hands off our NHS!

Doctors demonstrate March 2007, photo Naomi Byron

ALISTAIR DARLING, Brown's chancellor, has announced that health spending will increase by about 4% a year until 2011/12...

11 October 2007

Civil servants march against cuts and privatisation

Workers from three government departments are marching in London on 12 October against the outsourcing and privatisation of hundreds of jobs...

11 October 2007

Bolton care workers fight on

Bolton Council is attempting to cut holiday and sick pay for carers by removing the right to claim for 'sleep-ins' (overnight shifts in care homes – an essential part of many carers' duties and wages)... By Robert Mitchell

11 October 2007

National Shop Stewards Network holds meetings around the country

The first meeting of the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) in Worcester took place on 8 October... By Pete McNally

11 October 2007

Darfur bloodshed fuelled by land and oil grab

A CONSTRUCTION boom fuelled by oil revenues is sweeping through Khartoum, the capital of Sudan... By Alison Hill

11 October 2007

Anti-war movement upholds right to protest

Stop The War Coalition demonstration 8 October 2007, photo Paul Mattsson

OVER 4,000 people took part in the 8 October rally in London, organised by the Stop the War coalition and CND against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan... By Chris Newby

11 October 2007

Iraq occupation: Brown's token gesture

GORDON BROWN'S statement on Iraq, announcing a reduction of 1,000 serving British troops by Christmas (2,500 by spring 'depending on conditions'), will do little to appease anti-war campaigners and ordinary Iraqis.... By Simon Carter

11 October 2007

Burmese students join London march

AS PART of a day of protest in cities worldwide, thousands of Burmese students were among the marchers in London on 6 October, with red headbands and vociferous demands for an end to dictatorship in Burma... By Clare Doyle

11 October 2007

Beat back the profiteers

A CONSORTIUM of the three teaching unions, the GMB and Unison recently held a successful public meeting against the conversion of seven of Birmingham's secondary schools into academies... By Clive Walder, Birmingham Socialist Party

11 October 2007

Cuts kill - no reductions in the fire service!

AFTER THE usual sham of 'consultation', Devon and Somerset Fire Authority have decided to axe 25 jobs in the fire service in Devon, despite a budget surplus of £1 million.... By Jim Lowe, Devon Socialist Party

11 October 2007

Windscale 1957

FIFTY YEARS ago on 10 October 1957, Windscale nuclear plant in Cumbria, since renamed Sellafield, suffered a serious fire... By Roger Shrives

11 October 2007

Super-rich super-donators

NEARLY A tenth of all political donations for Britain's capitalist parties, amounting to £17.5 million, are made by 'non-domiciled super-rich' people...

11 October 2007

Any spare cash?

Retired and insolvent: DISPOSABLE INCOME, the amount of money a household has available to spend after all the must-pay bills – taxes, utility bills, food, transport, clothing, communication, TV licence fees, insurance and housing – has reached its...

11 October 2007

Unity with the postal workers

Postal workers on strike in 2007, photo Socialist Party

"They need to be exposed. This government doesn't care about the workers, they are only interested in money and power." These were the words of a striking... By Marc Glasscoe, Branch secretary, Lincoln City Unison (Personal capacity)

11 October 2007

1917 October Revolution: the working class took power

Russian revolution 90th anniversary: THE CAPITALIST media have made little comment on the 90th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Peter Taaffe looks at the events of the October revolution in Russia 1917.

17 October 2007

The vultures are circling ever closer

Vulture, cartoon Alan Hardman

NHS privatisation: FOURTEEN PRIVATE multinational companies will shortly be 'helping' England's primary care trusts (PCTs) commission services for patients... By Roger Shrives

17 October 2007

10,000 march in Sussex

Save our NHS: TEN THOUSAND people marched in Haywards Heath in rural Sussex on 13 October... By Derek McMillan

17 October 2007

Swansea fights the cuts

SWANSEA TRADES Council and Swansea Unison Health branch held a successful public protest meeting over the local Trust's decision to close 86 beds and get rid of 750 health workers, almost half of them nursing staff.... By Alec Thraves Swansea Trades Union Council and Socialist Party

17 October 2007

Exposing Royal Mail's lies

Postman Pat joins the CWU picket line in East London, photo Naomi Byron

While negotiations between Royal Mail management and the Communication Workers Union were still on-going, a London postal worker who was involved in unofficial strike action spoke to the socialist about the dispute....

17 October 2007

Postal workers waiting to assess Royal Mail deal

Editorial: On Friday 12 October a deal between the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) leaders and Royal Mail was struck against a background of unofficial action in Scotland, Liverpool and East London...

17 October 2007

Solid unofficial action in East London

Postal workers in East London demonstrated their determination to fight to the finish in defence of their hard-won terms and conditions by taking unofficial action against unilateral imposition of new shift patterns... By Keith Pattenden

17 October 2007

Daylight robbery in Scotland!

CWU poster during strike in Sheffield

After our return to work on Wednesday the mood was very tense. Our members had just been on two 48-hour strikes, covering two separate weeks. As we are...

17 October 2007

Save Bolsover Post Offices

'Save our Post Office' window posters are going up in many houses. Following a wave of post office closures two years ago, 180 closures are planned as... By Jon Dale, Bolsover

17 October 2007

Trade Union Freedom Bill: Banishing Thatcher's anti-union legacy?

For the last quarter of a century the labour movement has been shackled with what Tony Blair once boastfully described as the most restrictive laws governing trade unions in the western world...

17 October 2007

Working longer hours for less pay

National Union of Teachers: Figures released from the government show that primary teachers work 51.5 hours a week – up from 50.1 hours last year... By Linda Taaffe

17 October 2007

Students on trumped-up charges

Nigeria: THREE NIGERIAN student activists from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ife Ife, are in jail on made-up charges including conspiracy to murder and attempted murder....

17 October 2007

Scrap fees for all students

Students demonstrating in 2006, photo Dave Carr

Fight for free education: On what basis did the Sunday Times name Manchester University 'university of the year'... By Abby Taylor, Manchester Socialist Students

17 October 2007

Young workers and students need to get involved

National Shop Stewards Network: : "I work in the Pensions Department but I'll never receive one when I'm older" and "Treat us like the rest, temps have feelings too... By Tracy Edwards PCS national young members organiser, personal capacity

17 October 2007

"You've got to stick together"

Young trade unionists fight back: Debbie at Church Hill mail sorting office spoke to the socialist during the last Royal Mail strike about being a young member of the Communication Workers Union (CWU)....

17 October 2007

Stop the placement rip-off now!

Bosses are having a field day with free student labour. Young people studying on vocational courses are asked to complete a number of hours in a workplace... By Leonora Fawcett, Suffolk

17 October 2007

Workers' struggle and political instability sends Polish government into meltdown

THE POLISH government has imploded. The ruling Law and Justice Party has decided to end the long drawn out demise of its coalition. Elections are scheduled... By Karl Debbaut, Committee for a Workers' International (CWI)

17 October 2007

Australia: Liberals v Labour - no choice for working people in election

The 2007 Australian federal (general) election is expected to take place on 24 November...

17 October 2007

Tony Benn evades the issue

Workers' party debate: TONY BENN can still draw a crowd. Over 200 students packed into a recent Stop the War Society meeting at University College London to hear him speak. ... By Paula Mitchell

17 October 2007

Children's homes at risk of buy-outs

IT IS like a scene out of Oliver Twist. A big private equity firm (which are notorious for their high profits and cost-cutting attitudes) bought up a profit-seeking... By Keith Whitehead

17 October 2007

National Health Service Cutbacks and privatisation kill

NHS demonstrations 3 March 2007, photo Paul Mattsson

HEALTH SERVICE workers and users in Kent were shocked at news that hundreds of deaths over three years have been blamed on epidemics of illness caused by the bacterium clostridium difficile in hospitals in Maidstone, Pembury ... By Nigel Sheahan and Julian Wilson, Tunbridge Wells and Hastings Socialist Party

18 October 2007

Rally for Socialism

Rally for Socialism

17 November 2007, 6.30-9pm

Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, London NW1

Speakers include:

Brian Caton, general secretary POA

Mark Serwotka, general secretary PCS

Matt Wrack, general secretary FBU

Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party general secretary

Tickets £10/£5

Book online at www.socialism2007.net

or ring 020 8988 8768

18 October 2007

National NHS demo

National NHS demo

Called by Unison

Stop cuts, closures and privatisation

Saturday 3 November, 11am

Assemble at Temple Place, Victoria Embankment, London WC2

18 October 2007

National Shop Stewards' Network meetings

National Shop Stewards' Network meetings

London & South East

Sunday 21 October 1-4pm

ULU, Malet Street near Euston station

Speakers include Brian Caton (POA), Rob Kelsall (GMB), Paul Jackson (RMT).

Wales conference

Sunday 28 October 12noon-4pm

Temple of Peace, Cathays Park, Cardiff

email robbo@redwills.freeserve.co.uk for more details.

West & East Midlands

Saturday 24 November

Scotland

Saturday 1 December 11am-5pm

Quality Central Hotel, Hope Street, Glasgow

Speakers include Bob Crow (RMT) and Janice Godrich (PCS)

18 October 2007

Fighting Royal Mail management's attacks

Royal Mail management have already shown how aggressively they are likely to try to implement any deal struck with the union at national level...

22 October 2007

Brown's blues

Gordon Brown's honeymoon is over. His initial commanding lead in opinion polls fuelled speculation of a snap election. Now, the new prime minister trails...

22 October 2007

ITV2 - making a good deal out of women's bodies

Lois Austin comments on the heavily promoted ITV2 programme, 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl'....

24 October 2007

Socialist Party on Respect

The working class in Britain is effectively disenfranchised. We have three establishment parties which all act in the interests of the super-rich. For...

25 October 2007

Do women still have the 'right to choose'?

Forty years after the 1967 Abortion Act: This month marks the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act. The reform was won by women who, increasingly confident as they became active in the workplace,...

25 October 2007

Join the 3 November NHS demonstration

JOIN THE
3 NOVEMBER
NHS
DEMONSTRATION

Assemble 11am, Temple Place,

Victoria Embankment, London

25 October 2007

Striking Liverpool postal workers return to work

Postal workers in Merseyside voted to end their nine-day local strike at a mass meeting on 18 October... By Roy Farrar

25 October 2007

Why workers need a new party

Trade Union Rights and Freedoms Bill: THE DAY before John McDonnell MP's "watered-down" trade union freedom bill got its reading in Parliament, hundreds of trade unionists from across Britain came to lobby their MPs... By Andrew Walton, Unison shop steward, personal capacity

25 October 2007

Huddersfield SOS: Class fighters' bold initiative

A RALLY last week publicly launched Huddersfield's Save Our Services (SOS) coalition and announced that this new united force will take to the political arena in the spring.... By Ian Slattery

25 October 2007

Public health not private wealth

NHS demonstration March 3rd 2007, photo Paul Mattsson

THE PRESS are saying that the government is having a lousy time over the cuts-ridden national health service... By Dave Griffiths, Coventry Socialist Party

25 October 2007

NHS: What the Socialist Party says

Not one more penny of public money to go to big business profiteering out of the NHS...

25 October 2007

March to save the NHS

PROFITABLE PARTS of the National Health Service are, more and more, being parcelled up and sold off...

25 October 2007

Michael Moore's latest film 'Sicko' reviewed

Michael Moore's latest film 'Sicko'

Michael Wrack, an NHS worker in London, reviews Michael Moore's latest film, Sicko. ...

25 October 2007

Turkey's invasion threat increases regional instability

BLOODY FIGHTING between Turkish troops and PKK Kurdish separatist guerrillas on the Turkey/Iraq border has enormously ratcheted-up tensions between the two countries...

25 October 2007

Socialism 2007

There is now less than a month to go until Socialism 2007, so if you haven't booked your ticket yet then go to www.socialism2007.net By Greg Maughan, Socialism coordinator

25 October 2007

Release Saburi Akande Akinola, Taiwo Hassan Soweto and Olatunde Dairo now

Nigeria: Student leaders framed on murder charges: THREE STUDENT leaders of a major Nigerian university are being held in prison on trumped-up charges of conspiracy to murder...

25 October 2007

Pakistan: Suicide bombings at Bhutto rally

UP TO 150 people were killed and 600 injured when suicide bombers attacked Benazir Bhutto's procession, following her return to Pakistan from eight years of self-imposed exile on 18 October...

25 October 2007

France: Biggest public transport strike action since 1995

"REMEMBER THIS date: October 18, 2007. On this day, Nicolas Sarkozy's five year term will really begin", the conservative newspaper Le Figaro wrote... By Karl Debbaut, Committee for a Workers' International (CWI)

25 October 2007

Classroom assistants challenge the Stormont Assembly

Northern Ireland: A BATTLE is being fought between classroom assistants who support teachers in many Northern Ireland schools and their employers, the Education and Library Boards... By Padraig Mulholland, NIPSA branch 517

25 October 2007

Liberal Democrat leadership: Two candidates, one background, no answers

NOW THAT Ming Campbell has bowed to the inevitable, the Lib Dems are gearing themselves up for a leadership election... By Ken Douglas

25 October 2007

Who's to blame for teenage obesity?

Education Minister Ed Balls blames parents, teachers and "embarrassing" PE kits for the rise in teenage obesity.... By Bob Severn

25 October 2007

Glasgow: On strike for a fair deal

Workers in Glasgow's Learning Disability and Physical Disability day care services have been on indefinite strike action from 16 October... By Brian Smith, Unison social work services secretary

25 October 2007

Train drivers prepare for action

A period of relative quiet in the rail industry has ended, management plans to attack pensions and conditions are meeting resistance from train drivers.... By An Aslef member

25 October 2007

Fight Cadbury's factory closure

Keynsham: Workers at the Cadbury-Schweppes factory in Keynsham near Bristol have been left stunned by the appalling news that the entire plant will close by 2010 with the loss of 500 jobs... By Robin Clapp

25 October 2007

Teachers' union election – time to change!

Socialist Party member Martin Powell-Davies is standing for vice-president of the NUT...

25 October 2007

BBC threatens hundreds of jobs

After announcing a six-year plan to cut 2,500 jobs, BBC management have withdrawn plans to issue redundancy letters and have agreed to talks with the trade unions – NUJ, Bectu and Unite...

25 October 2007

Reject Royal Mail deal: Vote 'No' and reinstate the action

Postman Pat joins the CWU picket line in East London, photo Naomi Byron

Postal workers up and down the country have taken part in a courageous fight against a vicious management intent on destroying jobs and postal workers' conditions while preparing the industry for privatisation ... By Gary Clark , Sub area rep, Scotland No.2 CWU

30 October 2007

Respect in crisis - what lessons for socialists?

The transformation of Labour into a thoroughgoing party of big-business has left the working class effectively disenfranchised...