Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/575/7174
From The Socialist newspaper, 15 April 2009
Fast news
Let yourself go
SOME FIVE million workers in the US have lost their jobs since the start of the current recession. But while mass unemployment is a cause of widespread misery and hardship, to some TV producers it's an opportunity to make profits.
Endemol USA, have come up with a show, Someone's Gotta Go. It features a small business where times are hard and redundancies have to be made. The workers - around 15 to 20 of them - will be allowed to see the company's accounts, and will be told how much each of them earns.
Then they will reveal what they think of each other. They will be fighting for their jobs, culminating at the end of the episode with the workers voting to decide which of them is added to dole queues. It allows bosses to avoid doing the dirty work themselves. Pretty sick stuff.
But why not include the employers in the selection process? Going by what most bosses rake in, sacking one or two of them would save enough cash to employ several additional workers on decent rates of pay!
Smear tactics
A GOVERNMENT official cooks up smears against opposition politicians, shock! The Tory party leadership and the mainstream media are jumping up and down with indignation over Gordon Brown's adviser, Damian McBride's leaked emails that contained suggestions to smear David Cameron and other leading Tories.
Gordon Brown said the episode is a "matter of great regret" but refused to personally apologise. Surely, repellent as it all is, the point is that all establishment parties, given the absence of significant differences between their policies, are reduced to smearing each other to try to win votes.
Moreover, capitalist politicians engaging in smear tactics is hardly new. The 1924 'Zinoviev letter' - suggesting the Labour government was helping the Soviet Union to ferment revolution in Britain - was a forgery published in the Daily Mail four days before an election, subsequently won by the Tories.
Strike for rights
DOCKWORKERS IN the Bay Area ports in San Francisco, USA, have voted, unanimously, to strike on 1 May to protest against two policies of ongoing repression by the Department of Homeland Security:
The International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10 is concerned about the unfair implementation of Transport Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) cards in seaports, in violation of elementary civil rights and civil liberties, causing hundreds of longshore workers to be unfairly denied work in the ports.
The ILWU's second concern is over the ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) raids in homes and workplaces, that have victimised many thousands of immigrant workers. These raids have often resulted in prolonged detention under harsh conditions, and the separation of families including the separation of children from their parents - all in violation of elementary civil rights and civil liberties.
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In The Socialist 15 April 2009:
MPs' snouts in the expenses trough
Stop the slaughter of Tamils
Sri Lanka: Stop the war - fight for democratic rights
Stop the war in Sri Lanka: Protest at India House
Socialist Party election campaign
European elections: Why No2EU?
Socialist Party workplace news
Visteon workers angry and determined
National Union of Teachers conference: Battle on workload begins
London Underground: Set a new strike date
Preparing to fight probation meltdown
Youth fight for jobs
Youth Fight for Jobs: What next to build the campaign?
Marxist analysis: history
The Spanish Civil War: Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory
Socialist Party editorial
Deceptive denigration of Lindsey strike
Socialist Party campaigns
G20 Summit death: Bring the cops to account
Council manoeuvres in Lewisham hit school children
Parents occupy schools in Glasgow to stop closures
International socialist news and analysis
Thailand: Battles erupt on the streets of Bangkok
Moldova: Thousands storm parliament buildings as economic crisis worsens
Sport
Rugby league: In League with big business?
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