In this week's issue:

The Socialist 11 August 2009, issue Jobs & services - not bankers’ bonuses!

Jobs & services - not bankers' bonuses!

Waltham Forest Socialist Party campaigns against bankers' bonuses and bailouts, photo Senan

Less than a year after bringing the global economy to its knees, shameless city bankers are to receive a staggering £4 billion in bonuses, writes Elaine Brunskill.

Stop the BNP

THE British National Party's (BNP) leaders and organisers have not changed their neo-Nazi ideas. They are committed to stirring up racism and division at every opportunity...

Vestas - occupation ends but the fight continues

Vestas wind turbine plant workers occupy to protest against redundancies, photo RMT television

Editorial: The courageous workers' occupation at the Vestas wind turbine plant in Newport on the Isle of Wight has been followed and supported by many in the trade union movement over the last few weeks...

Thomas Cook occupation, Dublin: "A living lesson for workers everywhere"

Thomas Cook occupation in Dublin, Ireland - A courageous struggle, photo Socialist Party Ireland

Eyewitness account A FIVE-DAY occupation by workers at the Thomas Cook shop in Grafton Street, Dublin, over redundancies, was brutally ended by Garda (police) in a dawn raid.

Socialist Party (Ireland) councillor Matt Waine was arrested along with 28 workers in the early hours of Tuesday morning 4 August and locked up at Bridewell Garda station. Here is his eyewitness account.

Postal workers: National ballot to follow strike wave

Postal workers strike, photo Paul Mattsson

All-out action: Postal workers, members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), have been on a series of strikes over the summer against bullying management and their attempts to impose worsening conditions in an obvious preparation for privatisation.

Our reports show that these strikes have been well-supported and angry postal workers have been demanding that the battle be intensified with national, coordinated action...

Protests flood in against Unison witch-hunt

Glen Kelly addresses lobby of Unison HQ to protest against banning from office of Socialist Party members, photo Alison Hill

Four Socialist Party members and Unison activists were declared guilty on trumped-up charges by a Unison disciplinary committee...

August 1969: Northern Ireland explodes - 'the troubles' begin

THE EVENTS of August 1969 were an historical turning point for Northern Ireland that echo down to this day. The first deaths of 'the troubles' occurred in 1969.

Ciaran Mulholland of the Socialist Party in Northern Ireland explains how the situation rapidly escalated to the brink of civil war and what lessons can be learnt from these events.

New term approaching for students: Build the fightback!

Youth Fight for jobs campaigning in Birmingham against the bankers bailouts and bonuses, photo Birmingham YFJ

Autumn is fast approaching, but this will be an autumn like no other. Young people, who have grown up in the boom and have aspirations of a decent life, are now seeing their futures snatched away as jobs...

Higher education: Don't make young people pay for funding crisis

From Thursday 20 August, when the A-level results are released, hundreds of thousands of young people will be hoping to get onto the course and into the university they have chosen, writes Matt Dobson, Socialist Students national organiser.

Internships = Exploitation

Grim prospects for young people

BNP loses council by-election

No to racism and fascism: THE BNP has lost its seat in Brinsley, their only seat on Broxtowe Borough Council, Nottinghamshire. The 30 July by-election was caused by the non-attendance of the former BNP councillor (and now expelled...

Racists left speechless

Anti-fascist demo in Birmingham

South Africa: A cold winter, but mass action shakes Zuma

Barely 100 days into Jacob Zuma's presidency, the class contradictions that have produced political polarisation and then a split in the African National Congress (ANC), have sharpened with a vengeance, writes Weizmann Hamilton, CWI South Africa.

Afghanistan: 40 years of failure?

Torturous explanation

Industrial action works

Unison members in Glasgow council's social work services who are clerical officers and admin assistants have accepted offers to resolve two disputes, writes Brian Smith, branch secretary, Glasgow Unison.

Defend Corus workers' terms and conditions

Liverpool street cleaners and bin workers strike against fat-cats

Surrey council must buy back these homes now!

Engineering construction ballot

Rail strikes

South Yorkshire bus drivers plan more strikes

Bryan Stanley's canonisation

The psychology of the New Labour apologists deserves some deep analysis, writes Tony Mulhearn. Jane Kennedy, Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, alarmed that her parliamentary seat was in jeopardy following Gordon Brown's European...