Archive for February 2014
1 February 2014
February Socialist Party meetings on the Tube strikes
Closure of all ticket offices, 950 job cuts, tearing up of contracts and pay - while fares go through the roof and the pay of top bosses rockets
3 February 2014
Royal Opera House workers win living wage
"This is a tremendous victory for the IWGB workers and it sends out a message to all low pay employers that we are not willing to tolerate poverty pay and we're coming for you". John McDonnell MP
3 February 2014
Fleetwood: MP tries to evade hospital campaigners
A petition of 1,600 signatures calling for Fleetwood hospital to remain open was handed to Tory MP Eric Ollerenshaw on Friday at the North Euston Hotel in Fleetwood
3 February 2014
Response to Kevin Maguire's call for unions to break link with Labour
Mirror columnist Kevin Maguire has contributed to the debate about the Labour - trade union link
3 February 2014
Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance launch meeting
Speakers: Baroness Doreen Lawrence; Imran Khan, solicitor to the Lawrence family; Lois Austin, Youth Against Racism in Europe and Socialist Party; Harriet Wistrich, solicitor to eight women bringing legal action against the Metropolitan Police Service; Dave Smith, Blacklist Support Group; Robbie Gillett, Drax protester
3 February 2014
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition conference
Preparing the biggest left of Labour election challenge since the war: Over 200 trade unionists, community campaigners and socialists came together at the TUSC conference in London. Dave Nellist, chairing the event, laid out the ambitious plan to stand 625 candidates as 'anti-cuts beacons' in the May 2014 elections.
3 February 2014
Cameron's cruel cuts hammer the homeless
The Tory-led county of Oxfordshire has proposed to cut Housing Related Support by 38%
5 February 2014
Yorks ambulance workers strike again
On 1 February, Unite members in the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust took part in a further 24-hour strike as part of their long-running dispute, writes Iain Dalton.
5 February 2014
Unite members employed by Lewisham council in the Attendance and Welfare Service are preparing for strike action
5 February 2014
The Lancs and District RMT branch is holding a commemorative rally on Saturday 15 February, ten years after the Tebay rail disaster
5 February 2014
Who supported the 1984-85 miners' strike?
Demanding a government apology for Thatcher's ruthless attack on the miners sounds hollow coming from Labour MPs, writes Tony Mulhearn, Liverpool 47 councillor 1983-87.
5 February 2014
PCS: Re-elect fighting, campaigning leadership
The elections for the Public and Commercial Services union leadership start soon
5 February 2014
Stop £98 million cuts in Worcestershire
Worcestershire county council will meet on Thursday 13 February to discuss plans for a further £98 million of cuts to public services including the possible withdrawal of all funding for bus services
5 February 2014
Llanelli: The 2 February Socialist Party paper sale and stall in Llanelli town centre supported Unison Carmarthenshire branch's campaign against cuts in services and jobs proposed by the council and the campaign to save St Paul's old people's home
5 February 2014
Pete Seeger - Sound of US protest movement
The death of American folk singer Pete Seeger will be keenly felt by those who lived through the social and political convulsions of the 1960s
5 February 2014
Labour's shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, has incurred the wrath of the super-rich with his timid proposal that an incoming Labour government would increase the top rate of income tax for those earning over £150,000 a year from 45% back up to 50%
5 February 2014
Poor get poorer: We're still paying for the bankers' and capitalist crisis
5 February 2014
Sochi winter Olympics - -breaking all records!
When the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2014 winter Olympics to the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, eyebrows were raised at the cost of $12 billion
5 February 2014
Bedroom tax beaten in Scotland
...now lets end all council cuts: The bedroom tax has been effectively defeated in Scotland. The announcement that the Scottish government intends to end the crushing burden of the hated and reviled bedroom tax is a huge victory
5 February 2014
The National Health Service is under attack as never before. This feature looks at the effect of a huge government push for privatisation and the predatory actions of the pharmaceutical industry
5 February 2014
Trade unions - time to break Labour link is now!
Is this the end for the unions and Labour? In response to the Collins Review proposals to 'reform' the link between the unions and Labour, Mirror columnist Kevin Maguire declared: "It is time for the trade unions to march proudly out of Labour's front door instead of being slowly bundled out of the back"
5 February 2014
Ukraine: battling forces no friends of working class
A violent stand-off between protesters and riot police continues in Kiev, with unrest spreading to other parts of Ukraine
5 February 2014
Stop the tube cuts: Support the strikes!
RMT and TSSA memebers protesting against the threatened London Underground cuts, photo Paul Mattsson
As we go to press the RMT and TSSA unions on the London Underground (LU) are preparing for two rounds of 48-hour strike action on 4 and 11 February
5 February 2014
Osborne claims recovery - super-exploitation is reality
In October last year I began my apprenticeship as a spray painter. This has not offered a route out of poverty. With an hourly wage of £3.52 an hour, it has just been a route to super-exploitation
5 February 2014
NUT national executive agrees date for national strike
The NUT national executive has agreed its next steps
5 February 2014
London tube strike: Effective action begins
As RMT and TSSA members began the first of two 48-hour strikes, very few trains ran, especially in rush-hour
6 February 2014
Higher Education: Striking for an improved pay offer
HE staff in UCU, Unison and Unite took strike action on 6 February for 'fair pay'
6 February 2014
Met police staff to join tube unions on strike
Thousands of Metropolitan Police civilian staff in the PCS union plan to strike for two days next week over the imposition of pay cuts
6 February 2014
Carlisle protest: "Bairns before bankers"
Socialist Party members were prominent in the recent lobby of Carlisle city council over budget cuts
7 February 2014
Sheffield kicks off election year with 7.6% vote
The only people smiling at the Sheffield Arbourthorne byelection count were the TUSC campaigners
10 February 2014
Fighting the next round of council cuts
During February and March councils are meeting to decide budgets for the year ahead. Google 'council job cuts' and you will get a map of Britain with endless stories of local services falling apart
12 February 2014
WASP: South African elections announced
South African president and ANC leader Jacob Zuma has announced the country's 2014 general elections will take place on 7 May
12 February 2014
Councils continue making Con-Dem cuts
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has pointed out that while the economy may officially be in recovery, most of us are experiencing the complete opposite - and more than half of the Con-Dems' cuts are still to hit
12 February 2014
PCS elections: The elections for the leadership of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) will start soon, with nominations closing on 6 March. The election will run from 8 April to 8 May
12 February 2014
Robbing us blind: What do you do to people who've screwed up the economy? That's right, you give them over £80 billion in bonuses!
12 February 2014
Waltham Forest: Rally for rent control
Waltham Forest TUSC supporters and prospective candidates held our first Rally for Rent Control at a busy crossroads in the East London borough
12 February 2014
Standing up against cuts in Reading
A Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) meeting on 4 February agreed to stand candidates for upcoming local elections in Reading and Wokingham
12 February 2014
Last week the Socialist published a feature article on the National Health Service - 'Big Pharma's deadly grip' - which showed how profit hungry multinational drug companies are bleeding the NHS dry
12 February 2014
Newham primary school strike over new pay scheme
Teachers at Avenue Primary School in Newham went on strike as the school has broken away from national pay agreements
12 February 2014
Lewisham Labour no use in the Lions' Den
Millwall fans have reacted angrily to Lewisham's Labour-run council agreeing the sale of land around the football club's New Den stadium to developer Renewal
12 February 2014
Kings Cross underground normally opens its gates at 4.50am. But the strike was 100% solid - not one worker was in and the doors were staying shut
12 February 2014
State attacks trade union action
The RMT strike on 6 February saw one of the most serious attacks by the state on trade union organisation in decades
12 February 2014
Brighton solidarity with LGBTQ+ Russians
On the first day of the Sochi Olympics, over 100 people in Brighton showed solidarity with people being oppressed as a result of Russia's anti-gay laws
12 February 2014
The next NUT national strike will be on Wednesday 26 March. Every NUT rep needs to build for a mass show of strength to oppose Gove's attacks
12 February 2014
Housing crisis hell: a worker's view
Go back far enough and the council was the major landlord in the borough I work in. It built new homes and maintained them as well, with its own direct labour organisation
12 February 2014
Don't trust Labour with our NHS
Last week's centre pages of the Socialist were an excellent explanation of the terrible damage wreaked upon our National Health Service by all three main parties and especially by the current Coalition's Health and Social Care Act
12 February 2014
2004 Morecambe Bay tragedy: Has anything changed?
It is now ten years since the horrific tragedy of the 23 Chinese cockle pickers who drowned in Morecambe Bay
12 February 2014
Harrogate: Harrogate may be one of the smallest Socialist Party branches but we have a regular Socialist Party town centre stall
12 February 2014
London tube stoppages show workers can win
The London Underground dispute is already having the effect of lifting up the sights of trade unionists. Following the successful first strike management has suspended implementation of all elements of their cuts plan until 8 April.
12 February 2014
Tebay disaster: Workers' grievances can't be sidelined
Ten years ago, 27 men and women merely making a living were killed because of their employers' sheer irresponsibility
12 February 2014
Leicester Socialist Student arrested in peaceful protest
On 6 February a Leicester Socialist Students member was arrested when taking part in a peaceful protest in support of striking university workers
12 February 2014
The Square: bravery and disappointment in Egypt
David Johnson reviews the film The Square (el Midan, subtitled in English)
12 February 2014
What future for Labour and the unions?
Open letter to the Unite Executive Council from the Socialist Party: The Unite Executive is preparing to discuss the Collins Review proposals to ‘reform’ the link between the unions and Labour. Reportedly three out of the four Unite delegates at Labour’s NEC voted to endorse the Review
12 February 2014
Posties vote yes - where now for postal workers?
Postal workers across the country have overwhelmingly voted in favour of two national agreements
12 February 2014
Fast food workers: Hungry for decent pay and conditions
A new campaign aims to win rights for fast food workers
12 February 2014
Floods misery: Government cuts to blame
While thousands of homes and shops are waist deep in toxic water, and flooding hits new areas, government ministers indulge in a blame game
12 February 2014
Tube strike first round: Trade Unions 1 - Johnson 0
As we go to press a second planned 48-hour London tube strike has been called off. The RMT and TSSA rail unions suspended their industrial action after London Underground (LU) bosses have been forced to
17 February 2014
Glasgow care workers escalate action
The Glasgow care workers' strike action is growing stronger and more solid. After taking two 48-hour strikes in January the around 400 Unison members involved have now just completed a 72-hour strike
17 February 2014
Kent: Marching to save children's centres
The Save Kent Children's Centre campaign staged a 70-strong march through the centre of Canterbury on Saturday
18 February 2014
Anti-cuts councillor exposes devastating cuts plans
Councillor Kevin Bennett, suspended from the Labour group for voting against cuts, obtained information on this year's planned budget
19 February 2014
The misery continues. On Tuesday there were still 118 flood warnings and 166 flood alerts. Four people have died. Thousands of houses and properties are under water. Sinkholes also pose a threat.
19 February 2014
Newsquest NUJ strike in North East
Striking NUJ members took to the picket lines on Tuesday 18th February at three Newsquest titles in the North East
19 February 2014
Scrap demeaning work tests and sack Atos
Today - Wednesday 19th February - is a national day of action against Atos, and the Public and Commercial Services union is calling for the demeaning work capability tests to be scrapped, writes From a PCS press release:.
19 February 2014
Floods reveal rottenness of government cuts
Climate change policy failure: Commenting on the most exceptional period of rainfall since records began 248 years ago, the Met Office's Chief Scientist, Julia Slingo, has said that "all the evidence suggests there is a link to climate change"
19 February 2014
Council pay: The local government employers have scrapped the pay negotiations for 1.6 million workers until the new rate for the minimum wage is set in May
19 February 2014
Stop the deportation of Jermaine Strachen
A young father is facing deportation because he lost his own father in a hit and run in 2004
19 February 2014
Affordable childcare? And where are the jobs?
In Con-Dem Britain childcare is extortionate. Nearly a third of parents with children under five spend 30% of their monthly income on childcare, writes A north London parent.
19 February 2014
Boom and bust: Last year government business secretary Vince Cable boasted of rising output in Britain's car industry as illustrating a recovering UK economy
19 February 2014
Barclay's bonuses - laughing all the way to the bank
It has been announced that Barclays Bank is to cut 10,000-12,000 jobs in 2014, 7,000 of which will be in the UK
19 February 2014
'Criminal' waste and 'legal' waste
A lot of food is wasted in Britain. At farms, 'wonky' vegetables are rejected; at warehouses huge amounts of packaged foods are discarded because of split packets or minor blemishes
19 February 2014
Cycling deaths must be stopped
Britain's cyclists have seen another bad week for safety. The police responded to the last surge in fatalities in London cycling by ordering a clampdown on cyclists. Nick Auvache investigates
19 February 2014
Campaign against "Lobbying Bill"
The Transparency of Lobbying, Third Party Funding and Trade Union Administration Bill (Lobbying Bill) will become law shortly
19 February 2014
Working nights is bad for your health
For years scientists and trade unions have compiled a growing body of evidence, warning of the dangers of night shifts
19 February 2014
I work for the police as a call handler. I have to work shift patterns that include nights. We provide a service over 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
19 February 2014
Lewisham Labour mayor Steve Bullock's council policy is cuts, cuts and more cuts. There have already been £82 million of them, £17 million are planned after May's council election
19 February 2014
Fast Food Rights day of action
In Newcastle we had an excellent Fast Food Rights day of action on 15 February. We staged a protest outside McDonalds which included activists from Youth Fight for Jobs and the bakers union BFAWU
19 February 2014
Scotland: 'Project Fear' goes into overdrive
The growing conflict over Scottish independence has dramatically escalated following the coordinated intervention by the main pro-union parties
19 February 2014
Care worker action escalates in Glasgow
The Glasgow care workers strike action is growing stronger and more solid. After taking two 48-hour strikes in January nearly 400 Unison members involved completed a 72-hour strike over the Valentine's weekend
19 February 2014
Service users "terrified" by cuts in Worcester
80 people whistled, rattled and jeered at a midday protest as Worcestershire county council voted to cut £98 million of services
19 February 2014
Bosnia: mass protests show potential of working class
A revolt of workers, students, the jobless and war veterans has swept across Bosnia Herzegovina, in protest at dire economic and social conditions and institutionalised ethnic division
19 February 2014
Not elected to cut, but Labour councillors press ahead
Cowards flinching and traitors sneering a plenty but not a single principled Labour councillor willing to vote against Con-Dem cuts
19 February 2014
Socialist Party conferences prepare for year ahead
Wales: Around 50 Socialist Party Wales members from all parts of the country held a very successful annual conference in Cardiff on 16 February
19 February 2014
Medway council will "rue the day" they attacked library
Over 60 people attended a public meeting in Strood, one of the Medway towns in Kent, on 15 February to discuss the next moves in a grassroots campaign to save the local library
19 February 2014
High rents + low wages - End this housing misery
'Generation rent' is becoming more like 'three generations rent'. The website spareroom.com has recently revealed that in 2013 more than 60,000 over-40s placed 'room wanted' adverts on the site
19 February 2014
Runcorn: Workers' solidarity scores victory
There was an unofficial walkout by construction workers at Runcorn thermal power station on 13 February in another dispute over safety issues
19 February 2014
Doncaster care workers vote for seven-day strike
Care UK workers in Doncaster have voted by over 90% for serious action against attacks on pay and conditions
19 February 2014
Time to strike the bedroom tax a killer blow
Across Britain the implementation of the bedroom tax has created seething anger
20 February 2014
Atos - not capable of assessing work capability
A day of action against Atos continuing in its role of assessing work capability took place on 19 February
21 February 2014
Court rejects disability case against bedroom tax
The Court of Appeal has today rejected five disabled housing benefit claimants' case to overturn the bedroom tax
21 February 2014
Cullum McAlpine arrested over blacklisting
Metropolitan Police officers this morning (Friday 21st February 2014) attended the London company offices of Sir Robert McAlpine as an arrest warrant was served for Cullum McAlpine for his role in the Consulting Association scandal, reports the Blacklist Support Group
24 February 2014
Nuneaton students demand proper wages and hours
Young members of Nuneaton Socialist Party led a student protest outside the local office of Tory MP Marcus Jones
24 February 2014
Bristol budget makes for chilling reading
Bristol was dealt a huge blow last week as the council agreed a budget with over £80 million of cuts to jobs and services
24 February 2014
RMT supports ferry crew strike in St Malo
A solidarity demonstration organised by the RMT took place at Portsmouth ferry terminal on Tuesday to support striking deck-crew organising a sit-in on board the Condor ferry "Rapide" in St Malo
25 February 2014
Callous Tories slash care services
The Don't Cut Us Out group was set up to campaign to defend vulnerable people from council cuts
25 February 2014
25 February 2014
TUSC campaigners call for rent controls
Socialist Party members will be taking part in a Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) protest outside the Landlord and Letting Show at the Barbican, London, on Wednesday 26 February from 9am
26 February 2014
Budget bloodbaths show TUSC needed
Southampton: By 46 votes to two, with Labour, Lib Dem and Tory councillors all voting for cuts, the Southampton council budget meeting on 13 February showed only socialist councillors Keith Morrell and Don Thomas offer any alternative
26 February 2014
M&S-style austerity: Former Marks and Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose has been appointed an adviser to the NHS. The Tory press sang hymns of praise to Rose's 'big business expertise'
26 February 2014
Wales: A Land of Whose Fathers?
Geoff Jones provides a bite-sized Marxist analysis to answer his question, "Wales: A Land of Whose Fathers
26 February 2014
This Christmas, one of my presents was the book Marxism in Today's World by Peter Taaffe. This is an extended interview originally given in 2003 to an Italian Marxist, on the politics of the Socialist Party
26 February 2014
When anti-capitalism sells: A movie about Lego, the interlocking brick building toy? Is it some kind of joke? But the right-wing, Rupert Murdoch-owned, Fox News said the movie's 'anti-capitalist' message is 'pushing an anti-business message to our kids'
26 February 2014
Floods show planning and investment needed
Britain has just had its wettest winter ever recorded. A couple of years ago it had one of its coldest
26 February 2014
Hospital workers fight for fair pay
On 19 February workers at and visitors to Ealing hospital in west London were left in no doubt of the determination of striking Compass Medirest workers, members of the GMB union, writes Chris Newby.
26 February 2014
A solidarity demonstration organised by the transport union RMT took place at Portsmouth ferry terminal on 18 February to support striking deck crew who had organised a sit-in on board the Condor Ferry 'Rapide' in St Malo, writes Nick Chaffey.
26 February 2014
Defending Mark Harding: Around 50 RMT members and supporters turned up to protest outside Hammersmith tube station on 25 February
26 February 2014
President ousted: what next for Ukraine?
The latest developments in the Ukraine saw the dramatic overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovich and his flight from Kiev, writes Niall Mulholland.
26 February 2014
End housing crisis: Rich landlords are real scroungers
Britain's richest MP, Tory Richard Benyon - 'worth' £110 million - has slammed benefits as "something for nothing". Yet who is living a life of luxury thanks to benefits? He is!
26 February 2014
Tony Blair: The not-so-secret adviser to the rich
Some establishment politicians become so adept at defending the indefensible during their time in office that they can amass a fortune from the skill after leaving
26 February 2014
Venezuela: Chavism and the Right call for 'peace'
On 12 February, three people (two right-wing supporters and one government supporter) were killed in Caracas and dozens injured and arrested in the protests and demonstrations that took place around Venezuela to commemorate the annual 'Youth Day'
26 February 2014
Wales: Unison branch challenges Labour with no-cuts budget
'What's the point of New Labour?' ask many working class people in Wales as all 11 Labour-led councils vote for cuts
26 February 2014
Genetic modification: A means of making profit
The Environment Minister Owen Paterson, in his speech at this year's Oxford Farming Conference, said that Europe is risking becoming a 'museum of world farming' if it doesn't open the door to genetically modified crops
26 February 2014
Appeal: Help Socialist Party offer real alternative
We are appealing to all our members and supporters to donate to the Socialist Party's Congress 2014 fighting fund appeal
26 February 2014
Organise coordinated strike action: Dave Nellist, national chair of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition and previously a socialist councillor in Coventry, shows that these cuts are far from necessary and can be stopped
26 February 2014
Great 1984-85 miners' strike remembered
Thirty years ago, on 1 March 1984 the closure of Cortonwood pit was announced, with five years' production still to go
26 February 2014
PCS enters Scotland independence debate
Opposition to all cuts vital: The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has voted overwhelmingly to put opposition to all cuts at the centre of the debate on the referendum on Scottish independence, writes Philip Stott.
26 February 2014
'Welfare reform' - an avalanche of misery
"We must, as a society, face up to the fact that over half of people using foodbanks have been put in that situation by cutbacks to and failures in the benefit system, whether it be payment delays or punitive sanctions." These aren't the words of an opposition politician or an angry protester
27 February 2014
The concept expressed by right wingers Messrs Alan Johnson and Clarke of political independence for the police is breathtakingly naïve (Guardian Comment 14/2/14)
27 February 2014
Determined Doncaster care workers in 7-day strike
Protest picket outside Care UK’s Doncaster office , photo A Tice
"Cowardly company of carpet-baggers" is how Unison officer Jim described Care UK, that is tearing up staff terms and conditions
27 February 2014
Support strike action against legal aid cuts
Justice under the knife: Ahead of the 7 March strike by lawyers, Russell Fraser, joint secretary of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers speaks about the implications of the cuts to justice and the plans to fight them
27 February 2014
Every vulnerable section of society hit by Labour's budget
Around 200 noisy protesters gathered outside Leicester town hall to oppose the cuts being proposed inside
28 February 2014
Powys council backtracks on two flagship cuts
Powys, one of the most rural counties in Wales, with no large towns or cities, is not known for political protest
28 February 2014
Hull council continues to implement Tory cuts
It was no surprise to campaigners and trade unionists in Hull that the Labour council has agreed cuts of £48 million to services over the next two years with a loss of up to 500 jobs
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