Archive for March 2018

1 March 2018

Coventry shows solidarity with the Syrian people

A protest was held in Coventry to stand in solidarity with the people of Eastern Ghouta, Syria - where large numbers of people are being killed and injured by bombing.

1 March 2018

Appeal: Donate to the Socialist Party's building fund

The Socialist Party is being evicted from our national headquarters in London and has launched an appeal for money to help us move to another premises.

1 March 2018

National lecturers' pension strike continues

Students have been actively supporting the strikes of UCU members

5 March 2018

Socialist Party meetings to mark International Women's Day

A list of some of the meetings taking place around the country.

7 March 2018

PCS: Re-elect the left and fight for decent pay

The past month or so, branches of the civil servants' union PCS have been holding annual general meetings, writes Marion Lloyd, PCS NEC and chair Left Unity.

7 March 2018

FCC Environment strike solid

Despite sub-zero temperatures from the "Beast from the East" on the first morning of the strike and intimidating tactics from the local management, FCC recycling workers are standing firm

7 March 2018

Toys R Us, Maplin: worsening retail crisis claims more jobs

Trade unions must fight for public ownership: Big high street retailers Toys R Us and Maplin have gone under, with a number of other familiar names like Mothercare rumoured to follow

7 March 2018

The Socialist inbox: International Women's Day

A special International Women's Day collection of letters to the Socialist's editors.

7 March 2018

Hands Off HRI campaign group meets Corbyn and Ashworth

40 hardy souls from the Hands Off HRI campaign braved the bitterly cold and snowy weather at 6am to climb aboard a coach from Huddersfield to London to meet with Jeremy Corbyn and shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth on 28 February.

7 March 2018

TUSC plans to stand on Waltham Forest anti-monster block platform

Socialist Party activists and local residents attended a meeting on 3 March organised by the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) in Walthamstow.

7 March 2018

Derbyshire says: No fracking way!

"No fracking way" was the chant by the hundreds of people from groups all over Derbyshire and Yorkshire at the end of a three-mile march between Clowne and Bolsover on 24 February

7 March 2018

Hull workers united against bosses

In a determined and clear show of solidarity, more than 150 workers in Hull rallied in support of University and College Union members from Hull University on strike to defend pensions, railway workers from the RMT striking to keep a guard on every train and the FCC strikers battling to win sick-pay rights.

7 March 2018

May's EU speech kicks the can down the road

The closing line of Theresa May's speech - "now let's get on with it" - will have led to jeers of frustration from any workers listening.

7 March 2018

Syria: No ceasefire for 'hell on earth' eastern Goutha

Eastern Goutha, outside Damascus, is "hell on earth", according to United Nations (UN) chief Antonio Guterres.

7 March 2018

Japan - toxic legacy of the Fukushima disaster

The magnitude 9 Tohoku earthquake of March 2011 was powerful enough to move the largest island of Japan 2.4 metres east. The tsunami which followed sparked the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. 15,000 lives were lost.

7 March 2018

Donate to the Socialist Party building fund

The Socialist Party has launched a building fund to appeal to the labour movement to assist in finding new headquarters in London

7 March 2018

NHS: public health - not private profit

The Tories make dangerous claims like 'we're all living longer' and 'people are demanding more treatment'. Of course people want the most up-to-date and effective treatment, it's 2018.

7 March 2018

Snow chaos showed the bosses' coldness - but also workers' grit

The snow has now mostly melted away. But the chaos is still fresh in our minds

7 March 2018

The Socialist inbox

Letters to the Socialist's editors including snow chaos and jailed TUSC agent

7 March 2018

Women's oppression: the struggle goes on

Women's oppression is far from beaten. The headlines can often seem grim. But, following in the footsteps of generations of women and workers before, the struggle for women's liberation is alive and well.

7 March 2018

Them & Us

It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us - featuring China's haves and have-nots.

7 March 2018

Capitalism oppresses women - fight for socialism!

International Women's Day:
When the twenty first century dawned, young women in the US and much of Europe were being told that equality was within their grasp.

7 March 2018

Whole lotta shakin' goin' on in DOO dispute

Saturday 3 March saw another solid strike across the Arriva Northern and Merseyrail railway franchises by guards

7 March 2018

Salford nurseries consultation delayed

After a huge public meeting of 250 angry parents and staff demanded that Salford council "fight for the five" remaining council-run nurseries, mayor Paul Dennett has agreed to do just that

7 March 2018

Fighting sexual harassment in entertainment

Following the exposure of appalling, systemic sexual harassment and assault in show business, entertainers' union Equity has launched a campaign.

7 March 2018

UCU strike: bosses on the run

Years of fees, cuts and marketisation have created an army of low-paid and casualised workers

8 March 2018

Woolwich ferry workers win automation campaign

The delivery of new, hybrid boats will make a number of jobs on the ferry no longer necessary

8 March 2018

We feel that we will win - a striker speaks

3 March was our sixteenth strike day in a year-long dispute over the introduction of driver-only operated trains on the Merseyrail network

9 March 2018

Leaked pay deal: fight for a genuine pay rise

NHS workers have reacted angrily to a Guardian headline: "NHS staff offered 6.5% pay rise over three years if they forfeit day's holiday"

13 March 2018

Determined UCU strikers: We're out to win!

With a storm of protest on social media overnight and remarkable scenes on angry picket lines and massive protests, University and College Union members around the country have ensured no backtracking in their struggle to defend their pensions.

14 March 2018

Leicester: Blairites block Labour Party democracy

Like Newham's mayor Sir Robin Wales, Leicester has its very own Blairite mayor - Sir Peter Soulsby. And like Newham council, Leicester is dominated by the Labour Party - with 52 out of 54 councillors

14 March 2018

Profits up Wages down

After congratulating themselves on nominally bringing the British state's finances out of the red - by plundering working class purses - the Tories sat down to vote on cutting provision of school meals and childcare.

14 March 2018

Sainsbury's raise really a cut: fight for £10 with no strings!

Supermarket Sainsbury's announced on 6 March that it will increase the wages of its 130,000 store workers.

14 March 2018

What we saw

The Mexican communist and artist Frida Kahlo is to be immortalised as... a Barbie doll. This farcical, tone-deaf plan is part of US multinational Mattel's 'celebration' of International Women's Day.

14 March 2018

15 years since the invasion of Iraq: what we said

Here we reproduce word-for-word the editorial from the issue of the Socialist printed on 28 March 2003, the issue of our weekly paper that came out directly after US and UK troops were sent into Iraq

14 March 2018

Workplace news in brief

Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles including Hinkley sit-in victory and Newham academies battle

14 March 2018

Continuing the fighting tradition of working class women

Reports of Socialist Party International Women's Day meetings in the West Midlands

14 March 2018

Seeing-off the bigoted, billionaire toff!

On 9 March, Birmingham Socialist Students played a vital role in organising a protest against arch-reactionary Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, at the University of Birmingham (UoB) campus.

14 March 2018

Derby public meeting: Women's Lives Matter

Derby's Women's Lives Matter meeting was poignant in many respects.

14 March 2018

Swansea Labour council votes for cuts

Swansea's Labour-controlled council has passed a £28 million cuts budget for 2018-19, as well as voting through projected cuts of a further £70 million over the next three years.

14 March 2018

Campaigners continue to demand Chorley A&E is fully reopened

There was a great turnout on Saturday 10 March when over 200 people rallied in support of the community based campaign to demand the full re-opening of Chorley and South Ribble A&E department.

14 March 2018

Members dig deep into their pockets to support the party

Building Fund appeal: The Socialist Party is being evicted from the rented offices in London which serve as our national headquarters. We urgently need to raise funds to find new premises.

14 March 2018

Italian elections create huge political shake-up

The 4 March general election has caused the biggest shake-up of the Italian political landscape in over 20 years. Not since the 'clean hands' corruption scandal of the early 1990s have the establishment parties been so severely wounded

14 March 2018

International Women's Day

The Socialist Inbox: International Women's Day letters to the Socialist's editors.

14 March 2018

Gripping spy thriller exposes hypocrisy of Falklands/Malvinas war

Fiction: South Atlantic Requiem: This is socialist author Edward Wilson's seventh novel and does not disappoint. In some respects it is his most gripping from beginning to end.

14 March 2018

Spain: millions on streets against sexism and capitalist oppression

The 8 March feminist strike in the Spanish state was unprecedented. Never has there been such a deep and massive mobilisation against the oppression of working class women

14 March 2018

Strike continues: set dates for next national action

University strikers have determinedly fought on with their pensions strike

14 March 2018

Spring Statement 2018: Tory austerity staggers on despite economic and political weakness

The chancellor betrayed no sign that the agony wracking austerity Britain crossed his mind

14 March 2018

Zero new homes 'affordable' in Blairite Manchester

A damning, yet unsurprising, February housing report reveals that zero affordable housing has been built in Manchester city centre in two years.

14 March 2018

Socialist Party congress 2018

The congress was attended by delegates and visitors from party branches all over England and Wales. Developments in the world and in Britain were discussed, along with building the Socialist Party and the CWI.

16 March 2018

Russia, spies and nerve agents

photo CC www.kremlin.ru

Should anyone accept Theresa May's and the Labour right's version of events?
Corbyn has correctly cautioned against the rush to judgement to blame Russia for the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

18 March 2018

Refugee Rights campaigners on the 17.3.18 anti-racism demo - pics

21 March 2018

West Virginia teachers' strike victory

Militant struggle rolls back bosses' anti-worker offensive: Striking teachers in the Republican-controlled US state of West Virginia have won a significant pay rise

21 March 2018

NSSN conference moves

The National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) annual conference has been moved to Saturday 7 July to avoid clashing with the 70th anniversary of the NHS national day of action celebrations

21 March 2018

Hands off free school meals!

Fight for full funding: This year, the government's April Fools' prank is one of the sickest yet. While MPs' basic salaries rise to £77,379, the Tories want to cut access to free school meals for a million children

21 March 2018

The Blairites are NHS privatisers - to save it means sacking them

Alan Milburn was Tony Blair's health secretary for four years. He accelerated privatisation in office - and now profits from it after leaving

21 March 2018

Cuts harm kids' health

Workers can beat NHS cuts and sell-offs: Estimates suggest up to 50,000 children and young people will be losing out on vital mental health attention

21 March 2018

Hated Blairite mayor ousted: now fight for a no-cuts Newham!

Hated Blairite mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales has lost the Labour candidacy. The new candidate, Rokhsana Fiaz, must use council reserves and borrowing powers to end the cuts now

21 March 2018

Them & us

It's one world for the super-rich and another for the rest of us. Toffs tell debtors to hang and face sacking for bad behaviour; child poverty soars.

21 March 2018

Walkout from undercover policing inquiry

Socialist Party activists were among around 200 core participants who walked out of the inquiry

21 March 2018

US school shootings: student walkouts challenge establishment

On 14 March, nearly a million students in the USA walked out of their schools to demand an end to gun violence

21 March 2018

UCU strike: staff and students unite to continue pensions fight after magnificent 14 days of action

Workers at 64 universities have completed a historic 14-day programme of strike action in defence of pensions

21 March 2018

Hinkley workers win back unpaid wages after sit-in protest

Workers building the Hinkley C nuclear power plant in Somerset have won back unpaid wages after more than 500 staged a two-day sit-in protest

21 March 2018

Strikers and parents rally again in Newham against academies

Newham teachers and parents rallied again as Avenue Primary School took its tenth day of strike action on 15 January

21 March 2018

Hull college workers ballot for action against mass redundancies

Hull College workers are balloting for strike action to stop devastating management plans for mass redundancies

21 March 2018

Unions condemn 'culture of bullying' at Merseyside hospital

An independent report into the A&E department in Arrowe Park hospital on the Wirral has condemned the NHS trust for a culture of bullying

21 March 2018

Refugees march against racism and to demand rights

The Refugee Rights campaign made a big splash, and what singled them out was that they were refugees fighting for not only their rights but those of the wider working class

21 March 2018

Ideas matter: help us fight to win with May Day greetings

The May Day greetings deadline for reduced rates is coming: Friday 30 March. Help us get those greetings in!

21 March 2018

Past fund-raising campaigns show dedication to the fight for socialism

The Socialist Party is under threat of eviction from our national offices in London - in response we have launched a building fund appeal to help us afford new premises

21 March 2018

Passing the council cuts test

The age of austerity has claimed its first failing local authority, Northamptonshire, but it won't be the last. Councils in England overspent their services budgets by £901mn in 2016-17.

21 March 2018

Why I joined: 'The Socialist Party is at the forefront of defending Corbyn's anti-austerity leadership'

"I am proud to be part of an organisation where I am valued as a member and that has been consistently at the forefront in defending Corbyn's anti-austerity leadership and in pushing for the radical transformation of society"

21 March 2018

Over 1,000 on Newcastle NHS march

Over 1,000 socialists, trade unionists, NHS campaigners and supporters marched through Newcastle on 10 March under the banner of 'Our NHS: no cuts, no closures - no privatisation'

21 March 2018

Refugee Rights to be launched in Manchester

Please get in touch if you are in Manchester and would like to get involved!

21 March 2018

Revolutionary physicist and champion of social causes

Obituary - Stephen Hawking, 1942-2018: A lack of the condescension that oozed from most popular science programmes and books, coupled with his outspoken criticism of capitalism, helped cement the groundbreaking cosmologist's huge popularity

21 March 2018

The Socialist inbox

Do you have something to say? Letters to the Socialist's editors. Corbyn's customs union; solidarity with Chris Fernandez; nerve agent hypocrisy; Saudi Arabia; Newport rising

21 March 2018

Brazil: Psol councillor Marielle Franco murdered

There can be no doubt that this murder is related to her struggle against the corruption, violence and racism of the Rio military police and their links to death squads

21 March 2018

Hands Off HRI campaign granted judicial review

This challenge has local and national consequences - it is the first serious legal challenge of its kind

21 March 2018

Jeremy Corbyn and Brexit

An article written by Socialist Party executive committee member Judy Beishon for the German paper 'Solidarity', the paper of Socialist Alternative (SAV) in Germany.

22 March 2018

School strikes against academy management

"Four heads, five deputies and five Sendcos have gone over the last two years"

22 March 2018

NHS pay: Reject the Tories' divide and rule offer

While Jeremy Hunt proudly endorsed the latest pay offer for NHS staff, the headline figure of 6.5% is not all it seems.

22 March 2018

Homes for All - Not billionaire profit!

Save Our Square protesters were physically evicted from the London City Hall

23 March 2018

Social media - the potential and the limits

Facebook's release of information scandal raises questions on how social media operate, and the broader implications.

23 March 2018

For a fighting, democratic Labour Party

Labour's left has been strengthened since the general election but its pro-capitalist wing remains intact and still wields considerable power.

27 March 2018

Antisemitism slurs: latest attempt to derail Corbynism

Jeremy Corbyn resoundingly won the second leadership contest the Blairites forced on him in 2016 but they go on looking for every opportunity to undermine, damage and remove him.

28 March 2018

Building fund appeal

Yorkshire region got off to a flying start in its building fund appeal at our regional conference where 36 members made an average pledge of £365, writes Nigel Smith, York Socialist Party.

28 March 2018

Bristol Socialist Students join Yarlswood demo

Bristol University Socialist Students recently organised a Sudanese lunch, all cooked by Kaba, someone who has been through the asylum process, writes Rob Alexander, Bristol Socialist Students.

28 March 2018

Northern Socialist Party conference

You know a conference has been good when those attending are enthusiastic despite shivering because of the lack of heating in the venue!, writes Elaine Brunskill, Northern Socialist Party secretary.

28 March 2018

For Whom the School Bell Tolls: Our kids or the Tories?

Like the NHS and council services, public state education in primary, secondary, special schools and colleges is facing a dire crisis

28 March 2018

Campaign against academies boosted by victories

Teaching staff at three schools in Newham, east London, have been taking strike action

28 March 2018

Migrant cleaners win living wage at Mail

A group of migrant cleaners - members of the United Voices of the World union - have won a historic victory at the Daily Mail, writes United Voices of the World.

28 March 2018

Victimised recycling strikers uncowed as Hull strike wave builds

Bosses' suspension of two Hull recycling workers after they returned to work following a successful first week on strike is a clear attempt to intimidate the workforce into cancelling future action, writes Mick Whale, president, Hull trade union council.

28 March 2018

Liverpool Uni staff set to fight 220 job losses

The University of Liverpool has announced 220 redundancies. Vice-Chancellor Janet Beer is also head of Universities UK, the body trying to carry out colossal cuts to university workers' pensions, writes Hugh Caffrey, North West Socialist Party.

28 March 2018

Aberdeen bus drivers strike against pay cuts

Aberdeen bus drivers are striking against draconian cuts to their wages and conditions by employer First Bus, writes Socialist Party Scotland.

28 March 2018

Save Free School Meals!

"Theresa May, strong and stable, stole the food from the children's table!" chanted 60 or so protesters at the first protest in Liverpool against free school meals being scrapped, writes Hugh Caffrey Socialist Party North West, secretary.

28 March 2018

Russia's predictable presidential election

Unsurprisingly, Vladimir Putin was reelected on 18 March as Russia's president

28 March 2018

Walthamstow Save Our Square protesters thrown out of city hall for demanding a say

London Mayor Sadiq Khan's decision to grant permission to redevelop Walthamstow town square in east London was met with anger and feelings of gross betrayal, writes Linda Taaffe, Waltham Forest Socialist Party.

28 March 2018

North West Socialist Party conference

47 members from across the North West came to the region's Socialist Party conference on 24 March, writes Hugh Caffrey, North West Socialist Party secretary.

28 March 2018

May Day greetings: Lend your support to the fight against the bosses

Across the north, one of England's most industrially combative regions, shop stewards and rank-and-file trade unionists have relied on the Socialist newspaper to provide support and solidarity in disputes with employers, writes William Jarrett, Socialist Party Northern region May Day greetings organiser.

28 March 2018

British Museum: Carillion workers demand to be brought back in-house

I had the pleasure of supporting PCS members working for Carillion outside the British Museum at their protest on 20 March calling for the cleaning and facilities management contract to be brought back in-house, writes Chris Baugh, PCS assistant general secretary.

28 March 2018

Southampton asks "What will you do to stop education cuts?"

Last year's general election saw a historic surge for Jeremy Corbyn's anti-austerity manifesto. A large part of that wave was the 800,000 voters who switched their vote on the question of education

28 March 2018

NEU conference 2018: Strike to take on the Tories

The National Education Union (NEU) conference (NUT section) will see the union at a crossroads, writes James Kerr, Lewisham NEU.

28 March 2018

The life and legacy of Martin Luther King

50th anniversary of the assassination of MLK jnr in Memphis: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King junior, who was shot and killed on 4 April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, while supporting striking sanitation workers, writes April Ashley, Unison national executive council, black members rep (female) (personal capacity).

28 March 2018

Grenfell: survivors not rehoused, inquiry not independent, blocks not safe

The government has admitted that 82 households are still in temporary accommodation following the Grenfell Tower fire and not all will be in permanent accommodation by June, the first anniversary, writes Paul Kershaw, chair, Unite union housing workers branch.

28 March 2018

Tories fear youth revolt - fight for our future

What do young people want? A good home, a decent job and an education - that might sum it up, writes Claire Laker-Mansfield, Socialist Party national youth organiser.

28 March 2018

Goldsmiths students occupy and protest in support of UCU strikers

Student activism has been invigorated during the University and College Union (UCU) strike at Goldsmiths, part of the University of London, writes Ellen Kenyon Peers, Goldsmiths Socialist Students.

28 March 2018

France: Pressure mounts on Macron government

Since the election of Emmanuel Macron - president of the rich - in May 2017, and after the onslaught of the French government against all sectors in society especially the public services - the railways (the SNCF), pensioners, young people, unemployed - we were expecting the day of action on 22 Marc, writes Leila Messaoudi and Cécile Rimboud, Gauche Revolutionnaire, CWI in France.

28 March 2018

USA: Huge 'march for our lives' protests

Mass demonstrations took place in US cities and even internationally on 24 March to demand gun control

28 March 2018

Strike action forces bosses to retreat but keep the pressure on

UCU members are on the cusp of victory - but not quite there yet.

29 March 2018

Sheffield tree fellings paused as bully Labour council feels pressure

Axe PFI, not trees: On the BBC a journalist suggested the Labour council had finally caved in to pressure and was willing to open meaningful negotiations