The Socialist issue 363
25 September 2004
Strike Back At Jobs Massacre
“THE THREAT to close 37 JobCentre and Social Security offices in the Department of Work and Pensions is the first tangible evidence of Gordon Brown’s plans for the civil service”, Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) told the socialist…
Anger Grows At Job Cuts
SIAN RUDDICK is on the group executive of the PCS for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and is also the regional chair for the PCS in the DWP in the West Midlands…
Uniting To Fight New Labour’s Cuts
PCS General Secretary speaks to The Socialist PCS CIVIL service trade union members are in the frontline of the Blair government’s attacks on public-sector jobs and services, with 104,000 jobs threatened. The union’s general secretary, Mark Serwotka, spoke to Ken Smith at the recent TUC conference.
Fight The Bosses’ Closure Plan at Jaguar
NEWS THAT Ford will end Jaguar car production at the Brown’s Lane plant in Coventry has been met here with shock and anger. Now the workers are fighting back. Trade union shop stewards have unanimously agreed to fight the closure with…
Workers Say -‘We Won’t Pay The Price’
THE TRADE unions are fighting to prevent Ford ending Jaguar car production in Coventry. If the car giant gets its way, 1,200 redundancies will be made. Ford, hoping to avoid an angry reaction, have said 400 jobs will go to Castle Bromwich…
Wembley Workers – A Victory For The Trade Unions
THE 240 construction workers sacked and locked out by their employers, FastTrack-/Hollandia, on the new Wembley stadium site, have won a major victory…
New Labour – It’s Big ‘Business As Usual’
DELEGATES ARRIVE at the Labour Party conference on 26 September amid media speculation about splits and differences at the top…
International socialist news and analysis
Iraq – A Brutal War, Whatever The Label
“THIS IS far graver than Vietnam. If we leave and there’s no civil war, that’s a victory.” William Odon, former head of the US national security agency, is more in touch with the reality of Iraq than George Bush and Tony Blair.
ESF – A Socialist World Is Possible
Joe Higgins, Socialist Party TD (MP) for Dublin West, has been confirmed as the main speaker for the Socialist Party rally being held during the European Social Forum (ESF) next month in London…
Biggest Public Sector Strike In South Africa’s History
THE FRONT page headline of This Day read "Total Shutdown" as schools throughout the country were deserted. All the teaching unions joined with the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu – the 1.8 million…
Socialist Party news and analysis
Don’t Trust Government To Stop BNP
THE HOME Office is floating the idea of legally banning members of the far-right British National Party (BNP) from working for the civil service…
Young People Demand Proper Facilities
Manchester: MANCHESTER CITY Council is always attacking young people for hanging around on the streets. But what else can young people do when they have nothing to do and nowhere to go? The council have spent plenty of money in the city centre -…
Lurid Headlines Hide The Facts of Fathers4Justice
JASON HATCH hit the media headlines last week. Dressed as Batman he spent five hours perched on a ledge of Buckingham Palace. A member of Fathers4Justice, he said he was protesting about fathers having restricted or no contact with their…
Prostitution: The Debate Continues
SINEAD DALY’S article on prostitution in last week’s socialist raises some very important issues around legalisation and decriminalisation. The debate in Scotland has centred on Tolerance Zones because this is the main proposal in Margo…