Interview with Mick Shaw member of the FBU EC for the London Region: "We
have now reached the stage where the government and the employers are hiding
behind this so-called ‘independent inquiry’, and are refusing to engage in
negotiations. Our members see no alternative but to take industrial action in
order to persuade the employers to return to negotiations."
At the beginning of this month, as the first wave of strikes loomed the Blair
government was preparing to square up to the firefighters. "Picket lines
might be crossed… no options are being ruled out" Blair triumphantly
proclaimed. This was a blatant threat of attack. Such actions would have put the
government on a collision course with the unions. It shows how removed from
reality Blair is in arrogantly attempting to trample over the concerns of
working people. However they are in for a rude awakening.
Industrial militancy in Britain is on the increase. It reflects a general
mood in the workplace that enough is enough. The Blair government is not only
confronting the first national firefighters’ strike in 25 years, but is facing
action on a number of other fronts. This has raised the spectre of another
Winter of Discontent similar to the one faced by the Callaghan government in
1978/79.
Following on from our publication of Part One of this article to commemorate
March 8, International Working Women’s Day, we are publishing Part Two, which
starts with the role of women in the Italian resistance movement and then goes
on to analyse the Italian feminist movement from the Second World War up until
today.
Tomorrow, March 8, is International Working Women’s Day, and to mark
this important event we are publishing this article. It was first printed in
issue Number 5 of ‘In difesa del marxismo’, the theoretical magazine of the
Italian Marxist journal FalceMartello. Although originally written for an
Italian audience we believe it is of interest to labour movement activists and
youth around the world.
On Saturday, September 28, the biggest anti-war demonstration ever seen in
London took place with 400,000 people marching. This shows the real mood in
Britain today.
At this year’s annual Labour Party conference it was quite clear that
Blair is no longer looking as confident as only a few months ago.
He has had to swallow defeat in his own party, on a key issue: the
participation of private capital in the providing of public services
And he also came close to defeat on his plans to wage war on Iraq!
We are witnessing the first steps in what will prove to be a major turn-around
inside the Labour Party over the next period.