March 8th is International Working
Women’s Day – originally instituted not as a day to celebrate, but as a day for
militancy and action. Now many liberal institutions and feminist organizations
recognize International Women’s Day, but few acknowledge its roots or its
historical significance. They have in fact attempted to remove the class
content of this day of struggle.
As school students, our future is
increasingly placed at risk by economic crisis. Education cannot be where our
government goes to for cutting corners; it must be a priority especially during
these times. It
was with this in mind that on Wednesday 25th February, a modest yet
energetic group from London School Students’ Union joined the national
demonstration against tuition fees in marching through London to protest
against the government’s plans to lift the cap on tuition fees, and to demand free education!
The ruling class did not forget the humiliation of Saltley Gate in 1972. After 1974 the Tories began to contemplate vengeance. As we
reported they worked out a calculated plan (The Ridley Report) for the bosses
to regain the initiative and settle accounts with an over-mighty working class.So, as soon as Labour was turfed out in 1979, Thatcher
and the Tories began a systematic confrontation with the labour movement. They
started by introducing anti-trade union laws to strengthen their hand – making
secondary picketing illegal and demanding a ballot before any industrial
action.
Twenty five years ago on March 5th 1984, miners at Cortonwood pit walked out. That was the beginning of the great 1984-85 miners’ strike. Nigel Pearce of the Yorkshire National Union of Mineworkers and a participant was interviewed by Socialist Appeal in 2004 about the strike. "
The
strike is full of lessons. One of the main ones is the need for unity among the
working class, that stands out above all else – unity is strength, and united
the working class can achieve anything. Divided we are weak, and even small
divisions can have a destructive effect."
At the end of January 2009 a meeting of Socialist Appeal, the British
section of the International Marxist Tendency, met to discuss the
latest developments in the international situation. Alan Woods
introduced the discussion, highlighting the conflict in Gaza; the
effects of the economic crisis; Obama and the change in administration
in the US; the situation in Iran; the developing crisis in Russia; the
riots in Greece; Latin America, Cuba and the Venezuelan revolution; and
even Iceland, where the economic crisis has led to the fall of the
government.
The holy trinity of ideological concepts for the modern capitalist age
are neoliberalism, globalisation and financialisation. Of these three concepts
financialisation occupies a position akin to that of the holy ghost, as the
least understood and least discussed of the three. Financialisation is a
reality under modern capitalism. Marxists need to examine how much it has
changed capitalism, and how far the system remains fundamentally the same.
The second edition of the Marxist International Review is now available. The
present issue deals exclusively with the issue of the Black struggle in
the United States and the question of Self-determination. This issue
came to the fore during the 1960s with the Civil Rights movement and
the emergence of radical Black nationalism.
THURSDAY, MARCH 5TH, 1PM
51 Lime St., London, EC3M 7DQ
In front of Willis Insurance Brokers building
Liverpool St.Tube
As the marvellous but short-lived campaign Justice for Cleaners has ended, it is
now Cleaners for Justice! Cleaners from all over London are beginning to come together again to continue the fight for their rights.
Following on from the Hooper Report, the
government is proposing to part-privatise Royal Mail, the letter delivery arm
of the Post Office. There’s no silly nonsense about putting the arrangement out
to tender so we the taxpayers get the best deal either. They’ve already lined
up TNT to take 30% of Royal Mail. The announcement has roused fury among
millions of people – trade unionists and just ordinary people who use Royal
Mail, which is pretty well everyone. Why mess about with something that works
well? We have the cheapest postal service in Western Europe. We are the only
country in the European Union that still has a Saturday delivery.
As the
capitalist crisis deepens, more and more workers are coming under attack.
Vodafone has just announced huge lay-offs. There are plans to axe 1,000 jobs on
the railways. The sacking of 850 agency workers at the Cowley car plant in
Oxford is the latest in a string of redundancies. They received no redundancy
pay, no holiday pay and no sickness pay. All they were offered was their P45s
and a week’s wages. Wage freezes have also become common in the last period. Short-time
working has spread with Toyota closing its factory for four weeks.
See this fascinating video of hundreds of
Oxford BMW Mini plant workers getting the sack with just one hour’s notice and how they clash with union officials.