Postal
workers and their unions are under attack. About six weeks ago, Royal
Mail management took executive action – meaning cuts – 40 duties
from the Mount Pleasant office and 100 from the West End delivery
centre, without any union negotiation. This was in breach of the 2007
phase four pay and modernization agreement and is just one of the
many grievances behind the recent strike action taken by Royal Mail
postal workers.
Today is the third anniversary of the death of Ted Grant who died on July 20th 2006 aged 93. To mark this we are making available an article on Marxism from 1994.In September Wellred will be publishing the first volume of Ted Grant’s writings.
On Wednesday 13th July, the Burley Sports Club in Leeds played host to only the second
public meeting hosted by Socialist Appeal supporters in West
Yorkshire. People came from as far away as Scunthorpe to hear Mick
Brooks, editor of Socialist Appeal, speak on the unfolding and
ever-deepening crisis afflicting capitalism on a world scale.
A meeting of concerned educators and carers worried by the vague
proposals to reorganise the management of Doncaster’s Pupil Referral
Unit (PRU) was held on July 9th . The proposal to transfer all
Education Outside Schools (EOS) to a School Based Company (SBC) is being dressed up in an attempt to portray a simple cost cutting exercise, with a market driven ethos as a model to provide a better management system for learners who struggle to cope with mainstream education.
Ian
Kerr, the despicable quisling behind the construction blacklist
appeared in court today (Thursday 16th July) and was fined a measly £5,000 – small change for someone
who supplied construction companies with the blacklist data of over
3,000 construction workers to any company that wanted and charged
£3,200 a time.
After a week long strike that saw some 240 sites being picket by
TEEU members the union has instructed the 10,500 strikers to return to
work, following the decision of the Labour Court to recommend a 4.9%
deal – to be paid in two installments; 2.5% in September and 2.4% in
January. But, it would be a mistake to suggest that the disput is over and done with
The war in Afghanistan
has re-emerged in the headlines as casualty rates for American and British
forces have now reached their highest since the invasion of Afghanistan.
Already more than one hundred American troops have been killed since the
beginning of this year alone, whilst in Britain the news has been dominated
by the deaths of eight soldiers who were killed in twenty four hours over the
weekend.
The successes of the Unite campaign ‘Justice
for Cleaners’ are being clawed back in a series of attacks on cleaners who have
fought for improved wages and conditions. In response to these new attacks, come along and support the demo this Friday.
Here is part two of Alan Wood’s article on the history of the French Revolution, first published in 1989 to mark the 200th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille
Here is part one of Alan Wood’s article on the history of the French Revolution, first published in1989 to mark the 200th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July 14th.
Today is the 220th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. Celebrated as a national holiday in France, the 14th July marked a decisive first stage in the French revolution. We are therefore republishing a series of articles first written in 1989 to coincide with the 200th anniversary.
The reign of terror unleashed by the
Iranian government against the demonstrations in the aftermath of the
rigged elections did succeed in keeping people off the streets the last
11 days. But last Thursday this combustible material ignited once again, as
thousands once more took to the streets in a collective show of
defiance.