A rally and march called
by Cambridge Trades Union Council in support of the UNISON two-day strike
action took place in Cambridge last week. According to UNISON
500,000 workers supported the strike nationally in protest against the offer of
a 2.45% pay increase. Although the media reported that the strike was quite
successful nationally with closures of public services including schools,
libraries, sports centres, refuse collections and other services, in Cambridge
the rally and march was not well attended with a turnout of about sixty
workers.

What is the most effective way of combating racism? Fred Weston, of the marxist.com editorial board, spoke at the Marxist Day School held recently in London on the effects of positive discrimination and the lessons for the labour movement, touching on  the origins of racism, the Black question in the USA, South Africa and the struggle against apartheid and Brazil where today the Black Socialist movement is opposing racial legislation.

Hundreds of striking Unison and Unite members filled the
large hall of Friends’ Meeting House in Euston on Wednesday afternoon following
a march through west central London. The turnout in and of itself was
impressive considering most of the strikers had been on picket duty since early
morning. The mood was buoyant and electric, with foot-stomping, flag-waving and
chanting while we waited for the meeting to start. I have not been to a strike
rally where the mood was so militant and combative since the miners’ strike.

What is going on at the Health and Safety Executive? Over the past 5 years the number of inspectors has fallen from 916 to 680. They manage to inspect premises only once every 14½  years. Meanwhile ‘policy officers’ at the HSE have increased from 38 to 87. Oh, and 77 building workers were killed at work last year, up from 60 in 2006.

From the London Metro: Why your boss may be a ‘cold-blooded killer’. There are twice as many deaths at work as murders, the article explains. The writer of the report for the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Dr. David White, says, “In many ways these crimes are more premeditated. They have the opportunity to plan and prevent these deaths.” Naturally somebody from the HSE, charged with minimising workplace deaths, was wheeled out to whine how unfair the report was.

The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, based at the University of Bristol, has found that almost half of all public sector workers put in unpaid overtime, equivalent to the efforts of hundreds of thousands of workers. Naturally New Labour wants to reward public sector workers with a good kicking, in the form of below-inflation wage rises.

What are Tesco up to in the USA? They hired a union buster who had previously distinguished himself by locking out 19,000 workers and rehired 1,000 under false identities and social security numbers. These are criminal offences. The US United Food and Commercial Workers report Tesco advertised for someone to get involved in ‘union avoidance activities’ and maintaining non-union status.’ They said it was a ‘mistake.’ They’ve just declared £2.8bn profit. Is that a mistake?

Those whom the gods destroy…New Labour Health Minister Ben Bradshaw says the government will hand over failed hospitals to the private sector. The British Medical Association complains that ‘would effectively see parts of the NHS privatised.’ John McDonnell MP says such privatisation goes ‘beyond anything Thatcher even dreamt of.’ And Paul Kenny of the GMB promises, ‘we will resist this move with every sinew.’

Over 70,000 people gathered to
march, or to enthusiastically cheer, as 160 trades union and socialist banners
were paraded through Durham at the 124th Durham
Miners’ Gala. Known throughout Durham as “The Big Meeting”, this wonderful
event was threatened with disappearance when the Tories destroyed the Durham
mining industry. But the working class is tenacious and has turned the annual
Miners Gala into an international trades union festival, with banners even
coming from Australia!