The
new Employment Bill is winding its way through Parliament. Its provisions
continue the policy of New Labour antagonism towards trade unions, while the
government grovels to big business. Blair boasted that trade union rights in
Britain remained the most restrictive in Europe. But why on earth does Gordon
Brown feel the need to water down the Bill so as to defend fascists’ rights?
The crisis capitalism has entered globally is having a deep impact on
the real living conditions of billions of workers all over the world.
With this comes a growing consciousness among ordinary working people
and youth that something is seriously wrong with this system, that this
cannot be the way human beings have to live. Workers are looking for an
explanation and proposals of how to get out of this mess. We have
produced a Manifesto which outlines the causes and puts forward a
programme of action for the international labour movement. In Part One
we deal with the causes of the crisis and its effects.
The case of Binyam Mohamed is a national disgrace. Binyam
faces trial before the Military Commissions at Guantamo, which all fair-minded
people regard as kangaroo courts. The US administration is desperately trying
to wangle a few convictions in order to justify keeping suspects locked up for
years and torturing them at Guantamo Bay. Binyam faces the death penalty, but
his defence has a problem. They cannot procure the evidence that could save
him. The US government refuses to release the documents.
The U.S. has elected a new president,
Barack Hussein Obama. Along with the dramatic turn in the economic situation,
this marks a definite turning point in the history of the country and of the
world. Big illusions have been created that Obama will provide “change”. What
American workers have voted for is an end to policies that benefit the rich,
but Obama does not represent real change. In the coming years workers will
learn from real life experience that what is required is a genuine voice of the
US working class, and that can only be a mass party of labor.
US Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich described the
$700bn bail-out of the US banks by the Bush administration as: “The largest
single act of class warfare in the modern history of this country” In Britain £50bn is being doled out in a similar scheme.
That’s approximately £833 for every man, woman and child in the country, or
£1,500 for every taxpayer. If someone was to help themselves to £1,500 of your
money and spend it wouldn’t you at least want to know how and why? Yet the
language saturating the media is full of panic and obfuscation.
We all agree it’s a storm in a teacup. But it’s been all
over the papers. People are talking about it. What are Marxists to make of the
Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand affair? After all there are genuine issues in here.
It’s about capitalism and the media.
How do they get people in the media limelight to act like
performing seals? Was the protest genuine? How far can they manufacture a mood
of outrage? How can we defend the BBC when they lob £6m of licence-payers’
money at Ross? He boasts that, at that salary, he’s “worth 1,000 BBC
journalists.”
Here are two points of view. Why not write in
and have your say?
6,000 London bus workers from 3 different companies have been taking
co-ordinated strike action in pursuit of a basic wage of £30,000. Since
privatisation, drivers from different companies have different wages
and conditions. The companies argue that they need to be competitive,
i.e. offer lower wages than competitors to get work. There is no
justification for bus drivers being on different rates of pay if they
do the same job. This strike has been building up for years and is long
overdue.
Socialist Appeal is the Marxist voice of Labour and youth. The ideas of Marxism have a long and rich heritage within the British labour movement. We defend these traditions today.
Socialist Appeal is the Marxist voice of Labour and youth. The ideas of Marxism have a long and rich heritage within the British labour movement. We defend these traditions today.
Hundreds of workers downed tools on Tuesday 21st October two hours
before their shift was due to end. This was the first round in a
battle to save the Southampton plant. A workforce of 1,100 make
Transits there. They are already on a four day week as the recession
starts to bite.
Nottingham Trent University has declared war on the University and
College Union (UCU). On 4 July 2008 the university wrote to UCU and
said it was aware that it should give nine months’ notice, but had
decided to terminate the agreement to recognise the union on 4 October
2008.
Elections can reveal a lot about a country, and the fast-approaching
U.S. presidential election is proving to be no exception. Above all,
the current election shows just how much working Americans need their
own political representation. This fact is expressed and cynically
taken advantage of by Barack Obama’s campaign slogan: “Change We Can
Believe In.” Even the “old guard” represented by John McCain has had to
raise the idea of change in his campaign rhetoric.