Fred Weston, editor of the website In Defence of Marxism, talks about
the current situation in Brazil to the London Aggregate of the
Socialist Appeal at the begining of July. The occupied factories
movement in Brazil is symptomatic of the extreme instability throughout
the Latin American continent, as is the Lula governments attempts to
divide the working class along race lines and its recent attacks on the
CIPLA and Flasko occupied factories. Listen to part 1 and part 2 .
Members of Prospect union in the Science Museum group have been on strike over wages, with minimum hourly rates falling significantly below the real living wage whilst directors’ salaries have grown substantially. Socialist Appeal pledges solidarity!
Are the terms ‘socialism’ and ‘communism’ interchangeable? Thomas Soud from the Warwick Marxists sets out to answer this question.
Running simultaneously and arguably as crucial as the election for
Unite’s General Secretary itself is the BA dispute and a proposal to
‘settle’ it. 12 months ago British Airways cabin crew on an 80% turn
out, voted by a brilliant 92% to take strike action to defend their hard
won terms and conditions. The dispute started as a result of the
imposition and erosion of ‘Terms and Conditions’ but has been diverted
by British Airways and is now being defined by staff travel and the
disciplinary process. But with scores of cabin crew suspended and a
dozen sacked, the proposed ‘deal’ is already unravelling.