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The Grangemouth strikers are now back at work. They know
they may have to walk out again if management stick with their plan to trash
the company pension scheme. What’s their problem? Ineos is 75% owned by Jim Ratcliffe. Listed as the 25^th richest person in the
land, his fortune is reckoned at £2,300 million. The ‘Sunday
Times’ thinks he was worth £3,300 million in 2007. He’s dropped a billion, poor
old soul. That must explain why he wants to nick the workers’ pension pot.

On Thursday April 24th teachers, lecturers and
public sector workers staged a one-day strike. Teachers were out on official strike
for the first time for 21 years. They were joined by Further Education (FE)
lecturers organised in UCU and public sector workers from the PCS union who are
faced with a government imposed 2% pay rise limit. At last workers in the
public sector were taking organised, coordinated and united strike action
against pay offers that represent a cut in their standard of living.

Workers’ Memorial Day is held on
28 April every year. All over the world workers and their representatives
conduct events, demonstrations, vigils and a whole host of other activities to
mark the day.
Every year more people are
killed at work than in wars. Most don’t die of mystery ailments, or in tragic
‘accidents’. They die because an employer decided their safety just wasn’t that
important a priority. Workers’ Memorial Day commemorates those workers.

Recently,
The University College London Students’ Union (UCLU) voted to ban The Officer
Training Corps (OTC) from recruiting at union organized events like Freshers’
Fair. The ban has caused quite a stir on and off
campus, making the front cover of the ‘Evening Standard’ with the banner
headline, "Students Ban Military". Speaking
about those in opposition to the motion, UCLU General Secretary, Samantha
Godwin, said: “they know that if replicated
elsewhere, it would become a really effective method of protesting against the
war."

Working in the private sector means rubbish pay
and rubbish conditions, such as no pension, no sick pay, long hours and
no lasting terms or contracts. It all looks great from the
outside, efficient, spick ’n’ span, clean as a whistle. Scratch the surface however, and
you will see a workplace run on the cheap, with lots of paper work and a poor standard of care. Poor staffing
leads to long hours, fatigue and poor performance, and the need to
comply with managers’ demands, or risk being identified as a
troublemaker are ever present.

Bob Crow, General Secretary of the RMT, states that the privatised rail industry “is profiteering on £1.3bn in unpaid tax, and is using a deferred-tax loophole intended to encourage investment to fund massive increases in dividend payouts to shareholders. This tax is unlikely ever to be paid, and is effectively a hidden subsidy that dramatically increases profit levels.”

A red and white Unite
flag hung out of a window of the union office. More
banners and placards were held by the pickets, their bright
orange overalls clashing with yellow fluorescent vests as they gathered for their
rally.
“Ineos has hit out at our members, that’s the truth, but
we’ll sit down with them at
any time. We will also, continue safety work and fuel would
go to those who
need it in all life critical situations. We will win!”
Mark Lyon (Unite Convenor)

Yesterday we reported on the strike rally in London, where teachers went on strike against Gordon Brown’s pay freeze. It was the first time the teachers had gone on strike for a generation. They were
joined by members of the public sector union PCS and the lecturers union UCU. The following article contains reports on local action around the country.

Every time you think things cannot get any worse for Gordon
Brown, something else comes along. With Labour trailing badly in the polls and
facing what may be yet another round of bad election results come May, even
some normally ‘loyal’ Labour MPs have started to raise the question of getting
rid of Brown as leader. Labour MPs
are rebelling, not because they have suddenly discovered a long-lost socialist
conscience, but because they are staring at the strong possibility that Labour
will lose the next election and they will lose their seats.

Rain, drizzle, hail… nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of
the estimated ten thousand who marched through the centre of London in support
of the industrial action being taken by the teachers’ union the NUT today. This
is the first national strike by teachers for over a generation. They were
joined by members of the public sector union PCS and the lecturers union UCU
who are also taking  24 hour strike
action in what is intended as a unified show of force.

The following is an extract from the financial newsletter
The Daily Reckoning, 22 April. I would not normally cite a single source so extensively.
But it is important for socialists to be aware of the extent to which serious
bourgeois commentators are thinking the unthinkable about economic perspectives.
We are not alone comrades!

As the recession begins to bite deeper with every passing
day, millions of ordinary people face losing their homes, bankers’ profits are
taking a hit, tens of thousands are facing the dole queues, the world is on the
brink of economic recession, yet the super rich have never had it so good,
especially the hedge fund managers.