The latest news and analysis from The Communist, alongside reports of our activity. For Marxist theory and history, click here.
A crisp and sunny autumn day
greeted around 2,500 trade unionists as they marched around the back streets
leading onto Broad Street where the Tory Party were at their annual shindig at
the ICC announcing yet more cuts to hit the poor and vulnerable in society.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has
won, yet again, the presidential elections on Sunday October 7, with a
comfortable margin of 54.84% against the 44.55% of his opponent Henrique
Capriles. This is another victory for the Bolivarian revolution which
should be used in order to carry out the revolution to the end.
The national conference in Newcastle of the National Union
of Journalists (NUJ) has passed without opposition a resolution supporting the
Blacklist Support Campaign in their fight to expose the anti-union scandal of
the blacklist being operated in the construction industry.
Across Europe it is the sick the old and especially the young that
are being forced to pay for the economic crisis. In Spain and Greece
youth unemployment stands at over 50%. In Ireland although that figure
is somewhat lower at 17.9% but this still means nearly 1 in 5 youth are
workless.
USA: One year ago, Occupy Wall Street burst
into the public consciousness. Similar actions had been tried just
months earlier, but failed to take root. Up until its second week, OWS
itself seemed to be yet another localized action that would fail to make
a real splash.
On October 20th we will witness another massive display of
opposition to the Coalition government. Hundreds of thousands of angry
workers will take to the streets in an attempt to push back the Tory
austerity programme. This is part of a European-wide movement of opposition to austerity
measures, with the latest mass demonstrations being held in Spain and
Portugal. New protests have also erupted in Greece.
The presidential election due on
October 7 represents a decisive moment in the history of Venezuela. The
outcome of this election will have a major impact throughout the
continent and internationally. It goes without saying that the Hands Off
Venezuela campaign is actively supporting the Bolivarian candidate Hugo
Chavez and fighting against any attempt of the oligarchy and
imperialism to sabotage the elections. The IMT stands firmly for the
re-election of Hugo Chávez. Why have we taken this position?
28
workers including a UNITE steward and safety rep have been dismissed
from the Crossrail project because of they are members of a trade union.
The unionised workers employed by E.I.S. Electrical were searched and removed from site last Friday at the instruction of Bam Ferrovial Kier (BFK), the consortium of contractors building Crossrail.
As we begin the new academic year thousands of students up down the
country will be leaving home for the first time to begin their Higher
Education (HE) studies. Unfortunately for these students what should be
an exciting and liberating occasion is overshadowed by the colossal debt
they will be forced to take on as they become the first to pay the new
£9,000 a year tuition fees.
As the government proves intractable
over demands to revoke London Met’s ban on teaching overseas students,
it is becoming increasingly clear that only a militant campaign by the
student union and trade unions can force the government’s hand.
A
clearing house for students displaced by the university’s visa fiasco
will include six private colleges in a total of 14 institutions.
In keeping with its general policy of favouring business over the needs
of ordinary people, the government now gets to offer a subsidy in the
form of the tuition fees of over 2,000 overseas students.
A cheap, crude, anti-Islamic film entitled The Innocence of Muslims,
produced and promoted by reactionary Christian fundamentalists in the
United States and posted on the internet in July, has led to
demonstrations in many countries around the world, including attacks on
US embassies and in the case of Libya to the killing of four US
diplomats at the US Consulate in Benghazi. We look into why all this is
happening?