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186 Doncaster Tesco distribution drivers, members of Unite
the Union, are being sacked and replaced by drivers on cheaper rates of
pay. Many have more than 20 years
loyal service but this counts for nothing in the world of Tesco.
Far from heralding a new promise for the British economy, the 1% growth figure announced a month ago has already been buried by a pile of bad news. Few economists are looking towards 2013 with any real hope. Socialist Appeal editor Rob Sewell explains why.
In the run up to Christmas we are seeing the usual desperate appeals
from charities to raise money but the recession has meant that even
their income is now falling. At the same time, the Tory-led Coalition’s
programme of cuts, combined with job-losses and pay freezes are forcing
more and more people to rely on hand-outs from charities.
After months of waiting, the first half of the Leveson
Report into press standards has finally arrived. Two thousand pages long and
nearly a foot high in printed form, it contains a mass of data into how the
press has operated and makes many damming comments on this– the recommendations
however are what matters. Leveson’s call for an independent panel to monitor
press standards, backed up by law, to replace the discredited Press Complaints
Commission, has split the Coalition.
Events in Greece are once again in the
headlines, after another day of militant strike action and the new
‘deal’ agreed by the EU today (Tuesday 27 Nov). This deal to reduce Greece’s debt is
completely inadequate to solve the problem and is an insult to the Greek
working class, who have now endured years of brutal cuts whilst the EU
dithers. The only real solution to Greece’s problems is for the debt to
be cancelled and for the expropriation of capitalism in Greece and
Europe.
Anger was simmering on Tahrir Square yesterday as hundreds of thousands poured in to the square to protest against Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi and his ruling Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Across the square large banners were inscribed with slogans such as “The Muslim Brotherhood has stolen the revolution” and “The Muslim Brotherhood are liars”. Throughout the day a seemingly never-ending stream of marches reached the square from all over the ancient city. In size and radicalism yesterday’s protest was equalled only by those that overthrew the hated dictator Hosni Mubarak in January 2011.
At the moment, the Chinese capitalist
class, on the whole, is happy to go along with the status quo. They see
no alternative, and are terrified of lifting the lid on the anger of the
working class, therefore they seek stability at all costs.
Xi Jinping, relatively unknown in the
West, will be China’s President for the next ten years, that is, if he
can keep a lid on the simmering pot of anger that China has become. The
new Prime Minister is Li Keqiang, apparently the outgoing President’s
favoured successor
Two funeral processions turned into
mass protests on the streets of Egypt today. Over the last 5 days
thousands of people have taken to the streets in order to protest
against a decree announced by the Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi,
allowing him to rule more or less autocratically. The events have
publicly displayed the true nature of the Muslim Brotherhood who once
claimed to be representatives of democracy in Egypt. At the same time
these events show that none of the contradictions which led to the
revolution have been solved and that under the surface a new wave of
revolution is being prepared.
370 members of Unison and Unite
in West Yorkshire have been on a 3 day strike in protest at redundancies and
pay cuts. Admin and clerical staff at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, which runs
Pinderfields, Pontefract and Dewsbury hospitals, are taking action in an
escalating dispute with managers. Changes to pay bandings to cut costs at the
cash-strapped trust could leave staff up to £2,800 worse off.
It is not often that we get speakers from outside the city
to come to Coventry TUC, but on Thursday evening, November 15th,
delegates were enthused and enthralled by John Dunn, former Clay Cross
Councillor and Derbyshire NUM officer, and now of the SMSC.
Once again the Israeli military machine has carried out another
extra-judicial execution. This time, the IAF blew up Hamas military
leader Ahmed Jabari in a helicopter attack, along with a number of
civilians whose only “crime” was that of living in “the world’s largest
open-air prison”. Why is this happening now?