OCCUPY! The Factory Occupation Movement in Venezuela and London.
This Wednesday 13th May at Bolivar Hall in London
OCCUPY! The Factory Occupation Movement in Venezuela and London.
7.00pm start. Videos and Speakers. Admission Free.
News and analysis
The latest news and analysis from The Communist, alongside reports of our activity. For Marxist theory and history, click here.
The Bologna Process hits Glasgow
Students and education workers have taken action across Europe in recent months in response to the so called ‘Bologna Process’; a vicious attack on the provision of public education centred around privatising public institutions and stripping down staff numbers and facilities to a bare minimum. In response to this there have been large demonstrations and strikes of students and workers in Austria, Italy, Spain and France. In Britain there are now proposals for a huge funding cut back at London Metropolitan University and the selling off of Strathclyde University in Glasgow, amongst other attacks.
Swine flu: No panic, No indifference Calderon is responsible for the health crisis!
The mass panic which has gripped Britain and the rest of the world
arising from the ‘Swine Flu’ outbreak has occupied the media for nearly a
fortnight now. Schools have been shut and people are being urged to
wash their hands like crazy. However those who have contracted the flu
have described the symtoms as being like a ‘bad cold’ and all seem to
be recovering OK. Yet in Mexico – where the flu outbreak evidently
started – many have died. Why is this? Marxist.com ‘s Mexican correspondent has sent this report on who is really to blame.
The Limerick Soviet of 1919
In 1919, the workers of Limerick undertook a two-week long general strike, in which a strike committee or ‘soviet’ made steps to establish workers’ control. However, due to the betrayals of the reformist labour leaders and petty bourgeois nationalists, this inspiring episode proved to be short-lived.
Inequality grows
The United States of America is the greatest capitalist economy in the world. What does capitalism bring? Does it bring better standards of living? Does it bring happiness? Does it bring justice and fairness? Those questions have been answered elsewhere, but the short answer is ‘no’. But one thing it definitely does not bring is equality of income and wealth.
Guns before butter
On the day that the Pakistani army continued to be bogged down in a ferocious battle against the Taliban inside its own borders and yet another British soldier was killed in Afghanistan, the one hundred and fifty third since 2001, it is evident that the British military is engaged in a war it cannot win. Defence Minister Bob Ainsworth has outlined desperate measures which entail a wholesale reform of the Territorial Army. Gone forever will be the image of a glorified Dad’s Army as the TA is to be integrated with the rest of the army and better prepared for wars abroad.
Budget: Fifty per cent is too much!
It makes your blood boil! The only good news to come out of the UK budget announced by New Labour Chancellor Alastair Darling last week was the slight increase in tax rate that would now be levied on those earning more than £100,000 a year. The rate was being raised from 40% to 50% to help raise a little more money from those who have benefited most from the credit binge that has now gone bust around the world.But what a barrage of criticism and rage has erupted from the great and good and from the news media on Darling’s action.
May Day: Workers on the march
Today is May Day – International Workers Day. Mick Brooks looks at the origins and traditions of May Day and why it matters.
One the events board are just some of the events taking place today and over the weekend to celebrate May Day. In London workers will be assembling at 11.30 at Clerkenwell Green to march to Trafalgar Square – see you there!
The 2009 Election Results: Reflecting the state of the class struggle in South Africa
The workers and poor of South Africa voted massively for an ANC that had
been purged of its right wing. Now that the ANC is once more in office,
the bourgeois – having failed to stop this – are putting enormous
pressure on its leaders to steer away from any radical pro-worker
policies. What is required is a struggle within the South African
labour movement to anchor its organisations to genuine socialist
policies. David van Wyk in South Africa looks at the election results and what they mean for the working class.
Our enemy – the capitalist state
Editorial.The events around the G20 demonstrations have underlined the fact that, when working people stand up against capitalism, sooner or later we come slap up against the capitalist state. The police were talking up the prospects of violence well before the G20 began. Ian Tomlinson was killed by riot police on his way home. He wasn’t even part of the demonstration against the G20, just a worker going about his business. Complaints and evidence about heavy-handed and brutish policing are pouring in. Des Heemskerk led a group of workers in Basildon, concerned only about protecting their jobs, to occupy their factory – Visteon. They came up against police in full riot gear with slavering dogs on hand.
Budget: Where’s our bail-out?
The budget figures show starkly how desperate is the position of the British economy, faced with what Darling called the ‘worst global economic turmoil’ in living memory. The amount the economy will shrink has been revised to a record 3.5% fall this year, the biggest drop since the Second World War.
Two more Glasgow Schools Occupied
Another day and yet another action from the tenacious primary school parents of the Glasgow Save our Schools Campaign. Parents from the Our Lady of Assumption and Victoria primary schools, located in Ruchil and Govanhill, have gone into occupation in protest at their schools’ proposed closure. The Council will vote on the decision on Thursday.