Dramatic events unfolded in Ecuador last week when a sizeable group
of the country’s police forces tried to overthrow the left-wing
government of Rafael Correa. The official reason for the rebellion of
the police forces was a law passed by Congress on Wednesday that would
end the practice of giving members of Ecuador’s military and police
medals and bonuses with each promotion.
On Sunday October 3rd the – at times – torrential
rain could not dampen the enthusiasm of around 7,000 marchers as they wound
their way through Birmingham city centre in protest against Tory/Lib Dem
government’s planned cuts. As Mark Serwotka, PCS General Secretary,
said speaking from the rally platform, ”If thousands could be mobilised against
the cuts in the pouring rain, just think what could be achieved if the TUC were
to organise such a demonstration. We could bring hundreds of thousands onto the
streets.”
Steve Kelly reports on a meeting against the cuts organised in the heart of Essex.
Sacked Polish workers gathered yesterday at the gates at Siemens new power
station at
Uskmouth near Newport to meet with representative of the GMB union. The
workers
were sacked by management of Durmar Ltd, the lowest link in a chain of
contractors and sub contractors. It is rumoured that the workers have
been replaced with other workers by Isocore, an Austrian contractor
that sub-contracted the
work to Durmar, who employed workers to lag pipe work on this project.
The result of the elections to Venezuela’s National Assembly
elections on Sunday was greeted by jubilation in the bourgeois media
internationally. It is too early to make a definitive judgment about
the results, and it has not been confirmed the right wing has overtaken
the PSUV in votes. However, the deafening chorus of triumph in the
international media is premature.
The
mood at the Miraflores presidential palace on Sunday night was one of
cautious waiting and one could even feel a slight nervousness in the
air as thousands of Bolivarians had gathered to hear the first results
of the country’s parliamentary elections
As part of his campaign for General Secretary of UNITE Jerry Hicks
will be addressing a series of public meetings and visiting a number of
workplaces across Ireland in the coming week (beginning the 27th
September).
Against all the odds and against the wishes of the whole establishment from The Economist to The Sunday Times, Ed Miliband has emerged as Labour Party leader, simply by standing a little to the left of his brother. This clinched the trade union members vote, which shows in which direction workers want the party to go, clearly to the left. But which way will Ed Miliband go?
The following letter from a Unite member in Yorkshire shows the
increasing understanding of many union activists and stewards about the
need to have a leadership which both understands what the bosses are
really up to and knows what the movement must do in response.
As soon as Mervyn King, Governor of the
Bank of England, was introduced at the TUC in Manchester, Bob Crow and the rest
of the RMT delegation walked out in protest. “It is like a gathering of
Christians inviting the Devil round for Christmas dinner”, commented Brother
Crow. “The bankers are obviously on hard times these days, so he must have come
along to pass around the hat.”
According to the
propaganda of government and big business we have come through the worst of the
recession and are now set to prosper as the “green shoots” of recovery start to
grow. A recent survey by the Bank for International Settlements has shown that
for some this is clearly the case.
This Saturday Glasgow once again showed that we won’t tolerate fascists and the far-right on our streets.