The ICTU leaders recently consulted
their members over the “Public Service agreement”. Most of the public service unions have been rejecting the deal, which reveals that the
workers are prepared to fight. But are the leaders up to the task?
Here are some photos from the London demonstration held last Saturday in
defence of the Welfare state
Socialist Appeal has received this
update on the position at Severfield Reeve which we reported on a few
weeks ago. It’s clear that there is a militant mood
developing in the
factory
Tomorrow, Sat April 10th, thousands of trade unionists and Labour
movement activists will unite to march through London in a demonstration
algainst cuts in public services, called by over 20
organisations including a number of trade unions. The March will assemble
at Midday outside Embankment tube and will end up in Trafalgar Sq. for a
rally. Here is what Socialist Appeal has to say about the issues raised by the
march in a leaflet being handed out on the day:
The massive over-reaction of the police and the courts against arrested Gaza demonstrators has come as a shock. Usually people convicted of minor public order offences get
a suspended sentence or community service.This time the judge has been
handing
down savage sentences of up to two and a half years at Isleworth Crown
Court.
We are delighted to announce the
publication of Fightback: the magazine of the International Marxist
Tendency in Ireland. The first edition of the magazine comes in two
editions for the North and the South – they have different front and
back pages and industrial material. The first edition is full colour and has
20 pages.
The government of Kyrgyzstan has
fallen! According to reports this morning President Kurmanbek Bakiyev,
who opened fire on his own people, has fled. The government has been
dissolved and opposition forces have begun to assume power. Yesterday
www.marxist.com
received a report from a comrade in Russia, which gives a graphic
account of these events.
Yet again the bosses’ judicial system has intervened to stop a union
taking industrial action. This time they have forced the RMT to cancel
their strike action due to take place this week.
The general election of 2010 has been called. To no-one’s surprise, on Thursday 6th May, voters will go to the polls to decide who will form the next UK government. For a very long time now, the Tories – the party of big business – have enjoyed a sizeable poll lead, backed up by good results in local and Euro elections. Yet the gap between the Tories and Labour has closed sharply in recent months. Why is this?
The centre of Dudley in the Midlands became
a ghost town on Saturday 3rd April with shops on the
High Street
boarded up, resembling the effects the recession had last year on many
towns .
But this deserted town centre was not the result of an economic
downturn, well
not exactly. It was the overreaction of the Midlands police in occupying
the
town with road blocks in an attempt to prevent trade unionists and
socialists demonstrating
against the venomous EDL who were trying to sow divisions amongst the
workers
of Dudley.
What would such a transitional programme look like for the environment? What set of demands should socialists make regarding the climate change? In this article, we attempt to outline such a programme.
In Defence of Marxism interviews Houzan
Mahmoud, representative abroad of the Organisations of Women’s Freedom
in Iraq, and also active in the Federation of Workers Councils and
Unions. She speaks about the struggle for women and workers’ rights in
Iraq under the occupation, and how this is related to the struggle for
socialism.