Fujitsu are not having ‘IT’ all their own way – Statement From Jerry Hicks
Jerry Hicks adds his support to the Futjitsu workers.
The revolving doors of business and government
Marxists have
long since been conscious of the nature of the state, its industrious defence
of the capitalist class, and its prejudice against working people. But much of
the public are unaware of just how incestuous the capitalists and governments
really are. Read part two of Will Roche’s study of monopoly capitalism.
The Northern Region LRC gets behind two socialist candidates in SE Northumberland.
On Saturday 23rd Jan, the Northern Region LRC (Labour Representation Committee) met in Gateshead to hear a speech from Ronnie Campbell MP for Blyth Valley in Northumberland. Ronnie, who is a well known life long
socialist and former NUM activist, addressed the 17 strong gathering of LP and
TU activists and laid out his view of the Labour Movement, a view of its
history and the perspectives for the coming election.
Who says the youth aren’t prepared to fight?
On January 4th a consultation meeting at
Ashington Leisure Centre in Northumberland was held by the Lib/Dem leadership
of the County Council to "discuss" the question of its closure. The council has to find £33m worth of cuts
this year and amongst the many services being targeted is the town’s very
popular and highly used leisure centre.
Venezuela: Expropriations of banks, PSUV congress and revival of the workers’ movement
Recently we have seen many important events
happening in Venezuela, such as the devaluation of the bolívar and the
nationalisations in the banking sector, which needs to be analysed
carefully. The movement of occupied factories made important steps
forward last year, but still faces sabotage by counter-revolutionary
managers and workers are still struggling for nationalisation under
workers’ control. In order to defend the conquests already made, the
revolution must put the nationalisation of the commanding heights of
the economy on the agenda. Only this can destroy capitalism and provide
the necessary prerequisites for a socialist planned economy.
And here’s to you Mrs Robinson
The scandal involving the wife of the First Minister has
revealed the utter hypocrisy of the politicians who run Stormont. While
they are perfectly prepared to impose draconian spending cuts on
welfare, they line their own pockets. The workers of the North require
a fighting working class political representation and not the present
bunch of parasites.
Haiti: A Profound Human Tragedy Inspires the Same Old Song and Dance from the U.S. Ruling Class
The nation of Haiti was hit with a
devastating earthquake. The governments of Cuba and Venezuela responded
within hours with medical brigades, firefighters, fuel and supplies,
and there has been massive sympathy, generosity and volunteerism from
workers around the world. What a difference compared to the response
from the United States. The U.S. government has pledged assistance
in the way of one hundred million dollars – less than is spent on the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in just two days.
Horror in Haiti – Imperialism to blame
There is a manmade element to the
catastrophe now confronting the Haitians. The country doesn’t just happen to be
poor; it has been made poor and kept poor. Haiti is the poorest country
in the Western hemisphere, with the worst infrastructure and a people
most vulnerable to disaster and disease, because of the machinations of
imperialism. Although the earthquake could not be avoided, the scale of
death and destruction clearly could have been.
UNISON: Local Government Pay Freeze demonstrates the need for a democratic fighting union
It
won’t come as a big surprise to most thinking workers that a bunch of
Tory councillors sat around and made the decision to institute a pay
freeze in local government. No surprise that is because the memory of
Thatcherism is still etched on many workers minds and secondly because
with New Labour already advocating a 1% pay
ceiling on public sector pay, how were the Tories going to out do them?
Why, by offering less of course!
South Yorkshire firefighters return to strike action
Following the break down of negotiations aimed at resolving the long
running dispute over shift changes and threatened job loss by the South
Yorkshire Fire Authority hundreds of firefighters are set for another
round of industrial action.
Where is Wales going?
In the Labour Party and among Trade Union leaders here in Wales, it is
thought defeatist and almost traitorous, to express the belief that
Labour may lose the General Election this year. We look at how things are panning out in Wales and what Labour really needs to do to avoid defeat in the coming elections.
New Labour Fails to Provide for Young People
When New Labour came to power in 1997, Tony Blair stated that his top
three priorities were “education, education, education”. 13 years
later, and figures from a recent poll
show that over two-thirds of people in England believe that the
government has failed to deliver the improvement in education that it
promised.