Student protest in London
– what next?
At midday on Wednesday 25th February over 1,000 students from over 20
universities, schools, and colleges, along with recent graduates and young
workers, gathered outside the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) to
protest (nominally at least) over the issue of top-up fees for university
tuition.
Yesterday, over twenty protesters made a
lot of noise in front of Willis Insurance Brokers, demonstrating for the
re-instatement of cleaners who had been sacked by sub-contractor Mitie.
The second ‘unofficial’ demonstration
seemed to be the charm and news is that the cleaners have been called in to
negotiate.
This first step toward victory has been
achieved with the dedicated, hard work of the cleaners concerned and their
supporters despite the absence of official support from the union Unite.
See the video for more…
No
doubt Brian Cowen was fairly pleased this morning when he woke up after seeing
the pension levy go through in the Dáil. But a rock solid strike of 13,000 civil
servants will have soon brought him back to reality. This was the first
national civil servants’ strike in twenty years.
High-ranking British police officers
have expressed concern that the country may be facing an outburst of street
protests. Superintendent David Hartshorn, head of the Metropolitan police’s
public order branch, and one of the highest ranking police officers in the
country, in an interview with The Guardian newspaper, spoke of the
possibility of riots like those that rocked the country in the 1980s, erupting
later this year as people who lose their jobs, homes or savings become
"footsoldiers" in a wave of violent mass protests.
Written
by a close friend and collaborator this biography is a vivid account of an
indefatigable trade union activist in the US oil, chemical and nuclear industry.
It is extremely important in keeping alive Tony Mazzochi’s legacy and adding to
labour movement history from which thinking workers, students and youth can
draw rich lessons.
Quite
apart from this it has all the ingredients for an intriguing read, from the
battles with the corporations on one hand, to the pernicious role of the mob in
the trade union movement, the intriguing of the union careerists and the
campaign to build a fighting union from the bottom up.
Twenty four hours ago (on February 24th 2009), we suggested
that the way ahead for the Irish public sector trade unions was to build
towards a 24 hour public sector general strike. We didn’t pick that idea from
the sky. It seemed inherent in the situation, following on that it is, from
Saturday’s monster march. Now the Irish Confederation of Trade Unions has
called for a national strike day on the 30th March because the
employers in both the public and private sectors are reneging on the national
wage agreement.
The State Pension was
established 100 years ago on 1st January 1909. This followed a ten
year campaign by social reformers and the Trade Union Movement.Pensions should be a right for those who have worked all
their lives. Instead the government is looking to whittle away the fragile
gains of a century of struggle.
Following on from Saturday’s
mega-demonstration in Dublin, now workers in the public sector have voted
massively for strike action, starting with a strike this coming Thursday of the
Civil and Public Service Union.
As the capitalist crisis deepens so it
creates waves of political and social upheaval. In this new period of recession that is unfolding it is clear that
the solution for the ruling class is to force ordinary people to accept a
reduction of their living standards. They want us to pay for their crisis. This
is a recipe for class struggle. It is the duty of the Marxists to carry the
ideas of socialism into the labour movement. Learn the lessons of the past, in
order to prepare for the future. On the 14th of February
Socialist Appeal held a day school in London on Cuba, Iran and the Communist
International, all of which have important anniversaries in 2009.
Tuesday, 24 and Thursday 26th February at 1pm. Join the second demonstration in
support of 5 cleaners who were unfairly sacked by the cleaning services company
Mitie in order to undermine their union work.
The address is in front of the insurance broker Willis Offices, 51 Lime
Street, C3M 7DQ London. Liverpool Street tube. Meet at the station in front of
the McDonald’s and all go to together to Willis. Tuesday, 24 February and
Thursday 26, at 1 pm. Contact
williscleaners4justice@live.co.uk
There were spectres haunting Dublin on Saturday, the fear of
unemployment and of job cuts but more importantly the spirit of James Connolly
and Jim Larkin the founding fathers of the Irish labour movement. It took two
hours to get from Parnell Square to the final rally. 200,000 people, workers,
their families and their kids, young and old, from all over the country, Cork,
Kerry, Sligo, Donegal, the midlands and all over.
As I write, the New York stock exchange index fell to its lowest level in six years as the big financial institutions and investors in company stocks slipped into the depth of despond about the state of the world capitalist economy. And these investors have every reason to feel depressed. The world economy, by most estimates from the major international institutions, will contract this year for the first time since the 1940s. And by the world, they mean everywhere, not just in the advanced capitalist economies.