A review of Farrell Dobbs’ account of the Teamsters struggle in 1934, against bosses intent on holding down workers pay
and conditions. The Teamsters rebellion gets to the
heart of what trade unionism is all about, showing how workers’ innate ability
to organise and manage their affairs on a collective basis is brought into
sharp focus by the battles to improve their lives.
Some disturbing events have been taking place in the south
of Ireland, where two IRSP members have been arrested and are being held under
the notorious “section 30”. This is clearly a case of political victimisation
and should be condemned by all socialists.
Last week, the Bank of England hiked its
interest rates, yet again, to 5.75%. This
was the fifth rise since August 2005.
And the head of the bank, Mervyn King, said that "further action" on
interest rates could be necessary. Most
observers reckon the interest rate that most borrowing and mortgages are based on
– the bank rate – will go to 6% or more by the end of this year.
As Gerry Ruddy
explains, "The issue of the national question in Ireland is at heart a class
question. The division of the country into two separate states has encouraged
sectarianism, seriously dividing the working class and allowing the continued
exploitation of all workers." This while in the recent period the IRSP in the
South of Ireland has come under attack from political policing.
This is the second part of the recording made at the Socialist Appeal day school
in June, where comrades gathered to discuss the Marxist theory of the
State and the Revolutionary Tactics of the Bolshevik Party in 1917. In
the second part of this session, Revolutionary Tactics of the Bolshevik Party in 1917 p2 , Rob Sewell talks about the flexibility of the tactics of Lenin, who consistently emphasised the need to patiently explain.
After World War II the British imperialists were in a hurry to leave
India. The Partition of British India in 1947, which created the two
independent states of India and Pakistan, was followed by one of the
cruellest and bloodiest migrations and ethnic cleansings in history.
This is one of the recordings made at the Socialist Appeal day school
in June, where comrades gathered to discuss the Marxist theory of the
State and the Revolutionary Tactics of the Bolshevik Party in 1917. In
the first part of this session Rob Sewell talks about the nature of
revolution, and how a revolutionary situation occurs not necessarily in
a boom or slump, but more likely in a rapid change in living
conditions.
In September last year the
Conservative party came to power in Sweden. Now Swedish workers have a tough
fight ahead of them to defend the remnants of the Swedish welfare
state. Should the next general election return a Conservative
government, British workers would do well to study the Swedish
experience.
A recording of the meeting in April, reported on www.marxist.com, where 40 people packed the NUJ Headquarters in London to find out about the theory of the Permanent Revolution.
Alan Woods was invited to speak at the Hands Off Venezuela meeting to explain the theory and its
relevance today. Here is the audio file of Alan speaking.
On April 26th 1937 General Franco commissioned from the German High
Command, against Republican Spain, the aerial bombardment of the small
and defenceless Basque town of Guernica,
visiting a hell on earth in the form of bombs weighing up to 1000lbs
across the town of 10, 000 people. Two months later, seventy years
ago, Pablo Picasso unveiled Guernica. Despite his enormous prestige the
establishment rarely tell us that Picasso was a man of the left.
The Hands Off Venezuela campaign has sought
to take the message of the Venezuelan Revolution to as many trade
unionists as possible. As a result of our work, resolutions supporting
the revolution have been passed at a large number of trade union
national conferences, the bulk of which have affiliated to
the national campaign. All in all, this means that trade unions numbering nearly six million members have shown support in one form or other for HOV.
As the Middle East descends deeper into a vicious cycle of
death and destruction, the Reverend Blair has stepped once again
onto the world stage as international envoy for the Middle East,
representing the "Quartet" of the European Union, Russia, United
Nations and United States. In this new role, Blair has the strong
backing of the US President George W. Bush, who is the key player. In
other words, Blair will bend the knee as always to US imperialism and
its interests.