Archive for August 2019

6 August 2019

Hull: Karro Food meat processors strike against poverty pay

A pork foods plant in Hull that hasn't witnessed a strike in 30 years is now seeing strikes each Monday organised by general union GMB

12 August 2019

Equity: reject UK Theatre's pay cut deal

Theatre bosses have offered performing arts workers a measly 2% pay rise in basic rates over the next three years

14 August 2019

Kashmir crisis: Stop the attack on democratic rights

The scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir's 'special status' and imposing brutal direct rule by Narendra Modi's right-wing Hindu-nationalist BJP government, has significantly increased repression in Kashmir and ratcheted up tension between the Indian and Pakistan governments.

14 August 2019

Fight back against the retail bosses!

'The needs of the business' is a phrase most retail staff will be familiar with.

14 August 2019

Boot out Boris and all the Tory toffs - fight for socialist policies for the 99% not the 0.1%

What should be done when the Tories are in historic crisis?

14 August 2019

Tory bribes don't hide destruction of NHS

In 2010 every Tory candidate in our county, Gloucestershire, received a donation from a hedge fund manager with interests in private healthcare, yet at the same time there was a Cameron-led election campaign pledging full support to the NHS.

14 August 2019

After the fire: fight for facilities for all

Not quite three weeks after the devastating fire at Walthamstow's shopping mall Save Our Square (SOS) campaigners were out on Saturday 10 August in the lime tree avenue leading to the east London market, making it quite clear. We are still here!

14 August 2019

Summer of airline industry strikes against low pay and worsening conditions

August has seen a number of strikes threatened in the airline industry, in particular at Heathrow Airport but also at Gatwick Airport and potential industrial action by British Airways and Ryanair pilots. Strikes at Gatwick and Heathrow have been suspended because of improved offers.

14 August 2019

Bradford: All-out action to defeat backdoor NHS privatisation

The escalation of the strike at Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust to all-out strike action at the end of August marks a significant intensification by Unison union members in estates and facilities at the trust.

14 August 2019

Harland and Wolff occupation continues - renationalise to save the shipyard

The Harland and Wolff shipyard occupation continues. We give our full solidarity and support to the workers in Belfast, in the Unite and GMB trade unions, who are fighting to secure their future.

14 August 2019

General election looms... Capitalists in chaos: Fight for socialism

Despite the historic crisis for British capitalism represented by a looming Brexit with no reliable party to represent it, so far the chaotic Tory government farce has rumbled on.

14 August 2019

The Peterloo Massacre 1819: When a fearful ruling class tried to crush working-class political aspirations

The Peterloo Massacre was perhaps the most significant atrocity carried out by the British authorities against their own people.

14 August 2019

Pro-democracy protests continue to rage

The Hong Kong protests were sparked over two months ago by the notorious extradition bill

14 August 2019

Northern Ireland, August '69: 'Battle of the Bogside' and British troops on the streets

Fifty years ago this month, troops were deployed on the streets of Derry and Belfast by the British Labour government of PM Harold Wilson.

14 August 2019

Far right seen off at Oxford Circus

Socialist Party members joined several hundred others at a counter-demonstration opposing supporters of the jailed far-right provocateur 'Tommy Robinson' on Saturday 3 August.

14 August 2019

TV: Young, British and Depressed - "What is wrong with our society that all these people are feeling this way?"

In 'Young, British and Depressed' ('Dispatches' on Channel 4, 29 July), Sanah Ahsan focussed on the crisis facing young people in their search to be treated for mental health problems.

14 August 2019

Hereford and Worcester: stop the fire cuts!

There is a building boom going on in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. 5,000 more homes are planned in and immediately around Worcester. There is a scramble to fill any possible space with houses or flats.

14 August 2019

Dundee: young workers meet

Members of the 'Young Socialists - Young Workers' Rights' campaign met for a national day of action in Dundee city centre on 6 August.

14 August 2019

Leeds estate residents push back private development

Leeds Socialist Party members have been campaigning alongside the Little London Tenants and Residents Association (TRA) against a 'mega-block' proposed for this community on the outskirts of Leeds city centre.

14 August 2019

Health workers strike against £2,000 loss of pay

Health visitors in Lincolnshire have been on strike against the Tory county council.

16 August 2019

Anger continues to mount over imposition of direct rule

Thousands protested in London against the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir's 'special status'

20 August 2019

Workers reject 'Martini' contract

Around 1,000 Asda workers, members of the GMB union, marched on Asda House in Leeds

21 August 2019

Liverpool RMT seafarers protest against super-exploitation

Members of the RMT protested against Seatruck on Monday 19th August

21 August 2019

The 'national unity' threat to Corbynism

A rising sense of panic is gripping the strategists of British capitalism as the 31 October Brexit deadline draws ever closer

28 August 2019

Harland and Wolff occupation

The GMB and Unite trade unions representing workers at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast have announced the extension of the unpaid temporary lay-off of staff until 30 September

28 August 2019

Knife and gun crime a product of poverty and austerity

A rise in recorded knife attacks in Coventry mirrors growing concerns about violent crime across the country

28 August 2019

Amazon fires: Big business is destroying the environment

The Amazon rainforest in Brazil is battling massive forest fires. They are so extensive they can be seen from space.

28 August 2019

Workers' movement must launch a campaign for a general election

On 3 September parliament returns from its long summer holiday, sitting for less than two weeks before it breaks again for the party conference season.

28 August 2019

Stop the latest Tory attack on our pensions

Pensioners are under attack. The Centre for Social Justice, a right-wing think tank, is proposing that pensioners should in effect work until they drop.

28 August 2019

Notts child abuse scandal: Socialist Party demands action programme to prevent future cases

The decades-long Nottinghamshire child abuse scandal and cover-up shows the need to fight public service cuts and for a society that values people, not private profit.

28 August 2019

Imperialist tensions escalate as world economy teeters

In a special report that scrutinised the increasingly tense breakdown in geopolitical and economic relations between the United States and China, the Economist sombrely concluded on 18 May that the world has entered "a new kind of cold war."

28 August 2019

Italy: Governing coalition fractures as Salvini looks to capitalise on crisis

After just 14 months in power, the populist coalition government of the far-right Lega and Five Star Movement (M5S) in Italy has collapsed.

28 August 2019

Interview with Sean Hoyle - left candidate in RMT general secretary election

As new strikes begin on South Western Railway, in the long running industrial dispute over guards and the result of the transport union RMT general secretary election is announced, the Socialist spoke to Sean Hoyle, the left candidate in the general secretary election.

28 August 2019

Strike action wins privatisation reprieve at Bradford hospitals

After three weeks of strike action by estates and facilities workers in Bradford hospitals organised in health union Unison - and with an all-out strike looming - management has blinked first.

28 August 2019

Barry Hospital workers fight to save ward from closure

Unison health union members at Barry Hospital have launched a campaign to save the Sam Davies ward from closure.

28 August 2019

DVSA workers strike for four weeks over conditions and workload

Selected groups of PCS civil servants' union members at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency are on strike for four weeks. Other members may be called out on strike in September.

28 August 2019

Merseyside Matalan workers walk out over pay deal

Workers at a Matalan warehouse and distribution centre in Knowsley, Merseyside have taken strike action against a proposed pay deal.

28 August 2019

Probation hostel rest room win

Our employers tried to take away the staff rest room and make it into another bedroom for the residents. This would have generated more income and made us more attractive for privatisation.

28 August 2019

BEIS strike

A lively picket line greeted visitors to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as caterers and cleaners employed by contractors entered their fourth week of continuous strike action over pay.

28 August 2019

Lincolnshire health visitors' solidarity rally

As reported in the last issue of the Socialist, Lincolnshire health visitors are planning further strike action after a failure to increase pay in line with other health visitors equates to a loss of about £2,000 a year.

28 August 2019

Worcestershire: Stop the fire cuts!

On 21 August, over 80 people attended a protest at Bewdley fire station in Worcestershire against its closure. The protest was called by Save Bewdley Fire Station Campaign, which has collected over 2,000 signatures on its petition against closure.

28 August 2019

Bangladeshi campaigners fight mining giant for justice

Shouts of "GCM, shame on you, Gary Lye [Chief Officer], shame on you" rang out around the square outside the London Stock Exchange on 22 August.

28 August 2019

The Socialist Inbox

Letters to the Socialist's editors.

28 August 2019

Postal union ballots 100,000 workers for strike action

The mood at CWU briefing meetings was extreme anger.

28 August 2019

Retail workers fight back against Scrooge bosses

Faced with a profits squeeze, big retail bosses are attempting to make workers pay by closing outlets, axing jobs and worsening terms and conditions of employment. However, this offensive is being resisted.

28 August 2019

Brexit and the border in Northern Ireland - will there be a return to the 'Troubles'?

Brexit has started a hare running over the consequences for the integrity of the UK.

28 August 2019

Boot out Boris and all the Tories

Unelected prime minister's parliamentary games:
Jeremy Corbyn and the trade union movement need to urgently launch a mass campaign to demand an immediate general election.