Archive for December 2016

1 December 2016

Protest against Glasgow Labour's scab workforce plan to defeat Unison strike

An appeal for solidarity with strike action

7 December 2016

No more concessions to Labour right!

Fight for an anti-austerity, socialist party - readmit expelled socialists: In recent weeks the strategy of the pro-capitalist Blairites - to surround Jeremy Corbyn and gradually strangle him - has clearly been stepped up

7 December 2016

Compensation disabled

An admin error robbed thousands of families with disabled kids of up to £4,400 a year

7 December 2016

Hundreds protest the decimation of Devon NHS

Hundreds protested in the centre of Exeter on 3 December against the decimation and degrading of Devon's NHS. Coming from all points of the compass and forming 'red lines' of marchers from different parts of the city, they cheered and clapped speakers from the community and the labour and trade union movement.

7 December 2016

Massive support in Stoke for action to save the NHS

We sold 100 copies of the Socialist on our campaign stall in Hanley in just three hours on 26 November. We were building support for the 4 March 2017 national march to defend our NHS from privatisation.

7 December 2016

Health campaigners in Yorkshire protest "slash and trash plans"

"Slash and trash plans" is how campaigners from Health Campaigns Together renamed the government's Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs), the latest vehicle for cuts to the NHS.

7 December 2016

Fight for a socialist Brexit

"A tsunami of opposition to the establishment has travelled the world." This description was used by a BBC presenter after the referendum result in Italy on 4 December that forced out their prime minister, Renzi.

7 December 2016

Slump in unfair dismissal cases - scrap tribunal fees!

Workers took 73% less unfair dismissal cases to employment tribunal last year than before the government introduced fees.

7 December 2016

Workers can fight Uber-style care

A new, Uber-style care service has been launched in Britain.

7 December 2016

Them & Us

It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us featuring banking warnings and Tesco toffs

7 December 2016

Victory at Standing Rock: US authorities agree to re-route oil pipeline

US authorities (subject to possible appeal) have agreed to abandon the planned oil pipeline through Standing Rock, North Dakota, after a months-long standoff between protesters and armed police.

7 December 2016

Spain: Government forced back by Student Union mobilisations

Just days after the last general strike that was called by the Sindicato de Estudiantes against the "Revalidas Fanquistas" (introduction of matriculation), we have been proved correct in what we always said - struggle works.

7 December 2016

Portugal: No to witch-hunts - fight the capitalists not socialists

Socialismo Revolucionário (SR - CWI in Portugal) is being targeted by the leadership of the Left Bloc, with threats of expulsions and exclusions. An Inquiry Committee has been opened against our members.

7 December 2016

Austria: Far right temporarily halted

Austria's far-right Freedom Party presidential candidate Norbert Hofer failed to win the re-run election against former Green leader Alexander Van der Bellen.

7 December 2016

Sudan: General strike in defiance of regime

A three-day strike between 27-29 November shook the regime in Sudan. According to reports from activists and supporters of the CWI in Sudan, universities, schools, market places, public transport and many private businesses, cafes, shops and restaurants were closed.

7 December 2016

Crossrail action in defence of victimised union rep

In response to a campaign by Unite to demand a second tier productivity bonus for electricians on Crossrail in London, which included an unofficial walkout on 25 November, notorious blacklisters Laing O'Rourke/Crown House has issued the Unite rep on the site a transfer to another job off the project.

7 December 2016

Unison members barely earning the living wage in some universities

As terms and conditions throughout the UK are being chipped away, incomes are tightening and security in the workplace is in jeopardy, Unison members voted in September to decide whether or not to strike over the 1.1% pay offer that was made to most members.

7 December 2016

Sacked bakers' union rep Kumaran Bose calls for living wage 'protection'

On 6 December, Kumaran Bose will be meeting a number of MPs (including shadow ministers) to discuss his recent sacking by Samworth Brothers, a company known for its famous household brands, such as Ginsters and Soreen.

7 December 2016

Workplace news in brief

Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles including Paul Reilly elected to the RMT EC and the introduction of the Trade Union Act.

7 December 2016

Reading TUSC writes to Labour councillors to demand cuts fight

The following letter was sent to councillors by Neil Adams from Reading Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) to raise questions related to proposed budget cuts to local services.

7 December 2016

Newham council to sack up to 1,300

The all-Labour council in Newham, east London, is threatening to sack up to 1,300 of its workforce.

7 December 2016

Obituary: John Sharpe: 1953-2016

John died of heart disease very suddenly, at a too early age.

7 December 2016

TAs force Labour to suspend pay cuts

Durham teaching assistants have won a significant battle in their campaign against pay cuts

7 December 2016

Bolton council gives £300k to solicitors while making swingeing cuts

Bolton Socialist Party is backing mounting calls for the leader of the Labour council, Cliff Morris, to resign over the use of emergency powers to hand over £300,000 to an ambulance chasing solicitor, Asons.

7 December 2016

Conservatives humiliated in Richmond

Zac Goldsmith's humiliating defeat in the Richmond Park byelection was equally a defeat for Theresa May and the Tories. Her already weak government has seen its majority cut to 13.

7 December 2016

Food banks and the real Daniel Blakes

Hundreds of thousands of people are surviving and feeding themselves by using foodbanks in Britain today

7 December 2016

Italy: Establishment routed - workers alternative needed

In January 2014, on the day that Matteo Renzi took office, Contro Corrente wrote that it was the beginning of the end for him

7 December 2016

NHS: Stop the Tory vandals

The Tory plan to privatise the NHS via the back door has given way to smashing in via the main entrance. Their next attack is NHS England's shadowy 'STPs'. Under these, the government aims to make a further £22 billion of NHS cuts by 2020

8 December 2016

Victory for UPS parcel workers

Unite the Union members at UPS Parcels in Camden have won a long-running battle against bullying and racism.

9 December 2016

Nationalise Tata Steel to save jobs and pensions

Tata Steel and steel union leaders have announced an agreement. However, it comes with a poisonous sting in the tail.

12 December 2016

Bin workers strike against draconian management

130 Doncaster waste transfer workers struck on 12 December over a 'draconian' management style and the victimisation and sacking of two colleagues.

14 December 2016

Derby TAs to strike against pay cut

Derby teaching assistants are to take a further six days of strike action in their dispute with the Labour-led city council. The TAs have already taken several days of strike action over massive cuts to pay.

14 December 2016

It's the bumper Socialist 2016 quiz!

Here's the editors' test of our readers' knowledge. All the questions are themed from articles which appeared in the Socialist this year. You don't have to resort to using a search engine - the answers are below!

14 December 2016

Labour: Corbyn supporters need not apply

Birmingham Labour Party is reported to be excluding members who joined on or after July 2015 from selecting Labour candidates for the 2018 elections.

14 December 2016

The Socialist Inbox

Letters to the Socialist's editors. Scrooge bosses; local lotteries; liberal confusion.

14 December 2016

Scrooge Tory council confronted over treatment of homeless

While Medway council celebrates Dickens, poverty and homelessness go unnoticed - with an estimated 200 people sleeping roug,h and many more 'sofa surfing'.

14 December 2016

Doncaster: cuts give rise to 'tent city'

Homelessness in the UK has reached epidemic proportions. Homelessness in Doncaster is no worse than other towns but a few enterprising folk have set up a tent city to protect the town's homeless.

14 December 2016

The Socialist Party and fighting women's oppression

Following the Leicester Reclaim the Night march, the local Socialist Party invited the University of Leicester Feminist Society to speak at a meeting on rape and sexual violence. The society declined and said some "FemSoc committee and members... felt that the [Socialist Party] were trying to take over women's issues with socialism."

14 December 2016

Pfizer drug extortion - nationalise big pharma!

Drugs company Pfizer has been fined a record £84.2 million for excessive and unfair pricing of an anti-epilepsy drug. The choice is simple: cheap, high-quality, nationalised drug manufacturing - or a system that continues to allow corporate raiding of the NHS.

14 December 2016

No to home seizures for care bills

Councils may start seizing the homes of elderly people after death to pay care bills. Ministers are also considering letting local authorities charge more council tax to cover them. Councils should instead fight for more funding, and for care to be nationalised.

14 December 2016

Amazon workers living in tents

In the latest shocking revelations about online retail giant Amazon, accused of "intolerable working conditions," workers were apparently found sleeping in tents near its Glasgow depot.

14 December 2016

Trust in politicians reaches all-time low

According to this year's 'veracity' survey from polling agency Ipsos Mori, faith in British politicians to tell the truth is lower than ever before.

14 December 2016

Them & Us

It's one wold for the super-rich and another for the rest of us. What might the super-rich pick up as stocking fillers this Christmas? Meanwhile, child homelessness and in-work poverty continue to rise.

14 December 2016

End the Tories' war on the working poor

55% of poor people now live in working households - for the first time on record.

14 December 2016

What kind of education?

Teacher trade unionists have been engaged in a bitter struggle to defend education. As socialists, though, we don't simply see our role as a defensive one, but to offer a way out of the chaos: a socialist education programme.

14 December 2016

Education for all - not exam factories

It is without doubt that our children are the most tested in the world.

14 December 2016

Southern: back the strike, nationalise the railways!

Members of train drivers' unions Aslef and RMT are taking three days of strike action on Southern Rail on 13, 14 and 16 December in the long-running dispute over the removal of guards.

14 December 2016

Establishment EU crisis deepens - fight for a socialist Brexit

Corbyn's Labour has to push for a working class alternative in the move towards Brexit.

14 December 2016

CWI: opportunities for substantial growth

90 CWI members and co-thinkers from over 35 countries attended an inspiring meeting

14 December 2016

NHS crisis: we're fighting back!

Health workers are bracing themselves for a winter crisis. A tipping point has been reached in recent years. Is it any wonder that around the country a mood of anger and rebellion is rapidly developing?

14 December 2016

Glasgow Labour leaders deluged with protests

The attempted scabbing operation by Glasgow Labour council in an effort to undermine Unison's strike action against privatisation of ICT services has been pushed back.

14 December 2016

2016 sounds for your stocking

The political tremors of 2016 stretched into music with multiple deaths of well-loved figures. But there was a wonderful array of new music in 2016.

15 December 2016

Picket against coal project in Bangladesh

Socialist Party members joined a picket protest outside the annual general meeting (AGM) of Global Coal Management Resources (GCM), on 15 December near Hyde Park Corner

15 December 2016

Solidarity with Athens bus cleaners!

Athens bus cleaners are once again out in struggle.

16 December 2016

Post Office workers striking against cuts

Up to 3,500 Communication Workers Union members across 300 Post Offices took five days of strike action over Christmas.

16 December 2016

Unite election - fight the Blairites, vote Len McCluskey

The Unite general secretary election has been brought forward. The Socialist Party is supporting Len McCluskey. Under his leadership, the union has taken a more militant stance.

19 December 2016

Letter from blacklisted construction workers

We the undersigned, are writing this open letter in the spirit of fraternal debate amongst members of the newly merged UCATT/UNITE construction union

19 December 2016

CWU members strike against post office closures and pension cuts

Striking workers were in an angry mood outside St John's Centre Post Office in Leeds

19 December 2016

Film review: Rogue One

It's clear from the off that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a spin-off from the main saga, is a little bit different. The whole scenario is an allegory for American imperialism and intervention in the Middle East, and the insurgency it has created.

19 December 2016

Support mounts for Picturehouse strikers

The young workers at the Picturehouse cinema in Hackney struck over the launch of the new Star Wars film, 'Rogue One'.

19 December 2016

Fifth anniversary of Zhanaozen massacre

The anniversary on Friday 16th December of the Zhanaozen massacre in Kazakhstan in 2011 was marked around the world by protests to embassies and within Kazakhstan itself by groups of activists coming onto the squares and being surrounded by anxious police

20 December 2016

Fire service cuts: "a betrayal of the people of Spelthorne"

Such was the feeling of the 40+ people gathered in the Staines Hub

20 December 2016

Defending Xmas strikes: NSSN on Sky News

Chair of the National Shop Stewards Network, Rob Williams, was interviewed on Sky News

20 December 2016

NSSN proud to support Christmas strikes

In preparation for the strikes this week, the NSSN has been attacked by the media from the BBC to the Sunday Times and Daily Mail

22 December 2016

Why prison officers rejected pay and pensions deal

A prison officer explains the truth surrounding the deal. The guaranteed three year pay deal of 0.5-1% a year is a fallacy: neither the government or the national offender management service have the power to implement this.

22 December 2016

Bulletin of Socialist Party members in Usdaw