Archive for July 2019
3 July 2019
Same old millionaire Tories - Fight to kick them out
Neither Boris Johnson nor Jeremy Hunt offers a decent future for workers, young people and others facing hardship. Does this mean we should be despondent? Absolutely not!
3 July 2019
Gig-economy exploitation doubles
The 'gig economy', formerly known as 'casual labour' - and much beloved of the dock employers for hundreds of years worldwide, is on the rise. Tony Blair famously called it "the flexible workforce".
3 July 2019
Even social-care bosses say cuts have gone too far
Jeremy Hunt, in a masterful understatement, said: "I think, having been responsible for health and social care, that some of the cuts in social care did go too far."
3 July 2019
Times journalist James Kirkup asked this: "Why aren't the wannabe PMs talking about in work poverty?" on 26 June. The Tories aren't, but the Socialist is.
3 July 2019
Angry Usdaw members strike at Sainsbury's distribution centre over sick pay cut
Dozens of members of shop workers' union Usdaw picketed Sainsbury's Waltham Point distribution centre in Essex for most of their 24-hour strike against changes to sickness policy.
3 July 2019
Steps forward and missed opportunities at Unite rules conference
General union Unite's 2019 rules conference made some important steps forward but missed opportunities to develop member participation. It also passed amendments that could be dangerous to the left in the future.
3 July 2019
London Arriva bus drivers vote for strike action over bullying and workload
London bus drivers have had enough! In a consultative ballot of Unite the Union members at Arriva, drivers voted overwhelmingly for industrial action.
3 July 2019
Birmingham uni workers strike against terms and conditions attacks
Unison members working in catering, cleaning and security held a well-supported one-day strike at the University of Birmingham on 28 June. They were protesting against the removal of premium payments for weekend and anti-social hours and reduction of holiday entitlement by a week.
3 July 2019
Angry Barking residents protest outside sales office
On Saturday 29 June property sales offices at Barking Riverside, London - the site of the recent horrendous fire that consumed 20 flats in just a few minutes - were closed due to a well-attended residents' and supporters' protest.
3 July 2019
Tamil Solidarity Day: Linking up oppressed people's struggles
This year's Solidarity Day meeting took place on 29 June in London.
3 July 2019
Coventry says no to congestion charge
Coventry's Labour council has spent two years drawing up a plan to tackle nitrogen dioxide hotspots in two parts of the city.
3 July 2019
Sell the Socialist and take out an e-subscription
Socialist Party members play an important role - in some cases leading them - in local and national fightbacks against Tory austerity and in trade union strikes.
3 July 2019
Stourbridge: Keep our college!
On 29 June, around 400 education workers, parents and supporters marched through Stourbridge to protest against the looming closure of the town's further education college.
3 July 2019
New opportunity to build working-class fightback after voters punish Erdogan
Voters in Istanbul on 23 June struck a big blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the authoritarian leader of Turkey, amid a deepening economic crisis. This is the first time in Erdogan's 17-year rule that his right-wing capitalist party, AKP, has been defeated in an election.
3 July 2019
Irish health workers' anger boils over into strike action
On 24 June over 10,000 workers in the Irish health service took strike action, ignoring Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar's last minute plea to call it off. This was the first day in a campaign of escalating strike action.
3 July 2019
TV: Years and Years - Engaging family drama pushes confused, reactionary message
The six-part political and family drama Years and Years follows one family from the present day over 15 years.
3 July 2019
Sinister moves against Corbyn can be beaten by clear socialist policies
The Tories are entering the final stage of their leadership contest
3 July 2019
New group launched to fight general secretary election
A new group has been formed within the PCS's Left Unity grouping.
3 July 2019
Stonewall riots' legacy shows need for socialist struggle to win LGBT+ liberation
The Stonewall riots 50 years ago have been widely seen as the birth of modern LGBT+ rights movements.
3 July 2019
Sick of your boss? Join a union! Come to NSSN conference
Meet other activists to share experiences and ideas
3 July 2019
Carlisle Labour/Lib Dem coalition cuts care home beds
A hastily organised protest by Carlisle Socialist Party spoilt a self-congratulatory publicity event by the Labour/Lib Dem coalition running Cumbria county council.
3 July 2019
Lincoln Uni NUS disaffiliation: a question of on-campus democracy
At their last meeting as members of the University of Lincoln Student Union's Board of Trustees, the elected executive committee members put a motion through removing the student union from the National Union of Students (NUS), effective from 31 December.
3 July 2019
Nationalisation is answer to Southern Water cover up
An investigation into Southern Water by the industry regulator Ofwat has demanded that the company pay a £126 million penalty package, the largest it has ever imposed. The Environment Agency is now also looking into pressing criminal charges.
3 July 2019
Socialist Party secures new offices
We are very pleased to announce that the Socialist Party has found new premises! After renting our old premises for nearly 20 years we have bought our new building which will be a big asset for our party.
9 July 2019
Residents, housing activists and pensioners mobilise to stop eviction
Irene has lived in Liverpool's Kensington area for years
9 July 2019
Academy strike - standing up to 'bullying' management forces climbdown
Teachers and support staff at the Martin's Gate ACE Multi Academy Trust went on strike on 2 July
9 July 2019
Bradford: Unison members strike to stay 100% NHS
Around 300 Unison members at Bradford Royal Infirmary are on strike for a week against the transfer of estates and facilities staff to a 'wholly-owned' subsidiary
10 July 2019
Victory for Stagecoach bus strikers!
Stagecoach workers in Central Lancashire have successfully fought for a pay increase
12 July 2019
Land privatisation, the largest neoliberal grab in Britain since Margaret Thatcher came to office in 1979, has scarcely been debated
17 July 2019
Wales: chronic NHS underfunding exposed
The terrible conditions faced by patients and staff at the A&E at the University Hospital of Wales, the biggest in Wales, have been exposed
17 July 2019
Fraudsters thrive and claimants suffer in despicable Universal Credit scam
Thousands of people on Universal Credit have been left up to £1,500 worse off following a criminal scam where fraudsters obtain personal details of vulnerable claimants.
17 July 2019
Health visitors strike for the first time ever
Health visitors in Lincolnshire believe theirs is the first health visitors' strike anywhere in the country. The 58 specialist nurses, members of Unite the Union, voted for action by an 84% majority.
17 July 2019
Bradford NHS workers strike against privatisation
Seven unbroken days of strike action by estates and facilities staff at Bradford hospitals have blown the lid off the simmering pot of workers' struggle in the NHS.
17 July 2019
Newham housing repairs workers announce strike dates
Unite the Union members employed by Newham Council in its housing repairs service have agreed dates for the start of strike action. This follows a 100% yes vote in the ballot.
17 July 2019
Council seeks to take budget deficit out on school staff and pupils
"You can't keep cutting jobs and simply expect teachers and support staff to pick up the extra work. We are not prepared to see our members driven into the ground nor see the children's education suffer", said Venda Premkumar, Redbridge National Education Union (NEU) branch secretary.
17 July 2019
50 years since Apollo 11 - 'One giant leap': how political conflict launched the moon landing
On 20 July 1969, for the first time in history, humans walked on the moon. Since 1972, we haven't been back.
17 July 2019
Proposals by our fire authority to cut eight fully staffed fire stations and axe 30 fire engines were described by one councillor as "turbo-charging austerity", putting lives at risk.
17 July 2019
Sudan masses mobilise against state repression
Harrowing scenes are now coming out of Sudan of the 3 June massacre, where doctors report well over 100 people were murdered by the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and general 'Hemeti' Dagola's brutal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.
17 July 2019
Socialist Party members and supporters made a tremendous effort to get to nearly 90% of the target for the May to July fighting fund quarter.
17 July 2019
Leicestershire - No more austerity!
'We will pay you £60 to attend a consultation session with Leicestershire County Council.' I couldn't believe that I had heard the man correctly. £60 to tell them what I think of them. Count me in!
17 July 2019
Campaigners force U-turn over NHS privatisation
Working-class people in Halton are celebrating after NHS bosses were forced to abandon plans to hand the local urgent care contract to a private company. This followed a rapid and determined response by campaigners including local Socialist Party members.
17 July 2019
NSSN conference 2019: at the heart of trade union struggle
The hall was again packed for the 2019 conference of the National Shop Stewards Network, a rank-and-file trade union organisation
17 July 2019
Residents mobilise to stop eviction
Irene is a pensioner living in a small terraced house in Liverpool's Kensington area, where she has lived for years.
17 July 2019
An estimated 200,000 people attended the 135th Durham Miners' Gala on 13 July, one of Europe's biggest celebrations of trade unionism and the labour movement.
17 July 2019
Excellent response to building fund appeal
Our members and supporters have responded magnificently to our appeal following the purchase of our new premises. We will be moving shortly and are currently in the process of fitting out our new headquarters.
17 July 2019
Interview: protests over killing in Israel
Mass protests blocked roads across Israel after the 30 June killing of 19-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli Solomon Tekah by an off-duty cop in the Kiryat Haim area of Haifa, an Israeli port town on the Mediterranean Sea. The Socialist spoke to Eli Yossef, a shop steward in the ancillary section of a hospital in central Israel
17 July 2019
The 45th anniversary of the strike
How oppressed workers fought back against racist 'divide and rule': This year marks the 45th anniversary of the 14-week Imperial Typewriters strike which had national repercussions.
17 July 2019
Stop Boris - General election now
Boris Johnson, the Eton-educated millionaire and Trump wannabe, seems to be heading to Number 10, put there by around a hundred thousand members of the Tory Party, less than 0.35% of the electorate.
17 July 2019
Greece elections: Syriza ousted amid voter disillusionment
The recent general election in Greece saw a victory for the right-wing New Democracy.
17 July 2019
Hackney transport strike - blockade foils employers
Unite union drivers and passenger assistants at Hackney council have been on strike
17 July 2019
Socialist change to end climate change
Climate change advisers for the government have exposed it as being all talk and no action.
18 July 2019
Tories prepare to attack education workers' pensions
The government has issued a consultation document on proposed changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
21 July 2019
Socialist Party conference reaffirms the CWI's historic approach
On Sunday 21 July a special conference of the Socialist Party voted overwhelmingly to sponsor an international conference to reconstitute the Committee for a Workers' International
30 July 2019
Boris, Brexit and British capitalism
Editorial of the Socialist: Boris Johnson's victory in the Tory leadership election will probably turn out to be the most predictable political event of 2019
31 July 2019
CWI refounded with determination and confidence
On Sunday 21 July a special conference of the Socialist Party voted overwhelmingly to sponsor an international conference to reconstitute the Committee for a Workers' International
31 July 2019
Hong Kong: the struggle for democratic rights escalates
The struggle for democratic rights in Hong Kong is intensifying and widening far beyond the original campaign to scrap the authority's reactionary extradition bill
31 July 2019
The Tories sold Universal Credit as a public money-saving scheme, combining several benefits into one. In reality the 'savings' were to come from reducing payouts.
31 July 2019
Mass movement topples governor of Puerto Rico
Two weeks of almost continuous mass protests have forced the resignation of the governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló
31 July 2019
Labour promises to end council privatisation: councils must do that now!
Labour needs to send a clear message to the working class, because that is not what we see in our workplaces and communities
31 July 2019
Lib Dems: little bosses' party elects eager pro-austerity leader
Jo Swinson has eagerly put her hand up for austerity, privatisation, fracking, war and the bosses' European Union
31 July 2019
Aristocrats are rich after all... and getting richer
Economic 'liberalisation' and deregulation of the City, ushered in by Margaret Thatcher, turbo-charged aristocrats' wealth
31 July 2019
Plymouth posties deliver defiant message to bullying bosses
Postal workers at the West Park delivery office in Plymouth took unofficial strike action from 24-26 July after Royal Mail's refusal to deal with bullying and harassment
31 July 2019
"BEIS: stop pISSing about and give outsourcing the boot!"
Catering workers and cleaners, members of civil service union PCS, walked out on indefinite strike action on 15 July at the government's business department,
31 July 2019
Bromley library workers strike against running down
The long-running strike against the running down of Bromley libraries has not lost its enthusiasm
31 July 2019
Nottingham Deliveroo riders strike against unfair algorithm
"The algorithm is pushing out cyclists and favouring motors - pushing us to the back of the queue and damaging the environment"
31 July 2019
Enfield: 100% council homes at Meridian Water!
A big meeting of residents and trade unionists in Edmonton, North London, set up a campaign to fight for 100% council homes at Meridian Water, the biggest redevelopment project in London
31 July 2019
Walthamstow shopping centre fire: people's plan - not disaster capitalism
Phenomena like floods or fire can be an excuse to rush through plans to privatise land, buildings and space
31 July 2019
Tolpuddle festival 2019: socialist policies to end Tory rule and austerity
Thousands of activists and trade unionists attended the Tolpuddle festival over the weekend of 20-21 July
31 July 2019
Barking: campaigning over housing safety
Following a shocking, preventable fire on its housing estate a few weeks ago, Barking Reach Residents' Association met to discuss the next steps of its campaign
31 July 2019
July climate strikes: link up with the workers' movement
On 19 July, members of the Socialist Party and Socialist Students braved the rain outside parliament to support school students striking against climate change
31 July 2019
Ilford: parents and teachers unite against school cuts
Ilford County High School, which has a deficit, should force the council to allow a moratorium on repayments
31 July 2019
Boris Johnson 'coronation' - demos say: boot him out!
In the aftermath of Boris Johnson's 'election' there were two lively and angry protests in central London
31 July 2019
Do you have something to say? Letters to the Socialist's editors. Victimised TUSC agent writes; climate travel chaos; education pensions attack; water privatisation scandal; 'Labour peers'?
31 July 2019
Huge workload, low pay and unpaid hours - a day in the life of a teaching assistant
The role has changed unrecognisably in the last few years, but the wages do not reflect the level of commitment and professionalism the position now demands or the extra pressures it brings
31 July 2019
Sainsbury's distribution workers' second 24-hour strike against cuts to sick pay
Waltham Point distribution centre workers took action on 25 July
31 July 2019
20,000 civil servants strike against pay restraint
The strike was provoked by the imposition of a below-inflation pay award
31 July 2019
Harland and Wolff shipyard workers enter occupation
Demand government renationalise to save jobs and skills
31 July 2019
Lobby the TUC for workers' action to defeat Johnson
Join the lobby in Brighton on 8 September
31 July 2019
Build a working-class movement to force an election
Johnson is keen to present himself as a representative of ordinary people - but his policy announcements are anti-worker through and through
31 July 2019
Tories look in wrong place for climate solutions
Extreme heat caused misery for those stuck in blisteringly hot workplaces as well as thousands of stranded passengers, as our poorly funded infrastructure ground to a halt
19 Nov Socialism 2022
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