Solidarity 312, 5 February 2014

Labour: reject the Collins report!

Ray Collins's proposals for the Labour Party special conference on 1 March seem to, or even do, change little immediately. But they contain a time-bomb designed to change things radically, and for the worse, in five years' time. Delegates on 1 March should vote against unless they are sure about the changes and have had time to discuss them properly, rather than voting for unless they are totally sure they understand the case against. In fact there is no chance of proper time to discuss the changes. As we write, Collins's text has still not been published, less than four weeks before the...

Capital without the proletariat?

"Playtime", a video installation by Isaac Julien. Victoria Miro Gallery, 16 Wharf Rd, London N1 7RW (to 1 March). Of the six segments of film comprising Isaac Julien's "Playtime" video installation, the most ostentatiously playful and fictional is also the most literal and documentary. It is a parody of the adulatory celebrity interview, with the actress Maggie Cheung portraying an extravagantly gushing interviewer. The interviewee, Simon de Pury, one of the world's most famous art auctioneers, is however playing himself. When a wealthy person commissions him to sell an artwork, says de Pury...

Edinburgh College workers plan indefinite strikes

Lecturers at Edinburgh's largest college plan indefinite strike action to stop attacks on their conditions at work. Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) have announced an escalated programme of strikes, beginning with a strike on 6 February (coinciding with the national Higher Education workers' strike in their pay dispute), followed by two days the following week, and three days each week after that. Their union is offering strike pay at a rate of 50% of normal salary for all strikes after 6 February. The lecturers' strike ballot returned a 92% majority for strikes, and the...

Workers win at "free school"

Teachers at a London “free school” have won a hugely important victory in a dispute with their employers. “STEM 6” Academy in Islington, a school for 16-19 year olds, was refusing to recognise unions and imposing what were effectively zero hours contracts on staff. Teachers at the school asked to be balloted by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) after their employers said there would be “legal consequences” if they failed to sign a new contract before Christmas. Included the contract was a paragraph which stated: “The school reserves the right to temporarily lay you off from work without...

Teachers' rank-and-file network decides on election push

The Local Associations National Action Campaign (LANAC), the rank-and-file network in the National Union of Teachers (NUT), held its latest conference in Leicester on 1 February. NUT National Executive member Patrick Murphy reported that there would now be a national strike before the end of March, with the date to be announced on 7 February. Promises to follow the three well-supported regional strikes last year with a joint national strike by NUT and NASUWT have now been broken twice by the two unions. All delegates agreed that the immediate priority now was to build for the March strike, but...

English Defence League require heavy police protection as anti-fascists mobilise in Slough

Around 200 supporters of the far-right English Defence League held a march and rally in Slough, Berkshire on Saturday 1 February, but were only able to do so thanks to heavy police protection. Similar, if not slightly greater, numbers of anti-fascist activists, along with significant numbers of local people (amounting to a bloc that outnumbered the EDL), mobilised to oppose them. Berkshire Anti-Fascists, linked to the national Anti-Fascist Network (AFN), had done hard work in the build-up to the EDL's march leafleting local communities and raising awareness of the event. Their chosen assembly...

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