Solidarity 054, 24 June 2004

NUS "conference" votes through cuts in democracy

By Sally Murdock On 17 June, a very small NUS extraordinary conference met in Leeds and endorsed the National Executive Committee's proposals for cuts in the union's democratic structures. It was announced earlier this year that NUS is facing an annual financial shortfall of £500,000. This has provided an excuse for the right-wing of the union, including the Labour Students/independent Blairite majority on the National Executive Committee, to take up their favourite theme of "democratic reform", ie attacks on NUS's democratic structures. By the start of June, they had succeeded in getting 25...

BACK RAIL AND TUBE WORKERS - Their fight is our fight!

By a London Underground worker Simultaneous Tube and rail strikes are now confirmed for the end of June. On 29 and 30 June 7,500 workers at London Underground and the privatised contractor Metronet will be striking over pay and working hours, while on 30 June a similar number at Network Rail will take action over management's decision to close the company's final salary pensions scheme. The decision to co-ordinate the action gives RMT members in both sectors a fighting chance, as long as we fight with a clear strategy. The Tube strike comes after management responded to the union's demand for...

The miners' strike 1984-5

The events 1 July: Leon Brittan endorses the use of Criminal Law rather than Civil Law against the miners. 5 July: National Coal Board and NUM talks. 6 July: Management visits NUM members at home encouraging them back to work. 8 July: High Court declares NUM Annual Conference unlawful. National dock strike called against the movement of coal. The dock strike The most dramatic point in the struggle to broaden the strike came on 9 July when the dockers came out on strike. Dockers today are many many times smaller in number and weaker in organisation than they were in 1984. At the time of the...

No Sweat news In brief

Inside: Fair Trade Fashion Comic book Fair Trade Fashion Over 100 people packed into Durham Town Hall on Friday 18 June for the latest Fair Trade Fashion Show. The event was organised by Durham University anti-sweat shop campaign, an activist group which works to raise awareness of the realities of sweatshops and support alternatives. The event opened with a speaker from No Sweat and consisted of fair trade clothing provided by local traders, modelled by University students. This was followed with an opportunity to visit various anti-sweatshop and fair trade stalls. Comic book A 16-page No...

The writing on the wall

Inside: Give them the money! Poorer Richer Poorer On the streets And then you die Give them the money! The London Evening Standard placarded it all over town: "Mayor Ken's £100,000 crones", implying there is something wrong in Livingstone's six ex-socialist advisers and lieutenants getting a decent wage. The Standard is always against wage rises. Think of the fire fighters; of the Standard's opposition to Blair's very minimal, minimum wage. Whipping up hostility to six of the Mayor's 'advisers' getting new titles and £111,000 a year - a mere pittance in Blair's Britain: two grand a week, or...

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