Solidarity 060, 21 October 2004

Not the workers’ tradition, nor the workers’ flag

By Colin Foster At the Respect fringe meeting at the European Social Forum (Saturday 16 October), George Galloway set out to define for Respect “the traditions in which we stand... the flag we seek to carry”. Starting with Wat Tyler and John Ball and going up to Antonio Gramsci, his references were distant enough to be shared by almost any left-winger. But already he had noticeably omitted Lenin, Trotsky, and any reference to the Russian Revolution. Gramsci was jailed in 1926, and would die before he could re-enter public political activity. Galloway’s references for the last 78 years were of...

US hotel workers’ fight continues

Last week thousands of hotel workers and their allies flooded Union Square in San Francisco for a unity rally. Workers at four San Francisco hotels went on strike two weeks ago and hotel operators responded by locking out employees at 10 other locations last Friday. The lockout has been extended to the other four hotels. The union, Unite Here Local 2, represents about 8,000 workers at 60 San Francisco hotels. Some 4,000 cooks, room cleaners, dishwashers, bellmen, servers and switchboard operators are affected by the strike and lockout involving the 14 hotels. In Atlantic City 10,000 casino...

General strike in Nigeria

Nigerian trade unions organised a four-day general strike against fuel price rises in October, and have vowed to call an indefinite stoppage if the government fails to lower the price of petrol. The strike shut down banks, businesses, shops and public services. Fuel costs have been rising — petrol by 25% — since President Obasanjo deregulated the sector a year ago and removed government subsidies. Despite Nigeria’s oil wealth, most of the population lives in poverty. Two-thirds live on less than a dollar a day and many see cheap fuel as the only benefit they receive. This is the third general...

Briefing: How to solve the pensions crisis

Earlier this month the government’s Pensions Commission reported on the state of Britain’s pension provision. Its main finding was that 11.3 million workers were not making any pension contributions, and that those who are making pension contributions are saving “too little”. The report did not tell us why this was, and the generally accepted line is that people try to forget about approaching old-age. But maybe the truth is that many British workers earn too little to save and are already so poor that they can do little other than ignore the fact that they will spend their old age in poverty...

Open letter from Jo Wilding to British troops serving in Iraq

The US has asked the British government to send you north to free up forces for another offensive against Falluja. I’m writing to ask you to refuse any orders to deploy to Baghdad or other areas currently under US control. I was an ambulance volunteer in Falluja during the April siege. I went because my friend Salam, a doctor, said US troops were stopping medical supplies getting in, cut off water, food, electricity, and had closed down the main hospital and controlled the road to the smaller one with snipers. Salam was evacuated with bullet wounds; a missile from a US plane destroyed the...

Korean union federations prepare for general strike

The two major union federations in Korea — the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and the more militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) — have formed joint headquarters for a proposed general strike. The joint industrial action is to: - stop revision of labour laws concerning temporary workers, - stop Korea-Japan free trade negotiations; and - fight for basic union rights of civil servants. The KCTU is to hold a strike ballot later this month for a general strike in November. It expects 100,000 workers from the Metal Union, Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors to participate.

Appeals

Support the Basra oil union and a Workers' Conference Support the Basra Oil Union! The Southern Oil Company Trade Union stresses its autonomy and independence from any political parties and agendas. The Basra Oil Union represents more than 30,000 oil and gas sector workers in the British-occupied south. Due to its size and pivotal role to the Iraqi economy and also the profits and privatisation motives of the Occupation and neo-Baathist government, the Union is on the front line of the struggle to keep Iraqi resources and reconstruction in the hands of Iraq workers and communities. Since the...

Debate & discussion: A step towards equal rights?

Government proposals on the Civil Partnership Bill were amended in the House of Lords recently, ostensibly to extend the rights that the legislation will give to same-sex couples to other domestic arrangements, such as carers. The amendments were, according to the Government, wrecking tactics. Below Outrage gives a response and Maria Exall puts forward an alternative view. One law for all The Lords amendments to the Civil Partnership Bill has not wrecked it or rendered it unworkable, as the government has claimed. We welcome any extension of rights and protections to others, regardless of the...

Debate & discussion: Solidarity?

Jane Ashworth (letters, Solidarity 3/59) complains about my comment on the “tilt... towards pro-war and pro-occupation elements in the labour movement” of the new and still somewhat mysterious “Labour Friends of Iraq” group. But check out its website . A speech by Jack Straw gets pride of place. Also proudly boosted there is the National Executive statement which Blair pushed through Labour Party conference. At and after the conference, trade-union leaders clutching at straws were claiming that Blair committed himself to a definite and progressive policy for withdrawing troops from Iraq. What...

Debate & discussion: What future for the Socialist Alliance?

The Socialist Alliance Democracy Platform (SADP) emailed and posted a letter to the National Committee of the SWP on 27 September concerning the future of the Socialist Alliance (SA). The SADP contacted the SWP because that organisation represents a majority within the SA, and any decisions taken by the SWP are likely to be adopted by SA Conference. The letter is printed below, and represents a genuine attempt to resolve the situation whereby for the last seven months the SA has basically ceased to function. This is despite the fact that the last SA National Conference, in March, agreed to...

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