Solidarity 114, 28 June 2007

Inside the student movement

By Sofie Buckland, National Union of Students Executive Committee (pc) On the announcement of Brown's effective coronation as the new Prime Minister, the NUS leadership immediately released a set of five demands for students upon the new government. All worthy in themselves, these were: free prescriptions (shouldn’t everyone get these anyway?); concessionary bus travel; to keep interest on student loans pegged to inflation (we’d rather have grants); to extend entitlement to free level 3 qualifications for all; and to enact an equal minimum wage (at a level we can live on?). Even the least...

Separate religion and the state!

Solidarity Editorial: When King Charles The Second was dying in 1685, after 25 years on the throne, Catholic priests were smuggled in to accept him into the Church and give him the comfort of the last rites of the “one true Holy and Apostolic religion”. Both Charles and the priests believed that he was, so to speak, having his passport put in order to ensure, after he died, a quick and smooth journey to Paradise. Charles lived in a comparatively simple intellectual and emotional world. The age of scepticism, which succeeded the long Protestant-Catholic religious wars in Europe, was dawning...

NUT agrees a ballot: fight for action!

By an NUT member After stalling for months Education Secretary, Alan Johnson finally responded to teacher unions requests for a review of the current pay award. In his submission of evidence to the STRB (School Teachers’ Review Body) for the 2008/11 award he said “...if teachers get more than 2% it will take away money aimed at one-to-one tuition for vulnerable students.” In the world of Alan Johnson, greedy teachers want to take money from the most needy of young people! He has avoided making a final, concrete decision by referring the current pay claim to the STRB also. The present year-on...

Debate: What Went Wrong? Union resistance and socialist education

By Colin Waugh For Tom Unterrainer, click here For Martin Thomas, click here For Sheila Cohen, click here For Martin Thomas 2, click here For Colin Waugh, click here Sheila Cohen’s book Ramparts of Resistance consists of a section detailing union struggles in the UK and US from the late 1960s to 2006, and a theoretical section in which she argues as follows: The power which movements of rank-and-file union activists had early on in this period has been lost. This has happened both because of moves by the employers and their political agents, and because of’ weaknesses on the workers’ side. On...

Brown plans to ban all motions to Labour conference - Defend the unions’ voice in politics!

By Jack Haslam Last December, during the row about the Hayden Philips Report on state funding of political parties, Solidarity warned that Gordon Brown was telling trade union leaders that he wanted an end to the situation where trade union votes defeated the leadership at Labour Party conference. Brown now wants to turn that wish into a reality. On Sunday afternoon, 24 June, just before he was crowned leader, Brown put what was presented as a non-controversial document on “improving” the policy forum process to the Labour Party National Executive Committee. Inquisitive NEC members were...

Bakerloo line staff fight lone working

Management on the London Underground are attempting to force lone working by detrainment staff at two Bakerloo line stations. Detrainment staff, who check that trains are empty of passengers at the end of their route, currently work in groups of at least two in order to ensure their and passengers’ safety – and yet, at Harrow & Wealdstone and Willesden Junction stations, in an area where violent crime is 40% above the national average, security is being cut back. Detrainment work at these stations is suitable for medically restricted staff who cannot work at other locations – but it is these...

Refuse workers in Salford strike over casual labour

On 27 June refuse workers in Salford mounted a 24-hour strike action in protest at the council's exploitation of agency staff. Agency workers are paid less than their full-time colleagues and have no guarantee of work. Salford Council claims that it needs casual labour to fill in when full time staff are absent, although clearly this excuses neither their two-tier pay structure nor the fact that many workers are long-term casual staff who are relied upon by the council as an alternative to hiring enough permanent workers. Over 140 full time dustmen, recycling teams and road sweepers voted for...

Blood service under fire

Thousands of blood service workers rallied across the UK on June 15th to protest against a multi-million pound cut in the service. The planned cuts will mean the loss of 800 jobs and the closure of nine out of the twelve regional blood centres serving England and north Wales over the next two years. This was the third such lunchtime protest against the slashing of this life-saving service. But Unison head of health Karen Jennings said that “This demonstration may well be the last before moving to a ballot of members on industrial action.” Members of Unison, the GMB, Unite, and the RCN have...

New witch hunts

Dave Prentis clearly signalled in his conference speech that organised left activists were in his sights. The Unison local government conference saw an attack on Socialist Party comrades from four branches who had tried to raise the issue of why Standing Orders Committee had ruled out of order so many motions. The leaflet they produced had used the “three wise monkeys” as a symbol of how their questioning of the decisions had been ignored. This was laughably deemed to be racist and an investigation is underway. Three leading SWP activists are also under fire from their employers, the union or...

Iraqi workers win tactical victory

The Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions has claimed a tactical victory in the Basra oil pipeline workers’ dispute. Union leader Hassan Jumaa announced on 11 June: “An enlarged meeting was held with... the minister... Most of the issues within the remit of the prime minister were dealt with....” The workers originally struck on Monday 4th. The government sent troops to surround the workplace. Work resumed, but the government agreed to negotiate. The government had ordered the arrest of leaders of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions for “sabotaging the Iraqi economy”, but in fact they were not...

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