Solidarity 282, 17 April 2013

New unions show unrest

A recent report by Acas into the work of the Certification Office (which, among other things, maintains the official register of trade unions) identifies a “steady trickle” of new unions being established, despite a general trend of decline. According to the report: “These new unions appear to be motivated by, among other things... an attempt to gain improved recognition for under-represented groups of workers...” Workers’ Liberty has been involved in campaigns involving some new independent unions (including the Industrial Workers of the World and the Pret A Manger Staff Union, which are...

Resist student shift to right!

If a measure of a union’s worth as a union is its willingness to fight for the interests of its members, then this year’s NUS conference (8-10 April) saw a new low. The leadership and its supporters aggressively rejected any suggestion of a campaign on fees, grants/loans, education funding or how our education is structured. They voted down support for free education, dusting off the argument that it means the poor paying for rich kids to go to university. They voted down holding a national demonstration in the autumn, using their own failings in connection with last year's demo to justify...

"The Witch Is Dead" - sexist or not?

Excerpts from a discussion among Solidarity readers about the using the phrase "The Witch Is Dead" about Thatcher's death. I'll admit to laughing when I first saw "The Witch is Dead". But then I spoke to a comrade pointed out all the language being used to describe her was sexist, and she felt there would not be as much hatred if Thatcher had been male. While I disagreed with the latter I did feel completely ignorant to the use of language, especially when I chaired our trades council and a number of people were laughing and using the terms "witch" and "bitch". While that was going I saw some...

Top cop says "Thatcher pushed towards police state in miners' strike"

John Stalker, former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, wrote in the Daily Mirror of 14 April that "Britain has never been closer to becoming a police state than when Margaret Thatcher was in charge". Stalker writes: "She turned the police into a paramilitary force and put us on to a war footing... "That was never more clear than during the miners' strike in 1984 when I believe Margaret Thatcher took Britain to the brink of becoming a police state. "She decided that 'her' police force was going to keep the miners and pickets under control. It was all about showing who was boss......

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