Solidarity - articles before 22 November 2002

"Cover your heads", SWP tells protest women

Solidarity 3/6, 30 April 2002. I attended a picket on Saturday 27 April outside the Israeli embassy in High Street Kensington. My previous experience of pickets there had been primarily of ones organised bv the Alliance for Workers' Liberty, but supported by other organisations who also take a two state position on the Middle East conflict. I was somewhat shocked by some of the things I saw and heard on this picket. I arrived to see about 50 or 60 people, mainly from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and the SWP, although there was also a Workers' Power stall at the back. I was the only...

What do we mean by a Workers Party?

by Gerry Byrne It seems almost flavour of the month. Everyone is declaring for a Workers Party. But it could have two distinct meanings, and it’s important to distinguish the two and work out what is the relation between them. It could mean a party that is organisationally and organically based on the working class, created from the trade unions and other working class organisations to represent the working class in the political arena. This says nothing about the politics of such a party. Inevitably, as a mass party, its politics will be disputed. Different political currents will fight for...

Robert Howard-Perkins

It is with great sadness that we report the unexpected death of Rob Howard-Perkins. Rob died in December following a short illness. He was 35. Rob joined the civil service after leaving school in 1987, working at Stepney and then City Social Security offices. He joined the union immediately and it was not long before he was playing an active role in CPSA Hackney and Tower Hamlets branch. Rob also served on the CPSA DHSS Section Executive Committee and was a member of both Socialist Caucus and the Broad Left. Outside the Civil Service Rob was active in the Labour Party, Socialist Organiser and...

Where now for Brazil?

The Workers' Party in power Swiss socialist Charles-Andre Udry, in an article from late December 2002, looks at the prospects for the Lula government The Lula government: Change or be changed? On 1 January 2003, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will officially take up his post as president of Brazil. Since early autumn 2002, the international financial institutions (the IMF, the World Bank) as well as the bourgeois sectors represented by ex-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) have put in place a mechanism designed to put maximum restraints on the "freedom of action" of a future Brazilian...

The politics of the FBU dispute

In the last issue of Solidarity Chris Jones, former Merseyside FBU brigade chair and a member of the Revolutionary Democratic Group, looked at the background to the dispute. In this article he analyses the politics of the dispute. The article was written before the FBU suspended their strike action A 'new' Labour was clearly in evidence in the FBU's dealings with councillors and in disputes in areas like Merseyside long before New Labour was elected nationally. The local councillors who controlled the fire service at a local level had relative autonomy after the abolition of county councils...

Industrial news in Brief

Airport staff plan walkout Sacked drivers reinstated Rhyl sit-in continues Taxpayer to cover rail firms' strike costs Airport staff plan walkout Specially trained firefighters and security workers at seven UK airports owned by BAA plan to strike on November 28, December 2, 10, 15 and 23 and January 2. The 2,500 members of the Transport and General Workers Union voted 2-1 in favour of walkouts in protest at a pay offer of 1.7% plus £150. The strikes will close down Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Sacked drivers reinstated Drivers on Glasgow's...

Public sector pay

London teachers to strike on 26 November Further education: now build on the action London teachers' strike on 26 November By a London NUT member Teachers have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in London for the second time this year. Members of the NUT voted by four to one to take strike action on 26 November over the cost of working in London. The NUT held a successful day of strike action on the issue in March. This time, members of the NASUWT will also be out - the first time for years the unions have taken joint strike action. Fifty-seven percent of NASUWT members voted to strike...

Ambulance workers take action

By an ambulance worker Pay disputes are continuing in ambulance services across the country. Lincolnshire have embarked on an overtime ban and strikes are expected in Leeds and other parts of West Yorkshire. In other areas ballots are on going. Unfortunately Unison's national ambulance conference failed to organise any meaningful campaign. The leadership of the sector remain determined to push a partnership agenda and the event was planned specifically to avoid discussion or co-ordination across branches. David Lammy, the government health minister responsible for the ambulance sector, spoke...

PCS London benefits strike backs victimised reps

Chris Ford is secretary of the Central and West London Branch of the Public and Commercial Services Union in the Department for Work and Pensions. Along with fellow rep Phil Henry he is facing disciplinary proceeding and the threat of the sack. Here Chris Ford explains the dispute. Over 600 of our members have just undertaken two days of strike action on 11 and 12 November. It is the first time we have taken strike action in defence of our own union. In the past we have seen leading activists such as Rob Howard Perkins sacked without any mobilisation of our membership.We have broken the mould...

Blair plays to Mr Grumpy

By Colin Foster In the run-up to the Queen's Speech on 13 November - the Government's announcement of its plans for next year's new laws - Prime Minister Tony Blair said vandalism, graffiti, litter and other low-level crimes are "probably the biggest immediate issue for people in the country". The prospect of a huge war in the Middle East? Mass unemployment? Increasing inequality? The progressive shredding, by cuts, privatisation, and semi-privatisation, of public services? The continued crippling of trade-union action by Tory laws? No real issues there, according to Blair. He chooses instead...

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