Socialist Worker

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Claimants speak out - ‘Tory Universal Credit means I have no money to buy food’

The Tories’ new Universal Credit benefit scheme is plunging people into debt, homelessness and food poverty.

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International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Leeds University workers strike against managements’ ‘sacking clause’

UCU union members at Leeds University began a three-day strike on Wednesday. Management wants to bring in a new clause, Some Other Substantial Reason (SOSR), for dismissing staff.

Hunt's phony pay cap claim fools no-one

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt tried to con health workers by claiming he had scrapped the Tories’ 1 percent pay cap.

Protest against Donald Trump's visit next year

Trump’s election and presidency has given confidence to every racist, fascist and sexist in the US and across the world. He needs to be met with mass protests if he comes to Britain.

CWU members protest as Royal Mail bosses try to get strike called off

Up to 100 post workers and supporters gathered outside the high court in central London on Thursday as Royal Mail bosses fought to stop a strike.

Tube cleaners protest for decent pay

Outsourced tube cleaners demonstrated outside City Hall on Thursday to demand better working conditions.

Workers defiant despite Royal Mail court injunction

Royal Mail bosses won a court battle on Thursday to delay a postal workers’ strike. But the workers are determined to keep fighting—and say bosses’ action has only strengthened their resolve.

Warning for the NHS as ambulance firm’s demise leaves patients in the lurch

The collapse of a private ambulance firm in the Home Counties last week, triggering chaos for the NHS, could be a harbinger of a broader crisis.

Theresa May’s lukewarm plan for energy prices won’t pay the heating bill

Some 2.3 million people are facing another winter where they don’t have enough money to heat their homes.

Grenfell residents will march for justice

Residents and activists will take to the streets for a silent march

Updated: marchers demand justice for Grenfell as Tories refuse to fund sprinklers

Up to 1,500 people marched through North Kensington in west London on Saturday night to demand justice for the people who died in the Grenfell Tower fire.

It's right to fight over pay - join the TUC lobby on Tuesday

The Tories are trying to diffuse the anger against their 1 percent public sector cap which has cut workers’ pay by almost a fifth since 2010 after price rises are taken into account.

Stalin’s death unleashed a comedy of terrors in Russia

Grisly satire The Death of Stalin shows a state infested with bloodthirsty corruption and a society teetering on the brink, writes?Alistair Farrow

‘Women and children are going to die’ because of refuge budget cuts

A new survey shows that women's refuges across England have had their budgets cut by nearly a quarter in the last seven years.

Trump goads Iran in race to grab Syrian territories

US president Donald Trump is edging closer to conflict with Iran as the two states jostle for control in Syria.

Reports round-up: Porters, cleaners and domestics protest at north London hospital

Also: Mears workers prepare for more action | Grantham NHS protest | Bristol Deliveroo strike | Gatwick baggage handlers to strike | Bloomberg security guards protest | Bield care homes collapse | Filia feminism conference | Sellafield firefighters strike

We can smash Tories' pay cap

Workers rallied against the Tories’ 1 percent public sector pay cap as Socialist Worker went to press on Tuesday.

Spread the fight, say Picturehouse strikers

Striking workers from five Picturehouse cinemas protested in London’s Leicester Square on Sunday.

Unison union leaders let down the lions of Durham in TA dispute

Durham teaching assistants (TAs) in the Unison union have voted to accept a pay offer from the Labour-run council.

Activists organise solidarity after Muslims and Jews suffer attacks

Stand Up To Racism activists responded to attacks in Wigan and Leeds last week.

Haringey council sells off Love Lane estate

The Love Lane estate in Haringey, north London, is set to be sold off to property developers Lendlease.

Anger against bosses’ ‘sacking clause’ sees large picket lines at Leeds University

Workers at Leeds University are buoyant after holding their first ever three-day strike last week.

Fight for strikes as union bashing Royal Mail fat cats cream £500,000 a day

Royal Mail fat cats have been paid more than £500,000 a day since privatisation, new figures revealed on Tuesday of this week.

Bus drivers’ walkouts can beat pay disparity

Some 2,000 bus workers at Arriva North West were set to walk out over pay on Thursday.

Suspects of assault on Croydon refugee in dock

The trial of the people who allegedly attacked Reker Ahmed has begun

Officers in Edson Da Costa case face misconduct probe

Five cops are to be investigated for potential misconduct over the death of Edson Da Costa

Hundreds demonstrate against the pay cap

Anger against the Tories' 1 percent public sector pay cap was on the streets of central London on Tuesday night.

Defeat on Universal Credit vote exposes Tory weakness

The government knew it would lose, so it ordered Tory MPs not to take part in a parliamentary vote on the introduction of the harsh new Universal Credit benefit regime.

Breaking point in Catalonia as Spanish state begins push for direct rule

The political crisis between the government of the Spanish state and Catalonia has deepened again.

Postal workers show Royal Mail they won't back down

 Postal workers marched in central London on Thursday, a week after their bosses in Royal Mail went to the courts to stop them from striking

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International

Updated: Solidarity call after Puigdemont betrays hopes of Catalan independence

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has betrayed the hopes of the movement for independence from Spain by saying that “dialogue” must come first.

Austrian Tories open the door to the fascists

The elections in Austria have shown a sharp move to the right. They are a further warning of the danger of the far right exploiting the bitterness in society.

Iraq attacks Kurds to halt breakaway

 

Hamas surrenders Gaza Strip to Fatah

 

Movement back on the streets in Catalonia

The Spanish state could regain the upper hand if the mass movement is demobilised, writes Dave Sewell

Right gains in Austrian election are a warning to anti-racists

The Austrian general election was a further warning of the danger of the far right.

Mogadishu bomb exposes the brutal legacy of US imperialism in Somalia

A truck bomb in Mogadishu in Somalia last Saturday killed at least 320 people and injured hundreds more.

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Comment

The European Union vs Theresa May—neither side is progressive

The Brexit negotiations will probably stay stuck after this week’s meeting of the European Council.

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Features

Britain’s border shame one year after Calais ‘jungle’ demolished

The humanitarian crisis caused by Britain’s border in France has been pushed out of sight—but it’s as bad as it’s ever been. Refugees trapped at Grande-Synthe near Dunkirk spoke to Dave Sewell about their lives. Pictures by Guy Smallman

Is Labour a party of struggle?

Its recent conference reignited debates about whether or not Labour can be transformed. Nick Clark says Labour can change—but its focus on parliament limits its potential

This is one book that will shake your world

Journalist John Reed’s famous eyewitness account of the Russian Revolution brings alive the drama and excitement of a working class in revolt

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Reviews

An inspiration and a warning from Belfast

United struggle can help beat sectarianism—but alone it isn’t enough. That’s the message of an important new book about the 1932 Outdoor Relief Riots in Belfast, writes Colm Bryce

Warmly-written words shroud a bleak sketch of London

In his final book documenting London, the writer and walker Iain Sinclair chronicles the city he feels he is losing.

Labour of Love

Labour of Love is a new rom-com by fashionable playwright James Graham.

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What We Think

There’s no capitalism without racism

We have to fight together against Islamophobia, antisemitism and racism. But we also need to confront the capitalist system that produces racism.

Justice for contaminated blood survivors now

The government’s consultation regarding a public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal ended on Tuesday.

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Other Categories

Don Mciver 1948-2017

It is with great sadness that Edinburgh Socialist Workers Party announces the death of our comrade Don Mciver.

LETTERS - Harvey Weinstein exposes society riddled with sexism

I’ve been sickened, but not surprised, by the recent exposure of film producer Harvey Weinstein’s horrific treatment of women in the film industry.

The Troublemaker: Volkswagen fails to buy all the cobalt that children dig

Volkswagen came up with a new wheeze to make up for its last scam. It’s trying to buy the world’s cobalt production

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