Socialist Worker

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Magnificent march - now let's strike to beat the Tories

Saturday’s march was magnificent. Certainly well over half a million marched, showing the depth of the bitter anger at Cameron and Clegg’s cuts.

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International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Lecturers' strike shows the way to fight

More than 100,000 lecturers struck last week. It was the biggest strike yet under David Cameron’s government—and it showed two things.

Mass protest against Esol cuts

Hundreds of students and lecturers gathered outside parliament on the strike day, in protest at cuts to English for Speakers of Other Languages (Esol) provision.

Cabin crew deliver a strong vote to strike

Cabin crew at British Airways (BA) have voted by more than 83 percent for strikes.

Birmingham council workers ask for a ballot

Workers in Birmingham council are moving towards a strike against the cuts. Unison union reps have requested that their union start a ballot on 3 May. They told some 1,000 members the news on the coaches home from Saturday’s TUC protest.

Cuts in Sutton leave vulnerable in tears

Sutton council plans to sack all of its full-time care workers in a sheltered housing complex. People will be left to employ private care by the hour.

Threat of strikes forces Glasgow City Council back

The threat of strikes has defended jobs and conditions at Glasgow City Council.

Mass march against pay cuts in Southampton

Elections begin in Unite union - vote United Left

More than one million workers have the chance to vote in elections for the national executive of Unite, Britain’s biggest union.

Vote for action over pay at Stagecoach

Stagecoach managers at the East London Bus Group have offered drivers’ union reps another day of talks over proposals to slash pay by 15 percent or sack 250 drivers.

700 protest over lockout at Saltend, Hull

Hundreds of workers protested on Monday of this week in solidarity with workers locked out of the Saltend biofuel construction site in Hull, east Yorkshire.

Decisive strike vote over conditions at the DWP

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) call centre workers have voted decisively for strikes over working conditions.

Protest against racists in Blackburn

The Lancashire Council of Mosques (LCM) has backed a protest against the racist English Defence League (EDL) in Blackburn this Saturday.

UAF holds regional conferences

Liverpool conference on fighting fascism and Islamophobia. Called by Merseyside UAF and Merseyside LMHR in partnership with the Anthony Walker Foundation. With Max Levitas, veteran of the 1936 Battle of Cable Street.

EIS - reject this rotten offer

In a U-turn, the Scottish teachers’ EIS union has asked its members to accept a two-year pay freeze and sweeping changes to conditions.

Stop victimisation at Fujitsu site

The Unite union is campaigning to defend Phil Tepper, a rep at the Fujitsu IT company in Manchester. He faces a charge of gross misconduct.

Liverpool school to strike against academy

Teachers at a Liverpool secondary school were set to strike on Wednesday of this week.

Lights off across London Underground

Power control room staff on London Underground are balloting for strikes over pay grade progression.

FBU social for suspended union rep Sian Griffiths

London firefighters came together to support their suspended colleague Sian Griffiths on Wednesday of last week.

26 March anti-cuts demo: The day workers showed their power

The biggest trade union demonstration Britain has ever seen took place last Saturday. It was an incredible sight. Well over half a million people marched. Banners, placards and balloons filled the streets.

Fighting talk cheered at TUC march

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators surged into the rally in Hyde Park. More than 20 speakers addressed the crowd—and the biggest cheers went to those putting forward a militant message.

Anti-cuts coalition to stand in Scottish elections

A new left wing electoral coalition is fighting for a seat on the Glasgow List for the Scottish Parliament in the election on 5 May.

Tower Hamlets and Camden council workers and teachers unite to fight

A key battle against the cuts was set to take place across two London boroughs this week.

Health workers step up the pressure against the government

Health workers were set to take action against NHS cuts this week. This comes after tens of thousands of NHS staff took to the streets on last Saturday’s TUC demonstration.

Recession hits real wages

Curbs on wages and high inflation means that the average British worker takes home £1,088 less in real terms than two years ago.

Northern Rock rotten to the core

Bailed out bank Northern Rock is to axe another 680 jobs—more than a quarter of its workforce.

Photos of the TUC march

Tory candidates ‘golliwog’ pose

Two Tory council candidates were caught posing with "golliwog" toys on Facebook.

Gove’s EMA plan a sham

Only 12,000 students will be eligible for the replacement for the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). Previously, 618,000 qualified for support.

United strikes rock Tower Hamlets and Camden

Tower Hamlets Teachers and council workers struck across Tower Hamlets, east London, today, Wednesday. They are fighting 500 job cuts that will hit everything from social services to schools and youth workers.

Mark Serwotka: Unions must step up the fight

‘Saturday was extraordinarily uplifting and inspirational. I marched with the PCS contingent and took two hours to get from Waterloo Bridge to Big Ben.

Exclusive: Bahraini students hounded in Britain

Bahraini students who study in Britain have had their scholarships and financial support revoked by their government.

Media lies over demo ‘violence’

The press, police and politicians released a howl of rage after the demonstration.

Libya: Western imperialism tries to steer direction of the revolution

Libya’s rebels have gained ground from Colonel Gaddafi’s forces in the last week following Western airstrikes.

Syria: Protests force the cabinet out

Mass protests have rocked the Syrian regime. The cabinet resigned on Tuesday and the "state of emergency" legislation is to be lifted.

Yemen: Reforms fail to quell the revolt

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Yemen on the "Friday of Departure" last week calling for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. There were protests in the capital, Sana’a.

Egyptian socialists on Libya, foreign intervention and counter-revolution

More than a month after the outbreak of the Libyan Revolution, the UN Security Council (after discussion of the Libyan issue in secret meetings) has imposed a No-Fly Zone. The Security Council has chosen military intervention as its first step, without even preceding it by attempts to provide humanitarian aid or weapons to the rebels. A number of states then announced their readiness to begin the military operations, which began yesterday.

All the banners on the TUC anti-cuts demo, 26 March 2011

Acton Community Theatre Afghans Against Neo-Feudalism Alexandra Park School Anglesey Primary School Against the Cuts Artists Against Cuts Arts Against Cuts Aslef Black and Ethnic Minority Members Aslef Doncaster Aslef Glasgow Aslef Kings Cross Aslef Leeds 116 Branch Aslef LGBT Aslef national banner Aslef Port Talbot Aslef Ramsgate Aslef Southern Region Aslef Waterloo Nine Elms Aslef Women Members Association of Educational Psychologists Association of Musical Marxists Association of Revenue and Customs</

Mosques support anti-racist demonstration in Blackburn

More than a thousand people demonstrated against the racist English Defence League (EDL) in Blackburn on Saturday.

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International

Portugal: cracks open in EU austerity plans

The Portuguese government collapsed last week as economic crisis and resistance to austerity continued to create casualties across Europe.

Greens make gains in German elections

A political earthquake shook Germany on Sunday. The first Green head of a federal state was elected in Baden-Württemberg.

Anti-nuclear protest in Tokyo as Japan's crisis deepens

The crisis in Japan is deepening as millions grapple with the devastating effect of the recent earthquake and tsunami, and the nuclear crisis that followed.

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Comment

Should the left back intervention in Libya?

Western intervention in Libya has caused some divisions on the genuine left. This isn’t surprising. If we look at the Arab world, a combination of the widespread loathing of Muammar Gaddafi and support for the revolutions has limited opposition to the use of Western firepower against his forces.

Can renewables provide all our energy?

Since my last column, the environmentalist George Monbiot has dropped his conditional support for nuclear power. He now argues that the nuclear disaster at Fukushima has convinced him that nuclear power is the only option to avoid climate change and meet the country’s energy needs.

The tax system and the social wage

Tory chancellor George Osborne wants to merge National Insurance and income tax into one new tax. He argues this will "simplify" the tax system.

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Features

How we are deepening the Egyptian revolution

Every revolution is a flowering of the creative energy of people who have just discovered their power to change the world. New parties spring up out of nowhere and the political map is constantly redrawn.

The budget: Osborne steals from us to make the rich richer

The government’s budget last week was an assault on the poor. It was a budget for more cuts, more privatisation and more attacks.

Budget packed with perks for bosses

The Tories are relaxing planning regulations. Their claims of being the "greenest government ever" are an excuse to throw extra money at the nuclear industry.

Tory tax scam will make poor even worse off

George Osborne was keen to point out he will raise the personal tax allowance from £7,475 to more than £8,105 in April 2012. This means you can earn more before you pay tax. It is a con.

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Reviews

Women in Love: exploring liberation, sex and the ‘modern’ era

Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen are two sisters from the Midlands trying to find individual fulfilment in the early years of the 20th century.

Before the Revolution shows Italy’s jittery rich drawn to Communist radicalism

Fabrizio is the son of a rich bourgeois family who is drawn to the politics of the huge Italian Communist Party in the early 1960s.

Picks from BFI Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

The British Film Institute’s Lesbian and Gay Film Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

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What We Think

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Other Categories

Terry James: 1948 - 2011

SWP members in South Wales were saddened to hear last week of the death of Terry James.

Tim's view

Letters

Is it wrong to be against the West’s war in Libya? Socialist Worker has argued consistently against military intervention by Western countries, and I have always agreed.

Quotes from the weeks news

‘If we keep doing this we won’t find anything to bloody disagree on in the bloody TV debate’

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