Socialist Worker

Issue: 2251

Dated: 14 May 2011

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Kick out Cameron’s crumbling coalition

Last week’s elections showed the depth of opposition to its attacks. Most of the electoral fallout hit Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg.

International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Activists say: stop protest clampdown

Around 200 activists packed into a meeting in London on Thursday of last week called by the Defend the Right to Protest group.

Ian Tomlinson: cops saw push, then covered it up

Senior police officers failed to pass on vital information that showed Ian Tomlinson was pushed and batoned by a police officer minutes before he died, it has been revealed.

Babar Ahmad: I thought police would kill me

Babar Ahmad has told a court how Metropolitan Police officers in the TSG beat him so badly that he thought he was going to die.

Kirklees strike over intimidation

Workers at recycling sites in West Yorkshire struck on Wednesday of last week over allegations of bullying and intimidation by managing company Sita.

Southampton says yes to strikes!

Workers at Southampton City Council have voted to strike to stop bosses forcing through pay cuts.

Tenants meet to discuss cuts fight

Tenants from many towns and cities discussed the next steps in their fight at a Defend Council Housing (DCH) national meeting in London last Saturday.

Manchester transport workers vote to strike

Over 300 Unison members at Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) have voted by a massive 73 percent for strike to halt compulsory redundancies.

Schools round-up

Striking at Sinfin Community School Teachers at Sinfin Community School in Derbyshire were on the picket lines on Wednesday and Thursday of last week to stop compulsory redundancies.

Striking back to stop academy schools

Teachers in four schools were set to strike this week against plans to turn their schools into academies.

Lecturers gear up for strikes to defend their pensions

Lecturers in the UCU union are preparing for strikes to defend their pensions.

London Met occupation accelerates fight to stop cuts

Students occupied London Metropolitan University against bosses’ plans to axe 70 percent of all the courses at the college. John Hughes, a sociology and international development student, told Socialist Worker, "Senior management have no respect for staff and students here.

UCU ballots to defend jobs and pay at South Tyneside College

UCU union members are balloting for strikes at South Tyneside College over jobs cuts and pay.

Civil service workers walking out against 66 percent job cuts

Workers at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) were to stage a one-hour walkout on Wednesday of this week.

Striking for youth services

Hundreds of Connexions workers in Birmingham struck on Wednesday of last week.

BA cabin crew prepare for mass meeting

Cabin crew at British Airways (BA) were set to attend a mass meeting on Thursday of this week to finally hear about their Unite union’s discussions with BA bosses.

Media round-up

Newsquest South West London Journalists at Newsquest South West London have voted unanimously to ballot for strikes after passing a vote of no confidence in their editors.

Democracy Alliance success on PCS Exec

Elections to the PCS national executive saw a victory for the centre-left Democracy Alliance slate.

Revenue and Customs attendance policy

The PCS group executive in the Revenue and Customs department last week voted to enter talks with bosses over imposed changes in attendance policy.

Disability campaigners say Atos is the real cheat

Disabled activists are getting organised and fighting back against cuts.

Scottish protesters blockade Atos

The third national week of action against Atos got off to a flying start in Edinburgh on Monday.

Anti-cuts round-up

Marchers take to the streets of Slough A new anti-cuts group, Windsor and Slough Against the Cuts, held its first march last Saturday.

Youth for Smiley Culture meeting demands justice

An event to discuss the death of Smiley Culture attracted over 100 people in south London last Saturday.

£60 billion rise for richest bosses

Britain’s 1,000 richest people saw their wealth soar by an incredible £60 billion last year.

Rich students to get fast-tracked places

The Tories are offering rich individuals, funded by their rich families, a fast-track to their privileged future.

What's changed in Bahrain?

The King of Bahrain has announced that the state of emergency imposed in March will end by the start of June.

Renewables can meet energy need

Renewable energy sources could supply 80 percent of the world’s energy within 40 years if governments choose them.

Tory bigot is threat to rights

Tory Nadine Dorries wants 13 to 16-year old girls to receive abstinence-based sex education in schools.

Tube bosses back down over sacked workers

Reports were emerging as Socialist Worker went to press of a deal that would see next week’s planned strike by tube drivers called off.

Fight on for victimised bus driver

The campaign to reinstate Unite union convenor on Sovereign buses, Abdul Omer Mohsin, has been reinvigorated in the past two weeks—a year after his sacking.

Striking back across Greece

Greek workers joined a general strike against austerity on Wednesday as their government tried to renegotiate the terms of its bailout.

Massive strike rocks Italy

A hugely successful one-day general strike took place in Italy on Friday of last week, called by Italy’s largest union, the CGIL.

NHS plans drive out a third of doctors

Local doctors are so frustrated with the government’s NHS "reforms" that they are leaving general practice in droves.

Post workers ballot for strikes over jobs

Postal workers in London are starting a strike ballot after bosses rejected union plans to save jobs.

Why 30 June strikes matter

Union plans for coordinated strikes to defend pensions are getting a great response from workers across Britain.

Saltend workers reject new offer

Some 400 construction workers have been locked out of their jobs for two months.

Pay figures are a stitch up

A Policy Exchange report quoted in the Telegraph this week claims that public sector workers are 40 percent better off than private sector ones.

School students walk out as Shorefields teachers strike

Teachers in the NUT and NASUWT unions struck at Shorefields Technology College today, Wednesday, against plans to turn the school into an academy.

Thousands protest against disability benefit cuts

Up to 5,000 disabled people marched on parliament today.

BA workers vote to ballot on new deal

Members of Bassa, the British Airways cabin crew section of the Unite union, have voted to be balloted over a new offer from BA management.

On the visit of the British monarch to Ireland

Fellow-Workers,

Video of Right to Protest meeting

Hannah Dee and others speaking at the 200-strong Defend the Right to Protest meeting in London on Thursday 5 May

Anger at cuts boosts Scottish nationalists

The polls had predicted that the Scottish National Party (SNP) would win last week’s Scottish elections—but no one anticipated the scale of Labour’s defeat.

Terrible election caps a bad year for the Nazi BNP

The fascist British National Party’s (BNP) electoral strategy is in tatters.

Disappointing night for left of Labour candidates

The elections saw people looking to the strongest mainstream alternative to the government across the UK. That meant that there were disappointments for many left of Labour candidates.

Michael Lavalette: 'Eight years to be proud of'

‘My eight years as an elected councillor in Preston came to an end last week. I got 39 percent of the vote, but lost by just over 100 votes.

Do riots and violence set back our cause?

Riots are one of the most dramatic ways that ordinary people can leap onto the stage of history. People who feel invisible most of their lives become the centre of attention.

International

Nato is fuelling Libya's humanitarian crisis

Sixty one refugees died on a boat fleeing Libya in late March after European military vessels refused to help, it has emerged.

Yemen: Saleh hangs onto power

Yemen’s dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh has reneged on a promise to step down. But thousands of people are still on the streets in the capital Sanaa.

Syria: a united fight for freedom

The uprising in Syria against Bashar al-Assad’s regime continues despite repression that has reportedly claimed some 800 lives.

All out strike in Botswana

The ten-day public sector strike paralysing Botswana in southern Africa has been extended indefinitely.

Comment

Palestine and the Arab revolutions

Palestinians have given a new twist to the slogans of the Arab revolutions.

At last an end to the 'wasted years'

The legendary soul singer Marvin Gaye famously asked, "What’s Going On?" His 1971 album examined the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War.

Features

Class struggle calling out from Cairo

Cairo, 1 May. Some 3,000 doctors spilled out of the Doctors’ Union, intensely debating whether to call for a national strike over pay and health funding. In nearby Tahrir Square, the Minister of Labour watched uncomfortably from the stage as thousands of chanting workers surged past him in the swelling May Day rally.

What sort of pensions should we fight for?

Defending pensions provides an opportunity for joint public sector strikes—but it is worth being clear what sort of pensions we want to defend.

No Fortress Europe

Immigration is the latest issue to expose the instability of the European Union (EU). Together with countries’ debt problems, it reveals how the world economic crisis is putting strain on the union.

Reviews

Attack the Block: Close encounters of the south London kind

Aliens have invaded a south London council estate. But instead of the army or police dealing with the threat, a local gang of teenagers take it upon themselves.

Outspoken: speaking out in Paris and London

This art project connects and compares the experiences of young people from working class areas of Paris and London.

Eurovision Song Contest

Socialist Worker doesn’t usually recommend you watch this festival of cheesy Europop.

On the March - Ed Hall

You will probably have seen Ed Hall’s work before on demonstrations and picket lines.

What We Think

Courting Lib Dems won’t stop cuts

According to Labour leader Ed Miliband, "This Conservative-led government has been sent a very clear message by the British people about the policies they’re pursuing for which they don’t have a mandate."