Socialist Worker

Issue: 2324

Dated: 13 Oct 2012

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Take to the streets: demonstrate against the Tories on 20 October

There is now just one week left to go until the TUC’s demonstration in London and the STUC’s in Glasgow on Saturday 20 October.

International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan sent to face injustice in the US

The British government extradited Babar Ahmad, Talha Ahsan and three others to the US as terror suspects last week.

More join healthcare protests as bosses' NHS lies unravel

Up to four accident and emergency departments could close at hospitals in Greater Manchester—along with ten maternity wards. Twelve hospitals in the area are "under review" as part of the attack.

Day of action in Waltham Forest to oppose the racist EDL

Anti-racist activists in Waltham Forest, east London, have called a day of action against the racist English Defence League (EDL) on Saturday of this week. The EDL plans to march there on 27 October.

News round-up

No facility time for union duties Cabinet office minister Francis Maude used the Tory conference to attack union facility time. He wants to cut the number of civil service workers who do union duties. PCS union general secretary Mark Serwotka said the Tories are "trying to divert attention from the real issue" of the cuts.

Draconian Tory policies mark return of the nasty party

When Tory chancellor George Osborne got to his feet at Tory party conference this week he announced a further £10 billion in welfare cuts.

First school to strike as part of national campaign

Teachers at an east London secondary school are set to strike for three days from Monday of next week. The NUT union members at Bishop Challoner school in Tower Hamlets would be the first to strike as part of their union’s workload campaign.

Education round-up

Education workers vote for pay strike University workers in the Unison union have voted for strikes over pay. They voted for strikes by 50.3 percent against bosses’ pay offer of 1 percent. Unison also demanded the living wage for all higher education workers.

500 hospital workers may strike over jobs and pay

Admin and clerical workers are balloting for strikes and industrial action short of a strike to defend their jobs and pay.

NUJ conference reflects anger but backs cuts

A financial crisis in the journalists’ NUJ union dominated discussion at the annual conference in Newcastle last weekend.

Stop the War marks anniversary of Afghanistan invasion

The Stop the War Coalition held a "Naming of the Dead" ceremony in Trafalgar Square last Sunday. It was to mark the 11th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan.

Postal workers walk out unofficially in Preston

Around 150 postal workers at the Christian Road delivery office in Preston, Lancashire, walked out unofficially on Thursday of last week—and stayed out for four days.

Construction workers protest at Leeds Arena building site

Around 30 protesters converged on the Leeds Arena construction site on Friday of last week.

Bromley refuse workers hold unofficial strike over sack

Refuse workers in Bromley, south east London, struck unofficially on Thursday of last week against the sacking of four colleagues.

Civil service workers protest to save their nurseries

HM Revenue and Customs bosses have agreed to extend the grant given to nurseries in East Kilbride, near Glasgow, and Cardiff following protests.

Reports round-up

Signal stops trains for better shifts Signal workers in Sterling, Scotland, were set to strike on Friday and Saturday of this week over rosters. The RMT union members are demanding 12-hour shifts. Messages of support to Adrian Scott <a href="mailto:a.scott@rmt.org.uk">a.scott@rmt.org.uk</a>

K College workers in Kent strike against plans to cut jobs

Workers at K College in Kent struck for half a day on Monday of this week against plans to axe 145 jobs.

Striking Amnesty UK workers hit out at their bosses' hypocrisy

Workers at human rights organisation Amnesty International UK struck for the second time in east London on Wednesday against management plans for redundancies. The cuts have come as a shock for the workers, who are members of the Unite union.

Waltham Forest anti-fascist rally vows to stop the EDL's return

Over 130 people crammed into a public meeting in Walthamstow, east London, on Tuesday night to organise against the latest threat from the fascist English Defence League (EDL).

Rotherham prepares to oppose the racist English Defence League

A packed public meeting organised by Rotherham Unite Against Fascism on Monday called for a huge response to the racist and fascist English Defence League (EDL) in the town this Saturday.

International

Sectarianism in Egypt one year on from the Maspero massacre

On 9 October 2011 the Egyptian army attacked demonstrators protesting in support of the country’s Coptic Christian minority. The Maspero massacre left at least 27 people dead.

Iranian protesters are caught between a rock and a hard place

A few thousand people clashed with riot police on Wednesday of last week as they chanted anti-government slogans around the traditional bazaar of Tehran.

Inquiry into shooting of striking South African miners begins

Retired judge Ian Farlam opened the commission last week into the police shooting of 112 striking Lonmin platinum miners—killing 34—at Marikana on 16 August.

Greeks say no to Merkel visit

Athens went into lockdown on Tuesday of this week as Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel turned up to discuss austerity with the Greek government.

Millions of workers join Indonesia's general strike

More than two million workers joined a one-day strike across Indonesia on Wednesday of last week. They demanded an end to low wages and the policy of outsourcing to contract labour.

iPhone workers walk out at China's Foxconn factory

Around 4,000 Foxconn workers struck at the end of last week in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou.

Comment

Disraeli: the 'One Nation' Tory that Ed Miliband learned to love

Labour leader Ed Miliband took up the mantle of "One Nation" Conservatism in his speech to the Labour Party conference last week.

The Syrian revolution poses a severe test for Turkey's rulers

The first real sign that the civil war in Syria could spill over into a wider conflict came last week. A series of mortar and artillery exchanges took place across the border between Syria and Turkey.

Features

The roots of racism

Many people believe racism is part of human nature and will always be with us. But racism isn’t hard wired into our brains. The best evidence for this is the fact that it has not always existed.

Can we reclaim the Labour Party?

The Unite union has launched a strategy to win the Labour Party back for the working class. But can it be made to stand for left wing policies?

Reviews

The Casual Vacancy exposes the reality of middle class prejudice

I read J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books when I was 13 years old and found them gripping.

Someday All The Adults Will Die is a tribute to punk's creativity

The late 1970s saw an explosion in DIY punk culture. Musicians, artists and writers produced flyers, posters, record sleeves and fanzines using photocopiers, collage and stencils.

Reviews round-up

Rock Against Racism/Love Music Hate Racism This exhibition brings together iconic posters, badges and memorabilia from more than three decades of music and anti-racism. The posters show a wide variety of design and capture the excitement and urgency of the fight against fascism.

What We Think

Jimmy Savile prospered as BBC tolerated sexism

The establishment looks after its own. Jimmy Savile was a BBC celebrity knighted by the queen. He was a regular house guest of Margaret Thatcher. He was protected despite being a sexual predator of children.

Tories' hypocritical concern

Tory hypocrites made a strident defence of the unborn in the run-up to their annual conference. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt and women’s secretary Maria Miller both said the time limit for abortion should be cut in half.