Socialist Worker

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The masses speak: Egypt's revolution erupts

Mass protests in Egypt last Sunday were the beginning of a second revolution, writes Sameh Naguib of the Revolutionary Socialists, Cairo

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International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Smiley Culture retires to consider its verdict

The jury in the inquest into the death of reggae singer Smiley Culture, real name David Emmanuel, has retired to consider its verdict.

Protest supports striking Rochdale care workers

Striking care workers in the Unison union in Rochdale held a march and rally last Saturday to protest against pay cuts and slashed terms and conditions.

More time to build for housing strike

Support workers at One Housing in London have postponed a planned three-day strike for three weeks.

Molson Coors offer rejected by workers

Workers at the Molson Coors brewery in Burton-on-Trent have voted to reject a new offer from bosses.

Portsmouth port workers action vote

Workers in the Unite union at Portsmouth International Port have voted unanimously for action short of a strike.

BBC journalists consultative ballot

The National Union of Journalists is set to consult members at the BBC over a revised offer on pay, redundancy, consultation and anti-social hours payments.

Leeds social housing workers’ cuts anger

Workers who maintain social housing in Leeds are being balloted for industrial action.

South London bin strike put on hold

Refuse workers in Bromley and Croydon, south east London, have put their strike “on hold” for talks at the Acas conciliation service.

London Pride is a protest

Thousands of people attended London Pride last Saturday. 

TUC LGBT Conference

More than 250 delegates from 29 unions gathered for the TUC’s annual LGBT conference.  

George Osborne’s petty welfare attacks mean more misery for claimants

Tory chancellor's latest round of benefit cuts attacks the poorest in society, writes Simon Basketter

Ringfencing doesn't stop Tories slashing services

The Tories are trying to split up the health service and privatise it. 

No sense in jobcentre shift

Jobcentre workers have spoken out against the Tories’ new attacks on claimants.

Rich scroungers grab more

Osborne says we need cuts to deal with Britain’s budget deficit.

Police shooting of Azelle Rodney was “unlawful killing"

The officers who shot Azelle Rodney could now face prosecution after a damning report from the official inquiry into the killing was released today, Friday. Azelle died after he was shot six times in under two seconds by a police officer in 2005. The report says that there was no “lawful” justification for shooting to kill.

Postal workers in Peterborough walk out unofficially

Some 170 postal workers in Peterborough have walked out unofficially after a union rep was suspended.

Occupy the squares: stand firm in the face of the conspiracy by the Brotherhood and America

Statement from the Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt, 6 July 2013

Angry teachers' strike tackles the Tories

Teachers from two unions struck across the north west of England last week as part of a campaign against government attacks on education. Sadie Robinson reports from Liverpool

Striking teacher says, 'We all need to be fighting back'

Sue Bannister, an NUT member, said workers needed to up the ante against the Tories.

Racists launch new attacks, but EDL London march is a flop

Racists have carried out a wave of attacks on Muslims since the killing of soldier Lee Rigby, reports Annette Mackin

Bosses under pressure at bedroom tax conference

Tory bedroom tax minister Lord Freud was far from welcome in Manchester last week.

Gove's free school snatches millions from Islington council

The Tories have taken control of a north London school and handed it to a trust made up of profit-making firms—for free.

Verdict due into death of Jimmy Mubenga

The judge’s summing up at the inquest into the death of Jimmy Mubenga was due to start on Tuesday of this week. 

GPs to check on patients' migration status

The government is ratcheting up pressure on GPs to check the immigration status of patients using the NHS. 

Smethwick blaze shows risk of fire cuts

A fire engulfing over 50,000 tonnes of recycling material sent a plume of smoke 6,000 feet into the air on Monday of this week.

Police spied on campaigners attending Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry

The cops’ dirty tricks operation against Stephen Lawrence’s family and its supporters was coordinated ­nationally.

Campaigners organise fight for the health service

Over 300 people came to the People’s Commission of Inquiry into planned cuts at Lewisham Hospital in south east London last Saturday.

Postal workers walkout to stop closures

Thousands of workers in 371 Crown Post Offices struck on Saturday of last week. They are members of the CWU union.

College workers on strike

Lecturers in the UCU union at Lambeth College in south London were set to strike on Thursday of this week to defend jobs. Up to 97 lecturers and support staff are at risk.

T & W Metro crew stand together

Train Crew workers on the Tyne and Wear Metro were set to begin an indefinite overtime ban and work to rule to defend a sacked colleague.

The gloves are off as George Osborne reveals new brutal cuts

The cuts announced in the spending review are a serious escalation of the Tories’ war on workers and the welfare state, writes Simon Basketter

An adventure for workers' rights

Workers at the Adventure International activity centre in Bude, Cornwall, struck on Friday of last week.

Scotland is set for strike ballot on pay

Local government workers across Scotland could strike over pay.

School strikes back to stop an academy

Teachers at Copland Community School in Brent, north west London, were set to strike on Wednesday of this week.

Trade unionists discuss strikes

Over 300 trade union activists attended the National Shop Stewards Network annual conference in London last Saturday.

Talking struggle by the seaside

Trade unionists in Sussex were set to hold a conference on building the fightback on Saturday of this week.

'Stop the cuts' from Edinburgh to Plymouth

Tens of thousands of civil service workers in the PCS union staged protests around Britain on Thursday of last week.

Black and white unite against racism in Harlow

Around 200 people turned out for a multicultural event in Harlow, Essex, last Sunday. 

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International

‘Egypt's revolution has made people mighty’

We witnessed in Alexandria the largest protests we have seen since Mubarak fell in 11 February 2011—perhaps even bigger than that. 

Protests spread across Egypt

Across Egypt protesters targeted the local headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party. 

Second revolution brings down Egypt's president

Sameh Naguib of the Revolutionary Socialists reports from Cairo, where mass celebrations greeted the removal of president Mohamed Mursi on Wednesday evening

Egypt: Four days that shook the world

Sameh Naguib of the Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt looks at the historic events of the past few days

Brazil prepares for strikes as economic juggernaut stalls

Brazil’s rulers hoped that economic growth would increase their political power—yet furious protest has erupted at continuing inequality, writes Dave Sewell

China crunch fuels South American crisis

While the “war on terror” drew US attention elsewhere, South American states reinvented the continent’s traditional role as suppliers of natural resources.

A year of elections tests South American governments

Around 100,000 student protesters disrupted the polls at Chile’s primary elections last week. 

People are beginning to demand real change in the US

Medea Benjamin of the anti-war campaign Codepink says the tide is starting to turn for social justice activists

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Comment

Labour 'me-tooing' helps Tory offensive

Alex Callinicos says Labour's failure to commit to stopping Tory cuts will only benefit the right

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Features

Egypt's revolution in a small town

The return of millions to the streets of Egypt on 30 June follows months of rising social protest. Anne Alexander reports on the continuing revolution that is growing in strength well beyond Cairo’s Tahrir Square

Special Branch: spying on activists since 1883

Britain’s secret police have a long history of trying to undermine ‘subversives’, writes Simon Basketter

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Reviews

The East: film turns nightmare of spy infiltration into a fantasy

The East shows undercover agents spying on environmental activists but fails to develop anyone’s motives much beyond caricature, says Camilla Royle

Ellen Gallagher's art challenges racism with wit and pain at the Tate Modern

Ellen Gallagher’s art references African-American culture over the last hundred years, from minstrels to hip-hop. 

Lenny Henry's performance is a revelation in Fences

Lenny Henry is a revelation as Troy Maxson, a former star of the segregated baseball leagues whose life is blighted by racism. 

The Act of Killing film re-enacts mass murder in Indonesia

More than a million Communists and trade unionists were tortured and killed by right wing paramilitaries in Indonesia during the 1960s. 

Definitive Collection of Souad Massi's music

Algerian singer songwriter Souad Massi’s songs of love and loss are mixed with stories of exile and political engagement.   

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What We Think

The power of workers

In Egypt, Brazil and Turkey people have taken to the streets in their thousands and their millions to demand social justice.

Struggle from below drives Egypt's revolt

The Egyptian masses have shown, once again, that they have the power to shake the rich and powerful. 

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Other Categories

Letters

On the filth, the fascists and the fight against austerity

The things they say

The week's news in their own words

Cameron enjoyed apartheid while Mandela was in jail

David Cameron has said Nelson Mandela is his personal hero. But he didn’t always feel that way.

Piper Alpha 25 years on: fire killed 167 workers because bosses cut corners

On the anniversary of the Piper Alpha oil platform disaster, Socialist Worker looks at the union-busting and callous lack of safety that condemned oil workers to death

Workers' grief turned to anger in struggle for offshore safety

Workers formed the Oilc union in 1988 in the aftermath of Piper Alpha. The battle to build effective offshore union organisation can be a matter of life and death. 

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