THERE WAS a great response to a Stop the War Coalition stall in central Manchester last Saturday as campaigners petitioned against Hutton and called for an independent inquiry. Activists were also building support for the demonstration at the Labour spring conference at 12 noon, Saturday 13 March, GMEX centre, Manchester.
POSTAL WORKERS at the East London mail centre have voted by two to one for strikes over the sacking of two of their colleagues. Workers at the office were disgusted and enraged when management announced the sackings were going ahead. This is despite an almost total lack of evidence and the promise of a review after a recent well-supported unofficial walkout.
THE PEACE Not War group is organising four nights of music and arts next week on the anniversary of last year's global protests against the war on Iraq. It takes place from Thursday 12 February-Sunday 15 February at the Hackney Ocean, 270 Mare Street, Hackney, east London (nearest station Hackney Central).
LAND ROVER workers are due to hold their second one-day strike on Monday of next week in protest at the company's pay offer and the strings attached to it. The 8,000 workers at Solihull and those at Gaydon in Warwickshire are taking on Ford, a multinational with a reputation for ruthlessly exploiting workers. That's why other car workers are hoping the Land Rover strikers get a victory.
EIGHTEEN YEAR old Keith Burgess is an agency worker who was sacked for supporting the recent strikes by Hackney's refuse workers. His courageous and principled stand is in glaring contrast to the union-busting attitude of the Labour council. His story also highlights the precarious world of "flexible" work and short-term agency contracts which the government champions.
BUS DRIVERS at Stagecoach buses in Worthing, near Brighton, are continuing their fight for better pay. There have been two one-day strikes in the last week, including lively, large pickets. Some 20-30 people turned up on Friday of last week and 40-50 on Monday of this week. Everyone was in good spirits. The drivers are in the TGWU union. Securitas drivers bringing cash to the company refused to cross the picket line. This caused a big headache for management.
LECTURERS AT Leicester College began an indefinite strike on Monday against management's introduction of an unnegotiated contract. This contract removes four days holiday and introduces the possibility of unlimited Saturday working. Management claimed they had more people who had signed the contract than voted for strike action and that the college would run as normal with no classes needing to be cancelled.
THE CAMPAIGN against the council tax is gathering momentum in Crawley, Sussex. We have organised a public meeting for this week (Thursday 5 February in the Civic Hall at 7.30pm) and hope to attract a wider group than pensioners since council tax rises hit everyone. The council tax is an issue of growing importance.
NEW LABOUR was set to plunge itself deeper into crisis this week by expelling the union that first got the Labour Party established a century ago. Its assault on the RMT rail union is creating a storm in the wider trade union movement. Other trade unionists, including the 250,000-strong postal and telecom workers' Communication Workers Union (CWU) nationally, have rallied in support of the RMT.
THE RATS stayed aboard the sinking ship. Tuesday's vote on top-up fees left Tony Blair and the New Labour clique holed below the waterline. But he survived because 85 percent of Labour MPs bailed him out by disgracefully voting to price working class children out of university.
FURY ERUPTED among protesters outside parliament on Tuesday night.
The European Social Forum (ESF) is on course to be held in London this year. There was a real buzz of excitement at a meeting of around 150 activists in London last Saturday-the UK Assembly for the ESF.
