THE CONVENTION of the Trade Union Left set for February will bring trade unionists together to debate the vital issue of political representation. Mick Skiggs is chair of the RMT rail union's Portsmouth branch. He says, "The expulsion of George Galloway is a further example of New Labour's control freakery and how at odds it is with the interests of working people.
THE MEDIA are waking up to the prospect of massive protests wrecking George Bush's state visit to Britain in three weeks time.
"We in the anti-war movement warned of the chaos the occupation of Iraq would bring. Tragically we are being proved right."
"IT TOOK them all of 36 seconds to tell me I was expelled. That's one second for every year I've been a member of the Labour Party. It was a bitter blow, to be expelled by this anti-Labour clique. The Labour leaders say they want freedom of speech in Baghdad, but they don't want freedom of speech in Westminster. They want a puppet parliament just like the one Saddam Hussein used to have.
"I CANNOT believe David Blunkett is still in a job." That was the reaction of Janet Alder, who was taking part in the United Friends and Family Campaign's demonstration over deaths in police custody last weekend. She was speaking days after the BBC documentary The Secret Policeman was shown last week revealing the jaw-dropping level of racism among officers. The programme told me what I already knew. My brother Christopher died in police custody in Hull while officers were caught on film making monkey noises, with one talking about making a Ku Klux Klan style mask. Blunkett won't release that film. He is conspiring to protect police. He should go now."
MEMBERS OF the NUT, the biggest teachers' union, have sent a clear message to their leadership about the national testing of seven, 11 and 14 year olds, known as SATs tests. A survey of all members came out in favour of a boycott of these tests. Most teachers believe that the tests undermine their professional judgement.
CIVIL SERVANTS are gearing up for their battle with the government over pay. Members of the PCS civil servants' union are set to ballot for strike action in a number of government departments. The union has organised a series of rallies to build support for their campaign. All meetings are at 12 noon unless otherwise specified:
MORE THAN 100 tenants attended a meeting on Wednesday of last week to oppose the sell-off of three council estates in Tollington, north Islington, with a total of 1,500 homes. Speakers included local Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn and Nick Strauss, who detailed the broken promises that have followed transfer on the privatised Haggerston estate in Hackney.
Sheffield SOME 110 people came to a Sheffield Coalition Against Racism meeting at Sheffield town hall on Friday of last week. Since the local elections in May, when the Nazi BNP polled 18 percent in Brightside and 11 percent in Handsworth, there has been a desire to see united opposition to the Nazis in Sheffield.
Elections MEMBERS OF the RMT rail workers' union are currently voting to elect a new president. The previous president, John Cogger, died earlier this year. Socialists should make sure they campaign and vote for Tony Donaghy. We need to make sure that right wing candidates such as Colin Cook don't get a look-in.
SOME 2,400 workers at the Sellafield nuclear plant have voted overwhelmingly for strike action. Their employer, BNFL, promised in 1999 to equalise pay between blue collar and white collar workers at the plant by April 2004. But BNFL now say that the £2,000 pay gap will remain until April 2009.
ABOUT 1,000 baggage handlers and check-in staff at Heathrow were due to strike this weekend. Some 90 percent of the workers at Swissport UK and Swissport Cargo, who handle baggage for several major airlines, have voted for action. The workers, who are in the TGWU union, planned their first strike for this Sunday, 2 November.
