THE WORLD Development Movement is holding a public meeting on Thursday 18 September to discuss the outcome of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting which will take place from 10 to 14 September in Cancun, Mexico. Speakers include George Monbiot, Professor Yash Tandon (African delegate to the WTO), Carmen Diaz and Barry Coates.
WORKERS AT Peckham Crown Post Office and Camberwell Green Crown Post Offices in south London have launched campaigns to stop their offices being privatised and downgraded. The 30 people employed in the two offices have over 300 years experience serving the community. CWU union assistant sectional secretary Steve Whale said, "We were only informed of the privatisation when the press rang our union room for our comments."
THE ROW which led to death of David Kelly and sparked the Hutton inquiry centres on a report by BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan on Radio Four's Today programme at the end of May. In the weeks leading up to Kelly's death the government, and Blair's lieutenant Alastair Campbell in particular, furiously attacked Gilligan and the BBC. Curiously their anger seems to have been a delayed reaction.
THE PHOTOGRAPH on this page is of 16 year old Alhassan Kamara. He is an asylum seeker from war-torn Sierra Leone, West Africa. He did not want his full face photographed for fear of being singled out in the future. Known by his friends and family as "Alaska", this young man escaped a brutal civil war.
ANTI-WAR campaigners are hitting the streets to get things moving for the People's Assembly in two weeks time and the national demonstration in London on Saturday 27 September. The People's Assembly is designed to call the government to account for its policies over the war.
REFUSE WORKERS in Edinburgh held mass meetings on Monday of this week. They are planning to take unofficial action after Edinburgh council refused them bank holidays. They are also angry that they are still working on old contracts while their workload increases.
AROUND 70 trade unionists, activists and campaigners gathered in Wrexham, north Wales, last Saturday to discuss building a left alternative to Labour. John Marek, the independent member of the Welsh Assembly, was central to organising the meeting.
WORKERS AT the Forensic Science Service may go on strike against government plans to privatise it. The Prospect union, representing 1,400 scientists at the service, will decide this week whether to organise a strike ballot. The PCS civil service union, which represents 380 clerical staff at the forensic service, is also considering strike action.
BUS WORKERS in Devon have forced their bosses into big concessions after nine days of strikes. The strikers' RMT union general secretary Bob Crow says, "Our members' stand against low pay in the company has been nothing short of magnificent." Their determination has won massive support among the travelling public in Exeter and Torbay.
CIVIL servants' PCS union leaders warned the government last week that it would not stand for the low pay many of their members face. Left wing general secretary Mark Serwotka announced that the union was preparing to coordinate strike action across ten government departments over pay.
