POSTAL workers should demand action after the latest privatisation move. Post Office bosses announced this week they are continuing with plans to outsource the Romec engineering arm in a £1 billion deal. Work will be transferred to a joint venture with construction giant Balfour Beatty. Romec employs 5,000 people.
IF YOU want to protest against privatisation and war, be on the streets of London on Wednesday 1 May. May Day protests will unite trade unionists and anti-capitalists with the anti-war movement that has mobilised thousands on huge demos.
HENRY KISSINGER is a notorious war criminal. But top British bosses are determined to welcome him to London despite a storm of protest. He has been invited to address the Institute of Directors convention next Wednesday.
"The Israeli soldiers just kept firing at us, even though people had been hit, even though people were backing away." So says entertainer Jeremy Hardy about a peace march through Jerusalem on Monday of last week.
A call has gone out to trade unionists to "Make May Day our day". The appeal is from former Labour MP Tony Benn, and Mark Serwotka, general secretary elect of the PCS civil servants' union. It slams New Labour's privatisation plans and anti trade union laws. It also points out how the government's war plans against Iraq are opposed by the majority of the population.
War criminal Henry Kissinger is planning to be wined and dined by corporate fat cats in London later this month. His visit has outraged the large numbers of people who know of the death and destruction Kissinger brought to hundreds of thousands around the world. The campaign to protest against his visit is gathering pace and involving a wide variety of people. On Sunday of last week some 30 artists gathered to make banners and puppets that will show the murderer and his friends what we think of them.
Steel boss Sir Brian Moffat has collected a 130 percent pay rise. This is the same man who sacked 10,000 steel workers. He grabbed £580,000 last year as the firm slashed a third of its workforce. David Morgan, a steel worker at Llanwern near Cardiff, told Socialist Worker, "This man has set in motion the meltdown of the entire industry. He wanted to impose a pay freeze on everyone who works here, but he is grabbing a fortune himself."
Man from Pru gets £18 million THE CHIEF executive of the Prudential insurance company has certainly made sure of his own future. Jonathan Bloomer could be in line for £18 million over the next three years. The pay deal is designed to give top managers "the necessary incentive" to improve the company's performance.
The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is encouraging every member who can to attend an unprecedented meeting in London this Sunday. It has booked the Palace Theatre, one of London's largest venues. "We've called a meeting for every member, rather than simply for delegates, so as many people as possible can debate and discuss the transformed political situation," says Socialist Workers Party national organiser Chris Bambery.
New Labour is having problems getting its campaign for the 2 May local elections up and running. "Going knocking on doors for the Labour Party is not a popular activity at the moment," said one Labour MP.
THERE WERE 15 people at the Marxist forum in Canterbury on Thursday of last week on "Israeli terror and the new intifada: can Jews and Arabs live in peace?" One of those there writes:
THE NAZI British National Party is standing 50 candidates in the local elections on 2 May. This is double the number of candidates it has ever stood before in a local election.
