Pressure for a united demonstration by public service workers against the government's privatisation drive is mounting. Delegates at the National Union of Teachers (NUT) conference voted last weekend to back a national anti-privatisation demonstration. That comes after the call for such a protest by Mark Serwotka, general secretary elect of the PCS civil servants' union. Other public sector workers now have a chance to press their unions to take up the call.
People across England will have a chance to say a resounding no to Tony Blair's pro-privatisation and pro-war policies at the local elections on 2 May. Hundreds of Socialist Alliance candidates are standing. They say, "Put people before profit," and want to take on the pro-business consensus accepted by the three major parties.
Thousands marched through central London on Saturday as part of CND's "Don't Start Wars" protest. Many carried placards denouncing war with Iraq, while others carried Palestinian flags. Socialist Worker sellers petitioned demonstrators calling for justice for Palestine. Well over 800 copies of Socialist Worker were sold, with over 40 people joining the Socialist Workers Party.
Every day that passes increases the urgency of a fightback against job cuts and privatisation in the Post Office.
Over 100 striking medical secretaries marched through Sunderland last week as part of their fight to win the pay rise they deserve. The secretaries are determined to continue their all-out indefinite strike to force their NHS trust bosses to recognise the value of their vital work.
Trams halted in tracks by strike Drivers on the tram service in Croydon, south London, halted the service for 24 hours on Tuesday of last week in a strike over pay. The workers, members of the TGWU union, refused to accept the bosses' pay of 6 percent, as it would only take their pay to £8.75 an hour.
Strike action by ScotRail train drivers has forced the company to make an improved pay offer. The drivers' RMT and Aslef unions have suspended strikes to ballot over the new deal.
The media has already begun scare stories around the election challenge to the leader of the AEEU section of the Amicus union, Sir Ken Jackson. The Daily Mail described last week how Blair's favourite union leader, "ultra-loyal Sir Ken Jackson", was being taken on by the "militant hardliner" Derek Simpson.
Civil servants in the PCS union in DEFRA, formerly the Ministry of Agriculture, have voted to accept management's revised pay offer for 2001-2. Workers will receive increases from April 2000 of at least £2,000.
Delegates at the conference of the most moderate TUC-affiliated teachers' union last week joined calls for action against the government. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) is the third largest teachers' union in England and Wales.
Journalists at a string of weekly newspapers owned by the Guardian Media Group in the Manchester area have voted for strikes over low pay. Staff at the Rochdale Observer, Asian News, Middleton Guardian, Heywood Advertiser, Rossendale Free Press, Accrington Observer, Oldham Advertiser and Salford Advertiser are to strike for six days.
A major challenge faces every anti-fascist and anti-racist. Nazis from Nick Griffin's British National Party are desperate to secure a breakthrough in the local council elections on 2 May. They want to emulate their counterparts in Europe, where Nazis have won seats in council and European parliamentary elections.
