Steelworkers are deeply saddened that three men died at the Corus plant in Port Talbot, South Wales, last week. Stephen Galsworthy, 26, and Andrew Hutin, 20, died instantly when tons of molten iron which was superheated to 1,000 degrees centigrade burst through the walls of the plant's number five furnace. Another man, in his fifties, died later.
Speculation was growing this week over who would be the next first minister of Scotland after the resignation of Henry McLeish. His downfall began in April when it emerged that McLeish had claimed full expenses from the taxpayer on his constituency office as a Westminster MP. At the same time he had been subletting it to private firms.
Socialist Worker, Britain's biggest selling left wing newspaper, has launched an appeal for £200,000. In just nine weeks our supporters have donated £131,516. Recent events have shown how important Socialist Worker is. There are the war in Afghanistan, the growing economic crisis, and New Labour's continuing attacks on ordinary people across Britain.
Global media owner Rupert Murdoch is cheering on the war in Afghanistan and at the same time attacking his own workers in Britain. Murdoch owns top Hollywood film company 20th Century Fox. Last week he was one of the movie executives invited to a meeting initiated by George W Bush to discuss how companies could help the war on Afghanistan with their films.
Hundreds of British Airways workers lobbied parliament last week demanding government action over the jobs crisis hitting the airline. The lobby was organised by the TGWU union. It was addressed by the union's leader Bill Morris and a string of Labour MPs. BA is cutting the equivalent of 7,000 jobs, and has held back a promised Christmas bonus of a week's pay for its 36,000 workers.
Armed government agents seized the coordinator of the Green Party in the US, Nancy Oden, as she boarded a plane in Bangor on the east coast of the US two weeks ago.
East London postal workers showed last week how to deal with managers who bully women workers. They struck in large numbers and forced a humiliating climbdown by the bosses. Up to 2,000 workers struck unofficially on Tuesday of last week in solidarity with workers on strike at South Woodford. At that office a woman worker had been reduced to tears by the verbal assault of a manager.
Workers who make egg cartons for the Omni-Pac company in Great Yarmouth staged their second one-day strike on Wednesday of last week. The 114 workers, members of the TGWU union, are striking against the imposition of new contracts which mean they could lose up to £40 a week.
Thousands of Inland Revenue workers in the PCS union held a flexi-protest over pay on Wednesday of last week.
"I have nothing to lose. If I have to live in one of those detention centres again they might as well kill me."
Workers at Scottish Power and Manweb are to be balloted this week on management's latest offer.
Around 100 people attended the National Civil Rights Movement annual general meeting last weekend. Kwesi Menson, the brother of Michael Menson, Sukhdev Reel, the mother of Ricky Reel, and Doreen Lawrence were among the many relatives of victims of racism who spoke at the event.
