Issues

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Issue - 1809
Dated - 20 Jul 2002
The headlines you didn't read on crime

"IT'S official: stunning new report exposes crime figures are falling." This is a headline you could have read last week, but didn't. Instead the tabloids were full of stories about gangs of hoodlums running out of control, terrorising vulnerable people.

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In this issue

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Features

The headlines you didn’t read on crime

"IT'S official: stunning new report exposes crime figures are falling." This is a headline you could have read last week, but didn't. Instead the tabloids were full of stories about gangs of hoodlums running out of control, terrorising vulnerable people.
20 July 2002
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Democracy in the scales

THE ATTEMPT by the right wing leadership in the PCS civil servants' union to overthrow democracy has entered a crucial week. The court case between elected general secretary and socialist Mark Serwotka and outgoing general secretary Barry Reamsbottom began on Tuesday of this week. It will decide who runs the union.
20 July 2002
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Earthquake hits Blair’s union boss

THE FUTURE of Tony Blair's favourite union general secretary hung in the balance this week. On the first count of votes Sir Ken Jackson was in front of the left challenger, Derek Simpson, by 89,300 to 88,500 for the leadership of the giant Amicus engineering, electrical and manufacturing union. But a recount then put Derek Simpson ahead. Further recounts were taking place as Socialist Worker went to press.
20 July 2002
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Young Asians’ unjust prison sentences cut

AN APPEAL court decision has given a big boost to the justice campaign for scores of young men given long sentences following last year's disturbances in Bradford.
20 July 2002
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Stop the war

AROUND 100 people attended an excellent meeting called by a Cambridge peace group which took place last Friday night. The meeting, entitled "Middle East crisis-what should Britain do?", was addressed by George Galloway MP and Cambridge academic Dominic Jenkin.
20 July 2002
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International

Palestine

THE DEBATE at a Tower Hamlets council meeting in east London last week took an unusual turn. Campaigners took advantage of a little used procedure to table a motion calling for the council to officially "twin" with the Palestinian town of Jenin.
20 July 2002
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Lecturers

A MEETING of 50 activists from the lecturers' union Natfhe has agreed significant steps to coordinate resistance across colleges and universities. The annual general meeting of the Natfhe Rank and File group was the largest for many years.
20 July 2002
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Councils

UNISON MEMBERS working for London's Westminster council are set to start strikes next week over privatisation, attacks on their pensions and working conditions. The action is due to start with 77 workers in the parking and highways licensing departments coming out.
20 July 2002
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Printers

WORKERS AT West Ferry printers in east London were in a confident mood this week after winning a 2 percent pay increase. The giant plant prints a large section of Britain's national newspapers, including the Guardian, Observer, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Financial Times, Express and more.
20 July 2002
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Journalists

JOURNALISTS AT the Rotherham Advertiser are the latest to vote for a strike ballot over pay. The NUJ union members decided to ballot after rejecting a 2.3 percent offer. The Liverpool Post and Echo Weekly group is meeting this week to decide whether to hold a strike ballot.
20 July 2002
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Firefighters

FIRE BRIGADES Union (FBU) members are outraged at the employers' response to their pay claim. The body representing the employers last week rejected the union's call for a new pay formula that would increase the pay of firefighters to £30,000, with comparable increases for control room staff.
20 July 2002
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In brief

Success school closure threat THE Labour-controlled education authority in Hackney, east London, has decided to shut Kingsland Secondary School in what can only be described as a spiteful move. The authority itself is due to be wound up at the end of this month. Closing Kingsland is its parting gift. Parents received a letter at the end of last week informing them of the closure in July of next year. It suggested they remove their children from this September. That leaves parents just a days to find alternatives.
20 July 2002