Solidarity 046, 19 February 2004

The origins of Bolshevism: The first workers' unions

Click here for the series on The Roots of Bolshevism of which this article is part John O'Mahony continues his series of articles "The question of the city workers is one of those that it may be said will be moved forward automatically by life itself to an appropriate place, in spite of the a priori theoretical decision of the revolutionary leaders". G V Plekhanov, in the journal of Zemlya i Volya The history of the beginnings of a labour movement in Russia is a subordinate part of the history of populism. The first Russian labour movement was a populist movement. It was initiated by populists...

Debate & discussion: Finding another world at school

By Denise Veerapol I fundamentally disagree with the AWL majority position on "the French ban", as it essentially argues that the religious views of Muslim parents should be respected and upheld in school irrespective of the oppression that they may be subjecting their daughters to. As a result, it also effectively supports the right of religious parents to intervene in the education of their daughters. Last year I worked as a Learning Support Assistant in a school with a large percentage of Muslim children. Many of the girls were forced to wear headscarfs by parents who wanted their girls to...

The Bolsheviks and Islam

Gerry Byrne begins an examination of the relationship between the Russian Bolshevik Party that made the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the Islamic subject states of the Tsarist empire they inherited. What, if anything, can it teach us about socialists' relationship to Islam today? "Rewriting history" is generally seen as the province of Stalinism, the falsification of documents and historic records to retrospectively justify a policy turn or to distance oneself from current political enemies. But there is another, subtler way that history can be rewritten, by selective quotation and failure to...

Debate & discussion: the hijab

The month the National Committee of the Alliance for Workers' Liberty voted to reaffirm our opposition to the hijab (Islamic veil or headscarf) as a mechanism of women's oppression, but also to oppose the new law in France outlawing the hijab in schools. Mark Sandell outlines a minority view and Martin Thomas argues for opposing the law. Don't go soft on religion By Mark Sandell The debate about the hijab in schools has confused many socialists. Some see the hijab as an anti-imperialist revolt that should be supported; others oppose the hijab as a symbol of oppression but see the right for...

TGWU BL victory: we must deliver!

By a TGWU member Candidates of the Broad Left have won an unexpectedly decisive 21:16 majority on the General Executive Council of the TGWU. The previous majority faction grouped around fake-left bureaucrat John Aitken has been routed. Despite retaining some influence in the union's regional structure, it is no longer a significant force in the national leadership. The GEC is now controlled by supporters of general secretary Tony Woodley's 'agenda for change', giving him no excuse for backsliding on his promises to reform and democratise the structures and practices of the union. There should...

Support Leicester College NATFHE

By Chris Allen NATFHE lecturers at Leicester College are in their fourth week of strike action in response to management trying to by-pass the union and get lecturers to sign up to new contracts which increase their workload and cut holidays. The college has used local media to pretend that the strike is ineffectual. A visit to the college tells a different story. The Abbey Park campus looks like a ghost town. Management have infuriated students by insisting they come into college when many lectures are simply not happening. Talks at ACAS on Monday 16 February got nowhere, with managers...

Havering Unison yes to strike

By a Havering Unison member Local Government workers in the Tory-controlled London Borough of Havering have voted for industrial action to defend conditions. 77% voted to strike against plans to charge £5 a week for staff to park in Council car parks - even if they are essential car users! There are also plans to "fast track" sick employees to dismissal. And council chiefs are attacking entitlements of staff being made redundant or seeking early retirement. Arrangements for restructuring and redeployment are being changed to give management more flexibility and staff and trade unions less...

Scout Green: we need a public inquiry on rail safety

The RMT have gained information indicating that there were no less than five contractors operating at the Scout Green access point on Sunday morning, the site of the accident which killed four railworkers. They were Carillon, MDA Rail, Macrail, McGinley's and Jarvis. They also say that the trolley which killed the men was on the main line and not on a sidings and was detached from a road-rail crane to enable the crane to unload it. Instead of proper brakes holding the trolley in place, two two-inch blocks of wood were placed beneath its wheels to stop it moving. Loading had just started when...

Metronet: vote yes to action!

Voting is still going on on about industrial action to defend London Underground maintenance workers who were sacked after empty beer cans were found in their mess room. The workers were employed by Metronet, a private sector consortium. This week another worker was sacked, bringing the total to eight. Bobby Law, RMT London Regional Organiser, said: "There is not a shred of evidence to link any of those sacked with the cans. "We support the drug and alcohol policy as much as anyone, but these sackings are wrong. Feeling is running very high over this - particularly now that another worker has...

TGWU stewards win an inquiry

Three former TGWU shop stewards have called off a hunger strike after claiming victory in their dispute with their trade union. Gordon McNeill, Madan Gupta and Chris Bowyer were dismissed as shop stewards by the TGWU and sacked from their jobs as security staff at Belfast International Airport in May 2002 - along with 21 other people - after a strike. They were demanding a TGWU inquiry, made up of rank and file members of the union, to uncover the truth about the role played by their union official, Joe McCusker, and other officials. The strike at Belfast Airport was over pay and they claim...

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