Solidarity 158, 10 September 2009

The motions on the agenda for the TUC, meeting in Liverpool from 14 to 17 September, show that Britain's trade-union establishment is far from facing up to the battles ahead. Unemployment is heading towards three million. Cuts in public services will soon be sharper than ever before. Workers at Vestas, Visteon, Prisme, and Thomas Cook have occupied workplaces to try to save jobs. The Vestas workers have called for nationalisation where a workplace is shut by a private owner. Anti-cuts campaigns are emerging around the country. Yet the agenda contains only one motion directly about jobs, number...

In 1954, President Truman called for the creation of a national health insurance fund to be run by the federal government. This fund as proposed would have been open to all Americans, but would have remained optional. Participants would have paid monthly fees into the plan, which would cover the cost of any and all medical expenses that arose in a time of need. The government would pay for the cost of services rendered by any doctor who chose to join the program. In addition, the insurance plan would give a cash balance to the policy holder to replace wages lost due to illness or injury. Since...