Solidarity 371, 15 July 2015

Unions should back Corbyn for Labour leader

Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign for Labour leader is getting a strong response. In addition to being the only campaign with national trade union support (Unite, BFAWU, ASLEF, TSSA, as well as RMT and FBU), Corbyn is now clear second in terms of nominations from Constituency Labour Parties, with 36 to Andy Burnham’s 47; Yvette Cooper is on 28 and Liz Kendall on only 5. CLP nominations have no direct impact, but they do indicate strength of support among Labour activists. It is now pretty standard for meetings addressed by Corbyn to be attended by hundreds. 400 turned out to hear him speak in...

Support the Tube strikes!

Tube unions Aslef and RMT have announced a further 24-hour strike on London Underground on 5-6 August, with which other unions are likely to coordinate, after a 24-hour strike by all four Tube unions brought the network to a complete standstill on 8-9 July. Members of RMT, TSSA, Aslef, and Unite struck over a range of issues, including the imposition of anti-social rosters in preparation for the introduction of 24-hour running (“Night Tube”) in September. Unions are demanding more time off to compensate for more fatigue-inducing night shifts. RMT also struck against London Underground’s job...

Unite prepares ground for unlawful action

Unite the union held its rules conference in Brighton this week. About 500 delegates debated motions from sectors, branches, equalities committees and regions. Two key and contested debates were about the election of union officials and the union’s political structures and affiliation to the Labour Party. Unite members do not elect any paid officials other then the General Secretary. There were many different motions calling for the election of different types of officers by different constituencies. These motions all fell and the status quo prevailed. This is a mistake. For the union to be...

Industrial news in brief

Council workers in the London boroughs of Bromley and Barnet struck again on 7-9 July and 8 July respectively in ongoing fights against cuts and privatisations. Strikers from the two boroughs met up in Parliament Square at lunchtime on 8 July to protest at the budget announcement. In Bromley adult services and transport workers struck for two days on 7-8 July and library workers struck for three days from 7 July. Workers from across Barnet council’s services struck on 8 July and many workers at a depot which had previously been organised by the GMB (who have not called strikes) refused to...

The flag of white supremacy

Anyone shocked that the Confederate flag still flies from public buildings in many parts of the US South is right to be. The murder on 17 June of nine black church-goers in South Carolina by a white supremacist who had posed with the flag has pushed some right-wing Southern politicians to express sympathy for its removal. Before that, however, many of the same people were defending it as a symbol of Southern heritage. Many will not retreat even now: prominent Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee have refused to call for the flag to come down, obviously because...

Balls to the Budget!

Disabled People Against Cuts held a budget day demonstration in Westminster. The theme of “Balls to the Budget” saw people throwing a wide variety of balls at the gates of Downing Street as Osborne was due to leave to deliver the budget speech to parliament. Several hundred strong, the lively demonstration went on to march to Westminster Bridge and block the road. Tourists looked on bemused as a large banner reading “Balls to the budget” was hung over the wall on the south side of the river opposite the Palace of Westminster. Hopefully some of the MPs inside got the message that the public are...

Osborne attacks the poorest students

George Osborne’s budget promised that higher education fees will rise in line with inflation, and that grants will be abolished for the poorest students. The budget document states: “institutions offering high teaching quality [will be allowed] to increase their tuition fees in line with inflation from 2017-18, with a consultation on the mechanisms to do this.” This is in line with concerns about new Universities Minister Jo Johnson’s speech to Universities UK, in which he talked about “incentives” for quality teaching, and said that they will be published in a Green Paper in the autumn. This...

Imagining the Future

Over 200 people attended this year’s Ideas for Freedom event, hosted by Workers’ Liberty in central London. This year, the theme of the event was “Imagining the Future”. Discussions and workshops looked at different visions of the future — socialist visions of an egalitarian, democratic future, and what versions of any future capitalism might have in store. The weekend kicked off with a walking tour around east London, looking at the places where Sylvia Pankhurst and her comrades in the East London Federation of Suffragettes lived and fought. The tour was led by Jade Baker and Jill Mountford...

An opportunity for Iranian imperialism

Iran has reached a deal with the big capitalist powers, the terms of which it will mean limits on Iranian nuclear production in return for the lifting of international economic sanctions. Morad Shirin of the Iranian Revolutionary Marxist Tendency spoke to Solidarity just before the deal was struck. The Iranian regime is in a very tight spot economically. The sanctions that came in in 2012 have significantly reduced its exports. They have also been locked out of the SWIFT banking system, which means that they cannot recoup money from sales. They have been diplomatically isolated since Chavez’s...

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