Third Camp Marxism

CoronaVerses: poems from the pandemic (see here) is a rapidly pulled together collection in a rapidly changing world. Collected over the course of a week after Janine Booth set up a CoronaVerses Facebook group, it was collated and released in just over a fortnight.

Tesco’s response to the pandemic has been unusually clear, and provides a firm starting point for those of us wanting to ensure greater protections on the shop floor now and better pay and conditions when this crisis starts to subside.

We’ve been given paid leave to self-isolate up to 14 days, and our vulnerable colleagues (everyone who needs a flu jab, or is pregnant, or over 65) have been given 12 weeks’ paid leave to make sure they stay safe.

Despite many years of public service cuts, privatisation (including of hospitals), outsourcing, cuts to social security, and so on, Germany still hasn’t really had full-on Thatcherism.

Remnants of the “German model” of so-called “social partnership” still exist. The number of hospital beds is much higher than in Britain, partly for that reason, and partly for another.

Trade unionists and other have called for the government to write off all households’ council-tax and benefit-overpayment debt, and to freeze rent, utility, council tax, and loan-repayment loans during the pandemic.

They also call for the suspension of all debt-collection activity. They estimate the plan would cost the government about $10 billion (see here).

African-Americans are being hit harder by Covid-19 than others in the USA.

In Chicago, African-Americans are half the Covid-19 cases and more than 70% of deaths, yet only 30% of the city.

In Milwaukee, they are 81% of Covid-19 cases and 26% of the population. In Louisiana, 70% of deaths and 33% of the population.

Almost always in epidemics, the worst-off suffer worse. They are likely to be in poorer health already; to live in more crowded housing; to have to continue to work in sometimes crowded workplaces, rather than working from home or taking time off.

The “Safe and Equal” campaign (safeandequal.org), publicly launched on 13 April is for equal rights to full self-isolation pay for all workers regardless of their employment status.

In too many workplaces, agency staff are getting short shrift and being obliged to choose between going down to £94/week statutory sick pay, or coming into work sick or potentially contagious.

Why did Bernie Sanders fail to win the Democratic nomination in 2020? Let’s start with three explanations that don’t work.

In his final message as Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn called on Labour Party members to support Momentum.

But Momentum, a Labour left network launched in late 2015 as a continuation of the grass-roots organising for Corbyn’s leadership campaign, is in flux.

On 7-8 April, almost simultaneously, the Momentum NCG officers made a statement saying Momentum “cannot continue as it has been” and (vaguely) promising more democracy in Momentum; and other Momentum people launched “Forward Momentum” to “refound” and “democratise” Momentum.

The Labour Campaign for Free Movement is asking everyone, on the Thursday 8pm “Clap for Carers”, to remember that many of them are migrants who face NHS charges and have no access to social security.

Put up a banner in your window and join us demanding universal healthcare for all and an end to “No Recourse to Public Funds”!

Howie Hawkins, a socialist, is leading in the contest for the Green Party nomination for US president. He spoke to us in November 2019.