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Economy in crisis
Profits, crisis and credit crunch: can 1929 happen again?
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By Dan Morley
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Friday, 27 March 2009 |
 In one sense we welcome the TUC’s new pamphlet Does Work Work for you? A Young Worker’s Guide to their Rights and Trade Union Membership. A key factor in favour of capitalists over workers is the fact that each new generation of workers often has the relearn the lessons of its ancestors, and as such each new worker generally enters the work place feeling isolated and overwhelmed. The employer can get away with a great deal that has already been made illegal as a result of previous worker’s struggles, without many workers realising. Therefore this pamphlet could be very useful, in that it explains the rights of workers in areas such as the minimum wage, working hours and breaks and agency work.
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By Séamus Loughlin
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Friday, 27 March 2009 |
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This is how the Irish Times summed up the forthcoming negotiations between ICTU (The Irish Confederation of Trade Unions), the Government and Ibec (the employers). The talks follow an invitation from the Taoiseach Brian Cowen to the ICTU leaders, who have deferred the strike action planned for Monday 30th pending the outcome of the negotiating. The decision to call off the action reflects the fact that the trade union leaders have been very keen to pull off a deal, and are confident that they have a big mandate from the members.
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By Mick Brooks
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Thursday, 26 March 2009 |
 Under capitalism there is a steady unremitting pressure on workers’ living standards from the capitalist class, particularly as they compete with one another, and with bosses all around the world, to cut costs - especially labour costs. This need for employers to attack the wages and conditions of European workers has been intensified by the onset of crisis. There are huge discrepancies between national rates of pay within the European Union. Naturally bosses would like to exploit these differences. And the European Court of Justice is trying hard to help them.
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By Greg Oxley
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Thursday, 26 March 2009 |
 Speaking on the 1871 Paris Commune at the IMT
Winter School in Berlin, Greg Oxley explained:
"The history of the Paris Commune is not just
history, but it is our history. It is really the
beginning of the concsious struggle for
socialism. The Paris Commune was the first time
the working class rose up, took power, held on to
power for ten weeks before it was brutally
crushed in the last week of May 1871."
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By Mick Brooks
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Wednesday, 25 March 2009 |
 In Pennsylvania last month judge Mark Ciavarella, and the judge of the juvenile court Michael Conahan, pleaded guilty to having accepted $2.6m (£1.8m) from the co-owner and builder of a private prison where children aged from 10 to 17 were locked up.The cases of up to 2,000 children put into custody by Ciavarella and Conahan over the past seven years are now being reviewed in a scandal called "kids for cash".
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By Alex Grant
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Wednesday, 25 March 2009 |
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![[Audio] Trotsky's Writings of the 1930's](http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/trotsky-color-thumb.jpg "[Audio] Trotsky's Writings of the 1930's") At a recent meeting of the International Marxist Tendency in Canada, Alex Grant, editor of Fightback
magazine, speaks on the writings of Trotsky in the 1930's. This period,
encompassing the Great Depression and mass revolutionary movements, is
a goldmine of ideas for today's youth and working class activists.
Grant gives an overview of the flavour of Trotsky's writings of the
period in order to encourage further reading and study.
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By Will Roche
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Wednesday, 25 March 2009 |
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 Britain’s commercial television industry is in crisis. Channel 4 has announced plans to cut 150 jobs next year (from a total workforce of 1,000), and has reduced its programme budget by £25m, after already cutting £15m from last year’s budget. Britain’s newest Channel, Five, has announced 87 job cuts (nearly a third of its workforce). But one of the bleakest stories is that of Britain’s oldest commercial broadcaster, ITV. They have forecast the recent wave of job cuts to reach the 1,000 mark by the middle of this year, along with a £65m cut in their £1billion programming budget, putting an end to many popular programmes, including high-end costume dramas.
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By A Unite member
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Wednesday, 25 March 2009 |
 The result of the election for General Secretary in the Amicus section of Unite the union vindicates the challenge that was mounted by Jerry Hicks against the attempt of Simpson to cling onto office without election. Although Simpson won with a vote of 60,048 Jerry Hicks was well placed in second position, polling 39,307 and easily beating the right wingers Kevin Coyne, who only gained 30,603 votes and Paul Reuter who came fourth with 28,283.
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By Ewan Gibbs
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Tuesday, 24 March 2009 |
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 March 23rd saw the BNP once again make another ugly appearance on the streets of Glasgow, the second time they have done so in three days. On this occasion they could only muster two supporters, seemingly their hardcore in the west of Scotland. As usual this pair carried out their Laurel and Hardy style act with the big intimidating one, complete with scary red bobble hat, remaining silent as the smaller overly confident character spewed out a range of contradictory positions and bigoted lies.
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By Seamus Loughlin
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Tuesday, 24 March 2009 |
 After seven weeks of occupation UNITE, the union representing the Waterford Crystal workers, has done a deal with KPS, the American company that has bought out part of the company’s assets. The decision is a bitter blow to the workers, many of whom feel that the company was holding a gun to their heads - the issue being the threat to withdraw €10 million of pension payments.
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By Phil Mitchinson in 2004
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Tuesday, 24 March 2009 |
 An essential lesson to draw from the miners' strike is the vital role of leadership. The miners' leaders stood head and shoulders above the majority of British trade union leaders at this time. Arthur Scargill in particular demonstrated an unbending will to struggle in the face of the most appalling personal abuse and character assassination. In this sense the leaders of the union were a source of inspiration for the miners in the areas. At the same time these leaders were inspired by the courage and determination of the rank and file miners, of their wives and their communities. Unfortunately courage alone is not enough to win such titanic battles.
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By Josh Holroyd, ULU Marxist Society President
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Monday, 23 March 2009 |
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 At 6pm, on the 12th of March the Marxist society of the University of London Union met for a discussion on ‘Marxism and Darwinism’. The topic of this meeting was chosen in order to coincide with the recent exhibitions and publicity surrounding the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s masterwork, ‘Origin of the Species’ in November this year, and John Pickard, author of “150th anniversary of publication of Origin of the Species” led off for the first time (at a political meeting) for 15 years before a meeting of about fifteen people, comprising students, Socialist Appeal supporters and other interested people. Includes audio of the meeting.
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By Socialist Appeal
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Friday, 20 March 2009 |
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Further to our previous article the government has been defeated on their own attempt to stop a clear Labour Party manifesto commitment from gaining the force of law. On Friday 13th March a private member’s Bill moved by Lindsey Hoyle gained a second reading after being passed by 85 votes to 17. This is a small but significant victory, won against government skulduggery.
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By Stephen Jay Gould in 1976
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Friday, 20 March 2009 |
 This interesting article by Stephen Jay Gould was originally written for Natural History in October 1976.
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By Phil Mitchinison in 2004
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Friday, 20 March 2009 |
 Twenty-five years ago on March 5, 1984 the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) embarked upon the most important class struggle in Britain since the general strike of 1926. A ferocious battle ensued. Billions of pounds were spent by the ruling class to crush the miners’ militancy. More than ten thousand miners were arrested; two were killed on the picket lines and countless others injured. Decades of so-called consensus were obliterated and the real and ugly face of British capitalism was exposed for all to see.
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