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The big
corporations in North America, Western Europe and Japan are moving more
of their factories abroad in search of lower wages. But in the process
they are tying the interests of the international working class closer together. In North America Ford workers prepare to weather a new round
of closures and layoffs, while their bosses have unveiled
plans for new plants in China, a country with the world’s fastest
growing car market along with rock-bottom wages. Meanwhile, Russian
Ford workers have won an important victory not only against the company
but against the new, repressive Russian Labor Code.
The construction industry consists of roughly 1.2 million workers at
present, a massive boost for the capitalists and the UK economy. Just
think how much can be made once all the new office blocks and
'affordable' housing, and not forgetting the Olympic Games, are built.
Any chance of the workers who build these new structures getting a
slice of the cake? You are more likely to be sacked or even killed on a
building site in Britain today.
"The London police on strike. After that,
anything can happen", said Sylvia Pankhurst in 1918. The ground is certainly shifting in Britain. There has
been a continual build up of public anger at the government's attempt to impose
a 2% limit on public sector pay. The Police are getting a paltry 1.9% rise, in effect a pay cut.
They were furious and making all kinds of threats against the Home Secretary
Jacqui Smith and Gordon Brown.
Gordon Brown and Chancellor Darling are trying to cut public sector pay and impose three year pay deals, despite the price of basic goods rising. In effect the deals the are trying to impose are pay cuts. Why? 
Once again
New Labour are aping the Tories. Jack Straw has rushed through rules making strike action
by the Prison Officers illegal, reintroducing rules brought in by the Conservative government in 1994. We need to defend the
rights of the POA and the principles of free trade unionism
Last year’s conference of the
National Union of Teacher’s voted to ballot members of the union to vote in
favour of setting up a political fund. This successful vote was a significant
advance for the largest and traditionally more militant of the teacher trade
unions.
Thousands of Revenue and Customs workers are to start voting on
whether to stage a one-day strike and a ban on overtime in protest at job cuts
and office closures.
We publish a response from the GMB to an article in the Guardian that implied multinational banana companies in Latin America supported the principle of free collective bargaining. It exposes the collaboration between union tops and companies such as Del Monte, who have carried out a campaign of intimidation against organised workers. The dominance of British supermarkets in the area is identified as a key element in this campaign.
Ian Aylet of the Socialist Appeal talked recently to Fire Brigades Union General Secretary Matt Wrack on the challenges facing the FBU at the present time, including the recent tragedy at Warwickshire where 4 Firemen were killed. As well as the ongoing fight against government cut-backs, Matt also spoke about his recent attendance at the Hands off Venezuela conference and the unions ongoing solidarity work with the Venezuelan revolution.
The two month strike by staff across Glasgow day care centres
ended on December 6th with a slim majority vote of 11 in favour of a return to
work. Unison leaders are being heavily criticised by the strikers, many
of whom feel they were 'bounced' into accepting the union's advice to call off
the action.
At the same time they claim union leaders did not tell them of developments.
Seventy-seven workers were killed in the year 2006-7, with thousands more injured, some seriously. The ragged trousered philanthropist is alive and well in 2007. If you are a building worker and have not read this book by Robert Tressell, then you must. You will find the story is re-lived on many of today's UK building sites.
