Workers' Liberty

By John O’Mahony

Jack Straw’s article three weeks ago about the wearing of the hijab has unleashed a large and very important public discussion about the relationship of Muslims to the rest of British society.

By Paddy Dollard

The story of Joe Columbo, the Mafia boss who briefly turned ethnic politician, is one of the most frightening stories I've come across. An instructive story, too.

130 MPs have signed a parliamentary “Early Day Motion” calling for a review of abortion law. This is despite a recent government review of the law. No prizes for guessing that they don’t have an “objective”, “neutral” review in mind. The EDM is sponsored by Geraldine Smith MP, a member of the All Party Parliamentary “pro-life” group which is opposed to all abortion. Indeed a large proportion of the signatories — including one George Galloway MP — are on record as being opposed to abortion.

BY martin thomas

According to the Federation of Workers’ Councils of Unions, reporting on 11 October, health workers in Kerbala (southern Iraq) have held a sit-in protest, after a strike in early October calling for wage rises.

In Nasiriya (also southern Iraq), health workers have struck four times over wages.

As many as twelve miners were gunned down by Venezuelan army troops at the end of September, after taking part in illegal gold mining activity. The incident occurred in the mining zone of La Paragua in Bolivar state.

Sixteen miners have been killed in fights over the control of Huanuni, the biggest tin mine in Bolivia.

The fight was over whether the mine would remain in state hands, or be given to a “co-operative” - essentially privatisation, as such co-ops have a strictly tiered managerial system, no effective workers’ involvement and very low wages for workers employed by the privately controlled board. Trade unions are prohibited.

By Joan Trevor

On 12 October, the French National Assembly gave a first reading to a bill that would make it a criminal offence to deny the Armenian genocide of 1915-17. The punishment could be up to one year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros. The bill passed by 106 votes to 19.

By Sacha Ismail

Bangladesh is convulsed by fierce class struggles, centred around the country’s garment industry. Many tens of thousands of workers have gone on strike, blocked roads, attacked factories and other buildings, demonstrated, fought the police and rioted in the streets. Every day comes news of fresh strikes in a variety of industries — mainly the ready-made garment (RMG) sector, but also mill workers, river transport workers, rail workers, journalists, lecturers and teachers.

On 16 September Iranian riot police attacked a gathering of carpet makers in the northern coastal city of Babolsar. They arrested around 40 and injured a number of others.

Over 500 Thai textile workers defied the military junta’s ban on public protests to demonstrate in a dispute at their factory.

By Amy Fisher

The furore over Jack Straw’s comments on the niqab has generated hundreds of column inches from liberal commentators at The Guardian. Many, including David Edgar, quite rightly rail against state bans on religious clothing and stand up for the right to wear whatever you choose. As Edgar says "if we want to have a leg to stand on when we stand up for The Satanic Verses or Behzti or Jerry Springer, we must defend to the death the right to wear it [the niqab]". However, the issue of choice is much more complicated than this.

Can a Teaching Assistant carry out her job in the classroom whilst wearing a niqab? Being prepared to take it off when no male is present does not resolve the issue. Men work in schools.

By Sofie Buckland, National Union of Students National Executive

On Sunday 29 October, NUS is holding a national demonstration in London under the slogan “Admission impossible”. This is something student activists should welcome. After last year’s decision to cancel the national demo, and the 2004 decision to move it to Cardiff with the result that no one turned up, a well-planned and publicised protest in London is a big step forward.

By Mike Fenwick

The growing numbers of local demonstrations, lobbies and meetings about the crisis in the NHS has pushed the issue to the front of the national political debate.

Whipps Cross victory

by a unison member

After a ten year struggle, involving three rounds of strike action, a significant victory has been won for contracted out workers at Whipps Cross Hospital in East London.

Cleaners in PFI schools work for private companies, as do the premises staff. However, many premises staff were TUPE’d over from the local authority when their employer changed. This means that they took their local authority wages and conditions with them.

Council workers in Coventry have stepped up their action against the imposition of a Single Status scheme which will see many workers' wages cut by up to 33%. Single Status comes in the name of equal and fair pay, but in practice penalises some of the worst-off workers.

On 7 September, Tony Blair and Education Secretary Alan Johnson visited Quinton Kynaston school in North London to announce the rolling out of their "trust schools" programme - including to QK itself.

Several thousands workers in the Identity and Passport Service took a day of strike action on 12 October over their employer's refusal to settle last year's pay claim.

by Bruce Robinson

I spent five days as a free-floating activist at Labour Party conference, leafleting delegates, taking part in protest demonstrations and attending fringe meetings. At times I felt that I was existing in two parallel universes.

From the October edition of Hackney Socialist Unity

John McDonnell’s campaign for Labour Party leader is not only a fight against the fake-labour leaders of ‘New Labour’; it is a challenge for the entire labour movement.

Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP for Barking and Dagenham who worked as Tony Blair's trade union fixer between 1999 and 2001, has officially announced his bid for Labour deputy leader and was due to hold a rally in Dagenham on the evening of 18 October to launch his campaign.

This year’s programme of events at the Women’s Library in London focuses on prostitution. But a series of events completely excludes sex workers, sex workers‚ organisations, as well as anyone speaking from a perspective that supports sex workers’ and migrants’ struggles in the UK and abroad!

This is a serious political choice that calls for socialist feminists to make visible our dissent.

by laura schwartz

On 21 October women from the student activist group Education Not for Sale have organised a conference, Feminist Fightback 06 (www.fightback.org.uk). In the course of organising that event they uncovered some hypocrisy of in parts of the feminist movement.

By Sacha Ismail

North Korea’s underground detonation of a nuclear device on 9 October, with the threat of more tests to come, should be a cause of major alarm for the labour movement and left internationally.

Jim Radford, a member of Lewisham Respect sent this letter to the Respect office on 8 October.

Darren Bedford reviews Robin Hood (Saturday BBC1)

The traditional Robin Hood story goes like this. Young Saxon nobleman returns from King Richard’s crusade full of idealism and good-will towards his fellow man. He is outraged at the injustice that Richard’s brother, John, and his henchman like the Sheriff of Nottingham are perpetrating against the downtrodden Saxon peasantry.

Harry Glass reviews The Fidel Casto Handbook by George Galloway

This is pure hagiography of the last grand Stalinist autocrats by one of his most loquacious apologists.

It is the modern equivalent of a biography of Josef Stalin by Stalinist Albanian supremo Enver Hoxha.

Paul Hampton reviews Imperialism and Resistance by John Rees

John Rees is the new pope of the SWP, establishing himself since Tony Cliff’s death as the main driver of its politics. Yet his new book is remarkably thin: light on the substance of imperialism today, poor on arguments between socialists with absolutely monstrous political conclusions.

By Dan Jakopovich

Fifty years have passed since the great uprising of the Hungarian people against the Stalinist dictatorship.