Workers' Liberty

By Sofie Buckland

Sunday 1 July saw the introduction of the controversial “smoking ban”, outlawing smoking in “enclosed public spaces” (train station platforms as well as buildings, for example) and workplaces. As a smoker it’s a little irritating to no longer be able to enjoy a smoke with a pint, but there’s little justification socialists can give for not supporting a ban — passive smoking is really quite obviously harmful, whatever the tobacco company sponsored research might say, and workers shouldn’t be subject to it on the job.

Over the summer anti-sweatshop group No Sweat will be running a campaign highlighting the highly exploitative conditions for workers at Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, particularly their anti-union record. On Saturday 18 August there will be a national day of action — get in touch with admin@nosweat.org.uk for details of how to get involved. Here, Harriet Parker gives some background.

Cathy Nugent continues a series on the life and times of Tom Mann

Parables For Socialists 8

Isn’t it the Hans Christian Andersen story of the ugly duckling, the despised little duck among other ducks who turned out to be a swan — but here in reverse, and with an unhappy ending? This duck swanked around like a swan but he was a swan only in his own mind.

Poor Conrad Black, the runty little multi-millionaire, thought he was a billionaire.

Sacha Ismail and Chris Marks report on the anti-boycott meeting called by ‘Engage’, 11 July 2007

Something like 250 or 300 people attended the meeting on opposing boycotts of Israel called by the Engage campaign on 11 July. The main room in which the plenary sessions were held was packed — despite the £5 entrance fee.

By Martin Thomas

For the first time since the US/UK invasion of Iraq in 2003, US withdrawal from the country looks like a short-term prospect.

On 12 July the US House of Representatives voted to set a deadline of April 2008 for the withdrawal of almost all American troops from Iraq. The next day two senior Republican Senators, John Warner and Richard Lugar, tabled a bill that would reduce the role of American forces in Iraq to the protection of Iraq’s borders and of American bases.

In 1977 postal workers struck over pay, conditions and mechanisation. Solidarity’s forerunner, Socialist Organiser, printed these articles about the lessons of the previous dispute in 1971.

How the job was changed

Darren Bedford comments on the recent NAACP demonstration in Detroit, USA

A recent NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) demonstration has breathed new life into a perpetual debate surrounding offensive language in hip-hop music. It’s a debate that, for socialists, touches on issues of state censorship, racism, homophobia, misogyny, the link between politics and art and of course the power of language itself.

Ed Maltby reviews the War on Democracy

John Pilger has created a film which is informative, shocking and timely.

By David Broder

"Shutting down free discussion in order to allow carefully stage-managed “debates” where all of the contributors from the floor simply parrot the line of the top-table “expert” speaker..."

No support for Fatah

THE recent article by Sean Matgamna on the AWL website, “The only way to be for the Palestinians, or the Israelis, is to be for two states”, and the editorial in Solidarity 3/114, “Hamas victory is a tragedy for Palestine”, were right to reject the left’s predictable rallying behind the clerical fascist Hamas band in the aftermath of its war against Fatah. However, in both cases the comrades were too ready to give credit to bourgeois political forces which might defeat Hamas, rather than positing an independent working-class perspective uniting workers against the conflict being waged by the chauvinists on all sides.

Former AWL member and long-standing sympathiser, Roy Webb, has died following a short illness.Roy had lived with multiple sclerosis and had been very seriously disabled by the condition for many years. But he never allowed the physical problems MS caused him to stop his campaigning activity.

By Gerry Bates

Shortly after his “election” as Labour leader, Gordon Brown announced a consultation on reform of the Labour Party’s structure, entitled Extending and Renewing Party Democracy. As we have come to expect from the Blairites, this Orwellian title represents the exact opposite of what the document actually aims to do.

By Mark Osborn

The TUC-organised festival which celebrates a key struggle in the fight for trade union rights in Britain took place over the weekend of 14-15 July in the Dorset village of Tolpuddle.

By Tom Unterrainer

The concept and practice of international solidarity, one of the cornerstones of socialism, is under attack from within the ranks of the labour movement. This disease is particularly visible in the context of Middle East politics.

Rosalind Robson reviews La Vie en Rose

Edith Piaf’s “rags-to-riches” life story is familiar to many. The urchin who sung for centimes on the streets of Paris after the First World War. The girl who was in the power of a pimp when, by chance, she met an impresario who put her on the stage. The woman who became France’s most popular singer… ever.

Steve Cohen’s series on great socialist novels continues with “Living” by Henry Green

Living was written in 1929. Christopher Isherwood described it as “the best proletarian novel ever written”. Typically Green – honest, ironic, deprecating – is reported to have replied “the workers in my factory thought it rotten. It was my very good friend Christopher Isherwood used that phrase … and I don’t know that he ever worked in a factory.”

By Robin Sivapalan

Dutch company TNT are shamelessly capitalising on the strike action to step up their plans to expand operations into the ‘last-mile’ section of the postal service. The outcome of TNT’s mercenary manoeuvring, whose success would signal another significant break-up of Royal Mail, will depend on the action or inaction on the part of Brown’s new government and the union movement.

By a tube worker

As we go to press it appears that Metronet, the London Underground “Infraco” is going into administration. The Public Private Partnership Arbiter has indicated that he will not agree to the company’s demand that London Underground pay for its incompetence, and LUL will “only” have to pay Metronet an additional £121 million rather than the £551 million it had asked for. That’s not a one-off, that’s the four-weekly Infrastructure Service Charge.

Bakerloo strike over lone working

Following a 94.5% yes vote to take strike action, drivers and detrainment workers on the Bakerloo line will be out this Friday to force management to withdraw their plans for ‘lone-working’.

The T&G has joined the growing number of unions voting to support a boycott of Israel in some form. The Biennial Delegate Conference voted on 4 July to “support a boycott of Israeli products and goods” — in very strange circumstances.

By a conference delegate

Members of the TGWU gathered in Brighton at the beginning of July for the last ever T&G Biennial Delegates’ Conference.

The first day of the conference started with an opening address from newly elected chair Brenda Sanders. This is the first time in the history of the T&G that there has been a woman chair.

Download the pages, as pdfs, here (click on "read more", or read it on this website by clicking here.

9/11: conspiracy cannot be dismissed

John Moeller, in his article ‘The “nine eleven truth” movement’ (Solidarity 3/110) makes a number of good points. But he fails to recognise that because some proponents of a theory are crackpots one must not dismiss what others, with some evidence to support them, are saying.

The main problem with Dan Randall's article (Questions and answers on Iraq) (Solidarity 3/144) is methodological.

By Sacha Ismail

GORDON Brown’s comment about wanting a “government of all the talents” was originally interpreted as signalling reconciliation with the “Blairite” faction within the Labour leadership. Since coming to office as Prime Minister, however, he has gone much further, offering positions to a wide-variety of right-wing, non-Labour figures in what looks like an attempt to construct a government of “national unity” (read: capitalist unity).