Solidarity 3/47, 4 March 2004

UN, Butler, Gun: Blair sinks deeper - Rally the unions! See him off!

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"The Labour Representation Committee is a major initiative to take the Labour Party back to its grass roots in the Constituency Labour Parties and the trade unions, to re-establish democratic control of the Party by its rank and file."
John McDonnell MP

Bugging the UN. Whitewashing the dodgy dossiers used to justify the Iraq war by non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction. And pressing on regardless with privatisation, top-up fees, foundation hospitals, and his whole profit-first programme.

Help us raise £30,000

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Solidarity is virtually alone in putting the case for working-class political independence. We call for independent working-class representation, untainted by 'dirty money' and links to oppressive regimes. We only have our supporters to rely on.

University lecturers strike for better pay

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In Manchester 400 students and lecturers marched together in support of the two-day strike on 25-26 February by the Association of University Teachers against their proposed pay deal, and against top-up fees for students in higher education. Across the country, the AUT strike had led to university departments shutting down and enthusiastic picketing by a normally non-militant group of workers.

Unions should stand up and be counted

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Katharine Gun makes no claim to be a leader or even a supporter of the labour movement. She makes no general public political statements. She was a junior employee of the government's GCHQ spy centre, so it is unlikely that she is any sort of left-winger.

But she took risks in order to make a stand for what she thought was right.

Abolish MI5!

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The Government's spying services employ 6,000 people at GCHQ alone. MI5 headquarters, on Millbank in London, and MI6 headquarters, across the river in Vauxhall, employ about 2,000 each. According to MI5's own website, the spying agencies' budget is £1 billion a year. It is a big operation.

Left, right and nationalism in Korea's trade unions

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Militant class struggle has been a feature of South Korean politics for many years. In April there are elections to the National Assembly (parliament) and some workers' candidates are standing.

This critical assessment is written by Won Youngsu, a member of the South Korean Marxist group, the Power of the Working Class. It is abridged from International Viewpoint No 356, February 2004.

Workers of the world Round-up

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  • India: 30 million strike
  • Car workers strike in Brazil
  • Repression of Chinese workers



India: 30 million strike

Thirty million workers in India went on 24-hour strike last week to protest over a Supreme Court ruling that said government employees had no right to strike because it inconvenienced citizens and cost the state money.