Solidarity 068, 3 March 2005

On 1 March CWU activists lobbied their MPs to argue the case for “Delivery Quality” in postal services. This CWU initiative marks a departure from previous union policy on “commercial freedom”. A CWU document sent to all MPs calls for additional investment to secure the future of the Post Office in the public sector. The document rejects the liberal competitive model for the postal sector, arguing that customer service will suffer. The CWU is opposing the acceleration of liberalisation brought on by the Government implementing European legislation a year early.

By Joan Trevor French comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala is in the headlines and has had to cut short his latest tour because of remarks he made about the recent Holocaust memorials. The ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz he called “remembrance pornography”. What he means by that is not that many of the politicians lining up to pay their respects — Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair — are hypocritical racists happy to cry crocodile tears over something bad because it happened a long time ago. What he means is what he always means when he talks about Jews and the...

By Rhodri Evans According to Time magazine of 28 February 2005, negotiations have opened between the US military and at least the Ba’thist strand of the Iraqi “resistance”. In an analogy they may now regret, Ba’thist resistance leaders told Time that they were talking about a “fight and negotiate” tactic like Sinn Fein/ IRA’s in Ireland. The big victory of the Shia alliance in the 30 January election may have pushed them into considering a “political” turn, just as the obduracy of the Northern Ireland Protestants pushed the IRA into politics. The Ba’thists told Time that they would accept a...

The United Campaign for the Repeal of the Anti-Union laws held a lobby of the House of Commons on 28 February. Representatives from TGWU, RMT and CWU called on Labour to include improvements in trade union rights in the Labour manifesto. They also pledged to keep fighting on the issue of repeal of the anti-union laws after the election. Barry Camfield from the TGWU called for pan-union support to put this issue higher up the political agenda, including using political fund money for this task. The meeting was hosted by John McDonnell, chair of the Labour Representation Committee.

Only 27% of adults think that their vote gives them a say in how the country is run, but 67% insist that they want to have a say. About eight in 10 say that they are “interested in politics” one way or another, and on average questionnaires about interest in politics show no decline since the 1970s, but only 52% say that they are certain to vote in the coming General Election. Young people are more likely to have been politically active — twice as likely to have taken part in a demonstration, picket, or march as older people — but much less likely to vote. The root cause of these paradoxes is...

By a london college lecturer Lecturers at 47 of England’s 280 Further Education colleges came out on strike on 25 February over the non-implementation of a national pay deal agreed in 2004. Although the strike was an important step forward in the campaign, the leadership of the lecturers’ union, NATFHE, seem to have little will to lead a serious fight. The present situation is the result of the 2004 deal. Although there are good aspects to the deal, particularly the shortening of the pay scale so that lecturers reach the top of it more quickly, it was a long way short of meeting the long...

By Roy Havers The Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill, part of Charles Clarke’s latest tranche of dubious “public order” legislation, has attracted much negative attention for the ambiguity of its provisions concerning “incitement to religious hatred”. Protestors contend that the proposed legislation is so badly worded that it could effectively outlaw reasonable criticism of religious beliefs. However, this is not the only area of concern in the Bill. Overall, this Bill is a shambles. Another dose of potentially dangerous ambiguity comes in Section 121 (crime Bills are getting longer!)...

By Lily Kitching The London Fire Brigades Union has called a demonstration on Thursday 17 March to protest about fire service cuts in London. Ten areas in central London could see fire crews cut as part of a package of measures first announced last year. The cuts include the closure of Manchester Square station, which is near Oxford Street — i.e. one of the busiest areas of central London. A number of neighbouring fire stations also face cuts — Westminster, Kensington, Knightsbridge, Euston will all lose a fire engine. Watch strengths will be reduced at 32 stations which currently have two...

One step forward New Labour is trumpeting the raising of the minimum wage above five pounds an hour for the first time. “Over 1.5 million working people are better off” they say, and the unions are reportedly pleased as punch. Splendid — but we seem to remember this was a union demand as far back as 1997. And the Minimum Wage still falls far short of what the TUC estimates people need to live on. So why are the TUC so happy? They are like a dog that wags it’s tail when it gets kicked because at least its master/mistress is paying it some attention. New Labour say they can’t rush things — but...