Workers' Liberty

As the banker James Pierpoint Morgan said, everybody has two reasons for things they do: the good reason, and the real reason.

A delegation from Workers' Liberty and Solidarity attended the annual fete of the French Trotskyist organisation Lutte Ouvriere on 26-28 May.

Here I am at TUC Women's Conference in Scarborough. Today, I moved RMT's emergency resolution on abortion rights. Here's my speech, plus a report on the debate that followed.

(Pic: The RMT delegation pose in front of the Conference banner in defence of abortion rights)

By Jim Denham

The Morning Star is the daily publication of the British Stalinist “left”. Prior to the collapse of the USSR and the Stalinist empire in 1989/90, it was subsidised by “Moscow gold”. Since then it's been subsidised by the dues of rank-and-file union members, most of whom are completely unaware that their hard-earned wages are being used to finance the last gasp of Stalinism in Britain.

BY SOFIE BUCKLAND, NUS NEC (PERSONAL CAPACITY)

At this year's NUS conference, despite the left's invocation of the militant student struggles in France, the right-wing of the union succeeded in overturning NUS's policy on education funding and introduced a policy in favour of means-tested grants.

More information on the European Network for Public Services which came out of the European Social Forum in Athens click here

Dear friends from the European Network for Public Services,

This message is sent to all people registered on the list we made during the last saturday session.
The RAS (an activist Host ) is ready to contribute by hosting our collective tool . We propose to name our mailing list "athens-sp@ras.eu.org".

this proposal is going to Northern region of unison from Newcastle City Branch delegates to Esf from Northern Region

Ed

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM 2006

Public services were a major theme at the 4th ESF held in Athens, between

A group of AWL members are attended the 4th European Social Forum here in Athens.

This 4th ESF is smaller than its predecessors with approx 10,000 people registered (50,000 was the figure given for the first ESF in florence in 2006)

The fourth European Social Forum (ESF) will take place in Athens on 6-9 April 2006. The ESF has come a long way since the first, chaotic event in Florence in 2002, and the Athens event will be big, vibrant and inspiring. Vicki Morris asks what more we should be getting out of the ESF

About 200 organisers from across Europe met in Paris on 24-25 June, on the initiative of Expaces Marx (close to the French Communist Party) and the Fondation Copernic (Socialist Party people who voted “no” to the Euro-constitution). The French CP called for a cross-Europe petition “to have the ‘no’ vote respected” and the French LCR backed it; ATTAC announced its “ABC” plan for a “democratic refoundation of Europe”. The same day, 700 activists met in Nanterre (near Paris) for a national gathering of the 900 “collectives for a left-wing no” set up before the 29 May referendum.

Lorry driver trade unionists from across Europe, who held a conference in Eastbourne on 6 May, had a steering group meeting in Malmö, Sweden, in early June.

By Vicki Morris

Mayday in Europe, in addition to the traditional marches, witnessed a number of “Euromayday” events. The organisers are more or less anarchistic activists involved in struggles of the unemployed and insecurely employed and are generally scornful of the “organised” labour movement.

Truck drivers from across Europe have agreed to work towards more European-wide trade union co-operation to tackle problems on social dumping, security and health as well as organising in pan-European companies. At a conference attended by over eighty delegates from nine EU conference at the T&G Centre in Eastbourne, delegates highlighted action on these points as well as individual country concerns.

A recent opinion poll shows around 55% of people who have made up their minds plan to vote "no" in the French referendum on the European constitution on 29 May. 28% of voters are undecided.

By Rachael Webb

At the end of February representatives from international road transport workers’ unions met to fight an international low wage threat. The meeting included people from Belgium, Germany, Poland, Denmark, UK and Ireland, Sweden, Latvia and Lithuania.

Management of the Norwegian multinational Jotun in Turkey have sacked all 50 members of Petrol-Is union in an attempt to smash the organisation.

On Saturday 2 October, more than two hundred fifty thousand people marched through Amsterdam against plans of the Dutch government to slash social services and pension rights, as well as its support for the US in Iraq.

How did the European left fare in the June elections? Martin Thomas reports

The results

Two point six per cent in France, 5.8% in Italy, 8.1% in Denmark, 7% in the Netherlands, 5.2% in Scotland, 4.9% in Portugal... I do not know of any significant radical-left electoral efforts in the new EU member states of Eastern Europe, but in some west European states, at least, there were some scores for the radical left in June's Euro-elections better than those which parties to the left of the Communist and Socialist parties got in the 1970s.

Two point six per cent in France, 5.8% in Italy, 8.1% in Denmark, 7% in the Netherlands, 5.2% in Scotland, 4.9% in Portugal… I do not know of any significant radical-left electoral efforts in the new EU member states of Eastern Europe, but in some west European states, at least, there were some scores for the radical left in June's Euro-elections better than those which parties to the left of the Communist and Socialist parties got in the 1970s.

Revolutionary socialists take as their fundamental stand "intransigent opposition" to the entire capitalist system in which we live. But sometimes capitalist governments do things which help us, or are at least lesser evils.

By Pablo Velasco

• Bolivian general strike

• Muchtar Pakpahan to stand in Indonesian elections
• Good news from Greece

Bolivian general strike

Bolivia is on the verge of a third uprising in the space of a year - with trade unions calling for an indefinite general strike this month.

By Pablo Velasco

• Israel: attacks on unions

• Korean unions defend migrant workers
• Salonika seven free, for now

Israel: attacks on unions

The Israeli government is preparing to dock the wages of workers taking industrial action, and introduce anti-union laws.

By Joan Trevor

The European Anti-Capitalist Left (EACL) has had six meetings coinciding with EU summits. The first was in Lisbon in March 2000, the most recent in Athens in June 2003. The next is planned for November.

By Sacha Ismail

The first European Education Forum took place in Berlin on 18-20 September. The event, initiated and largely organised by the German-based Education is Not for Sale Network, was generally agreed to be a great success.

Five hundred people attended: mostly students, but some educational and other trade unionists (the first thing you saw on entering the conference centre was Hackney NUT's Blair Peach banner); about half were German, but there were significant numbers from other European countries. Fewer than a dozen Brits showed up. They included two right-wing NUS hacks who had been attending a European NUS meeting, and stayed for a day before running off in terror.

By Akis Gavriilidis

In Greece we have had enormous protests against the war. The day of the attack and the next one we had massive demonstrations in all big cities - and in several smaller ones - of the country. These were the biggest for years - in some towns, they couldn't even remember when
they last had a popular demonstration.

Akis Gavriilidis sends this report

In Greece we have had enormous protests against the war. The day of the attack and the next one we had massive demonstrations in all big cities - and in several smaller ones - of the country. These were the biggest for years - in some towns, they couldn't even remember when they last had a popular demonstration.

Millions of workers stopped work at midday Friday 14 March in protest against a possible attack on Iraq, following a call from the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). The ETUC called for trade unionists to demonstrate their disagreement by halting work for 15 minutes at noon.

In Germany, where polls show an overwhelming majority of people opposing a war, the strikes briefly halted vehicle production at three Volkswagen factories and a DaimlerChrysler plant. Trams ground to a halt in the eastern city of Halle. Unions said more than 150,000 workers took brief strike action.