Solidarity 035, 14 August 2003

The 1983 Heresy Hunt: 4

This is article four in the four part series as originally published in 2003. For an edited version of all four articles click here Heresy Hunted 1 Heresy Hunted 2 Heresy Hunted 3 Heresy Hunted 4 Sean Matgamna here concludes his article exploring the early 80s' campaign of vilification of Socialist Organiser, forerunner of Workers' Liberty and Solidarity, by the Workers' Revolutionary Party (WRP). The article is a response to the criticism WL has received from the SWP and other parts of the left for refusing to regard Labour MP George Galloway as a respectworthy member of the labour movement...

TUC LGBT Conference: Debating partnership rights

By Karina Knight Over 200 delegates attended the TUC Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Conference at Congress House on 24th-25th July, the biggest so far in the short history of the section. Policy discussed included LGBT asylum seekers, pension rights, partnership rights, employment rights and supporting LGBT students in schools. Motions submitted, whilst all worthy of support, were fairly bland. Speaker after speaker spoke to the motions with leftists and liberals able to support them from a completely different political standpoint. Bizarrely, the only debate to cause any dissent...

Unions must break with Blair

Whatever the detailed results of the enquiry into the death of David Kelly, most people in Britain are sure about one thing: the government lied to us about its reasons for going to war with Iraq. Who said what and when about the "45 minute" claim-that Saddam could launch weapons of mass destruction with three quarters of an hour's notice-is less important than the simple truth that Blair said that he could, and that he quite patently could not. Labour, and Blair personally, are very low in the opinion polls right now, trailing behind the Tories. The reason for that is public mistrust. The...

Yarls Wood: the government is guilty

By Dale Street At the time of going to press the jury in the Yarls Wood trial had still to deliver its verdict on the five defendants accused of violent disorder and arson. Yarls Wood detention centre was opened in late 2001. It was for "end of the road" cases-asylum-seekers who had exhausted the asylum procedure and whose removal from the UK was pending. In February 2002 half of the detention centre was burnt down. When the Yarls Wood trial opened at the end of April this year there were 10 defendants. Two of them pleaded guilty to lesser charges. In the course of the trial charges against...

Support Iranian workers and students

By Sacha Ismail As the US and Iranian governments wage a war of words, the struggle for democracy in Iran is continuing despite enormous repression. In June, vigilantes linked to the right wing of the regime attacked the non-violent student demonstrations against university privatisation and for democracy which were sweeping Iran, charging the students on motorcycles and assaulting them with batons, chains and knives. Reluctant to punish its own thugs, the Iranian government instead arrested more than 4,000 students and others connected to the demonstrations. A new round of protests set for...

A solution for Liberia?

By Matt Cooper The international pressure that led to the departure of President Charles Taylor and the arrival of a small West African peace-keeping force, with limited US support, has led some sections of the left to denounce an "imperialist intervention". Yet what other immediate hope of relief from dreadful suffering do the people of Liberia have. Indeed these efforts to inject some stability into the region could be criticised on the grounds of being too late and too half-hearted. Maybe 250,000 people have died in the civil wars that have racked Liberia since 1989 - one in 14 of the...

Workers of the World: ROUND-UP

People's United Opposition Party launched in Indonesia Guatemalaen maquila workers' victory Victory in the Hyundai strike Sri Lankan trade unionists under attack Yao Fuxin and Xio Yunliang moved to labour camp Brazil pension reform sparks workers protest People's United Opposition Party launched in Indonesia The left in Indonesia has launched a new political party, in preparation for the 2004 election. At the end of July around 300 representatives from more than 50 organisations founded the People's United Opposition Party (Partai Persatuan Oposisi Rakyat, or Popor). Dita Sari was elected the...

Union of the Unemployed fights for workers in Iraq

By Pablo Velasco The Unemployed Union of Iraq (UUI) has organised a series of dramatic protests in the last week, and is already making gains. The union has so far organised more than 100,000 unemployed men and women in the cities of Baghdad, Mosul, Nasiriyah, Kirkuk, and elsewhere, and has organised demonstrations across the country. In Baghdad the Unemployed Union began a sit-in on 28 July in front of the US civil administration headquarters, demanding $100 US dollars (£65) a month unemployment benefit for every unemployed worker. US officials responded by arresting Qasim Hadi, the Secretary...

No Sweat events

Nike London "fun run" Robert Newman No Sweat at the Edinburgh festival No Sweat training day Nike London "fun run" Nike is hosting their annual 10 km charity-PR "fun run" in London's Richmond Park on Sunday 7 September. Meet No Sweat and GMB London activists to protest against Nike's dreadful labour record from 10.30 at Barnes rail station (trains from Waterloo) No Sweat protest site: www.runlondon.info Robert Newman Robert Newman will be reading from his coming novel The Fountain at the Centre of the World (set in Mexico) at the next No Sweat London meeting. Wednesday 20 August, from 7pm, at...

Mexican workers fight Levi's

By the Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador (CAT - workers' centre) On 19 July workers at Tarrant Mexico-Ajalpan held a constituent assembly to form an independent union (SUITTAR, or Sindicato Único Independiente de Trabajadores de la Empresa Tarrant México). Seven hundred of the thousand-strong workforce have joined the union. SUITTAR applied for formal registration for the new independent union. It is common that registrations for independent unions are denied because of the anti-union policies in Mexico. The most extreme violation of the workers' campaign so far has been the dismissal of seven...

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