Solidarity 096, 13 July 2006

The return of the Taliban

by Cathy Nugent On 10 July the government announced a further 850 troops for Afghanistan, bringing the UK total to around 4,500. UK troops have been increased gradually since the beginning of the year, as part of an plan which will see all troops, including US troops, under the control of NATO. The US were planning to withdraw some of their troops from Afghanistan before November’s Congressional elections. A “final offensive” on Taliban-controlled areas was to take place first. Operation Mountain Thrust has gone ahead, involving US, UK, Canadian and Afghan troops in northern Helmand and...

Reversing “tax liberation”

On our front page we report the huge sums pocketed by the rich through tax avoidance, tax evasion, tax fraud — and the straightforward continuation of the tax cuts for the well-off introduced by the Tories in the 1980s. All new value is produced by labour. Some of it is recouped by the working class directly, in wages, or indirectly, in the “social wage”. The rest goes into the pockets of the rich. Every modern state pays lip service to the idea that the tax system should at least soften the squeeze on the poor. In Britain, since the Thatcher government’s tax changes of the 1980s, continued by...

Vote no! Demand an emergency conference!

By Pete Radcliff, Derby University UCU Secretary (personal capacity) July 17 will see the close of the University and College Union's ballot on its recent higher education pay deal - the deal for which the March-June industrial was suspended, despite only a 0.01% increase on a previously rejected deal. Although a significant “no” vote is expected, many lecturers may refuse to vote or vote “yes” because of the deliberate refusal of the leadership to offer a lack of strategy for continuing the dispute. This makes it essential that socialists and rank-and-file militants in UCU combine their...

BBC workers ballot for mass strike

Ten thousand NUJ, BECTU and Musicians' Union members in the BBC are due to be balloted on strike action over the Corporation's plans for pay, pensions and job cuts. The corporation's management has refused to give in to union pressure to increase its 2.6% pay rise offer (as against a 3% inflation rate), or change its plans to increase the retirement age from 60 to 65. It also plans to force workers to contribute more to the pension fund and to stop offering a final-salary pension scheme to new staff. Meanwhile, over 1,000 workers have already been made redundant, with plans to lay off a...

Time for action against Network Rail

By a railworker As we go to press, the RMT has announced that it will be taking strike action against Network Rail. Action will commence with a 24-hour strike between 21 and 22 July, with a 48-hour strike the following week, between 27 and 29 July. Let’s hope that the members aren’t led back down the hill this time... The dispute is rooted in a shorter working-week deal with Network Rail, agreed some years ago. Network Rail’s latest offer tied the shorter working-week to an unsatisfactory two year pay package, RMT members voted to reject the deal. Network Rail management remains recalcitrant...

The answer to offshoring

Central London Communication Workers' Union has produced a document in response to the issue of jobs in the telecoms industry being "offshored", with the aim of promoting a debate in the CWU and broader workers' movement. Below a CWU member discusses the issue raised by the document. For the document itself, or more information, email secretary@cwucentrallondon.org.uk Remote sourcing and the threat to jobs it contains is one of the most important issues that the CWU faces in the telecoms industry. Profit hungry multinationals, like BT and others in other industries, are threatening hundreds of...

Royal mail: Strategy needed

As Solidarity went to press, the deadlocked negotiations between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers' Union over pay looked as if they would end not with the issue of ballot papers for a national strike but with a deal. What mixture of management concessions and union capitulation this will entail remains to be seen. If the strike ballot goes ahead and members vote yes, it will open a huge battle, one likely to decide not only the next pay deal but the future of the Post Office as well. CWU conference in May voted unanimously for a strike ballot. This came after Royal Mail management's...

Asda Wal-Mart strike called off after some concessions

By a GMB member The GMB called off its planned five-day strike at Asda Wal-Mart depots at the end of June, after getting an agreement on collective bargaining from the firm. Workers in Asda Wal-Mart's 20 distribution depots voted by three to one (74%) in favour of strike action for three demands: collective bargaining in all 20 depots, payment of a £300 unpaid bonus and health and safety guarantees on shifting boxes. The agreement sets up a new Distribution National Joint Council to discuss collective bargaining issues. It also gives the GMB access to all Asda Wal-Mart distribution sites. The...

Will the Labour left challenge Brown?

By Colin Foster IT is eighteen years now since the last open and direct challenge to the ever-more-right-wing leadership in the Labour Party. We have paid a very high price - in lack of overall political perspective for struggles on different issues, in demobilisation of activists, and in the growth among the general public of the idea that all politics is a waste of time — for those 18 years of deference. Now the long deference is ending. The conference, on 22 July, of the Labour Representation Committee, a significant minority in the Labour and trade union movement, is set to launch a new...

Public services not profit

Following a successful lobby of Parliament on June 27, the John McDonnell-initiated ‘Public Services Not Private Profit’ campaign looks as if it may have the potential to cohere the various trade union-orientated anti-privatisation campaigns into a single fight-back against the Blair government’s assault on the public sector. PSNPP has published a pamphlet that gives a comprehensive overview of the impact of PFI schemes, PPPs and other forms of privatisation on a wide range of public services. Containing quotes from trade union and campaign leaders, the pamphlet clearly looks to workers in the...

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