Solidarity 281, 10 April 2013

Solidarity 281

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Behind Korea's war threats

In early April North Korea declared that it was cancelling the armistice which ended the 1950s Korean war and was “in a state of war” with South Korea. It threatened to hit the USA with nuclear weapons. It has withdrawn 50,000 North Korean workers from a special industrial zone which is on the northern side of the Korean border but houses South Korean companies. No-one knows what North Korea may do further. The 86-year-old Fidel Castro has called the situation “incredible and absurd”, and urged North Korea to restraint, while also denouncing any US military action. We know something of what...

Portuguese government plans new cuts

On 5 April the Portuguese constitutional court ruled that some of the sweeping new government cuts (to holiday bonuses for civil servants and pensioners, unemployment and sickness benefits) were unlawful (5 April) were unlawful. But Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho responded by reiterating his right-wing government’s intention to make the cuts. He says cuts are obligatory under the terms of an €78 billion EU/IMF bailout deal. The court held that the tax rises which will take place under the 2013 budget are legal. The government survived a no confidence vote on Wednesday 3 April, tabled by...

Safe spaces where we work

Women transport workers have begun an effort to strengthen their union’s policy on gender violence in the workplace. Customer-facing transport workers often experience being grabbed or forcibly kissed by male passengers and, in a male-dominated industry, often feel unsupported in responding to the issues. A motion written for Rail, Maritime, and Transport workers union (RMT) bodies says: “management and the police have a tendency to minimise these incidents as drunken laddishness, failing to give appropriate support. “This culture can affect the way our women members assess what has happened...

Camden workers fight contract cuts

Local government workers in the London borough of Camden are facing an attempt by bosses to bribe them into signing new, worse, contracts. The new contracts will increase working hours, and some staff are being told they could have to work as late as 10pm, and at weekends. The new contracts also institute local bargaining, meaning workers would be outside any pay increases or improvements to conditions negotiated at a national level. Following months of negotiations, management are offering a one-off payment of £1,000 to try and bribe workers to sign. A union survey conducted in February 2013...

Civil servants continue strikes

Civil servants continued their industrial action on pay cuts, pension reform, and job losses with two half-day strikes in April. The campaign began with a national strike on 20 March. A half-day strike involving all Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) members, apart from HMRC and Home Office staff, followed on 5 April, with HMRC staff striking from 1pm on Monday 8 April. A planned 24-hour strike of Home Office workers due for the same day was postponed following a legal challenge. The campaign, which involves rolling and selective action as well as national strikes, is a departure from...

Unison officials sabotage democracy

A worker involved with the “3 Cosas” campaign spoke to Solidarity about their fight for equal rights and union democracy. “3 Cosas” (“Three Things”) is a campaign organised by outsourced workers at the University of London, mainly cleaners in halls of residence and the university’s flagship Senate House building, but also catering staff, post-room workers, and security workers. The three things we’re demanding are equal sick pay, pensions, and holiday rights with our colleagues who are employed directly by the university. We’re employed by Balfour Beatty (except catering staff, who are...

Hollywood homophobia and economic crisis

Four years ago, the stars of the successful BBC comedy series Gavin and Stacey made the mistake of starring in an abysmal comedy known as Lesbian Vampire Killers. The movie was quickly forgotten, but I was reminded of it recently when I saw the latest — and last — film by acclaimed American director Steven Soderbergh, Side Effects. Soderbergh’s film could easily have been given a similar title, even though it was not in any sense a comedy. But the theme of homicidal lesbians is central to the plot, and the film absolutely reeks of homophobia. Not everyone will have seen it that way, of course...

Has Syria's democratic revolution been hijacked?

We print US socialist Pham Binh’s criticism of the AWL’s analysis and attitude on Syria. The article originally appeared on the North Star website. As the Syrian revolution progresses, support for it abroad among Marxists recedes. [This shift to the right] parallels the evolution of petty-bourgeois Arab intellectuals such as Jadiliya who supported Syria’s peaceful demonstrators but recoiled in fear when these same demonstrators grew tired of being cut down by machine gun fire and took up arms to defend themselves. If the revolution’s unavoidable militarisation repelled these intellectuals, the...

SWP: criticise, don’t “no platform”

Solidarity has criticised the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) on its handling of allegations of sexual harassment and then of rape brought by a young woman member of the SWP against leading SWP organiser Martin Smith. The SWP leadership’s approach, over two years and more, was to steer as near as it could to bureaucratic brush-off. The case is not closed: the woman involved should have the option of an independent investigation by labour movement people unconnected with the SWP and with some legal qualifications. Some on the left have attempted to “no platform” the SWP — for example, shouting...

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