comment and analysis
Poland’s health care workers’ strike: new challenges and old problems
As a mass health-care strike enters its sixth week, all that may be achieved is the speeding-up of the privatisation process.
The Doctor’s Strike and the Nurses’ Occupation
Democratic stresses in Nepal and its regional implications
A brief look at some aspects of the political situation in Nepal today and its wider regional context.
The rapidly expanding economies of some parts of Asia have not been accompanied by a uniformly greater integration into Western structures of political administration. South Asia is experiencing a crisis of its democratic institutions; leftists, islamicists and nationalists compete with ruling powers for conquest of the state and domination of workers and peasants.
Commentaries #1: War in Iran? Why we must oppose sanctions
The first in a new series of pamphlets from the Brighton-based Aufheben collective, intended to supplement the annual magazine by responding to developing events. Published and distributed in March 2006.
Attached as a print-friendly pdf file below.
The Long March into Parliament - Nepal Maoists take their seats
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on Monday (15th) entered Parliament, 10 years after leaving it to begin their guerilla war.
The goal of stripping power from the monarchy has been achieved - as much by last year's widespread pro-democracy street protests as by their guerilla activity (see previous coverage here). The King is no longer head of state, has no political power and has been relieved of much royal property and other assets.
What remains of the anti-CPE movement? Echanges et Mouvement
A retrospective written by friends of Echanges et Mouvement. The text criticises the movement on a rather general level, e.g. of not being able to go beyond the boundaries of its student character and provides some overview of past student mobilisations in France.
Halemba mine tragedy: the high costs of greed and outsourcing
No worker should not have gone into the mine that day. But Halemba sent in some unqualified contractors. Laure Akai reports.
Previous libcom.org coverage here.
What now Norwich? Norwich Union job cuts
Comment on the latest case of call centre jobs "transferred" to India, and the trades union response to it, from Norwich Class War.
The news that fresh forced redundancies at Norwich Union by Aviva can only have come with shocked resignation to many people in Norwich this morning, as they gained the knowledge via the media that the present culture of ‘offshoring’ jobs to India continues to wreak havoc on Norwich’s work force and call centre staff across the country.
Nepal or nothing - pro-democracy protests continue
Schnews's Kathmandu correspondent kick-starts a series of in-depth articles on the current struggle against the monarchy in Nepal with an irreverant look at the movement up to now.
In Nepal the showdown between a fat power-crazed king and a huge pro-democracy movement has shut down the entire country since April 6th. The strike is absolute - no driving vehicles, no work, often no shops at all. Hospitals, commercial airlines and banks are on strike.
Safety on the railways?
Health and safety campaigners have welcomed the jailing of a rail boss, found guilty of killing four maintenance workers who died when a runaway wagon ploughed into them. Mark Connell, 44, had deliberately dismantled the brakes on two of his wagons in order to save money.
He received a nine year sentence for each of the four counts of manslaughter, to run concurrently. However the jailing of Connell, though welcome, is perhaps not quite the victory it first seems. As the construction giant Carillion plc, who subcontracted Connell to carry out the work, and as such should take some of the blame, was never prosecuted.
Behind the blockades
Visiting workers and students in France immediately following the government's withdrawal of the deeply unpopular CPE employment law, Ed Goddard looks at the potential for building a better society the struggle showed.
When analysing the state of the working class, it is up to those looking at it to observe and evaluate the tendencies working within it. By this we don’t mean, “how many people have joined the Marxist-Leninist Workers’ League?” or “how many people self-identify as anarchists?” but something a little more subtle than that.
