All out at Preston Remploy
Submitted by Django on Jul 28 2012 12:52
Mark Harrison visited Remploy pickets taking part in a national strike this morning.
There used to be over 50 workers at the Remploy factory in Preston, now reduced to only 18, each of them was out on the picket line for the second day of their national strike, 100% turn outs were also reported at Heywood and Wigan.
Is SYRIZA a workers’ government in waiting?
Barry Biddulph disagrees with British Trotskyist group Workers Power and their view of the viability of a 'workers government' initiated by the Greek socialist party, SYRIZA.
The elections in Greece have solved nothing. They have only provided a brief respite from intractable economic problems. The free food queues grow longer, as living standards collapse, the generalised political and economic crisis goes on.
French and Greek voters seek a way out of austerity - Adam Ford
Submitted by Django on May 15 2012 05:57
Adam Ford discusses the recent elections in Europe.
The financial markets went into a petulant sulk today, in response to the election results in France – where incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy was defeated by his ‘centre-left’ challenger – and in Greece, where two thirds of the electorate voted for avowedly anti-austerity candidates.
Wukan peasant victory sets stage for Chinese turmoil
Submitted by Django on Jan 9 2012 19:56
Adam Ford reports on the Wukan rebellion and asks what it means for the future of social struggles in China
The villagers of Wukan in south-east China appear to have won a victory over the misnamed Communist Party regime, and prevented the sale of some communal land. This triumph is the result of direct action, direct democracy, and the community’s ability to get the word out, in spite of government censorship.
All eyes on Oakland as the struggle continues
Donagh Davis reports from Occupy Oakland on how things have developed, from the shooting of Scott Olsen, the strike, the shutting down of the port, up to the violence surrounding the occupation of a building this morning.
Since the tents were pitched just over three weeks ago, Occupy Oakland has come out of Occupy Wall Street’s shadow to assert itself as a major social movement phenomenon in its own right – as well as a major world news story. Like many other ‘Occupies’ around the country, the Oakland occupation started as an attempt to emulate the Wall Street phenomenon. Three weeks later, it is way beyond that.
15th October 2011: Birth of a global anti-capitalist movement?
Adam Ford argues that the #Occupy movement represents a historic moment in the fight against austerity.
In my opinion, it is very likely that the historians of the future will look upon yesterday as the day a truly global anti-capitalist movement was born.
Electricians occupy site in Farringdon
Submitted by Ramona on Sep 21 2011 15:06
On Wednesday 21st September at 7.30am, hundreds of electricians briefly occupied a building site in protest at attempts to cut their pay and conditions. Siobhan Breathnach wrote this account for the commune.
The conflict is because the “Big 8” of construction employers want to withdraw from the JIB (Joint Industry Board) agreement on pay, grading and seniority. They want to bring in new grades of semiskilled electricians earning £10.50 and £14 an hour instead of the current hourly JIB rate of £16.25. The protests against this change have been going on for several weeks now all across the country.
From Arab spring to Israeli summer
Submitted by Ramona on Aug 5 2011 19:47
Adam Ford writes on the wave of protest sweeping across Israel, where hundreds of thousands of people are standing up to high rents and low wages.
In years to come, the entry of the Israeli working class into independent action may well be seen as a pivotal moment in world history.
‘Something out of the ordinary’
College worker Siobhan Evans reflects on a hard-fought struggle against redundancies in her workplace.
A few months ago management in our college announced that 88 teaching and learning support staff (about 20% of the total) were “at risk of redundancy”. Now, after months of struggle and direct action, the redundancies have been withdrawn
Making a killing: suicide under capitalism
An article on the relation between capitalism and suicide from the June 2011 issue of The Commune.
Some years ago when the streets were filled with red flags, I saw two comrades die at home clutching a common gas tube. Few of us cried then, and each of us knew that they were crying for themselves, for the irreducible substance of our imaginary fears, for all the questions the political struggle left unresolved . . . Nobody thinks of waving red flags round these silent deaths. Why?
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