Rob Ray
Articles by East Anglia-based anarcho-syndicalist, journalist, ginger and editor of Freedom newspaper, Rob Ray.
Dock strike shuts down Calais
A strike at Calais has almost completely closed the ferry port and brought freight movement to a standstill between the UK and France.
The strike, which began after workers walked out in solidarity over the sacking of a cleaner for P&O, began late yesterday afternoon. They have blockaded most of the port.
A spokesperson for P&O Ferries has said that the Calais port has partially reopened after 12 port workers agreed to operate berths, and that two ships have set sail for the UK.
Cancerous computers
Following the clearing in 2004 of IBM in a lawsuit alleging they knew about carcinogens found in their computer chip factories, a new scientific study has been brought out confirming that workers in computer facilities have a high risk of developing cancer.
A new report published by online science journal Environmental Health (ehjournal.net) has found that US workers in the computer manufacturing centre have a significantly greater likelihood of contracting a wide range of cancers than the rest of the population.
London's anarchist bookfair: the aftermath
The London anarchist bookfair is the biggest annual event for libertarians in the UK. This year was the first since one of the major organisers and founding member left, so Rob Ray interviewed one of the collective to see how they thought it went...
October 21st saw the London anarchist Bookfair take over Holloway Road for the first time since the resignation of one of its most experienced organisers.
Freedom interviewed Alex, one of the bookfair collective’s new members, who is cautiously optimistic about how it went, with decent turnouts and enough funds raised to cover costs:
Private health centres fall flat
Rob Ray interviews a leading health watchdog on the rollout of Independent Sector Treatment Centres, which have faced strong criticism as heralding the start of privatisation for the NHS.
A leading NHS watchdog has attacked the government’s excuses for continuing their flagship Independent Sector Treatment Centre (ISTC) programme, even in the face of criticism from their own health committee.
ISTCs are private-sector providers of operations which are currently being licensed by the government as an alternative to the NHS.
