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What we think
Workers’ movement must launch a campaign for a general election
On 3 September parliament returns from its long summer holiday, sitting for less than two weeks before it breaks again for the party conference season.
News
Amazon fires: Big business is destroying the environment
The Amazon rainforest in Brazil is battling massive forest fires. They are so extensive they can be seen from space.
Stop the latest Tory attack on our pensions
Pensioners are under attack. The Centre for Social Justice, a right-wing think tank, is proposing that pensioners should in effect work until they drop.
Notts child abuse scandal: Socialist Party demands action programme to prevent future cases
The decades-long Nottinghamshire child abuse scandal and cover-up shows the need to fight public service cuts and for a society that values people, not private profit.
Knife and gun crime a product of poverty and austerity
International socialist news and analysis
Imperialist tensions escalate as world economy teeters
In a special report that scrutinised the increasingly tense breakdown in geopolitical and economic relations between the United States and China, the Economist sombrely concluded on 18 May that the world has entered “a new kind of cold war.”
Italy: Governing coalition fractures as Salvini looks to capitalise on crisis
After just 14 months in power, the populist coalition government of the far-right Lega and Five Star Movement (M5S) in Italy has collapsed.
Workplace news
Interview with Sean Hoyle – left candidate in RMT general secretary election
As new strikes begin on South Western Railway, in the long running industrial dispute over guards and the result of the transport union RMT general secretary election is announced, the Socialist spoke to Sean Hoyle, the left candidate in the general secretary election.
Postal union ballots 100,000 workers for strike action
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has held briefings over terms and conditions, firstly jointly with Parcelforce reps and then with all the senior Royal Mail reps. The mood at both meetings was extreme anger.
Strike action wins privatisation reprieve at Bradford hospitals
After three weeks of strike action by estates and facilities workers in Bradford hospitals organised in health union Unison – and with an all-out strike looming – management has blinked first.
Barry Hospital workers fight to save ward from closure
Unison health union members at Barry Hospital have launched a campaign to save the Sam Davies ward from closure.
Retail workers fight back against Scrooge bosses
Faced with a profits squeeze, big retail bosses are attempting to make workers pay by closing outlets, axing jobs and worsening terms and conditions of employment. However, this offensive is being resisted.
DVSA workers strike for four weeks over conditions and workload
Selected groups of PCS civil servants’ union members at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency are on strike for four weeks. Other members may be called out on strike in September.
Merseyside Matalan workers walk out over pay deal
Workers at a Matalan warehouse and distribution centre in Knowsley, Merseyside have taken strike action against a proposed pay deal.
Liverpool RMT seafarers protest against super-exploitation
Probation hostel rest room win
Our employers tried to take away the staff rest room and make it into another bedroom for the residents. This would have generated more income and made us more attractive for privatisation.
A lively picket line greeted visitors to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as caterers and cleaners employed by contractors entered their fourth week of continuous strike action over pay.
Northern Ireland
Brexit and the border in Northern Ireland- will there be a return to the ‘Troubles’?
In the following article Niall Mulholland of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI – the socialist international organisation which the Socialist Party is affiliated to) examines Brexit and the border in Northern Ireland.
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Lincolnshire health visitors’ solidarity rally
As reported in the last issue of the Socialist, Lincolnshire health visitors are planning further strike action after a failure to increase pay in line with other health visitors equates to a loss of about £2,000 a year.
Worcestershire: Stop the fire cuts!
On 21 August, over 80 people attended a protest at Bewdley fire station in Worcestershire against its closure. The protest was called by Save Bewdley Fire Station Campaign, which has collected over 2,000 signatures on its petition against closure.
Bangladeshi campaigners fight mining giant for justice
Shouts of “GCM, shame on you, Gary Lye [Chief Officer], shame on you” rang out around the square outside the London Stock Exchange on 22 August.
Opinion
Letters to the Socialist’s editors.