Support the Postal Workers Strike this week

As part of the Tyneside Postal Workers Solidarity group i've set up the blog on behalf of the group. You can visit that blog here.

It includes, links to all strike dates, stalls details for this saturday (2pm, newcastle monument) and next weekly planning meeting (wed 11th Nov 6pm, gateshead civic centre)

For Workers Liberty bulletins (see here) and other reports from workers liberty here

To join the facebook group go here

Yes, fight for jobs - and for all workers!

a response to the recent strike waves on workers liberty.org  

Wildcat strike action has spread across the UK in support of a strike by construction workers at the Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire over an Italian firm getting a contract for part of the refitting work on the refinery. The Italian firm will use its permanent workforce of Italian workers.
Part of the background to the strike is increased use of sub-contracting on construction jobs, using EU rulings which allow contractors to undercut union-negotiated agreements by employing sub-contractors from other EU countries.
On Monday 2 February the Lindsey strikers adopted a series of positive trade-union demands. But socialists have faced the paradox that the most inspiring working-class movement for many years takes place under a central slogan, "British Jobs For British Workers", which cannot conceivably answer the needs which spur the action. What should our attitude be?

click here to read the full article:

Yes fight for jobs - and for all workers!

Yes, fight for jobs - and for all workers!

a response to the recent strike waves on workers liberty.org

Yes fight for jobs - and for all workers!

Teesside Solidarity Network: inaugural meeting

Teesside Solidarity Network: inaugural meeting

Ecology, feminism, solidarity

Time and Place

Date:	Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Time:	7:30pm - 9:00pm
Location:	Sassaris (upstairs)
Street:	Linthorpe Road

Contact Info

Email:

modernlonely@hotmail.co.uk

Description

With the recent war in Gaza, the economic crisis across the globe, and attacks on abortion rights, asylum seekers, and civil liberties many activists are looking for new ideas about how to confront injustice and oppression. 

We are a group of activists inspired by workers and womens solidarity movements and are a from a variety of different traditions - what we are all concerned with is thinking about which way forward for the left and for working class and feminist politics. 

This is the first of a new series of meetings where we can get together and talk openly and critically about politics with each other and revitalize the threads of radical history and politics that have been part of Teesside's hidden history.

Ed Whitby

ed.whitby@workersliberty.org

www.edisred.blogspot.com

Capitalist Crisis and Workers Plan

My mate Craig asked earlier this week what I thought about the capitalist crisis and suggested meeting up in a pub soon and chat about it... both things that i like doing... so i will...

To get my head into gear I'm attending this meeting on Saturday in Manchester

Details of meeting (and reading here) for anyone interested in meeting in either manchester or London

If anyone else i know wants to join us for an after work pint and chat about the crisis (informally obviously) let me know!  Or look at the reading (see above) or editorial from this weeks solidarity (which is shorter)  and let us know what you think

republic of teesside

Recently met republic of teesside blogger... on a visit to meet my workers liberty comrades from Teesside... we are now meeting in both Newcastle and Stockton and a public meeting is in preparation on Socialist Feminism for the near future

But I wonder recommend others in the north east who are reading this blog to pay a visit to Republic of Teesside as well ...

We don't need another reason to oppose privatisation of the metro but if we did...

The victory from RMT cleaners on london underground to secure increased pay (to the London Living Wage / minimum wage) is significant not just as an improvement for those members, but as a message that the "unorganisable" are organisable, that the "weak" sections in the movement can with the right strategy and commitment become the strong sections of our union.

The victory though as many commentators have shown here and here is not perfect by far, does show that privatisation has made it harder to fight, that if services on tyne and wear metro are seperated out as on national rail and the underground, with stations seperate from the companies running the metros themselves, with different employers, then wages will be driven down to make a profit, and it will be the most vulnerable and poorest paid who will suffer.

The fact that the RMT cleaners have won this partial victory is important, but we have a chance in the north east to prevent profiteers from driving down public sector wages, to prevent one group of workers to have one minimum wage, and another a completely different one. All the unions whether they represent drivers, cleaners, station staff, or office staff who work to deliver the Tyne and Wear metro need to plan action now to defend the publicly owned and run unified system and prevent profiteers from driving wages, cutting corners on safety and taking the subsidy that we rightfully expect of public transport and creaming it off as unearned profit for shareholders

for more on this see

A workers' response to the crisis: fight for a workers' government!

Still working out how to use blogging via email

But as labour nosedived in the polls in Glasgow East, and the economy continues in crisis, it is more important than ever for socialists active in the workers movement to put forward the case for the kind of government we need to respond to this crisis.

Click <http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2008/07/25/workers-response-crisis-fight-workers-government

Ed