U.S. Troops Accused of Killing Afghans For Fun, Collecting Fingers As Trophies

From Democracy Now

The Guardian newspaper reports twelve U.S. soldiers face charges over forming a secret "kill team" that allegedly blew up and shot Afghan civilians at random and collected their fingers as trophies. Five of the soldiers are charged with murdering three Afghan men who were allegedly killed for fun in separate attacks this year. Seven others are accused of covering up the killings and assaulting a recruit who exposed the murders when he reported other abuses. All of the soldiers are members of a Stryker infantry brigade based in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. Meanwhile the father of one of the men charged has told the Associated Press he tried nearly a half dozen times to pass an urgent message from his son to the Army that troops in his unit had murdered an Afghan civilian and planned more killings. Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell addressed the charges on Thursday.
Geoff Morrell: "I don’t believe the allegations here against these few individuals are representative of the behavior or the attitudes of the entire force. That said, it clearly—even if these allegations are proved to be untrue—is unhelpful. It does not help the—you know, the perceptions of our forces around the world. And so, the sad part about this is, even if these individuals are vindicated, even if they’re not true, the damage will have been done."

Megalomaniac Murdoch

News Corporation - the misnamed Rupert Murdoch empire - is launching a million dollar lawsuit against Skype. The lawsuit concerns the first three letters of its name.

Murdoch's lawyers claim this word is Murdoch's personal property and want money from anyone else who uses it! To quote the Sun - another Murdoch property - "you couldn't make it up."

The inhabitants of the Isle of Skye could be in trouble here and Murdoch's lawyers will have their sights on "The Sky's the Limit", "Blue Skies thinking" and the Skye Boat Song.

So next time you sneak a peak at that thing...you know that blue thing up there...Murdoch could be after your money.

And as for you Trotskyists...watch out!

Forget twanging bowstrings in Sherwood Forest and men in tights. The "Robin Hood Tax" is being proposed by Oxfam and others as a means of making the bankers pay for the crisis they created.

For years Oxfam and Cafod have made valiant efforts to feed the poor in the third world. At the same time unfortunately the fat cats in the city have been making valiant efforts to feed *off* the poor in the third world through criminally extortionate interest repayments. Oxfam and Cafod raised thousands. The bankers clawed back millions.

Their website claims "The 'Robin Hood Tax' is a tiny tax that would have a massive impact. It would raise enough money to help poor people, protect public services and tackle climate change at home and abroad.Oxfam, along with many partners, is working to make this tax happen. Politicians around the world are already beginning to consider it as a serious possibility,"


These are very modest beginnings. The video by Bill Nighy makes the point in a humorous way that a tiny proportion of the bankers' profits would be a massive sum and could repair some of the cuts in spending on the poor and the damage brought about by climate change.

Oxfam and Cafod are taking this up because the politicians are useless. So busy collecting their own expenses and so scared of offending the bankers they are completely inert.

However Robin Hood went a lot further. He didn't tax the rich. He expropriated them. It is a tradition we need to revisit.

The TUC is listed as supporting the Robin Hood Tax. Perhaps that is what they wanted to chat with David Cameron about? It is time the TUC got off its knees.

The following 48 organisations are supporting the Robin Hood Tax Campaign: ActionAid, Action for Global Health (UK), ACTSA (Action on Southern Africa), Africa Europe Faith Justice Network - UK, Article 12 in Scotland, ATD Fourth World, Barnardo's, Cafod, Centre for Alternative Technology, Chigwell Justice and Peace Centre, Christian Aid, Christian Medical Fellowship, Christian Socialist Movement, Church Action on Poverty, Church of Scotland Church and Society Council, Commonwealth HIV & AIDS Action Group, Forum for Stable Currencies, General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, Health Unlimited, Housing Justice, Interact Worldwide, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, National Justice and Peace Network, National Union of Teachers, NCVO, nef (the new economics foundation), Oxfam GB, ONE, People and Planet, Plan UK, Results UK, The Salvation Army, Save the Children UK, Stamp Out Poverty, Stop AIDS Campaign, Student Partnerships Worldwide, TB Alert, Tearfund, Trades Union Congress, UNA-UK, Unicef UK, Unite, University and College Union, Urban Forum, War on Want, World Development Movement, World Wide Robin Hood Society, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust.

Click here for more information

Tolpuddle 2010

Two members of West Sussex NUT (President and Equalities officer - Derek and Angela) went with Crawley Trades Council to Tolpuddle this year.

There are a series of events celebrating the release of six trade unionists - the Tolpuddle Martyrs - arrested and transported in 1834 for joining a union.

It was a good occasion and an opportunity to see the three teachers' unions taking part in the same march and under the same slogan "Save our Schools".

It came as a surprise to see the Labour Party gracing us with their presence and talking about "this dreadful academies programme" - I expected to see a few pigs flying around but no.

The Labour Party is pro-war, pro-privatisation and viciously anti trade union.
I imagine if New Labour had been around in those days they would have locked up the Tolpuddle Martyrs without the formality of a trial and probably carted them off to Guantanamo for good measure.

The Trades Council coach only cost a tenner and we will seek to get more teachers (history teachers for example) involved next time.

Beckham on the Jonathan Ross show

To celebrate his final programme on the BBC Jonathan Ross spent the remains of the budget on luring the millionaire footballer to speak on his program.

As you can imagine he had something to say about the football. "The England team lost because the players played badly." Where would we be without his insightful expertise?

However, leaving his area of specialist knowledge, he went on to talk about two other issues.

He spoke in lyrical terms about "this earth, this realm, this England" omitting to explain why, like many millionaires, he neither lives here nor pays any tax here.

He then turned his incisive intellect to the war in Afghanistan. The war was justified because "our English soldiers are heroes." And there is nothing like a dead hero to sell a war. Unlike everyone else Beckham knew the objective of the mission. You might well scratch your heads at that one. Apparently they are there to win.

So there you have it, football, nationalism and complex international issues all summed up a la Beckham. The world is very simple for millionaires like Ross and Beckham. A bit more complex for the rest of us.

Report on the National Shop Stewards Network conference 26 06 2010

Margaret Thatcher always advised her friends only to employ a gardener who had patches on the knees of his trousers. Thatcherites like the working classes on their knees and the present coalition is no exception.

The NSSN is potentially very useful for public sector unions to co-ordinate actions and simply to exchange information. Various unions have produced data on the “gold plated” public sector pensions one reads about in the media. The median pension for PCS members is 8000 pounds a year – you couldn’t get gold-plated cufflinks on that.

There was a wide range of participants from pensioner activists who reported on the number of OAPs who are up in arms about the government’s plans…down to the Youth Fight for Jobs representatives who are seeking to secure a future for school-leavers.

The representatives of the BA cabin crews got a standing ovation – as you would expect really.

The NUT’s own Linda Taaffe moved the keynote resolution . She is using her so-called retirement to invigorate the NSSN.

The resolution aimed to get the TUC off its knees. The suggestion is that union branches and individual members should be urging them to organise a national protest against the cuts. This is in contrast to their current plan of inviting David Cameron round for tea. Matt Wrack of the FBU said this was about as useful as having a chat with the hangman about what kind of knot you want.

Contact the TUC by email, phone or via the web page:

http://www.tuc.org.uk/the_tuc/about_form.cfm

Tel 020 7636 4030
Fax 020 7636 0632
Email info@tuc.org.uk

Trades Union Congress
Congress House
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3LS

A number of trade unions support NSSN at the highest level – the PCS, POA, RTM and FBU for example. The NSSN will work with the official Trade Union Congress when possible but without it when necessary. We have no plans to invite David Cameron to our next conference.

The big bang and mythology

“I believe in one God. The Father, the Almighty, The creator of heaven and earth and of all things seen and unseen.”

“I believe in the almighty big bang., The creator of heaven and earth and of all things seen and unseen. (dark matter)”

People believe in all sorts of things. The big bang is a theoretical construct based on a lot of painstaking research over decades. Every year volumes of research are added to the existing information about the big bang.

The Nicene Creed – quoted above - was the “best guess” of Christians in AD 325 in an attempt to explain the fundamentally unexplainable. However as an explanation it is different in kind from the Big Bang theory.

When a child asks you “why does the sun shine?” you might answer “it is like a flame giving off heat and light” If they are a bit older you can tell them a lot of fascinating stuff about hydrogen fusing to form helium. This does not answer the question. The question was “why” not “how”.

The big bang – as a theoretical construct – tells us a lot about how. It tells us nothing about why.

Bertrand Russell’s clinching argument for the non-existence of God was this: if you say God created the universe – after all the universe “must have come from somewhere” – this just pushes the question back a stage. God “must have come from somewhere” too.

And the Big Bang? Well AFAIK it came out of nowhere…

Belief in the Big Bang does not carry any moral implications. I believe in the Big Bang therefore I should forgive those who trespass against me? Not logical captain! Logic and science do not lead you to that conclusion.

Jesus believed you should treat other people as you would have them treat you. St Paul said it was the one commandment which contained all the others. That’s good enough for me. (and for Abraham, Lao Tse, Buddha, and the prophet Mohammed). But I can't prove it.

There is an Arthur C Clarke story in which an entity enters the solar system and immediately begins to communicate with Earth scientists. During the time of its stay in the solar system (it is using the slingshot effect of the sun to continue on elsewhere) it astounds scientists on Earth with knowledge which advances Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology by decades.

Just as communication is fading out, they explain the concept of God to it and ask for an opinion. The response? “I understand there is an answer to this question. Unfortunately it is far beyond my capability to understand it!”

God bless :)

Labour leadership election

I have to say the leadership election of the Labour Party shows the
depths to which the party has sunk. Noticing that they have a plethora
of white gentlemen in suits the right wing consciously used their votes
to include Diane Abbott on the slate on the assumption that a snowball
in Hell would have a better chance than she will.



Diane Abbott does not do herself any favours by cuddling up with Portillo - the most hated Tory after Margaret Thatcher - or by her championing of the "excellent academies programme" on her website.



I am not at all sure we should be "building bridges" to the Labour Party.
They have cut all the bridges just as they proposed to cut everything
else - except bankers' bonuses of course.

I joined the Labour Party in the 1960s because I believed in peace, social justice and public ownership.

People who have joined Labour in the last decade have done so because of a belief in war, privatisation and inequality. If you seek hatred and vituperation of trade unionists you need look no further. Ask the Firemen. Ask the BA cabin crews.



We need a party for the common people:
a party of the working class.

Genius with his hand in the till - David Laws

Chief Treasury Secretary David Laws, described as "a genius" by colleagues, is planning cuts in public spending which will impoverish millions. He has apologised after it emerged he had been claiming MPs' expenses to rent rooms in homes owned by his partner.

The Daily Telegraph blew the whistle on Laws. They said this scam totalled £40,000 of the public money this "genius" is so careful with.

He said his motivation was to keep the relationship with the man private and not to reveal his own sexuality.

So having his hand in the till is OK but being gay is something to be ashamed of?

Liberal values indeed.

The rottenness and corruption is not solely the preserve of the two main parties it seems. They really are all the same. "A workers' MP on a workers' wage" was the slogan of our TUSC candidates.

(TUSC = Trade Union and Socialist Coalition)

OMG What is the matter with the SWP?

Now that it appears talks between BA and Unite have collapsed the Socialist Party has released the following statement concerning the actions of the SWP and the cabin crew dispute.

Occupation A Mistake

The defeat of Willie Walsh and the brutish BA management is the most important aspect to this dispute. It is therefore unfortunate that the reported decision of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) members at the end of the Right to Work Conference to invade talks between British Airways management and Unite has partially obscured this issue. This occupation was completely mistaken.

Whatever the nature of the deal being negotiated it is not for a group like the SWP to decide to break up talks. A decision to accept or reject a deal is solely the property of cabin crew and their democratically elected representatives.

In an industrial dispute the final decision on tactics to confront the employer must always rest with the strikers themselves. Socialists can assist by sharing experiences and ideas in past disputes and building support and solidarity for the strike among the general public. This has always been the method of the Socialist Party. We will offer our opinion on the course of a dispute to workers but we believe that any initiative taken in support of a dispute should be taken in consultation with the workers themselves.

A key task for socialists and trade union activists is to raise the confidence of workers to fight not to substitute themselves for workers in struggle. This will mistakenly create the impression that a special minority of activists will do the fighting leaving workers as bystanders. The Socialist Party stands for the maximum control of workers over their dispute.

It is the view of the Socialist Party that the actions of the SWP on Saturday was not in the best interests of striking cabin crew workers. Such tactics will prove to be counter-productive. It is the mass action of cabin crew through their union that is the key to defeating Walsh, not the actions of a self appointed minority. Despite this we are totally opposed to any victimisation of those who took part in this mistaken protest.

The priority for all workers in the trade union movement now is to support the cabin crew workers against Walsh and BA management.

FT let the cat out of the bag

Has anybody got any lingering doubts of the government's intentions? The Financial Times – house journal of the capitalist class – let the cat out of the bag in an article on 20 May 2010


“ Before the election, the coalition parties aimed to avoid a direct confrontation with the unions. They now appear braced for a pitched battle.

“The unions were always bound to figure prominently in this parliament. The government must rein in a fiscal deficit of 11.1 per cent of output. Public jobs and pay must bear the brunt of spending cuts. In the state sector,68 per cent of employees are bound by collective pay agreements.

“The parties’ manifestos suggested plans to outflank the unions. They wanted to force through tight pay settlements while undermining the unions by contracting out an increased share of public services to private providers. The coalition agreement sets out a path to direct confrontation.”

Of course the “must” in this article is disingenuous. They take as read that the working class, starting with the public sector, “must” pay the price for a crisis not of their making. There is no “must” about it.

The government will throw down the gauntlet to the trade union movement. The nice Cameron/Clegg mask will be torn off to reveal the Thatcher within.
In particular for teachers, the national pay and conditions agreements will be torn up. The FT puts it like this

“More explosively, the new government intends to attack national pay bargaining. It wants to “reform the existing rigid national pay and conditions rules…” for schools. If anything, the coalition’s ambition should be greater. National pay bargaining is a problem well beyond education.”

They have a touching faith in the combativity of the trade union leaders. Yes this should be “explosive” but it is up to the rank and file to make sure it actually is “explosive” Trade union leaders of “left” and “right” may seek delay and compromise as they have always done in the past.

And as the FT clearly understand, a defeat for the teacher unions will be the harbinger of a defeat for workers with national pay bargaining unless they are prepared to fight back.

NUT Executive member Martin Powell Davies' call for the June executive to indicate that a strike ballot will be the response to any such attack from the government is timely.
And we are fully aware that strike action is not enough, this is political attack requiring a political response.

And New Labour has always sought to destroy national pay bargaining through precisely the tactics laid out in this FT article. Those union leaders who continue to back New Labour are acting against the interests of their members.

Anyone who voted for the LibDems to keep the Tories out will be reconsidering now. We need a party for the common people – a party of the working class.
Derek McMillan

TUSC The only way is up!

The brand new Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition has made a start on the long march to create a workers' party after the shameful betrayal of New Labour.

Election results for TUSC in the 2010 general election


England and Wales:
Region
Seat
Candidate
Result
% of vote
East Mids

Leicester West
Steve Score.
157
0.4%
East Mids
Wellingborough & Rushdon
Councillor Paul Croft
249
0.5%
Eastern
Cambridge City
Martin Booth
362
0.7%
London
Lewisham Deptford
Socialist Party Councillor Ian Page
645
1.6%
London
Walthamstow
Nancy Taaffe
279
0.68%
London
Greenwich and Woolwich
Onay Kasab

267

0.6%

London
Tottenham
Jenny Sutton
1057
2.6%
Northern
Gateshead
Elaine Brunskill
266
0.7%
Northern
Redcar
Hannah Walter
127
0.3%
North West
Wythenshawe and Sale East
Lynn Worthington
268
0.65%
North West
Bootle
Pete Glover
472
1.1%
North West
Carlisle
John Metcalfe

376

0.9%

North West
Liverpool Walton
Darren Ireland
195
0.57%
North West
Manchester Gorton
Karen Reissman
337
0.9%
North West
Salford
David Henry
730
2%
Southern
Southampton Itchin
Tim Cutter

168
0.4%
Southern
Spelthorne
Paul Couchman
176
0.4%
Southern
Portsmouth North
Mick Tosh
154

South East
Brighton Kemptown
Dave Hill
194
0.5%
South West
Bristol South
Tom Baldwin


206

0.4%

South West
Bristol East
Rachel (Rae) Lynch


198

0.4%

Wales
Cardiff Central
Ross Saunders
162
0.4%
Wales
Swansea West
Rob Williams
179
0.5%
West Mids
Coventry North East
Dave Nellist
1592
3.7%

West Mids
Coventry South
Judy Griffiths
691
1.55
West Mids
Coventry North West
Nikki Downes
370
0.8%
West Mids
Stoke Central
Matt Wright
133
0.4%
Yorkshire
Colne Valley
Councillor Jackie Grunsell.
741
1.3%
Yorkshire
Hull West + Hessle
Keith Gibson.
150
0.5%
Yorkshire
Doncaster North
Bill Rawcliffe
181
0.4%
Yorkshire
Huddersfield
Paul Cooney

319

0.8%

Yorkshire
Sheffield Brightside
Maxine Bowler

656

1.7%


Scotland:

Seat
Candidate
Result
% of vote

Glasgow South West
Tommy Sheridan
931
2.9%

Glasgow South
Brian Smith
351
0.9%

Glasgow North
Angela McCormack
287
1%

Glasgow North East
Graham Campbell
187
0.6%

Edinburgh East
Gary Clark
274
0.7%

Edinburgh North & Leith
Willie Black
233
0.5%

Midlothian
Willie Duncan
166
0.4%

Dundee West
Jim McFarlane
350
1.2%

Motherwell & Wishaw
Ray Gunnion
609
2%

Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey
George McDonald
135

Making a complete Griffin of himself again

The BNP frequently complain that the many pro-Nazi
statements of Nick Griffin are “all in the past” and not
relevant to his current squeaky clean image.

The Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2 on 30th April 2010 had the
BNP leader making a complete Griffin of himself yet again.
He repeated his claim that “the bravery of the SS kept
Europe safe from Bolshevism.”

The bravery of the SS consisted of herding Jewish men, women
and children, gay men, trade unionists and communists into
gas chambers. This is not called bravery by most people.

It also gives you a vivid picture of what life (and death)
would be like if these people were given power.

Real life Avatars?

Apart from being a 3d film of astonishing effects, Avatar tells the story of the Na'vi people fighting back successfully against the mercenaries of the global corporations which want to exploit the natural resources of their home planet "Pandora". For some reason the American military thought it was having a dig at them :)

Director James Cameron is not content to leave the film to change public perceptions. On the american indy internet news programme "Democracy Now!" he said he had begun a campaign alongside indigenous peoples to bring to light real life "Pandoras" on this planet.

"The success of Avatar triggered an interesting chain reaction, which is a lot of groups that are involved with indigenous issues and the environment and energy and so on have come to me saying, you know, “How can we use the success of the film to continue to raise awareness, not just a generalized kind of emotional reaction, but a very specific awareness on different battles that are in progress right now around the world?” And I thought, well, OK, fine, this is an opportunity to maybe do some good, beyond just the film itself. I mean, I thought, you know, as a filmmaker, as an artist, I put my story out there, you know, and people react to it, and they draw their own conclusions, and that’s it for me. I’m over and out, you know? "

"But I don’t think that’s enough in this situation, because Avatar doesn’t teach you anything specific. It only gives you an emotional reaction, a sense of moral outrage, if you will, about the destruction of nature, about the, you know, destruction of indigenous people, culture and so on. So I think people need action items. You know, they need specific things. They need specific information about what’s going on, and they need specific action items about what to do about it. So you’ve got to talk about it. There’s got to be a dialogue. So I think there’s a whole dialogue going on now in the wake of this film that’s beneficial."

For the people of the Amazon there is nothing fictional about the Belo Monte dam project. 25,000 people will be displaced if this project goes ahead and they literally have nowhere to go. The film has aroused an emotional response (and sent Rupert Murdoch's avatars at Fox News into apoplexy which is no bad thing!). The high profile support of James Cameron for the real life victims of capitalism is important but at the end of the day the corporations will only be brought to book by the working class movement.

The Hobbit and the great debate on the election

(From Classroom Teacher)

Did anybody else remember "The Hobbit" while listening to the "Great debate" on ITV? Did you feel as if you were overhearing three trolls arguing about whether to boil you alive or mince you up?

There was nobody to say the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable and unjust and we should withdraw. Instead they talked about the quality of the troops' equipment. This is about as useful as discussing the quality of the deckchairs on the Titanic.

Nick Clegg did mention ditching Trident but otherwise failed to differentiate himself from the others.

When it came to cutting public spending - and thus our jobs and the jobs of all public sector workers - the devils were only discussing the detail. The principle of robbing the poor to give to the rich was a "given."

Thank God there is an alternative http://www.tusc.org.uk/

Dash to Digital leaves the poor behind

Digital radio is a great advance in scientific technique. Unfortunately under capitalism even the best scientific advances can be manipulated to the advantage of big business and the detriment of the working class.

So the changeover to digital is likely to leave hundreds of thousands of the poorest in the community – especially old age pensioners – with no access to the wireless. A massive leap backwards.

In the UK most people regard the radio as their prime source of news. Over 90 percent of the population listen to the radio. Many of them listen in the car and most cars of course have analogue radios. These will all fall silent in five years time and will need replacing with massively overpriced digital sets. Many people cannot afford the changeover and will simply be left behind.

Yet the electrical shops are still cynically selling off analogue radios to old age pensioners without any warning of their limited lifespan.

At the same time Mandelson (or whichever Conservative Party clone takes over from him in May!) is also seeking to cut off the internet from anyone who cannot afford the extortionate prices charged by the CD and record manufacturers. File sharing technology is another modern miracle which capitalism is incapable of accommodating it seems.

The profiteers corrupt and hinder every advance in science and technology which gets in the way of their greed. The politicians aid and abet them. After all they can all afford digital radio... or at least charge it to their expenses :)

Opt out forms for NHS summary care record

The introduction of summary care records does not fill me with confidence. The number of recent cases of personal information being left on trains and the government's general lack of concern for personal privacy suggests it might be a good idea to opt out. Naturally they have made it fiddly and difficult to opt out.

Click here for an opt-out form

To quote Joe Hill

From Democracy Now:

Utah lawmakers have approved a measure that would allow women to be charged with murder if they commit an “intentional, knowing or reckless act” that causes a miscarriage. Critics fear the measure could target women for all kinds of actions, including staying with an abusive partner.

Trade Union organiser Joe Hill was killed after a judicial frame-up in Utah. His last words are well-remembered "Don't mourn, organise". Less well known is his plea "take my body over the state line. I wouldn't be seen dead in Utah"

Education not Censorship.

Big Brother and censorship

Linda Papadopoulos was the in-house psychologist on Big Brother . You cannot accuse New Labour of lacking a sense of irony. Her report for the Home Office on young people's sexuality contains an outline of a problem – and an Orwellian “solution” which would have Big Brother choosing which books and TV programs we are permitted to see..


Advertising treats the bodies of women, and increasingly of young children, as commodities to be exploited for profit. Children have easy access to pornography: Rupert Murdoch's newspapers are in the sweet shops. Linda's very own Big Brother was not entirely bereft of nudity and crude language.

Censorship is running away from the problem not tackling it. Education in the role of advertising and sexuality is more important than increasing the power of the state to censor. Money could be put into teaching resources instead of lining the pockets of media celebrities like Linda Papadopoulos!

There is also the practical problem that the British Home Office would have to constantly monitor and close down websites all over the world. If you do not want an internet as restricted as that available in China, which is Mandelson's dream, then you will oppose such a move.

Teachers are well aware of the problem but hampered by constant tests, targets and deadlines. We need an education system responsive to the needs of the children and young people rather than driven by centralised testing programmes.

Education not Censorship.

Changes at blogger

All blogs with addresses like derekmcmillan.com/weblog have to be transferred back to blogspot as ftp (file transfer protocol) will no longer be supported. A link to this effect will be put into derekmcmillan.com/weblog.

The disadvantage is that some schools block all blogspot sites indiscriminately.

A voice for those who don't want cuts, privatisation and war.

There is no party of the left in Britain at the present time. The coalition of trade unionists and socialists provide a voice for those who oppose cuts, privatisation and war.

http://cnwp.org.uk/news.80.htm

Join the Classroom Teacher Network

Action and Change for Teachers
A group of teachers who backed Martin Powell-Davies’ recent stand in the NUT Vice-President election

For action on workload
To defend public sector schools
To defend the rights of classroom teachers in academies and trust schools
And to resist the attacks on education whichever canaille wins the general election!

Click here to join the facebook group.
Click here for the blog

Vote for Kevin for Deputy General Secretary

From the WSTA blog
It is important that members in West Sussex play a full part in the
National Union of Teachers and voting in the Deputy General Secretary
elections is part of that. By now you should have received your ballot
papers.

Kevin Courtney was overwhelmingly endorsed by the West Sussex NUT and
we are supporting his campaign to be elected as DGS.

Veronica Peppiatt writes:

Although Kevin is a leading light of one of the political groups on
the Executive, as a "non-aligned" Executive member I am convinced of
his absolute integrity and commitment to the Union as a whole and am
confident that if elected to the post of DGS he has the strength of
character to rise above old allegiances, if need be, in order to put
the best interests of the whole membership first.

Veronica Peppiatt, Executive Member for Surrey and West Sussex


'I have known Kevin for many years and in that time have been hugely
impressed with the energy, vision and commitment he has brought to
such campaigns as the defence of educational funding, opposition to
Academies, reducing workload, fair pay for teachers and many others.

I know he believes fervently in working alongside other trade
unionists and takes the same view as me that we are unlikely to win
future battles over issues such as the defence of our pensions,
without an inter-union perspective. He has already developed
invaluable links with other public sector unions.
In my view he is the candidate most likely to enable the NUT to defend
the future interests of teachers and the education profession.
Dave Thomas (Secretary, West Sussex Teachers' Association)'

You may also receive this as an email later in the week. Apologies for
the duplication but we get full marks for enthusiasm!

Derek McMillan
(Helpline Co-ordinator West Sussex Teachers' Association)

9 Questions about the BNP

1. Why has the BNP consistently (Stoke, Burnley Pendle) voted for above-inflation increases in council taxation, despite its claims against council tax increases and property-based council tax in general? 

 

 2. Why did Broxbourne BNP vote to block free bus passes for pensioners against their pledge that "pensioners should get free bus passes"? 

 

3. Why did Halifax BNP councillors abstain from voting to block the closure of a primary school in Mixenden despite election literature promising to defend all primary schools in the area. 

4. Why did BNP in Kirklees agree to council service cuts in Sep 2009 declaring "a lot of the silly posts can disappear. I've always advocated that you get rid of 25% of council staff and no-one would notice. We won't be able to guarantee early retirement and gold-plated pensions."? 5. You, Griffin, have expelled certain BNP members for their political actions (including ex-Conservative BNP councillor Geoff Wallace in Halifax for supporting greenbelt housing) but not those who have implemented these above actions which harm the majority whose interests you claim to further. Why is there this discrepancy? 6. Why did you oppose the firefighters' strike of 2002-2003, asserting that firefighters should not have the right to withdraw their labour to renegotiate terms and conditions of work? You declared firefighters "must be placed on the same level as military personnel and police officers and ... forego their ambiguous position of using strike action". Do you still agree with it? 7. Why did Stoke BNP exonerate chief executive Wayne Nutbeen for closing (in 2005) Royal Doulton's last factories. Nutbeen's explanation was the "company isn't owned by Stoke-on-Trent. It is owned by the shareholders. The board has to ensure it does right by them". 8. Why has Stoke BNP agreed to budgets (2004, 2005, 2007) that cut social spending including Citizen's Advice Bureaus, old people's services? 9. Which aspects of the "national good" in "Oriental countries" would you emulate in Britain first - a 2000% increase in work-related suicides, mass dismissals of workers for attending anti-government meetings or homeless nomad families working in low-wage sectors? (Your manifesto (2009) claimed "Oriental countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore have managed their economies to combine private enterprise competition with the national good, and these are the models the BNP would emulate.")

British Airways Dirty Tricks department

The British Airways dirty tricks department have won a victory for every bullying employer and few are more prone to bullying than our employers. Every action we take against SATS, over workload or the proposed attack on teachers' pensions runs the risk of being declared illegal on one technicality or another.

On the decision of one judge and at the behest of British Airways bosses, the workers of Britain and their trade unions have been told that the democratic right to strike has been cancelled.

This "disgraceful legal judgment" as the union Unite correctly called it, makes voting in any union ballot almost irrelevant if it does not suit the wishes of the bosses and their friends in the judiciary. Any strike can be declared 'illegal'.

Every commentator has admitted that the so-called ballot irregularities would not have made a blind bit of difference to the outcome of the strike ballot. Unless the whole trade union movement faces up to what is required then the unions face the danger of being put back in legal terms to the infamous Taff Vale judgment of 1906 which made unions liable for commercial damages following the effect of any strikes they organised.

It was the Taff Vale judgement which convinced the trade unions that they need a political voice. That is something what is laughingly called "the Labour Party" will not provide. We need a new workers' party.

Let it snow

Well missing the last day of term because of snow was not the worst tragedy in the history of education :)

On the whole closing the school was probably the right move. Snow is educational.

My pupils did miss seeing me in the school panto (and the opportunity to hiss) but they were all out throwing snowballs at each other - unless there is a Wii snowball fight by now.

The ambiguity of "Don't go into a fight you can't win"

Martin Reed made a rather telling point at the WSTA meeting . His father was a miner and always used to say "don't go into a fight you can't win". This is the kind of argument the right wing always use when the union is faced with an attack like the one over pensions and actually we have no choice but to fight.

What Martin Reed's quote probably means is "if you don't go into a fight you can't win". You can certainly lose by not fighting the erosion of the public sector.

The WSTA meeting overwhelmingly supported Kevin Courtney.

Unity against Academy at Weston Favell School

Members at Weston Favell School in Northants are striking against the proposed academy. In this NASUWT and NUT are working together.
Messages of support would be very welcome.

The NUT rep is Paul Cutts
pcutts@weston.rmplc.co.uk

You can also copy to the NAS rep, Amanda Brett
abrett@weston.rmplc.co.uk

If you want to support them there is a model letter:

I am writing in regard to the teacher’s strike at Weston Favell School. As a parent/member of staff/local resident/member of the public/local councillor I feel that the school is a brilliant and improving asset to young people in the local area.
I disagree with plans for Northamptonshire County Council to allow United Learning Trust to take over the school, and as a result take the funding, curriculum and working conditions into their control. Those changes lead to high staff turnover at the Academies.
I am proud that we have a community school here which focuses on the needs of all its students. Academies are at best an unproven system, which have not yielded the high results that have been suggested.
Indeed ULT has recently been told it can not open any more Academies anywhere else because its standards are not high enough. However it appears the Government thinks they are still good enough for Weston Favell.

I am concerned that Academies are not holistic or cooperative, and that they attempt to ‘cherry-pick’ students and leave disadvantaged children behind – despite selective entry being against the rules. I wholeheartedly support the strike of the NUT and NASUWT unions, and am pleased that UNISON has instructed its members not to cover the work of striking workers. While Roger Webb, the chair of governors, is correct that a strike is disruptive to the students, I believe that it is Northamptonshire County Council who is responsible for the much greater disruption in stretching this consultation and uncertainty over a year. The changes any transfer would bring would also disrupt our children’s education.
The teachers unions have made it clear that if these part-privatisation plans are withdrawn they will not strike. The teachers, after all, are striking to save fully accountable local education provision, and they should be supported by all in the community.

Yours Sincerely/Faithfully

Spooks

Spooks is described by the BBC as a “tense drama series about the different challenges faced by the British Security Service as they work against the clock to safeguard the nation.” It began life as a rather transparent attempt to rehabilitate the “spooks” after their role in compiling a pack of lies to justify the Iraq War.

It is a very well-written series of thrillers with a cast of interesting characters with rather more depth than you would expect in the oddly named “intelligence community.” Like its distant predecessor “The Professionals” it portrays them as human beings with a social conscience about the jobs they are asked to perform for the safety of the nation. And there you were thinking they were all old Etonians with a conscience bypass!

In a recent episode (Episode 3 of Series 8) the whole issue of hostage taking and negotiating with terrorists is explored in an exciting narrative in which a group of high-powered capitalists (a thinly disguised fictional version of the Bilderberg group) are kidnapped by terrorists who have no intention of getting a ransom but instead put the capitalists on trial for mass murder in the third world and video the evidence, while uploading incriminating documents on the internet. . The Spooks are powerless as tens of thousands vote “guilty” on the internet and the terrorists carry out the death penalty online.

This feeds the common fantasy that anti-capitalists are all potential terrorists and of course justifies the 'spooks' real life policy of monitoring everyone to the left of Peter Mandelson – about half the population,

The plot also showed that the anti-capitalists were actually naïve tools of a russian gangster-capitalist (definitely not called Abramovich , there are libel laws after all!) who wanted to eliminate his rivals.

The program definitely does not whitewash the dirty tricks the Spooks get up to but seeks to justify them. One scandal of the last decade has been the use of torture by the British secret service “by proxy”. They have been accused of using evidence provided by third parties such as the Americans at Guantanamo. In the show Lucas North (played by Richard Armitage) is shown torturing the Russian Mafioso in his own swimming pool in order to save the lives of the hostages. This is a far cry from the real life “Spooks” torturing Omar Deghayes for five years at various camps with no realistic prospect of getting any information or saving any lives. Nevertheless it is the justification of torture.

Spooks is an excellent program which maintains the tension and excitement all through. It does deal with the real life issues in the secret service. You might want to take its representation of the real life “Spooks” with a pinch of salt though!

Holocaust Education Development Programme

The Holocaust Education Development Programme (HEDP) seeks to transform teaching and learning about the Holocaust. It is leading world-class research on Holocaust education, delivering targeted and effective teacher education across England and building an interactive community of enquiry and exchange.

The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme in Holocaust Education, launched in the autumn term of 2009, is delivered by internationally recognized experts through innovative workshops in every region across the country. It will be supported by the highest quality teaching and learning materials through multiple channels of ongoing support.

Underpinned by the latest developments in learning theory, leading edge research and scholarship in Holocaust education, the CPD programme addresses students’ key questions about the Holocaust and the challenges and opportunities faced by teachers exploring this subject in the classroom. The programme takes a historical, disciplinary approach but can also help teachers address issues of diversity, social cohesion, and social and emotional aspects of learning.

Click here for more information

LOL - BNP on Any Questions

Primary review: a 'damning indictment' of Government policy

Ever since New Labour was elected, they have sought to dictate to schools what to teach and even how to teach it. Policed by the threatening machinery of OFSTED inspections and league tables of SATS and GCSE results, schools have been bullied into following each new instruction imposed by Ministers and Whitehall officials.

To see more visit
http://electmartin1.blogspot.com/2009/10/primary-review-damning-indictment-of.html

Socialism 2009

Click here to book online

General Dannatt

General Dannatt

General Pinochet


General Franco




The history of generals in politics is not a happy one!

Dannatt's only solution to the unwinnable war in Afghanistan
is to send in more troops. At the time when George Osborne
wants to cut teachers, nurses and firemen we need more
soldiers like a hole in the head.

It cannot be denied that Dannatt has guts but it is a pity
that 18-20 year old soldiers will have to spill theirs in
the sand of Helmand province to prove it.

And "politicising the army" at a time when the corruption of
politicians has reached an all time high is a clear message
that the rich and powerful are toying with the idea of
ditching democracy altogether.

They expect the working class to roll over and let them.
They have another think coming.

Martin4VP video on YouTube

Chess in Concert

Chess in Concert was on in Horsham yesterday.

Although it is a concert rather than a musical it presents the plot in a non-realistic way and has some great performances in it.

The plot is based on the goings on in the chess world in the 1960s and early 1970s. At the height of the cold war, chess became a non-violent battlefield mined with dirty tricks and brinkmanship.

Josh Groban plays the lead role of Anatoly Sergievsky - who defects to the West but is persuaded to return to the USSR to get the father of his girlfriend (Idina Menzel (Florence Vassy)) and there is a plot twist which will take you by surprise.

Adam Pascal is so good as the obnoxious American Frederick Trumper it makes you wonder what he is like in real life!

David Bedella (Anatoly Molokov) plays a sinister Stalinist to perfection

The music (Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson) and lyrics (Tim Rice) are excellent.

Democracy Now

Banksy at Bristol Museum

Banksy who has gone from being a graffiti artist to the quasi-respectability of having an exhibition at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. His picture of a spiky-haired anarchist having his mask adjusted by his mum probably suggests what his attitude towards this is.

When you first approach the Museum you can see a figure of Ronald McDonald on the facade. If you think another public service has succumbed to corporate sponsorship - the clown cries tears of blood and has a bottle by his side and a clear intention to commit suicide.

Some of the pictures are lighthearted such as the Wizard of Oz picture of Dorothy saying "I don't think we're on Canvas any more."



Others are less so with a KKK member hanging from a tree to comment on the fine old Southern Tradition of lynching.


The exhibition is thought-provoking and interesting and well worth a visit. It is also free.

Edinburgh Fringe and all that Jazz

On Saturday we went for lunch at a jazz venue to listed to Ian Millar (tenor sax) and Dominic Spencer (piano) for a relaxing time with the best pop video ever - evidently Dominic Spencer is a keen photographer and the video was videos of the highlands and islands.

The big Cambridge University Jazz band were completely different - very fast paced and engaging. The MC said they were not music students, "many of us are scientists....and one is a biochemist!"

And the Oxford Gargoyles were an a capella jazz group - a highly original performance including a take on Austin Powers.

"Four Poofs and Piano" might sound like a show about furniture but in fact it is the much underused band on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Their repertoire is extensive and varied and at times absolutely outrageous. They have a song about the question you need to ask on a third date ("Do you take it up the ****?") and then said they wanted some audience participation. In the event they only wanted us to sing along.

Shappi Khorsandi's show was well worth seeing. She adapeted it to the audience and toned it down a bit because of the 12 year olds in the front row.

The street performers were a mixed bunch - the most spectacular act was Frankie G who also does a different act under the name Derek Derek - his act included escaping from bondage while balancing a lighted torch on his nose.

Brighton Pride

Members of WSTA attended Brighton Pride. This is the first time WSTA has attended this event and we have learnt some useful lessons for next year.

The morning started sunny and we set up the stall (which was fortunately covered) before the rain set in in the afternoon.

When we had exhausted our supply of whistles and pens we got a good response from the public to the anti-SATS petition. There were a lot of good discussions about SATS and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

They sited us next to the Conservative Party who were handing out sweets to children (shades of the gingerbread house!)

Other groups in our area included HM prison service, the inland revenue, the NASUWT and Unite the Union.

Tolpuddle 2009

The Tolpuddle Museum is an educational resource supported by the NUT. As you can see many teachers' organisations take part in the annual Tolpuddle Festival. Crawley Trades Council organised a coach this year.

118800 Keep your mobile phone private

118800 is a proposed directory of every mobile phone number. If you don't want every pupil in your class to get in touch; if you don't want every paedophile in Sussex getting in touch with your child then you want to stop 118800.

Following pressure from the public 118800 have - very late in the day - made some assurances.

For example they claim they will not publish the mobile phone numbers of minors. This is very odd because they have no way of knowing whether people are minors or not.



Their website says "If someone wants to get in touch, and we have your number, we contact your mobile and tell you who they are. If you reject the call, they don't get through - and they don't have your number." So an unlimited number of unsolicited texts could be coming your way and they have conveniently disabled their website to prevent you from making your number ex directory. Incidentally they still take £1 from everyone who uses their service whether they actually get through or not.

You can still email their address which is contact@118800.co.uk and I suggest you go on emailing them until they respond. Do not phone their number because they will charge you a fortune for doing so.

If you have a blocking facility on your phone you can block them.

Socialist in the European Parliament

>

Most Sun readers think The Sun prints lies

“You cannot hope to bribe or twist,
Thank God, the British journalist,
But seeing what the man will do,
Unbribed there's no occasion to.“


(Humbert Wolfe, poet 1885-1940)

Journalists unleash periodic attacks on teachers and
teaching. “Falling standards” every time the exam
results are better than last year, “failing schools” if
the results are not as good and of course “no progress”
if the results are the same. “Failing teachers” become
“greedy teachers” when we put in for a pay rise.

However the public trust in journalists has been low for 25
years at least, according to the nation-wide face to face
surveys carried out by MORI (now Ipsos MORI) since 1983. In
1983 19% of the British public said they trusted journalists
to tell the truth. Now it is 19% again.

At the top of the scale 92% said they trust doctors
Teachers (87%), professors (79%),
judges (78%) and clergy (74%) completed the top five of
those the public rated as the most trustworthy.


In every one of the last six years overall trust in
journalists has been at 18%, plus or minus the usual margin
of error of 3%.

It is worth remembering that government ministers (24%) and
politicians in general (21%) just come ahead of journalists
at the bottom of the table of sixteen occupations measured.

Interestingly only 30 percent of News of the World and Sun
readers say they trust their newspaper to tell the truth
even "somewhat". Rupert Murdoch sells the newspaper on the
slogan “Lots of fun in the Sun” but it is not seen as a
reliable source of information, even by Sun readers.

Socialist Alternative in America

Socialist Alternative and "Justice" Newspaper Needs Your Help

Help us raise $10,000 to make "Justice" newspaper a monthly!

In the United States great opportunities for socialists are opening up because of the manifest failure of the capitalist class in their stewardship of society. Our assistance will help make the Socialist Alternative in America more powerful.

You can donate by clicking here. Every penny or every cent counts.

LA Teachers End 24-Day Hunger Strike

In Los Angeles, a group of teachers have ended their twenty-four-day hunger strike to protest budget cuts. The teachers said they will now organize a campaign to recall some members of the Los Angeles Unified School Board. Thousands of Los Angeles teachers may soon be fired as the district faces a $700 million budget gap.

News story from Democracy Now - online news TV programme from America

Hope or Despair?

The BBC built up the BNP as a "protest vote" so it is hardly surprising that many people misguidedly voted for them as a protest against the corruption of politicians. It was a gesture of despair.

The Labour Party responded not by attacking the BNP but by attacking immigrants - "we have to pay attention to the public concern over immigration" - and perhaps ignore the public concern over MPs with snouts in the trough?

A gesture of hope was the 150000 votes for the left wing "No2EU Yes to Democracy" campaign in the UK and the election of a workers' MEP on a workers wage - Joe Higgins - in Ireland.

In the end education and tolerance will be the death of the BNP ..... and vice versa of course.

No2EU rally - the genesis of a new workers' party?

NEW EU HEALTH DIRECTIVE WILL PAVE THE WAY FOR PRIVATISATION OF NHS

NEW EU HEALTH DIRECTIVE WILL PAVE THE WAY FOR PRIVATISATION OF NHS

Britain’s newest political grouping, No2EU-Yes to Democracy, warned today that Britain is sleepwalking into the wholesale privatisation of the NHS after the European Parliament approved the extension of EU “internal market” rules to cover healthcare services, paving the way for private companies to take over the UK’s national health service.

No2EU is warning that this EU diktat is the biggest single threat to the founding principles of the NHS as a service “free at the point of need regardless of the ability to pay” since it was set up by Aneurin Bevan and the post-war Labour Government in 1948.

The approval of the Commission’s Health Services Directive has been bulldozed through despite assurances from the Party of the European Socialists, which includes the British Labour Party, that they would “defend public services”. Come the crunch they abstained on the vote, without any explanation, allowing it to be bundled through.

Labour MP Gisella Stuart has been quoted this week as saying, “I bet you my wages that in 10-15 years, if this Directive goes through, we cannot have a generally tax-funded NHS system".

No2EU is calling on everyone who supports the principle of a public National Health Service to turn out and vote for them on June 4th. No2EU is running a slate of candidates in every region of the UK, with the exception of Northern Ireland, on a platform of opposition to the Lisbon Treaty and the EU gravy train and in defence of public services and workers rights.

Bob Crow, No2EU convenor and RMT general secretary, said today: “Anyone who believes in the principles of the NHS and public services should be voting No2EU on June 4th. We are fighting to stop the break up of the National Health Service which is being driven by the EU and their backers from the banks and big business. The political elite in the UK are conspiring with this destruction of our public services and we have to mobilise over the next three weeks to stop them.”

Further information:
Geoff Martin 07818 513 435
Brian Denny 07903 376 303

God for Harry, England and St George

The high street looked very festive with all the flags
flying this morning. For a minute I thought the National
Front had taken over but then I realised it was St
George’s day.

The right-wing writer Evelyn Waugh said the typical English
response to a catastrophe was to "put out more flags". Well
we certainly have the catastrophe and Gordon Brown with his
blather about lessons in Britishness and flags on public
buildings seems to be following Waugh's prescription.

I stopped believing in saints and dragons some years ago but
at least in the myth St George killed the dragon. These days
he would given him billions of pounds and made sure he got a
big fat bonus.

I was amused to see a local shop advertising “celebrate St
George’s day” with a special offer on German lager. I
didn’t know St George was into binge drinking in a big
way:)

Cheers!

Have supply teachers been sold down the river?

The phrase "sold down the river" comes from the days of slavery in America when escaping slaves were sold back into slavery by those who were pretending to liberate them.

So when we saw that an unholy alliance of the SWP, CDFU, STA, the right wing and possibly the people's front of Judea were arrayed against the interests of supply teachers in the debate on the West Sussex amendment then supply teachers could legitimately feel they had been sold down the river. The policy the STA et al were advocating was that cover supervisors should be "used for no more than the first three days of absence in secondary schools and no more than the first day of absence in primary schools." Imagine how heads in schools where the members have held the line over teaching on the cheap will crow at that news. "Your own union says you have to accept (the criminal exploitation of) cover supervisors"

During the conference the president interrupted precisely two delegates - supporters of Classroom Teacher who were speaking in that debate.

"A teachers' job on a cleaner's wage" was how the conditions of cover supervisors were described at NUT conference.

The WSTA amendment which would have outlined a strategy to end the exploitation of cover supervisors and seek to reinstate teachers' pay and conditions for supply teachers was not carried.

This will not stop WSTA and Classroom Teacher seeking to support supply teachers. We will use email, facebook and more traditional methods to contact our supply teacher members. We will publicise the conditions of supply teachers to the rest of our membership. We will continue to seek alternatives to agencies and the scandalous policy of "teaching on the cheap."

Euro Elections

I am aware that merely mentioning the Euro Elections can send most audiences to sleep in short order.

However there is a concern that the BNP of all people may use the Euro Elections to gain a "respectable" platform from which to propagate their sick doctrine of hate.

And the only alternative in the past has been to vote for the Tories (come off it) or New Labour (Now I did say come off it!) - the very parties responsible for the mess in the first place.

That is why I welcome the initiative of the RMT in standing candidates in the Euro Election.
The No2Eu - yes to democracy campaign does at least give someone to vote for in the Euro Elections. If their vote is greater than the BNP vote then voting for them will fulfil the NUT policy of keeping the racists out.

Their website:
http://no2eu.com/keepoutthebnp.html

Ian Tomlinson died inside a police cordon - no confidence in the police complaints authority

Ian Tomlinson died yesterday inside a police cordon, witnesses are calling for information about his death and for an independent public inquiry. He died inside a police cordon. He was supposed to be under the care of the police and the police have a responsibility for the people they cordon in.

We can't accept that people can die inside a police cordon and for us to receive no information about it.

The police have a habit of surrounding protestors and then insisting that they disperse - how? - this was an inevitable consequence.

The official complaints procedure cannot be relied on. That official procedure pronounced the killers of Kevin Gately and Jean Charles de Menezes "not guilty".

Campaign against Youth Unemployment in Crawley

Youth fight for jobs
Photo shows campaigners in Crawley, including National Organiser Sean Figg. The public response was generally sympathetic and a lot of concern was expressed over the future of Crawley if youth unemployment means school leavers feel they have no future. There was also a lot of anger at the public money being handed out to feckless bankers.

Young people march against fees and job losses at G20, 2 April

Youth Fight for Jobs takes up fight for this generation’s future

The Youth Fight for Jobs campaign fights against fees and job losses, and will be launched through a march for jobs, in the tradition of the Jarrow Marchers, to the G20 on 2 April. This march will visit all 4 of the poorest boroughs in London, assembling at Camberwell Green at 9am, marching past parliament and the Bank of England, through Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham and finishing at the G20 meeting.

(there is a facebook event for this march here http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/event.php?eid=55020156172 - invite friends!)

Sean Figg, national organiser for the Youth Fight for Jobs, says “The numbers of unemployed are expected to reach 2 million in official figures tomorrow. So far, as a result of the recession, 40 percent of job cuts have taken place amongst 18 – 24 year olds.

“This news coincides with Universities UK launching their campaign for an increase in university fees. This is a cynical move to take advantage of young peoples fears for their future. Young people face a choice – to go to university and get into debt, and hope to escape the recession and improve their job chances, or take their chances looking for a job and end up on the dole.

“How come there’s money to bail out the failed bankers whilst young people pay for this crisis with unemployment and debt?

“Our campaign calls for the right to a decent job, for training to gain skills, and for the right of all young people to got to university without student debt. That’s why we are marching on 2 April”

The Youth Fight for Jobs campaign has gained the support of prominent activists since its launch in mid-January. Bob Crow*, RMT general secretary, Chris Kitchen, NUM General Secretary, Janice Godrich, PCS President, Glenn Kelly, Unison NEC, workers who took unofficial action at the Lindsey Oil Refinery and won a victory, and young people involved in the Prisme workplace occupation in Dundee and many others (all in personal capacity except*). The Youth Fight for Jobs campaign was involved in the protest of 1,000 people against university fees on 25 February, and together with the Campaign to Defeat Fees will be organising further action.



for more information contact 020 8558 7947

Sean Figg available for interviews, along with marchers who are young workers, threatened with job losses, students campaigning against fees and debt and more

see www.youthfightforjobs.com

email youthfightforjobs@gmail.com

It's capitalism Jim, but not as we know it!

A greengrocer in Balham selling cheap celery labelled it “Credit Crunch”. That is about as close to a serious analysis as I am prepared to go at the moment.

Remember when unreconstructed lefties wanted to nationalise the commanding heights of the economy?

I do – I was that soldier :)

Now capitalists want to nationalise the banks. There is only one caveat. When the banks were making obscene profits they had to remain private. Now they are making a loss they can become public but as soon as they are making obscene profits again the incompetent bankers (rhyming slang) will have them back thank you very much.

And now at long flaming last the trade unions will be standing their own candidates in the elections, but only the Euro elections and they are not quite sure about taking their seats in the European Parliament if elected.

If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs……. You obviously haven’t been paying attention.

New Regional Office

The phone number for the new Regional Office is:

01444 894500

As ever you can still contact WSTA on 01403 258222

Work related stress

There is a reluctance to attribute absences from work to "work-related stress". People feel that employers do not need to know about mental health problems when they are considering who to promote in the future!

However, as John Illingworth pointed out at the West Sussex Teachers' Association Reps training course. "If employees put work related stress as a reason for absence, employers are bound by law to seek ways of reducing that stress." A recent court case saw a Leicestershire teacher receiving a six figure sum in compensation because the employer had failed in the "duty of care" by ignoring stress in the workplace.

We say this not to encourage the "compensation culture" but to warn employers that they need to change their ways. Piling more and more stress on teachers as a short term fix to problems like OFSTED will have long term consequences for the morale of the teachers and the number of teachers leaving the profession.

Fight youth unemployment

In June thousands of young school-leavers will be facing the harsh reality of capitalism - no jobs and no incentive to learn. For many of them this will exacerbate their disaffection. If you think we have disaffected youth now - you ain't seen nothing yet.

Jobs are being cut left, right and centre. More than three million are expected to be unemployed by the end of 2009. Young people are among the first to be thrown on the scrapheap. Even when the economy was growing, most of us had low paid, insecure jobs. Now we are facing a future of mass unemployment. The government has bailed out the bankers to the tune of £550 billion - we demand a bailout for the rest of us!
We are fighting for a future. We demand:

* The right to a decent job for all, with a living wage of at least £8 an hour.
* No to cheap labour apprenticeships! For all apprenticeships to pay at least the minimum wages, with a job guaranteed at the end.
* No to university fees. Support the Campaign to Defeat Fees.

For full demands see below

While some bank managers are even daring to demand their usual multi-million Christmas bonuses - paid for by tax-payers - Woolworths have given the legal minimum in redundancy pay for those who have lost their jobs so far - a few hundred pounds for many young workers. The story is the same in every sector- whether it is car workers sent home on 30% of pay or BT staff losing their jobs - it is workers who are being expected to pay for the recession.

This is a global crisis. Governments the world over have acted to try and save capitalism, especially by shoring up the banking systems. But this has not been done for the benefit of the majority of the population. These bailed-out banks have made job cuts, and in the case of Northern Rock are the most likely to evict homeowners behind on their mortgage payments.

We are organising a protest at the G20 to highlight our opposition to international efforts to attempt to make workers pay for the bosses' crisis. We demand urgent action to stop the threat of unemployment, to prevent job losses and to create useful jobs for those who've lost theirs. We are holding a conference to launch the campaign on 4 April.

The government is currently campaigning to keep British bosses' right to make us work more than 48 hours a week, longer than any other EU country. So while millions are on the dole - the rest of us have to work 'til we drop! We demand that the work is shared out - with the immediate implementation of a 35-hour week - without loss of pay.

Large-scale government action should be taken to alleviate unemployment and the threat of job losses. There is an urgent need for more social workers, nurses and teachers. Just a fraction of the money used to bail out the banks could take hundreds of thousands off the dole queues and train them to carry out vital public services.

Five million people want decent public housing, but there is virtually none to be had. But currently there are enough bricks sitting idle to rebuild Nottingham, and building workers are losing their jobs by the thousand! Why couldn't the two be combined in a major, publicly owned, house building programme?

A government programme of investment into these vital areas, reversing cuts from the last few decades, could see millions of jobs created and improve the living conditions of the majority of the population.

When industries threaten closure we demand that they open their books to the workforce so we can see where the profits of the last decade have gone. Where companies threaten closure they should be nationalised under democratic workers' control.

Under New Labour young people who lose their jobs face grim prospects. At £60.50 a week, Job Seekers Allowance is not enough to survive on, with the added insult that, along with many other benefits, under-25s receive a lower rate. You don't get a discount on gas bills or rent if you're under 25, why should benefits be any lower? Without a serious programme of job creation, unemployed workers will be forced to fulfil pointless courses to supposedly make them fitter for jobs that don't exist. University is unaffordable, with graduate debts running into tens of thousands of pounds. Modern apprenticeships can pay less than even Job Seekers Allowance, with no guarantee of a job at the end.

Help build the Youth Fight for Jobs campaign in your workplace, school or college. Get in touch for assistance, leaflets, posters, model trade union resolutions and other campaigning material.

For a list of sponsors see here
WE ARE CAMPAIGNING FOR

* The right to a decent job for all.
* We won't pay for the bosses' crisis!
* No to job losses. Open the account books to let workers see where the profits have gone.
* Bail out workers not bosses. Nationalise big industries threatening closure or large-scale job losses.
* For fighting trade unions, involving young workers and the unemployed.
* For training linked to decent jobs.
* No to cheap labour apprenticeships! For all apprenticeships to pay at least the minimum wage, with a job guaranteed at the end.
* No to university fees. Support the Campaign to Defeat Fees.
* No to bullying management. For decent working conditions.
* For a living minimum wage of at least £8 an hour for all. No youth exemptions.
* Share out the work. For a 35 hour working week with no loss of pay.
* For government investment in socially useful jobs. For a massive public programme of house building, renovation and infrastructure projects. No to profiteering private companies running these projects

Construction site walkouts

The construction site walkouts have shown that when workers have really had enough, the anti-union laws demanding ballots are quickly ignored! Of course, the tabloid coverage suggested that this was driven by racist ‘anti-foreigner’ views.

The demands agreed at the mass meeting in Lincolnshiretoday were:

·          No victimisation of workers taking solidarity action.

·          All workers in UK to be covered by the national agreements.

·          Union controlled registering of unemployed and locally skilled union members, with nominating rights as work becomes available.

·          Government and employer investment in proper training / apprenticeships for new generation of construction workers - fight for a future for young people.

·          All Immigrant labour to be unionised.

·          Trade Union assistance for immigrant workers - including interpreters - and access to Trade Union advice - to promote active integrated Trade Union Members.

·          Build links with construction trade unions on the continent.

Gaza End the US-backed slaughter

Supply teachers

Supply teachers have always seemed to me to be the SAS of the teaching profession, parachuted in when there are gaps in the front line, taking classes where the teacher is over-stressed and finding out in five minutes *why* the teacher is over-stressed!

Conference Motions should have gone out last term and should be available on thehttp://teachers.org.uk website soon.

There is a resolution on supply and agency teachers on the agenda in the name of the executive. It has some pious objectives:
"1) Mount a campaign to build awareness of routes to permanent status for casually employed teachers.
2) Develop campaigning and negotiating strategies to encourage the re-establishment of local authority-wide supply pools.
3) Develop strategies to protect teachers who are not directly employed by local authorities or schools in order that they may access equal rights to pay, pension and other benefits.
4) Build a campaign to promote the employment of supply teachers to provide cover in schools.
We need to find ways of translating these fine sentiments into positive help for our supply and agency colleagues here and now.

Parents must be concerned that their children are not being taught by qualified teachers and their support could be very useful in putting on pressure to ensure "a qualified teacher for every child".

Jack London's book, "The Iron Heel"

Brighton Solstice Celebration

Bush's punishment by Muntadar al-Zaidi

I can see why people think Muntadar al-Zaidi is a hero when
the puppet government in Iraq are such pussies. The brave
security services are beating up a defenceless man in
custody. And they do it to grovel to the American occupying
power.

Since the war millions of Iraqis are still waiting for the
electricity and water supplies to be restored to normal. It
is hardly surprising they experience frustration and any
sign of resistance to Bush is welcomed.

The politicians stay well away from Iraqis, keeping
themselves locked up in what Rajiv Chandrasekaran called "The
Emerald Palace" of the Green Zone. So it was only because
Bush wanted the media to see him on his farewell tour that
Muntadar had a chance to strike a small blow on behalf of
the women and children whose blood is on Bush's hands.

I don't condone throwing shoes but compared to bombing
civilians, the massacre at Fallujah, torture at Abu Ghraib
and Guantanamo, Bush's punishment is mild.

Jewish school-leavers refuse to support oppression in Palestine

Name: Udi Nir
Age: 19
Location: Tel-Aviv
Why I am one of the Shministim:
“I will not lend my own hand to the occupation and to acts that contradict my most basic values: human rights, democracy and the personal responsibility each and every human being bears towards fellow human beings.”
Sentence: Aug. 21st - Sept. 7th 2008 (18 days)

Torture counterproductive in Iraq

Democracy Now! interviewed a former special intelligence operations officer who led an interrogations team in Iraq two years ago. His nonviolent interrogation methods led Special Forces to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq. He has written a new book, "How to Break a Terrorist: The US Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq."

The publication date for the book was delayed for six weeks due to the Pentagon’s vetting of it. The soldier wrote it under the pseudonym, Matthew Alexander, for security reasons. He says the US military’s use of torture is responsible for the deaths of thousands of US soldiers by inspiring foreign fighters to kill Americans.

Click here to read more

McCain has had his chips

Millions of Americans genuinely voted for change. McCain represented more of the same and Obama represented the audacity of hope.

The Democrats and Republicans are essentially one party and we can hardly celebrate the victory of one capitalist party over another. The Democrats are the worst kind of manipulative machine politicians.

A simple example is the response to the story of Obama's aunt.

The use by muckrakers of the corporate media of the fact that Obama's "half aunt" was classed as an illegal immigrant was an ideal opportunity to point out the plight of the illegals in the US. After all when the illegals staged a one day strike on May Day 2006 many everyday services in the USA ground to a halt. The prejudice against illegals is nonsensical.

Instead we were told that Obama was "of course concerned that the law should be complied with". Would he have told Rosa Parks, would he have told all those who broke the law to achieve civil rights the same thing? If he is prepared to make concessions like this before the election what other compromises will he be prepared to make in the future?

Many in America see Obama as a fresh hope after eight years of Republican rule but their disappointment will be so much the greater if the new boss turns out to be the same as the old boss.

Initially people who supported Obama will make excuses - he couldn't help the poor because of the economic crisis. He is intent on managing capitalism and helping the poor and disadvantaged. Socialists might be tempted to say "I've told you before you can't do that!"

And every government which has tried - sincerely or otherwise - to do so has been blown off course like Wilson in 1966. The corporations will not relinquish their power without a fight - and usually a fight to the finish with no holds barred.

John Pilger commented on the election of Obama, "Well, it comes down to, I suppose, asking an Afghan child how they feel when their family has been destroyed by a 500-pound bunker-busting bomb dropped by the United States and dropped by President Obama, as he continues that war. I think that’s the reality that we really have to begin to discuss now, having celebrated, and rightly celebrated, the ascent of the first African American president of the United States. "

Change big donors can believe in

Democracy Now's Amy Goodman reports that "Regardless of who the winner is, the next president will enter the White House with a long list of major donors to thank. "

And the media do not report on this.

Researcher Bill Buzenberg explains:

“Every local television station I have been to, I say, ‘How do you do in election years?’ They say, ‘We buy new cameras, new sets.’ It is a huge benefit to them. The commercial broadcasters are cleaning up this year like never before, and you’ll never hear them questioning the system that allows so much money to come back to them.”

Click here for details

Socialism 2008

End Child Poverty

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Crawley Socialist Party

The Crawley Socialist Party were out today campaigning against the fuel and food price rises and for a new workers' party. The public response was good. Theres a lot of anger from working people who cannot afford the excessive price rises and recognise the profits of the fat cats are to blame.

http://crawleysocialistparty.blogspot.com is their brand new blog.

Arrest of journalist - BBC does not protest

Democracy Now! Host Amy Goodman was arrested while questioning police about the unlawful detention of Producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, who were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention.

Democracy Now! is a radio and TV show available on the internet at HTTP://democracynow.org. It aims to represent the “silenced majority” in American society. To their shame, BBC journalists have failed to raise the issue of Amy Goodman's arrest or to protest.

Sheer self-preservation would suggest that journalists should oppose the targeting of journalists by the police in the United States. Democracy Now has been a thorn in their side because of their refusal to use “embedded” journalists who simply reproduce the government line.

As Amy Goodman says “journalism is telling a story somebody doesn't want told. Anything else is advertising.”

It is in the interests of all workers in the media (and out of it!) to protest the arrest of journalists who seek to undermine the lies of the corporate media.

Socialism 2008

Ali Piper's website

Ali Piper's website is http://www.alipiper.co.uk and it is currently under construction so watch this space.

The grey gerbil shown in the photograph is actually a microphone.

Letters to Lara

There is some renewed interest in the Letters to Lara project. Of course teachers can choose another iconic computer game hero in place of Lara and get the same interesting response.

Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka

This book tells the stories of a group of immigrant workers in the UK. The book switches point of view between the characters in a way which creates an original and exciting type of narrative.

As the novel develops it becomes the love story between Irina and Andriy. She is a devotee of the Orange revolution and westernisation in the Ukraine which she saw as a liberation from Russian domination. Andriy is the son of a miner who fought against the capitalist restoration and the consequent destruction of the mining industry.

Andriy is traumatised by a mining accident in which his father was buried underground. As the narrative develops it becomes clear that after the mines closed miners were forced to go underground without any safety precautions to get coal to use and sell. His grief turns into an anger against the “mobilfonmen” the spivs who have taken over the Ukraine and have their counterparts in the UK.

Irina's romanticism is gently mocked: 'English men are supposed to be incredibly romantic. There is a famous folk-legend of a man who braves death and climbs in through his lady's bedroom window just to bring her a box of chocolates.'

And the style of narration is an ideal way of showing how the two lovers misunderstand each other.

It would not be everybody’s choice to read a description of the appalling conditions of immigrant labour in the UK or the politics of the Ukraine but Marina Lewycka turns it into a tragic and comic narrative which is a good read.

And I leave the last word to Andriy “If I were a warrior, I would not be defending some stupid old stones but the flesh and blood of living people. In Donbas too the mobilfonmen have taken over, and people have become disposable, their precious lives thrown away through avoidable accidents and preventable disease, their misery blunted by vodka. This is the future his country has prepared for him - to be expendable. No he will not accept it."

The ISBN for this book is 978-0-670-91637-5. Get it from your library.

Hospices

Angela and I were pleased to take part in the Midnight Walk in Horsham for St Catherine's hospice. FYI Hospices work with the terminally ill. They make it easier for people in a way hospitals are not equipped to do. I was a marshal because this is a women-only event

And I still wonder why the government has no money for this when they have billions for war.

Bullies, Nazis and Prats

42 days for not committing any crime.

If you favour locking up people who have committed no crime for 42 days then why stop there?

Solzhenitsyn tells the story of a prisoner who got off the truck and told the guard he had been sentenced to ten years. When asked what for he answered "nothing". The guard hit him and shouted "Liar! The penalty for nothing is five years!"

Bill Hicks on Advertising