Perhaps we should be grateful to Goldman Sachs. It is so brazen in its greed and ruthlessness that it exposes the ugly face of capitalism far more crudely than its detractors ever could. Now we have the resignation letter of one of its executive directors, Greg Smith, to confirm from the inside what Goldman is [...]
Posts under ‘Trade Unions’
Police state exposed over blacklisting
Mar 5th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.The exposure in yesterday’s Observer that the blacklisting of 3,200 construction workers via the building employers’ front body, the so-called Consulting Association which had previously been known about, was actively aided by the police and security services raises alarming questions about the rise of a police state in this country because this is only the [...]
If trade unions don’t fight the workers’ corner – others will
Mar 3rd, 2012 by Owen Jones.Our Prime Minister certainly has few doubts about who’s orchestrating the backlash against workfare. “Trotskyites!” Cameron boomed during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions; if he’d thrown in “wreckers”, it wouldn’t have been a bad impression of Andrej Vyshinsky, Stalin’s semi-hysterical prosecutor during the 1930s Show Trials. Bookmarks Hide Sites
Len McCluskey on the union ‘block vote’
Mar 1st, 2012 by Jon Lansman.Len McCluskey’s interview in yesterday’s Guardian makes interesting reading. Most focus has been on what he said about the Olympics about which David Osler has already commented. There is also some very good stuff about the class composition of the parliamentary Labour Party. However, there may also be some concern about what he said about [...]
The absence of the trade union Right
Feb 22nd, 2012 by Andy Newman.The recent report circulated about the activities of Progress, a semi-clandestine “party within a party” has been highlighted by Jon Lansman. Conrad Landin further highlights the undemocratic nature of Luke Akehurst’s Labour First group The level of organisation of the Labour right gives them disproportionate leverage within the party, particularly as the consensus between the Blairites, [...]
Mark Serwotka backs Leanne Wood for Plaid leadership
Feb 21st, 2012 by Newsdesk.Plaid’s Leanne Wood has received the backing of Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), who called her “one of the most outstanding politicians in Wales.” Leanne Wood has been a consistent supporter of picket lines and union rallies over the years in defence of pay and conditions for public sector workers [...]
GMB calls on Ed Balls to reverse position on public sector pay
Feb 21st, 2012 by Newsdesk.GMB, the union for public sector workers, commented on the restatement of Labour’s economic policy made by Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls over the weekend. Brian Strutton, GMB National Secretary for Public Services, said: Bookmarks Hide Sites
The Labour Union link – without it there is no party
Feb 20th, 2012 by Jim Kennedy.Affiliated trade unions have always had a role in the formal constitutional structure of the Party. The relationship hasn’t always been straightforward. The trade union link has been put under pressure sporadically throughout history – either from external forces or as a result of internal conflict between the Party and trade unions. In relation to [...]
A new class politics
Feb 20th, 2012 by Owen Jones.The recession has brought class inequality back into view by exposing the unjust distribution of wealth and power in Britain. Labour must tackle this with a new class politics of stronger trade unions and a more representative parliament. During the long boom of the nineties and noughties, it was possible to at least pretend class [...]
Foxconn: right and left should stop apologising for China
Feb 16th, 2012 by David Osler.Barack Obama’s hot date for Valentine’s Day this year was none other than Xi Jinping, the man set to take over as president of China at the end of this year. The White House celebrated his visit with a level of razzamatazz not usually accorded to anyone short of the rank of head of state, [...]
