Solidarity Solidarity& Workers’ Liberty For a workers’ government For social ownership of the banks and industry MYANMAR SOLIDARITY TARGETS BRANDS By Michael Elms Many trade union leaders had to go into hiding, because mili- ollowing a meeting called by tary started searching for them FMomentum Internationalists at factory level and at their between UK labour movement homes. For many of them it is activists and Myanmar trade now difficult to return to work, union leaders, there will be a due to lack of transportation series of protests directed at UK and due to the many military brands from this weekend. checkpoints on the roads, ment, calling itself the Civil Sheffield: Saturday 22 May where people are checked and Disobedience Movement, has 11am H&M on Fargate arbitrarily detained or shot. been led by trade unions and Newcastle: Friday 21 May, “In Hlaing Thar Yar, the mili- workers’ organisations. 2pm, H&M on Northumberland tary is arbitrarily stopping work- Many workers in Myanmar’s Street ers on the streets demanding garment factories, especially North London: Sunday 23 that they handle their phones Yangon, have been out on May, 11am H&M in Wood to soldiers or under threat of strike. The army and police has Green arrest they obliging workers, if met these protests with vio- Lambeth and Lewisham, both they do not have phones, to pay lence and live bullets. The As- to be confirmed. 20,000 MMK. During the 14-15 sistance Association for Political Trade unionists in Myanmar March crackdown, around 37 Prisoners said that as of 17 May, and around the world are de- Chinese owned factories were 802 people had been killed by manding that global brands burned or damaged. Two more the military for participating in work with their suppliers to garment factories in Hlaing the movement, 4,120 detained safeguard the jobs of work- Thar Yar were burned on April and 20 sentenced to death. ers who are unable to attend 7, leaving 16 people dead at Many UK clothing brands use work due to the political situ- the hands of the military. garment factories in Myanmar. ation. So far, some brands like “Also due to these events, In April, trade union leader H&M, Next, C&A, Primark and many workers are afraid to go Khaing Zar Aung described the ≫End the occupation: for a fully independent Palestinian state! Benetton have suspended back to work, fearing that their situation for workers in garment new orders. But they have not factories may also get burned in Recognise Israel’s right to exist factories: ≫ yet taken steps to ensure that the future. The military regime “Many workers are afraid to wages and severance are being cut phone lines and mobile in- ≫Democracy for all: stop discrimination against Palestinians in Israel go back to work, because of paid. ternet, so it is nearly impossible the total lack of security in the See page 2 The military in Myanmar for workers to inform their em- ≫Jewish-Arab workers’ unity industrial zones. Thousands of carried out a coup in Febru- ployers if they cannot return to workers have returned to their Glasgow protest US battles on Left politics in Cliff Slaughter: ary and abolished the elected work. Due to the cut-off of com- home villages during the vio- halts deportations voting rights Singapore might-have-been government. Since then, mil- munication, even union mem- lent crackdown taken place in “A lot of threads came States have already The battle to create A major writer on the lions of people have taken to bers cannot contact their union Hlaing Thar Yar on 14-15 March, together... spontaneity, passed 25 new laws to space for democratic British far left from the the streets to demand an end representatives and inform the when military killed over 100 but.. with roots” cut voter turnout debate and culture 1960s to the 1980s to dictatorship and democracy employers.” □ for Myanmar. This street move- people in that industrial area. Page 9 Page 9 Page 6 Pages 12-13 No. 593, 19 May 2021 50p/£1 workersliberty.org No. 593, 19 May 2021 50p/£1 workersliberty.org Two states, equal rights! Socialist, or even minimally demo- cratic, federations can be achieved only Editorial by free agreement between nations, and withering-away of national hostili- ties and fears through solid guarantees n day nine of Israel’s bombing of of rights. Gaza, the percentage of civilian O That is the way in Israel-Palestine: casualties is inexorably rising. Hun- self-determination for both peoples, dreds are dead. 58,000 are displaced, Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian Arab. according to the UN. The bombs in- Freedom for the Palestinians to gain creasingly shatter the social infrastruc- their own independent state alongside ture of the blockaded, pauperised Israel. Two nations, two states. No path territory: hospitals, electricity, water. to future socialist federation is possible The Israeli government of Benjamin other than through that way of mutual Netanyahu, surprised at Hamas’s abil- Standing Together protest recognition. ity to fire so many rockets, and as far “Two states” is part of a program, not as Jerusalem, is retaliating with over- tories and negotiate on the basis of the ans fled or were driven out. a whole program. Achieving it will not whelming, brutal, vindictive military Palestinians’ right to an independent No socialist, or almost none, backed automatically resolve the democratic force, intent on wreaking maximum de- Palestinian state, in contiguous terri- the Arab states then. Socialists saw questions within the states, let alone struction before international pressure tory, alongside Israel. those states were engaged in (as the the social and class issues. It will open brings a ceasefire. Israel withdrew troops and settlers Palestinian Trotskyists put it) a “racial the way to the withering-away of na- The immediate frame is rising right- from Gaza in 2005, but, together with war against the Jews of Palestine”. (In tional hostilities, fears, and barriers wing Jewish-chauvinist mobilisation Egypt, has maintained a blockade on the run-up to 1948, and in the decades rather than immediately ending them. in Israel, expressed in new pressure the territory since Hamas took power after, almost all Jews would be forced It is a pivotal link in the program to evict Palestinians in East Jerusalem there in 2007. out of Arab states, over 600,000 of needed now to unite workers across and large-scale violent police actions The Palestinians have a right to them). the region for common aims; an urgent against Palestinian youths in the Old self-determination! The semi-quasi-au- In 1948, it looked like the Arab states, step to win peace and redress for the City and the Al-Aqsa mosque com- tonomy in pockets of the West Bank (in with their large established armies, Palestinians; and a necessary basis for pound in Jerusalem. effect, the “right” to have a bureaucracy would win against the scrappy impro- international solidarity geared to de- The Israeli authorities eventually re- of their “own” distribute aid money), vised Jewish militia. Now, Hamas’s mili- mocracy, not revenge. □ treated a step in the face of joint Pal- and blockaded Gaza, are a taunting tary chances are zero. The politics of its estinian-Jewish street protests inside mockery of that right. military action are no less reactionary. One result of the bloody horrors now And they lock Palestinians into a per- Israel: postponing (but only postpon- → from inside page ii ing) court hearings on evictions, re- is to give reprieve to Netanyahu. At- spective where no redress is possible tempts to form a coalition to displace other than hoping for a magical rever- hinterland of East Jerusalem, cutting laxing police restrictions, re-routing a it off from the West Bank, and threat- provocative Jewish-chauvinist march. him after Israel’s 23 March general sal of the military balance. election (the fourth in two years) have ening the Palestinian aspiration to Then Hamas started firing rockets on 10 Hope an independent state with East Jeru- May; and Israel has bombed, bombed, collapsed. Another result is to boost the stand- Immediately we have to add pressure salem as its capital. East Jerusalem and bombed. for a ceasefire. Larger hope is for the Palestinians have also suffered from The longer-term frame is Netanyahu’s ing of Hamas in the West Bank and even, it seems, among Palestinians in long haul, but it exists. the building of the “Separation Wall”, policy, since he became prime minister It exists in movements like Standing which cuts through East Jerusalem in 2009, of stalling and blocking all Israel. Hamas’s rocket attacks are in- discriminately aimed against civilians Together, a joint Jewish-Arab move- and puts many of them on the wrong peace initiatives with the Palestinians. ment in Israel, which has been active side of checkpoints. Instead, he has worked to “manage” in Israel, and cannot possibly help get a just peace. Amidst political impasse on social issues and equal rights in- 75% of the East Jerusalem Pales- the Palestinian populations inside Is- side Israel, and is now mobilising for a tinians live under the official poverty rael, in the West Bank, and in Gaza — to and desperation, they can give Hamas the shine of doing “something”. ceasefire. line, reliant on work in construction, keep them beaten down while he ex- It exists in other movements like trade, and education. Jerusalem’s tends Jewish settlements in the West Netanyahu and Hamas reinforce each other. It serves Netanyahu to have the WAC-Ma’an, or the Democracy and Jewish population is also poorer Bank. He has backed off only tempo- Workers’ Rights Centre, which organise than the Israeli average (29% under rarily from annexing up to 60% of the Palestinians corralled under the leader- ship of political Islamists, allies of Iran or help Palestinian and Jewish workers the poverty line): 34% of it, much West Bank’s land to Israel, which would on a class basis. more than in any other Israeli city, is leave the West Bank Palestinians with and pensionaries of Qatar, from whom there is no pressure for actual political Some leftists justify siding with Hamas ultra-Orthodox. nominal autonomy in 160-odd distinct by saying the answer must be “a single, Palestinians from Israel proper patches of land surrounded by Israeli outcomes. It serves Hamas to have an Israeli leadership guaranteed not to secular, democratic, socialist state in all have joined protests in Sheikh Jar- sovereign territory. Palestine”. That can make sense only if rah and become more assertive in Longer-term again, the frame is the give secular and democratic political forces among the Palestinians a lifeline you think that a single theocratic-fascis- recent years. stalling by Israeli governments since tic state would, by virtue of being “sin- Netanyahu’s policy has been to try the Oslo Accords of 1993-5 on the by opening doors towards justice and peace. gle”, be a good stepping stone towards to “manage” the Palestinian popu- promises in those accords to withdraw secularism, democracy, socialism. In lation of Israeli by economic con- Israeli troops from the occupied terri- Many on the protests against Israel’s bombing think that anger fact, pressure for an imaginary “single” cessions while blocking Palestinian against Israel’s bombing state can serve only Netanyahu’s “real” national rights. Many more Pales- means backing Hamas. version of that: rule across all of pre- tinians get to Israeli universities, for That makes no more sense 1948 Palestine with the Palestinians as a example. Those changes have not than support for the Arab subjugated and parcelled-off minority. reconciled Palestinians to inequali- armies in the 1948 war in We want whole regions, indeed the ties, but rather increased their will to which the Jewish com- whole world, federated into a univer- act against injustice and indignities. sal workers’ republic without border munity in Palestine estab- • More online on reshaping Israel: guards. Socialist federations in regions lished Israel as a state and bit.ly/s-jarr in which 750,000 Palestini- and in sub-regions will be progress.

2 workersliberty.org @workersliberty @workers_liberty fb.com/workersliberty Israel-Palestine: Arabs and Jews unite for equal rights Standing Together (@omdimbeyachad) hese are dark days, full of violence way and that a different future here is ment and elitist settler groups that do is a left-wing social movement in Israel, Tand escalation, incitement and ha- possible. We proved that, while our not serve our interests. We don’t just involving Palestinian Arab and Jewish tred. But something truly inspiring hap- government is igniting a fire and taking want to go back to the situation before citizens. In the past week, it has been pened here yesterday, which showed us further and further away from peace, the escalation started; we’re demand- organising cross-communal demon- that there can be light after all this dark- there is a huge Arab-Jewish majority in ing a much more fundamental change strations across Israel, demanding an ness. In the early hours of the morning, our society that opposes violence, that in our society. immediate ceasefire, opposing occu- we sent out a call for our supporters knows and insists that children in both “We organise day-in and day-out, pation, racism, and war, and support- to hold joint Jewish-Arab protests and Gaza and Sderot want to live full, secure so that precisely in these difficult -mo ing equality and solidarity between stands all across the country, and within lives. And we are not going to stop. ments, we are able to mobilise thou- Arabs and Jews. Some of its protests hours we had received thousands of re- “At Standing Together, we under- sands to the streets and change the have been attacked by far-right Jewish sponses. stand that we need a critical mass of national conversation. We organise so chauvinists. It issued this statement on “So yesterday evening, in dozens of organised people who see the inter- that after this nightmare ends, we can 14 May. locations up and down Israel, thou- connectedness of their struggles. That’s continue our work towards a better re- sands of Arabs and Jews stood to- why we don’t only demand a ceasefire; ality for all of us” — from bit.ly/st-state- gether and proved that there is another we protest against a right-wing govern- ment □ “We will not go to war for a nationalistic agenda” The following statement was perpetuates the Israeli occu- about the people or, dare we homes, and people. Some chaic nationalistic agenda. We published by the Refuser Sol- pation), and the Israeli police’s imagine, about basic human local businesses in mixed cit- will not hold a weapon, press a idarity Network, which works extreme acts of violence have rights — they would under- ies have had no choice but to button, or wear a uniform that to build support for Israelis now deteriorated to an ex- stand that there is no way to close down in fear of riots de- brings death and breaks a fam- refusing compulsory national change of fire. It has brought live with four hours of elec- stroying their property; we are ily apart. Not when we were service in the country’s military. the death of dozens of people tricity a day and without clean on the brink of a civil war. The eighteen, not ever. This land is (More: refuser.org) between the river and the sea drinking water. The people in Israeli media serves hatred drowning in blood. — most of which are in Gaza, Gaza are in survival mode — a and does nothing to report We stand in solidarity with hat started a month ago some of which are children. way of living none of us can solidarity protests organized the citizens of southern Israel Wwith the ban on sitting at Our heart aches. This war imagine. We are dealing with by Palestinians and Jewish and with Gaza and Sheikh Jar- Damascus Gate [in Jerusalem] could have been avoided. It decision makers that are not people together. The police rah. We oppose this pre-or- during Ramadan, continued could’ve ended before it had interested in peace, justice, or violently arrest Palestinians, chestrated war and call for with brawling in Jaffa, settlers begun if only the Israeli gov- in stopping the cycle of death. including minors, while doing the immediate end of the Is- rampaging in south Hebron ernment and military would They are interested in political almost nothing to stop attacks raeli occupation and demand mountain, the court decision have let the Palestinian peo- and economic power and this by extreme right wingers. recognition of the Palestinian to evict dozens of Palestinian ple be. This is not only about reality serves their interests. We will not go on operations pain. Only then will we start families from Sheikh Jarrah the past month. If the heads Inside Israel there are riots and wars that give us nothing to see anything different from (backed by a racist law that of the state and army cared and attacks on businesses, but death in the name of an ar- this grim reality. □ “No winners in escalation” “Freedom for all of us” Muhammad Shehada is a Palestinian watching the frightening smoke, the Palestinian socialist-feminist activist which has been targeted by rocket at- from Gaza, who is a contributing col- ones just rendered homeless, or the Sally Abed, a leading activist in Stand- tacks] are enslaved by this government. umnist for Forward. The following is tragic casualties. Bombing towers ing Together, spoke at a demonstration We are here to demand freedom, free- an excerpt from his latest article (bit. and civilian infrastructure, rendering outside the Tel Aviv HQ of Benjamin Ne- dom for us all — especially for Palestini- ly/muhammad-jdf) people homeless, inflicting traumas tanyahu’s right-wing Likud party. This is ans, but not only for them. Freedom for on Gaza’s entire population, deliber- an excerpt from her speech (bit.ly/sal- all of us, Jews and Arabs... □ f your home is destroyed, you will ately or incidentally, might offer future ly-speech) Iforever feel a sense of oppression campaign material for [Israeli defence and defeat, even if you get another minister Benny] Gantz or [Prime Minis- y name is Sally Abed... I’m a Pales- one,” a childhood friend told me Fri- ter Benjamin] Netanyahu to announce Mtinian, and I’m an Israeli citizen. I’m day afternoon while contemplating that they’d sent parts of Gaza “back to scared, and I’m hurting. The fact that we what would become of him if his the Stone Age”. But it won’t make Is- are all gathered here helps me remain house were next. Becoming homeless raelis any safer. hopeful. We have to struggle together. after an airstrike, losing everything in It would only “punish, humiliate and When I call for freedom, it’s not only a glimpse of an eye, would still be a terrorise” Gaza’s civilian population, as that of the Palestinians, but freedom less grim fate than ending up under the famous Goldstone Report about for all of us. the rubble, like the Abu Hatab family, Israel’s 2008-9 Operation Cast Lead We all pay the horrible price of occu- which lost ten members — eight of put it. And that would only fuel more pation — all of us are victims of a right- Standing Together them children — when Israel attacked wing government, a government that hate and vengeance, entrapping us • Donate: bit.ly/donate-st the al-Shati refugee camp overnight and Israelis in an endless yet prevent- serves settlers, a government that is • UK solidarity campaign in support Friday. A five-month-old baby, now able cycle of pain and grief. There are filled with racist policies, a government of Israel’s Jewish-Arab grassroots parentless, survived. no winners in this escalation, and civil- that couldn’t care less about us. We are movement for peace, equality and And there’s virtually no way to tell ians are certainly the ultimate bearers enslaved as Palestinians, and also as cit- social justice, on twitter: when the next air strike hits if my fam- of the heaviest price. □ izens, as women, as youth. The children ily and friends will be the spectators in Sderot [an Israeli town near Gaza @omdimbeyachadUK

Events and campaigns: workersliberty.org/meetings youtube.com/c/WorkersLibertyUK workersliberty.org/audio 3 Early economic convulsions inant force in politics. I think we can expect that to change as the material reality changes. There is nothing au- Letter tomatic about this leading to a revival of mass socialist politics. But I never limate science predicts that differ- argued that there was. I merely sug- Cent crises will unfold at different gested that in a world of escalating time scales and under different emis- humanitarian crises, it may become in- sions scenarios. The purpose of my ar- creasingly difficult to defend the right ticle (Solidarity 589) was to argue that of private individuals to own and con- economic convulsions will be an early trol the means of production. rather than a late impact of climate Chris says that capitalist crisis tend change, and may well begin in antici- to be driven by overproduction rather pation of the major civilisation-rocking nouncement of the death agony of will falter year on year and the future than destruction. But capitalism has crises like sea-level rise. capitalism proved false and was pro- will look ever more catastrophic. I think never had to cope with the general- Further, that these convulsions will foundly disorientating for the post-war within the next few decades the ap- ised, escalating and multifaceted de- occur at a time when the dawning re- Trotskyist movement. The lesson here is pearance of the end of growth will be struction that climate change will bring. alisation of climate change — that the that we cannot predict in advance what convincing enough that it will radically Chris finds the end of growth scenario future is one of escalating and multi- innovations the capitalist class might alter the political reality. “dubious”. But that’s really just an asser- ple crises piling up and compounding develop in the course of crises. But the Chris Reynolds (Solidarity 590) ar- tion of his faith in capitalism’s resilience each other — becomes hegemonic. I ex- crisis comes before the innovation. gues that social pessimism is already a rather than an argument based on the pect these initial climate related shocks Similarly, there is no evidence that big force in politics and mostly benefits evidence. (predicted by respectable bourgeois capitalist rule can organise a reduc- the political right. However, so long as I’d be interested to know more about institutions) will appear to be the start tion in CO2 emissions but it would be the world economy continues to grow, how Chris thinks climate shocks — those of a seemingly intractable economic foolish to say that this will always be this pessimism does not impact the rul- I have outlined and many more besides crisis, the end of smooth year-on-year the case. As the economic shocks of ing class. — will impact on an already crisis-prone GDP growth. The word “seemingly” climate change build, we will reach the The triumphalism of the neoliberal system. □ here is important. Trotsky’s 1940 pro- point where world economic growth age is still the overwhelmingly dom- Todd Hamer, London More to condemn Communist for on it recently. And on Sunday 16th, a convoy of cars with Pal- clampdown? estinian flags on them were Letter filmed driving down Finch- ley Road in London scream- totally agree with Martin ing “F*** the Jews, rape their Letter IThomas (Solidarity 592) that daughters!” “Israel should withdraw from About all this, from Hamas o add to Jim Denham’s the West Bank, end its block- terrorism and antisemitic Tarticle (Solidarity 592) on ade of Gaza, and concede the chants to attacking syna- the intervention by the Com- right of Palestinians to an In- gogues, the majority on munist Party of Britain (CPB) dependent state of their own the left has been silent. We in May’s local elections, I’d alongside Israel.” But many shouldn’t be silent about it all like to highlight some of the on the socialist left see an in- just because Israel commits se- radical “socialist solutions” on Markus Keaney dependent Palestine along- rious crimes. offer from one of their candi- side Israel as impossible, as We should oppose the Kaha- dates in particular, Luton’s walk or drive around to see they see Israel as a colonial nist far right in Israel in their ef- Markus Keaney. the scale of the problem. If and apartheid state that must Even more worryingly on the forts to create settlements and The CPB promised candi- elected, I will put pressure on come to an end for there to be Free Palestine protest on Sat- their targeting of Arabs within dates to put “leftward pres- the council to allocate fund- peace. urday 15 May in London, men Israel. We should condemn sure” on Labour. From what ing and police resources into Worryingly there has been were filmed chanting “Khay- the Israeli government for its I’ve understood, in Luton they High Town. My main priorities little to no condemnation bar Khaybar yehud Jaish Mu- aggression on Gaza, killing in- wouldn’t need to be that left will be tackling street drug on the left for the actions of hammad sauf Ya’ud” (Khaybar, nocent civilians. But we should wing at all. But what would dealing and prostitution, and Hamas, indiscriminately firing Khaybar, oh Jews, Muham- oppose Hamas terrorism, the this leftward pressure look the renovation of empty units rockets into Israel, killing and mad’s army is returning) whilst Islamist ideology it propa- like in this ultra-safe Labour on High Town Road.” injuring innocent civilians. wearing shirts with Saddam gates, and speak out against stronghold? Keaney gave That’s right: Vote Commu- Hamas political bureau mem- Hussein on them. the antisemitism which seems us a glimpse in his exclusive nist for more funding for the ber and former minister of in- On Friday 14th a synagogue embedded in the “Free Pales- pre-election interview with cops to crack down on sex terior, Fathi Hammad said on in Norwich was found to have tine” movement. Luton Today: workers and drug use! 7 May on Al-Aqsa TV: “People antisemitic graffiti on it, along- Solidarity to the working “There are a couple of Keaney convinced some 36 of Jerusalem, we want you to side “Free Palestine”. In Ger- class of both Israel and Pales- endemic problems in High people to vote for him of the cut off the heads of the Jews many, Israeli flags were burnt tine! □ in front of two synagogues, Town, which several Labour 6500-plus electorate. □ with knives.” This is an incite- Mo Starke Hannon, and in Spain a synagogue had administrations have failed Lewis Joyes, ment to kill Jews, yet many London to deal with. You only have to on the left are silent on this. “Free Palestine” spray-painted Hertfordshire

4 workersliberty.org @workersliberty @workers_liberty fb.com/workersliberty Israel-Palestine: a crisis of leadership is only part of it even land are not the main problem. In Israel, the parties with “a vision for The problem is that, politically speak- peace” are now very small and getting Eric Lee ing, both Israelis and Palestinians are smaller. Labour and Meretz, which three shockingly badly led.” decades ago could form a government Their solution is a simple one: “Both that was able to reach an agreement By Eric Lee sides need fresh leaders, infused with a with the PLO, are now marginal. ver 80 years ago, Trotsky wrote vision for peace, not war.” On the Palestinian side, things are Othat “the world political situation The authors of that editorial are not far worse — especially in Gaza, where as a whole is chiefly characterised by a wrong — but they don’t go far enough. a murderous and corrupt dictatorship Activist Agenda historical crisis of the leadership of the As with Trotsky’s formulation in 1938, has existed for more than a decade. the crisis of leadership is part of the In both nations, we need more than a proletariat.” I always thought that this n the 32nd anniversary of the problem. But it is not the whole prob- simple change in leadership, welcome was a rather audacious claim to make. Tienanmen Square massacre lem. though that would be. Both Israel and O After all, surely there were other things of 4 June 1989, Uyghur Solidarity Palestine need political revolutions. at play in the world, certainly back in Different leaderships Campaign and the Hong Kong cam- 1938. Without the emergence in both coun- After all, at least on the Israeli side there paign LMSHKUK will protest from But I thought of those words again tries of a politics based on social class have been many different leaders over 7pm, with a rally at 8pm, outside the today as I read the Observer editorial rather than tribal loyalties, the blood- the last few decades. The Netanyahu Chinese Embassy in Portland Place, on the renewal of violence between Is- shed will not stop. When workers see years have been particularly terrible London W1B 1JL: “Democracy, raelis and Palestinians. each other as workers, rather than as ones, with the possibility of a two-state freedom, workers’ rights for China, “Benjamin Netanyahu is not fit to Jews or Arabs, racism does not thrive. solution seeming ever more remote. Hong Kong, Tibet, and Uyghurs”. be Israel’s prime minister,” stated the The creation of powerful trade unions But the previous Israeli prime ministers The Safe and Equal campaign is editorial, correctly describing him as and robust social democratic parties — including those from the Labour Party putting together a model Covid someone who has undermined any linked to them would help create an — also did not reach an agreement to safety survey. It wants health and possibility of a two-state solution. entirely new discourse — and new hope end the conflict. safety reps to conduct new work- But the Palestinian leadership fared for both peoples. The Palestinians have been even place inspections and surveys of no better. The newspaper described At the moment, there is little evi- less fortunate than the Israelis in this their workforces. The increased Mahmoud Abbas as “a discredited dence that this is going to happen. But sense. Abbas is part of of a gerontoc- transmission rate from the B1.167.2 figure” not fit to lead the Palestinian that does not mean that it will never racy founded by Yasser Arafat, old men variant of the virus, the new upturn people, “especially without new elec- happen. Without such far-reaching utterly lacking in vision, ruling over a in infections, and the Tories’ signal- tions.” And a third player, Hamas, was changes in the way Israelis and Pales- corrupt dictatorship that does not even ling that they may press ahead with accurately described as “an oppressive, tinians do politics, without a fundamen- bother to hold elections. The recent return to workplaces regardless, aggressive organisation that … rejects tal transition to politics based on class, plan to hold such elections was can- make this more urgent. □ Israel’s right to exist and evidently has new “bad leaders” will simply replace celled well in advance of the eruption no qualms about using its own people the old ones. □ • Links and info for these and other of the current fighting. as human shields to advance its claim campaigns, and suggested words The Observer is right to say that both • Eric Lee is a founding editor of to Palestine’s leadership.” for labour-movement motions on sides need new leaders. They do. But LabourStart, writing here in a personal In other words, writes the Observer, many issues, at workersliberty.org/ how do you get them? capacity. “issues of religion, ethnicity, race and agenda Trans woman’s rights breached, rules judge to stay anonymous, began her The woman’s affidavit ex- those of the community. legislation that allowed trans transition more than 20 years plained that the legal require- However, he ruled that hav- people to self-identify, includ- Women’s ago, and took legal action in ment caused her to feel shame ing to demonstrate suffering ing Ireland. Since, under pres- Fightback a bid to obtain a new birth and distress. from a disorder to secure the sure from anti-trans activists, certificate. In order to obtain “It makes me feel that what I certificate is now unnecessary the UK government has an- By Katy Dollar the “Gender Recognition Cer- am, at the core of my being, in and unjustified, particularly in nounced it will make no signif- equiring a trans woman tificate” (GRC) that allows a terms of my gender identity, is light of diagnostic develop- icant reform to the legislation. Rto show she suffered from replacement birth certificate pathological and disordered,” ments. It has introduced online appli- a “disorder” is an unneces- to be issued with the correct she stated. “As the evidence Solicitor Ciaran Moynagh cations, and reduced admin- sary affront to her dignity, the gender, she required a med- before the court demonstrates, of Phoenix Law, said: “We are istration fees, but the spousal Northern Ireland High Court ical report to confirm a diag- such feelings are not unique to delighted the court today has veto and the need for medical has ruled. The obligation re- nosis of “gender dysphoria”. me but, sadly, are all too com- recognised that being trans sign-off remain unchanged. quired in order to secure Her lawyers that amounted to mon for trans people in the is not a mental illness and Workers’ Liberty support official recognition of her pre- unlawful stigmatisation. United Kingdom and, indeed, the word disorder is now un- transgender rights and ex- ferred identity is incompatible Justice Scoffield found that across the world.” justified and stigmatising. We press our solidarity with trans with human rights, said the the specific requirement to In his judgment Mr Justice look forward to learning how people. We oppose prejudice, ruling. prove she was suffering from a Scoffield concluded that it the Government will remedy hostility and discrimination Judicial review proceedings disorder was unjustified. was proportionate to require the Gender Recognition Act in against trans people. As part brought against the Govern- He described it as “an un- medical reports as part of the light of this judgment.” of this approach, we recognise ment Equalities Office (GEA) necessary affront to the dignity GRC process. He held that the In 2017 the government an- the flaws in current gender rec- focused on the terms of the of a person applying for gen- obligation for specialist input nounced that they would con- ognition law and support pro- Gender Recognition Act 2004. der recognition through the in support of an application sider reforming the Gender posed changes to it, including The woman, who has chosen legal process set out for that strikes a fair balance between Recognition Act. Several coun- self-declaration of gender. □ purpose by Parliament”. the individual’s interests and tries had made changes to

Events and campaigns: workersliberty.org/meetings youtube.com/c/WorkersLibertyUK workersliberty.org/audio 5 Left politics in Singapore By Jamie Teo pendents,” and some of their members were Young Labour members. They Jamie Teo, a food courier and socialist were the ones waging these sorts of activist in Singapore, spoke to Sara Lee, campaigns, making student politics a a Workers’ Liberty activist. popularity contest more than a politi- When did you start being politically cal one. active? Seeing the sheer level of corruption I came across Marx around the age in the student movement in a Australia of 16 or 17 and started to awaken po- was eye-opening for me. I grew up in litically. I didn’t start doing political ac- Singapore which has a more repressive tivity until I went to Perth, Australia, for political environment, but it was clear university and came across Socialist Al- that even in more liberal democracies, ternative. I met them at an orientation there are real problems in terms of de- Protestors at the SG Climate Rally, 2019 mocracy on the left and in the student event and was invited to attend their What do you think of the succession What is it about the organisation or movement. protest against Trump in the Central crisis in the PAP? Some say it will its members that they’ve got good Business District. I went to their branch When you came home to Singapore, compel them to become more au- politics? meetings and reading groups. I felt you volunteered with the Singapore thoritarian. SG Climate Rally was founded be- they were good politically, but what Democratic Party, one of the bigger The succession crisis in the PAP can cause a group of young people wanted made me a little doubtful was that they Opposition parties. Why did you vol- only be a good thing. The Party has to organise Singapore’s first-ever pub- seemed to do loud protests very often unteer with them, and why did stop shown fissures for a while now. I don’t lic rally on climate change, despite the — somewhat excessively. They were volunteering with them? think that they will resort to being more fear of state repression. Naturally, the protesting about important things like I wanted to continue doing political coercive and authoritarian simply be- people that it brought together were immigration, indigenous rights, an- activity and the SDP seemed like the cause they are on the decline. I doubt, brave, militant people who had a cer- ti-racism, and the Christmas Island de- most left-wing political party in Singa- for example, that they will go back to tain level of conviction. Since its in- tainees. The protests had educational pore. They were, of course, liberal so- being as authoritarian as they were in ception, SG Climate Rally has had an value. But every week, the protest was cial democrats, but they did acts of civil the 1960s. The PAP is mainly composed emphasis on collective action. about a different thing, and the ap- disobedience. Their leader Chee Soon of political careerists and military gen- Of course, identity politics has a real proach just seemed scattered. Juan did some one-man campaigns erals, none of whom are competent influence on people in SG Climate What was student politics like? What that I felt were meaningful — making ar- enough to pull it off. It’s also just not Rally. The theories of change that a lot socialist organisations had a pres- guments against the IMF, for example. empirically true that the ruling party of its members subscribe to are proba- ence in the student movement and He seemed to have a coherent-enough tends to be more coercive when sup- bly variants of poststructuralist thought. what did you think of them and the worldview that was rather anti-capital- port for them is waning. They suffered For a while, there was a great deal of student movement in general? ist. big losses in the 2011 election but no talk about having a decentralised or- There seemed to be increased in- I stopped volunteering with the SDP new restrictions on free speech were ganisation or a flat structure. But we’ve terest in socialism because of Bernie because of how racist they were. They introduced. They won big in 2015, and moved away from that now, which goes Sanders’ campaign in the US and Jer- are very anti-migrant and that is their quickly enacted new restrictions on to show that people aren’t necessarily emy Corbyn’s in the UK. Socialist Alter- ammunition against the ruling party. I free speech in the form of POFMA [pro- wedded to such ideas. native did good work around the issues would say that, over time, the SDP has viding for government controls over in- They can be convinced of better pol- of student debt and international stu- generally moved backwards politically. ternet and social-media content]. itics. In the late 1990s, they were into radical The reason people are taken by iden- dents’ extortionate fees, arguing that Why did you join SG [Singapore] civil disobedience. They had protests tity politics is that they are awakening free education had to be won back. Climate Rally (the youth-led environ- and hunger strikes. They were against politically and have an appetite for Socialist Alternative had the strongest mentalist group)? the ban on gay sex (Section 377A of seemingly radical ideas. That awaken- presence in student politics despite They seemed like the only inde- the Penal Code) even before it became ing, that appetite for ideas, is only to appearing to be a quite small organi- pendent, left-wing political force in a mainstream issue in Singapore. But be encouraged. Socialist activists must sation. Singapore. At the very least, they are when the Workers’ Party made big find a way to win the battle of ideas There was a high level of corruption conscious that building mass support electoral gains in 2011 and there was a and increase the level of political clar- in the student movement. If you wanted around environmentalist demands re- greater Opposition presence in Parlia- ity. But for this we need to have a more to launch a campaign and be elected quires the support of the working class. ment, SDP took a leaf out of their book democratic structure, and a democratic as a student rep, you had to be loaded. Again, because of Corbyn and Sanders, and started moderating their politics in culture of debate when we discuss po- Your parents had to be wealthy, so you there is increased interest in anti-capi- order to achieve the same results. litical ideas. □ could spend money on campaign stick- talist politics. ers, badges, posters and leaflets. There Now Chee Soon Juan is incredibly in- was a grouping known as “the Inde- terested in municipal affairs in the con- stituency he’s hoping to get elected in (Bukit Batok). He criticises the PAP MP for that constituency for not being a good enough estate-manager for the Our audio! residents, constantly posting on social isten, download or subscribe to Workers’ Liberty audio recordings of our media about maintenance issues in Lpaper, other publications, and many meetings. Playlists include: that ward. • Solidarity Newspaper • Pamphlets, publications beyond Solidarity Second hand books! Do you think there will one day be an independent party of the working • Public meetings • Fighting racism: pamphlets and more orkers’ Liberty is selling hun- class in Singapore — one with open • Solidarność: The workers’ movement and the rebirth of Poland in 1980-81 dreds of second hand-books — membership and a democratic struc- W • Environmental pamphlet and meetings politics, but also fiction, history and ture? much more. Visit bit.ly/2h-books for Yes but not until the People’s Action See workersliberty.org/audio for episodes, and for information on subscribing the current stock and prices, and to Party ceases to rule and there is greater and using podcasts. All recent episodes can be found through most podcast order. space for democratic action. providers: search “Workers’ Liberty” or “Solidarity & More”. □

6 workersliberty.org @workersliberty @workers_liberty fb.com/workersliberty Unite the Union: a more critical approach tary and the rest of the Scottish Unite All this is an insult to Unite activists employees, there are elements within bureaucracy created the Progressive fighting for Unite policies in their Con- it worthy of support. But in terms of Debate United Left Scotland (PULS) in order to stituency Labour Parties. computing all the pros and cons, it is destroy the United Left Scotland (too Graham says she will only support difficult to come down on one side or independent-minded, too critical of future candidates in the political arena the other in the choice between Gra- By Dale Street McCluskey), the Scottish Organising “who have been union shop stewards ham and Turner. Matt puts his finger haron Graham is a very well-paid Department backed PULS. or reps.” At a Westminster level this on it when he refers to Turner’s “lack Sunelected trade-union bureaucrat They joined PULS. They encouraged would preclude support for many left of work ethic” (currently manifested in standing as “The Workers’ Candidate” Unite members to join it. They turned candidates. At Labour Party leadership his lacklustre election campaign) and in the Unite the Union General Secre- up to its meetings. They campaigned level it would have precluded support Graham’s “highly ‘command’ leader- tary election now underway. (Nomina- for its candidates. The then head of the for Corbyn (a former union official, but ship style.” Correct on both counts, but tions close Wednesday 9 June. Voting Department — directly line-managed by never a workplace rep). hardly an inspiring choice. Graham — boasted openly of all this. Nothing that Graham writes indicates 5 July to 23 August). That doesn’t rule Not rank-and-file out supporting her. Two of her compet- Maybe the Scottish Organising De- support for Unite’s continued affiliation partment is unrepresentative and ex- to the Labour Party. Much of what she The mainstream left in Unite since its itors (Steve Turner and Howard Beck- creation has been the United Left. Matt ett) are also very well-paid unelected ceptionally bad? Its record remains an writes is entirely consistent with disaffil- issue to be factored into an assessment iation. Her support only for candidates criticises its Stalinoid politics and its trade union bureaucrats, and the very Broad-Left obsession with elections. right-wing Gerard Coyne isn’t one only of Graham. who have been union reps, for exam- Turner can point to his selection as a ple, is not restricted to Labour candi- But in the last two years conflicts have because he was sacked after standing opened up in the United Left about against Len McCluskey in the 2017 candidate by an organisation consist- dates. ing primarily of Unite members (the Unite’s current but outdated Political lay-member control against full-timer General Secretary election. control, transparency and accounta- It does suggests a more critical ap- United Left). By contrast, although Gra- Strategy — written in 2013 — is vastly su- ham’s “Workers Unite” grouping claims perior. Its slogan is “Winning Labour for bility, democratisation of General Sec- proach than that of Matt Dunn in Soli- retary elections, and challenging sex darity 592. to have been created by “a broad base working people, and winning working of Unite shop stewards and reps”, it is a people for Labour.” Its focus is on build- discrimination in Unite. Matt describes Steve Turner as “the Graham and her team have played bureaucracy’s man”. But by the same top-down creation of her own staff. ing Unite’s role and influence in the La- “Graham has been accused of being bour Party at grassroots level. no role whatsoever in these disputes token, Graham could be described as (other than the bad role in Scotland “the woman of another part of the bu- a syndicalist. It is not true,” writes Matt. The irony here is that it is Graham, not In fact, Graham has been accused of Unite’s Political Strategy, who is incapa- mentioned above). Hence Matt’s one- reaucracy”. sided and only partially accurate por- The backbone of Graham’s campaign “syndicalism from above” and there is ble of understanding politics other than a lot of truth in the accusation. as the bright lights of Westminster, the trayal of the United Left. — for years past, as she prepared her Matt now re-defines as rank-and-file election bid — is her own staff: the Or- Westminster bubble, Westminster chat, Breaking with Labour and blank cheques to the Labour Party. militants some leaders of the very or- ganising Department bureaucracy. Her election material is awash with ganisation which he damns — simply Matt lauds the record of Graham and None of these criticisms, and many caricatures of Unite’s relation with the other criticisms which could be made, because they have switched support the Organising Department in support- Labour Party. It is effectively a plea for to Graham. The United Left has now ing workers “against very real resist- preclude support for Graham, if we apolitical trade unionism. This is not look at her competitors in the race to broken up, probably irretrievably, with ance from many officials, including ‘left’ an aberrant add-on to an otherwise different sections backing different can- officials and Regional Secretaries.” But be General Secretary. healthy focus on the need to organise For a start, she is a woman. Matt pours didates — the “mainstream left” candi- he is silent on the actual record of, for in the workplace. date Turner, the syndicalist-from-above example, the Scottish Region Organis- scorn on the idea that Turner should be Her manifesto criticises Unite for “los- supported because “it’s his turn”. But Graham, or the demagogic Corbynista ing Department. ing ourselves in the internal world of poseur Beckett. When the Scottish Regional Secre- there is a case for saying: “It’s her turn”. the Labour Party.” It claims that “many Unite has never had a female General All three candidates — even Beckett of us have felt that Unite has focussed Secretary. You would need to go back — represent different currents of left (or far too much on the Westminster bub- to the 1980s to find a female General “left”) politics as it now exists. In that Howard Beckett ble and not enough on the workplace.” Secretary of one of the myriad of un- context, socialists should have a lot Graham will not “dress up a shopping ions which merged over the years more to say than virtually uncritical sup- and Priti Patel list of political demands as a meaning- to create Unite. And although Gra- port for any one of those candidates. □ ful plan” but, instead, ensure that “our ham’s workplace focus and strategy is nite general secretary candi- • More from this debate, including a union will return to the workplace.” Gra- steeped in apolitical workerism, syndi- date Howard Beckett has been new contribution from Mark Simon: bit. U ham will “take Unite out of Westminster calism-from-above, and backslapping suspended from the Labour Party ly/unite-gs and back to the workplace.” boasts of the supposed glories of her after tweeting — in the context of Westminster is bad because “the denouncing the Tories’ anti-migrant bright lights of Westminster have too policies and supporting the resist- often left what really matters to mem- ance to them in Glasgow — that bers in the shade.” And it is a diversion: Upcoming meetings home secretary “Priti Patel should “A focus on Westminster politics is not be deported, not refugees”. This a substitute for putting our weight be- orkers’ Liberty meetings are open to all, held online over zoom. episode, demonstrating Beckett’s hind any kind of strategy for the work- W populist opportunism and lack of place.” Wednesday 19 May, 6-8pm: Workers’ Liberty health workers — organising to solid socialist political principles and Graham is “not interested in internal strike on NHS pay judgement, has reinforced our view game-playing within a political party.” Wednesday 19 May, 7-8.45pm: Shapurji Saklatvala and John Archer — pio- that the left should not support him. Throwing a bone in the direction of the neering working class & black representation After a bit of doubling-down, how- Socialist Party and the SWP, she writes: Monday 24 May, 6-7pm: Workers’ Liberty students — Solidarity with Deliveroo ever, Beckett deleted the tweet and “There will be no more blank cheques and other platform workers apologised. He is right to be vocal for the Labour Party.” Sunday 20 June 12:00-1.30pm: Socialist Feminist Reading Group —­ Transgen- about the Tories’ attacks on migrants. Matt himself claims that Unite is now der Marxism by Jules Joanne Gleeson and Elle O’Rourke His suspension by a Labour Party that “more concerned with Westminster Weekend of 10-11 July: Ideas for Freedom 2021 festival of socialist ideas. is deeply inconsistent about dealing chatter” than the workplace, and that Online or in person — buy tickets now! with complaints and fails to stand up Graham’s focus on the workplace is Thursdays 8-9.30pm: Lenin’s What is to be done? reading group for migrants’ rights looks opportun- better than “seeing the union as a prism Mondays, 6-7pm: AWL Students’ discussions istic and cynical. □ through which to view the Labour Party For our calendars of events, updated details, zoom links, more meetings and • More: bit.ly/bkt-ptl and Westminster.” resources, see workersliberty.org/events □

Events and campaigns: workersliberty.org/meetings youtube.com/c/WorkersLibertyUK workersliberty.org/audio 7 US battles over voting rights and union rights

By Sacha Ismail (The bill would also create independ- ent commissions, one third from each he Republicans want to reduce party and one third independent, to Tthe number of people voting; redraw congressional districts, to pre- strengthen the US political system’s vent the kind of partisan gerrymander- existing biases towards allowing them ing that Republican state legislatures to rule with minority support; and shift are expected to ramp up for the 2022 the country further towards an authori- elections.) tarian regime. In the Senate, where HR1 is due to Following the Trumpist campaign to come up imminently, the Democrats claim the 2020 Presidential election have an effective majority of one, with was “stolen”, Republican-controlled Vice President Kamala Harris able to states in the USA have enacted 25 new break a 50-50 tie. However, current laws restricting voting in 2021, com- rules mean the bill would need 60 out pared to 14 in 2019 and 2020 com- of 100 votes to get past a Republican bined. They build on past measures. US “filibuster”. election turnout is famously low not just By a simple majority the Democrats because of voters being unmotivated, could abolish the filibuster system or but because it is harder then in Europe carve out exemptions. However, a num- to get registered as a voter, and often ber of conservative Democratic Sena- harder to vote once registered. tors — most prominently Joe Manchin I covered this in Solidarity 590 (and of West Virginia — aggressively oppose in 592 we reported that the Tories are such a move. pushing a small version of a similar pol- Pic: Susan Melkisethian via Flikr The 50 Republican senators able to icy here.) block the passage of most Democratic On 7 May Florida became the latest Protester against voter suppression, Poor Peoples Campaign, Washington DC bills mostly represent smaller states, of eleven states that have enacted laws and thus only 43.5% of the US popula- this year. With 21 million people it is by Another legislative voting rights bat- icon and Georgia congressman John tion. Republicans have not represented far the largest. Many more have laws tle is coming up in the key swing state Lewis, who died last year, is designed a majority in Senate voting since 1996, under consideration. About 200 are of Michigan (ten million people), which to restore the provisions of the 1965 but have won a majority in eight of the “live” in state legislatures, in addition to has a Democratic governor but a Re- Voting Rights Act which the Supreme 13 elections since then. This bias is 180 that have expired. publican legislature — and an insurgent Court invalidated in 2013. The Court likely to grow further. Among other things, Florida’s SB90 far right that has repeatedly attempted declared unconstitutional a formula In any case, Manchin opposes HR1, law makes it harder to get an absentee to terrorise the governor. A sweep- for determining which state and local as well as wanting to keep the “fili- ballot, limits the right to have someone ing voter suppression bill has already governments could be required to get buster”. All other Democratic Senators else hand in your ballot, restricts the passed in the lower house and will now federal “pre-clearance” for changes to have signed HR1, but some are said to use of drop-off voting boxes and wid- go to the state senate in Texas (popula- election rules, based on their history of be unenthusiastic. HR51, which would ens the already very large area within tion 30 million). discrimination in voting rights. At least allow the people of the District of Co- which people are not allowed to offer on paper, the grounds were that it was lumbia to vote in Congressional elec- food or drink to those queueing to The Democrats push back decades out of date. tions, also looks like being blocked by vote. 400-odd state bills to limit voting rights The Court made the pre-clearance the Senate. The impact is to (further) limit the seems startling, but there have been system inoperative, but did not rule number of people who can exercise twice that many to expand them. Vir- it unconstitutional as such. The “John By the people their right to vote — particularly young ginia, now completely controlled by Lewis Voting Rights Act” has not yet The Biden administration has been able people, people on low incomes, peo- the Democrats, has made election day been voted on by the House of Repre- to pass extensive measures regarded ple with disabilities, and people with a state holiday, repealed a voter ID law sentatives, where the Democrats have a as budgetary, because these are not dark skin. SB90 also increases the gov- and introduced no-excuse absentee clear majority, apparently because they subject to the filibuster. But a Senate ernor’s powers to appoint people to voting. Earlier this year it reinstated want to try to create a new formula that official ruled that a $15 minimum wage local election boards. election rules required until 2013 by they think would survive scrutiny by a could not be included. Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a federal law to prevent discrimination in Supreme Court that is even more right- As Traven Leyshon discussed in Sol- new favourite on the Republican radi- voting rights (see below). wing than in 2013. idarity 592 the Protecting the Right to cal right — whose response to the Black The Democratic bills are generally the Organise (PRO) Act, a pro-trade union Lives Matter struggle has, like Johnson mirror image of the Republican ones. A “For the People”? bill that, while inadequate, in some ways and Patel’s, been to strengthen police majority focus on making absentee vot- More immediately important is HR1, goes significantly further than what Jer- powers to crack down on “civil unrest” ing easier; some would make it easier the “For the People Act”, which has al- emy Corbyn’s Labour proposed, looks — signed the bill live in a ceremony to register, and some expand the num- ready passed the House 220-210 (with doomed by the “filibuster” too. The top broadcast exclusively on Fox News. ber of polling places and use of drop one Democrat and every Republican Democrat leadership may of course Florida is a long-standing voting boxes. A number of bills restore voting voting against). find it quite agreeable to indicate sup- rights battleground. It accounts for a rights to those with convictions. HR1 contains a very wide variety of port for left-wing measures but declare quarter of all US citizens disenfran- Like anti-voting bills, pro-voting ones “good government” measures. In terms itself powerless to pass them. chised as result of the widespread have now been introduced in the great of voting rights, these include: requir- As Traven said of the PRO Act: “The practice of denying the vote to peo- majority of state legislatures. But the ing state officials to automatically reg- bill will not pass without a mass mobili- ple with criminal convictions, with one Republicans control most legislatures: ister eligible voters, with an opt-out; sation of unions and allies which would in ten Floridians and one in five black 61.5 lower and upper chambers to the prohibiting states from restricting vot- have to include protests, rallies and Floridians barred. Democrats’ 37.5 (they improved this ers’ access to mail-in ballots; requiring workplace actions.” The same general In 2018, 64.5% of Florida voters ap- margin in the 2020 elections). They early voting sites for federal elections idea applies to HR1. proved state constitutional amend- are also ahead on governors, 27 to 23 to stay open for at least 15 consecu- On extensive police reform, US pub- ments to end this disenfranchisement. (again, slightly gaining last year). tive days, for ten hours a day; allowing lic support peaked during the big Black The changes were gutted and re-en- Much of the Democrats’ focus is a sworn affidavit in place of voter ID Lives Matter mobilisations of summer franchisement largely blocked by the therefore on federal measures, through where required; allowing voters to des- 2020 and has declined a bit since. same Republican politicians who have Congress. There are two main pieces of ignate a third party to drop off a sealed- Grassroots struggles for voting rights now introduced these new attacks on legislation under discussion. and-signed ballot; and restoring voting may be important in that battle, too. □ the right to vote. A bill named for liberal civil rights rights to former convicts.

8 workersliberty.org @workersliberty @workers_liberty fb.com/workersliberty Glasgow: how protest blocked deportations Paul, a socialist activist in Glasgow, was how to resolve this. The human rights 2018 a Kurdish family went on hunger didn’t catch many names. Alison Thewl- on the 13 May demonstration which lawyer Aamer Anwar was there. He is strike outside the Home Office build- iss, the SNP MP for Glasgow Central, blocked deportations. He spoke to Sol- quite prominent in Glasgow refugee ing. They were unable to get passports was supportive. Various politicians had idarity. circles. In the evening, eventually he due to Home Office bureaucracy that been trying to contact the Home Office announced to the crowd that he had had lasted for years. They won the about this but they were being stone- t some point that morning a Home agreement in writing from Police Scot- speeding-up of their process through walled. AOffice van appeared in Kenmure land to go to the opening of the van that hunger strike. and many of us were The attitude of the SNP? I don’t want St in Pollokshields, and took two men and walk with the two men to a mosque. there with them. to sound like a Scottish exceptionalist. out of their flat and bundled them into No-one knew anything about the In 2017 the Glasgow Pride arrests I think the SNP is more socially liberal a van. I don’t know who saw it first, but men and it was assumed they were took place with the arrest of three than the Tory party. I won’t trust liberals a lot of the activist community in the Muslim. It turned out that the men were transgender activists, a young queer to follow through on their policies. But South Side is clued into issues around Sikhs. So there was some delay while minor, and a person who had been try- they are more socially liberal on issues the Home Office and asylum seekers. the route was re-worked to take them ing to tell the minor his rights. That saw like this. And they’re not in control of There’s a tradition in recent years of re- to the Singh Sabha Association. many courthouse mobilisations. That issues like immigration. sistance to the eviction of asylum seek- The agreement was that the police brought together many angry queer Were Scotland independent I ers. would make a cordon around the two people and got people talking and wouldn’t be very hopeful about having Someone made Facebook posts to men, Aamer, and a local activist named working together. And good friends of a particularly liberal Scottish Home Of- tell their friends to spread the news. Mohammed Asif, and that the crowd mine, who have been through Living fice. But issues like this show the fault Two organisations: the Unity Centre, a would disperse at that point, but the Rent and movements like these… lines between the Scottish and UK Gov- refugee advocacy group based near crowd made an impromptu victory ernments. These fault lines give activ- the Home Office building in Glasgow; march through the streets of Pollok- Queer ists potential to exploit. You can play on and the No Evictions Network, formed shields with the two men, shouting and The queer community in Glasgow has these kinds of contradictions. to fight evictions of asylum seekers in singing. People were hanging out of an anarchistic and direct-action-y bent. Three people were arrested at one 2018, got involved. People got down their windows; it was lovely. The men I certainly saw myself as an anarchist in point. A car was obstructing the police there. One man crawled under the addressed us from the steps of the 2017 when I came out of the closet. I and some people attempted to stop van, and his friends kept him company building when we got there and they don’t know why the Glasgow scene is the car being towed. Those three ar- down there, giving him blankets and thanked us in Punjabi, it was very nice. so politicised. There is something in the restees have since been released but I stuff to keep him as comfortable as way that trans existence is so policed don’t know if they have been charged. one can be while under a van. He was Serco and forced into marginal existence. I want to stress the tradition, the roots under the van for eight hours. I arrived In 2018, Serco, who had the contract Trans people are often homeless, often that this event had. It didn’t come from at about 12 or 1pm. for housing asylum seekers in Glas- need to do sex work to get by: that nowhere and it takes a lot of organis- By that point a sizeable crowd had gow, started evicting asylum seekers would explain why there is such radical ing. There are a lot of threads that came gathered and there were lots of peo- from their housing. Hundreds of evic- politics here. The guy who shoved him- together to make yesterday happen: ple handing around supplies. The bus tions were imminent. A campaign was self under the van is part of the queer queer activism, housing activism, mi- stop at the north end of Kenmure street formed between Living Rent, the Unity scene here. grant solidarity activism. That’s what I was a hub for water, oranges, bananas Centre, a group called Migrants Or- The South Side has become some- want to emphasise. It’s spontaneity but and so on. Someone overheard a po- ganising for Rights and Empowerment thing of a hub for the queer scene. spontaneity with roots. □ liceman saying, “they have enough (MORE) to raise awareness, and resist There’s a queer bookshop and a queer supplies for a month”. evictions. Back then I went to Royston Yiddish café opening up soon. So Gov- It was a long stand-off because they in the north of the city, ready to resist anhill and Pollokshields is important for couldn’t forcibly remove the guy under an eviction. But at that moment a post- that scene. the van, and at one point they got a ponement was granted in the courts. I don’t want to say that it’s the queer paramedic to go and talk to him. And That gave us more time and eventually scene that did it all. Everyone showed Our pamphlets under the pretext of getting a para- no evictions happened. up from all works of life, and I’m sure rowse, download, buy, or listen medic over to him, they attempted to Serco lost the contract to Mears and there were many groups of friends to our pamphlets including: clear the street behind the van. But that the whole thing started again with who turned up who all have their own B didn’t work. more protests against Mears and their stories, but people from the Glasgow • The German Revolution: selected While the stand-off was going on, inability to help people in 2019. In queer scene were among the first to ar- writings of Rosa Luxemburg and the police had lined up riot vans, the pandemic there have been some rive. I got there late, of course. • For Workers’ Climate Action ambulances, horse boxes, at either end woeful moments when asylum seek- I recognised people from the left and • Two Nations, Two States of the street. Friends living nearby were ers were shoved into hotels en masse, labour movement yesterday but it was • Workers Against Slavery telling me what equipment was being evicted from their homes. It turned out all rather low-key. People weren’t sell- • How to Beat the Racists brought up. There was a three-way that the food they were being given ing papers or waving banners, but I did • Remain and Rebel wrangle going on between the Scottish was mouldy. One asylum seeker died see a Unite flag. Paul Sweeney, Labour • Shapurji Saklatvala: Socialist Government, Police Scotland and the in Glasgow. There were scenes of the MSP, has advocated for asylum seekers Rebel in Parliament Home Office. Apparently the Secretary loyalist “statue protectors” of George for a long time. He helped and spoke • Stalinism in the International for Justice Hamza Yousaf and Nicola Square attacking an asylum seeker at public appearances by the Kurdish Brigades Sturgeon were talking to the Home Of- demonstration against these condi- hunger strikers. I know Paul was sup- • Left Antisemitism: What it is and fice but discussions broke down. The tions. portive. How to Fight it Scottish Government is not supportive The No Evictions Network was I saw Matt Kerr, a Labour Councillor, • Arabs, Jews, and Socialism: So- of the Home Office’s dawn raids policy. formed out of the Serco protests of who I think spoke briefly. There was cialist Debates on Israel/Palestine □ In the end, the Scottish Govern- 2018. There have been other moments support announced from various MPs workersliberty.org/publications/ ment spoke to Police Scotland about of struggle against the Home Office. In and MSPs over the megaphone but I

Events and campaigns: workersliberty.org/meetings youtube.com/c/WorkersLibertyUK workersliberty.org/audio 9 Might-have-been man: Cliff Slaughter By Sean Matgamna sibly Trotskyist movement with lies and “To my shame, I was almost silent. the habit of lies, political craziness and The relationship with Saddam was for emories of Cliff Slaughter, who has the habit of tolerating craziness and money, also Gaddafi. I went to a Tripoli Mdied at the age of 93: smothering unreason. conference on Gaddafi’s ‘Green Book’ 1: A school of the Socialist Labour But the story is not only a story of and took a plane back after a day and a League (SLL), Manchester, 1961 or 62. Cliff Slaughter’s personal tragedy. It half, unable to stomach any more.” Slaughter is a leading writer of the SLL. is also a story of his crimes in backing Almost? Disgusted, he left early. And He has written a couple of articles on and boosting Healy. Slaughter was an then what did he do? the theory of the revolutionary party, academic sociologist with a high repu- Give others who were following which many people (me included) tation. He co-authored a famous study Healy in his mercenary lunacies about think very highly of. He has been talk- of miners, Coal is Our Lives. He put that Libya, Iraq and other Middle East pow- ing about the iniquities of the Stalinist academic reputation at the service of ers, the benefit of his own understand- movement, in which he had spent over Healy. ing? Start a fight against Healy, Corin a decade of his youth. Someone asks Healy surrounded himself with a and Vanessa Redgrave, and the Banda him how he could have failed for so ing a Northern Ireland civilian with his group of enablers, protectors, heralds brothers, inside the organisation? Or, long to see through Stalinism. He ex- hands up being searched at gunpoint and sycophants. Slaughter was one of when they expelled him, as they surely plains it as his failure to think through by British soldiers has a caption on it those. Without them, Healy could not would, raise a hue and cry outside the his sometimes critical ideas to the nec- that makes IS, the Trotskyist Tendency, have functioned and survived. Without organisation? essary conclusion. and me, by name, responsible for it. them he could not have committed He didn’t do any of that. Again, Cliff 2: A Sunday morning, early in 1963, a At a public meeting in Teesside, Phil his personal-political crimes against Slaughter was “not responsible”. Clare meeting of the Manchester SLL branch Semp, who had been Slaughter’s pupil his comrades and his political crimes Cowen quotes Slaughter making a committee, which includes Slaughter, at Leeds University, demands an expla- against the working class and the Marx- good speech in support of the an- in the front room of the Povah fam- nation for that bit of political excres- ist movement. ti-Healy wing when the WRP was break- ily home in Salford. A car rolls up — in cence. Oh, Slaughter tells the meeting, The WRP imploded when it did ing-up in 1985. But he waited until the my memory, it is a red car — and parks he himself wasn’t responsible, not at all. (1985) because the Healy apparatus central apparatus split, until the Bandas outside the house. We can see the No. It was “a cock up in the printshop”. split. Healy, in his 70s, with his health struck at Healy. street, and the narrow footpath plainly He was never “responsible”. He sur- broken down, could no longer rule by Slaughter said in the same interview through the front window, and the car rendered his political responsibilities personal force and the terror he had that the philosopher Healy “knew noth- attracts our attention. and his political soul to Healy and the been able to inspire. ing about philosophy”. Yet Slaughter The car door opens, Gerry Healy Banda brothers. The organisation was going bank- the prestigious academic for decades steps out, comes across the pave- 4: It is 1986, a quarter of a century rupt. The mercenary alliances and the buttressed Healy’s claim to be a Marx- ment and seems to loom outside the after the Manchester school of 1961-2. get-rich-quick projects to “build the ist philosopher, and a great one. He window. He waddles in, a very short, Through those 25 years Slaughter has party” had failed, and failed badly. The lent his endorsement, tacit or vocal, pudgy-rotund man, with a large bald been a supporter and enabler of Gerry organisation had become dependent to Healy’s ridiculous “dialectical” riga- head, features disproportionately small Healy in the SLL (now called WRP), an on money from Libya — Healy got over maroles. He helped Healy back up his in the big head. intellectual hack-scribbler, working to a million pounds from Gaddafi — and claims to knowledge that Slaughter When we see Healy get out of the order. other Arab regimes knew he didn’t have, and he recom- car, Cliff Slaughter turns very white. The The WRP has imploded. Gerry Healy Slaughter could not but have known mended Healy’s gobbledegook as blood drains out of his face. For a mo- has been exposed as a coercive pred- that Libya and other states were financ- good Marxism to people who wouldn’t ment, I think he is going to faint. ator on women comrades. Slaughter ing the WRP. He would have read in its know any better. Healy likes the effect he is producing has sided against Healy, perhaps for paper the WRP supporting and justify- and the tension. He scowls at everyone —3— the first time ever. Writing in Workers’ ing the killing of Iraqi Communist Party and sits down, immediately taking over Slaughter went to work full time for the Press, paper of one of the subgroups members by the Saddam Hussein re- the meeting. SLL in 1965. They made a fuss about it. produced in the scatterings of the WRP, gime, with which at that point the WRP It is early in the Profumo affair. The Slaughter wrote that now was not the Slaughter needs to explain his long po- was also involved. press and TV are wallowing in the scan- time to cling to “soft jobs”. He lasted litical and intellectual subservience as On a visit to Libya, Slaughter was re- dal that a Russian embassy attaché maybe a year. Then he went back to ac- a political bag-carrier for Gerry Healy. pelled by the “anti-imperialist” Islamic and a British Tory minister had a paid ademe, at Bradford University, up the His fault, says Slaughter, lay in a fail- mumbo-jumbo of Gaddafi. In an inter- lover in common. Healy says, very qui- road from Leeds, which he had left to ure to think through his critical ideas to view available on the Splits and Fusions etly, “Whaddaya think, Cliff”? Slaugh- be a serious revolutionary. the necessary, logical, conclusions…. website he tells a story about a WRP ter hastily says it is very like a scandal delegation to Libya: Slaughter tried many times in his SLL- in Italy, I can’t recall which one. Healy —2— nods his satisfaction to Slaughter. There is no shortage of tragedies of 3: Seven years later, 1970. Slaughter varying sorts in the 20th century left has recently written a 12-episode series and ostensible left. Slaughter’s political of articles analysing a wodge of IS min- fate was the tragedy of a politically ed- utes which the SLL have got hold of: ucated Marxist who was committed to Our videos! Who are the International Socialists? (IS, the war for working-class emancipation atch Workers’ Liberty’s videos and playlists, and subscribe to our youtube forerunner of the SWP) They have been from wage slavery and capitalism, and channel! Many have subtitles. Playlists include: collected into a sizeable pamphlet. W tried to work for it, but who in his teens • The State, Crime, Prisons, and Police It is low-grade political hackery, got drawn into the Young Communist • Socialist Feminism what the Americans call grunt work — League and the Communist Party, in • Black Lives Matter, videos around the movement and related topics not work for a self-respecting political the wake of his father, Fred Slaughter. • Socialist commentary on the Covid-19 crisis grown-up. Slaughter’s name on it gives Breaking out of that in his late 20s, he • ABCs of Marxism, an introductory series, still being added to it some weight. let himself get trapped in a vicious little • An introduction to Marx’s Capital, in 19 parts, with Martin Thomas A couple of instalments deal with the cult. He spent the best years of his life, • Tubeworker/Off The Rails, videos by the producers of the bulletins□ Trotskyist Tendency inside IS, predeces- over 25 years, helping to poison parts sor of Workers’ Liberty. A picture show- of the labour movement and the osten- Watch, subscribe, like, comment and share: youtube.com/c/WorkersLibertyUK

10 workersliberty.org fb.com/workersliberty workersliberty.org/audio Might-have-been man: Cliff Slaughter WRP years to run away from the Healy and physical violence against its own the SLL and the WRP, but I could never group. Healy always caught up with members (and occasionally against build up a real head of hostility against him and got him to come back. Slaugh- others)”. Cliff Slaughter. It was a bit like Queen ter was one of a number of national Victoria. I had loathed her as the “Fam- leaders frequently pilloried, insulted, —5— ine Queen”, who had presided over denounced. There was a layer of such Slaughter was in his mid 50s when the the murder of over a million people in people: Cyril Smith, Jack Gale, Bill WRP collapsed. What did he do after- Ireland by avoidable famine and chol- Hunter, Geoff Pilling, Robin Blick, Bob wards? Politically, very little. He wrote a era, and as one whose name meant Shaw, Tom Kemp, Cliff Slaughter... few texts, amongst them a small book 19th century sexual repressions, small The Healy organisation was, at its Slaughter (2nd a few years ago entitled Bonfire of the children in factories and child brothels, core, a sado-masochistic cult with its from right) Certainties. In that he adapted the title and all the other “Victorian” horrors, of a novel of the 1990s, derived from own rites and rituals of accusation, de- out of turn; of using their own mind brutalities and moral hypocrisies. Then an event in Florence in the mid 15th nunciation and chastisement, followed and judgement, of getting something I read in a review what the 20 year old century when, under the influence of a by public self-abasement, abject con- wrong, of thinking for themselves. Victoria wrote, to her prime minister, religious lunatic, Girolamo Savonarola, fession, sometimes tearful, and then, Learning that “the leadership” is always Lord Melbourne, about her wedding people threw books and things that submissive reconciliation and last-min- right: don’t think, don’t question “The night. It was, she told the prime minis- were important or comforting or satis- ute reprieves on earlier threats of ex- Party” and “The Cause” embodied in ter, a foretaste of heaven. fying, or precious to them, on a public pulsion. Everything was a matter of the leader. After that I could never feel quite the right and wrong, of sinfulness or being “bonfire of the vanities”. same about Vicky again, a poor, small, in a state of revolutionary virtue. Healy —4— In fact, the original title would have human creature locked inside her royal decided which; he had the power to Slaughter spent over a quarter of a cen- fitted Slaughter and his story almost carapaces. loose and bind, exclude, damn or ab- tury in that game as target, supporter, perfectly. Most of what the Healyites After watching Cliff Slaughter nearly solve. and ammunition-boy for Healy, some- did in Slaughter’s day was pointless, faint at the apparition of Healy at the The audience at such things was times hammer and sometimes anvil. worthless, harmful, diversionary, a cul window that Sunday morning long made complicit in it by approval, sup- The man who let that happen to him- de sac in relation to socialism. The daily ago, I could never feel the same hos- port for Healy or ashamed silence. The self, who took part in Healy’s brutal rit- paper with its miniscule readership, the tility to Slaughter as I did to Healy and audience for it was part of the cere- uals for 25 years, must have had in him maintenance of which ate up the lives others — to poor Cliff Slaughter, locked mony. a fearsome load of self-doubt, guilt and of the members of the organisation. inside whatever it was that allowed On one level, it was, though grue- self-hatred. The raving polemics empty of real, not Gerry Healy to keep him imprisoned for some, laughable, like the hammy pseu- Someone, E P Thompson maybe, de- to speak of worthwhile, content. The a quarter of a century. Rest in peace... do-dramas that wrestling matches scribed Healy’s system as “a machine colourful pageants, and the big rallies, comrade. □ project — good guys and bad guys, vir- for maiming militants”. That was to un- mostly of kids persuaded to attend, al- tue and vice. But it was not laughable derstate it. Slaughter was both its victim most all of whom would go away and to those, especially the young people, and an auxiliary victimiser. soon forget it all. The theorising that caught up in it, believing that the Healy- The Healy group sued me in 1981 sanctified whatever the party leader Anti-racist ites embodied Marxism and Bolshe- for publishing this description of their decided to do. The sacrifice of basic vism and socialism. system: “The WRP is no laughing mat- socialist propaganda and education to resources ter. It is a pseudo-Marxist gobblede- free-wheeling shallow “party-building’’ It was not laughable for youngsters e have compiled various an- gook-spouting cross between the agitation. who internalised the signals and com- ti-racist resources to learn Moonies, the Scientologists, and the For Gerry Healy’s organisation in most W pulsions towards conformity, learn- about anti-racist movements, and Jones Cult (which committed mass su- of its existence, “all was vanity, vanity” ing that it was a revolutionary duty to arm yourself with ideas to beat back icide in the Guyana jungle three years Watching what they did to the young submit, learning to see “the party” (in racism: readings and pamphlets, ago). It recruits and exploits mainly people they involved, and the way they fact Gerry Healy) as everything and video and audio. themselves as nothing. Who internal- raw, inexperienced, politically, socially polluted and poisoned the political ised the fear of heresy and ideological and psychologically defenceless young world in which we all lived, I grew to See workersliberty.org/anti-racist- sinfulness, identifying it with speaking people. It employs psychological terror have a bitter hatred of the leaders of resources □ Covid: no time to ease off ing may be put back. vaccination rates than Britain. place safety plans in the light With good cause. The Econ- A panel of the WHO has of more-transmissible new Covid-19 omist magazine has just made concluded that with better variants. Workers’ control. Full the first attempt at a compre- preparation, information, isolation pay for all; continued hensive count of worldwide and international coordina- furlough. By Martin Thomas excess deaths. Ten million. tion very early in 2020, the • Requisition the assets The official figure of Covid Covid outbreak could have of Big Pharma, especially everal scientists have deaths, 3.4 million, under- been blocked from being a the vaccine patents and the warned that the lock- S counts the toll especially in full pandemic. We still need know-how to expand new down-easing on 17 May, al- omen’s Fightback is countries with poor recording covid-distancing and quaran- vaccine-production facilities. lowing pubs and cafés to Wa socialist feminist of deaths. tines. To make those effective, Vaccinate worldwide! reopen indoors, risks new publication by Workers’ The weekly world Covid and reduce their social costs, • Take social care into the spikes and should have been Liberty. Order issue 25, death rate is still almost at its the labour movement must public sector, and give care postponed. Even the Tories Spring 2021, for £1 — or highest ever. Chile and the fight for social measures: workers NHS-level pay and hint that the 21 June date for cheaper in bulk! □ Seychelles have had new in- • No rushed return to work- conditions. □ further and almost total eas- workersliberty.org/ fection spikes despite higher places. Reworking of all work- publications

Meetings, events, campaigns: workersliberty.org/events @workersliberty youtube.com/c/WorkersLibertyUK 11 Two occupations end, student protests continue By Abel Harvie-Clark international, anti-racist and anti-cap- ocratic mandate and accountability of italist solutions to climate breakdown student unions are needed to stand up he student occupations at Sheffield and national oppressions. to bullying managements and mobilise THallam and Manchester Universities The new Police Bill seeks to attack more students. have ended, due to heavy-handed at- this spirit of protesting, but universi- Campaigns such as Preventing Pre- tempts by university management to ties have already been cracking down vent and Unis Resist Border Controls criminalise the protests, and a refusal on student organising long before the have been educating and organising to engage with their demands. most recent occupation evictions. The on campus to oppose the stifling of The students leave with their heads Prevent agenda has been thought-po- dissent and the racist border regime held high, however, as their three week licing student campaigns, notably that hinders international students from long protest has demonstrated how those connecting with Palestinian soli- organising. Continuing big student mo- to militantly oppose the marketised darity. bilisations for ongoing demonstrations higher education system. The fact that is important to strengthen campus or- Pic: @rentstirkeUOS universities still remain able to resist Charity status ganising. Uni of Sheffield Rent Strike Banner these immediate demands does not The charity status of student unions has In the upcoming weeks, students will deter students from promising to con- ments are indicative of the deeply neo- been used, foremostly by the officers be attending Myanmar general strike tinue with radical tactics. liberal machines that universities have of those unions, to limit their political solidarity action (20-21 May), Kill the The campaigns that have emerged become, but student action and divest- action, negating the right for students Bill protests (29 May), and Uyghur soli- around fee and rent strikes this year ment campaigns could change this. to democratically pursue political posi- darity protests (4 June). have adopted encouraging wide-rang- Student campaign group Apartheid tions and action. Student unions’ aban- On 22-23 May there will be two youth ing politics, pledging solidarity with Off Campus organised protests on Sat- donment of campaigns this year when sessions at the Asia-Europe People’s struggles both on campus and beyond. urday 15 May with other youth groups in negotiation with management has Forum, an open networking session The hundreds of millions of pounds such as Global Majority vs UK Gov, been a barrier to winning rent strike for student campaigners to share their invested by UK universities in Israel’s connecting the struggle against op- demands, and points to the need for campaigns and make international con- denial of Palestinians’ human rights pression from Colombia to Palestine. left-wing students to engage with and nections; and a webinar with student through weaponry, surveillance and Internationalism is a great strength of take over their union’s democratic campaigners from across Europe and occupation have rightly been called this young generation of protestors, structures. Asia discussing “academic freedom as out by the student campaigns that have which has taken inspiration from the cli- Activist groups and energetic cam- a democratising factor”. □ gained a platform this year. The invest- mate and BLM movements to demand paigns are also necessary, but the dem-

Arguing for a Otto Rühle’s society based on abridged human solidarity, version of Buy our books! social ownership Capital, putting of industry aside current Order from workersliberty.org/publications and banks, factual material, rowse, basket, and buy books, pamphlets, and publication bundles and political, illustrations, B— and find more info, related resources, study guides, reviews and economic polemics, is a so on, from the same place. Some books are free to download or as and social good lead-in for audiobooks. Prices listed exclude postage and packaging: £1 for small democracy. 182 the full book. items, £3 for larger items, free over £30. Every third publication will be pages. half-price and 15% off over £50. □ £5 131 pages, £6

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12 workersliberty.org @workersliberty @workers_liberty fb.com/workersliberty ByMarching Janine Booth mies policy, it does for not matter if work -Moulsecoombited the school to sniff around, driving Lloyd Russell-Moyle spoke of his strong ers, students, parents, the local council his Merc past the local council estate to support for the campaign, before pro- undreds of parents, kids, workers and community all oppose Academy get there. ceedings were rounded off with a per- Hand supporters braved the rain to status — as they do in the case of This was the second march for formance from singer-songwriter (and march from Moulsecoomb primary Moulsecoomb — it can still go ahead Moulsecoomb, and follows three days primary school teacher) Robb Johnson. school to a rally at The Level in Brighton so long as there is an Academy trust of strike action in March and April, For updates on the Moulsecoomb on Saturday 15 May, demanding that willing to take over. And given the rich which featured large and lively picket campaign, follow HandsOffMoulse- the school remain in local authority financial rewards for doing so, it is not lines. coomb on Facebook. Staff at Peace- control. hard to find one who will. Speakers at the rally included trade haven Heights school will strike against Despite overwhelming opposition, The strength of opposition has al- union reps and parents, and victim- academisation on Tuesday 25 May, and the Department for Education is per- ready frightened off several interested ised rep Tracy McGuire, who brought a supporters will protest at East Sussex sisting in trying to force Moulsecoomb Trusts, but now the Pioneer Trust has its small delegation and banner all the way Council’s County Hall in Lewes after to become an Academy. Under Tory sights on taking over. The CEO has vis- from Darlington NEU. Local Labour MP picketing in the morning. □ laws building on New Labour’s Acade- Battling biscuit closure A strike against bullying By Dale Street furloughed at home, boosted demand for biscuits Maintenance workers at hous- The workers discussed strik- those workers into the dispute embers of the GMB And even before the lock- ing charity St. Mungo’s have ing on selected strategic dates, as well. Munion will be demon- down Pladis was notching up been on indefinite strike since but the consensus was that Currently, 44% of our reps strating outside of the McVi- increased profits. Its most re- 22 April. They are striking management would be able are involved in formal pro- tie’s factory in Glasgow on cent accounts (2019) show a against management bullying to ride out the impact of a few cesses of some kind — either Saturday 22 May (from 10am, revenue of over £2 billion, an and the suspension of a union days of strikes, and would just disciplinaries, grievances, or at Tollcross Park) in protest at operating profit of £154 mil- rep. Unite union officer Steve increase pressure on workers capability procedures. We be- an announcement that it is to lion, and an increased share O’Donnell spoke to Solidarity. to catch up when they came lieve this shows there is a clear close. of the UK biscuit market. back in. They felt they needed culture of targetting union The factory has a workforce Throughout the lockdown he company is refusing to to take the maximum action for reps. of nearly 500, with union McVitie’s workers were agree to an independent T the maximum impact, so they As well as the industrial membership split 3:1 be- classed as key workers and investigation into bullying in decide to launch an indefinite action, we’re also talking to tween the GMB and Unite. maintained production, and the workplace, and our rep re- strike. We know it’s having an local authorities which com- Although the protest was profits, to meet increased de- mains suspended, so the strike effect, there are significant mission St. Mungo’s’ services, initiated by the GMB, Unite mand. Now the workforce is continues. backlogs of work that manage- including the Greater Lon- members will also be sup- no longer “key”, but suppos- The management culture in ment can’t clear. don Assembly, to ask them to porting it. edly surplus to requirements. the company is intimidating pressure the company. Our McVitie’s is owned by the The bulk of the workforce and overbearing. Workers re- Strategy demands are extremely clear: Pladis company, which is part lives in the East End of Glas- port being given unrealistic There is a strategy in place for an independent investigation of the Turkish investment firm gow, where the factory is deadlines and unmanageable escalating and spreading the into bullying, and the lifting Yildiz Holdings. According to based. The East End already workloads. One worker, who dispute. Reps are conduct- of the suspension and threat Pladis, it needs to close the includes areas with some of has breast cancer, missed a ing phone banks to speak to of disciplinary action against plant and shift all production the highest levels of social chemotherapy appointment union members in other de- our rep. If the employer con- to English plants because of deprivation in Scotland. because she was so worried partments in the company to ceded those demands, the “excess capacity”. The 22 May protest should about workload and missing discuss their situation, and strike would end tomorrow. But McVitie’s and Pladis, be not a one-off but the start deadlines. whether they’d be prepared Until those demands are met, which owns a number of of an ongoing GMB-Unite The number of workers in- to take action over the issues the strike will continue. other biscuit companies, en- campaign which also reaches volved in the dispute, which of management bullying and Workers are holding phys- joyed a boom in their busi- out to local communities to is concentrated in one depart- targeting of reps. ical picket lines, details of ness during the lockdown. force Pladis to back down. □ ment at St. Mungo’s, is small, We have a large member- which are posted on the union Working at home, or being but the union density is very ship in St. Mungo’s, and we branch’s website. There is high, which means the strike want to have these conversa- also a strike fund supporters A socialist and anti-imperialist is totally solid. The bullying tions with every member indi- can donate to. Workers are culture has been ongoing for vidually. One of the managers receiving the standard strike hapurji Saklatvala was Labour’s first BAME years, and for many workers immediately implicated in the pay from the union, but as the SMP, and a revolutionary socialist and an- the suspension and threat of bullying to which the strike is a strike is indefinite, additional ti-imperialist. Learn about his life and strug- disciplinary action against a response also manages work- donations are certainly wel- gles in this pamphlet, replete with lessons for rep who submitted a formal ers in another department, so come. □ today. £3. □ grievance about the bullying one immediately obvious strat- • Strike fund and more: bit.ly/ was the final straw. egy for escalation is bringing workersliberty.org/publications hw-br

Events and campaigns: workersliberty.org/meetings youtube.com/c/WorkersLibertyUK workersliberty.org/audio 13 What we stand for oday one class, the working class, Tlives by selling its labour power “Why not just tell us the info?” to another, the capitalist class, which wait, treat us like kids sometimes owns the means of production. anyway”. Capitalists’ control over the econ- Diary of a “Driver 224, hold the train at omy and their relentless drive to in- tubeworker next station for 3 minutes”. The line crease their wealth causes poverty, clicks as soon as I repeat it back. By Jay Dawkey unemployment, blighting of lives by “Did they say why?” My instructor overwork; imperialism, environmen- ed means stop. Yellow asks. “No”. I reply and go back to tal destruction and much else. means slow down and checking my speed as I accelerate The working class must unite to “R green means proceed. Really away trying to remember what the struggle against the accumulated it’s as simple as that... Now next station definitely is. “They do wealth and power of the capitalists, some signals you need to do a this. Why not just tell us the info in the workplace and wider society. certain speed for them to clear and keep us informed? We might The Alliance for Workers’ Liberty and some will almost always even be able to help. But there you wants socialist revolution: collective clear as you approach them go, that’s what driving is like. ownership of industry and services, but they might not so you need ‘We’ll just keep going without workers’ control, and a democracy to be ready to stop. If you are used to driving in different weather question for now. But once you’ve much fuller than the present system, motoring into a red signal, you’ve got conditions and then you’ll be fine”. been in the job a while don’t be afraid with elected representatives recall- a problem” I’m growing in confidence but still get to ask questions. Some drivers really able at any time and an end to bu- “Hit a platform at a certain speed and frustrated by mistakes. “Don’t dwell, give it back to them. You’ll find what reaucrats’ and managers’ privileges. you’ll be fine, you can crawl in for now you move on, next signal, next station works for you. Just remember it’s a re- We fight for trade unions and the but once out on the road you’ll want to and just apply what you know”. The corded line”. □ Labour Party to break with “social radio flashes, the line controller is call- keep to time. Then the routes will just • “Jay Dawkey” is a Tube worker, partnership” with the bosses, to mil- ing, my eyes flash towards the handset. become second nature and you’ll get training to be a driver. itantly assert working-class interests. “Bring the train to a stop first. They can n workplaces, trade unions, and ILabour organisations; among stu- dents; in local campaigns; on the left and in wider political alliances Liverpool strikes on uni job cuts we stand for: • Independent working-class rep- By a UCU activist lows an 84% vote for strikes over job cuts and restructur- departments as well as pro- resentation in politics in a ballot last month. It is ing that has targeted mul- fessional services. • A workers’ government, based taff at Liverpool Univer- timed to hit end-of-year tiple union activists on the Leicester UCU members on and accountable to the labour Ssity are set to strike for exams so as to put maximum ideological grounds that have also voted for strikes, movement three weeks over a manage- pressure on management. their research is too critical but dates have yet to be an- • A workers’ charter of trade union ment threat to cut 32 posts Campaigning has already of management to suit a nounced. Academics have rights — to organise, strike, picket ef- in Health and Life Sciences. reduced the number of Business School. 145 staff been asked to observe a fectively, and take solidarity action The action, organised by posts under threat from 47. at Leicester were informed global boycott of the institu- • Taxing the rich to fund good the University and College Meanwhile, staff at Leices- in January that they were at tion. □ public services, homes, education Union (UCU), will run from ter University have begun risk of compulsory redun- and jobs for all 24 May to 11 June and fol- action short of a strike, also dancy, across five academic • Workers’ control of major indus- tries and finance for a rapid transi- tion to a green society • A workers’ movement that fights all forms of oppression • Full equality for women, and so- A film from the GDR cial provision to free women from domestic labour. Reproductive free- doms and free abortion on demand. Kino Eye • Full equality for lesbian, gay, bi- sexual and trans people • Black and white workers’ unity By John Cunningham against racism aking a — very loose — • Open borders connection to Bruce • Global solidarity against global M Robinson’s review of the capital — workers everywhere have Deutschland series (Solidar- more in common with each other ity 592), and jumping back a than with their capitalist or Stalinist few years, the GDR (which ac- rulers Some of them engage in petty criminal- quired the great UFA film studio when • Democracy at every level of soci- ity or deal on the black market, while Sponsor the Germany was divided) once made ety, from the smallest workplace or for many the name of the game is just some interesting films, even though community to global social organi- loafing about. Although the film some- much of this output now lies neglected sation times portrays them as if they are just jump! and relatively unknown. My selection • Equal rights for all nations, dying for a member of the Communist slow week, with only a further is a 1957 film, Berlin: Schoenhauser against imperialists and predators Youth League to come along and re- £110 towards sponsoring Tim Corner, directed by Gerhard Klein. The A big and small cruit them, it is generally an intelligent Cooper’s parachute jump, but an- ‘corner’ in question is a series of rail- • Maximum left unity in action, and depiction of what was sometimes re- other donation of £500 takes us to a way arches at Schoenhauser station full openness in debate ferred to as “youth disaffection”, which total of £6720.94. Please keep dona- on the Berlin overhead railway. Here was seen in the GDR as a major prob- tions coming in towards our target of f you agree with us, take copies of disaffected teenagers, rebels and mis- lem. Berlin: Schoenhauser Corner can £20,000 by 11 July: workersliberty. ISolidarity to sell — and join us! □ fits congregate to look for some relief be found on Icestorm/network DVD, org/donate2021. Or to sponsor Tim: from the grind, boredom and drabness which has also released other films • workersliberty.org/join-awl bit.ly/tim-jump □ of life in the Soviet sector of Berlin. from the GDR period. □

14 workersliberty.org @workersliberty @workers_liberty fb.com/workersliberty DVLA bosses back off for now port the United Voices of the World union (UVW)’s legal costs in their case John Moloney around the discriminatory impact of outsourcing. I’m pushing for further osses at the Swansea Driver and financial support on top of that. We’re BVehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), also integrating UVW members in where our members have struck twice Royal Parks, who work as outsourced against a lack of workplace safety, cleaners, into the PCS as part of du- threatened to increase the number of al-card arrangements between our workers on site even further from 17 unions. They are facing mass staffing May. Under the threat of a week-long cuts later this year. If the outsourcing strike starting the 17th, though, they company, who are following the or- have backed off. ders of the Royal Parks, don’t back off They have this week to reach a deal from this we’ll ballot our new mem-

with us; if they don’t, then we have bers for strikes and support any actin Pic: bit.ly/pay-s served notice for another strike for with full strike pay. the entire week beginning Monday I have asked our representative on 24 May. Previously our strikes have the London and South East TUC to only involved those workers who were raise with other unions that should be being made to work from the physical a joint campaign to get Sadiq Khan NHS pay after Scotland workplace. This time it’ll involve every- to begin insourcing work. The board one, those working at home too. of Transport for London, for example, By Alice Hazel industrial action under the Trade Union We’ve received positive legal advice is chaired by Mr Khan; he can bring Act 2016, the GMB vote of 82% with a in our parallel campaign in DVLA con- work in-house by just raising a finger. s expected, the majority of NHS 49% turnout shows that it is possible for cerning its sick trigger point, which is There should be no outsourcing by Aunion members and trade unions a union (in this case, a smaller union in more punitive than other part of De- TfL or any of its subsidiary companies. in Scotland have voted in consulta- the sector) to get a legal ballot result for partment for Transport and dispropor- Mr Khan and other local Labour pol- tive ballots to accept the 4% pay offer. strike action. The RCN result, with 68.5% tionately impacts women workers. We iticians say they’re pro-union, but they Members of Unison, Unite, and the rejecting on a 26.9% turnout, was way want to start legal action as soon as need to back that up with action. They smaller profession-based unions such below the industrial-action threshold. possible. need to implement union policies, as the RCM and CSP voted to accept. The NHS pay campaign in England In the Department for Work and and ensure unions have full access to 85% of those voting in Unison, the big- and Wales still faces a government pol- Pensions, indicative ballots on work- workplaces and the right to organise gest union, accepted. icy of only 1% pay rise, a wait for the Pay place action over Covid safety are properly. Unions should also demand GMB and RCN members rejected Review Board recommendation some due back on Monday 24 May. The de- as much non-compliance with anti-un- in line with their leaderships’ recom- time in June, and then the government partment has upped the ante by de- ion legislation as possible. mendations. The Scottish government verdict on that. The Scottish results manding everyone must return to the I want to push this approach with quickly announced it would be imple- show how important it is to examine workplace at least one day per week. the Scottish and Welsh governments. menting the deal with no further ne- our strategies, taking into account re- We have to resist that kind of compul- The Scottish National Party claims to gotiation, and it looks unlikely that the strictions on strike action in the law. sion. The return to the workplace must be pro-union, and the Welsh govern- rejecting unions will seriously oppose Workers’ Liberty healthworkers have be voluntary and under strict safety ment is Labour-led. We’ll be making this. organised a Zoom meeting for 19 May conditions, overseen by elected union demands of them: we don’t just want Although not quite meeting the on “Organising to Strike for NHS Pay” to reps. a union notice case in the corner of threshold of 50% turnout required for discuss these issues. □ The ongoing dangers are shown al- government offices, we want those ready by a mass Covid outbreak at a governments to place themselves large job centre in the north east. They and their power on the side of work- made it through the last spike without ers and unions. □ a significant level of infections, but as Rick Sumner, Subscribe to • John Moloney is assistant general things are opening up now the virus is secretary of the civil service workers’ spreading again. union PCS, writing here in a personal 1933-2021 Solidarity PCS has pledged £5,000 to sup- capacity By John Cunningham rial sub (6 issues) £7; Six months T(22 issues) £22 waged, £11 un- adly, Rick Sumner of the Na- waged, €30 European rate. Stional Justice for Mineworkers Campaign has died. Once a miner Visit workersliberty.org/sub at Shuttle Eye Colliery in West York- Metroline strike 25-26 May Or, email [email protected] shire, in the aftermath of the 1984-5 with your name and address, or By Ollie Moore strike he, along with his wife, Chris- phone 020 7394 8923. Standing tine, organised the Justice campaign us drivers working for Metroline, order £5 a month: more to support to help the many miners who were one of London’s largest bus compa- our work. Forms online. □ B victimised and unable to find work. I nies, will strike on 25-26 May and 7-9 met him a few times at various func- June. Metroline employs around 16% tions such as the Chesterfield May of all bus drivers across London. Day Rally and the Durham Miners’ The workers, who are members of Gala, where he was a regular pres- Unite, want the company to scrap plans Contact us ence with his stall of miners’ memo- to impose a “remote sign-on” policy. when London mayor Sadiq Khan or- 020 7394 8923 rabilia and publications. A few years Currently, workers book on for duty at a dered a moratorium on the imposition ago he stood down and the work of bus depot; under the new system, driv- of remote sign-on policies, but Metro- [email protected] the campaign is being continued by ers would pick up their bus at a location line bosses have said they see Khan’s others. Hardworking, cheerful, al- Write to: 20E Tower Workshops, along its route. moratorium as only a pause, and have ways finding time for a friendly chat, Riley Road, London, SE1 3DG Unite says the scheme has no benefit refused union demands to ditch the he will be sorely missed. A full tribute for passengers, and could lead to dis- policy altogether. Unite gave Metro- Production team: George to Rick can be found on the National ruption and delays. It says the measure line a 10 May deadline to abandon the Wheeler, Martin Thomas Justice for Mineworkers’ Campaign is designed to cut costs for Metroline. plan, and called strikes when this was (editor), Sacha Ismail, Simon Nelson, website. □ Workers scored a victory last month not met. □ Zack Muddle

Events and campaigns: workersliberty.org/meetings youtube.com/c/WorkersLibertyUK workersliberty.org/audio 15 10-11 July 2021 | Ideas for Freedom Camden School for Girls, Sandall Rd, London NW5 2DB

SOCIALISM in an Cyprian Hauser Pic: AGE of COVID Heavy Israeli police presence in East Jerusalem Book now for online or in person East Jerusalem and protest participation: bit.ly/iff-21 By Martin Thomas access to public services (in fact poorer than in West Jerusalem) and only municipal voting rights. workersliberty.org/ideas n Tuesday 18 May there was a Palestinian They can apply for Israeli citizenship, but few do, Ogeneral strike across Israel, the West Bank, and fewer are accepted. and Gaza. From the start there were channels for Jews to Since the bombs and rockets started, some “reclaim” East Jerusalem properties lost in 1948, Palestinian mobilisation in Israel has been turned yet none for Palestinians to “reclaim” West Jeru- A festival to reactionary mirror-images of the Jewish-chau- salem properties lost then. Israeli authorities were of socialist ideas, vinist outrages, with attacks on synagogues. But cautious about reclamations. also there, dominant before, and with chances of In 1972 two Jewish religious trusts bought the featuring... being dominant in future, is mobilisation for dem- tomb area. In 1982 they started attempts to evict ocratic rights, jointly with Jewish protesters. the Palestinian tenants from the houses. The be- DEBATES ≫The experience of There have been Jewish-Arab protests against mused tenants accepted an out-of-court agree- What should feminists say about sex work? “Corbynism” and the future of the ≫ evictions or threats of eviction in the Jerusalem ment which recognised the trusts’ ownership but Anita Downs debates Ruth Tweedale left in Labour, with speakers including Alan district of Sheikh Jarrah for many years, and with “protected” their tenancies. Simpson, former Labour MP increasing tempo in the weeks before the rockets ≫Is socialist revolution possible? Is it desirable? Formally, the moves for eviction since then Ruth Cashman, Workers’ Liberty, debates Pro- ≫Confronting antisemitism on the left, with and bombs. have been on grounds of the tenants breaching fessor John Strawson speakers including Keith Kahn-Harris Sheikh Jarrah is a district of East Jerusalem near the agreement, by building additions or such. In the Old City in which many Arab grandees built China, Hong Kong, East Turkestan: workers’ 2003, the land was bought by a Jewish-settler PANELS AND TALKS ≫ their houses in the 19th century. Some of those and democratic struggles, with speakers from organisation, Nahalat Shimon, headquartered in houses are now luxury hotels or the like. ≫Winning freedom of speech, with speakers in- the Uyghur Solidarity Campaign and Labour the USA. Within the district is an area around the ancient cluding Shiva Mahbobi, women’s rights activist Movement Solidarity with Hong Kong. Families were evicted in 1999, 2008, and 2009. and spokesperson for Campaign to Free Politi- Jewish tomb of Shimon haTzadik. That land was Some 13 families now face immediate threat of cal Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) ≫USA: where next for workers, unions, and the bought by Jewish rabbis in 1876, and they built eviction. Court hearings have been postponed. left? with speakers including Traven Leyshon, some houses in it (before Zionist colonisation as The background here is a growth of the chau- Trade unionism in and after lockdowns, with ≫ Vermont AFL-CIO and Democratic Socialists of such started). vinist far right in Israeli Jewish society. Avigdor speakers including Prof. Gregor Gall and Janine America, and Justine Canady, Workers’ Liberty Jerusalem was a Jewish-majority city from the Lieberman, one of the leaders of the anti-Net- Booth (RMT activist and Workers’ Liberty) early 20th century. In the 1948 war which estab- The next wave of climate activism, with speak- anyahu opposition in Israeli politics, and by no ≫ lished Israel, Palestinian Arabs fled or were ex- ≫Organising the unorganised, with speakers ers including Simon Pirani, author of Burning means the most right-wing of them, has long pelled from many areas won by the Jewish forces. including John Moloney, Assistant General Sec- Up: A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption advocated forcible transfer of Arab-majority of retary, PCS union (pc), and Kelly Rogers, former There were smaller areas won by Arab armies northern Israel to a (hypothetical) Palestinian state Picturehouse striker ≫Understanding the Renaissance, with Prof. where Jews fled or were expelled, including East and making “loyalty oath” a condition of citizen- Cath Fletcher, author of The Beauty and the Ter- Jerusalem. From #MeToo to the future: confronting vio- ship for remaining Arabs. Further-right politicians ≫ ror The Jordanian government’s “Custodian of Ab- talk crudely of expelling Arabs. lence against women, with speakers including sentee Property” took over the area round the Jill Mountford (Workers’ Liberty) ≫The historical roots of antisemitism on the left There was quick Jewish settlement (by new- tomb, and housed Palestinian refugees there. build) in East Jerusalem after 1967, and by the Covid: what we know and what we don’t ≫What’s happening in Myanmar? with speakers ≫ In the 1967 war Israel took East Jerusalem and early 1990s East Jerusalem was almost half-Jew- from the Myanmar labour movement know, with Prof. George Davey Smith the West Bank. The Israeli government immedi- ish. Since then the Palestinian majority in East Thursday 8th: film screening and discussion ately annexed East Jerusalem to Israel, but not Jerusalem has increased, and the Jewish-Arab ≫QAnon and the rise of a new far right, with ≫ the West Bank. The Palestinian population of East speakers including Joe Mulhall, Hope Not Hate Dear Comrades! proportion in Jerusalem is now little different Jerusalem were not granted Israeli citizenship, from what it was in the 1920s. Friday 9th: walking tour “Battersea vs the Brit- ≫Left perspectives on Lebanon’s protest move- ≫ unlike the 20% or so Arab minority in pre-1967 Jewish settlements have been built round the ment, with Lebanese socialist Joey Ayoub ish Empire” □ Israel. Their status is “permanent residents”, with continued page 2 → i workersliberty.org Meetings, events, campaigns: workersliberty.org/meetings ii Solidarity Solidarity& Workers’ Liberty For a workers’ government For social ownership of the banks and industry MYANMAR SOLIDARITY TARGETS BRANDS By Michael Elms Many trade union leaders had to go into hiding, because mili- ollowing a meeting called by tary started searching for them FMomentum Internationalists at factory level and at their between UK labour movement homes. For many of them it is activists and Myanmar trade now difficult to return to work, union leaders, there will be a due to lack of transportation series of protests directed at UK and due to the many military brands from this weekend. checkpoints on the roads, ment, calling itself the Civil Sheffield: Saturday 22 May where people are checked and Disobedience Movement, has 11am H&M on Fargate arbitrarily detained or shot. been led by trade unions and Newcastle: Friday 21 May, “In Hlaing Thar Yar, the mili- workers’ organisations. 2pm, H&M on Northumberland tary is arbitrarily stopping work- Many workers in Myanmar’s Street ers on the streets demanding garment factories, especially North London: Sunday 23 that they handle their phones Yangon, have been out on May, 11am H&M in Wood to soldiers or under threat of strike. The army and police has Green arrest they obliging workers, if met these protests with vio- Lambeth and Lewisham, both they do not have phones, to pay lence and live bullets. The As- to be confirmed. 20,000 MMK. During the 14-15 sistance Association for Political Trade unionists in Myanmar March crackdown, around 37 Prisoners said that as of 17 May, and around the world are de- Chinese owned factories were 802 people had been killed by manding that global brands burned or damaged. Two more the military for participating in work with their suppliers to garment factories in Hlaing the movement, 4,120 detained safeguard the jobs of work- Thar Yar were burned on April and 20 sentenced to death. ers who are unable to attend 7, leaving 16 people dead at Many UK clothing brands use work due to the political situ- the hands of the military. garment factories in Myanmar. ation. So far, some brands like “Also due to these events, In April, trade union leader H&M, Next, C&A, Primark and many workers are afraid to go Khaing Zar Aung described the ≫End the occupation: for a fully independent Palestinian state! Benetton have suspended back to work, fearing that their situation for workers in garment new orders. But they have not factories may also get burned in Recognise Israel’s right to exist factories: ≫ yet taken steps to ensure that the future. The military regime “Many workers are afraid to wages and severance are being cut phone lines and mobile in- ≫Democracy for all: stop discrimination against Palestinians in Israel go back to work, because of paid. ternet, so it is nearly impossible the total lack of security in the See page 2 The military in Myanmar for workers to inform their em- ≫Jewish-Arab workers’ unity industrial zones. Thousands of carried out a coup in Febru- ployers if they cannot return to workers have returned to their Glasgow protest US battles on Left politics in Cliff Slaughter: ary and abolished the elected work. Due to the cut-off of com- home villages during the vio- halts deportations voting rights Singapore might-have-been government. Since then, mil- munication, even union mem- lent crackdown taken place in “A lot of threads came States have already The battle to create A major writer on the lions of people have taken to bers cannot contact their union Hlaing Thar Yar on 14-15 March, together... spontaneity, passed 25 new laws to space for democratic British far left from the the streets to demand an end representatives and inform the when military killed over 100 but.. with roots” cut voter turnout debate and culture 1960s to the 1980s to dictatorship and democracy employers.” □ for Myanmar. This street move- people in that industrial area. Page 9 Page 9 Page 6 Pages 12-13 No. 593, 19 May 2021 50p/£1 workersliberty.org No. 593, 19 May 2021 50p/£1 workersliberty.org