Tories Answer Tube Strike Vote with Threat of New Anti-Union Laws
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So& Wloirkdersa’ Lirbeirtty y Volume 3 No 203 11 May 2011 30p/80p For a workers’ government London Met Debating Middle East cuts fight page 2 anarchism briefing page 10 page 6-7 Tories answer Tube strike vote with See threat of new page 5 anti-union laws DEMOCRACY MEANS THE RIGHT TO STRIKE NEWS What is the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty? Midnight raid on uni protest Today one class, the working class, lives by selling its labour power to another, the capitalist class, By Ed Maltby several student support cut-price, business-ori - more pressure to bear. schemes. London Met pro - ented institution. We’ve got a tip-off about which owns the means of production. Society On 9 May university is shaped by the capitalists’ relentless drive to vides courses and support Eshe, a first-year per - the location of the VC management at London to working-class students forming arts student, said: today, so we’re going to increase their wealth. Capitalism causes Metropolitan used police who otherwise would find “Not only did manage - rally round and sing him a poverty, unemployment, the blighting of lives by and private security to it difficult to access higher ment have tens of security song.” overwork, imperialism, the destruction of the evict a peaceful occupa - education. guards and five police offi - Max Watson, secretary environment and much else. tion of the Holloway These cuts will trans - cers, but they acted really of London Met Unison Against the accumulated wealth and power of the Road Graduate centre. form the college into, in aggressively. They told us branch, told Solidarity , capitalists, the working class has one weapon: solidarity. VC Malcolm Gillies’s we had ten minutes to “A midnight raid is a Students at London The Alliance for Workers’ Liberty aims to build solidarity words, a “lean”, “tightly- leave the occupation. It scandal and should be ex - Met’s North Campus through struggle so that the working class can overthrow organised”, “competitive” was like bloodhounds posed as such. The stu - staged the occupation in capitalism. We want socialist revolution: collective ownership institution. Gillies plans to with a fox. They didn’t dents are defending their protest against planned of industry and services, workers’ control and a democracy outsource services and give anyone time to read education and they have cuts of 400 courses and much fuller than the present system, with elected market London Met as a the injunction. It was really shown the way forward: representatives recallable at any time and an end to bad, bullying tactics. They we have to take decisive bureaucrats’ and managers’ privileges. scared the occupiers out action now to stop the We fight for the labour movement to break with “social with sheer force, ‘pick up cuts. The education sup - partnership” and assert working-class interests militantly The knock on the door your stuff and go go go’ port staff and students are against the bosses. kind of thing.” united: we will not stand The use of police in a for this. We are London Our priority is to work in the workplaces and trade unions, By Padraig O’Brien supporting workers’ struggles, producing workplace bulletins, midnight eviction is a seri - Met not ‘EasyMet’. We will ous escalation in manage - not become a no-frills uni - helping organise rank-and-file groups. At around 9am on 10 May two plainclothes police We are also active among students and in many campaigns ment bullying tactics. Most versity. We pledge to resist officers turned up at University College of London university evictions in re - with every weapon we and alliances. (UCL) Astor halls of residence in Bloomsbury and cent years have been re - have. arrested two known UCL student activists. “We’re already in dis - solved without the pute over job cuts and We stand for: involvement of the police. G Independent working-class representation in politics. As far as UCL anti-cuts activists know at the time of failure to avoid compul - going to press, they have not been charged and as of Other Vice Chancellors sory redundancies. We’re G A workers’ government, based on and accountable to the might now be tempted to labour movement. 3pm (10 May) they are still in custody. working on a timeline for UCL student union office Michael Chessum said: use such tactics. The stu - a strike. It’ll be as soon G A workers’ charter of trade union rights — to organise, to “This shows a clear escalation in the police’s tactics, and dent movement must de - as possible.” strike, to picket effectively, and to take solidarity action. it is being used in order to intimidate known student ac - nounce this attack. Taxation of the rich to fund decent public services, homes, G tivists. It is clearly political policing.” Eshe added, “It’s not • The students will education and jobs for all. The Bloomsbury Fightback group will shortly an - over until the fat lady lobby the Board of Gover - G A workers’ movement that fights all forms of oppression. nounce a protest against the police action. Details: sings. People are thinking nors on 11 May calling for Full equality for women and social provision to free women www.anticuts.com about trying to occupy the resignation of Malcolm from the burden of housework. Free abortion on request. Full something else or bring Gillies. equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Black and white workers’ unity against racism. G Open borders. Extra university G Global solidarity against global capital — workers Sacked for eating everywhere have more in common with each other than with their capitalist or Stalinist rulers. G Democracy at every level of society, from the smallest places for the rich? By a healthworker hours with 22% doing so on workplace or community to global social organisation. every shift. Just under 40% At our staff meeting last G Working-class solidarity in international politics: equal said they work through month, our ward manager rights for all nations, against imperialists and predators big By Sacha Ismail their meal time at least warned us that Trust and small. three times a week and management are taking a Maximum left unity in action, and openness in debate. Having floated the idea of only 32% are able to get a G zero tolerance approach If you agree with us, please take some copies of Solidarity universities creating a drink of water when they G to the heinous crime of... to sell — and join us! separate admissions sys - need it. tem for those who pay eating leftover patient This recent crackdown 020 7394 8923 [email protected] above the £9,000 cap on food. must be seen in light of the tuition fees, the govern - 20e Tower Workshops, Riley Road, We were informed that RCN’s investigation that re - ment has quickly back - vealed Trusts are planning tracked. two members of nursing London, SE1 3DG. staff have already been to cut nursing staff by 12% Universities minister sacked and we could expect by 2015. Management are David Willetts had sug - management spies to jump looking for ways to sack gested that institutions out from the shadows at staff on trumped up GET SOLIDARITY could recruit more British any moment. charges so they can limit students by offering extra No-one in the NHS is the number of costly redun - places to those who pay particularly proud of eating daInncmy pyaTyrouustts,.catching a EVERY WEEK! full-cost fees of up to of leftover patient food. few overworked, under - government’s drive to en - £28,000. He claimed that However, on some shifts it nourished nurses scoffing Special offers courage corporate sponsor - the extra income would free is the only way to grab a down a plate of over - ship of university places. G Trial sub, 6 issues £5 up more places for students quick bite to eat. cooked hospital gruel is for poor backgrounds. The accountancy corpora - As a recent survey in the seen as a legitimate way In Australia, those who tion KPMG has just un - G 22 issues (six months). £18 waged £9 unwaged Nursing Times shows, 95% to make “efficiency sav - pay their tuition fees up - veiled a plan to pay fees for of nurses regularly work in ings”. G 44 issues (year). £35 waged £17 unwaged front are offered a lower a set of accounting students excess of their contracted grade for entrance to uni - at universities including G European rate: 28 euros (22 issues) or 50 euros (44 issues) versity than those who Durham. have to take a loan to pay In any case, the idea that Reinvigorating the National Tick as appropriate above and send your money to: them. That is evidently the any of this will help most students is the same logic 20e Tower Workshops, Riley Road, London, SE1 3DG direction the Tories wanted — want — to move in. which says that private Campaign Against Fees and Cuts Cheques (£) to “AWL”. But within 24 hours, schools, private healthcare, Birmingham University, 12-5pm, Saturday 4 June Or make £ and euro payments at workersliberty.org/sub. stung by the obvious voluntary sector provision charge that, at a time when of public services and so on it is cutting 10,000 univer - will free up public services The student anti-cuts groups at Royal Holloway, Birm - Name . sity places, the government for the rest of us. In fact ingham and Hull universities, and the student anti- was talking about a special, they are moves to trash cuts network in Merseyside, have called a conference public services. Address . much shorter queue for the We need to rearm the on 4 June to revive and develop the National Cam - children of the rich, Willetts student and workers’ paign Against Fees and Cuts.