So& Wloirkdersa’ Lirbeirtty y No 299 9 October 2013 30p/80p www.workersliberty.org For a workers’ government Tamarod in Gaza Why the Mail hates Slavoj Žižek page 3 Ralph Miliband on film page 9 page 10 ROYAL MAIL See SALE page 2 IS TORY RIP-OFF 2 ROYAL MAIL What is the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty? Keep it public! Fight on Today one class, the working class, lives by selling its labour power to another, the capitalist class, which owns the means of production. Society is shaped by the capitalists’ relentless drive to increase their wealth. Capitalism causes poverty, unemployment, the blighting of lives by overwork, the principle! imperialism, the destruction of the environment and much else. Against the accumulated wealth and power of the By a CWU member liberalisation of the postal rored the consensus in other than the Tories! capitalists, the working class has one weapon: solidarity. sector in the UK was under - utilities – that the major The CWU campaign has The Alliance for Workers’ Liberty aims to build solidarity through Big investors, and a fair taken by Labour well in ad - player (in this case Royal recently focused on a boy - struggle so that the working class can overthrow capitalism. We want few middle-class people vance of legislation on Mail) has to meet universal cott of the private compa - socialist revolution: collective ownership of industry and services, who can afford £750 to workers’ control and a democracy much fuller than the present system, liberalisation from Europe. obligations on access for a nies who compete with the bid for shares, stand to with elected representatives recallable at any time and an end to AWL members who were fair “playing field”. This publicly owned Royal Mail. bureaucrats’ and managers’ privileges. make large windfall gains CWU activists at the time rigmarole is in reality about This has gone down well We fight for the labour movement to break with “social partnership” as Royal Mail shares are opposed the proposals. The giving guaranteed profits to with union members and and assert working-class interests militantly against the bosses. allocated and start trad - opportunity to argue a new entrants to the market, has rallied opposition, but it Our priority is to work in the workplaces and trade unions, ing, from 15 October. workers’ case against liber - which can choose the most is a mistaken strategy long supporting workers’ struggles, producing workplace bulletins, helping The government has de - alisation and competition profitable areas of the busi - term because it conflates organise rank-and-file groups. liberately set the share price and instead for proper pub - ness. postal workers’ interests We are also active among students and in many campaigns and low to get a successful sell- lic planning and investment The CWU has undertaken with those of Royal Mail, alliances. off, and the moneyed was lost. recruitment drives in the which operates as a busi - classes are confident that The framework for future various private firms oper - ness within a liberalised We stand for: new private bosses will be privatisation was in place ating in the sector, but too market. ● Independent working-class representation in politics. able to get good profits by from then. The “private sec - little too late. Other unions A workers’ government, based on and accountable to the labour ● beating down postal work - tor disciplines”, i.e. cost cut - have already got members POSITIVE movement. ers’ pay and conditions. ting to be competitive, were and in some cases recogni - A motion for renationali - ● A workers’ charter of trade union rights — to organise, to strike, to On 16 October the postal used, with the result that tion in these firms. sation was overwhelm - picket effectively, and to take solidarity action. there was pressure to re - Late in the life of the last ingly passed at Labour Taxation of the rich to fund decent public services, homes, education workers’ union CWU will ● duce Royal Mail employees’ Labour Government Peter Party conference. and jobs for all. announce the result of a bal - terms. Mandelson followed ● A workers’ movement that fights all forms of oppression. Full lot on strikes to win guaran - But shadow minister equality for women and social provision to free women from the burden tees on terms and through the logic of liberali - Chukka Umunna refuses to of housework. Free abortion on request. Full equality for lesbian, gay, conditions. However, the CLOSURES sation, and pushed for part give a clear position. It’s bisexual and transgender people. Black and white workers’ unity union’s campaign so far has There were closures of privatisation. By then the like going through the mo - against racism. been far too defensive. major Mail Centres, and union had a different lead - tions... and the share sale is ● Open borders. The story of the campaign rounds of job cuts, as well ership under Billy Hayes, going ahead. ● Global solidarity against global capital — workers everywhere have against Royal Mail Privati - as an increase in tempo - who was in principle The current campaign of more in common with each other than with their capitalist or Stalinist sation by the CWU starts rary and casual workers. against the model of liberal - the union accepts in effect rulers. over 13 years ago. This experience contrasts isation and privatisation. A there is no alternative to a ● Democracy at every level of society, from the smallest workplace or When Derek Hodgson with that of the privatisa - vigorous and successful “company union” ap - community to global social organisation. was General Secretary the tion of BT where the share campaign was undertaken, proach. You can’t keep ● Working-class solidarity in international politics: equal rights for all union went along with the sale happened in advance which included fighting postal services public with - nations, against imperialists and predators big and small. liberalisation proposals of of the development of a within the Labour Party. out arguing positively for ● Maximum left unity in action, and openness in debate. the 1997-2001 Labour gov - Since the 2010 election, If you agree with us, please take some copies of Solidarity to sell — fully liberalised market. public postal services, in - ● ernment in the Postal Serv - though, has sought only to and join us! Though the telecoms pri - cluding greater public in - ices Act 2000. It did so on vatisation took place in 1984 achieve ameliorating vestment, and against the the basis that the publicly it was not until the early amendments to Con-Dem liberalised model. Contact us: owned Royal Mail (where 1990s that there were major legislation. Both Coalition To keep the sector the majority of postal CWU job cuts. partners are in favour of unionised the CWU needs 020 7394 8923 [email protected] ● ● members work) should be The postal regulatory postal privatisation, the Lib - to appeal to all workers in The editor (Cathy Nugent), 20e Tower Workshops, Riley free to compete in the liber - structure brought in after eral Democrats having a the postal sector on the Road, London, SE1 3DG. alised postal market. The the Postal Services Act mir - worse track record on this basis of class solidarity. ● Printed by Trinity Mirror Something to learn Robinson quits EDL Get Solidarity every week! On 8 October English De - ● Trial sub, 6 issues £5 o from Tea Party fence League leaders Tommy Robinson and 22 issues (six months). £18 waged o ● The Republicans in the But the chief political Kevin Carroll quit the £9 unwaged o US Congress seem set lesson is on how politi - EDL. to take the US budget 44 issues (year). £35 waged o cians who are militant and Robinson said it was be - ● deficit up to the wire on £17 unwaged o determined can use leg - cause of the “dangers of 17 October. islative assemblies to do far-right extremism”. gangs of football support - ● European rate: 28 euros (22 issues) o And possibly beyond, to much more than the usual According to the EDL- ers who gather in pubs, or 50 euros (44 issues) o the point where the US point-scoring or polite op - watching website “EDL drink heavily, and then go government not only position. The tactic of de - Tick as appropriate above and send your money to: News”, this “signals the out looking for Muslims (or sends workers home un - liberate parliamentary end of the EDL”. people who “look Mus - 20e Tower Workshops, Riley Road, London, SE1 3DG paid, but fails to pay its obstruction was pioneered Unusually for a far-right lim”) to harass. Cheques (£) to “AWL”. bills. If president Obama in Britain, by Irish nation - group, the EDL has had no Ever since the EDL and the Democrats cam - alist MPs led by Charles Or make £ and euro payments at workersliberty.org/sub. social programme and very emerged, Solidarity has ar - paigned boldly for the Stuart Parnell in the 1870s little ongoing organisation. gued that it is an unstable principle of universal and 1880s, when all Ire - Name . It has organised a series of formation, but one with the health insurance — which land was ruled by Britain. street demonstrations, built-in danger that it is what the Republicans Their activity helped win Address . some fairly large, many serves as a terrain within want to destroy — then many concessions for Ire - small, often violent, since which a nucleus can re - the Republicans could not land, including, eventu - . spring 2009. Nominally group a new militant fas - get away with it. Or even ally, the principle of Home these are “against Islamic cist organisation. I enclose £ . if the Democrats were bold Rule. extremism”: in fact they are We still need to be on Labour should follow about using unusual finan - mostly mobilisations of guard for that danger.