A happy new year to all
Welcome to the first bimonthly Workers – 24 pages in full colour, replacing a 16-page monthly in black and white.
Workers January/February 2015
Download:
Take housing off the market
Estimates put the value of Britain’s housing stock at more than £5 trillion – that’s five thousand billion. Yet the shortage of housing remains a pressing requirement for millions of workers.
How to house Britain
Housing has become a case of satisfying the greed of a tiny minority of capitalist speculators. And “build more houses” is not the answer to the housing shortage. Here are some alternatives…
And Johnson is calling us economically illiterate!
If you don’t agree that foreign investors should buy up swathes of London you are “economically illiterate”, says London Mayor Boris Johnson.
G20: the drive to war
The G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, in November made good TV: Russian President Putin as the naughty boy isolated by the other 19 countries, which took it in turns to call him names, forcing him to leave early. But it wasn't like that at all.
City pressures hit Britain’s aero engine maker
In November Rolls-Royce announced proposals to reduce its Aerospace Division workforce by 2,600 jobs worldwide over the next 18 months.
The holy freedoms of capitalism
The EU is built on the “free movements” of capital, labour, goods and services, that is, on uncontrolled movements of all four. Capital needs these “freedoms” in order to maximise its profits, and for no other reason.
TTIP: a dagger aimed at Britain’s sovereignty
At last, a sea change is taking place in the thinking of the unions on TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership treaty being negotiated between the European Union and the US.
Pay: take up the fight
Health workers will have to decide whether to meekly acquiesce in a continuous reduction of earnings or find a way to do what generations of workers before them have done: fight to improve pay.
Britain – not for sale
Occupied countries learn the hard lesson that when you lose something it can be difficult, and often impossible, to get it back later.
Costly advice
Anti-union legislation is so complex that legal firms are making a killing by advising employers on how to use the law to attack workers.
Economy: What recovery?
This is what capitalist economic recovery looks like. Our GDP per head is still lower than it was in 2008. Real wages have been cut. Debt has risen.
Social democracy’s great failure
Apart from the odd rhetorical flourish, the Second International never aspired to be a revolutionary organisation, unlike the First. It left no worthwhile legacy.
TTIP: The extraordinary rendition of Britain
It is delusional to think that any body other than workers themselves can prevent the extraordinary rendition of Britain that TTIP represents.
TTIP: The Tufts study
The stark conclusions of a detailed academic study on the economic effects of TTIP seem to have shaken some unions out of their complacency about the deal.
Everything’s for sale
Novelist and journalist James Meek outlines how foreign companies have taken over much of our infrastructure
A dangerous idea
This book from a professor of international political economy recounts the intellectual and practical history of austerity and judges it a dangerous disaster. The author shows that austerity does not work as advertised. It does not reduce debt and does not promote growth; instead budgets are cut, economies shrink.
Smith Commission: New plan to break up Britain
Despite the defeat of the separatists in the Scottish referendum, huge new powers are to be devolved to Edinburgh – with consequent implications for the rest of Britain.
Autumn Statement: The attack continues
In his Autum Statement George Osborne continued the attack on British workers under the banner of reducing the deficit. His Westminster rivals said little more than “me too” or “it won’t be as bad if you elect me”.
ITV unions unite over pay
Workers at ITV will start the new year with a strike ballot over pay. Three unions – broadcasting and entertainment union BECTU, the National Union of Journalists and Unite – have all rejected a pay offer of 2 per cent.
London bus drivers go for unity
London’s bus drivers are balloting on industrial action to force through one agreement covering all bus companies in the capital.
Councils seek law to block betting shop clusters
More than a quarter of all local authorities in England have joined forces to use the government’s “localism” legislation to block the clustering of betting shops on high streets that offer unregulated casino-style gambling.
Law Society withdraws sharia guidance
The Law Society has withdrawn its guidance on inheritance under sharia law after a widespread and fierce campaign called it a “gross dereliction of duty” and demanded its removal.