Global crisis 'won't stop the US empire'

Louise Nousratpour in Croydon
Tuesday May 27, 2008
The Morning Star

CPB congress: COMMUNIST Party delegates vowed on Monday to build broad and non-sectarian resistance against imperialism in the face of a new wave of anti-communism brought on by the latest capitalist crisis.

Congress warned that the economic crisis gripping the world, far from spelling the end of capitalist rule, would lead to more imperialist wars and proxy wars around the world in search of maximising profits through opening up new markets and control over world resources.

In a comprehensive debate on international issues, delegates at the 50th CPB congress pointed to sweeping radical changes in Latin America led by Cuba and Venezuela to free the region from the clutches of the imperialist power "in the north."

CPB international secretary John Foster argued that the protracted capitalist crisis had led to the "emergence of new areas of resistance to capital domination."

But he warned against complacency, noting that, while the dominant US imperialism was facing long-term economic and political challenges, its military power exceeded that of the rest of the world combined.

As well as attempting to destabilise the Middle East, the US is now engaged in proxy wars in Africa in search of new markets and resources, he said.

"The EU is also playing a key role as an imperialist military interventionist," Mr Foster said, rejecting claims by some in the labour movement that the EU could counterbalance US hegemony.

Executive committee member Gawain Little highlighted proposals in the EU treaty which would lead to further militarisation of the member states as well as the whole-scale privatisation of all remaining public assets.

Mr Foster argued that China, not the EU, could effectively challenge the US.

He cited the recent escalation in anti-China propaganda through the so-called Free Tibet campaign as proof that the imperialist powers were becoming increasingly weary of the socialist country's rapid economic development.

North London delegate Andrew Murray made the case for continued efforts to maintain and build a powerful anti-war movement that cuts across the sectarian divide.

And Scottish CND delegate Alan McKinnon urged communists to renew support for the campaign against Trident replacement.

"Winning this battle would help break the link that ties Britain to US foreign policy," Mr McKinnon added.

Mr Foster concluded: "Socialism is not just possible but it is the only system that can meet the challenges of sustainable development and bring peace and social justice to the world."

Czech and Cuban delegates set out global challenges

Louise Nousratpour in Croydon
Tuesday May 27, 2008
The Morning Star

CPB congress: CUBAN and Czech communists told congress on Monday that communists around the world faced many global and local challenges which need a "constructive and united" front.

Addressing the last day of congress, Communist Party of Cuba representative Teresita Trujillo thanked the CPB for its continued support for her country's struggle against US imperialism.

"The enduring US blockade is the longest in human history," Ms Trujillo noted.

"But Cuba also faces co-ordinated hostile policies forged between the EU Parliament and the US.

"They call it the transition of Cuba towards 'democracy.' What they mean is a transition from socialism to capitalism."

Ms Trujillo said that, while some European countries were pushing for a progressive change in EU policies toward Cuba, powerful nations such as Britain were actively pushing for a US-style approach.

"This is why we need your support in pressuring your government to back off," she stressed.

"We face anti-communist campaigns in many ways, in particular in the European countries, and we have to face it together as an international united family," she said to a standing ovation.

Czech Communist Youth Union (KSM) chairman Milan Krajca warned of the increasing anti-communist campaign in the Czech Republic, which has led to a ban on his party.

Mr Krajca believes that the ban was a response to the communists' leading role in the popular campaign against US plans to install military bases in his country.

"Opinion polls show that 70 per cent of the population are against US bases," he said, "yet the government continues to finalise its agreement with the US."

Mr Krajca said that KSM members "remain defiant in the face of the ban and government persecutions. Thousands have signed the KSM petition against the ban."

Anti-China propaganda 'based on ignorance'

Louise Nousratpour in Croydon
Tuesday May 27, 2008
The Morning Star

CPB congress: COMMUNIST Party delegates vowed on Monday to mobilise against the recent US-led anti-China propaganda in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.

They said that the so-called Free Tibet campaign was dependent on "massive ignorance" about Tibetan and Chinese history and regretted that it had gained support from "misguided" sections in the left movement.

Executive committee member Gawain Little said that the recent economic crisis had turned imperialism's focus back on south-east Asia and China in particular.

"China's growing economic strength clearly poses a long-term threat to US dominance of a unipolar world," he stressed.

South London delegate Nigel Green said that, in light of next year's 50th anniversary of the overthrow of "autocratic" rule in Tibet by the Chinese communists, the CPB should organise a Hands Off Tibet campaign in the labour movement.

We face tough times ahead


INTERVIEW: TSSA general secretary GERRY DOHERTY explains why he fears a difficult period for trade unionism.

Louise Nousratpour
Monday May 19, 2008
The Morning Star

GERRY Doherty is preparing his union for a bumpy ride. As the economic crisis hits workers' pockets and support for the Labour Party falls to a record low, the general secretary of transport union TSSA believes that trade unions face a tough test in the next few years.

The disastrous local election results put Labour behind the Lib Dems with just 23 per cent share of the votes.

"May 1 was the day the new Labour project finally came to an end," says Doherty as we sit and talk at his union's annual conference in Scarborough.

"I think we need to prepare and consolidate our strength in the labour movement. We must prepare for a much more hostile environment in two years time, because I don't believe Labour can turn the votes around in time for the next general election," he warns.

Doherty, who is a Labour Party member, comes from a working-class background and cut his teeth as a trade unionist in Glasgow.

He first got actively involved in the movement in the wake of Margaret Thatcher's 1979 election and her vicious onslaught on workers, in particular the miners.

Today, Doherty is convinced that Labour will lose the next election.

"I just hope it doesn't take another 18 years before it gets back into power," he adds wryly.

To reverse the party's fortunes, Doherty believes that Labour needs to drop its unpopular policies of privatisation and illegal wars and start listening to its core supporters in the movement.

"I think the Iraq war was a mistake. We need to put that to bed and bring back the troops," he says, adding that other trade union policies such as renationalisation of the railways resonate with public opinion.

"Around 67 per cent of the population want the rail network back in public hands. Now, why would you not include such a policy in your election manifesto?" he asks with an air of frustration. "It's just nonsense."

So, why did the TSSA back Gordon Brown's leadership campaign and Peter Hain's deputy leadership contest last year when it was clear that neither would back rail nationalisation?

Doherty defends the decision, insisting that the union's executive committee had to "do the best it could given the choices. We acted in the best interest of our members."

But delegates at last week's Scarborough conference accused the leadership of breaking union rules by ignoring members' wishes expressed in a resolution last year.

The executive committee accepted the criticism, but it explained that the leadership contest had been a "one-horse race" and that none of the deputy leadership candidates had a policy on nationalising the railways.

Anglia delegate Malcolm Wallace countered that deputy leadership candidate Jon Cruddas had backed rail renationalisation and even promised to work with the TSSA to achieve this objective.

So, why didn't TSSA support Cruddas over Hain?

"We interviewed all the deputy candidates," Doherty recalls. "Five were Cabinet ministers and only Cruddas did not have any Cabinet responsibility, so he could say whatever he liked.

"We backed Hain because we wanted to support somebody who had influence in Parliament and could argue our case inside the Cabinet - if not publicly, then privately."

Another controversial debate at last week's conference was Labour Party funding. Delegates agreed that any funding over and above the mandatory affiliation fees should be "directly linked to a commitment to implement democratically agreed Labour Party policies."

Doherty, who opposed the motion along with the rest of the executive committee, insists that this would amount to "buying policies" from the government.

He argues: "The Tories would love this. Finally, they'll have 'proof' that the unions are demanding cash-for-policy and their support must be restricted.

"Besides, we are a small union and, if we attach strings to funding, we will risk losing the influence we now have in the Labour Party."

To achieve the union's objectives, including rail renationalisation, Doherty believes that TSSA must focus on cultivating a strong workplace presence and beef up its industrial muscle.

"The TSSA must address declining membership to survive as an independent union," warns Doherty, who was re-elected in April to serve a second five-year term.

As part of its strategy to address the problem, the union launched its first national conference for union reps and lay members last year. It was designed to get them involved in the decision-making process.

"I realised then that I didn't know 80 per cent of these people," Doherty recalls. "What this tells me is that we have active members out there, but we need to reach out to them for they are the future.

"They can deliver the union's standards and values in the workplace and help us recruit young members."

Despite the gloomy predictions and membership concerns, Doherty is confident that TSSA is ready to take on future challenges.

"The TSSA has got off its knees in recent years," he declares proudly. "Although it only has 1 per cent share in government influence, it punches well above its weight.

"We are working with all the other transport unions," he says in response to a question about his union's industrial relationship with the RMT, which takes a more militant approach and is Britain's fastest-growing union.

"Personally, I have a very good relationship with Bob Crow," he insists, adding: "Bosses love to use the tactic of divide and rule - well, they are not going to divide us and they are not going to rule us."

He advises unorganised workers: "Join a union, get off your knees and stand up for your rights."

A hundred years of red fellowship

LOUISE NOUSRATPOUR reports on the unique TSSA Socialist Fellowship.

Thursday May 15, 2008
The Morning Star

TSSA delegates celebrated the 100th anniversary of the transport union's traditional Socialist Fellowship conference fringe event with revolutionary songs, poetry and humour.

The fellowship is a unique socialist organisation founded by George Ridley and a handful of other politically active members in 1908, with the aim of affiliating the Railway Clerks Association, the forerunner of the TSSA, to the young Labour Party.

The objectives of this small group were eventually realised in 1910 and the union has been affiliated to the party ever since.

The yearly fringe event brings together socialist ideas of all persuasions in an atmosphere of comradeship and solidarity.

Members share their thoughts on current issues, recite poetry, sing songs and deliver humorous speeches with a serious message.

Opening the meeting in Scarborough on Monday evening, fellowship president Malcolm Wallace reminded comrades that the president traditionally has unlimited powers for the evening, including the authority to call on anyone to contribute to the event in any way they can.

"I am the dictator for the evening," he laughed, before calling his first "victim."

Scottish delegate Alec Smith entertained the audience with a song commemorating the heroes of the Spanish civil war, while veteran delegate John Barton praised the October and Cuban revolutions as an inspiration for socialists around the world.

"No doubt, the day for socialism will come," he said, sighing: "But it's taking a bloody long time."

General secretary Gerry Doherty joined in the fun, belting out a heartfelt rendition of Bread and Roses by Martin Whelan, traditionally sung at gatherings of Irish labour activists.

"Look up, the sky is burning with blood that workers shed, and we'll carry on the battle for roses and bread," sang Mr Doherty.

A wide range of issues was tackled, but at the centre of discussions was the state of the Labour Party after the disastrous May election results and where to go from here.

Speakers expressed real concern that Labour could lose the next general election to the Tories.

But, while some were gloomy about the future, others pointed to the recent pay strikes by teachers, civil servants and other public-sector workers as proof that the labour movement will not take it lying down.

"There is one feeling far more powerful than fear and that is hope," said assistant general secretary Manuel Cortes.

"When people are willing to take a stand, others are inspired to have hope in another world based on collectivism and social justice.

"There is one class that produces all the wealth in the world and that is the working class," Mr Cortes said to cheers, adding: "We can and will run this world better and in the interest of many, not the greedy few."

Rounding up the event, Mr Wallace decided to end his 28-year long "dictatorship" and appointed Dave Hillam as his successor.

He explained: "I know this is not very democratic, but, traditionally, each president and treasurer appoints their successor."

Treasurer Claude James followed suit and appointed Pauline McArdle as his successor.

We all stood to sing the Red Flag and the International with fists in the air and hearts filled with a deep sense of solidarity.

Standing up for justice

LOUISE NOUSRATPOUR finds that a workers' protest is mounting in Sweden.

Monday May 5, 2008
The Morning Star

SWEDISH workers have been hit by wave after wave of attacks on their unions and living standards since the right-wing Moderate Party defeated the Social Democrats in September 2006 elections.

The public has responded with mass demonstrations and workers in the construction, transport and health sectors have taken strike action, the most recent being the current mass walkout by thousands of angry nurses and health professionals over below-inflation pay deals.

And the mood for action is brewing in teaching union branches across the country.

Within months of taking office, the neoliberal government began selling off state assets and, despite mass protests, it cut unemployment benefits by 15 per cent, while, at the same time, increasing employee contributions threefold.

The move was designed to weaken Sweden's strong labour movement as more and more workers, in particular from the low-paid sector, have been forced to choose between paying union membership subs or unemployment benefits contributions.

According to the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, or Landsorganisationen (LO), tens of thousands of workers have left their unions since the law was enforced in January 2007 and more than 22,000 members were lost this year alone.

The LO is extremely worried and has made remedying the problem its top priority.

The Swedish health union Vaardfoerbundet, however, seems to have found a cure. Since it called the strike action on Monday April 21, the union has gained an average of 200 new members a day.

The ongoing action has been steadily growing and, today, 3,500 more health workers will join the 4,500 striking nurses, midwives, biomedical scientists and radiographers fed up with being undervalued, low-paid and overworked.

Another 2,700 members have a mandate to take action from May 16 if the pay dispute is not resolved by then.

The strikers want local government employers to raise their three-year pay offer by 2.5 per cent to 15 per cent. And they are calling for the basic monthly rate to be raised by roughly £400 to £1,843, arguing that three years of university education must be rewarded.

The government has received threats of mass resignation by more than 10,000 health workers who delivered a petition to Parliament last month demanding more pay.

The so-called Wage Uprising is independent of the Vaardfoerbundet, but some union members are involved in the campaign, which fully supports the strike, and has put forward a separate, more radical pay demand.

The campaign's online manifesto reads: "We are no Florence Nightingales - we are no angels responding to a divine calling. We provide a vital social service and our pay must reflect that.

"We are sick of being mistreated and undervalued. We will resign if our demands are not taken seriously."

Vaardfoerbundet warns that the health service will struggle to recruit if it continues to pay its staff low wages as many nurses and other health professionals are increasingly looking to Norway for work, where wages are higher.

Recent opinion polls show that public support for the strikers is solid, with anecdotal stories about patients cheering picketers on as they were being turned away from closed hospitals affected by the action.