>New Worker Online Digest > >Week commencing 16th June, 2000. > >1) Editorial - Rotten ideas. > >2) Lead story - "White-knuckle rides" for commuters. > >3) Feature article - Millions of children in poverty. > >4) International story - Athens manhunt for envoy's killers. > >5) British news item - Union recognision laws: Battle lines are drawn. > > >As from 15th July our email address will change due to Geocities stopping >their email service. Look out for the updated address closer to the time. > > >1) Editorial > >Rotten ideas. > >GOVERNMENT figures in May show a drop in the number of unemployed -- a fall >of 8,600 according to the Office for National Statistics. > > But all is not as it seems. Official figures have for years been distorted >by the practice of only counting the number of people actually signing on >for the Jobseekers' Allowance. This ignores many people who, for various >reasons, cannot, or do not, sign on but who want to work. > > The apparently good figures also ignore two other important factors -- the >low quality ofjobs currently on offer and the desperate jobs shortage to be >found in some areas. > > The Government's figures should be read alongside another report published >recently by Labour Research which shows that manufacturing industry is >continuing to decline and that the worst hit areas -- the former heartlands >of engineering and heavy industry -- are suffering very severe hardship as >the old industries close down. Not only are there no comparable jobs >available in these areas -- there are simply not enough jobs of any sort. > > Even in areas where the unemployment figures are not so high there is >still a shortage of high quality jobs with decent pay and conditions. All >too often the unemployed are pressed into lower paid jobs by the tough >conditions of the Jobseekers Allowance. > > To some extent this is reflected in other Government figures showing that >the rate of growth of average eamings fell in April from 5.7 per cent to >5.1 per cent. > > The Labour Research report says the International Labour Organisation has >found the unemployment rate in the North East of England to be almost three >times the rate in the South East. Labour Research also reveals that >Scotland has been the hardest hit of all. > > That Scotland, the West Midlands and the North of England are so >disadvantaged is no great surprise. As traditional manufacturing centres >these places have suffered for years from the steady erosion of Britain's >manufacturing base. > > The introduction of new technology and automation has played a part. But >above all, the crisis of overproduction afflicting the entire capitalist >world has forced many companies to the wall in the scramble for a share of >the available markets. Since the markets are glutted with goods people want >but cannot afford to buy, the capitalist solution of putting people on the >dole can only make the problem worse. > > The major capitalist centres have been thrown into intensifying >competition and rivally. Minor trade scuffles have already broken out. >These include the US trade threats against European products in order to >win access to European markets for US-owned but South American grown >bananas; the rows between Britain and France over beef sales; the recurring >disputes over fishing quotas; Disputes between Japan and the US over >tariffs and trade arrangements; and most notably, the efforts of bodies >like the World Trade Organisation and G8 to regulate trade in favour of the >major capitalist stales. > > The intensifying rivalries have spurred the European Union into speeding >up its agenda for Monetary Union and the full implementation of a single >European state. This is mainly aimed at strengthening European capital in >its struggle with US capital. It also strengthens European capital in its >struggle with labour -- both in Europe and throughout the world! > > One of the effects of this programme will be the tendency to concentrate >wealth, jobs and capital in the favoured inner core of Europe at the >expense of the rest of Europe and the developing world. > > Germany, France, northern Italy, the Benelux countries and southern >England will form the core, while Scotland, the north of England, along >with the former socialist countries, the Iberian peninsular, Greece, >southern Italy and any new members will get the short straw. > > The working class of Europe, both in the better-off core and the poorer >outer circle, will suffer from the advancing European capitalist state. The >level of exploitation will increase, democracy (even the poor bourgeois >democracy we now have) will be destroyed and the interests of imperialism >will be paramount. > > As a solution, the EU is a rotten idea for the majority of Europe's >people. Part of the fight against unemployment is to say NO to the Euro, NO >to the single European state and NO to the founding document -- the Treaty >of Rome itself! > > ********************* > >2) Lead story > >"White-knuckle rides" for commuters. > >by Daphne Liddle > >"FOR MANY passengers in and out of Paddington, it was a white knuckle >ride". a train driver last week told the inquiry into the Paddington rail >disaster. > > He told the inquiry that trains had to travel at up to 90 miles an hour to >keep to the schedules and allow the required number of services in and out >of the terminus, travelling through a very complex system of rails, points >and signals where every second counts. > > "The system is programmed for efficiency rather than safety," he reported, >and added: "The higher the speed of the train, the more chance there is of >an accident." > > He described how sometimes, in poor light he would see a train approaching >his own at speed and "hope to God" it was on a different track. > > Some tracks operate trains running in either direction at different times. > > Earlier, an engineer had told the inquiry into the disaster that killed 31 >and injured many more in October last year, that plans had been submitted >that would have made the area safer but were rejected for financial reasons. > > Colin Bray, Railtrack's signalling engineer described how he had come up >with two "flank protection" schemes since 1995, following a serious >accident at nearby Royal Oak. > > One scheme allowed, in cases where trains were set to collide after one >had gone through a signal at danger, for one train to be directed on to a >parallel track so tha t they passed each other rather than colliding. > > Railtrack management had decided not to adopt this scheme, nor another >that would have linked signals so that if one was passed at red, the next >would also turn red -- nor a suggestion that speeds should be reduced >generally. > > As the inquiry proceeded last week, Railtrack managing director Richard >Middleton announced that this year he would not be taking his annual bonus >of around �100,000. > > This would have been seen as obscene in the light of the evidence emerging >at the inquiry and is seen by many as a public relations gesture. > > Richard Middleton was the man who, shortly after the Paddington crash, >declared "It's time all the hysteria about rail safely calmed down" -- and >was quickly forced to apologise to the bereaved and to survivors. > > Other members of the Railtrack board will be accepting their bonuses >ranging between �25,000 and �37,000. > > Railtrack also tried to deflect criticism last week by announcing new >plans for a total change of the signalling system outside Paddington station. > > Meanwhile SouthWest Trains last week registered an all time railway record >profit of over �39 million -- in spite of fines of �4 million for >cancellations and poor service. > > At this level of profit why should they care what kind of service they give? > > Labour's much vaunted Strategic Rail Authority does not seem to have >discouraged the rail fat cats from their feast. > > Rail unions are still campaigning hard for the universal introduction of >the Automatic Train Protection System that will stop all trains going >through a red light, whatever their speed. > > This system should have been introduced when it was recommended after the >Clapham rail disaster before the railways were fragmented and privalised. > > The Government cannot impose a coherent public transport policy while rail >and bus services are fragmented and operate chiefly for profit. > > They must be brought back into public ownership. > > The rail companies and Railtrack have railed to honour the commitments >they made to the travelling public at the time of privatisation. They are >in breach of contract. Their franchises should be forfeit immediately. > > ********************** > >3) Feature article > >Millions of children in poverty. > >by Caroline Colebrook > >MILLIONS of children in Britain are living in poverty according to a United >Nations report released last week. > > The report from Unicef, the children's arm of the UN, says that 20 per >cent of this country's young people live in poverty -- giving Britain one >of the worst records in the developed world. > > Relative poverty is defined as living in a household with below half of >median earnings. > > This makes Britain worse than countries like Hungary, Turkey and Poland >where there is less relative poverty. Countries in Scandinavia have fewer >than five percent of children living in poverty. > > When surveyed in terms of the number of children in absolute poverty, >Britain came l4th out of 19 industrialised countries surveyed, just above >Italy. The United States and Mexico were worse. > > Last year the Government announced plans to lift one million children out >of poverty through family income tax credits. > > But Britain has between three and four million children living in poverty. >The tax credits are paid only to parents who are in work while Britain has >one of the highest rates of workless households in the industrialised world. > > It also has a very high race of single parent families and the worst >provision of childcare facilities, making it difficult for those single >parents to seek work. > > Many are struggling to bring up families for less than �l00 a week to >cover all household bills. > > The report showed that many children in poor households are eating a very >poor diet some existing on very little more than toast, beans or rice. > > Many living in homes with built-in central heating cannot afford to use >it. These homes become very cold and damp with condensation running down >the walls. Parents often cannot afford to buy new clothes as their children >grow. > > The Unicef report says that poor nutrition leads to bad performance at >school and frequent illness -- adding costs to the National Health Service. > > The Government claims it is doing a lot to resolve the problem. But >Jonathan Bradshaw of York University pointed out: "Gordon Brown cut the >rate of income tax by one penny. That money could have been used to help >the most vulnerable people. That would have shown a real commitment." > > ************************* > >4) International story > >Athens manhunt for envoy's killers. > >THE GREEK police have launched a massive manhunt for the killers of >Brigadier Stephen Saunders, the British military attache gunned down in an >Athens street last week. But with no leads or clues Brigadier Saunders >death looks likely to be chalked up as yet another unsolved murder by the >shadowy 17 November group. > > 17 November has carried out a number of assassinations and attacks, 23 in >total over the past 25 years, with a professionalism that suggests a >movement deeply rooted in the police or army. Named after the date in 1973 >when the Greek fascist junta crushed a student uprising, the movement first >hit the headlines in 1975, following the overthrow of the colonel's regime, >when they killed the CIA station chief in Athens. > > Since then the group has claimed responsibility for the killing of other >US military personnel, two Turkish diplomats, supporters of the colonel's >regime and prominent Greek politicians and businessmen. During the Balkan >War last year the group was held responsible for a number of rocket attacks >on Nato property in Greece. But though the attacks have spanned 25 years >the Greek police have been unable to arrest anyone or even name suspects. > > Though generally described as a leftist terrorist organisation in the >West, no-one really knows what 17 November's aims or programme is. > > Last week former CIA chief, James Woolsey, claimed in a Greek weekly that >members of the ruling social-democratic party, PASOK, knew members of the >movement. This provoked a furious response from the government which >challenged Woolsey to come up with evidence for his allegations. And the >Greek communists have openly accused the Americans themselves of being >behind the killings. > > Greek Communist Party (KKE) General Secretary Anneka Paparigha said "Mr >Berns, the American ambassador in Greece, could probably answer on that >subject, but we are sure that he will not do so,". > > "We consider what happened was 'made in the USA' and we assume full >responsibility for what we say," she added. "It is not accidental that a >few days ago we had American allegations that terrorism existed in Greece. >It is even clearly stated that the terrorism is related to popular >reactions. The instigators and the perpetuators of today's crime, which we >surely condemn, are not among the Greek people. > > Therefore no law 'against terrorism' could help eleminate the cause of the >evil," the KKE leader ' stated. > > "On the contrary, we believe the Greek people, through their democratic >resistance to what is today called terrorism, can shape the best framework >to prevent the development of such acts and most of all to prevent such >acts becoming an opportunity and a pretext to justify the unjustifiable," >she concluded referring to calls on Greece to introduce draconian laws to >curb "terrorism". > > ********************* > >5) British news item > >Union recognision laws: Battle lines are drawn. > >by Daphne Liddle > >THE NEW laws governing compulsory recognition of trade unions are now in >place but the battle for recognition in many places is only just beginning. > > The laws are very complex and the bosses are already taking legal advice. >Workers, even where they have very strong support have no guarantee of a >victory unless they fight hard and carefully. > > The National Union of Journalists is one that has a lot to gain. Many >chapels have been de-recognised in the last decade or so under the Tory >anti-union laws and feelings are running high. > > But the latest edition of the union'sjournal warns: "Lawyers and >commentators agree on one thing about the new law: it is extremely complex. >So applications mustbe carefully prepared. Mistakes will mean you cannot >apply again for three years." > > All applications must come from the relevant union's head office. The NUJ >advises that where union support is strong, workers should seek to persuade >their management to enter a voluntary recognition deal and turn to the law >only as a last resort if the boss refuses. > > And the bosses have already been drawing up their own battle lines to >undermine the new law. > > A British law firm Eversheds has called in American union-busting legal >experts to tour the country with a "Trade Union Roadshow". > > At these gatherings, American lawyers tell bosses: "British employers >should view a union organisational effort as an economic heart attack". > > Alan Lips, a partner in the Labour and Employment group at the giant >American legal firm Taft Stettinius advises: "Organised labour unions are >philosophically dedicated to coercing employers into economic partnership >with them." > > He warns: "I would expect unions to exercise the economic power that the >legislation has given them, and that is nothing but an adversarial activity. > > "That can lead to a strike. And if you have a strike it is about as >serious an economic event as can happen to a company." > > He advises bosses that the key is to gain the initiative before a union >decides to ballot for recognition, triggering the legal process. > > >campaigning office > > After a ballot is called, an employer has to open premises to unions for >campaigning. > > The bosses are told to counteract with the following messages: "strikes >are futile and fatal" and "unions cost more than they are worth". > > In America some companies dish out badges and base-ball caps with >anti-union slogans. > > One crucial area of battle is to define the "bargaining unit" on which the >ballot is based. This could be a single factory, a division or the whole >workforce of the company. > > Bosses are advised to try to gerrymander this to their maximum advantage. > > TUC general secretary John Monks has described this approach as "blatant >anti-union scaremongering, completely out of step with the current climate >in British industrial relations". > > It seems that climate is about to get a lot hotter. While Tony Blair and >his cronies have been variously trying to claim the class war is over or >that they are waging it against elitism at Oxford, the real thing is >breaking out where it has always been hottest -- in the workplace. > > Britain still has some of the most repressive anti-union laws in the >world. The new law is just a tiny advance but the bosses' reaction betrays >their fear of the real strength of the working class. > > ********************* > > >New Communist Party of Britain Homepage > >http://www.newcommunistparty.org.uk > >A news service for the Working Class! > >Workers of all countries Unite! > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Old school buds here: >http://click.egroups.com/1/5545/8/_/_/_/961094586/ >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
