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We have had a very busy time on Redline in the past fortnight or so. We've endeavoured to get up a chunk of material on the Grenfell Tower fire in London, for instance. Here is a very powerful piece by one of the firefighters who fought the inferno. He deals with the experience of the fire, the deaths, and also some reflections on firefighter pay and conditions: https://rdln. wordpress.com/2017/06/23/grenfell-tower-the-voice-of-a-firefighter/ Here is Paul Embery, the firefighters' union's London organiser, warning of the dangers as a result of the closure of fire stations in London: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/firefighter-organiser-2014-warning-re- closures-of-london-fire-stations/ Here is an interview we did last year with Paul about issues facing firefighters (and much more): https://rdln.wordpress. com/2016/07/15/interview-british-firefighter-organiser- paul-embery-on-firefighters-issues-the-state-of-the- british-working-class-and-the-brexit-vote/ An interesting short piece by an ex-firefighter in Britain: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/ex-firefighter-on- the-grenfell-tragedy/ And, of course, the tenants had been predicting the fire for some time: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/grenfell-fire-tenants-predicted-the- disaster/ *An important victory in Ireland* Several years ago, at a protest against the vicious austerity programme of the coalition Fine Gael/Labour government, a number of protesters sat down around the car of deputy prime minister Joan Burton, who was also the minister of social welfare, and one of the most anti-working class politicians in the government. She and her party (Labour) connived with the police to get very serious charges of false imprisonment brought against a number of the local working class activists. They have now been found not guilty in a unanimous jury verdict. Moreover, the state and the cops tried to prevent pickets outside the court and ban defendants from speaking publicly against the case. This was a very serious test case for free speech, the right to organise and protest, and it has been won: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/jobstown-not-guilty-working-class- activists-beat-labour-state-assault-on-right-to-protest-in-ireland/ Here is a short video with a statement by the Jobstown Accused as they walked free from the court: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/07/01/jobstown- innocent-labour-guilty-statement-of-victorious-working-class-activists/ *An important victory in London* Cleaners at the LSE in London, mainly migrant workers, have won an important victory against casualisation: https://rdln.wordpress.com/ 2017/06/20/important-workers-victory-in-london-the- cleaners-at-the-london-school-of-economics/ *Other features* If North Korea didn't exist, the US imperialists would have to invent it: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/if-north-korea-didnt-exist-the-us-would-create-it/ We've put up a piece by a member of the Working Class History Association in the States on the origins of the police force: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/27/the-police-were- created-to-control-working-class-and-poor-people/ We've also been running a series of articles by an American reader about his experience as an older worker in an increasingly casualised workforce in 21st century America. Here's pt 6: https://rdln.wordpress.com/ 2017/06/30/our-brand-is-uselessness-part-6/ Irish comrades write about the discovery of substantial human remains at a Catholic nun-run 'home' for mothers and babies: https://rdln.wordpress.com/ 2017/06/29/ireland-even-more-sins-by-the-catholic-church/ *Theory* We're very aware that we exist in the West (the imperialist world) and solidarity with the struggles of the oppressed peoples of the globe are crucial - workers in the West need to see ourselves as part of a global class, otherwise we're in danger of simply fighting for ourselves at the expense of the working class in the rest of the world: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/07/02/the-relevance- of-lenins-imperialism-and-the-split-in-socialism-today/ And we should look at Jeremy Corbyn's election campaign in this light. JC supports every repressive institution of the British imperialist state: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/09/british-election-results/ In solidarity, Philip Ferguson for the Redline blog collective _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
