Preparing for the showdown

AS THE 30 November public-sector strike looms, the question on the lips of activists in the labour movement is: what next?

Will the strike succeed in pushing the government into a humiliating U-turn on pensions and the cuts programme as a whole?

If so, will this lead to the toppling of the Con-Dem coalition and a general election - as in 1974 during the miners' strike (see article on page 24) - and the defeat of David Cameron and co?

On the other hand, will the unions and labour movement suffer setbacks, as in Greece, or a standoff, like the workers of other countries?

These are burning questions confronting all trade unionists, young people and the working class generally.

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Capitalism IS crisis - Fight for a socialist alternative

Paula Mitchell

Capitalism IS crisis. These are the words sewn on a huge green banner stretching over the tents outside St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Hundreds of people visit the Occupy LSX (London Stock Exchange) tent city each day to show support and to enable this anti-capitalist protest to continue. The huge anger against the 'banksters' is palpable.

The overwhelmingly positive response they get from visitors is because they touch on that core feeling shared by thousands upon thousands of people - that we are very far from 'all being in this crisis together' as the government says - that the rich are laughing all the way to the bank while we're expected to lose our jobs and our services and our homes and just take it lying down.

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Construction protests continue and Unite declares strike ballot

This week's protest at Blackfriars Balfour Beatty site in London began in full darkness at 6:30am this morning (19.10.11).

Along with the cold weather it was a sign winter is just around the corner. Despite the chilly weather though, the struggle betweenconstruction workers and the 'big seven' electrical contractors rages on as hot as ever.

These companies want to withdraw from the JIB national agreement. Balfour Beatty has been targeted because over 1,600 of their electricians have been given notice that the new inferior BESNA contracts will be imposed on them. This could mean a 35% pay cut.

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