Join the fightback against youth unemployment

Upcoming Youth Fight For Jobs events:

Gig night!

Chairman Wow plus many more...
7.30pm Wednesday 8 July
Latest Music Bar, Manchester Street, Brighton

£1 entry on the door, under 18s welcome

Public meeting
On why the BNP have no solutions for young people

7.30pm Thursday 9 July
Phoenix Community Centre, Phoenix Place, Brighton

For more information check out www.youthfightforjobs.com

Youth Fight For Jobs!

Get involved with the local Youth Fight For Jobs campaigners in the fortnight of action: 27 June to 11 July as 600,000 school, college and university leavers swell ranks of unemployed youth this summer.

New Office of National Statistics unemployment figures see further deterioration of labour market. Anger and frustration mounts with Youth Fight for Jobs campaigners staging a protest outside Lord Mandelson's Business Department demanding action.

Youth Fight for Jobs staged a protest outside Peter Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills last week. Mandelson's department is responsible for apprenticeships and training opportunities. The protest drew attention to the worsening unemployment figures released by the ONS today and the disproportionate effect unemployment has on young people. Click here to read on...

For more information about what's going on in Brighton as part of the fortnight of action click here...

No2EU-Yes to democracy campaign gallery

(Socialist Party members with fellow comrades out and about in Brighton, London, Crawley and Hastings for the No2EU-Yes to democracy European Election campaign.)

No2EU-Yes to democracy election results: prepare now for next election challenge

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, speaking at the London No2EU election rally. Photo by Paul Mattsson

Over 153,000 votes have been cast for the RMT -led No2EU-Yes to democracy coalition across the country. This represents 1% of the overall vote for a campaign that has only been active for less than eight weeks. Right from the start No2EU-Yes to democracy was up against a complete blackout by the mainstream media in fear of what the coalition of the RMT, trade unionists and left parties could achieve in the face of a collapse in support for the three main capitalist parties and endless coverage for far right groups.

In Brighton 601 votes were achieved and in the South East constituency No2EU-Yes to democracy gained an impressive 21,455 with Socialist Party members right across the region out campaigning for this working class electoral alternative. With a significant vote to build on, and support from trade union members from all over the country, the foundations are now being laid to organise a united left working class challenge at the next general election.

The follow is a press release from the No2EU-Yes to democracy campaign

EURO ELECTIONS SPARK CALL FOR LEFT AND TRADE UNION UNITY TO DEFEAT BNP AS POLITICAL ELITE COLLAPSE

With all the Euro election results confirmed, Bob Crow, convenor of the No2EU coalition and general secretary of the RMT, has called for urgent discussions involving socialist organisations, campaigns and trade unions to build a concerted political and industrial response to the volatile situation which has contributed to the election of two fascists from the BNP to the European Parliament.

The combined vote in Thursdays poll for No2EU, the Socialist Labour Party and some of the smaller left parties stacks up to nearly a third of a million votes – just over 2% of the total. In Scotland, the combined left vote was close to 4%.

Meanwhile, the Labour share of the vote has dropped by a massive 31%, the Lib Dems by over 7% and the Tories, despite all the hype, have only managed a tiny increase in share with turnout collapsing to just over 30%.

Bob Crow said today: “There is no question that the BNP have benefitted from the collapse of the establishment political parties and from media coverage that has pumped them up like celebrities on “I’m a Nazi – Get Me Out of Here.” Sections of the press, which have deliberately ignored anti-establishment parties from the left, need to take a long, hard look at the way the blanket coverage they have given to the fascists from the BNP has contributed to their success.

“But it’s the collapse of public support for the three main parties – each of which is pro-business, pro-EU and supportive of the anti-union laws – which has created the conditions for the scapegoat-politics of the BNP to thrive. The fascists support in former mining communities like Barnsley is shocking and throws down a massive challenge to the Labour and Trade Union movement.

“We now need to take stock. Along with our colleagues from the SLP and other left groups we won nearly a third of a million votes. From No2EU we won over 150,000 supporters from a standing start in the teeth of a media blackout. That gives us a solid platform to build from. We now need urgent discussions with political parties, campaigns and our colleagues in other unions like the CWU to develop a political and industrial response to this crisis.”

More election analysis can be found at www.socialistparty.org.uk

Socialist victory in European Elections!

Joe Higgins, the Socialist Party candidate in Ireland, was elected to the Dublin Constituency for the European Parliament on Sunday 7 June 2009.

Joe, who is a member of the sister party of the Socialist Party in England and Wales, got 82,366 votes, with 50,510 first preference votes. Over the last few days, Joe Higgins was widely predicted in the Irish press to be best placed to take the third of three European Parliament seats in Dublin. Click here to read the full story...

Save Sussex University Linguistics!

On Wednesday 20 May, around 70 students gathered in Sussex University's main square to protest against the axing of the entire linguistics department. The protest was outside the meeting of the 'school teaching and learning committee' who were to decide on whether to ratify the decision, or to block it.

Protesters lined the corridors on the way to the meeting room where the committee would make its decision. We held placards asking the campaign's questions: why is linguistics being cut and why hasn't this decision gone through established consultation procedures agreed with the students union?

The university administration would have us think the decision came from the ether and that no one is responsible. University management say the decision came from the linguistics department, but forget to mention that they pushed through a merger of the English and linguistics departments last year and then applied pressure to cut back on courses. The department blames the management.

When students emailed members of the committee to plead with them to give the issue further consideration, the reply was that they weren't even sure if they had the power to ratify or block the decision. This was unfortunately the outcome.

Despite the student reps' persistent call for a vote, the response was continually that the committee members didn't have the power or authority to overturn a management decision. It is unclear what the point of this committee is!

Management clearly are to blame and are using these pointless structures to cover up their own culpability. The Save Linguistics campaign has organised to boycott the National Student Survey (NSS) which will have a financial impact on the university. The University of Sussex students union voted to make this official union policy, which was of course roundly condemned by the university management.

But what choice do students and staff have when there are no structures to challenge undemocratic cost-cutting attacks on our education? The campaign continues...

Find out more about Sussex Socialist Students here and visit our main website at www.socialiststudents.org.uk. Get involved. Get active.

No2EU-Yes to democracy television broadcast

Meet your No2EU-Yes to democracy election candidates!

Come along to our local No2EU-Yes to democracy public meetings where you can ask your questions and meet your workers' candidates for this years' European election taking place on Thursday 4 June.

Thursday 28 May, 7pm, The Brighthelm Centre, North Road, Brighton
Monday 1 June, 7.30pm, St John's Church Hall, Cross Keys, Crawley Town Centre

Find out more about at no2eusoutheast.blogspot.com and www.no2eu.com

Your South East candidates for No2EU-Yes to democracy

In the South East, as the biggest constituency in the UK, there are 10 candidates on the list. The No2EU-Yes to democracy slate is one that has trade union and socialist campaigners from across the region. They are:

Professor Dave Hill – Former East Sussex Labour Group leader, long standing socialist and trade union activist.

Garry Hassell – RMT Executive Committee

Kevin Hayes – Ford worker and Unite campaigner

Owen Morris –Construction worker and supporter of Lindsey and Olympic site protests

Gawain Little – Teacher and CND National Council member

Robert Wilkinson – NUT Wokingham and District Secretary

Jacqui Berry – President of Medway Trades Union Council

Nick Wright – Graphic designer and teacher

Nick Chaffey – Youth worker and Unison activist

Sarah Wrack – University of Sussex student campaigner and Youth Fight For Jobs steering committee

For more information on the campaign in the South East visit no2eusoutheast.blogspot.com

Historic electoral alternative to big business and racism

 

(RMT's Bob Crow and the No2EU-Yes to democracy banner on the TUC's G2O Demo

Photographs by Paul Mattsson)

For a workers' alternative to the bosses' parties
Vote No2EU-Yes to democracy on 4 June

The national union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has initiated an electoral alliance for the European elections that will be contesting all of the seats in England, Wales and Scotland in the elections on 4 June. This is a temporary platform for the European elections, entitled No2EU-Yes to Democracy, with initial support from the RMT, Socialist Party, Solidarity–Scotland’s Socialist Movement, the Indian Workers’ Association, the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), the Morning Star newspaper, the Socialist Alliance, the Campaign for a New Workers’ Party (CNWP) and others.

Historically, this is the first time since the formation of the Labour Party that a trade union has taken an electoral initiative on an all-Britain scale. The transformation of the Labour Party from a workers’ party at base – albeit with a capitalist leadership – into an unalloyed party of big business has left the working class without a mass party for well over a decade. The absence of such a party has been a central factor in holding back the confidence of workers to struggle in defence of their pay and conditions. The fact that the RMT has taken this step, however tentative, is therefore enormously positive.

The candidates for No2EU-Yes to Democracy include leaders of the Lindsey oil refinery construction workers who went on strike in January and of the Visteon car components workers currently blockading their factories. Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT, will be heading the list in London, and a number of RMT regional officers will be standing around the country. Coventry Socialist Party councillor and CNWP chair Dave Nellist heads the list in the West Midlands. In the North West, the regional UNISON NEC representative and CNWP secretary, Roger Bannister, is heading the list. In Scotland, Tommy Sheridan is second on the list. Other candidates include car workers fighting job losses, postal workers resisting privatisation, health workers, teachers, fire-fighters and other public-sector workers. This list offers an alternative to the pro-capitalist parties, and its candidate lists are dominated by some of the most combative sections of the working class in Britain today.

No to the BNP

The campaign is partially motivated by an understanding of the urgent need to provide an alternative to the far-right racist British National Party (BNP). There is a real danger that the BNP could capitalise on the anger with New Labour and succeed in winning one or more MEPs in this election. The BNP will never be cut across by bland campaigns pleading with people not to vote for racists. The implication of such campaigns is that workers should vote for the pro-capitalist parties in order to stop the BNP. Only the development of a genuine working-class alternative, combined with a serious campaign against the BNP, will be able to effectively undermine them. This electoral initiative is taking an important step in that direction by offering a left, anti-EU alternative.

Keep Britain out of the eurozone

The programme of No2EU-Yes to Democracy is limited. Nevertheless, it seeks to oppose the European Union (EU) from a working-class, non-nationalist standpoint. The EU has not been central in most workers’ minds up to the present time. However, recent developments have made it more of an issue, at least amongst those workers who have been directly affected, and perhaps increasingly amongst a wider layer. It was central to the Lindsey construction workers’ strike. It was under the EU Posted Workers Directive and subsequent European Court of Justice (ECJ) rulings that the Italian-registered company, IREM, was able to employ workers not covered by the union-enforced national construction industry agreements.

No2EU’s programme takes up the different aspects of the EU’s neo-liberal laws. These laws arise from the support of this government, and all European governments, for neo-liberal anti-working class policies. EU laws provide them with an additional lever with which to drive through their pro-big business programmes. For example, the EU's public spending criteria gave New Labour an excuse to privatise capital projects like new schools and hospitals, by means of private finance initiatives and the disastrous public-private partnership on London Underground, which increase the costs of public services and subsidise corporate profits. The government’s plan for the part-privatisation of Royal Mail, the first step to its complete sell-off, is linked to the EU’s 2007 Postal Services Directive to introduce a deregulated postal services market.

Steps forward

In Britain we do not yet have a new mass left party – or a significant step towards one such as exists in Germany, France and Greece. However, we are faced with an important beginning. We have the leadership of a militant trade union that is prepared to take the responsibility for initiating the development of a political voice for working people – at least in the European elections – that will oppose all the capitalist parties and provide an alternative to the far-right, racist BNP. They will undoubtedly face attack from the capitalist media for daring to stand up. All those who are serious about building a new mass workers’ party should offer every assistance in ensuring the campaign is a success. Vote No2EU-Yes to democracy on 4 June and get involved in the campaign.

For more information on the electoral coalition visit www.no2eu.com or read about developments of the coalition here.