>New Worker Online Digest > >Week commencing 17th February, 2000. > >1) Editorial - Jobs down, profits up. & Eating the cake too. > >2) Lead story - Trident is illegal! > >3) Feature article - Student nurses angered by eviction notices. > >4) International story - Assault on human rights in Istanbul. > >5) British news item - Sinn Fein's message - don't wreck Good Friday >Agreement. > > >1) Editorial > >Jobs down, profits up. > >BARCLAYS Bank revealed last Tuesday that it had seen a sharp rise in its >pre-tax profits. They have gone up from £1.9 billion in 1998 to £2.46 >billion at the end of 1999. During that same time Barclays shed 7,400 jobs. > > Barclays are by no means alone. Lloyds TSB are planning similar >"efficiency restructuring" which will threaten 3,000 jobs. And this comes >on top of the recent banking merger that is expected to cost the jobs of >some 21,000 NatWest workers. > > Eddy Weatherill, head of the Independent Banking Advisory Service >described the vast profits as "just obscene" and said the situation was >"outrageous". > > It most certainly is and it is good that voices are being raised >criticising the banks for their greed. But this should not be seen as some >over-the-top isolated incident -- what Edward Heath once called "the >unacceptable face of capitalism". It is the nature of capitalism itself and >shows clearly what the system is all about. > > Capitalism is a dog-eat-dog business in which the capitalists have to >continually strive for ever increasing profits or face being pushed out of >the race. And because the system is in crisis the capitalists are compelled >to turn the screw harder by sacking workers and forcing those still in jobs >to work harder and longer. > > Tony Blair has said that class division and class struggle are things of >the past. Why then should mass sackitlgs of workers lead to higher private >profits for the bosses and shareholders? Why, unless there is a struggle, >are increased profits never shared with the workers who have created them? >Why is it that the gap between rich and poor continues to widen? The answer >is that Blair's assertion is a lie and that the evidence of our daily lives >exposes that. > > While capitalism remains the working class has no choice but to engage in >struggle to defend wages, hours and conditions. And to preserve our >hard-won pensions, health service, education service, benefits and other >social provision the struggle must be stepped up to raise the level of >income tax on the rich. > > At the same time we shall work, organise and struggle to hasten the day of >that long needed revolutionary change of society, a fundamental change that >will bring the inhuman capitalist system to an end -- our fight is for >socialism! > > ******************* > >Eating the cake too. > >NATO'S war against Yugoslavia rained bombs on that country for three solid >months. The damage was enormous with energy supplies, roads, bridges, >railways, houses, factories and refineries smashed to pieces. Thousands >were made homeless and jobless. > > When the bombing stopped the western governments declared they would make >no reparations until "democracy" was restored -- a coded call for the >overthrow of the legitimate Yugoslav government. > > It is not surprising with so many people displaced and robbed of their >former homes and livelihoods that many have become refugees. Britain, which >was to the forefront in destroying Yugoslavia, is nowhere near as keen to >help the people whose lives it shattered. > > There has also been an increase in the number of Roma refugees from some >of the former socialist countries of eastern Europe. Here too Britain >cheered on and supported the forces of capitalism in those countries -- and >it has been this very restoration of capitalism which has led to the >upsurge in racism which has driven many Roma to seek asylum elsewhere. > > The governments of western Europe seem only to grudgingly comply with >international conventions on refugees and asylum seekers. > > In this climate where governments are washing their hands of their crimes >and responsibilities it is little wonder that the far-right, the racists >and neo-Nazis are able to exploit the situation so easily. > > The fruit of this mentality is Jorg Heider in Austria. We cannot ignore >this -- we all have a responsibility, including the government, to speak >out against racism and xenophobia. Workers of all countries unite! > > ************************** > >2) Lead story > >Trident is illegal! > >by Daphne Liddle > >FASLANE nuclear submarine base in Scotland was closed for nearly two hours >last Monday as around 400 peace activists picketed the base in the biggest >blockade for 15 years. > > There were 179 arrests as peaceful picketers refused to budge from the >road -- so many the police were simply not prepared and processing them all >took most of the day. > > The Valentine's Day picket was organised by Trident Ploughshares and >included two Euro MPs a member of the Scottish Parliament, more than a >dozen clergymen and members of the same group as the three women who were >acquitted last year of charges of damaging property at the base, when a >sheriff ruled that according to international law, Trident nuclear weapons >are illegal. > > Among those arrested were Caroline Lucas, Britain's only Green Euro MP, >Scottish Member of Parliament Tommy Sheridan, Welsh councillor Ray Davies >and Angela Zelter, one of those found not guilty of breaking into the base >four months ago in the controversial sheriff's court ruling. > > Messages of support came from Labour MSP John McAllion, film star Sir Sean >Connery, actress Emma Thompson and author Kurt Vonnegut. > > Also in attendance and very vocal, as usual, was the Cardiff Reds Choir >and five members of the choir were arrested. > > Choir member Beatrice Smith told the New Worker: "It was very enjoyable, a >very good demo. There were workshops the day before so we knew exactly what >to do. It was very well organised. > > "The police were very good but just not prepared for the numbers. The >weather was appalling -- heavy rain. It would have been better if it had >been snow. We were hardened campaigners and came dressed for the occasion >butwe were still quickly soaked through. So were the police. > > "Our group went to one of the two gates. The police had already shut this >themselves and all the action was at the other gate. We were in touch by >mobile phone and most of us went across -- a one-and-a-half-mile trek >across the fields. > >"Around 50 stayed behind in case the police tried to sneak the traffic in >through that gate -- mainly workers at the base arriving for their daily >shift. They saw no action but they were very necessary and very disciplined >to stick it out in the rain where they were. > > "We arrived at the other gate just in time. The police started trying to >clear this before the protesters were even in position." > > The demonstrators held placards saying: "Trident's a crime", "Base closed" >and "Crime scene, do not enter". > > The protesters sat down and blockaded the base for nearly two hours. The >police found it very heavy weather moving them out of the way -- especially >when most simply came back to another spot and sat down again. > > One man was rebuked for selling hot tea to the protesters. He was told it >could be a health hazard -- as if the nuclear missiles just a few yards >away were harmless! > > One young woman chained herself to the underside of a lorry. Others filled >truck tyres with concrete. > > Speaking for Trident Ploughshares, David Mackenzie said: "As usual, >Strathclyde Police took great care in the way they handled activists. But >we do not appreciate the fact that they arrest us for doing something >lawful, and they refuse to arrest those on the base doing something unlawful. > > Scottish CND administrator John Ainslie said: "This has been a historic >protest. People from all walks of life came together to take a stand >against Trident. It is high time the leadership of the Scottish Parliament >paid attention to what they are saying." > > Beatrice Smith reported to the New Worker that the police had trouble >accommodating all who had been arrested. This meant she spent two hours, >packed with other protesters, in a police van, all of them cold and in wet >clothes, driving around for a police station that could take them. > > They were so pleased when they finally arrived at a police station they >gave the police a burst of song. > > "We were glad to get in the cells, but we didn't get there until one >o'clock. Even in there we were freezing and they only had one blanket each >for us. To give them credit, they rooted around and found a few more >blankets, they did their best. > > "But it took them ages to process us all. We didn't get back to the centre >until five o'clock." > > A spokesperson for the Trident Ploughshares group summed up the day: "We >are obviously delighted at the response we have had, and to stop the base >completely for an hour and a half in soaking weather conditions was >exceptional." > > The real message delivered was that peace campaigners in Britain and >throughout the world have not taken their eye off the ball. The Government >may want us all to forget the costly monstrosities but the dangers of a >nuclear war have not gone away and nor have the protests against them. > > ********************* > > >3) Feature article > >Student nurses angered by eviction notices. > >by Caroline Colebrook > >STUDENT nurses in Greenwich, south London, last week threatened strike >action after they received eviction notices to quit their accommodation >within two months. > > The block of flats they live in, overlooking the Thames and the millennium >dome, has been sold off as part, of a private finance initiative (PFI) >deal. The block is scheduled to be modernised and sold off as luxury flats >with a great view. > > The nurses considered strike action against the eviction and voted by 98 >per cent in a ballot for industrial action. > > But this has been postponed after the Greenwich Healthcare Trust explained >the eviction notices would not take effect until November -- they had been >sent out last week for legal technical reasons. > > The trust admits the letters, which arrived just before the nurses were >due to take important exams, were badly worded and gave a wrong impression >but insists that accommodation for the nurses is the responsibility of the >University of Greenwich and Oxleas NHS Trust. > > The chances of them finding affordable accommodation in the private sector >is virtually zero, with house prices and rents currently rocketing. > > Average rents in the area are £200 a week in the private sector and some >of the students fear they will have to quit nursing. > > The Woodlands nurses' home was sold to developers over 18 months ago by >Greenwich Healthcare Trust, which runs Greenwich District Hospital. > > It is part of a PFI package in which the company Kvaerner is redeveloping >the former military hospital, the Queen Elizabeth on Woolwich Common for >£95 million. > > The company was also given land from the site of the former Brook >Hospital, now closed. The Greenwich District is also threatened with >closure once the Queen Elizabeth is completed. > > The NHS will then only have one hospital, in the borough, rented from >Kvaerner where two decades ago there were seven belonging to the NHS. > > Midwifery student Penny Bart is on a nursing bursary. This means she >cannot get additional finance from student loans. She said: "We have all >been given personal notices to move out by 1st April, quoting the Housing Act. > > "The whole way this has been dealt with is disgusting. If we have to >resort to strike action we are all prepared to do it. > > "It's just totally unrealistic for us. We are prepared for a sit-in in the >buildings." > > Dave Prentiss, deputy general secretary of the public sector union Unison, >said: "Nursing students receive just £2 an hour and they are now faced with >the prospect of looking for private rented accommodation. > > "We believe the NHS should ensure these students have decent safe, >affordable accommodation for the duration of training." > > Greenwich Healthcare Trust has already had severe recruiting problems, and >its wards are under-staffed because the local cost of housing had risen so >high. > > The trust says that no nurses will be expected to quit before September >and that the local university -- which they attend for the academic side of >their training -- should be able to accommodate them. > > ************************* > >4) International story > >Assault on human rights in Istanbul. > >A 'MARCH for human rights, democracy, and peace in 2000', which was >sponsored by the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD), >encountered harsh intervention from police before it could even get started >last weekend. > > Police, who put Istanbul's Beyoglu section under a virtual blockade, have >beaten and taken approximately 300 people into custody, including IHD >Istanbul branch chairman Eren Keskin, other officers and members of the >organisation, numbers of intellectuals, artists, lawyers, representatives >of non-government organisations and political parties, elderly people, and >even 5-year-old children. > > Beyoglu earlier came under a total police blockade beginning in the early >hours of the morning. Police filled the streets along the route of the >march, from the "Tunel" district to the IHD building. > > Individuals considered "suspicious" were forced into police vehicles and >taken into custody. One group, walking towards Tunel half an hour prior to >the start of the march, was stopped by police in front of the Odakule >office building. The group, which included Eren Keskin and a number of IHD >officers and attorneys, were forcibly detained and carried off in police >vehicles. > > Hundreds of other people proceeding toward Tunel, both in groups and >individually, were taken into custody without having done anything. During >the same timeframe, one group, including 5-year-old Aytac Deniz, who was >walking with members of the Mothers for Peace Initiative, was violently >intercepted, forced into police vehicles, and taken into custody. > > A number of lawyers who charged that the police intervention was illegal, >as well as a group of marchers who sought to take refuge in the Dicle >Women's Culture Center, were also forcibly taken into custody. > > After another group of people took refuge in the Freedom and Solidarity >Party (ODP) Istanbul provincial headquarters building, police blockaded the >building. As several people standing at the entrance to the building were >beaten and taken into custody, those within the building protested this >action by mock applause. ODP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Vahit Gene, >making a statement within the building, characterised the behaviour of the >police as "savage" > > Several IHD officials who escaped being taken into custody, together with >representatives of other democratic mass organisations, later held a press >conference in the association's headquarters building. > > IHD Executive Board Member Kiraz Bicici said that the march had been >planned to be a silent one. He said: "The state has shown its ugly face yet >again, and has demonstrated once again that it will not respect human >rights in this country. > > "While people all over the world march for peace and against racism, we >human rights defenders in Turkey were unable to carry out our silent march >for 'respect for human rights in the new millennium'. > > "We had in fact evaluated this silent march as a test. But we've seen once >again that the state has failed in this test of human rights. We will not >be silenced. Despite all the obstacles, the pressures, and the blockades, >we will continue our struggle for human rights." > > Approximately 300 people were taken into custody, including officials and >representatives of political parties such as the People's Democracy Party >(HADEP), the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP), and the Proletarian Party >(EMEP), as well as representatives and members of democratic mass >organisations. > > Among the detainees were: IHD Istanbul Branch Chairman Eren Keskin and >Executive Board members Dogan Gene, Leman Yurtsever, and Gulseren Yoleri; >lawyers Gulizar Tuncer. Filiz Kostak, and Ali Talipoglu: Turkish Human >Rights Foundation Istanbul representative Hurriyet Sener; German Greens >Party member Hamide Scheer; artist Ekrem Ataer; poet Suna Aras; writer >Tomris Ozden; Mothers for Peace Rahime Ince and Asiye Turhalli; Saturday >Mothers Emine Ocak and Hanife Yildiz; Alinteri newspaper corresondent >Makbule Turk; and 5-year-old Aytac Deniz. > >Ozgur Politika (Kurdish Observer) > > ********************* > >5) British news item > >Sinn Fein's message - don't wreck Good Friday Agreement. > >by Steve Lawton > >HASTY action by the British government to decapitate the Northern Ireland >Assembly last Friday, despite the significance and knowledge of the second >arms decommissioning body report from General John de Chastelain, has, >according to Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, left Republicans with no room >to manoeuvre. > > The IRA, by Tuesday, withdrew both its representative and its proposals >tabled since last November from the de Chastelain commission. > > The Irish Republican Army's statement said that Northern Ireland secretary >Peter Mandelson has "reintroduced the unionist veto by suspending the >political institutions" and that the Blair government and UUP leaders >"rejected" IRA proposals to the commission. > > The IRA pointed out that they "agreed to appoint a representative" to the >Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) on 17 >November, as part of the process of ending the 18-month deadlock which had >been "created and maintained by unionist intransigence and a failure of the >British government to advance the implementation of the Good Friday >Agreement." > > Sinn Fein's chairman Mitchel McLaughlin attacked the British government's >actions as an "illegal anti-democratic act". Speaking at Trinity College, >Dublin on Tuesday, he said "The British government are the only parties now >in default [of the Good Friday Agreement]. Not even the unionists are in >default. At the time the executive was suspended, all parties were >honouring their obligations. Peter Mandelson had no legal basis and no >political basis for doing what he did." > > The moment Westminster took over the political institutions, the basis of >the IRA's stretched accommodation to unionist dictat by creating a >constructive bridge to the decommissioning element in the Good Friday >Agreement (GFA), became untenable. > > The IRA said the context of their engagement had changed. In effect, the >British government has undercut de Chastelain's mandate and is in danger of >compromising its avowed independence. > > The danger to the peace process will be very apparent quickly. If a >reversal of direct rule does not happen soon, grave doubts will be raised >about the exact direction of the really key issues -- British >de-militarisation, policing and the RUC, a just legal process and Bloody >Sunday truths -- that concern the 70 per cent of nationalists and >unionists, Catholics and Protestants, who voted for the GFA two years ago. > > In his interview with the Irish Times (15.2.00) head of the Policing >Commission Chris Patten said that the implementation of its 175 >recommendations for RUC reform may now be jeopardised by the present >suspension setback since the body is a part of the progress overall in the >peace process. > > He said "we argued" for a policing board based on the Assembly's political >balance. "Now if there is no acting Assembly, it's much more difficult to >establish such an institution. > > "Not impossible, but you have to do it in rather different ways, and, not >inconceivably, less democratically accountable ways. > > And that, given the risk now of a serious political vacuum opening up even >though the IRA and the key loyalist organisations remain on ceasefire, >would amount to a rejuvenation of RUC terror as a renewed instrument of the >British state. Not a point Patten would naturally make. > > Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, speaking on BBC Radio >Four on Monday, condemned the response to de Chastelain: "The British >government do not have the right to say that what General de Chastelain >said was not enough. [He] was given a very important job and [last] Friday >he said that he could report valuable progress. Those are his words, not >mine. In my opinion that should have been accepted by the British >government [but] it was rejected." > > The Sinn Fein leader said the government had in effect told the de >Chastelain commission to "pack their bags and go". He said they should >"climb down" and "accept" de Chastelain's report. > > The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader David Trimble, persistently puffed >up by Blair's attentions, was emboldened to act the fake facilitator of de >Chastelain's supposed predicament. David Trimble demands the IRA declare >what they have said to de Chastelain -- to protect the general's >"integrity" -- besides what is in the second report, that is, has the IRA >declared its willingness to decommission? > > This negative move by the British government, which strengthens unionism >and undermines the peace process, enables the UUP leader to denigrate in a >crude way the delicate foundations of political diplomacy. > > That was so obviously made a pronounced factor when Senator George >Mitchell conducted the review process and helped to stabilise developments >at the time. > > As though David Trimble didn't know that. The integrity of the peace >process comes second, it seems. > > We await the outcome of frantic bi-laterals between British and Irish >governments and key parties to the process, and to see whether Blair & Co >will pull back. > > ** The inquest at Kingston Crown Court into the death of Diarmuid O'Neill, >under the questioning of Michael Mansfield QC last Monday, revealed that >the policeman called "Kilo" -- incognito behind a black screen -- killed >Diarmuid by firing six shots from his 9mm carbine "out of the pure panic of >the situation". > > In what many regard as a "shoot-to-kill" operation against a supposed IRA >unit in 1996, the killer -- who said he thought he was going to be killed >-- was not wearing a respirator when several CS gas canisters were thrown >into the hotel room of Diarmuid O'Neill who was barely dressed. > > Michael Mansfield said: "Your eyes were streaming, choking, you couldn't >breathe with the lobby full of smoke. You see a figure and that's all you >see. I suggest you were not in a position to make a decision." He >continued: "You were so fired up, so anxious, the moment you'd got in the >room the person was shot dead." > > ********************* > > >New Communist Party of Britain Homepage > >http://www.newcommunistparty.org.uk > >A news service for the Working Class! > >Workers of all countries Unite! __________________________________ 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] ___________________________________
