The Miners' Strike And International Women's Day.

       International Women's Day, in 1910, in Copenhagen, a second International Conference of Working Women was held. At that conference Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) put forward the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result. 

 

 

       It is fitting that we celebrate the start the 30th anniversary of the miners strike, as we celebrate International Women's Day, for during that year long savage and bitter strike, the courage and solidarity of women is writ large. Throughout the miners strike, March 1984 to March 1985, women were an integral part of the struggle. They took their place in lines against the police brutality, they organised fundraisers, organised and ran soup kitchens, they battled on the streets, they were the cement that helped hold the mining communities together. Without the strength and backing of the women and the communities, the strike would have been quickly crushed.

 

       International Women's Day is a day when we can pay homage to all those women who selflessly fought to improve the conditions of not just women, but all humankind. Women who struggled to improve working conditions, for justice, for peace, for unity of all ordinary people. The miners strike was not just about miners and pit closures, it was about communities and an attempt to stop the devastation of those communities, and women were an inseparable part and parcel of that struggle. That is why the women of the miners strike can take their place on that roll of honour, not only of women, but of working class heroes.

 

  

   Every country, every city, every town, has its roll of honour of such women, perhaps not publicly displayed but it will be there, in folklore, in song, in theatre and poem. Glasgow can be proud of its list of women who fought injustice where they saw it, some struggled away in obscurity, some in the limelight of publicity, all paid their part in improving our lives. Today more than ever we need our women heroes, we need the unity of all men and women to combat the savage onslaught against our living standards. Today more than ever people have to stand up and join hands in solidarity with all people's across the globe.
      Here are just a few of Glasgow's women from our recent past that are worthy of being honoured today.

Mary Barbour, Ethel MacDonald, Helen Crawfurd, Agnes Dollan, Jenny Patrick, Rita Milton, who would you add to this list, there are hundreds if not thousands, from which to choose. Where are our modern Mary Barbour's, where is today's Ethel MacDonald? Can you name them?

       "It is not by changing ministers - such guilty men! - or issuing declarations that fascism will be conquered. The problem is more complex than that. We do not intend to add our voice to those who delude the workers that their 'leaders' will get them out of the mess. The problems need a complete transformation in the present attitude of the working class." Marie Louise Berneri From; War Commentary, December 1940.

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The Last Time Ukraine Was Free.

         Ukraine's history is a bit of a mystery to most people in the West. Like other states, it has morphed from one thing to another according to the powers surrounding it, but there was a short period when it was truly free.

This from Roads And Kingdoms:

       Like its present, Ukraine’s past is often seen in terms of split identity, torn between Europe and Russia, sitting along the fracture of different civilizations. For hundreds of years and for much of the 20th century, the country saw its fortunes determined by powerful outsiders. Russia claimed its birthplace in Kyiv. Those in the western portions, including the great nationalist hero Stepan Bandera—incidentally also a World War II-era Nazi collaborator—kept Ukraine pulled toward Europe. 

     But a less well-remembered historical figure offered a different vision, one opposed to both sides. Nestor Makhno wanted a radically independent, anarchist future in Ukraine, free from the pull of both east and west. For three years in the wake of World War I, he succeeded in constructing a free state along the banks of the Dnieper River, bridging the divide between Russian-speaking and Ukrainian-speaking peoples. It was an audacious, improbable republic, and though it crested a century ago, Makhno’s country is worth remembering because it was perhaps the last time Ukraine was truly free.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Pompous Parasites' Plaything.

       You think the country is divided by class, you think inequality is rife, you think the dice is loaded in favour of a privileged few, you think injustice is all around you, and you decide to make a protest. It is a simple one man protest you decide to disrupt that 160 year old symbol of elitism, the Oxford and Cambridge boat race. So you jump in the Thames and have a swim during the boat race. However, the simple protest has the privileged parasites baying for blood, how dare a commoner disrupt their pompous playtime. It goes all the way to the top of the stinking pile, not only are you sentenced to six months in prison but the Home Secretary wants to break up your marriage and have you deported. However Trenton Oldfield won his case against deportation. Here Trenton Oldfield tells his story on Circled A Radio. 

Whose Town Is It Anyway?

Published on May 30, 2013

     Presents a portrait of a working class community after 25 years on the receiving end of traditional local government. Includes interviews with local community activists, a meeting in a pub, the editorial office of "The Voice" community newspaper and a discussion with unemployed young people. Conveys their sense of powerlessness and anger at the failure of the authorities to get to grips with the massive housing and employment needs of their area.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Accident - Corporate Murder??

    Every day across the planet people die trying to earn their keep, mining disasters, fishing at sea disasters, factory disasters, etc.. A lot of these tragic events cannot be termed "accidents", proper adherence by employers to health and safety affairs, would eliminate the vast majority, the lack of such adherence places the blame for those deaths and injuries, squarely in the hands of those employers. 

     Almost a year ago, one of the worst industrial "accidents" in history happened, when a building collapsed in Bangladesh, killing more than 1,100 people. The reason I say "accidents" is because it can't really be claimed to have been an "accident". Surely in 20/21 centuries we have mastered the ability to build factories that don't fall down? Somewhere along the line somebody was pushing aside proper health and safety practice in favour of making money. Was it a shoddy building not fit for the purpose it was being used for? Was it overloaded with machinery and people? Somebody some where put money before people, which is the norm in this world of corporate greed.

      Across the globe the vast majority of us who work, do so in crap jobs, with crap wages, the possibility of death should not be added to that humiliation and exploitation. Murder by the corporate world is rife, but seldom is the crime punished, the word "accident" is used to try to wash the blood from their hands.

This from Labour Start:

      In another seven weeks, we mark the first anniversary of the building collapse at Rana Plaza, in Bangladesh.  Over 1,100 people were killed in one of the worst industrial accidents in history.
    As you may know, this was followed up by a ground-breaking agreement signed by global unions, local unions in Bangladesh, employers, major clothing brands, the International Labor Organization, the Bangladeshi government and others.
     In addition to trying to ensure that the tragedy doesn't repeat itself, the employers also agreed to help compensate the injured and the families of those killed.
     As the Clean Clothes Campaign put it, "The survivors and victims families have suffered enough and should not have to relive that horrible day without being secure that their financial losses at least are covered. They suffered terrible injuries, lost husbands and wives, children and parents, brothers and sisters; and will bear the physical and emotional scars for life. This can never be compensated for, but they can and should be compensated for loss of income and medical costs before the anniversary."
     But among those companies which have not made public donations to the fund are these:

Adler Modemrkte, Auchan, Ascena Retail, Benetton, C&A, Carrefour, Cato Fashions, Children's Place, Grabalok, Gueldenpfennig, Kids for Fashion, KiK, LPP, Manifattura Corona, Matalan, NKD, Premier Clothing, Primark, PWT, Walmart and Yes Zee.

    IndustriALL, UNI Global Union and the Clean Clothes Campaign have launched an online campaign hosted by LabourStart to pressure those companies to pay compensation now.
Please sign up and send your message.  And please spread the word about this very important campaign.
      Meanwhile, halfway around the world in Peru, the government is attempting to privatize the country's water supply -- over the objections of citizens and the country's trade union movement.  Those unions and their global union federation PSI have launched an online campaign demanding that Peru stop this privatization now.  Please support the campaign and spread the word.

Thank you very much!

Eric Lee

Forced Labour Is Fascism.

       What is happening in this country is no longer about party politics, it's about fascist forced labour, it's about ordinary people being forced to fatten the bank accounts of greedy shareholders, being forced to swell the profits of rich corporate giants, all for no wages. Thousands of people are, at this moment in time, working for prosperous corporations and so called charities and receiving no wages while failing to turn up can see your benefits sanctioned. There has already been one case where a homeless man failed to turn up on his workfare scheme, on two separate days and was fined in court, the sum of £250. Is prison the next step to force you to work for nothing? Where does this stop, it wont, until we stop it, by mass protests, by boycotting those greed merchants that are exploiting this situation, by changing the system to one that sees to the needs of all our people, and gets the millionaire parasites off our backs. What do you call a country that forces people to work for rich companies, for nothing, a democracy???? 

This from The Void:

Exploit us and we will shut you down.

      In April George Osborne’s mass workfare scheme will begin.  Unemployed people will be sentenced to 780 hours community work simply for being unable to find a job. Not even lone parents with young children are to be exempt from the scheme which will see so-called charities like Groundwork UK and the Salvation Army paid by the tax payer to force people to work for free.  Part time workers and those currently genuinely volunteering will also face being sent on unpaid work.

      Collective action can halt this forced labour scheme in its tracks.  A week of action against workfare has been called beginning on the 29th March.  An escalation in the campaign against unpaid work is vital and there is no better chance than this.  It only takes a few people to get the ball rolling, and protests against organisations using workfare have proved to be effective.  Boycott Workfare can offer support with publicity, leaflets and advice. Please help spread the word about the week of action and let’s make this the strongest stand against people being forced to work for free that has been seen so far.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Screw The Planet And Its People, For Money.

       The tar-sands project in Alberta is an environmental disaster, destroying vast swathes of forest lands obliteration of a massive ecosystem. The volume of toxins used to turn this sludge into usable oil is an environmental disaster on its own. Then there is the insanity of pumping this black death across America through towns villages and farmland. Already there has been spillages that have devastated towns and agriculture. Once again it is corporate greed riding roughshod over the people, all to fatten shareholders bank accounts. It is the world's largest environmental degradation, all for money.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk