Are we witnessing the strange death of the European Union?
26 February 2016
Referendums all over the place, borders going up. Is the EU starting to collapse?
News/Views
A strike worth remembering
26 February 2016
The historian and novelist John Tully tells the story of a forgotten strike of 1889. This book brings the struggle of those workers back to life and gives an insight into how our class developed into an organised labour movement.
Soviet planning versus capitalist chaos
They called it the ‘Great Breakthrough’ – the launch of the Soviet Union’s first five-year plan in 1928. While the Soviet Union grew, within a year the capitalism world was plunged into slump with the Wall Street crash…
1: The five-year plan
1928 saw the first Five Year Plan, crossing the frontier from the capitalist world into uncharted lands of building socialism. Its achievements were unprecedented.
2: The Stalin constitution
The citizens of the USSR have the right to work, that is, the right to be allotted assured employment, with remuneration therefore, in accordance with its quality and quantity…
1916: Out of empire and war [shorter version]
In World War One, groups of brave Irishmen struck to leave the British Empire and the war. It became known as the Easter Rising…
Inequality, social justice and surplus value
You can’t buck economic laws. It’s not an accident that capitalism doesn’t distribute the results of labour equally.
Housing: a national issue, and a class issue
The new Housing and Planning Bill cultivates and exploits the crisis in housing to strengthen the class power of a tiny minority…
You thought TTIP was bad? Take a look at TiSA
The EU is preparing to hand over power to global corporations to say how we must trade in services – all services. And all in secret.
1: Take it or leave it
In theory, TiSA (and TTIP) can be stopped by just one member state saying no, or even by the European Parliament. It has to be approved by all 28 member state governments (the European Council) and, probably, by all 28 national parliaments.
2: An attack on developing countries
Until recently, international trade agreements were handled through the World Trade Organization. But because all countries participate equally in WTO negotiations, the leading imperialist nations (and the corporations which set their policy) haven’t had it all their own way.
Why trade unionists should vote to leave
One of the big lies of the European Union is that it is somehow good for workers. In fact, the EU is attacking the basis of all progress at work – effective collective bargaining…