Aspirations for a Better World

Workers' Daily Internet Edition : Article Index :

Editorial:
Aspirations for a Better World

Support Among Teachers Grows for a 35-hour Week

North East Workers and Politics:
Medical Secretaries in South Tyneside Join those on Strike in Sunderland
Doctors Speak Out in Support of Medical Secretaries

Palestine:
British Citizens’ Statement to British Consulate
World-wide Demonstrations in Support of the Palestinian People

As the debate gathers momentum as to what kind of "revolution" is required against the New Labour leadership, so does the discussion in the workers’ movement on how to fulfil the aspirations of the working class and people for a better world.

It is important that this discussion is engaged in to the full, for it is of exceptionally vital importance at this time when the capitalist crisis, encompassing the economic base, the political processes and institutions, the whole society, the agenda of globalisation itself, is so profound.

If the mood in the air to speak openly about the need for the working class to inscribe on its banner the affirmation of its rights is not simply to be left up in the air, the means whereby the workers must at this time seize the initiative in the face of the all-out attempts to smash the organisations of the workers must too be openly discussed. It is rightly being said that the workers must advance their own agenda at this time. We are firmly of the belief that this is indeed the starting point for the realisation of those aspirations for a better world.

The movement is growing to oppose the anti-social agenda being imposed on the whole of society by the rich and the whole capitalist class. This anti-social offensive is being spearheaded by the most parasitic sections of finance capital, and it is causing devastation and chaos in society. Tens and hundreds of thousands of workers are being deprived of a livelihood. War, annexation and state terror are being pursued in order to satisfy the need of these most retrogressive sections of capital for domination and to eliminate all threats to their system of globalisation under which the gap between the obscenely rich and the masses of the world’s poor is accelerating.

In this situation, what the financial oligarchy attacks the most is the strivings of the workers themselves to set their own independent agenda. One of the most pernicious ways it does this is to foster monstrous illusions that this world which is creating so much devastation and violence is doing so in the name of what is pro-social. On the contrary, the workers have to elaborate and fight for their own pro-social agenda. They have to affirm that it is they who have the agenda for a better world, for a new society, which puts the people at the centre of considerations and recognises the rights of all by virtue of their humanity.

The alternative has to take shape and is taking shape within the vicious fight against the anti-social offensive which is striving to deprive workers of everything, including their dignity. For workers to question how the future can be transformed will be an immense advance for the working class movement. How to achieve the political power to put their vision into practice is a question the whole workers’ movement must look straight in the eye.

The depth of the crisis and the putting of the alternative on the agenda can justly lead the workers’ movement to the conclusion that the time is now to seize this initiative and build a concrete Workers’ Opposition to the party dominated system which is keeping the agenda of the workers hidden away and to the whole "Third Way" programme of New Labour. This "Third Way" programme is the concrete form of the anti-social offensive, and is a programme that combines taking forward the programme of the financial oligarchy with the illusions that society can be reordered without the workers advancing their own agenda. Now that the illusions with New Labour are becoming so widespread, it is very important for the workers that they see their aspirations for a better world as being linked with the struggle for their rights and the struggle to take hold of what belongs to them, central to which is political power itself. There is no other force but the workers’ movement itself, giving rise to worker politicians, to political workers, which can resolve these problems and give rise to a new society, in which the people are in control of their own destiny.

More than half a million teachers are set to call for a maximum 35-hour week as their campaign against their increased workload intensifies.

And delegates at the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) conference in Scarborough voted unanimously for the right to strike in September – accusing ministers of breaking a promise to fund their bonuses in full.

Les Kennedy, a member of the union's executive, told delegates: "If you want to call me a wrecker in Tony Blair's sense of the word, I'm prepared to stand here and be one. That is a clear breaking of a promise to us – we haven't been told the truth at all." Kathy Wallis, a teacher from Cornwall, demanded: "If the government are saying we are doing a good job, why aren't they giving us the money?"

The vote means the government faces walkouts or work-to-rule on seven fronts as part of the teachers' battle with ministers to improve their pay and working conditions. This was the first vote this year in which the NASUWT agreed to the possibility of strikes.

Already the National Union of Teachers, representing 220,000 teachers, and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, with a membership of 160,000, have voted in favour. The 200,000-member NASUWT debated, at its annual conference in Scarborough, an identical resolution to the one passed unanimously by the other two.

Teachers have been protesting for years that staff shortages and the demands made by the government mean they regularly have to work 50 to 60-hour weeks, including evenings and weekends during term time.

The National Union of Teachers threatened strikes if privatisation of education hits jobs and pay. In a dispute over poor pay and a heavy workload, teachers are threatening to withhold cover for absent colleagues and this week backed a boycott of national tests for seven, 11 and 14-year-olds. Delegates to the NUT conference in Bournemouth gave unanimous backing to a motion, being debated by all three main classroom unions, which promises to impose a limit on a teachers’ working week unless the Government agrees to changes in their conditions of service. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers had already voted in favour of a shorter working week at their annual conference in Cardiff.

The National Union of Teachers ended its conference, which had begun with government calls for restraint, with votes backing a "rolling programme of industrial action", demanding an immediate 10 per cent pay rise worth £2,000, and a boycott of cover for absent colleagues, a move that could lead to a four-day week in some schools. It said it would seek a ballot for strike action if ministers did not recognise its case.

Estelle Morris, education secretary, has warned the unions that if they repeat action like the one-day London stoppage, they will lose their role in delivering a new contract for teachers.

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the NUT said: "It's not the teachers who took strike action who should be condemned. It is the previous government which, by ignoring the teacher shortages unfolding before them, deprived thousands of pupils of their right to be educated every day, every week, every term, by properly qualified teachers."

Last Tuesday's vote by the NUT includes joint action with the other two biggest unions for a 35-hour working week.

In an emotional speech to the NASUWT conference on his retirement as its general secretary, Nigel de Gruchy accused Tony Blair of running a dictatorial system dependent upon the "fawning ambitions" of underlings jostling to succeed him. He broadened his attack to take in "all political parties, in power and in opposition", ridiculing Iain Duncan Smith's claim to be "the champion of the sick and underprivileged".

"Really, what fools do they take the nation to be?" he said. "Politicians create the problem, then they blame schools, then they demand that teachers solve the problem," he said. "Then they wonder why cynicism is rife."

Nigel de Gruchy made his speech shortly after the union had voted to call a strike if there was not a satisfactory outcome to the dispute with the government about the under-funding of their performance pay. He said it was all very well for Ms Morris to condemn industrial action, but her predecessor, David Blunkett, had initially refused to commission an independent study into teachers' workloads.

Stephen Timms, the school standards minister, speaking at the NASUWT conference, pledged a move on professional time and indicated that the expected report, from the School Teacher Pay Review Body, would also explore changes to the open-ended contract which means teachers can be asked to work excessive hours.

From North East Workers and Politics, Bulletin of the Northern Regional Forum on the Mass Party Press, Vol. 2 No. 3 April 8, 2002

Seventy medical secretaries on South Tyneside came out on strike on Friday in support of their claim for grade 4 plus proficiencies. The strikes will continue from Tuesday to Thursday next week. The medical secretaries who work for South Tyneside Health Care Trust are the latest medical secretaries to strike over their pay claim. On Friday Medical secretaries at Sunderland rejected a new offer from management that did not meet their claim and are continuing their all-out stoppage of a week. Their strikes are now in their second month. South Durham medical secretaries who had balloted at the same time as South Tyneside lifted their four-day stoppage after managers proposed a new pay offer.

An article in the North East Journal on Friday reported that a spokeswoman for South Tyneside Health Care Trust said that a revised offer was recently made to medical secretaries at South Tyneside that would have given a maximum salary package including proficiencies of £15,894. But a union representative for UNISON at the hospital was quoted as saying that the medical secretaries had rightly rejected it because the top rate would have been available for only two secretaries while the rest of the package would have meant a top rate of £13,845 for general medical secretaries and £14,400 for consultants' secretaries. He was reported as saying: "Members are very determined to have their pay claim met in full and won't accept anything less."

The report points out that strike action was averted at Northumbria Health Care Trust after bosses agreed to give its 150 medical secretaries grade 3 plus 4 increments, (one from the top of the 4 scale), with proficiencies. Ballots for action at Newcastle Hospital NHS Trust and North Durham Health Care Trust are imminent.

From North East Workers and Politics, Bulletin of the Northern Regional Forum on the Mass Party Press, Vol. 2 No. 3 April 8, 2002

In a recent issue of the Hospital Doctor the editorial called for a pay increase for medical secretaries. The editorial pointed out: "A good secretary can radically improve the service a doctor gives to patients, while having the wrong person or worse still, nobody at al can drive the department into chaos. The problem is that experienced secretaries can easily earn more working for a commercial business." The editorial concludes: "It is in the interests of doctors to support secretaries in getting better terms and conditions."

In the same issue an article was published Doctors warn of crisis in recruiting secretaries. The article points out that urgent action is needed to tackle the growing shortage of medical secretaries. "Consultants have warned that problems in recruiting secretarial staff are having a serious impact on their clinical work and could put patients at risk." The article reported that Dr Michael Goodman, deputy chairman of the BMA's Central Consultants and Specialists Committee, said he had come close to refusing to take on new patients after he had been left without secretarial support for months.

Dr Clive Peedell, an SpR in oncology at Coolridge Hospital in Leeds, called on the BMA and the royal colleges to lobby the Department of Health to increase secretaries salaries. He said that lack of secretarial support at his hospital had affected the care he was able to give patients. The Medical Defence Union urged doctors to lobby trust managers to ensure they had adequate secretarial support, while the BMA said it supported secretaries' efforts to have their salaries increased. The article concluded that a BMA spokesman said: "We always have been very supportive of the work they do."

Palestine: British Citizens’ Statement to British Consulate

Statement to the British Consulate from British citizens in the Al-Azzeh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, April 4, 2002

We are British nationals who are currently staying within the Al-Azzeh refugee camp in Bethlehem. We have been offered evacuation from Bethlehem by the British Consulate but have chosen to stay in Al-Azzeh in solidarity with the Palestinian people under occupation.

The Palestinian people do not have the option of leaving. Recent experience has shown that an international observer presence is effective in limiting Israeli brutality against civilians. Our presence here represents the support of the international community. We can act as an accurate source of information for the British government and public, and for the rest of the world.

With Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, it is clear that the supply of arms to Israel adds to the terror felt by the Palestinian people. We note that the present leader of the Israeli government, Arial Sharon, has widely been held responsible for the massacres that took place in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Southern Lebanon in 1982. Our presence here is intended to prevent a repetition of these crimes.

We feel that Britain has a particular responsibility towards the Palestinian people due to the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the British withdrawal from Palestine in 1948. So far as we are aware, there has been no significant comment from the British Foreign Office in response to the latest Israeli military offensive of the past few days.

This stands in contrast to the breaking of diplomatic ties with Israel by the Belgian government and condemnation by other European Union governments. This silence implies consent. To us this lack of action is another example of the British government&£146;s foreign policy being determined by that of the United States.

As British nationals we demand that our government:

• Ban the issuing of arms export licences for the supply to Israel of equipment used in this illegal occupation, with particular reference to spare parts for Apache helicopters, communication equipment, Land Rover vehicles and handcuffs and other restraint devices.
• Pressurise the Israeli government to withdraw from the occupied territories and respect international recognition of a Palestinian authority and territories under its control, using diplomatic pressure up to and including cutting ties.
• Implement and maintain economic sanctions upon Israel for its repeated violations of the fourth Geneva Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and UN resolutions 242 and 194.

We call upon the British public to take action to help bring a peaceful resolution to this tragic situation by means of:

• Boycotting of Israeli goods and services to bring economic pressure on the Israeli government.
• Joining demonstrations against the Israeli military aggression in solidarity with the Palestinian people and support of their basic human rights.

We recognise that our position here in Bethlehem places us at risk. Many deaths have already resulted from this most recent Israeli invasion, and this situation has been exacerbated by the deliberate obstruction of access for ambulances and medical personnel. We are neither eager nor prepared to die, but we will not turn our backs on the Palestinian people.

Throughout the April 4-7 weekend, people all over the world gathered to express the demand that the Israeli occupation army get out of the Palestinian territories and stop committing the crimes of unprecedented proportions. They denounced the US for its support of these crimes and showed the extent of the world-wide solidarity with the just struggles of the Palestinian people.

In Palestine, following the "enough is enough" speech on April 4 by US President George W. Bush, the Sharon government stepped up its offensive, committing more crimes in the cities it has already invaded and staging operations in Jenin, Nablus and other places. In Jenin, the Palestinian resistance was particularly effective, initially succeeding in preventing the tanks from invading the city. Thousands of Palestinians also took to the streets across the Gaza Strip on April 5 against the Israeli state terror unleashed in the West Bank. Some 25,000 Palestinians marched in the Jabalya refugee camp and another 5,000 marched in Gaza City. About 2,000 took to the streets in the Rafah refugee camp which has come under attack by the Israelis several times since the Intifada began 18 months ago. Palestinian activists set fire to US flags in a gesture of anger over remarks by President Bush on April 4 in which he blamed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat for the current bloodshed. "Listen Bush, Arafat will not be humiliated," they said. Demonstrators also urged Arab states to cut oil supplies to the United States and close Israeli and US embassies in their countries. "Arab silence is humiliation, Arab silence is a betrayal," they said.

At the Jabalya rally, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas, said, "What do they want from Arafat? They want him to fight against the resistance, to disarm the fighters, to waste Palestinian rights in their homeland. Arafat will not surrender to their demands." Yassin was interrupted by cheering crowds who cried: "Washington's solutions cannot be accepted."

"They (Israelis) may occupy a city or a village but they will inevitably leave," Yassin said. "Resistance has turned from stones into human bombs and missiles," he added.

On April 6, more than 20,000 demonstrators in the West Bank city of Nazareth waved banners and hailed President Arafat and everyone who has taken a stand against Sharon and his government for the crimes they are committing against the Palestinian people.

On April 6 in Tel Aviv, some 15,000 people participated in a peace rally which began with a march from Rabin Square to the Army Ministry. The demonstrators protested against the occupation of Palestinian territories and the current military campaign in West Bank cities. Speakers at the rally included members of the Israeli Knesset. MK Yael Dayan of the Labour Party said, "By reoccupying, we will not prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, which is the only solution." "Our camp is not ashamed and is coming out. Ariel Sharon and Bibi Netanyahu do not have any monopoly – not over the peace, not over bereavement, and not over the army," she added.

Throughout the Arab world, militant protests took place. Daily sit-ins are being held in front of the UN headquarters in Damascus, Syria. The newspaper al-Hayat reported that on April 5 demonstrators threw stones at the Jordanian embassy in Damascus. This coincided with official demands for Arab countries to sever relations with Israel. The newspaper added that more than 1,200 police were deployed around the embassies of Jordan, Egypt and the US. In related news, Syria will not take part in the emergency meeting of the Arab foreign ministers to be held in Egypt, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. This decision is in "protest of not implementing the recent Beirut Arab summit, especially the decisions provided for halting relations with Israel and revitalising the Arab boycott of Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their heroic Intifada," SANA said.

In Jordan, large demonstrations were held in various cities on April 5 "as an expression of the anger of the Jordanian people over the brutal Israeli aggression," news sources write. In Amman, groups of citizens took to the streets following Friday's prayers in a demonstration called by heads of political parties and trade unions, as well as workers, women, students, merchants, religious leaders, lawyers, doctors, independent national figures and politicians. The demonstrators raised Palestinian flags and banners hailing the Palestinian struggle and denouncing the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the aggression against the Palestinian people.

In Saudi Arabia on April 6, thousands of people participated in a demonstration in al-Zahran which was prevented by police from marching to the US consulate. Al-Sheikh Abdul Hameed, chair of the Saudi People's Committee in Support of Palestine, said in a statement on Al-Jazeera TV, "Saudi security forces prevented thousands of Saudis from demonstrations in support of the Palestinians at the US consulate in al-Zahran." He added that the security forces cordoned the area and made a few arrests. To justify the suppression of the demonstration, the Saudi minister of the interior Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz told the Saudi news agency that "this behaviour is not permitted because it is not in compliance with our social status and the historical militant stances of Saudi Arabia with the Palestinian people throughout its long history. Stances which ever proved credibility in action."

According to the daily newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi, on April 1 demonstrators in the northern city Sakkaka burnt Israeli and American flags during a demonstration in support of the Palestinians. The paper quoted eye-witnesses who said the Saudi security forces dispersed the demonstrators and arrested tens of them for investigations.

In Bahrain on April 5, some 20,000 people participated in a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinians. It is reported that 10 Molotov cocktails were thrown at the US embassy, destroying a satellite dish and a sentry box. Demonstrators also threw stones at McDonalds restaurants. The security forces were deployed and fired bullets in the air and used tear gas in order to disperse the demonstrators, news reports said. Some 70 demonstrators were wounded and admitted to hospitals because of the gas or injuries from rubber bullets. One of the demonstrators broke the security siege and hoisted the Palestinian flag on one of the walls of the US embassy. Demonstrators chanted slogans calling for closing the embassy and the Americans to go back to their country. One of the participants, a 24-year-old hospital worker, died on Sunday from a head injury he suffered when he was hit by a rubber bullet during the demonstration.

In Egypt, some 15,000 students at Banha University held a prayer meeting to pay homage to the Palestinians killed as a result of the Israeli aggression. Five thousand students gathered at al-Azhar University, chanting "Where is the Arab army?" and calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador. Some 5,000 students at Ein Shams University also gathered while high school students spontaneously took to the streets. A meeting of 700 artists called on the Egyptian parliament to "cancel the Camp David Agreements because of the racist and terrorist practices of the Zionist forces."

In Rabat, Morocco, 3 million people participated in the April 7 demonstration called by the Moroccan Association of Support to the Struggle of the Palestinian People, supported by several political parties, trade unions and non-governmental organisations. Khalid Soufiani, head of the association, said that the march would send Palestinian President Yasser Arafat a message that "Moroccans are all Palestinians and that they will never let the Palestinian people down." The march was also to send a message to the United States of rejection of Washington's "backing to the Zionist crimes," he added. On April 5, the Catholic church in Morocco denounced the attacks on the Palestinian territories.

Amongst the mass protests held in Asia, news agencies report that in Indonesia on April 5, hundreds of students rallied in front of the UN offices and US embassy in Jakarta for the fourth consecutive day to protest Israeli incursions in Palestinian territories. They urged the United Nations to intervene and stop Israel's aggression against the Palestinians. On April 7, about 5,000 demonstrators gathered around a monument across from the presidential palace. Wearing headbands with the words "Save Palestine" and waving Palestinian flags, protesters listened as community leaders condemned the Israeli offensive and called on the United Nations to prosecute Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a war criminal. The Indonesian government strongly condemned Israel's recent military operations, particularly the occupation of President Arafat's West Bank headquarters in Ramallah, news agencies reported.

In Malaysia, the World Assembly of Youth (WAY) and Malaysian Malay Youth movement (4B Youth) on April 5 held a demonstration outside the Al-Azim State Mosque in the southern Malacca state to protest Israel's killing of the Palestinians in their homeland, a report said. Reading WAY and 4B Youth's public declaration on the matter, chairman of the organising committee Abdul Latif Mohd said both organisations fully support the Palestinian struggle to win their national rights. He said the movements also urged the global community to condemn the Israeli regime and support the Palestinian cause. "WAY and Malaysian 4B Youth today declare that Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is the world number one terrorist and the most despicable in human history," he said. "Sharon is responsible for all the atrocities and we urge all the heads of Governments of the world to issue arrest warrants for Sharon to signify their unity." "We also urge the United Nation to convene an emergency sitting and pass a resolution to recognise Palestine as a sovereign country and Yasser Arafat as its head," he said. "We meanwhile hereby announce the formation of a fund, Yayasan Intifada Palestin (Palestinian Intifada Foundation), which will be used to educate the world on what Intifada, which is all about Palestine and at the same time, counter Israeli propaganda," Latif added.

In Europe, thousands of people across Europe participated in rallies and demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people. More than 50,000 people marched through Paris, as well as other French cities including Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon, Toulouse and Strasbourg. They shouted amongst other things, "Sharon, Bush, they are the assassins" and "Arabs and Jews together against Sharon." Demonstrations were also held in Brussels, Belgium; Barcelona, Spain; Bilboa, Basque Country; Bern, Switzerland; and Stockholm, Sweden. In Berlin, Germany, members of the Palestinian community held a funeral march to commemorate the victims of the Israeli occupation. It is estimated that 50,000 people packed the Piazza del Popolo in Rome, Italy shouting slogans for a liberated Palestine.

The BBC reported that in Norway "Members of the Norwegian committee that awards the annual Nobel Peace Prize have launched an unprecedented verbal assault on Israeli Foreign Minister and Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres." It added that "committee members said they regretted that Mr. Peres' prize could not be recalled."

In the United States, demonstrations were held across the country to support the Palestinian people and condemn US interference in the Middle East and the green light it has given to Sharon for the aggression against the Palestinians. Throughout Latin America, the people expressed their support for the Palestinian people.

Demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people were held over the weekend of April 5-6 in cities across Canada, including Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria.

Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, President of the Cuban Parliament, demanded in a letter sent to the Presidency of the Interparliamentary Union that the barbaric acts of the Israelis against the Palestinians be stopped. The letter stated, "In the face of the barbaric acts unleashed in Palestine with the invasion by Israeli troops, under the command of Ariel Sharon, I am asking you that, with the greatest urgency, make everything possible under your reach to put an immediate end to the aggression and to promote the effective solidarity with the Palestinian people.

"It is a shame for humanity that already into the 21st century, genocides like this one are taking place, without anything happening. Not even the organisation created to prevent and stop such crimes, the United Nations, is capable of imposing its authority, trapped as it is under the control of the imperialist superpower that utilises it only in benefit of its hegemonic interests.

"They lack morals to talk about human rights and/or democracy, those who contemplate without doing anything, the horror that is done against that people, that only hopes to live in liberty in its own independent and sovereign state.

"The end of the crimes and abuse must be demanded. The end of the persecution and death threat against Yasser Arafat must be demanded. The immediate withdrawal of the occupying troops must be demanded. The complicity of the US government that supports both politically and materially the Israeli aggressors must be clearly denounced. The parliamentarians of the whole world should act energetically now."

Britain

A march took place on Sunday, April 7, around Liverpool’s City Centre streets. Demonstrators gathered outside the ‘Al-Rahma’ mosque on Mulgrave Street L8 at 2.00pm and the march ended on the Pier Head.

In solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle, in Manchester people rallied on Saturday, April 6, to show their opposition to the increasing Zionist terror.

The Coalition Against Sanctions and War on Iraq also called for a rally for peace and justice in solidarity with Iraq and Palestine on the same day, place and time.