Articles by Editorial

Government scientist sold nuclear secrets “in the knowledge of the bosses”

Armed forces in Iran opened fire on a peaceful demonstration of copper foundry workers and their families on 23 January, killing fifteen and injuring 300.

LAST SUNDAY, 25 January, the founding convention of Respect took place and agreed to launch an electoral campaign across England and Wales, headed by George Galloway MP, for the June European and Greater London Authority […]

Just one year following the Presidential election victory of Luiz Inácio da Silva (or Lula as he is popularly known), of the Workers’ Party (PT), a new movement has been launched by former PT activists, […]

Police treatment of school students was not within the law

ISR member Karl Debbaut acquitted.

IN THE RUN-UP to last year’s invasion of Iraq much was said in the media about the ‘fog of war’, the confusion spread by the combination of the incomplete knowledge of fast changing events and […]

Politicians and economists have been trumpeting the "recovery" in the US economy, heralding it as the sign of a new period of growth for the world economy.

This Government and its lackeys on the four Dublin councils had hoped that they could enter the new year with the bin tax imposed and long forgotten.

As socialistworld.net has previously reported, Germany has witnessed a wave of protests and strikes both on the industrial and social fields, as well as series of student strikes, towards the end of last year.

THIRTY YEARS ago, on 1 January 1974, a power-sharing government was established in Northern Ireland. Within months it had been brought down by a Loyalist stoppage and it would be 25 years before another power […]

“At 6.30 in the morning when I left home to travel into central Lisbon, I could see immediately that the strike was on. The refuse bins were full up in my street and in the […]

The Portuguese public sector workers are today on a 24 hour general strike.

How could Hollywood muscle-man Arnold Schwarzenegger win the California Governor recall election?

What kind of conditions do workers and young people face in your area?

Growing resistance against US imperialism worldwide was reflected in almost every meeting, demonstration, placard and badge at the World Social Forum in Mumbai.

ON 5 JANUARY Jeffrey Donaldson, Norah Beare and Arlene Foster announced that they were joining the DUP. Their move underlined the results of the recent elections. The DUP are now the largest unionist party and […]

Midnight, January 21, is set for the start of an unlimited general strike in Nigeria.

Are the Democrats a viable alternative to Bush?

Banners, posters and slogans against Bush and his war on Iraq were prominent in Mumbai (India) on 21st January.

"Many multinational corporations feel their mouths water at the mention of the opening up of the Indian economy. India offers a good ground for plunder. Even if only 10 per cent of the population of […]

2004 will be a defining year for the Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrat coalition. They face their first electoral test on 11 June in the Local and European elections the first to take place since their re-election […]

Earlier this fall, with healthcare costs spiraling upward and new Census data showing increasing numbers of Americans without health insurance, the Bush administration quietly changed federal regulations to allow hospitals to turn away more low-income […]

Pictures from Mumbai

"Many multinational corporations feel their mouths water at the mention of the opening up of the Indian economy. India offers a good ground for plunder. Even if only 10 per cent of the population of […]

cwi interviews striking workers’ leaders

Index of articles

Building the cwi in 2003 in the US

Over 120,000 people have attended the World Social Forum in Mumbai.

Building the cwi in 2003 in Scotland, South Africa and Sweden

Socialists oppose right wing agenda

Building the cwi in 2003 in Nigeria and Poland

Building the cwi in 2003 in Netherlands and New Zealand/Aotearoa

There has been a real shift in public opinion against President Bush and his war in Iraq since he declared victory in Iraq on May 1.

Building the cwi in 2003 in India and Israel

Mass protests against autocratic rule

The New Year has seen Nigeria gripped by a wave of anger following President Obasanjo’s sudden imposition of a new fuel tax.

cwi international conference.

Rent allowance cuts may make 4,000 homeless

cwi international conference.

It took me a long time to prepare this – The Politics of Hip Hop- because it’s such a massive subject. I mean, where do you start? Everyone that I spoke to about it had […]

LC: It shows what’s possible when you have a party and a leadership which wages a real fight in defence of workers’ interests. At that time, like today, local councils were carrying out a mix […]

While the right wing Raffarin government in France increases its attacks against the social gains of the past, there is a continued radicalisation amongst workers and youth.

The ultra nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) has become the biggest force in Serbian politics following the country’s general election on 28 December 2003.

Workers at the main production base in Italy of “Europe’s Enron” have no sympathy for those they call the “magnificent eight” now locked up in Milan’s notorious San Vittore prison.

Building the cwi in 2003 in England and Wales

Building the cwi in Canada and Chile in 2003

Government scientist sold nuclear secrets “in the knowledge of the bosses”

Armed forces in Iran opened fire on a peaceful demonstration of copper foundry workers and their families on 23 January, killing fifteen and injuring 300.

The New Year will see important changes to the Committee for a Workers’ International (cwi) website. During January, this site will undergo a major revamp and will have a new url name: socialistworld.net

Building the cwi in Brazil in 2003

Building the CWI in Austria and Belgium in 2003.

Building the cwi in Australia in 2003

NEW LABOUR’S National Executive Committee (NEC) has recommended that Ken Livingstone should be readmitted into the party. That’s just three years after his expulsion in 2000 for standing as an independent mayoral candidate against Labour’s […]

The entire European Union project is in its worst crisis ever after the breakdown of the negotiations over a new constitution. The summit in Brussels ended in an “extraordinary fiasco”, as the Swedish news agency […]

70,000 university students took to the streets in Frankfurt, Berlin and Leipzig on Saturday, 13 December, defending the right to decent education.

cwi statement

On 11 December, the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) union held a very successful one-day strike. This was in protest against the derisory pay deal imposed by central government – a 0% cost of […]

“Europe is experiencing a new phase of class struggle, from Italy and Portugal, in the South, to Germany, Austria and Britain, in the North,” said Tony Saunois, introducing the discussion on Perspectives for Europe, at […]

Eighteen months after the left-wing Alliance Party in Aotearoa/New Zealand suffered a damaging split and the loss of all its remaining MPs in a snap general election, there are signs that the party is (somewhat […]

The recent Northern Ireland Assembly elections have produced a recipe for ongoing political stalemate and paralysis. Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) are the clear victors and, no matter how they try to […]

On 9 December, in Kassel, in Hessen state, the first cross sector local work stoppage against social cuts, and in defence of free wage bargaining, took place. This action is part of the current wave […]

Over a million and a half people from all parts of Italy crowded into Rome’s Piazza San Giovanni last Saturday (6 December) to attend the ’Defend Your Future’ rally organised by Italy’s three biggest union […]

Unlike the last US Presidential elections, there were no recounts or dodgy chads to create nail biting tension in the recent Russian Duma elections. The contest for places in Russia’s Duma (the parliament) went almost […]

A community struggle, spearheaded by members of Offensief (Dutch CWI), successfully prevented council plans to close the Ganzenhoef community centre in South East Amsterdam.

The mood of the meeting was summed up by a speaker who said that the CWI was now "going with the grain of history".

“Another such victory as this and we are finished”

The “November revolution” in Georgia culminated in the overthrow of Eduard Shevardnadze. It was carried out under the flag of St George, first used in the 12th and 13th Century, when the then feudal country […]

IN THE repressive environment of Iran’s Islamic Republic, the working class is suffering from high levels of capitalist exploitation.

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) condemns the arrest and detention of six human rights and labour activists and the dispersal of a United Action for Democracy (UAD) rally by the Nigerian Police today Wednesday, 3rd […]

Chris Flood, a Socialist Party member from Lewisham won a council by-election in his area yesterday winning a stunning 32% of the vote. He joins Ian Page, the other Socialist Party councillor on the local […]

“One of the best international meetings the cwi has ever held…the discussions were excellent…the meeting reflected well the hectic pace of cwi activities in the anti-war movement and in strikes…”

The present government crisis in Sri Lanka arises out of the JR Jayawardene constitution, adopted in 1979, which gives dictatorial executive powers to the country’s President.

NORTHERN IRELAND’S elections on 26 November were extremely polarised with the hard-line Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) on one side and Sinn Fein on the other, gaining support.

“One of the best international meetings the cwi has ever held…the discussions were excellent…the meeting reflected well the hectic pace of cwi activities in the anti-war movement and in strikes…”

On 9 December, strike action against the bosses’ federation attacks on wages and conditions and national bargaining will take place in Kassel and the Northhessen region. The strikes will also be directed against the social […]

THE BATTLE against the bin tax in the last two months has raised ominous signs for all workers. The capitalist establishment in all its guises – political parties, media, courts and the Gardai has demonstrated […]

“We are witnesses and protagonists of a newly- now unstoppable- broad social protest movement in Germany. The mood…amongst the population, and even more in the workplaces and councils, has turned in the past weeks”. (From […]

Union inaction – community direct action

On Sunday 30 November, hundreds demonstrated in Maastricht against the visit of US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is in the Dutch town for the summit of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation […]

Thirteen refugees were found dead, and fifteen almost dead, on a boat outside Italy’s coast on Sunday 19 October.

FOR 300 years or so of its existence, capitalism has transformed the planet over and over again. Rail, electricity, the internal combustion engine, flight, space travel, telephones and electronic computers, the list is endless. The […]

Assembly elections

THE STRUGGLE over the war was as much for the ’hearts and minds’ of the American people as it was for those of the Vietnamese.

PUBLIC SPLITS have emerged amongst Israel’s ruling class as Ariel Sharon’s right-wing coalition government continues to repress Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza strip.

On October 21, the University of Minnesota (U of M) was shocked by its first strike in 60 years.

The struggle of the cockpit and cabin-stuff of the ’Austrian Airlines’ (AUA) has finally succeeded in stopping the immediate attacks of the management.

DESPITE MONTHS of negotiations, no agreement has been reached on how an Executive will be put in place after the election. At the last minute David Trimble rejected IRA decommissioning moves as not "transparent" enough […]

I was talking to David for about 2 hours. And I briefly spoke to Fionn, I didn’t see Mick. David is getting on well. He is in a cell with Fionn. They are settling in […]

PRESIDENT GEORGE W Bush summed it up best during a recent speech when he said: "These are historic times". The last few years have ushered in a new era of poverty, war and frustration for […]

South Belfast Socialist Party candidate Jim Barbour today called on Finance Minister, Ian Pearson, to resign immediately over his handling of pay negotiations with civil servants.

The Socialist Party is contesting the upcoming Northern Ireland Assembly to be held on Nov 26th.

The current strike of the Austrian Railways is challenging the right wing coalition government.

Last weekend, LSP/MAS (the Belgian affiliate of the cwi), held a national conference to discuss ’Political alternatives for the. With 134 participants from 17 branches this conference was the biggest ever in the history of […]

The one thing the main political parties here are all agreed on is that Northern Ireland should be sold to private profiteers.

The Socialist Party has decided to challenge the right wing and sectarian parties by putting up two candidates for the Assembly. Voters in East and South Belfast will have the chance to elect someone who […]

For most people the only choice in this election is between the same old mix of sectarian and right wing politicians. But in two constituencies, voters will have a choice. The Socialist Party is standing […]

Fianna Fáil T.D., G.V. Wright badly injures a pedestrian and walks away with a €900 fine.

On Tuesday last, a further 6 anti-bin tax protesters were jailed for their opposition to the bin tax and to the non-collection of tens of thousands of householders’ rubbish in the South Dublin area. Among […]

On Saturday, 8 November delegates attending the annual NZ Labour Party conference at the Christchurch Convention Centre were able to witness two strongly contrasting styles of democracy.

ON WEDNESDAY 29 October around 1,400 people came to a meeting in London entitled ’British politics at the crossroads’. The audience were primarily political and anti-war activists and they had come to hear George Galloway […]

THE COURAGEOUS unofficial action by tens of thousands of postal workers in the last two weeks has shown that bullying bosses can be stood up to and forced to retreat.

Mr. J. Higgins: The courts are not in a position to call alleged murderers to account but the High Court this morning could send six innocent residents from south Dublin to jail for three weeks […]

The three TDs said in a statement:

In the Dáil (Irish parliament), on 4 November, Socialist Party TD (MP) Joe Higgins challenged the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) on the jailing of six South Dublin anti-bin tax residents by the High Court.

Mikhail Khodorkovskii, one of Russia’s richest men and head of the giant company Yukos Oil, was taken from his private jet, on 25 October, by armed state security personnel. Khordokovskii’s arrest and the charges laid […]

A few months before the general elections in spring 2004, the social democratic PASOK government is in serious trouble.

A National Action Day, called by the CGTP (General Confederation of Portuguese Workers), saw tens of thousands of workers from the public and private sectors take to the streets on Thursday, 30 November.

16 residents from right across the South Dublin County are due to appear in the High Court today at 2pm on a committal order from South Dublin County Council. Most are in court for involvement […]

THE ISRAELI government of Ariel Sharon stuck two fingers up at the United Nations (UN) after the UN general assembly passed a resolution on 21 October condemning Israel’s ’security fence’. Israeli deputy prime minister Ehud […]

Today’s much bigger than expected 100,000 strong Berlin protest against social cuts has demonstrated the enormous discontent and rage that is building up in Germany.

THE THOUSANDS of Georgians waving the flag of St George outside the parliament building in Tbilisi weren’t celebrating England’s rugby world cup victory – they were cheering the resignation of Georgia’s President Eduard Shevardnadze.

George Galloway, MP for Glasgow Kelvin, has been expelled from the Labour Party for sticking to his principles and opposing Bush and Blair’s war against Iraq. This was a war – for oil, profits and […]

US DEPUTY defence secretary and right-wing political hawk Paul Wolfowitz got a taste of Iraqi realities when rockets slammed into the supposedly secure al-Rashid hotel where he stayed in Baghdad last week.

Reports on this website (see below) have given a vivid picture of the crisis facing Nigeria and the activities of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM, the cwi’s affiliate in Nigeria).

On October 22 clerical workers at the University of Minnesota walked away from their desks and onto picket lines demanding a fair contract.

The Anti-Bin Tax Campaigns in Dublin have successfully blockaded the bin depots at Collins Avenue, Rathmines, Davitt Road (Dublin City Council) and Ballymount (South County Dublin) this morning (30th October).

Rising tuition pricing students out of education

An estimated 50,000 people took part in the first national demonstration in the US against the occupation of Iraq, in Washington DC, last Saturday, 25 October.

Defend the right to have an effective trade union

On 18 October 4,000 people took part in an anti-racist rally in support of the legalisation of refugees and immigrants’ rights took place in Athens.

1,500,000 take to the streets on day of general strike over pensions.

On Saturday 25 October, 1,000 people protested in Casteau near Mons (in the Walloon area in Belgium) against the NATO military headquarters SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Powers in Europe). The repressive actions of […]

Last Saturday, 18 October, 4,000 people took part in an anti-racist rally in support of the legalisation of refugees and immigrants’ rights took place in Athens.

Free the Bin Tax Campaigners

The second European Social Forum (ESF) is taking place in Paris from 12 to 15 November. The first one in Florence was a success, particularly with the involvement of young people, workers and trade unionists […]

"I am not saying that the dream is over, but I think I dreamed the wrong dream”. Those were the words of former PT (Workers’ Party) federal deputy from Rio de Janeiro, Fernando Gabeira, who […]

October 25 saw the congress of biggest trade union in the world, ver.di, unanimously back the anti-cuts demo called for November 1 in Berlin.

Workers prepare for action

Council’s new dirty trick a major provocation.

Michael Moore said "barring success", Stupid White Men, (reviewed in the socialist, issue 254), would be his last book. But last year when George W Bush was supposedly so popular, it was the leading non-fiction […]

On Wednesday, 15 October, flying staff at Austrian Airlines struck for the fourth time in three months.

Over the last weeks, a powerful movement of workers, peasants and the indigenous peoples – the poorest people in the poorest country of Latin America – has checked the neo-liberal plans of the Bolivian government […]

Over 14/15 October, the battle against the bin tax in Dublin reached new heights. Over those two days, protest action forced 90% of bin services in greater Dublin to close down.

IN RECENT months Poland has been swept by a wave of strikes and protests. The most spectacular is the struggle of the Silesian miners. They are protesting against plans by the Social Democratic (SLD) government […]

Last Wednesday, CWI member Kristofer Lundberg and every demonstrator in Sweden – past, present and future –won an important victory. The court in Gothenburg, Sweden, dismissed a case against him for organizing an ‘illegal’ demonstration.

It is a tradition for the German chancellor and the leaders of the political parties to give a speech to the national congresses of the big trade unions.

A successful picket of the Irish Consulate in Cardiff was held on Wednesday.

Over 60 people, mainly trade union activists and Works’ Council members from Vienna, and the neighbouring provinces of Lower Austria and Upper Austria, took part in the first conference of the “Platform for fighting and […]

On Saturday 4 October, tens of thousands of people carrying flags and banners took to the streets of Rome in protest against the Europe of bankers and bosses. The Inter-governmental meeting of EU leaders to […]

The latest venture of Italy’s right wing government onto the field of class battle is a blatant all-out attack on the whole of the working class.

The Democratic Socialist Movement calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the six labour leaders who were refused bail and sent to prison custody by an Abuja magistrate court on Tuesday, 14th October 2003.

This action was called in response to the jailings of 13 more people, most of them ordinary residents from Finglas and other parts of the City of Dublin. Fingal Anti Bin Tax campaign, Finglas Against […]

THE BOOMS of the 1980s and 1990s were both driven by frenzied international financial speculation. They have left deep problems for capitalism, and now form a massive barrier to a new, sustained economic upswing in […]

After the dramatic closures and the lost jobs in Renault, Sabena, Cockerill and Philips, there is another threat of the loss of several thousands of jobs at Ford Genk.

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) welcomes the reversal of the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products by the Federal Government and the oil marketing companies.

Bin tax protesters, their relatives and fellow campaigners were visibly shocked by the imprisonment of ten residents by the High Court on 9 October. This shock quickly turned to anger and determination to continue the […]

Thursday morning, October 9, saw 10 local residents jailed for two weeks (one woman with a small child for one week because she has to breastfeed her baby) for their part in the ongoing protests […]

There was a 300-strong rally and march against the US military occupation of Iraq in Seattle on 6 October. The protest was primarily organised by the Seattle branch of ‘Not In Our Name (NION)’.

"THE PROTESTS against the bin tax are now moving in a more decisive way in all the four local authority areas in Dublin. At present Fingal is where the battle is centred. This is because […]

After the No victory in Sweden, will the governments of the EU dare to hold referendums over the new constitution?

Israeli port workers, who have been on strike since Tuesday, September 30, are fighting a crucial battle for their jobs, their conditions and the future of the Israeli working class.

Over the summer and in the last weeks Poland has seen a rising tide of protests and strikes.

List of international supporters of the imprisoned anti-bin charges activists in Dublin, Socialist Party TD (member of Parliament) Joe Higgins and Socialist Party Councillor Clare Daly.

Dear Prime Minister of Ireland

This was one of the main demands shouted outside the Irish embassy in Stockholm during a protest lobby on Tuesday.

You’d miss Joe Higgins. It would be unfair to the performance of the Opposition yesterday to say that it was like watching Tyrone without Peter Canavan [a Gaelic football star who plays for County Tyrone].  

On Monday morning, 29 September, 8,000 dockers from all over Europe gathered in Rotterdam for a lively and militant demonstration against the so-called ’Port Package’ – an attack on the right and conditions of dock […]

“The thirteenth day of our strike has ended with a glorious victory!” declared Saranapala Palihena, member of the Janaraja Joint Health Services Union and Executive Committee of United Socialist Party (CWI Sri Lanka).

Sunday, September 28, the Seattle Chapter of ANSWER, the US anti-war umbrella organisation, held a protest against the US occupation of Iraq.

Demonstrations of dock workers took place in several European cities yesterday against EU plans to deregulate harbours.

ISR coordinator faces six month jail sentence. Picket of the court – pictures. The case was adjourned.

Athens rally hears support for imprisoned Irish activists

Dublin West Socialist Party TD (MP), Joe Higgins and Dublin North Socialist Party councillor, Clare Daly have been sentenced to a month in prison and are currently serving their sentence in Dublin’s Mountjoy prison.

While these demonstrations may be smaller than the monster worldwide anti-war protests of millions held in mid-February, they will represent the continuing opposition, not only to invasion of Iraq, but also to Bush and Blair’s […]

Free the bin tax two

Today Joe Higgins expressed his frustration at being gagged but told a Socialist Party colleague Mick Barry who visited him in Mountjoy that he was "infuriated" over the attack, which ICTU General Secretary David Begg […]

In July, the Green Party held its national convention. While putting off endorsing a 2004 presidential candidate until next summer, the Greens made public the "mood" of convention delegates in favor of running someone. Ralph […]

Protests against the jailing of Joe Higgins TD, Councillor Clare Daly (both Socialist Party) in Dublin, continue to spread around the world.

Breda, The Netherlands, September 20th 2003.

Protesters chanted slogans outside the Irish Embassy in Athens on Wednesday 24 September in support of Joe Higgins and Clare Daly.

Protest statement sent by Scottish trade unionists and socialists to Fingal County Council in Ireland, on 21 September 2003.

Pictures – new window

The jailing of Joe Higgins TD and Cllr Clare Daly is a scandal. The Ansbacher Millionaires tax dodgers go free. Liam Lawlor is at liberty. But two public representatives with the courage of their convictions […]

Trade Unions, Public Service Customers’ Committees and other social and political organisations are coming together in an Initiative for Public Service.

The health workers’ strike in Sri Lanka is now (21 September) in its 6th day. The workers are agitating on the main demand of rectifying an unfair wage anomaly. It came about as a result […]

We, signing organisations and persons, want to protest in the strongest terms at the permanent injunction that Fingal County Council has taken out against fifteen anti-bin tax campaigners. In particular we are protesting against the […]

Pictures by Paul Mattsson        

Thousands of demonstrators marched through Dublin yesterday in protest against the unfair bin tax and the jailing of Joe Higgins and Clare Daly.

Liv Gustavsson Rhodin Rättvisepartiet Socialisternas councillor in Luleå in striped sweatshirt. Rättvisepartiet Socialisternas is the CWI in Sweden.              

Leaflet by the Socialist Party

It’s likely to be another ‘Hot Autumn’ for the working class in Italy this year. The ruling class plans a major attack on pensions. There will be further attempts to cut back workers’ real wages […]

LAST FRIDAY’S jailing of the Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins and Councillor Clare Daly represents an attempt by the capitalist establishment to intimidate and smash the anti-bin tax movement.

THE SCHOOL student and student strikes on the day war with Iraq began (Day X) will never be forgotten by the thousands who participated in them. All over Britain school students organised debates, actions, protests […]

On Saturday 13 September 15 to 20,000 Trade Union members demonstrated in Prague. The protest was against an austerity package proposed by the government. These reforms were renamed by trade unionists as "deforms” as they […]

Their ‘crime’ is defending the poor in the fight against the Bin Tax!

The 3-year old campaign in the Southern Irish capital, Dublin, against double taxation for workers in the form of a bin tax has reached a decisive stage.

Yesterday afternoon a judge in the High Court in Dublin granted Fingal council a permanent injunction against fifteen anti-bin tax campaign activists including ten Socialist Party members.

On 14 September, history was made in Sweden. Never in an election or a referendum in this country has the distrust against the establishment and big business been so clearly expressed as in the referendum […]

Exclusive pictures from inside (19 pictures) and outside (12 pictures) the arms fair held in London.

ON A bright June day in Liverpool in 1977, hundreds of trade unionists and socialists took part in a march to rally at the final resting place of Robert Noonan – known more popularly as […]

Roots in the collaboration with the nazis

On 5 September 300 steel workers gave voice to their anger against the privatisation of the last 35 percent of the once fully state owned steel works Voestalpine in Linz, Upper Austria.

SALVADOR ALLENDE was narrowly elected President of Chile on 4 September 1970, receiving 36.3% of the vote. He defeated the conservative Christian Democrat government which had been discredited in the eyes of workers and peasants […]

Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna strongly condems the horrific murder of Sweden’s Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. No one can avoid feeling anger and dismay over this terrible act of violence. The deadly knife assault on 10 September was […]

30 years after the first big demonstration against the military bases in Larzac, southwest France, over 350,000 people met there again this summer, three times more than expected.

Devolution for Scotland has proved to be a disappointment. For many people in Scotland the achievement of an elected devolved parliament after almost 300 years of centralised Westminster government was rightly seen as a step […]

Wal-Mart has become the world’s largest corporation, having surpassed ExxonMobil for the slot, and is now the country’s largest private employer.

We applaud the militants of the Worker Communist Party of Iraq who have been to the forefront in building organisations of the Iraqi working class and women’s organisations. We salute the courage of the WCPI […]

“Nine bombings in as many months, almost 100 people dead, and some 200 injured: Bombay is in the midst of … the longest-running terror offensive any major Indian city has ever encountered…” (Editorial in ‘The […]

Federal proposal provokes mass opposition

The industrial action by Scotland’s nursery nurses for pay and recognition for the job we do is now entering it’s fourth month.

First Jonas Sjöstedt, European MP for the Left Party spoke in favour of Sweden leaving the Stability Pact and the need for budget deficits at certain moments. A week later he apologized. This panic from […]

Toronto has had a turbulent summer, with crises ranging from SARS to the failure of the power grid. The season has been especially difficult for the city’s poor who have had to cope with these […]

On June 26, the Australian federal parliament passed the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Bill 2002 (ASIO Bill). This bill, introduced by the right wing Liberal government of John Howard, marks the end […]

Under the current healthcare system, 42 million people have no healthcare coverage. The US spends more money on healthcare than any other country, yet tens of millions aren’t covered.

It’s official low pay, long hours and being overworked kills. This is the conclusion of recent research into stress in the work-place.

"Cuts necessary in Poland after Yes to the EU", was the headline in the Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter, the day after the Polish referendum of 8-9 June. The establishment was relieved because they avoided the […]

Whilst the revelations flow thick and fast in the Hutton Inquiry, the central exercise for Blair and his cronies is how to deflect and avoid blame. A shoddy string of Pontius Pilates roll out before […]

Postal workers will shortly be balloted on taking industrial over an 18 month pay deal of 4.5%. If they vote for action this will be the first national action for 7 years and the first […]

The British military in Basra, Iraq’s second biggest city, is under attack. This is not from ’rogue elements’ of the former Ba’athist regime but local residents incensed at the lack of mains electricity and, ironically […]

John McAllion was for many years an outspoken Labour MP at both Westminster and Holyrood parliaments. 

Top bosses’ pay keeps going up and up. A recent survey by the Guardian newspaper found that the senior directors of the UK’s biggest 100 companies increased their income by a staggering 23% last year […]

George Bush has recently shown a keen interest in African affairs, from moves to combat the spread of HIV to the strengthening of diplomatic and military ties with a number of governments.

Labour’s free market policies to blame for rail and electricity woes.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) is still reeling from their drubbing in the May 1st elections to the Scottish parliament.

August 14th saw the pilots and flying crew of Austrian Airlines (AUA) go on strike for two hours.

Lula government’s pension "reform" bill passed first reading in House of Representatives with most PT lefts voting in favour.

At the beginning of July 1,100 asylum seekers from Afghanistan were ordered to leave the country. The government wants to send them back, because, they claim, “the war is finished”. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign […]

MORE THAN 300 people from all over Europe, the USA, Middle East and Asia met at the CWI European Summer School.

AS PREDICTED, the journey along George Bush’s ’road map’ to end the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is now decidedly ’off-road’.

The economic situation around here is disasterous. Official figures for inflation are 340% but economic analysts say that the actual figure is over 400%. The government tampers with figures in order to hide the seriousness […]

Blair’s web of deceit continues to unravel

“Occupy and resist”, that is the cry in the encampment Santo Dias, with more than 7,000 people camping in Volkswagen’s plot of land in São Bernardo do Campo, in the São Paulo state.

Introduction

DNA IS universal to all living things – bacteria, fungus, plant or animal. Using ’cut and paste’ techniques, it is possible (sometimes) to transfer a desirable feature from one organism’s DNA into another organism, or […]

“Nine bombings in as many months, almost 100 people dead, and some 200 injured: Bombay is in the midst of … the longest-running terror offensive any major Indian city has ever encountered…” (Editorial in ‘The […]

The first thing that made the teachers angry was the ’decentralisation’ of education. This is a government project that aims to transfer education financing, management and recruitment from the state to the regions. But there […]

QUITE A few newspaper column inches were given over to the Future Foundation study ’Talking Equality’, published by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). I’m not sure how much credence we should give to a study […]

The US superpower’s quick victory over a fourth-rate military power allowed Bush and the neo-conservative hawks who run the US government, such as Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz, to emerge temporarily strengthened. The US victory in […]

More than 4,000 homeless managed to occupy four abandoned high-rise blocks in the centre of São Paulo on early 21 July.

After eight days of grim heroic struggles, the Obasanjo government was forced to reduce the recent increment in fuel prices by 15%. Now petrol officially is to sell at N34 per litre instead of N40, […]

As we head into the second half of the third year of the reign of George Bush the Younger, the hatred of millions of workers, youth, and people of color against him and his neo-conservative […]

The civil servants strike against the Lula governments pension ‘reform’, that began on the 8 July, is growing.

COMING ON top of the controversy surrounding weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the death of scientist Dr David Kelly has brought about the most serious crisis that New Labour has faced since coming to power […]

DUBLIN HAS the odious task of hosting the World Economic Forum (WEF) from 19 – 20 October. The WEF, which is a representative "think tank" for the top thousand multinational corporations in the world, plans […]

Less then 6 months after Australian Government joined the US in the War on Iraq, Prime Minister John Howard is about to launch his own ’Coalition of the Willing’ in what can only be described […]

The deaths of Saddam Hussein’s sons has not stopped the attacks on coalition forces.

One of Lula’s promises in the election campaign was to deal with unemployment. But unemployment has continued to increase every month since he became president. The official unemployment level is 12.8 per cent. But the […]

One of the most vicious recent attacks was on the home of a Muslim family in Craigavon. A gang of up to ten men armed with baseball bats threatened to burn the family out; they […]

"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."

Bush administration hawks will consider their victory in Iraq a vindication of their aggressive, militaristic approach to world problems, and that nothing will stop them from bulldozing ahead with their right-wing agenda. In reality, they […]

WITH THE Assembly in long term suspension, the main political parties are once again enjoying the luxury of permanent opposition. They have suddenly found their voice again and are able to lay the blame on […]

BUSH’S VISIT to Africa, no doubt to pave the way for more privatisation contracts for US multinationals, has seen a lot of media interest in the continent that will be dropped as soon as Bush […]

THE LAST four weeks have witnessed mass protests in Iran as thousands have taken to the streets in opposition to the government of Mohammed Khatami.

An important case in defending women´s right to abortion was won on 10 July at the end of a lower court trial. SLP member Claudia Sorger (the Socialist Left Party is the CWI´s affiliate in […]

In the last few weeks, the UUP has been convulsed by its most profound crisis since 1974. This crisis will have major consequences for the peace process.

The struggle to defend the jobs and living standards of the workers at the Irtyishskii Foundry in Glubokii, near Ust-Kamenogorsk, in East Kazakhstan, has been stepped up and workers are appealing for support.

The entire labour movement should be outraged by the draconian actions of the National Office Bearers (NOBs) of the Chemical Paper, Printing Wood and Allied Workers Union.

THE REPERCUSSIONS of the RMT’s potentially historic decision were downplayed by New Labour spin doctors. But last week’s events show clearly how far the disenchantment and anger of ordinary workers towards New Labour have stretched […]

THE FOREIGN Affairs Select Committee spent four weeks investigating the reasons Blair gave for taking Britain into a war against Iraq. The title of their proceedings – ’The decision to go to war against Iraq’ […]

On the 8 July an estimated 350,000 civil servants in Brazil went on an indefinite strike against the pension ‘reforms’ proposed by the Lula government.

In 1996, hardly 2 years after the ANC was elected, the leadership, having long since buried the Freedom Charter, abandoned the Reconstruction and Development Programme, replacing it with the neo-liberal capitalist Growth, Employment and Redistribution […]

The eight-day Nigerian general strike, which ended on 8 July, was a marvellous demonstration of the strength of the working class and the weakness of the political class.

Cecilia Payne, working in the 1920s, was the first person to show how the mechanics of Einstein’s energy conversion formula (e = mc2 ) applied beyond our planet – that the process we now call […]

PALESTINIAN MILITIAS have declared a three month suspension in armed attacks against Israel and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has withdrawn from parts of the Gaza strip. There will be hopes worldwide that this is […]

Seven Socialist Party members have been elected to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS).

THE PEOPLE of Basra will "look back and remember what you did and recognise that as the start of their future and a life of hope and the possibility of prosperity," said Tony Blair to […]

Socialism 2003 took place over the weekend of the 28 and 29 June. Below are reports from the main rallies and interviews with participants.

By brute force, Robert Mugabe’s regime has for the moment survived the longest and most successful stay-away in Zimbabwe’s history. The ‘Final Push’, called by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), did not topple Mugabe, […]

The Joint Action Council Against Hike In Fuel Price (JACAHFP) wishes to salute the Nigerian working people for their observation today of the nation-wide strike action called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)) and the […]

For the third time in just over four years the Obasanjo regime has again increased the pump price of petroleum products from N26 per litre for petrol to N40 per litre, while kerosene and diesel […]

ERIC ARTHUR Blair, better known under his pseudonym George Orwell, was born in Motihari, India 100 years ago this month, his father being a lower-ranking colonial administrator in the days of the British Raj.

ARIEL SHARON appears to be biting the hand that feeds him. The assassination of another leading Hamas activist by an Israeli hit squad has further undermined George Bush’s efforts to put a lid on the […]

ON JUNE 12 the two central leaders of the French trade union movement came down to Marseille to address a mass rally at the end of a 260,000-strong demonstration. Bernard Thibault, leader of the Confederation […]

THE WORLDWIDE CAPITALIST ideological offensive of the 1990s, in the wake of the collapse of Stalinism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, meant that for most of that decade the workers’ movement was on […]

Just when George Bush and Tony Blair have been having difficulty proving that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the government of North Korea has been making open declarations that it is proceeding to […]

On Saturday morning there was a meeting of the Greek Social Forum against war and imperialism.

Around 100,000 people demonstrated in Thessaloniki, Greece, on Saturday 21 June to show their opposition to the EU summit.

ON 15 June 1953, about 60 building workers on the Friedrichshaim hospital building site in East Berlin stopped work to draw up a letter protesting at a 10% increase in the work norms imposed by […]

We in the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) strongly condemn the callous, provocative, entirely insensitive and anti-poor fuel price increase just announced by the Obasanjo regime.

Just before the demonstrations against the EU summit started, the Greek Social Forum (GSF) organised a number of meetings. Xekinima, an active part of the GSF, organised a meeting on the need for a political […]

The Peace process remains in deep crisis. Despite desperate efforts by the British and Irish governments over the last few months, it has not proved possible to re-establish the Executive, and the Assembly elections have […]

During the first months of this year, city centres across Europe reverberated to the chants of the millions who took part in what was the biggest anti war movement in history. More recently the streets […]

During the Greek EU summit thousands will join the protests in the city of Thessaloniki. Nikei De Pooter (a member of Linkse Socialistiche Partij [LSP]/ Mouvement pour une Alternative Socialiste [MAS], Belgian affiliate of the […]

"THE CLERICAL regime is nearing its end. Vigilantes commit crimes, the leader supports them," chanted defiant student protesters at Tehran university, Iran.

The road map to ’peace’ in the Middle East is becoming soaked in blood. Since the Israeli army attempted to assassinate the deputy leader of the Islamic Palestinian organisation, Hamas, on 10 June, the number […]

The ‘SME’ case now running in the Milan courts, which includes il Presidente del Consiglio, Silvio Berlusconi, among the defendants, may never get to the stage where it sentences him to prison, as happened with […]

THE FIRST anniversary of the Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrat government was marked by the publication of an opinion poll, that showed support for the government at a record low. Their satisfaction rating of just 28% is […]

A RECENT opinion poll demonstrates that a significant minority of voters in Northern Ireland are sick of the sectarian parties and are looking for an alternative. Up to seventeen per cent declared their intention to […]

THE US-led coalition forces occupying Iraq can’t get the country’s power supply going regularly nor can they create health and education services for local people.

GORDON BROWN’S Commons statement on the euro, the world’s biggest currency union, deliberately faced both ways. The government said it would try to "break down anti-euro prejudice", but it would not hold a referendum on […]

WHEN CIA experts wrote a report in September 1978 on the political health of the pro-western monarchist regime in Iran, they concluded that despite his autocratic rule, the Shah presided over a stable dynasty that […]

The majority of the members of the delegations to the G8 summit in Evian had accommodation in Lausanne, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. In Lausanne, as well as in Geneva and on the French […]

Strikes and protest actions are continuing across France on a daily basis, against the Raffarin government’s pension ‘reform’ plans.

Peruvian workers have challenged the ‘state of emergency’ imposed by President Toledo.

"A smooth transition" to the euro for Sweden is predicted by the Financial Times of June 6, if the ‘yes’ vote wins in the referendum on 14 September. But the deepening crisis of the Eurozone […]

A SOLDIER from Warwickshire, Fusilier Bartlam aged 18, is being questioned following pictures of Iraqi POWs allegedly being mistreated.

THE RECENT decision by the United Nations (UN) to send troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the latest in a series of interventions on the continent of Africa, ostensibly to quell […]

AS TONY Blair jetted his way through the Gulf area, meeting Kuwaiti sheikhs, lecturing to British squaddies and kissing Iraqi children in one big photo-opportunity, evidence was growing that he and US president Bush lied […]

Across France in countless villages, towns and cities, French workers from both the private and public sector, students and young people demonstrated in their hundreds of thousands and took strike action on Tuesday 3 June, […]

More than 1 million workers in 18,000 workplaces all over Austria, a third of the entire Austrian workforce, took industrial action on 3 June – the country’s biggest strike since World War Two.

Mass strikes and demonstrations on Tuesday, 3 June, show a hardening mood of combativity and solidarity in the battle against pension reform.

LOW-PAID hospital workers in east London, working for private contractors ISS Mediclean and Medirest have scored a victory in their fight for a living wage.

AS STRIKES and demonstrations against public sector cuts sweep France, Germany, and Austria, the mainstream British press’s most prominent mention of this mass movement is in the gossip columns – apparently Madonna is upset because […]

"THIS is not a happy decision," said Israel’s right-wing prime minister Ariel Sharon last Sunday in Jerusalem. After a six-hour cabinet meeting which divided his Likud and far-right coalition allies, Sharon announced his reluctant acceptance […]

An attack on workers’ pensions by French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has combined with other issues, particularly education decentralisation, to fuel a massive response by workers the length and breadth of France.

Socialist Party (CWI in Ireland) member Carmel Gates has been elected President of NIPSA, Northern Ireland’s largest trade union and the main public sector union. The election took place at NIPSA’s conference last week and […]

Almost two million Peruvian workers and peasants are on indefinite strike, demanding higher wages and lower taxes.

Joe Higgins TD, Socialist Party stated (28 May 2003):

"The new wage deal is a sell-out without precedent; our union president, Ylva Thörn, should resign!"

The authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria, on Tuesday, 27th May 2003, suspended four student activists of the university for one session for leading mass protests against increments in school fees.

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In the name of Liberalisation, the deadly disease of Privatisation has attacked the working class throughout India. It has killed and destroyed 250,000 factories and has thrown 25 million workers and their families into a […]

According to V. K. Gupta, one of the joint secretaries of the National Confederation of Bank Employees, 50 million took part in this historic strike. Some of the veterans of the movement say this was […]

Paris pictures home page.Five pictures on each page.   Photographer: Paul Mattsson   one two three four five six seven eight nine

WHILST THERE are quite clear differences between the situation now and the situation in Lebanon following the Israeli invasion in 1982 (not least the collapse of Stalinist USSR and the Eastern Bloc countries), it indicates […]

The streets of Paris resounded to the beat of drums and marching feet, this Sunday (25 May). Music blared. Rail workers ignited red flares filling the air with smoke. It was a riot of colour. […]

"WE’RE BRINGING order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. …We’re helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new […]

The results of the Belgian elections underline the political instability which has grown over recent years and which is expressed in a growing number of undecided voters and voters changing the party they vote for. […]

THE RULING House of Saud is a rotten feudal monarchy, sitting on fabulous oil wealth and which supports American and British capitalist interests ahead of their own people. But its days could be numbered.

AS THE war against Iraq drew to a close, an opinion poll in Britain found that a majority of people, including those who supported the war, thought it would make the world a more dangerous […]

The left opposition made important headway at the third National Conference of the Left Bloc (LB), which took place in Lisbon from 4-5 May.

On 29 April, An Bord Pleanala announced that it had refused Enterprise Energy permission to construct a major onshore facility for bringing in natural gas from the Corrib gas field off the coast of Mayo. […]

THE NORTHERN Ireland Office has started the process to privatise the water services in Northern Ireland. Why?

AER LINGUS Catering workers staged a number of protest activities, at the Aer Lingus Head Office Building in the course of April. The protests were held to vent opposition to the announcement by Chief Executive […]

Following the official revelations of last month concerning the role of the "Italian intelligence services" in Iraq, the last fig leaf of Italy’s inactive participation in the invasion of Iraq has been taken away. Any […]

ONLY WEEKS after a report showed how long-term collusion between Britain’s security forces and loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland had led to murders such as that of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, more evidence of […]

The International Socialists play an active role in the SSP. We are committed to building the SSP into a mass force with a clear socialist programme. We are also the Scottish section of the worldwide […]

The war in Iraq is the fourth ‘high-tech’ victory for US imperialism and its ‘allies’ in a little over a decade.

THE CAMPAIGNS against bin charges around Dublin are gearing up for battle as the government is preparing to introduce a new "Environmental Waste Management Act" with powers to stop collection to non-payers.

GEORGE BUSH’S recently published road map to ending the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and achieving a ’viable Palestinian state’ by 2005, already looks set for failure.

WITH 17 SOCIALIST, Green, health campaigners and left independents elected to the Scottish parliament the political establishment was rocked by the results of the recent Scottish elections.

CLARE SHORT left Blair’s cabinet with a bang. Her resignation speech contained a withering attack on the "control freakery" of the Blairite "clique" at the top of the party and Blair’s "presidential" rule by "diktat". […]

On 13 May, in the late afternoon, 200,000 people (according to the ÖGB, the Austrian trade union federation) marched through the streets of Vienna against the government’s pension ‘reforms’ (the police said "over 100,000" participated).

A peaceful protest by several hundred women in Kentau City, southern Kazakhstan, fighting on social issues and against police repression, was brutally attacked and broken up by police, and many of the protesters were arrested. […]

Some of them are Marxists, and some are simply opposed to the occupation. Whatever the reason, the army doesn’t know how to handle the new phenomenon of young immigrants who refuse to be drafted into […]

"At last we are fighting back – this is a strike we’ve been waiting for!" That is the overwhelming feeling among the more than 50,000 workers on strike in Sweden from Monday, 12 May.

THIS IS a tremendous follow up to Gore Vidal’s equally impressive Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace published last year.

After just a couple of days of tremendous action, the leadership of the Israeli trade union federation, the Histraduth, called off a general strike on 30 April.

WITH ONLY days to go before the close of nominations and even though campaigning was already under way, Tony Blair has called off the Northern Ireland Assembly elections. Despite his assurance that they will go […]

IN MAY 2002 24 security workers at Belfast international airport were sacked for going on strike. The events around the sackings have led some of those involved to suspect collaboration between the management and local […]

PUBLICATION OF George Bush’s long-awaited "road map" to end the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was greeted by suicide bombings in Israel by pro-Palestinian Islamists and a massive and bloody invasion by Israeli armed forces into the Gaza […]

TONY BLAIR hoped his Iraq ’victory’ would help New Labour in the 1 May elections. But rather than a ’Baghdad bounce’, it was more like a ’Baghdad trounce’. New Labour lost votes nationwide due to […]

Tuesday, 6 May, was a historic day for Austria. For the first time in decades the Ã-GB (Austrian trade union federation) called for a national day of action, including strikes. According to the Ã-GB about […]

GEORGE GALLOWAY’S name has been added to the notable list of those who stood against the might of the British political establishment and were subsequently ferociously witch-hunted and smeared.

NOAM CHOMSKY’S Power and Terror is an attack on the hypocrisy and double standards of US foreign policy. It explains why US imperialism is loathed by so many people; because it interferes in international politics […]

It seems such a short time ago that Helen Clark and her colleagues in the New Zealand Labour Government were being widely praised for their bold stand against the US-led invasion of Iraq. Only last […]

"A WAR to remake the world" is how Michael Ledeen, a leading neo-conservative associated with the Bush government, described the war on Iraq. Exactly how the world could be remade was succinctly explained by White […]

PUBLICATION OF George Bush’s long-delayed ’road map’ to a Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement and an independent Palestinian state by 2005, was inched forward last week. But only after Palestinian president Yasser Arafat agreed, at the eleventh […]

April 29 saw up to 3,000 workers attend a morning open-air workplace meeting of the OMV (Austrian oil company) and other companies in Vienna in protest at the government’s attacks on the pension system. This […]

Toronto has been in the grips of its worst health scare since the polio epidemics of the 1950s. The last few weeks have seen the breakdown of a hospital system compromised by years of neo-liberal […]

The council workers’ strike in Sweden has the support of 84 per cent of the population according to opinion polls. Low paid, mainly women workers in hospitals, schools and childcare are fighting for wage increases […]

The first round of Presidential elections in Argentina have left former Peronist President Carlos Menem in a run off with the government backed Néstor Kirchner, also a Peronist standing for the Unión de Centro Democrático. […]

Following a year of political turmoil, the latest attempt to form a stable coalition government in the Netherlands has fallen apart. Alienation from the main establishment parties is marked. At the same time, the Dutch […]

On 22nd April, 2003, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the re-election of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for a second term. According to the electoral body, […]

Following its "victory" in Iraq, North American imperialism, headed by the Bush/Rumsfeld duo, wants to use its "triumph" to strengthen its dominant world position. The invasion of Iraq was in the first place for oil […]

May Day 2003 takes place in the aftermath of the brutal imperialist conquest of Iraq. The US led war has profoundly altered the world. The globe is much more dangerous and violent. Where is next […]

Today the ÖGB (Austrian trade union federation) decided to organise “defence-strikes” on Tuesday April 29 in protest against the Peoples Party – Freedom Party (ÖVP-FPÖ) government’s attacks on the pension system. Reflecting the huge popular […]

On 17 April more than 2,500 workers from the threatened Cockerill steel works went to Luxemburg to protest against the planned closure of a part of their factory near Liège. Members of the Linkse Socialistiche […]

Amid growing charges of vote rigging Olusegun Obasanjo seems to be on course to be declared winner of Nigeria’s bitterly contested 19 April Presidential election. How stable his rule will be is a very different […]

It is exactly 50 years since one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the twentieth century – the working out of the structure of the DNA molecule . This represented the culmination of fifty years […]

We are proud to announce the launch of an important new website, called marxist.net. This sister-site of CWI site will provide a major Marxist resource for socialists, worker-activists and all those interested in the history […]

May 1st will see the second elections to the Scottish parliament. After four years of devolution, extreme disappointment would sum up the mood of working class people towards the inability of the political establishment to […]

The Austrian ÖVP-FPÖ coalition government started its general attack on the country’s pension system while missiles hit cities in Iraq. The implementation of these "reform" plans will mean that working people can expect between 10% […]

SADDAM’S REGIME HAS crumbled (as we go to press, 11 April) under the impact of the US-British invasion, though fierce, sporadic fighting continues in Baghdad and other cities. Scenes of Saddam’s statues being torn down […]

On 3 April 2003, Lisbon saw a 1000-strong demo of university students from all over Portugal, protesting against the most recently announced increase in student tuition fees. The protest blocked traffic completely in some of […]

Following its bloody conquest of Iraq, the US administration is now attempting to impose a ‘reconstruction’ plan on the broken country. But what does this mean for the working people of Iraq? Will they at […]

LAST WEEK, Bush and Blair were celebrating their ’victory’ over Iraq. But within a matter of hours it became clear that piecing Iraq back together again could prove much more difficult than the war itself.

On Saturday, 12 April, at noon, a peace vigil was held in the centre of Dunedin, beginning a day of action in solidarity with similar anti-war protests and demonstrations in other parts of New Zealand […]

On 12 April, about 300 people took part in a ‘people’s march’ against the war and occupation of Iraq, in Catania, Sicily.

Half a million people demonstrated in bright Spring sunshine on the streets of Rome last Saturday, 12 April. A record-breaking peace banner in the colours of the rainbow – one kilometre long and 13 metres […]

Leading up to the planned demonstration of 12 April, in Bangalore, there was a week-long campaign demanding, "No to war". In spite of the apparent ‘conquest’ of Baghdad, the action was quite successful in terms […]

THE WAR on Iraq has entered its end stage. Overwhelming US military might has broken the back of Iraqi military resistance on the ground. Despite a determined fightback by a number of Iraqi militias and […]

The military assault on Iraq by US and British imperialism is now reaching its ‘end game’. At the time of writing the Iraqi regime is in the process of disintegration. This military ‘triumph’ of Bush […]

One million members of seven different ‘unions of the base’ in Italy went on strike for eight hours last Wednesday, 2 April, to say no to war.

The weekly protests in Moscow city centre against Bush’s war are now gaining momentum. Socialisticheskoe Soprotivleniye (the Russian section of the CWI) once again headed the anti-war protests in Moscow on Saturday 5 April.

About 5 000 anti-war protestors marched from Klipspruit West, Eldorado Park, to Lenasia, south of Johannesburg. The march was led by the contingent of South African Human Shields who had returned from Iraq earlier in […]

The world economy is on the edge of a prolonged period of stagnation. Before the war on Iraq began, its approach had already made a negative impact. A United Nations statement in January this year […]

US IMPERIALISM is paying for this war, unlike in the 1990-91 Gulf War when other countries financially under-wrote US war plans and paid for nine-tenths of it. So the US ruling class are determined that […]

"People say to me, you (the Iraqis) are not the Vietnamese. You have no jungles and swamps to hide in. I reply, ‘Let our cities be our swamps and our buildings our jungles’." (Tariq Aziz, […]

WHEN THE military chiefs and politicians feel the need to come onto the TV and insist that everything is going to plan in the war against Iraq, and that everyone is united, you know that […]

Stop the war in Iraq.

The Israeli government is using the imperialist war on Iraq and the fear of Scuds landing in Israel as a cover to launch its own weapon of mass destruction – a 11.4 Billion Shekel (£1.5 […]

Schröder’s policy statement amounts to a declaration of war on the workers, the unemployed and the pensioners. He has presented a catalogue of cruelty which severely cuts back the standard of living, the social security […]

Anti-war protesters in Kazakhstan burst into a television studio last week where the US ambassador was speaking about the war in Iraq. The protesters, all CWI members, unfurled a ’No to war’ banner, which was […]

Reflecting the massive opposition of Spanish people to the war in Iraq, the UGT – socialist trade union confederation – has called a two-hour general strike on Thursday 10 April.

Last Friday night, 28 March, the Socialist Party (SP – CWI in Australia) led a demonstration of over 500 outside a Liberal Party function where the Prime Minister, John Howard, was guest speaker.

Stop work to stop the war. Canada.

GEORGE BUSH’S "road map" to a political settlement of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, supposedly leading to a Palestinian state by 2005, is a cynical exercise in placating Arab opinion while US forces invade and occupy Iraq. […]

Stop the war in Iraq. Britain.

There is hardly a building in Sarajevo city that has not been damaged in some way by the conflict in the 1990s. Walls are pock marked with bullet holes. More often than not, blocks of […]

AS WE go to press, the battle for Baghdad seems about to begin. It is still too early to get an exact picture, but if the first phase of the war is anything to go […]

Stop the war in Iraq. cwi comment and analysis.

Three thousand mainly school students, after leaving school to strike against the war, marched through Melbourne on Wednesday 26 March against the war on Iraq. The numbers were slightly down on the last school student […]

Over one hundred secondary school students and workers took part in a demonstration against the war on Saturday 22 March, organised by the Kotli branch of the Jammu and Kashmir National Awami Party (JKNAP). 

Monday 24 March 2003

On 23 March, about 20,000 protesters from all over Sicily marched on the Sigonella US Navy Air Base. The base has operated since 1959 after US – NATO agreements. It is situated in Eastern Sicily, […]

Members of the CWI and the youth organisation ‘Young Guard’ organised a protest against US aggression in Iraq on 21 March.

Over 5,000 people demonstrated through the streets on Belfast on Saturday, 22 March, to express their opposition to the continued bombing of Iraq. Although this demonstration was smaller than that on 15 February, the mood […]

The main avenue in Lisbon – Avenida da Liberdade – was flooded by 90,000 people saying ‘No to War!’ last weekend. The three left parties in parliament – the Socialist (social-democratic) Party, Communist Party and […]

Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM – CWI in South Africa) and Socialist Student Movement, both affiliates of the Anti-War Coalition, joined the demonstration on Day X at the US Consulate in Johannesburg.

The ‘Blick’ newspaper – Swiss equivalent of the Daily Mirror – estimated that on Day X 100,000 Swiss people took to the streets, the majority of whom were school students and students. The biggest student […]

The University of Massachusetts (UMass) was on spring break for Day X, but we decided to go ahead with the walkout on Monday 24 March.  Four activists met over the weekend to organise the walkout, […]

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Sydney, Sunday 23 March, in yet another huge anti-war rally.

"Workers at the steel factory, Caterpillar, in Gosselies (near Charleroi) put down tools in protest against the war with Iraq", reports Belgian news agencies.

On Day X we left with an anti-war demo from the French-speaking ULB University. There were some 1,000 students and school students joined us. We discussed with the police to be able to go the […]

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) called a demonstration in Brussels on 21 March. The demo, backed by the three main Belgian trade unions, was meant to be a protest against the GATS agreements in […]

Despite driving rain over 15,000 youth took to the streets on Friday 21 March, in Sao Paulo, to protest against the start of the war against Iraq. Thousands more have taken to the streets in […]

The Day X demonstration was big for Prague, but the second day of the war saw as many, if not more, out on the streets demonstrating. All the main political parties were there and all […]

On the evening of Day X, school students in Newcastle upon Tyne organised a sit down protest in the road. The police announced that, if the school students did not move in two minutes, they […]

Today, March 24, in Hamburg, Germany, 50,000 school students, apprentices and other students supported a local strike call made by Youth against War (Jugend gegen Krieg, JgW).

A total of 400,000 to 500,000 people have demonstrated during the last 3 days in Athens alone. Over 100,000 in Salonica and many tens of thousands in other Greek towns.

"The invasion of Iraq is a naked grab to secure the Iraqi oilfields for US capitalism and to secure imperialist control over the Middle East", said Joe Higgins, TD (member of the Dail, the Irish […]

With these words workers and young people from all over Italy took to the streets in what is the biggest anti-war movement in history. Almost immediately, after news of the first bombings, action was taken […]

On 23 March, the CWI in Japan, Kokusai Rentai, participated in an anti-war demonstration in Osaka. It was the biggest in the city so far. Around eight thousand participated.

120,000 people took to the streets of In Amsterdam on Saturday 23 march.

The first cruise missiles began to rain down on Baghdad at around 3pm Thursday (NZ time), leaving local anti-war activists with very little time to mobilise people for the emergency anti-war rallies that were scheduled […]

Stop the war in Iraq. Pictures.

The main avenue in Lisbon – Avenida da Liberdade – was flooded by 90, 000 people saying ’No to War!’ last weekend. The three left parties in parliament – the Socialist (social-democratic) Party, Communist Party […]

New Labours’ conference in Dundee was besieged by three days of mass protests. Fire-fighters, pensioners, and council workers all showed their anger at Blair’s policies. Above all, it was a chance for a new generation […]

In Madrid up to 1 million took to the streets against war on 22 March, according to the organisers (20,000 according to the government!).

Stop the war in Iraq. Pictures.

Stop the war in Iraq. cwi pictures.

At least 3,000 – 4,000 students and at least 41 schools walkout out of classes on Day X to protest against the war. 1,500 mostly high school students rallied at the University of Minnesota (U […]

The anti-war protests in Vienna and Salzburg on 20 March, partly led by the ISR and SLP, Austrian section of the CWI, demanded strike action by the unions as part of the international movement. Between […]

After the signing up of Italy by Bush onto the list of nations supporting the war, the Italian parliament yesterday officially conceded to the USA the use of bases and air space. Nevertheless demonstrations against […]