Bombardier is a Canadian owned aircraft company which employs 4000 people in Belfast. At the moment these workers’ jobs, pay and conditions are threatened as an outcome of growing American protectionism, reflected through the Northern Irish political set-up, which hamstrings any effective trade union response. This consequences of this are explained in this article from Socialist Democracy (Ireland) BOMBARDIER-BOEING DISPUTE THREATENS…
AUSTRIA’S RIGHT TURN
There has been some debate amongst the British and American Left about the nature of the challenges to the old political establishment offered by Brexiters and Trump (‘Brexit plus, plus, plus’). Some have argued that these represent fightbacks. by the working class against the neoliberalism, albeit somewhat distorted. This blog has posted several articles which have argued that these Right populist challenges have been…
Review: Struggle or Starve: Working Class Unity in Belfast’s Outdoor Relief Riots
Tommy McKearney reviews Struggle or Starve: Working Class Unity in Belfast’s Outdoor Relief Riots by Sean Mitchell. STRUGGLE OR STARVE: WORKING CLASS UNITY IN BELFAST’S OUTDOOR RELIEF RIOTS Struggle or Starve by Séan Mitchell is an important book that deserves the widest readership among those interested in promoting progressive politics in the North of Ireland. The author…
THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION AND THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO SET UP A POST-NATIONAL WORLD ORDER
This is the second article on this blog addressing the hundredth anniversary of the October Revolution (see http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2017/10/21/national-liberation-and-bolshevism-reconsidered-a-view-from-the-borderlands/). It suggests that a wider focus should be taken, situating this event in the 1916-21 International Revolutionary Wave. This means and looking carefully at other places, showing how Latvia, Finland and Ukraine contributed to this wave. It looks…
NATIONAL LIBERATION AND BOLSHEVISM RECONSIDERED – A VIEW FROM THE BORDERLANDS
In the run-up to the centenary of the October Revolution in Russia, talks and seminars have been arranged and new books and articles have been published. Some of this work has been done to uphold old orthodoxies, but there has also been more critical work looking at the Russian Revolution in the wider context of…
DURHAM MINERS’ GALA – BIG MEETING GETS BIGGER
The 133rd Durham Miners’ Gala on Saturday 8th July will see some 150,000 march through the ancient city. Dave Douglass, ex-miner and author of Stardust and Coaldust autobiographical trilogy looks at its history and the ongoing significance. BIG MEETING GETS BIGGER A day of looking back and looking forward Crowds are now back to…
VARADKAR ELECTION AS FINE GAEL LEADER SIGNALS FURTHER RIGHT SHIFT
Recently, in France we have see the election of Macron as President, with his new La Republique En Marche party winning a big majority in the French parliamentary elections. This represents one attempt by the neoliberal Right to regain the initiative in the face of Left and populist Right challenges. In Ireland, the election of…
MASS STRIKES AND OCCUPATIONS BY UKRAINIAN MINERS
These three articles were first posted on the Ukraine Solidarity Committee website at:- https://ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/ 1.URGENT APPEAL FOR SOLIDARITY Ukrainian miners are engaged mass action in the city of Kryvyi Rih with strikes, occupations and a hunger strike of 400 miners underground in the “Yubileynaya” (Jubilee) mine of EVRAZ Sukha Balka JSC in Kryvyi Rih.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND
Steve Freeman of the Republican Socialist Alliance and the Left Unity Party draws on the revolutionary democratic political tradition in England, linking the Levellers, the Chartists and the Suffragettes. He outlines its strengths compared with the social democratic and economist political tradition of Labour and most of the British Left sects. Steve argues that Socialists should be championing the…
GRASSROOTS LEFT UNITE LEADERSHIP CANDIDATE ATTACKS COYNE’S AND McCLUSKEY’s CAPITULATION TO ANTI-MIGRANT POLITICS
Ian Allinson, the socialist candidate for Unite General Secretary, argues that McCluskey’s fudge on free movement stops him effectively defending members from the damage caused by Coyne’s attack on workers’ rights to free movement and equal treatment. Gerard Coyne, the right-wing candidate in this election, is all over the press this morning (Independent, Daily Mail)…