100th Anniversary Of The Dublin Lockout

Jim Slaven of the James Connolly Society has written the following article on the 100th anniversary of The Dublin Lock-Out. The leadership of the Irish Transport & General Workers Union provided by Jim Larkin and James Connolly in the face of Dublin boss, William Murphy Murphy, stands in marked contrast to that of Len McCluskey…

Socialist Unity – The RCN Asks 12 Questions

The RCN has been involved in preliminary discussions with Frontline, the International Socialist Group (Scotland), individual members of the International Socialist Network and Defense of Our Party faction in the SWP, as well as other individuals mainly from an SSP background. Frontline published the views a number of socialist organisations, which we reposted at Socialist Unity. Stemming…

The Case For The Independent Workers Union – Our Right To Organise

In the aftermath of the UNITE leadership’s capitulation at Grangemouth, a key issue socialists need to address is that of how to effectively organise workers. The RCN and the commune organised the 3rd Global Commune conference – ‘Trade Unions- Are They Fit For Purpose’ (see Trade Unions In The Twenty First Century) – in which a number…

AFTER GRANGEMOUTH – WHAT NOW FOR THE LEFT IN SCOTLAND?

The ignominious climbdown of the Broad Left UNITE leadership at Grangemouth highlights the need for the Left in Scotland to assess the political significance of this disastrous capitulation, which will encourage every employer to resort to similar dictatorial methods when dealing with their workers. Furthermore, the decision of the SNP government to bow to Ratcliffe and…

The Socialist Platform

The RCN has been chronicling attempts to achieve Left unity in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland. These attempts have included the formation of the Scottish Socialist Alliance, then the Scottish Socialist Party, the Socialist Alliance and Respect in England and Wales, Forward Wales, the all-Britain Trade Union and Socialist Coalition and No2EU, and the…

The Labour Crisis

Below is an article from the August issue of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) pointing to the parallels between the TUC and ICTU, and in particular the role of Len McCluskey and the Broad Left Unite leadership in providing cover for Labour’s acceptance of austerity. A series of discussions recently in both Ireland and Britain have thrown into…

Behind The Unionists’ ‘Project Fear’, The UK State Mask Slips

Allan Armstrong (RCN) analyses two recent developments in the Scottish referendum campaign. The SNP government’s referendum on the future constitutional status of Scotland – ‘Yes’ for ‘Independence-Lite’ (or as Michael Russell terms it ‘Independence within the Union’), or ‘No’ for acceptance of the UK status quo – is still over a year away. However, two events…

Riding The Unicorn

Recently there has been a nostalgic turn amongst the Left in the UK. In England (and Wales) it has looked wistfully back on the ‘Spirit of 45’. In Scotland, it has taken the form of the ‘Common Weal’ proposals, emanating from the Jimmy Reid Foundation. These look to the Nordic social democratic model. The RCN…

Socialist Unity

In the aftermath of the collapse or declining support for recent socialist unity projects in Scotland, England and Wales, and Ireland, there have been renewed discussions throughout these islands about the possibilities of achieving socialist unity. The negative role of organisations like the Socialist Party and Socialist Workers Party in the Socialist Alliance, Respect, the…