Browsing All Posts published in »2018«

The “hymn of labour” that still survives

March 17, 2018

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The Internationale, that labour hymn of protest and call to action has survived being appropriated by that grotesque parody of socialism in the former Soviet Union. It should be celebrated on Sunday, March 18, the anniversary of the start of the 1871 Paris Commune that provided the inspiration for it.

Which women best epitomise IWD?

March 11, 2018

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As was noted at the International Women's Day founding conference in Copenhagen in 1910: “It is a matter of indifference who is the ‘master’, a man or a woman.” Is it women who support this point of view who best represent the ideals that should be striven for?

New insight on International Women’s Day

March 11, 2018

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This year — 100 years after the British government granted all men over the age of 21 and some women over the age of 30 the vote — more than 3 000 British police and Home Office records about official actions against “votes for women” suffragettes were made public. Together, these events provide fresh insight into International Women's Day and the goal of many who fought for women's rights.

When will the time bomb cease to tick?

March 2, 2018

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What the latest Budget has done is, on the one hand, to placate the money lenders and the business elite while, on the other, further alienating and angering the majority of South Africans. The time bomb is continuing to tick. But for how much longer before an explosion occurs?

Nurses: the essential foot soldiers for national health

February 25, 2018

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This item was first published in the City Press, 25.02.2018 One of the policies listed for almost immediate implementation by South Africa’s newly installed President Cyril Ramaphosa in his recent State of the Nation address (Sona), concerned health. “The time has now arrived to finally implement universal health coverage through the National Health Insurance (NHI),” […]

Time to confront 21st Century realities

February 25, 2018

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We are constantly reminded that today we live in a world village of the 21st Century. Yet, at the same time, politicians often seem oblivious of the fact, their mindsets stuck in a world 40 and more years ago. South Africa is no exception but, perhaps with promised jobs and investment "summits" some answers and appropriate action will follow.

Pensions: a trigger for worker action

February 17, 2018

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Pensions are the deferred wages of workers and whenever authorities, public or private, move against these funds that workers know are rightly theirs, expect a fight, even from sectors not usually regarded as militant. A classic case should erupt in Britain next Thursday when 61 universities start a “rolling” 14-day strike.

Trade unionism, Marx & Chavez

February 11, 2018

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Trade unions that claim to be "Marxist-Leninist" (especially without any real attempt at definition) and that uncritically support the "Bolivarian revolution" of Hugo Chavez tend to do so out of blind emotion rather than rational analysis. And this is an extremely dangerous and divisive road for organised labour to follow.