Socialism 2010 - Socialist Party video

Socialism 2010, hosted by the Socialist Party, brought US Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan together with leaders of the most militant trade unions in the UK, including the Rail union RMT, the Firefighters union FBU, and the Civil Servants union, PCS to discuss defeating the government's cuts, and the socialist alternative to capitalism.
Representatives from the National Union of Students, Socialist Students and Youth Fight for Jobs discussed how to stop students in Britain being crippled by debts of £9,000 a year in tuition fees and stop the government's plan to abolish the Education Maintenance Allowance, the EMA.
Speakers from the Socialist Party's sister sections across Europe - from Greece, France, Spain, Ireland and Italy - shared their experiences of mass strike movements against cuts.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU was met with cheers of solidarity as he described the vicious attacks on his union by the capitalist media for the 'crime' of striking against huge cuts in London's fire service.
As Alex Gordon, president of the RMT, put it, that kind of slander is "a badge working class militants should wear with pride".
Alex called for a mass struggle to defeat the Con-Dems, including a national anti-cuts demonstration before Christmas, but added: "We will not solve the problems of the Con-Dem cuts just by getting rid of the Con-Dem government; the leader of the Labour Party also supports cuts".
Cindy Sheehan, the leading US anti-war activist, explained that both Republicans and Democrats act in the interests of big business.
She explained how she is fighting for a socialist alternative. Peter Taaffe, general secretary of the Socialist Party, raised the need for independent mass parties of the working class in the US, Britain and worldwide.
He called for a 24 hour public sector general strike in Britain against the cuts.
The final speakers at the rally were Yessenbek Ukteshbayev, from Khazakhstan, where the workers' movement struggles heroically in the face of brutal state repression, and Andros Payiatsos, from Xekinima, the Socialist Party's sister section in Greece.
Andros graphically described the six general strikes that have shaken Greece this year and the dramatically increased support for a socialist programme as a result.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Socialism
• socialist
• socialist party
• students
• tuition fees
• ema
• pcs
• rmt
• fbu

[grendelcatt]

Great video !, thanks...