THE PRIORITIES OF CAPITALISM

"A California company will give five dog owners the chance to have a favourite pet genetically copied and brought back to life later this month. BioArts International has arranged an online auction to decide which dog lovers will qualify: at starting bids between $100,000(£51,000) and $180,000." (New Statesman 5th June) "Every 17 seconds, a child in the developing world dies from water-related diseases. In around the time it takes you to read this paragraph, someone, somewhere, will die. Everyday, people in the world's poorest countries face the dilemma of having to trust their health and that of their children to the consequences of drinking water that could kill them. It's a gamble that often carries a high price - seeing children needlessly dying is simply heartbreaking." (Water Aid leaflet, June) It says a lot about the priorities of capitalism when Water Aid are asking for £2 a month to help save children and someone can spend £90,000 to clone a pet dog! RD

CLASS DIVISION IN NORTH KOREA

"Oblivious of rumours that famine is gathering again and that the state's food-distribution system is breaking down, the country's pampered elite went on a shopping spree at the Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair, held on May 12th-15th. Originally designed to promote business-to-business contacts, the trade fair, along with a companion event in the autumn, has become one of the few opportunities for North Koreans—or, more accurately, a few thousand residents of the capital—to buy, or gawk at, foreign merchandise. More than 100 Chinese companies, together with some from Taiwan, Indonesia, Britain and North Korea itself, offered up everything from T-shirts to heavy machinery. Cutting-edge technology it wasn't. Duvets, refrigerators, flat-screen televisions, DVD players, cooking pots and cosmetics were the most popular items. More than 15 units of one of the show's most expensive items, a $1,200 refrigerator from Haier, a Chinese company, were snapped up. Counterfeit iPods were also popular, even if downloading is illegal. North Korea's new rich make their money from political connections. But one shortage they don't seem to face is that of American dollars. (Economist, 29 May) RD

PROGRESSING BACKWARDS

"India has some of the highest rates of child malnutrition and mortality in under-fives in the world and Madhya Pradesh state has the highest levels in India. There are around 10 million children in the state. A decade ago 55% were malnourished. Two years ago the government's own National Family Health Survey put the figure for Madhya Pradesh at around 60%."
(BBC News, 10 June) RD

THE CLEVELAND WAR ZONE

"On leave from the violence he had survived in the war in Iraq, a young Marine was so wary of crime on the streets of his own home town that he carried only $8 to avoid becoming a robbery target. Despite his caution, Lance Cpl. Robert Crutchfield, 21, was shot point-blank in the neck during a robbery at a bus stop." (Yahoo News, 1 June) RD

THE DIGNITY OF LABOUR

"Stephen Batte works in a quarry under the blazing sun, chipping rocks into gravel with a homemade hammer. It's tiring, boring and dangerous. Stephen is 9 years old, and has been on the rock pile since he was 4. "Life has always been hard here," he whispers, carefully positioning a sharp rock before striking it with well-practiced accuracy. "But since my mother died, things have been much harder." His mother, the woman who taught him to smash rocks when he was a toddler, was killed here in a landslide in August. His T-shirt torn and his feet bare, Stephen is one of hundreds of people who work in the quarry on the outskirts of Uganda's capital, Kampala. Their shabby figures sit hunched over their heaps of gravel. The chink of metal against stone bounces off the rock faces. Most of the workers are refugees who fled a civil war in northern Uganda. Now they make 100 Uganda shillings, 6 U.S. cents, for every 5-gallon bucket that they fill with chipped rocks. Stephen works 12 hours a day to fill three buckets. There's no safety code or protective clothing. The children's arms and legs are covered in scabs from flying stones. Stephen says a friend lost an eye." (Yahoo News, 1 June) RD

THE SCIENCE OF DENIAL

"The Bush administration has worked overtime to manipulate or conceal scientific evidence — and muzzled at least one prominent scientist — to justify its failure to address climate change. Its motives were transparent: the less people understood about the causes and consequences of global warming, the less they were likely to demand action from their leaders. And its strategy has been far too successful. Seven years later, Congress is only beginning to confront the challenge of global warming. The last week has brought further confirmation of the administration’s cynicism. An internal investigation by NASA’s inspector general concluded that political appointees in the agency’s public affairs office had tried to restrict reporters’ access to its leading climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen. He has warned about climate change for 20 years and has openly criticized the administration’s refusal to tackle the issue head-on."
(New York Times, 4 June) RD

TRADE AND DIPLOMACY

The Prime Minister Gordon Brown was recently criticised by certain elements of the press for being less than enthusiastic about the visit of the Dalai Lama and not being outspoken in criticising China. Behind his stance of course was the economic importance of China to UK capitalism. "And the value of the Chinese economy to the UK should not be underestimated. It is the sixth largest importer and the tenth largest export market by value for UK companies. Both top 10 lists are made up of the USA and eight European countries. Anglo-Chinese trade is growing at a rate almost unmatched by any other major market. In 2007, imports into Britain increased in value by 21% to £18.8bn while exports increased by 15% to £3.8bn."
(Liverpool Daily Post, 4 June) RD

ANOTHER LABOUR FAILURE

"The number of children living in poverty has risen for a second year, a government report says. The government called the rise in poverty levels "disappointing" and the increase may threaten its target of halving child poverty by 2010. The number of children living in poverty rose by 100,000 in 2006-2007 to 2.9 million before housing costs. Pensioner poverty increased for the first time since 1998, rising by 300,000 to a total of 2.5 million. The number of children and pensioners in poverty is greater once costs such as rent and mortgages are taken into account. "This is a disgrace. We are watching more and more pensioners drop further below the poverty line," said Mervyn Kohler of Help The Aged." (BBC News, 10 June) RD

THE PLIGHT OF THE HOMELESS

Mrs. Thatcher described Britain as a property owning democracy, even earlier some patriot talked about "an Englishman's house is his castle", but the harsh reality of capitalism paints a different picture. "More than a quarter of young working households are unable to get on to the property ladder because of mortgage difficulties and house prices that remain unaffordable. The worst affected areas are London and the south-west, where more than 40 per cent of young households, aged between 21 and 40, are unable to access the housing market. Overall, more than 28 per cent of young working households are unable to purchase property at the lowest level in their local housing market. The report will add to fears that young home buyers are still priced out of the market in spite of evidence of falling house prices – mostly because of the lack of available finance for first-time buyers, seen as among the more risky borrowers. The study, compiled by Professor Steve Wilcox, of the University of York, based on data from Hometrack, defines young working households as those on incomes too high to claim housing benefit but too low to access the lowest level of the property market in their local area." (Financial Times, 4 June) RD

A CLUELESS LEFTY

When Billy Bragg the pop singer started his recent Canadian tour he was interviewed by the local media and revealed why this well intentioned would-be rebel is completely clueless politically. "I learned all my politics the year of the miners' strike," Bragg recalls, from his home in Dorset, England. "I learned from experience, not textbooks. And I've still never read Marx." (The Globe and Mail, 4 June) This would explain why this performer although expressing sympathy with striking worker could welcome the election of a Labour government and later on when disillusioned by their failure support various left wing reforms. A brief study of the works of Marx might have prevented such follies. RD

LAND OF THE FREE?

"In advertising these days, the brass ring goes to those who can measure everything — how many people see a particular advertisement, when they see it, who they are. All of that is easy on the Internet, and getting easier in television and print. Billboards are a different story. For the most part, they are still a relic of old-world media, and the best guesses about viewership numbers come from foot traffic counts or highway reports, neither of which guarantees that the people passing by were really looking at the billboard, or that they were the ones sought out. Now, some entrepreneurs have introduced technology to solve that problem. They are equipping billboards with tiny cameras that gather details about passers-by — their gender, approximate age and how long they looked at the billboard. These details are transmitted to a central database. (New York Times, 31 May) RD

THE PRIORITIES OF CAPITALISM

There is much debate in the national media about how many billions of dollars, euros and pounds should be spent on armaments but little on how much should be send in preventing infant deaths from lack of vitamins. "Malnutrition should be the world’s major priority for aid and development, a panel of eight leading economists, including five Nobel laureates, declared yesterday. ...The provision of supplements of vitamin A and zinc to children in developing countries, to prevent avoidable deficiencies that affect hundreds of millions of children, is the most cost-effective way of making the world a better place, the Copenhagen Consensus initiative has found. ... The jury of economists chose to emphasise malnutrition, and micronutrient supplements in particular, because of the major effects that comparatively moderate financial investments could have. Around 140 million children suffer from vitamin A deficiency, which can cause blindness, immune system problems and death, or zinc deficiency, which can stunt growth. Supplements of these nutrients, however, are both effective and extremely cheap – at 20 US cents per person per year for vitamin A and $1 for zinc. For just $60m a year, it would be possible to provide capsules of both micronutrients to 80 per cent of undernourished children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia." (Times, 31 May) RD

CARING CAPITALISM (2)

"The Burmese government has lashed out at international aid, saying that starving cyclone survivors can live on frogs and fish instead of foreign handouts. Meanwhile camps of survivors are being forcibly cleared by the army and the people trucked back to their villages, without the supplies they need to survive." (Daily Telegraph,30 May) RD

BIG BROTHER IS HERE

"It's possible that someone has been reading your e-mails, listening to your phone calls, and tracking your Internet use. No, it's not a foreign spy. It's not even your ex—it's your employer. And she doesn't even need to tell you she's doing it. Employers can legally monitor their workers however they want. They can log and review all computer activity as long as they own the machines. The most popular method of keeping tabs on employees is to track Internet use: A whopping 66 percent of companies monitor employee Internet activity, according to a survey released in February by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute."
(PC Magazine, 26 May) RD

CARING CAPITALISM

"New Orleans— Mayor C. Ray Nagin recently suggested a way to reduce this city’s post-Katrina homeless population: give them one-way bus tickets out of town. Mr. Nagin later insisted the off-the-cuff proposal was just a joke. But he has portrayed the dozens of people camped in a tent city under a freeway overpass near Canal Street as recalcitrant drug and alcohol abusers who refuse shelter, give passers-by the finger and, worst of all, hail from somewhere else. While many of the homeless do have addiction problems or mental illness, a survey by advocacy groups in February showed that 86 percent were from the New Orleans area. Sixty percent said they were homeless because of Hurricane Katrina, and about 30 percent said they had received rental assistance at one time from the Federal Emergency Management Agency."
(New York Times, 28 May) RD

DANGER, MEN AT WORK

The callous treatment of the working class in the USA is highlighted by David M Uhlman, professor of law at the University of Michigan. "Employers rarely face criminal prosecution under the worker-safety laws. In the 38 years since Congress enacted the Occupational Safety and Health Act, only 68 criminal cases have been prosecuted, or less than two per year, with defendants serving a total of just 42 months in jail. During that same time, approximately 341,000 people have died at work, according to data compiled from the National Safety Council and the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the A.F.L.-C.I.O." (New York Times, 27 May) RD

GROWTH INDUSTRY

"The number of prisoners in England and Wales passed 83,000 for the first time yesterday. ...The Prison Officers’ Association predicted that the prison population would reach 100,000 in four years." (Times, 28 May) RD

CAPITALISM ADVANCES

"The Amazonian city of Altamira played host to one of the more uneven contests in recent Brazilian history this week, as a colourful alliance of indigenous leaders gathered to take on the might of the state power corporation and stop the construction of an immense hydroelectric dam on a tributary of the Amazon. At stake are plans to flood large areas of rainforest to make way for the huge Belo Monte hydroelectric dam on the Xingu river. The government is pushing the project as a sustainable energy solution, but critics complain the environmental and social costs are too high. For people living beside the river, the dam will bring an end to their way of life. Thousands of homes will be submerged and changes in the local ecology will wipe out the livelihoods of many more, killing their main food sources and destroying their raw materials. For the 10,000 tribal Indians of the Xingu, whose lives have changed little since the arrival of Europeans five centuries ago, this will be a devastating blow." (Independent, 23 May) RD

NO CREDIT CRUNCH HERE

"Ferrari understands a titan's need to feel special. This month, the Italian exotic carmaker debuts its One-to-One Personalization Program, a dedicated atelier at its Maranello factory. After a private tour of the Ferrari assembly line, patrons meet with a designer and choose all the bespoke details that make a Ferrari a Ferrari, paging through different hides of leather, choosing their favorite seat style and ordering custom-made luggage that fits perfectly in the ever-so-handcrafted trunk. "Think of it as a fashion house where you select all the fabrics, the colors, the trims so that your car is like no one else's," says Ferrari's director of communications Davide Kluzer. "We understand that when you spend this kind of money on a sports car, the last thing you want is to park next to someone who's got the same look." For now the program is reserved exclusively for buyers of Ferrari's $260,000 flagship 612 Scaglietti—a 5.7-liter, V-12, which sprints to 97kph in a thrilling four and a half seconds. The company hasn't suffered a whit from the world's economic jitters; there is a two-year waiting list for a car. If the One-to-One program is a hit, Ferrari will expand the personalized studio to include its other models." (Newsweek, 26 May) RD

TAINTED RESEARCH

"On campuses nationwide, professors and administrators have passionately debated whether their universities should accept money for research from tobacco companies. But not at Virginia Commonwealth University, a public institution in Richmond, Va. That is largely because hardly any faculty members or students there know that there is something to debate — a contract with extremely restrictive terms that the university signed in 2006 to do research for Philip Morris USA, the nation’s largest tobacco company and a unit of Altria Group. The contract bars professors from publishing the results of their studies, or even talking about them, without Philip Morris’s permission. If “a third party,” including news organizations, asks about the agreement, university officials have to decline to comment and tell the company. Nearly all patent and other intellectual property rights go to the company, not the university or its professors."
(New York Times, 22 May) RD

LOW INCOME = LOW LIFEPAN

"A new American Cancer Society report shows that education level can have a profound effect on people's health -- including whether they die from cancer and other diseases. According to the report, death rates among the most educated Americans decreased significantly from 1993 to 2001, while those of the least educated leveled off or went up for some causes. The study offers still more evidence of deepening socioeconomic disparities affecting quality-of-life and survival in the United States. "This study shows a real disparity in mortality between the haves and the have-nots in this country," said Ahmedin Jemal, PhD, American Cancer Society Strategic Director, Cancer Occurrence and lead author of the study." (Yahoo News, 18 May) RD

THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE

"Philomena Gist understands why it hurts so much to be on food stamps. After all, she's got a master's degree in psychology. "There's pride in being able to take care of yourself," says the Columbus, Ohio, resident, laid off last year from a mortgage company and living on workers' compensation benefits while recovering from surgery. "I'm not supposed to be in this condition." Neither are many of the 27.5 million Americans relying on government aid to keep food on their tables amid unemployment and rising prices. Average enrollment in the food stamps program has surpassed the record set in 1994, though the percentage of Americans on food stamps is still lower than records set in 1993-95. The numbers continue to climb." (USA Today, 18 May) RD

HOW CAPITALISM WORKS 2

In Afghanistan, where people literally live on bread, many are reduced to buying bread crusts by the gram and softening them with water to make their meals. Must be because the harvest failed, right? No, last year was a good harvest but prices have risen sharply on the commodity market putting it out of the reach of ordinary Afghanis. Likewise, in Cambodia, children have to leave school to collect bamboo shoot, frogs and crabs to supplement the family food because rice is scarce in that country – no, it’s actually plentiful but most is exported and what is available is unaffordable. The madness of capitalism! Actually, this is how it works – “The Philippines (govt.) went to the international auction table (for rice) like a high stakes gambler, desperate to win rice for its 88 million people – lots of it, in fact 675,000 tonnes. But when regular supplier Vietnam upped the ante to something close to $1,200 per tonne, The Philippines held its cards and walked away. Gutsy? Or just plain foolish?’ (Toronto Star 11/05/08). This is how food is supplied? Crazy!
John Ayers

HOW CAPITALISM WORKS 1

Workers produce all the goods, in return they receive a wage, what's the problem with that?
Recently, at one of Canada’s favorite coffee Shops, Tim Horton’s, an employee gave a crying baby a tidbit, a tiny donut worth 16c retail. She was fired by the manager. It turned into a public relations nightmare as the story hit the media and the employee had to berehired but the message is loud and clear – employees have no rights to the product they produce.
John Ayres

CLASS RESULTS

While cyclone Nargis devastated Burma leaving thousands dead and more destitute, not only did junta leader Than Shwe refuse much needed help (sound like New Orleans?) but went ahead with his daughters’ glittering wedding, “While millions struggle to fill their daily rice bowls, he(Than) celebrated his daughter’s wedding with a multi-million dollar feast, the bride encrusted in jewels and an ocean of champagne flowing for applauding guests” (Toronto Star 17/05/08)
John Ayres

BIG BROTHER IS COMING

"Ministers are to consider plans for a database of electronic information holding details of every phone call and e-mail sent in the UK, it has emerged. The plans, reported in the Times, are at an early stage and may be included in the draft Communications Bill later this year, the Home Office confirmed. (BBC News, 20 May) RD

IS THIS YOUR FUTURE?

"One in four older people are so worried about their future that they are making themselves ill, a survey has suggested. The ICM poll for Help the Aged showed a fifth of over-65s felt their quality of life had worsened in the last year and one in 10 said they were often lonely. The study of Britain's elderly also highlighted ageism, neglect, poverty, isolation and deprivation.
(BBC News, 20 May) RD

A CYCLONE OF DEBT

The recent cyclone in Burma is estimated to have killed 130,000 people in a few hours but this being capitalism the long term effect of this natural disaster has become a social disaster for thousands of the survivors. Take the case of Daw Aye as reported in The Times (31 May). "There was the disaster of her fisherman son, drowned at sea in a storm that was never noticed outside of Burma. There was the disaster of widowhood: her husband died six years ago of an illness to which Daw Aye cannot even put a name. Cyclone Nargis at least spared the rest of her family, although it destroyed her newly built wooden house along with 300 of the 500 dwellings in the village of Thaungche, on the Rangoon River. Having survived bereavement, flood and homelessness, Daw Aye is now facing a potent and more insidious enemy: crippling debt. She has six surviving children, and in the months since the cyclone she has had only two handouts from the Burmese authorities, a total of no more than a few pounds of rice." Her oldest surviving son works as a farmhand for about £10 a month and her adult daughter earns even less mending fishing nets, so in order to feed her family and build an open-fronted shelter of bamboo and palm leaves in which they now live, she was forced to go to a moneylender. She borrowed about £150 but the village money lending terms are 10 per cent or £15 a month, more than her family can earn. She is faced with the choice of hunger or lifelong debt. Daw Aye's plight is not unique. The latest figures available put the dead and missing at 134,000 and it is estimated that about 750,000 will need long term food aid. This is understandable when it seems that about 280,000 cattle and water buffalo were killed and one million acres of arable land were flooded in southwest Burma. Fish is hardly likely to be counted as a life saver when it is reckoned that 2,649 fishing boats were lost in the storm along with 18,000 fishermen.Brother Thu Sita, a monk from Thaungche monastery, said: "It was hard enough to rebuild their houses. Then the problem is finding enough food to eat. People borrow money, they get into debt to feed themselves. And there is so little from outside. All that we can do as monks is to share a little of our food and help them psychologically. But as far as their future goes, they are on their own." Socialists advocate a completely new society based on production for use not profit, but of course natural disasters like cyclones and earthquake will still occur. The major differences will be that no one will live the hand to mouth existence of Daw Ayre and her fellow villagers. Everyone will work to the best of their ability and take according to their needs. In addition when natural disasters do occur everyone will rush to aid the victims, unlike today where greedy moneylenders exploit their plight and all well-meaning monks can do is offer psychological assistance.R.D.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Socialist Party Discussion Group

18 June 8.30pm, Central Community Halls,

304 Maryhill Road, Glasgow

Socialism as A Practical Alternative

John Cumming of Glasgow Branch Will Open The Discussion For About 10 to 15 Minutes.

The Rest Of The Evening Will Be Taken Up With Your Questions And Points Of View.

Some of The Ideas that Will Be Discussed Are

Is It Possible To Have A World Without Money?

Can Human Beings Behave In A Cooperative Fashion?

Is Human Nature Compatible With Socialism?

Who Makes The Decisions Inside Socialism?

How Do We Deal with Crime Inside Socialism?

Admission Free All Welcome

CAPITALISM FAILS AGAIN

"The U.N. children's agency said in a statement Tuesday an estimated 126,000 Ethiopian children urgently need food and medical care because of severe malnutrition — and called the current crisis "the worst since the major humanitarian crisis of 2003." The U.N. World Food Program estimates that 2.7 million Ethiopians will need emergency food aid because of late rains — nearly double the number who needed help last year. An additional 5 million of Ethiopia's 80 million people receive aid each year because they never have enough food, whether harvests are good or not." (Yahoo News, 20 May) RD

GOD AND MAMMON

"Employees counting donations at a popular Hindu shrine in southern India will no longer have to take off their underpants at work after the local human rights commission intervened. Police and temple authorities imposed the dress code at the Sabarimala hill shrine in Kerala five years ago after thefts were reported from the shrine's strong room. Employees in the vault, all of whom were men, were made to work topless wearing only a dhoti -- a cotton wrap worn around the waist -- with nothing underneath." (Yahoo News, 23 May) RD

WE ARE NOT ALONE

"Public opinion across Europe, Asia and the US is strikingly consistent in considering that the gap between rich and poor is too wide and that the wealthy should pay more taxes. Income inequality has emerged as a highly contentious political issue in many countries as the latest wave of globalisation has created a “super class” of rich people. (Financial Times, 18 May) RD

HUMAN BEHAVIOUR IN CRISIS

"The dire situations in cyclone-battered Myanmar and quake-tossed southwestern China and the impulse of many to offer relief have a lot to do with human nature. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors likely did it, and non-human primates do it. We are hard-wired to help others, to drop everything in crisis situations, scientists say. "People do really respond in these crisis situations where it's really a short-term matter of life or death," said Daniel Kruger at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health. The motivation to give dates back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors, he said." (Yahoo News, 19 May)) RD

THE BEAR NECCESSITIES

"The polar bear should be removed from the endangered species list because its protected status will hamper drilling for oil and gas in Alaska, the state's Republican Governor has demanded." (Times, 23 May) RD

MEDIEVAL NONSENSE

"Over the past year alone I have received requests from around 350 people who think they are possessed by an evil spirit," says Father Joerg Mueller, who heads a group of priests, doctors and therapists to deal with the problem. "Therapy hasn't worked for them; they want exorcisms - a prayer that can free them." ... "Father Gabriele Amoth, the Vatican exorcist-in-chief, has performed the ritual more than 40,000 times. The Vatican aim appears to be to place one exorcist in each diocese to ensure that the distressed do not drift away from the Church." (Times, 22 May) RD

MORE MADNESS

"The Harry Winston Opus 8 looks like a seventies LCD watch, but it's actually hand-wound and mechanical, with the elements displaying the time pushed up by a tiny disc. Only 50 were made, from white gold, and they sold out fast. The price? Around £215,000." (Times Magazine, 24 May) RD

ADSPEAK NONSENSE

Joan O'Connor, Coca-Cola spokeswoman, on Glaceau Vitaminwater, the company's first bottled water since the Dasani disaster : "This is not water; it’s an active lifestyle brand." (Times, 24 May) RD

CAPITALIST MADNESS

"Even Giorgi Armani has now designed a pen - all understated black with silver embellishment. The fountain pen will be on sale in Harrod's from June for £2,300." (Times, 23 May) RD

Nature loss 'to hurt global poor'

Damage to forests, rivers, marine life and other aspects of nature could halve living standards for the world's poor, a major report is to conclude.

G8 environment ministers meeting in Japan last weekend agreed a document noting that "biodiversity is the basis of human security and... the loss of biodiversity exacerbates inequality and instability in human society". But the main CBD target agreed by all signatories at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992 - to "halt and begin to reverse" biodiversity loss by 2010 - is very unlikely to be met.

A new International

Even in the 19th Century it w2as recognised that capitalism was a world wide system and that the working class required an international workers association to effectively resist the bosses .

Once again trade unions are recognising the global effects of the employers and are re-organising appropriately .

The Finiancial Times reports a historic alliance between Unite, Britain's biggest trade union, and the almost 1m-strong United Steelworkers union in North America is about to create the first transatlantic union, with more than 2.5m working members.

The move is designed to provide greater protection for workers whose jobs are threatened by the spread of global capitalism. The UK and US partners hope unions from other countries will join the alliance, increasing its strength.

Amicus had previously signed co-operation deals with USW and the International Association of Machinists in the US, and the IG Metall union in Germany, while the T&G had forged working relationships in the US with the Teamsters and SEIU, the services sector union.

Previous examples of cross-border union co-operation include T&G's support for the Teamsters' campaign against FirstGroup, the UK-based bus and train operator accused of frustrating attempts by unions to organise workers at its expanding US business.

"One of the main reasons for the merger between Amicus and the T&G was our desire to create an international trade union that would be able to deal with multinational companies on an equal footing and organise working people in even greater numbers," said Derek Simpson, Unite's joint general secretary last year."Multinational companies are pushing down wages and conditions for workers the world over by playing one national workforce off against another. The only beneficiaries of globalisation are the exploiters of working people and the only way working people can resist this is to organise and band together."

the last post

Mail late ? Lost letter ? Package damaged ? That local post office shut down ?

Never mind . Royal Mail's boss has been rewarded for his efficiency ...at least according to Royal Mail bosses .

Chief executive Adam Crozier earned more than £3m last year.

Mr Crozier got just over £1m in pay and pensions, plus a bonus of almost £2m.

Royal Mail said Mr Crozier had exceeded expectations and met all the targets set for him.

Losses for 2007 had widened to £279m, compared with a loss of £10m a year earlier.

Its stamped letters business made a loss for the first time in the last financial year.

2,500 post offices were being closed to save money

THE REALITIES OF CAPITALISM

"Dagaari, Somalia - The global food crisis has arrived at Safia Ali’s hut. She cannot afford rice or wheat or powdered milk anymore. At the same time, a drought has decimated her family’s herd of goats, turning their sole livelihood into a pile of bleached bones and papery skin. The result is that Ms. Safia, a 25-year-old mother of five, has not eaten in a week. Her 1-year-old son is starving too, an adorable, listless boy who doesn’t even respond to a pinch." (New York Times, 17 May) RD

LEGAL TAX DODGERS

"Some of Britain's biggest listed companies, including several that have threatened to re-domicile abroad, paid little or no corporation tax in Britain in 2007. Research by The Times shows that the FTSE-100 companies - Cadbury, Standard Chartered and British American Tobacco, which have a combined market capitalisation of £75 billion, employed almost 11,000 UK staff and generated more than £6 billion in global profits, - paid zero corporation tax in Britain last year." (Times, 20 May) RD

AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM?

Socialists are always told that we are dreamers. That capitalism is the only system possible and that we should accept it. When we talk of the millions that have died in wars, famines and natural disasters we are told that even inside socialism natural disasters will occur. We accept that, but what of the recent natural disasters that have occurred inside China and Burma? Attempts to relieve the effects of the Burmese disaster have been hindered by a ruling clique fearful of their grip on power and in China the evidence seems to point to an awful natural disaster made more awful by capitalism's production of cheap buildings to keep down costs. Inside socialism no one will die of hunger or war and when natural disasters occur we will deal with them in a compassionate fashion. This may appear dream-like to supporters of capitalism, but that is only because they support the nightmare society of capitalism. RD

RYANAIR! WHAT'S RYANAIR?

"Users of private jets have struck on an exciting new way to save the planet. Instead of flying solo on a jet, the super-rich can now team up to share a plane. The brainwave comes from The Private Jet Club, which suggests that its mile high version of the car pool would be ideal for people who desperately need to get to their second home in France, or to a conference or a trade event." (Times, 20 May) RD

Lazy Workers !!!

From the BBC

A 30-year-old Toyota worker who collapsed at one of its plants had died of overwork.
It emerged that the man had worked 106 hours of overtime in his final month, most of it unpaid.

Unions say that companies generally see working unpaid overtime as a sign of loyalty. Toyota has a reputation for using employees' ideas to improve production methods and efficiency and reduce costs.

And they dare call workers lazy

A SENSE OF VALUES?

"The massacre of the silverback Senkekwe, along with five other rare apes, made the cover of US magazine Newsweek under the headline "Gorilla Warfare". In Britain, the "Murders In The Mist" prompted The Sun to launch its own campaign, and around the globe people wrote in to media outlets, telling of the sleepless nights and trauma the images had caused. For Anneke van Woudenberg, the Congo specialist for Human Rights Watch, it was a case of gritting one's teeth. "Kill a mountain gorilla in Congo and it gets much more coverage than five million dead," she says. "It irks me every time." Trawling through the archives of British newspapers for the first four months of 2008, the point is hammered home. The slaughter of elephants in Congo to make ivory chopsticks appears to be the most widely reported story. Another popular item is the arrest of sorcerers suspected of stealing or shrinking human penises. Breaking the trend of wildlife stories and wild tales are Financial Times articles about Congo's vast mineral resources, a Guardian feature on plans to build the world's biggest dam across the Congo river and a report about Kinshasa's vibrant music scene in this newspaper. Conspicuously absent are dispatches about the humanitarian crisis, the legacy of the worst conflict since 1945, and a crisis that is still killing an estimated 1,200 people every day. Although Congo's war officially ended in 2002, malaria, cholera and malnutrition mean that the equivalent of the population of Manchester will be wiped out this year. (Independent, 12 May) RD

THE STUPIDITY OF CAPITALISM

"Even if the shot isn't dazzling, now the golf-ball marker can be. Tri Mark Golf's luxe version is handcrafted from 18-karat white gold and studded with diamonds, citrine, amethyst and peridots. It's also highly functional, with a numbered measuring system that lets golfers figure out how many putter heads away the ball is. And when not dressing up the green, it can be put on a chain and worn as a necklace; buy it for $10,500 (trimarkgolf.com)." (NewsWeek, 5 May) RD

A STRANGE KIND OF FREEDOM

"An Afghan journalism student sentenced to death for insulting Islam denied the charges before an appeals court Sunday, saying he only confessed to questioning the religion's treatment of women because he was tortured.. ...Afghan media have flourished since the fall of the hard-line Taliban regime following a U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Newspapers and TV and radio stations have opened nationwide. But journalists face violence for news stories that criticize government leaders, warlords and religious clerics or challenge their often authoritarian views. (Yahoo News, 18 May) RD

LAND OF THE FREE?

"The Pentagon is moving forward with plans to build a new, 40-acre detention complex on the main American military base in Afghanistan, officials said, in a stark acknowledgment that the United States is likely to continue to hold prisoners overseas for years to come. The proposed detention center would replace the cavernous, makeshift American prison on the Bagram military base north of Kabul, which is now typically packed with about 630 prisoners, compared with the 270 held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba." (New York Times, 17 May) RD