September Socialist Voice

national | miscellaneous | press release Monday September 08, 2003 22:17 by socialist voice mybrotherknowskarlmarx at sultansofping dot fc

The September Issue of The Voice/Socialist Voice is now online at http://www.socialistparty.net

Contents Include:

September 2003 - No.71

Fight the Bin Tax - Fight Non-Collection

THE BATTLE against the bin tax is raging! This campaign is not just about a refuse charge. It is about ending the whole tax rip-off of PAYE workers. It is about ending the abuse of power that allows big business to maximise profits while we foot the bill. It is about fighting back against the offensive of the capitalist establishment who are now attacking our living standards at every opportunity.


North: No to Water Tax - Opposition Campaign Set Up

FANCY EARNING £150,000 a year? If you think you would make a good hatchet man there could be an opening for you. 150,000 is the minimum salary the Government are offering to whoever is appointed to head up the water service. For the right candidate the figure could be higher.


History: 11th September 1973 - Coup in Chile

11 SEPTEMBER is an historic date, not just because of events in the US two years ago, but also because on that day 30 years ago a bloody CIA-backed coup was instigated against the democratically elected government of Chile. Chris Loughlin looks back at events leading up to the coup.


Special Feature: Resistance Against US Occupation Grows

THE US occupation forces are stretched to their limits. Morale amongst American troops is plummeting, the death toll is escalating, the Iraqi resistance moving is growing and now Bush is turning to the "cowardly" French, Germans and other UN forces for help.


Blockade the Trucks to Beat the Bin Tax

THE GOVERNMENT has declared war on non-payers of the bin tax. They and their cronies in the councils are refusing to collect the rubbish of non-payers. This is an attempt to smash the resistance in the communities to this unjust tax.


Dublin Bus - Stop Privatisation

"AS ANY bus driver will tell you, the support from the public on no fares day was brilliant" - A Dublin Bus driver. The 'No Fares Day' was a huge success. Unfortunately, the unions have not followed up on this success and have succumbed to pressure from the government and Seamus Brennan.


Sun Valley Protests - Force Council Clean Up

MOTHERS AT Sun Valley Drive, a Cork northside flats complex have risked arrest by blocking traffic in recent weeks to protest at rat-infested living conditions have forced the City Council to clean up the area.


Joe Higgins Column: Arrogant Government Will Faces Challenges

AS WE move towards the autumn Dail Session much attention will focus on how the government responds to the deteriorating economic situation and the drastic fall in tax revenues. The Department of Finance estimates that total tax income for 2003 will be 500 million euro below target.


North: Non Payment Can Defeat Water Charges

THE PLANNED imposition of water charges is being met with widespread opposition. On street stalls, the 'Water Charges - We Won't Pay Campaign' has been overwhelmed by the response from people opposed to water charges and the privatisation.


North: Time for the Unions to Break the Labour Party Link

A NUMBER of years ago the Socialist Party in England and Wales drew the conclusion that the Labour Party, by then re-christened New Labour, was no longer a party that represented working men and women, even in a distorted fashion. Moreover the opportunities to reclaim the Party were receding dramatically as the influence of the unions and the constituency parties was curtailed and the annual conference was neutered as a decision making body.


North: Airport Workers Sold Out Again

FOR THE 23 airport workers who were sacked, by airport security company, ICTS, for going on strike against poverty wages, it seems that the more things change the more they stay the same.


North: No to the Nazis!

A HARD-LINE Nazi splinter group of former British National Party members has set up shop in Northern Ireland.The White Nationalist Party have attempted to recruit members through leafleting in towns right across Northern Ireland, including Coleraine, Ballymena and Craigavon in particular, where racist attacks upon families carried out under the banner of the WNP have taken place.


Aer Rianta - Workers Prepare to Take on Government

AS WE go to press, Aer Rianta workers in Dublin, Cork and Shannon are balloting for industrial action in response to the Minister for Transport Seamus Brennan's announcement that he intends to break-up the company and replace it with three independent companies.


Hutton Enquiry: Blair Lied About WMD

SIX MONTHS on and no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) have been found in Iraq. With the death of David Kelly, the senior government scientist who'd given information to the BBC, Blair was forced to set up the Hutton Inquiry into that single death - ignoring the thousands of dead Iraqis and the soldiers killed during and since the war.


Israel/Palestine: Assassinations Derail 'Road Map'

AT THE funeral of Ismail Abu Shanab over 100,000 people attended the procession where another Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi commented: "They think that targeting leaders will stop Jihad (holy war). They are mistaken. All of us in Hamas from top to bottom are looking to become like Abu Shanab."


Brazil: Growing Protests - "Lula has Betrayed Us"

DESPITE SWEEPING to power with over 52 million votes late last year on a wave of popular support, the government of Brazilian PT (Workers P:arty) President, Lula has recently been rocked by growing opposition to its neo-liberal offensive by significant sections of workers.