The Socialist (March 2018)

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PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

FORmERLY

2018: Time4Choice Repeal Referendum Chance for Historic Abortion Reform

ISSUE 107

INSIDE

Stormont talks collapse

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The real lessons of the civil rights movement

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For more info, search ‘ROSA NI’ on Facebook

By Emer Lavery, ROSA, Belfast

I

n just a couple of months, we could see a gargantuan victory for reproductive rights and bodily autonomy in the south with the Repeal referendum. the potential for discarding of the Eighth Amendment – which equates the existence of a foetus to the life of the women carrying it – and abortion being made available up to 12 weeks upon request is historic.

The possibility of such a blow to the Church’s domination of women’s lives has been spurred on by mass protests, with young people and women at their fore. The Irish establishment is under huge pressure for change, reflecting a profound shift in public attitudes, which explains why Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin – the leaders of the two

main right-wing parties – now say they support the 12-week threshold, albeit reluctantly.

However, we cannot take them at their word and nothing is guaranteed. We must actively fight for our rights. So far, we have seen gruesome campaigns from the anti-choice movement and it is undeniable that conservative politicians will fight to prevent women and pregnant people from gaining control of our own bodies. Therefore, it is necessary for a mobilisation of people from below to ensure Repeal and radical abortion reform stays on the agenda.

ROSA's campaign shapes events The work of socialist-feminist group ROSA and Women on Web was crucial to normalising discussions about abortion pills. Right-wing politicians

socialistpartyni

To get involved in ROSA, text 'Join' to 07523289324

Young workers fighting for a future

p6 acknowledged that the fact these pills work safely up to 12 weeks was why that threshold was chosen.

Initiatives such as the abortion pill train, buses and drone raised awareness of their availability and safety.

ROSA has shown that taking a bold approach to this fight has an impact.

The disparity in women’s rights that exists between Northern Ireland and Britain is disgraceful: the 1967 Abortion Act was passed over half a century ago but still hasn’t been extended to Northern Ireland. Courts here continue to criminalise women who use the pills, while at least 700 travelled to England for NHS abortion clinics in 2016.

NI – We won't be left behind!

None of our main parties will support a woman’s right to choose. Despite

their claim to support ‘equality for all’, Sinn Féin in reality only support abortion in cases of sexual crimes and fatal foetal abnormalities, making their position the most conservative of all parties in the Southern parliament. Northern leader Michelle O’Neill has emphasised their opposition to the extension of the ’67 Act, showing the true colours of her party and how they cannot be relied on to deliver for women in Northern Ireland.

We will not be left behind. Polls have continuously shown growing support for abortion reform and we need a movement that reflects this.

Lessons can be taken from the South in building a bold pro-choice struggle that’s consciously built on a crosscommunity basis to demand full bodily autonomy.

Join the Socialist Party Text ‘Join’ to 07821058319

WWW.SOCIALISTPARTYNI.ORG

analysis

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March 2018

THE SOCIALIST

Stormont talks collapse: The dead end of sectarian politics

By Stephen Boyd A return to direct rule?

The DUP are demanding direct rule from Westminster as a way to increase pressure on Sinn Féin. An imposition of direct rule will escalate the crisis. Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Irish government have all said they are not prepared to accept it. Instead, they are insisting on a form of joint direct rule, whereby Dublin would have a role alongside Westminster in governing the North in the absence of a power-sharing administration.

A direct role for the Dublin government in the governance of Northern Ireland would be opposed by a majority of Protestants and the DUP would be prepared to bring down the Tory government to stop it. However, no form of direct rule can be implemented without consequences.

British direct rule would be seen by the majority of nationalists as imposed by the Tories the behest of the DUP. The Irish News (23 February) reported that the British government plans to legislate for a Stormont budget before Westminster rises for its Easter recess at the end of March: “A Northern Ireland Office source indicated that in the absence of a Stormont administration, Mrs Bradley will resist DUP calls to impose direct rule and 'do the absolute minimum at the last possible time.'”

Most likely, for the time being, we will have a continuation of a form of 'direct rule light' that keeps government ticking over in the hope that the basis for a renewed talks process can be found. If this doesn't materialise, then the British and Irish governments may look towards a new, more substantial talks process of the calibre of the St. Andrew's or Stormont House agreements – although, this time it may have more of the character of a fundamental renegotiation of the Good Friday Agreement, a process which would be fraught with many difficulties.

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hEREsA MAy and Leo Varadkar arrived at stormont with talk of an imminent deal to end 13 months of stalemate between the DuP and sinn Féin. the media was dominated with speculation that the DuP was on the verge of accepting a form of an Irish Language Act (ILA). the idea of a three-strand act was on the table. however, it seems that Arlene Foster was unable to sell the deal to her party's grassroots and sections of the leadership.

Talk 'on the streets' was of a DUP 'sell-out' on an ILA. Arlene Foster had pledged there would never be an ILA. The level of vitriol with which leading DUP figures opposed an act has resulted in a majority of Protestants opposing its introduction, fearful that Northern Ireland’s Britishness would be “hollowed out” and that the ILA was part of Sinn Féin’s strategy towards a united Ireland.

DUP & SF undermined by their own 'success' A 13-page draft agreement leaked to the media indicates clearly that the DUP and Sinn Féin were close to making a deal. On BBC Spotlight, presenter Noel Thompson suggested to DUP MLA Edwin Poots that there was “good work” in the document, to which Poots replied, “Absolutely – I did a lot of it so I’d expect it to be good.” Within days, the DUP had gone from stating there was no draft agreement to one of its senior negotiators admitting that he actually was one of the authors of this non-existent document.

Both Sinn Féin and the DUP have spent the last year heightening sectarian tensions in order to rebuild support amongst their respective communities. For ten years in government, the DUP and Sinn Féin presided over economic decline and an austerity agenda which has devastated public services and working-class communities. Both parties maintained and increased their support on the basis of being the 'best' opponents of the 'other side' and on consistently promoting sectarian division and fear.

They are now both victims of the 'success' of their sectarian campaigns.

Sinn Féin abandons 'red lines' In the draft agreement, it is clear that Sinn Féin were preparing to abandon many of their so-called 'red lines'. Their demand that Arlene Foster could not be the First Minister while the RHI Inquiry continued was dropped. The draft agreement contained nothing of significance on marriage equality.

Talk of this issue being dealt with via a private members’ bill is back to business as usual.

A private members’ bill to the Assembly was previously scuppered by the DUP’s use of the Petition of Concern (PoC) and the draft agreement made no changes to how the PoC could be used, other than requiring the setting up of a committee to “review the ways in which it might be adapted”. In light of what was in the draft agreement, Sinn Féin’s repeated talk of “no return to the status quo”

DUP's campaign against Irish language act undermined deal

Sinn Féin abandoned 'red lines', including marriage equality

Little prospect of a return to power-sharing in near future

sounds very hollow now. The rights of the LGBT+ community were to be sacrificed on the Sinn Féin altar of pragmatism.

The DUP and Sinn Féin refused to comment on the potential content of an ILA, with the DUP denying, even after the draft agreement was in the public domain, that they were even contemplating agreeing to such an act. By remaining silent, they allowed myth and rumour to dominate the debate on the airwaves and in social media. We now know why the parties were so reluctant to publicly comment.

Sinn Féin were fearful of the potential reaction from their supporters to the abandonment of so many of their so-called 'red lines' and the DUP were anxious of the reaction they would receive from their voters to their volte face on the ILA.

Irish language controversy Interventions in the media by the UUP, the TUV and the Irish language groups in the days preceding the collapse of the talks hampered the DUP and Sinn Féin’s attempt at securing a deal. A representative of Conradh na Gaeilge specifically stated that an act should mean that street signs in predominantly Protestant areas such as the Shankill Road and east Belfast should be in Irish and quotas for jobs in the public sector for Irish language speakers should be introduced. When Sinn Féin and the DUP failed to contradict these comments, they became grist to the rumour mill and seemed to confirm Protestant fears. As the draft agreement indicates, these fears and rumours were totally unfound-

ed, as the ILA Sinn Féin were preparing to sign off on was very much a watered-down version of previously stated objectives and nothing like the Welsh Language Act, which Sinn Féin had held up as their example of what was needed in the North.

The Socialist Party supports legal protection for the Irish language, Ulster Scots and other minority languages. State funding should be provided to facilitate all those who wish to learn and use these languages, as well as funding for the development of the cultural aspects of these traditions, such as literature, music and dance. We are opposed to the turning of these issues into a sectarian football, including the degrading of any language or culture, which happens with both Irish and Ulster Scots.

Sectarian parties have no solutions The DUP and Sinn Féin’s whipping up of sectarian tensions, the debacle of the talks process, and the inability of the main parties to provide any solutions to the myriad of economic and social problems that blight our society are an indictment of the Orange and Green establishment. They offer nothing positive for working-class people, only more fear, division and austerity.

The only way forward for our society is for working-class people, Protestant and Catholic, to unite around the common issues that plague their lives and to struggle to build a political alternative to the sectarian parties. If we had a genuine, mass and crosscommunity party of the workingclass, it could unite ordinary people in a struggle against the attacks on our public services, for housing and free education, against zero-hour contracts, for decent pay, marriage equality, abortion rights and for equality for all. The DUP and Sinn Féin are part of the problem, not the solution – working-class unity is the way forward.

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March 2018

THE SOCIALIST

ruled that there had been no injury to Boeing, and workers breathed a sigh of relief, albeit a brief one. The following Monday, Bombardier issued redundancy notices to a section of the workforce.

Boeing's challenge was robustly supported by the Trump administration and fit neatly into its 'America First' policy. The British government is the fourth largest customer of Boeing and is hugely dependent on it for its privatised defence sector. Demands from workers for action and support for Bombardier jobs were met with horror by Theresa May who couldn't and wouldn't challenge either Trump or Boeing.

The decisive role was ultimately played by workers, shop stewards and Unite the Union, who together ran a local and interna-

By Susan Fitzgerald, Unite Regional Industrial Officer (personal capacity)

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ORkERs At Bombardier faced a major challenge in 2017/18, following the threat by the us trade Department to impose up to 300% tariffs on the new c-series jet. If upheld, this had the potential to close Bombardier in Belfast with the loss of 4,000 direct jobs and thousands more in the supply chain. the tariffs were raised following a complaint by rival company Boeing, who accused Bombardier of underpricing and the canadian and British governments of anti-competitive measures.

On 26 January, the US ‘International Trade Commission’

Workers rallied to defend jobs

tional political and community campaign to highlight what was at stake. A key turning point was the mobilisation of thousands of Bombardier workers at gate meetings at all of the sites. These actions showed, not just to politicians and Bombardier bosses but to the workforce itself, the potential which lies in the workers' hands when they act collectively.

The ongoing threat of outsourcing of work at Bombardier and the current redundancies, linked to outsourcing, are a huge challenge to the workforce.

However, having led the battle to save jobs and skills, Bombardier workers have shown what they are capable of when united and mobilised and are now in a stronger position to deal with future threats, whether political or from the company.

Carillion collapse exposes privatisation myths

By Donal O'Cofaigh

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IncE thE 1980s, the rise of neo-liberal politics has promoted the ‘opening up’ of public services to privateers on the basis that the ‘inherent’ private sector efficiency will lower delivery costs. the reality is directly contrary. Private operators are usually less efficient, having few economies of scale. usually, they require government handouts to do work and ‘efficiencies’ are not delivered through innovative approaches but through attacking workers’ jobs, pay, terms and conditions or by downgrading health and safety or customer supports.

Carillion’s recent collapse is a case-in-point. Across the UK, this company employed 20,000 workers – approximately 500 in Northern Ireland. This was a darling of the Conservative government, being

awarded £16 billion in government contracts ranging from departmental catering to building the HS2 railway line despite repeated profit warnings.

There have been allegations that bosses misled shareholders over the extent of the threat and, when they knew the company was in trouble, moved quickly to protect their own multi-million pound bonuses. With little irony, it should be noted that the Chief Executive of Carillion was also Theresa May’s ‘Corporate Responsibility’ advisor.

In response to their liquidation, the trade unions tried, with varying degrees of intent, to secure the direct employment of workers conducting what were public sector contracts. In most cases, consortium partners have taken on Carillion employees to perform specific contracts or substitute providers were found. Workers employed on social housing main-

Thousands of workers face uncertainty

tenance contracts for the NI Housing Executive were transferred to French company Engie.

Those Carillion workers employed on their private sector

UCU strikes rattle university bosses

By Kevin Henry

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nLy twO days into 14 days of planned strike action by academic staff in Queen's university, the university of ulster and 59 universities across Britain and the front page headline of the times ran “university chiefs split as strikes cause chaos!” some university bosses went so far as to publicly criticise the plans to scrap defined benefit pensions and declared support for the strike.

88% of UCU members voted for action on a turnout of 58% - that’s the largest turnout the University and College Union (UCU) has ever recorded in a national ballot and reflects massive anger at this attack on their pensions, which would mean the average lecturer will be around £200,000 worse off in retirement. Most staff will lose 50% or more of their pension. The Pension Regulator has claimed that the fund is in deficit but research commissioned by UCU shows the pension fund is in fact in surplus. The employers refuse point-blank to consider increasing their contributions!

The strength of the strike shows that university workers have had enough of marketisation and pri-

Lecturers resist assault on pensions

vatisation. This strike is primarily about saving pensions, but it expresses anger at real pay cuts of 18% over the last decade, the largest gender pay gap in universities in the Western world and increasing casualisation and attacks on conditions. For most university workers, particularly the low-paid and casualised, there is a feeling that they have been pushed too far.

Channel 4's Dispatches has

revealed that university ViceChancellors have claimed an astonishing £8 million in ‘expenses’. The Vice-Chancellor at Queen's University receives a salary of £327,000 and their equivalent at the University of Ulster is not far behind on £311,000. Meanwhile, the Chief Executive of the lecturers' pension scheme received a 17% payrise worth an extra £82,000 this year.

The strike at Queen's has been strong, with lively rallies and a regular Alternative University where the striking staff give lectures in the nearby Crescent Arts Centre, open to the public. Despite the media's attempts to divide, the strikers have been widely supported by students, with a YouGov poll showing just 2% blaming staff for the strikes but over 50% blaming management.

As we go to press, Universities UK bosses have been forced to go into formal arbitration with the union. The strike should be an inspiration to other public sector workers who have been subjected to similar attacks. The trade union leaderships should give a lead to these workers and prepare for coordinated action to defend pensions and win pay increases across the public sector.

contracts have been less lucky: to date, 1,400 Carillion staff have been made redundant – with little prospect of accessing anything more than statutory redundancy

payments.

Capita – another public sector outsourcing specialist performing a variety of formerly public services, primarily in call centres – has also issued very hefty profit warnings and appears to be in trouble, but it is not alone. Other public sector contractors showing significant losses include Interserve, Serco and Mitie.

The outsourcing agenda has been exposed – there is no ‘risk transfer’ to the private sector.

Where these operators go down, the responsibility remains with the public sector. Like Private Finance Initiatives in public sector construction, the practice of outsourcing public service delivery to private operators is now exposed as nothing less than an ideologicallydriven agenda to enrich the ‘connected’ business elite at the expense of workers and the general public alike.

SHORTCUTS Broad Left wins victory in NIPSA In public sector union NIPSA, the Broad Left – in which Socialist Party members participate – has won an increased majority on the union's General Council, taking 23 out of 25 seats. The left now has a majority on all the union's Executive bodies and hold all elected lay officer positions.

This is an endorsement of the Broad Left's leadership, which has seen NIPSA come to the fore in resisting austerity across the board. NIPSA Broad Left will use this strengthened position to further develop the fightback and deliver for the union's members with a fighting and democratic approach.

Party in England – has been elected President of retail workers' union USDAW. This represents an important breakthrough for the left in a union which, at a leadership level, has embraced 'partnership' with the bosses and overseen significant cuts to members' conditions in recent years. Amy is committed to fighting for a £10 minimum wage, the abolition of zero-hour contracts and to support workers who want to stand up to the bosses.

Socialist elected USDAW President Amy Murphy – a Tesco worker and member of the Socialist

Amy Murphy, Tesco worker

news

Bombardier victory shows workers' power

feature

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March 2018

THE SOC

The real lessons of the civil rights movement another, to the Provisionals. Only Militant argued from the outset that the IRA’s strategy was a dead end, which had no possibility of defeating the British state and would only waste the energy and lives of thousands of young Catholics and deepen sectarian division. The IRA campaign inevitably failed in its objectives.

By Ciaran Mulholland

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PuBLIc row has erupted since sinn Féin national chairman Declan kearney claimed, in a series of newspaper articles in early February, that republican activists played the pre-eminent role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. he has been challenged by prominent members of the sDLP such as Alban Maginness and Bríd Rodgers, and by left civil rights activists Eamonn Mccann and Bernadette McAliskey. the history of the civil rights movement matters, and has lessons for today.

It is half a century since the few brief months in 1968 and 1969 when Northern Ireland changed forever. A chain of events mobilised tens of thousands in a mass movement which challenged the Unionist government and briefly posed the possibility of a revolutionary transformation of society. Young people in particular rejected the old ways of doing things, not just the misrule of the Unionist Party but also the deadening conservatism of the equally sectarian Nationalist Party. Many turned to the left and the ideas of socialism, seeking a way forward in the struggle for civil rights, against sectarianism, and for a better life free from poverty and unemployment.

Republican movement marginalised It is very important for the republican movement to claim a central role in the civil rights movement, and to claim that the offensive military campaign that it launched from 1970 onwards was inevitable and justified. Unfortunately for republicanism, history is not on their side.

Prominent republicans were certainly involved in the launch of the Civil Rights Association in 1967, and were present at all of the key events thereafter. There were many others involved, however, from a range of political backgrounds. It is also important to consider why republicans went down this road. In fact, the involvement of republicans in the movement arose from the defeat of the 1956-1962 Border Campaign which had left republicanism demoralised and directionless. The idea that an armed campaign would ever reverse partition was seemingly dead. Few young people looked to the republican movement as a force capable of changing society.

Negative influence of Stalinism The republican movement reorganised and came more and more under the influence of individuals who were either members of or closely associated with the Communist Party (CP). The idea that change in Ireland would only come about in two stages – first, erase the border by building a broad movement of all those opposed to partition, and only then fight for socialist change – was adopted by the leadership under the influence of Stalinist ideas.

This Stalinist position meant

Protestant and Catholic workers could have been united in struggle

that the CP members and republicans in NICRA argued for “unity” with Catholic businessmen and right-wing nationalists – the same individuals who would go on to found the SDLP – in order to achieve reforms. Any mention of socialism was ruled out in order to maintain this broad unity. This approach narrowed the base of the movement disastrously, converting it from one which could draw on support from the entire working class – by combining opposition to sectarian discrimination with socialist policies to challenge poverty in all communities – into one which could only find an echo among Catholics.

Global revolt radicalises youth All this at a time when international events were having a profound effect in the North. From the late 1950s, the black civil rights movement convulsed the United States and, in the “long hot summer of 1967”, riots tore dozens of cities apart as the downtrodden rose up in revolt. The year of 1968 was dominated above all by the May “events” in France. A general strike of ten million workers demonstrated the tremendous power of the working class and President de Gaulle fled the country, openly voicing his fear that the game was up for capitalism.

Labour movement leaders fail to seize opportunity Young people were moving to the left at the same time that the majority of civil rights leaders were desperate to maintain a united front with right-wing, Catholic businessmen. There was a real opportunity for profound, positive change but this opportunity was squandered.

The leadership of the trade unions, the Northern Ireland Labour Party and other left forces could have provided an alternative strategy and built a movement which took up class issues and drew support from both Catholic and Protestant working-class people. These forces had a mass base and huge authority in

both Protestant and Catholic working-class communities. Had they placed the workers' movement at the head of the fight for civil rights and put forward a programme for socialist change, it would have gained a massive response. They did not rise to the challenge.

Instead, the sectarian forces were able to fill the vacuum. Tension mounted, violence exploded on to the streets in August 1969, and troops were deployed in Derry and Belfast.

It seemed to young Catholics that there was no way forward. Many of the generation of Catholic youth who had come behind the civil rights movement went on to join republican paramilitary groups. By early 1971, the Provisional IRA were engaged in the offensive campaign which was to last for a generation.

Socialists hold the line The handful of socialist activists who were organised in the Militant group, the forerunner of the Socialist Party in Ireland, kept their bearings at this time. Militant took a clear and independent class position from the first. The headline of the September 1969 issue of the Militant newspaper demanded the withdrawal of the troops and called for an armed, trade union defence force to protect all workers. An article analysing the situation warned: “The call made for the entry of British troops will turn to vinegar in the mouths of some of the civil rights leaders. The troops have been sent to impose a solution in the interests of British and Ulster big business”. The call for a trade union defence force was not an abstract slogan, removed from the reality of the time. The actions of working-class people had prevented violence spreading in August 1969 and an organised trade union defence force would have formalised, solidified and strengthened this instinctive reaction. It would have allowed both central co-ordination and democratic structures to be put in place.

IRA campaign a dead end Most IRA volunteers believed they were fighting for a socialist, united Ireland. They were motivated by the conditions they lived in – in reaction to sectarian discrimination, endemic poverty and chronic unemployment. They were angry about the vicious repression meted out by the state. They wanted to hit back and they could see no other way in which to do so. Many on the left were politically disorientated and confused by events, and lent their support, to one degree or

Lessons for today Now, the peace process has failed to deliver for working-class and young people, whatever their background.

It has failed to overcome the underlying causes of conflict because, under capitalism, genuine peace and real economic advancement for working people are not possible.

Instead, sectarian forces with a vested interest in maintaining division have solidified their dominance and, in some ways, our communities are more divided than ever.

Today, although sectarian parties seem to be absolutely dominant, very many workers and young people are consciously antisectarian and detest the Orange and Green establishment. There is anger against the Stormont parties' role in implementing austerity and a brewing revolt against their conservative positions on marriage equality and abortion rights.

Important layers are again being radicalised by events outside Northern Ireland, like the rise of Corbyn in Britain, which has put discussion about socialism back on the agenda. Those workers and young people seeking the challenge the status quo will gain by learning from the history of the 1960s, when society could have moved in a very different direction.

NeW Book:

Common History, Common Struggle Lessons from the 1960s –

When Workers’ Unity & Socialism Challenged Unionism & Nationalism

By Peter Hadden

More info: www.socialistpartyni.org info@socialistpartyni.org “It WAS the sectarian forces which came out on top after 1969 and it is their version of events which predominates today. there was nothing inevitable about the rise of sectarianism after 1968. Quite the reverse.” – Peter Hadden In Common History, Common Struggle Peter Hadden demonstrates that the Troubles were not inevitable. Fifty years of bloodshed and sectarian conflict could have been avoided.

Internationally the sixties was a decade of revolution and struggle for social and economic change. In Northern Ireland the conditions existed for a united movement of Protestant and Catholic working class people to challenge capitalism and sectarianism. A socialist future free from sectarian division and poverty was within reach.

Peter Hadden wrote this book for the new generation of young people who are preparing to challenge today’s Orange and Green sectarian politicians and to struggle for socialism.

Herald Books is publishing Common History, Common Struggle as the fiftieth anniversary of the historic events of 1968 approaches to make his unique ideas available to as wide an audience as possible.

March 2018

CIALIST

The Ulster Rugby rape trial:

By Eleanor Crossey Malone

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uRIng thE trial in which ulster and Ireland rugby players are accused of raping a young woman at a party, there has been fury at many of the comments made by the defence in court. when the young woman told the court she had consented to a kiss from Paddy jackson but had not given consent to anything else, the defence barrister accused her of “teasing” jackson, and asked her, "if you didn't like him, why were you kissing him in his bedroom?"

Such comments point to the prevalence of rape culture and victim-blaming in society: the idea that the victim must have done something to diminish the attacker’s responsibility for their own actions. But many are disgusted by the treatment that the young woman has received, and completely reject this absolutely medieval and innately sexist idea.

Most of the capitalist media has been complicit in the aims of the defence, and of creating a slant that plays on backward ideas about women in wider society. Some papers have described in detail the style and colour of the clothes and underwear that the young woman was wearing on the night of the incident.

It doesn’t matter what she was wearing, or that she consented to a kiss, or looked at him; none of these things are equal to consent to sex.

We must absolutely reject all

By Lucy Marron

The #MeToo movement has exposed prevalence of sexual harassment

attempts to paint any victim as responsible for their attack, and we must not tolerate it within the legal system. The courts have demonstrated in many cases that, in a society shot through with systemic oppression, they fail to act as houses of justice, but rather represent the most conservative ideas in society and defend the powerful. Many rape victims, most frequently women, are reluctant to report sexual violence to the police – as the young woman initially was in this case – because of the disbelief and suspicion they are treated with.

The trial is taking place in the context of people and particularly

younger women becoming increasingly unwilling to accept sexism in any form. The #MeToo movement on social media exposed not only the scale of sexual violence, harassment and abuse in society, but also the unwillingness of many victims to stay silent. #MeToo exposed many high-profile instances of abuse in Hollywood – similar revelations have also come out of Westminster, the seat of British capitalism – but it also shows the extent to which sexism, objectification and rape culture permeate everyday life for ordinary people, particularly women. It makes clear that the status quo is unacceptable.

The movement in the south for Repeal of the anti-abortion Eighth Amendment, and the upcoming referendum, are major events on the world stage for women’s rights. Not only have they shone a light on the lack of reproductive rights in Ireland, but they have exposed the systemic nature of sexism and oppression, written into the Irish constitution, and have led people to question backward attitudes towards women’s sexuality and roles in society, which play a part in ideologically justifying church and state control over the choices of women and pregnant people.

100 years after suffrage: Lessons for women's struggles today

Sylvia Pankhurst: "I am going to fight capitalism, even if it kills me"

By Amy Ferguson

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hIs yEAR marks the centenary of the first women in Britain and Ireland winning the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

The political establishment and right-wing propaganda have been celebrating the introduction of the 1918 Representation of the People Act. But it cannot be forgotten that this Act was a deeply classist compromise, and aimed only to enfranchise a small number of propertyowning women from the privileged

elite in society, whilst simultaneously ignoring millions of ordinary working-class women.

It took years of struggle and the largest mobilisation of women in Britain's history to achieve this partial victory. Around the world today, from #MeToo to Repeal the Eighth, women have once more taken a stand and said, ‘enough is enough’. It is time to demand the right to abortion and control of our own bodies, the end of sexual harassment and violence at work and at home, and the end of austerity and cuts to women's services.

With the potential for a new mass women’s movement on the horizon, we must remember the invaluable lessons that can be learnt from the suffragettes, from their methods of struggle and their ideology, which arose out of the different class interests of those involved in the movement.

Whilst many of the national leaders of the movement limited their demand to votes for women on equal terms with male voters, discriminating on the basis of class, many of its rank-and-file activists, especially in working-class indus-

trial areas, demanded nothing less than votes for all women, and all men too.

These women were known as the radical suffragists, both because of their methods and their programme. They saw the vote not as an abstract democratic right but a tool which they could use to challenge the terrible social conditions and inequality they faced. They protested loudly and often, they were associated with trade unions and left-wing movements, and they criticised the elitist political establishment. As a result, they were continually criticised in the press, harassed, and arrested.

Now, look at today, at the contempt and the irony with which the political elite and the right-wing press sneer at modern day activist movements – the way they smear Jeremy Corbyn, whose policies are moderate and social-democratic in historic terms, as an extremist. Yet Corbyn’s militancy is far from suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst's assertion: “I am going to fight capitalism even if it kills me".

The lesson we can learn from the suffragettes is clear. We cannot expect to secure what is owed to us through powerful elites generously choosing to improve things on our behalf. We need a radical, grassroots movement from below, a movement that goes beyond polite lobbying, to demand that our voices are heard, that are needs are met and that we secure the rights to our own bodies and our own labour.

FROm A young age, I was brought up with the sense of an ‘other’. Protestants were different, and that’s why we avoided their areas, why we went to different schools and why there was conflict. I accepted this as ‘just the way it is’.

However, as I grew up, I made friends from the Protestant community and what I found was a collective viewpoint that the division between Catholics and Protestants is totally futile.

It made me wonder why Northern Irish society continues to be so divided when so many seemed to be indifferent to religious background. The recent election. in particular, which has been the most divisive since the Good Friday Agreement, made me realise that continuing with this Green-Orange mindset will solve no issues.

Capitalism divides and conquers. By driving a bridge between two sides of Northern Irish society, we are easier to control. To support capitalism is to support a sectarian society which allows the problems of the working class to continue unceasingly. Having thought about this, I wondered what I could do. Before, as a Catholic, I thought a united Ireland was the solution, not for any particular reason, purely because that’s what I felt I had to think, as a Catholic. However, after a year of government collapse, failing talks between the two sectarian blocs and the evergrowing atmosphere of political mistrust which permeates Northern Irish society, I came to the realisation that the only way to combat capitalism and sectarianism in Northern Ireland is to fight for socialism.

The only party that offers this is the Socialist Party.

They represent the only genuinely cross-community, socialist alternative in Northern Ireland and so, wishing to be part of the solution to this problem, I felt obligated to become politically active for the first time. I joined the party because I feel the only way to solve the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland is through the unity of the Protestant and Catholic working class in a battle for socialism.

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5

March 2018

6

THE SOCIALIST

news

young workers fighting for their future

New generation standing up Boojum worker speaks out A Boojum worker spoke to The Socialist about conditions in their workplace and their campaign to organise for change alongside Unite.

Demand for £10 minimum wage growing

By Neil Moore, Chair, Irish Youth Committee, Unite

y

Oung AnD precarious workers across Britain and Ireland are getting organised. small but successful campaigns - such as the McDonald's strike, #Betterthanzero in scotland and unite the union’s Fair hospitality initiative – have begun to rebuild a fighting trade union consciousness among young people which had been lost by decades of inaction by the majority of union leaderships.

Less than a year ago, points about the need to fight for better pay and conditions would have fallen on deaf ears in my own workplace. A £10 minimum wage was seen as unrealistic and banning zero-hour contracts was a good idea but “not gonna happen”. Now, this has changed in the context of workers increasingly winning disputes and a new political confidence reflecting the impact of Corbyn's support for these policies.

Workers face huge challenges in organising because of the conditions in hospitality. The mass implementation of zero-hour contracts mean sacking staff is all too

easy for bosses. A director of Boojum, a chain of burrito bars, told one employee: “Anyone in a union will be gone within a month.” In face of this, workers have continued to organise in Boojum. The very threat of a union entering the workplace has already forced management to make concessions, such as promising to end the practice of ‘burn-books' – used instead of proper disciplinary procedures – and a guarantee that unpaid hours spent cleaning would be backpaid. There is clearly more than can be won in this campaign, and when news of this small victory spreads amongst hospitality workers in Belfast, it will certainly inspire more to get organised.

Hospitality is our fourth largest industry, worth more than £60 billion a year – yet workers are constantly pushed to do more work for less pay. Basic demands for proper paid breaks, a real living wage, minimum-hour contracts and union rights barely dent the bosses' profits, yet they are determined to squeeze everypennyoutoftheirworkers.Itis becoming clear to most workers that theindustrycannotgoonlikethisand that by joining a union and actively organising, we can win.

Burrito chain workers are organising against exploitation

WHEN yOU walk through Boojum's doors, you’re greeted by friendly staff with big smiles and high energy. you see the guy at the till having the craic with his co-workers and think this must be a great place to work. you may ask yourself, how hard can it be to roll burritos for a living?

I have worked for Boojum for a number of years and have seen working conditions decline. Staff are regularly unpaid for hours they do past closing time of 11pm, many don’t get the breaks that they’re entitled to, tips are used for shortages in the tills, sexual harassment is rife, pay scales have disappeared and our hourly pay-rate doesn’t reflect the growing demands of

the job. I’ve suffered numerous panic attacks and have witnessed many other staff members crumble under the pressures Boojum places on their workers.

A friend in hospitality argued that I’d be better off in McDonald's as they’d just won a pay-rise and it was due to the collective action taken by workers with the help and guidance of a union. I thought we at Boojum could take similar action and contacted the union.

Since Unite and Boojum workers started our campaign, the number of active members has grown and we’re slowly gaining concessions. We used to feel powerless, but now we feel empowered.

Derry Girls: Laughter and tears of working-class life during Troubles

By Courtney Robinson

I

t’s FAIR to say that the channel 4 hit Derry girls, which was commissioned for a second series after its first episode, had us all in laughter and tears by the end of it. the series is set in Derry, a “troubled little corner of the world” as Erin puts it, with the backdrop of the troubles. It follows a group of teenage girls and a “wee English fella” as they grapple with teenage angst and all the fun that comes along with it in the context of sectarian conflict and steeped in nineties nostalgia.

Whilst there are of course lots of exaggerations, everyone could relate to at least one of the characters. The no-nonsense Ma who just point-blank refuses to do a half load of washing because it’s against her beliefs, Clare who is revealed as the “wee lesbian” or Granda Joe who, after having his driving license revoked, proclaimed his only crime was being born a Catholic. There’s Aunt Sarah who complains about missing sunbed appointments thanks to bomb scares and “the wee English fella” who goes to their

Critically-acclaimed comedy the most popular show ever in NI

all-girls school as his family are afraid his accent will make him a target in the Christian Brothers.

The series came to a poignant end with the gang getting up on stage in school to support their friend Orla whilst she makes an absolute eejit of herself performing step aerobics to Madonna whilst the rest of the family are at home looking at the TV in horror at yet another atrocity.

Writer Lisa Magee said, “I have to at some point show that there were

times when it floored you”.

Whilst everyday life did go on for the vast majority of people and things like bomb scares became normalised, there were events that acted like turning points when people just said this absolutely has to come to an end – events like the murder of five Catholics in a bookies on the Ormeau Road, when workingclass people responded with protests of several thousand

strong on the Ormeau Bridge and a lunchtime rally of 20,000 in the city centre. Or when trade unionists led strikes and demonstrations in the wake of the IRA's sectarian massacre at Kingsmill.

When sectarian forces try to drag us back to the horros of the past, working-class people, Protestant and Catholic, must stand united in their workplaces and communities and declare with one voice – No going back!

Mental health crisis: symptom of a sick society

By Joe McAtamney WItH ONe in four people worldwide experiencing a mental health problem at some point in their life, mental illness can be arguably be described as an epidemic. Northern Ireland is effected significantly, with the highest rate of suicide in the UK. more have died through suicide here since the Good Friday Agreement than there were people killed during the troubles.

These figures coincide with cuts to funding to the NHS, especially to mental health services. With a cut of £105 million from the mental health budget since 2012, services are under constant strain. As a result, waiting lists for mental health counselling services or even a GP visit can take weeks to months. Patients are often referred to services an impractical distance from their homes. The blame for this complete disregard for human health lies not only with the Conservative Party’s drive for cuts and privatisation but also with the Stormont establishment parties, who shamefully implemented these attacks over the last decade.

Those hit hardest are the younger generations.

Although mainstream commentators focus the blame on social media and exam pressures, the causes are in fact more far-reaching. Austerity has left many young people with no other choice than low-paid jobs on zero-hour contracts, which brings along with it huge insecurity and limited rights. Sectarian division, which the Stormont establishment parties thrive on, still effects the lives of young people today. Minority groups are disproportionately effected. For example, LGBTQ+ people are twice as likely to experience a mental illness due to the stigma towards them promoted by dinosaur politicians and conservative religious groups.

All in all, young people see very little future in Northern Ireland or within this society as a whole. Mental ill-health within capitalism isn’t a new problem; however, the trend is only getting worse, with 1 in 2 in my generation set to have a mental illness at some point in their life. Funding is urgently needed to meet these immediate needs.

However, the real blame needs to be placed on capitalism and its need to drive workers and young people into the ground. Thus, the only solution is a societal change, and a struggle for a future free from poverty and isolation – a struggle for socialism.

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March 2018

THE SOCIALIST

By Christopher Stewart

A

FtER thE horrific Parkland shooting that claimed the lives of 17 young people, high school students across the us are standing up to the arms industry and the politicians who do their bidding. calls for gun reform, biting criticism of politicians in the pocket of the national Rifle Association (nRA) and planned school walkouts are proof that the new generation is sick of the torrent of mass shootings seen in recent years, and the blatant corruption of us politicians. Mass shootings like this are only the tip of the iceberg of America's extremely high violent crime rates.

Socialists are opposed to the agenda of the arms industry and the right-wing gun lobby. The NRA, in reality, is a corporate lobbying group. Despite its claims to protect people’s gun rights, the NRA sup-

ported racist legislation which prevented black people from accessing guns during the civil rights revolt.

While there can be legitimate reasons why people wish to own guns, Socialist Alternative – the Socialist Party's US sister group – supports reasonable limits on the type of firearms available, calls for mandatory background checks and restrictions on people with a history of violence and threats of violence accessing guns. This is clearly in the interests of the American people.

However, socialists also reject the idea that the state has the right to or can be trusted with a monopoly on access to arms. The ongoing effort of the US state to militarise the police force poses a threat to ordinary people. In recent years, protesters against police brutality have been attacked with tear gas, assault weapons and armoured vehicles at Ferguson and

Young people challenging the corporate gun lobby

Syria: Conflict moves onto new fronts Imperialist ambitions cause untold suffering

Predictions the war 'coming to an end' unjustified

By Oisin McKeown

A

MAttER of months ago, various imperialist powers, through their mouthpieces in the media, were claiming victory over IsIs in syria and Iraq, saying that this marked the beginning of the end of the war in syria and that stability would soon return. however, the conflict has simply moved onto new fronts, with renewed death and suffering for ordinary people.

Assad’s forces have resumed their bombing of eastern Ghouta whilst the Turkish state continues its racist offensive against Kurdish forces in Afrin. The various powers at war in Syria compete against each other for influence and control in the region. Imperialist conflict and the horrors of war are inevitable under capitalism.

The Turkish regime entered the Syrian conflict under the pretext of

a fight against ISIS and radical Islamic groups. In reality, Turkey’s key aim has been to crush Kurdish forces like the YPG, who have been to the forefront in the fight against ISIS. President Erdogan’s real fear is that Kurds within the Turkish state will be radicalised by the YPG’s fight for self-determination.

Turkish capitalism fears the destabilising effect a movement for independence would have and is prepared to drown these sentiments in blood.

Assad’s forces now feel they have the upper hand in this conflict. With the military assistance of Russia, they now hold all key urban areas in Syria. In light of this, compromise with anti-government forces seems unlikely and the bombing campaign in eastern Ghouta seems set to continue.

The atrocities that are being carried out by both pro- and antigovernment forces are an indict-

ment of their interests; ordinary people are dispensable in this vicious war between different national and sectarian capitalist elites. No matter which of these forces comes out on top, ultimately the losers will be working-class people in Syria.

The only way out of this chaos that avoids the barbarism of the various contending forces is to build a united movement of the working-class across Syria and the region. Even under such dire conditions, the hope for such movements is not lost. The recent, heroic struggles of the Iranian working class show how, even under the most repressive of regimes, these movements can break out. An independent movement with a socialist programme could unite the poor masses against the self-interested elites in a struggle against barbarism, poverty and imperialist domination.

Baltimore. Given the US state's history of attacks on unions, the civil rights movement and recent examples of state violence against innocent black people, it's clear that the state is not neutral in the battle between the 1% and the 99% Gun control measures alone will not solve the problem of violent crime. Poverty and alienation, along with an establishment which consistently promotes right-wing individualism, have created an often uncaring society where collective solidarity is undermined. The shooter in Parkland, as many school shooters before him, was identified by friends, family, teachers and child welfare agencies as being someone who needed help from an early age, help he never received.

Violent crime and the social ills in which it breeds can only be fundamentally tackled by a movement which challenges the rotten capitalist system itself.

International solidarity wins victories Ali Feruz freed from Russian prison

workers' movement internationally must raise awareness of this repression and demand its end.

Journalist, trade unionist and LGBT+ rights campaigner Ali Feruz has been released from prison in Russia after a sixmonth campaign of solidarity.

After helping to expose brutality against gay men in Chechnya, which was tolerated by the Russian government, Ali was arrested on bogus grounds and threatened with deportation to Uzbekistan, the country of his birth where he had already suffered horrific torture at the hands of the state for highlighting government corruption.

Socialist Alternative in Russia and the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) – to which the Socialist Party is affiliated – helped organise international protests to demand Ali's freedom. Finally, he has been released and he and his partner have been granted asylum in Germany.

Free Zahid Baloch!

Action needed!

Sudan: Mohamed Satti released Sudanese socialist Mohamed Satti was one of hundreds of activists arrested as part of a wave of government repression following protests sparked by food price hikes in the country.

Initially, his family was denied the right to visit him or even to know where he was being held.

However, an international solidarity campaign spearheaded by socialists in the CWI put the regime under pressure and made it a liability to keep him imprisoned. After two weeks, Mohamed Satti was released.

However, hundreds of political prisoners remain in custody. The

In Sweden, political refugee and torture survivor Zahid Baloch – a member of the Socialist Justice Party – has been arrested for breaking EU asylum regulations and is threatened with deportation. Zahid suffered horrific physical and sexual assault at the hands of the military in Pakistan, which has left him traumatised and physically ill.

His case is well documented and has been discussed at the UN Human Rights Commission.

Having been denied asylum in Norway, Zahid moved to Sweden where has settled and made a life for himself, becoming active in community life.

Arrested under a state clampdown on 'illegal' immigration, he is now threatened with deportation to Norway and then potentially to Pakistan, where he would face further violence or even death. Members of his family have been killed by the state and others continue to face harassment.

Send messages demanding no deportation, Zahid's release and his right to asylum in Sweden to: Swedish Migration Board: migrationsverket @migrationsverket.se Swedish Minister of Migration: justitiedepartementet.registrator @regeringskansliet.se Socialist Justice Party: rs.gbg@socialisterna.org

international

US: School shooting sparks protests for gun control

PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

ISSUE 107

NHS: SOS Mass health protests must only be start of fightback

By Pat Lawlor, NIPSA Belfast Health Branch (personal capacity) EcEnt MOnths have seen the worst winter health crisis for a R generation. health workers, trade

unions and health campaigners have been giving dire warnings that this was the inevitable outcome of year-on-year funding cuts to jobs and services.

Since October 2017, A&E waiting times across Northern Ireland have been the worst across the UK. A major BBC investigation has shown that all major targets for emergency

care have been missed for almost 10 years. The target to be seen within four hours has never been met and waiting times have continued to deteriorate. Leading health professionals have lambasted this performance.

Lives put at risk The crisis is not limited to emergency care. Over 270,000 people in Northern Ireland are currently on waiting lists for outpatient appointments, a 10% increase in a year. Over 80,000 of those have waited more than a year for their first appointment. People are being left suffering

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and lives are being put at risk.

Research by the British Medical Journal, November 2017, states that the "squeeze on public finances since 2010 is linked to nearly 120,000 excess deaths in England". There is no doubt the same is true in Northern Ireland. It is not a coincidence this has occurred during the same period our health budget locally has been robbed of £100 million, with recruitment freezes, bed closures and service cuts. tens of thousands demonstrate It was during this winter maelstrom that my trade union, NIPSA, decided

to join the day of action on Saturday 3 February to demand action to end the crisis in our NHS, called by Health Campaigns Together and the People's Assembly. Unite also backed local protests. On the day, hundreds took to the streets in Belfast and Enniskillen, standing shoulder to shoulder with the tens of thousands who marched in London and took part in over 50 protests across Britain.

Unfortunately, the leadership in the other key health union, Unison, refused to support the protests without explanation. If Unison and the

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Irish Congress of Trade Unions had fully endorsed the demonstrations, a bigger impact could have been made.

Build the fightback!

We must not lose momentum. We must make 3 February a turning point into building a real mass campaign to save our health service.

NIPSA, with a strong left majority on all its executive committees, will play its part. But we need the whole trade union movement fully engaged in every workplace, town and village across Northern Ireland. We must begin now.

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