Double success

Last weekend saw a tremendous success for the Socialist Alliance in the form of its trade union conference. Ideas outlined in this paper, dismissed initially as barmy and unviable, like, for instance, that of a Socialist Alliance rail fraction producing its own rank-and -file bulletin, began to find acceptance as ‘common sense’.

All of which underlines the important role that the Weekly Worker continues to have as the best partisan of the alliance and the SA’s development as a democratic and effective force. It is therefore doubly pleasing that after my despondency of last week our readers have rallied to the cause. Our thanks to comrades HG (£50), JK (£25), DM (£20), MG (£15) and FT and PH with £10 apiece.

This pushes up our total for the month to £300 exactly. A nice round sum, but there is now only a week left to achieve our monthly £450 target. It is within striking distance, comrades, so please don’t slack off - one final push and we’ll be over the top. Let’s make it a double success.

Robbie Rix

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Number 424

Thursday March 21 2002

The Weekly Worker is available from bookshops across the United Kingdom or can be delivered direct to your door by completing our online subscription form.

Democratise the political funds
Peter Manson welcomes the outcome of this weekends SA trade union conference

Letters
Soiled symbols; Building victory; Changing Beds; Numbers game; ISO crime; Sponge debate

Airbrushed out
Hackney Socialist Alliance has blocked Anne Mc Shane's describing herself as a member of the CPGB in her election publicity. She calls on democrats to defend her right

Welcome to Planet Taaffe
Frank Lore takes a swipe at the Socialist Party in England and Wales

Consitutional and class struggles
Should communists be indifferent to constitutions under capitalism? Examining the examples of the EU and the USA, Jack Conrad argues that they should actively intervene

Barcelona summit: Our alliance against theirs
James Mallory reports on the anti-capitalist demonstrations in Catalan capital

Voice for workers
Danny Hammill reviews Matt Wrack's Whose money is it anyway? - the case for democratising the trade union political funds

Socialist Alliance trade union conference

One of the notable features of Saturday’s Socialist Alliance trade union conference lay in the organisation of a series of workshops. Here could be seen our weaknesses and lack of direction, but also our enormous potential - if we begin to organise trade union fractions

• Rail: Vote for fraction
• Unison: Strategy absent
• Education: Motivate rank and file worker
• PCSU: Not too formal
• TGWU: Socialist caucus
• Amicus: First steps on a long march

'Proletarian' pedantry and self-contradiction
The unity of nations can only come about voluntarily, argues Ian Donovan

Refusenik testimony
Asaf Oron, a sergeant major in the Giv’ati Brigade, is one of the original 53 Israeli soldiers who signed the ‘Fighters’ letter’, declaring their refusal to serve in the occupied territories. This is an edited version of his statement to an often hostile Israeli public, which was translated by Ami Kronfeld of Jewish Peace News

Workers move on to the offensive
Eddie Ford reports on Zimbabwe's trade unions general strike call