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 ‘Wildcat strikes’ have finally persuaded Ford’s overwhelmingly white management to do something about the racist practices, directed against black workers, that permeate its operation at Dagenham, Essex. According to theFinancial Timesof 23 October 1999,Fords were pioneers of equal opportunities:“Ford has in some ways been ahead of its time. The issue of equality of opportunity was … [Read more…]

 TheIndependentof 27 September reports that“Sweatshop labourers in some of Britain’s small garment factories are routinely paid less than the minimum wage but are too frightened to complain.”The National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades is bringing Tribunal cases on behalf of several Asian workers who are being paid wages as low as £1.50 an … [Read more…]

 The State Visit of Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, to Britain in October 1999 gave rise to enormous publicity for the imperialist-inspired ‘human rights’ protesters calling for Tibet’s independence from China on the grounds of China’s supposed oppression of the people of that region of China. As if to ensure that this motley handful of protesters … [Read more…]

 As Australian troops flying the banner of the United Nations landed in East Timor in September, with the permission of Indonesia, to put an end to the massacres being perpetrated by Indonesian troops and pro-Indonesian local militias on the innocent Timorese population, the question on everyone’s lips is: will the East Timorese people see freedom … [Read more…]

Declaration of the CC of the Russian Communist Workers’ Party (Victor Tyulkin) A series of terrorist outrages has started with the explosion in the commercial centre on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow. It was continued with the explosions in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk. They herald an escalation of what has been developing in … [Read more…]

 Do you know anyone who claimed asylum but was nevertheless prosecuted for using forged travel documents to enter the country?English courts routinely handed out 6-9 month prison sentences to refugees, even when they could prove they were fleeing torture and human rights abuse, and even when sole carers of small children, if they were caught … [Read more…]

 Contributed by Jef Bossuyt, Workers Party of Belgium (PTB). On October 7 the Chechen president Maskhadov sent a letter to the new Nato secretary-general George Robertson. The president of the rebellious Russian republic called upon him“to intervene in accordance with the new world order established by Nato”(1).Today 118,000 Chechens are fleeing from a war that started … [Read more…]

 Equatorial Guinea (EG) is a West African country, a former Spanish colony, about which we in Britain hear practically nothing. It was therefore a great pleasure to meet at the annual Fiesta of the Spanish Communist Party in Madrid (September 1999) representatives from that country’s progressive movement, who supplied us with interesting information about their … [Read more…]

 The October-November issue ofFRFI, the bi-monthly organ of the Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) carries a letter on its letter page by one Dean Porter under the titleDéjà vu.In it Mr Porter accuses Harpal Brar, the editor ofLalkar,of“plagiarism”and of having“lifted large chunks”of Trevor Rayne’s article inFRFIno. 145 on Labour’s military strategy and incorporated it into his … [Read more…]

A comment on the Indian General Election After five short-lived governments and three general elections in as many years, the Indian electorate (350 million of whom, representing 50% of the total eligible, went to the polls) have returned to office the 25-party National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Hindu revivalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with … [Read more…]