Unions and smartphones: Time to get it right
In recent weeks, I’ve gotten a few requests for information about a survey LabourStart did a couple of years ago. It’s odd because we’ve not done anything to publicize this. So I asked one of…
Solidarity
Welcoming China’s unions back into the family?
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity. At the end of March, the International Labour Organisation’s Bureau for Workers Activities (known as ILO-ACTRAV) and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) signed a…
Should male circumcision be banned? A socialist view
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity and is a response to this article by Camilla Bassi. Camilla Bassi’s “basic socialist demands” regarding male circumcision have no foundation in Marxist tradition, give legitimacy…
Turkish trade unionists on trial
I was in Istanbul for three days last week to attend the opening of the trial of Turkish trade union leaders. My articles on what I saw have begun appearing in a number of places:…
North Korea’s Great Terror
The downfall of Chang Song-thaek, once considered the second most powerful person in North Korea, is a lesson in history for a new generation – and not only in Korea. The parallels to Soviet history…
Why the left should have nothing to do with Russia Today
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity. Thom Hartmann is a prominent left-wing radio broadcaster from the USA. I first came across him when he interviewed me at a conference in Washington and…
Railway workers win in Georgia
This article appeared this week in Solidarity. Over the course of two days earlier this month, a drama played on the Georgian railways that showed the labour movement at its best. This has not always…
Stalin’s Great Secret?
This article appears in Solidarity – please post any comments there. This summer marks the hundredth anniversary of the drafting of a letter which revealed one of history’s greatest secrets. Or maybe not. The…
How fair is Fairphone?
I recently attended the London launch of Fairphone — “a seriously cool smartphone that puts social values first”. Fairphone is a Dutch initiative to create an alternative to the decidely “unfair” phones that are being…
From Tahrir to Taksim
This article appeared in Solidarity and Talking Union. I was talking the other day to an educated and informed American and mentioned that I’d spent a lot of time recently working on building support for…