ANDREW MURRAY surveys a quaking continent whose leaders have no idea how to respond to an openly contemptuous United States
‘There's no law on Earth that stops the government making sure seafarers are paid properly’
RMT assistant general secretary EDDIE DEMPSEY says a Labour government has the opportunity to protect mariners, renew our port towns and rebuild a once proud tradition of seafaring in this country
Based on his experience of Haringey Council Councillor MARK BLAKE believes only a radical policy rethink will reconnect councils with the alienated constituencies they are supposed to serve
Last week the CPUSA launched a new Rapid Response project aimed at mobilising a popular resistance to policies enacted by the new government. CAMERON HARRISON explains
FOR Eddie Dempsey, RMT’s assistant general secretary, the destruction of Britain’s maritime sector is an act of national self-harm — one the union is determined to reverse.
With Nautilus and the TUC, it’s working on a mandatory seafarers’ charter — not just to prevent more scandals like the illegal mass sacking of workers by P&O ferries two years ago, but to rebuild one of the country’s proudest working-class industries.
“My father was a deep sea sailor who sailed out of the port of London. There’s no more deep sea sailors in Britain. The people that are working in the maritime sector are retiring, there’s no training provided to bring new people in,” he told journalists on the fringes of a union rally last week.
More from this author
Long having been considered the ‘US’s backyard,’ Latin America is the crucible of anti-imperialist struggle – yet with the rise of China as an economic and ideological counterweight to Washington, we see a new phase of that struggle emerge, writes BEN CHACKO
BEN CHACKO appreciates the largest Adelante! conference yet, and how much there was to learn about decolonisation and defiance across Latin America and beyond
Similar stories
Seafaring is vital to our nation’s economy, but the industry has been allowed to diminish with a devastating impact on our port cities and coastal communities – a rejuvenation policy is urgently needed, argues MARK DICKINSON
