Labour movement history in Britain shows workers secured reforms through collective pressure and political representation, rather than being gifted from above, writes KEITH FLETT
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From Germany May 2 1933 to Odessa May 2 2014
There are parallels between these two pitch-black episodes of European history which should never be forgotten — and they should make those who wish to send yet more weapons to Ukraine think twice, writes KEITH BARLOW
MASSACRE: The Trade Unions House of Odessa, Ukraine, during the clashes on May 2, 2014
ROGER McKENZIE draws attention to the much-neglected oral traditions of the global South that define the identity – and therefore the liberation – of its custodians
Established as a landmark victory for the climate movement, the CCC promised to hold governments to account. Today, it is understating the danger of climate chaos and impeding the radical action needed, says IAN SINCLAIR
The real ‘humanitarian threat’ isn’t Cuba but the United States, where poverty, lack of healthcare and illiteracy abound, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
CLAUDIA WEBBE looks at how Britain’s Nato ally has upped the stakes in its effort to silence domestic dissenting voices
ON May 2 1933, exactly 91 years ago today, Hitler ordered the suppression of German trade unions and banned the German General Trade Union Federation, their central body.
He did so under the terms of the Reichstag Fire Decree passed immediately after the Reichstag fire on February 27 1933. The decree marked a key moment in the Nazi ascent to power and the suppression of any remaining opposition. Over the summer of 1933, labour leaders, especially members of the Communist and Social Democrat parties, were being rounded up for despatch to Dachau, the first concentration camp.
It is a date that we should remember today here in Britain as the legal assault on trade union freedoms becomes ever heavier. It is also a date that we should remember for another reason.
Exactly 10 years ago, on May 2 2014 — and exactly 81 years later, there was another attack on trade unionists. This was at the Trade Union Centre in Odessa.
Following the Nato-backed putsch against the elected Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych in early 2014, people worldwide were shocked to learn of what happened in Odessa.
With the police standing by, fascist-backed mobs made a brutal arson attack on the trade union house: 48 trade unionists were burned to death and over 200 were injured.
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