cover Action Quarterly Covert Action Quarterlv
The Spring 1997 issue carries two stories that picture today's workplace: In "Captive labour: US business goes to jail," Paul Wright, a prisoner and editor of Prison Legal News, Seattle, explains how the use of prison labour in the US is growing as a way for corporations to harness cheap labour and for prisons to turn a profit.
And in "Labour slaps the smug new face of union busting, " David Bacon, a former union organiser, analyses the new union busters, "from goons to PR gurus, trom scabs to specialised law firms, " and the inventive ways some unions are fighting back. Back issues $8 in US, $10 Canada/Mexico, $12 elsewhere. Covert Action Publications Inc, 1500 Massachusetts Ave NW (#732), Washington DC 20005, phone (202) 331-9763, fax (202) 331-9751. Overworked and under-employed?
"Many Americans are both overworked and under-employed. Because of growing job instability, workers face a "feast and famine" cycle: They work as much as they can when work is available to compensate for short work weeks, temporary layoffs, or permanent job loss that may follow.
What's more, while American families as a whole are putting in more time, that work isn't producing significant increases in living standards.
For the typical two-breadwinner household, having both parents work longer hours may not mean an extra trip to Disney World or nicer clothes for school; more likely, it means keeping up car payments or just covering the costs of food and housing." "Unravelling an Economic Enigma: Overworked and Under-employed". , Barry Bluestone and Stephen Rose, in the March-April issue of American Prospect. Available online at: http://epn.org/prospect/31/31bluefs.html NetWorkin Tories choose LabourNet
What does a bored Tory party worker to do, as the house of cards collapses? Go to Soho to get roaring drunk, plan a business venture, tell friends he was never a Major man. Wrong. Today's Tory researcher sits at the screen, catching up on... LabourNet. By Apri 15th, research.conservative-party.org.uk had logged an impressive 170 hits on the LabourNet web site. They probably buy "The Big Issue" too.
It is not known how often Tony Blair's researchers check out the radical web site, to bring themselves up to date on
Liverpool Dockers and other the inspirational groups round the world.
www.labournet.org.uk
Roisin McAliskey
The Pat Finucane Centre in Derry has a web site in English, Spanish and
German about the Roisin campaign.
www.serve.com/pfc/rm.html www.serve.com/ofc/rm.html
36 International Viewpoint well read Avey complete review of the radical press Socialistisk Information
(in Danish) April issue includes: United action against the EU • Danish EuroMarch initiative • Trade union leaders abandon principle of wage solidarity in public sector contracts • NATO expansion • Fourth International IEC report Contact: Box 547, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark. eMail <[email protected]» Science & Society
Special issue on the 71 year history of the Communist Party of Great Britain, compiled by guest editor Kevin Morgan, who writes "what draws the new generation of historians to communism is not so much the older concerns with party lines and orders from Moscow, critical though such issues remain. Often obscured by such emphases, and by a prevailing anti-communism, is the CPGB's contribution to a native radical inheritance that is only now receiving its historical due. Contact: John Jay College, CUNY, 445 W 59th St, New York NY 10019, USA g Eric's site of the week
Eric Lee's eclectic, but useful "site of the week" service can be viewed at www.solinet.org/LEE/labour02.html
One recent winner is the Virtual Library hosted by the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam.
www.iisg.nl/~w3vl International Viewpoint
An page has been created at the site of Internationalen newspaper in Sweden.
www.internationalen.se/sp/ivp.htm
Our English listserv includes full contents of this magazine, and articles from our associated publications.
>> [email protected] EuroMarches
New French website, hosted by the people who run the EuroMarch listservs. Great links to unemployment sites. www.mygale.org/02/ras/marches97/marches.htm
Ernest Mandel Foundation Ernect Mandel Foundation About 85 people participated in the March 16th study day organised by the Ernest Mandel Foundation in Brussels. This was the first public event of the new Belgian foundation. "The aim is not to put up statues of Ernest Mandel," explains François Vercammen, the Foundation's Director. "But to bring together people from the different milieu Ernest influenced: academic, economic, militant, to discuss a series of theoretical and political questions." Although several of Mandel's comrades from the 4 International will play a role in the foundation, its identity and field of interests are much more diverse. According to Gabriel Maissin, President of the Foundation in the French-speaking parts of Belgium, "this is a criticalspirited, scientific undertaking. It will be pluralist and independent." Among other things, the foundation will gather as much documentation as possible concerning Mandel's life and work. The aim is not to establish "a Mandelist school," Maissin stressed, but "to make possible a critical, contradictory and collective appropriation of the results (of Mandel's work) and to stress the links between Mandel's work and so many of the themes and questions which have occupied social scientists." This first study day, for example, was opened by Els. Witte, Rector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB), the Dutch-speaking university where Ernest taught for many years. Witte noted that several of Mandel's students are now themselves professors at the VUB, and members of the new Foundation's support committee. She outlined the close collaboration between the VUB and the Foundation, which will include a research project to produce an annotated bibliography of Mandel's extensive writings. (JD/FV) Contact: Ernest Mandel Foundation, PO Box 139. 1000 Brussels-1, Belgium. Vive la revolution!
The 1997 International camp of youth organisations in solidarity with the Fourth International will take place from 19-25 July, near Clermont Ferrand in France's Massif Central.
The theme of the camp is "A breach in Fortress Europe" ". There will be five morning forums which will introduce an element of discussion of the different topics, as well as reflecting the concrete activity of the organising groups. There will also be 6 workshops per day around the theme of the day. Languages: French, Castilian, English, Dutch/Flemish, Danish, Polish, German, Italian, and Portuguese. Cost: depends on your country of residence: Britain 275, Greece 13,000 Drx, Sweden 1000 SEK. For more information, contact your local Fourth International group, or write to our Paris office.