The inane race for the next US president is getting the usual widespread coverage here in Britain, Uncle Sam's unofficial 51st state. Hardly surprising, since all the main political parties (and most of the media) in Britain look to America for their economic and political direction.

New Labour have their policies overseen by Clintonite focus groupies. In Britain, as in America, the working class no longer matters. Both political parties are now exclusively fighting over the 'middle ground' and for the 'middle' votes. The trendy political scientists have decided that the working class no longer exists. The media are only too happy to ignore working class lifestyles and the problems we face. The working class is not news and doesn't sell papers.

The major political parties may tinker around the edges. The odd tax break here, a pathetic concessional minimum wage there. But no-one proposes the major change needed to start redressing the enormous and widening inequalities which have developed since Thatcherism. Fearing that any redistribution of wealth may upset big business and 'middle England' voters, New Labour assiduously courts the middle ground. The result is that the working class is at best an afterthought in the social, political and economic life of Britain.

How can the working class have 'disappeared' overnight? The largest single group of workers in Britain today is domestic cleaners. The government's own Dept. of Employment estimates there are over 800,000 people cleaning for a living. This doesn't include the army of mainly women who are forced to scrape a living cleaning for cash in the black economy.

Economists both here and in the US estimate that in the first years of the new century, the occupations which will offer the most new jobs will be cleaners, cashiers, caretakers, security guards/attendants, care workers and waiters/waitresses. Hardly the upwardly mobile high-flying middle class professions that New Labour and the media would prefer to go on about.

In the last two decades, the working class have experienced lower incomes in real terms, longer hours at work, less and less protection from unions and government regulations, and increasingly run-down schools, housing and health care.

The reality is that the working class still very much makes up the massive majority of the population. The working class has not disappeared, rather, it is the power of the working class that has evaporated. For much of the 20th century, change could be forced from the unwilling capitalist elite, through the economic power workers exercised in the workplace. Changes to the economy and the inability of trade unions to resist the worldwide capitalist onslaught of the last two decades have left us where we are today.

There is nothing preordained about this. The type of work undertaken by workers may have changed from manufacturing to service industry, but the potential power of the working class remains as strong as ever. However, if this potential is to be realised, there will have to be a big break with current trade union thinking (which incidentally, amounts to little more than going cap-in-hand to employers for 'partnership' deals TUC-style). Workplace organisation based on confrontation rather than collaboration with management has always been the only way workers can force their concerns onto the agenda. The basis of this confrontation must be direct action. From Seattle to London to Prague, in all aspects of life, direct action is on the increase. The most effective form of direct action hits profits directly - the strike, occupation, or similar. Not only does this hit them where it hurts, it also challenges the managers' authority and the politicians' power.

It is not just about pay and conditions, in fact, these are merely an indication of the current lack of power being exercised. The priority is getting organised to challenge the power of capitalism in all aspects of our lives. It cannot be done by political parties of any shade. Only working class people ourselves can do it, by coming together and organising in a broad-based movement. Already, from environmental actions to anticapitalist protests, people are taking direct action. The task now is to spread this growing dissent to the workplace.

The most effective form of direct action hits profits directly - the strike, occupation, or similar... it also challenges the managers' authority and the politicians' power

Three CSL workers were sacked before xmas, for whistle-blowing. They had the cheek to expose their employer's inefficiency and poor level of service in its privatised housing benefits operations.

the background

CSL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu - the privatised housing benefits company. London Borough of Newham contracted out most of its Housing Benefit (HB) service to CSL in June 1999.

Housing Benefit is paid to the poorest and most vulnerable in our community to help with housing costs. It is a complex benefit to administer and the council publicly admitted ‘teething troubles' with the company. The combination of performance targets, cost-cutting, a backlog of work and ‘private sector management methods' have had an impact on service delivery. In a recent radio interview about the problems the company was having in its numerous HB contracts, CSL spokesperson Ian Scotter admitted; “we were naive in estimating the work involved (in administering housing benefits)”.

the victimisation

Staff have dared to speak out in defence of a service and the welfare of workers at CSL, and have been sacked for it. Such is the working atmosphere, and the treatment that they are receiving, that staff are leaving on an almost daily basis. They are not being replaced, which increases the workload for those left. Now, elected staff representatives have been sacked for taking up these issues with CSL on behalf of the rest of the staff.

the update

Some local authorities have admitted that “outsourcing” (privatising) housing benefits has not worked. CSL seem fearful of public scrutiny of the service. The implications of what has happened are wide ranging. If it continues, people applying for benefit will receive a poorer service. New Labour plan to roll-out privatisation across the country and CSL management are scared that if their tactics are exposed it may affect their chances of getting more lucrative contracts like Newham. If you claim Housing Benefit, work for a local authority, have concerns about housing issues, or have an interest in services in the public sector, you owe it yourself - help stop CSL and their likes.

Solidarity pickets have been taking place in support of the sacked workers. In Sheffield, where CSL are also dealing with privatised housing services, there is widespread sympathy with the sacked workers. Several workers at the CSL housing office offered support for the campaign.

Meanwhile, the legal process for the CSL3 continues. The Interim Industrial Tribunal could have recognised that the sacking could have been due to union activity. This would have ensured that the CSL3 would get wages until the full tribunal. However, UNISON sabotaged the Interim IT by failing to inform it of the case. As a result they have now been victimised by the bosses and trampled on by UNISON. With families to feed, they remain sacked without pay for doing what any decent people could be expected to do.

Support the CSL3 - discuss it in your workplace and alert your union - offer support. Contact us - we aim to raise the profile of this scandal, and we need your help to do this. Question your local privatised council services – see if the same or similar is happening in your area.

Why was I sacked?

CSL have never denied that the workers were right. Their response has been to victimise three of the workers' spokespeople. We were sacked for gross misconduct on November 20th. The main charge was “causing grave embarrassment” to the company.

The basis of the case against us is that we deliberately sought, through flyposting, handouts and correspondence, to bring CSL into disrepute. The idea is that this would damage current and future business, cause embarrassment to existing clients, and a rift between Clients and CSL. The letter sacking us was five pages long.

So CSL have sacked three people and, in so doing, put their families through misery, just for voicing the workers' concerns. Ignored by the union, UNISON, CSL workers, friends and relatives of the victimised people, have decided to set up a support group. Together with members of the Solidarity Federation, they are carrying out leafleting and picketing of the company.

Urgent support is needed to save our jobs. We feel also that this is a national issue, and joint action is needed for change. CSL are not interested in providing a good service for benefit claimants and now they're victimising and bullying the workers who dare to speak out against this situation. Who will be next?

Sacked CSL Worker

Write to any of the following and register your concern:

Kim Mason, Contract Manager, CSL Group Limited, Broadway Chambers, 2 The Broadway, Stratford, London E15 4QS.
Brian Reece, CSL Chief Executive, 1st Floor Ashton House, Silbury Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9 2HG. Tel 01908 830 900 Fax 01908 848 110
John Connolly, Chief Executive Deloitte&Touche, Stonecutter Court, 1 Stonecutter Street, London EC4A 4TR. Tel 0207 9936 3000 Fax 0207 583 1198
Newham Council Leader-Sir Robin Wales, Members' Post Room, East Ham Town Hall, London E6.

The CSL3 need money for their campaign - send donations (cheques to “S. Stone”). For more information and a list of Deloitte & Touche offices, contact; CSL3 Support Group, PO Box 1681, London N8 7LE. Email; housingbenefit@hotmail.com

General pimps

The GMB has a new deal with the Bank of Scotland to create a new improved credit card. The union blurb to members boast that the GMB used its power to “negotiate a great deal”. This at a time when debt in Britain is at an all time high and debt counsellors report that the number of people contacting them with debt problems has trebled since last year. Not so long ago, unions sought to improve workers lives - some even sought to overthrow capitalism. Now it seems, they have been reduced to pimping business on behalf of capitalism.
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Racism Kills

Jermaine Lee, a postman in Birmingham, was just 26 when he hanged himself . He left a heartbreaking suicide note for his mother in which he described why he had been driven to take such a tragic step. His parents have won the right to a posthumous employment tribunal which will take place in April. They contend he had been “bullied and harrassed by a number of managers”. Why? Because he was black.

No amount of re-branding and public image massage will do - capitalism and nationalism breed racism and bullying. To do away with both, we must first dispose of capitalism and realise the value of human life.
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McFutures

Many people think anarchists have paranoid delusions about McDonald's. Well, maybe we haven't been paranoid enough. According to this bastion of the establishment, McDonald's have extended their well-known legal attacks against any business using “Mc” in their name. They sued a sausage stand in Denmark (McAlian's), a coffee shop in California (run by a woman named McCaughhey) and a British sandwich shop (named McMunchies). The worst so far was the health care company in Switzerland named McWellness. McDonald's say they might want to branch out into medical services, and see McWellness as copycats... Other McDonald's registered trademarks include “McTravel” and “McFuture”… The future suddenly seems tasteless.