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The government took the nurse’s union to court and managed to lessen their planned strike this weekend.
https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/news/uk-england-nursing-strikes-legal-challenge-latest
An example of how governments act to defend profits. In this case not to have to increase taxes on them to pay state employees more or to spend the money on something more in the general UK capitalist interest — like sending arms to Ukraine.
Don’t be taken in. A Labour government, under Sir Chief Scammer, would have behaved the same. And will do. Just wait and see.
I think we may have been the first to come up with the concept of workers cooperatives in a market economy being workers having to exploit themselves in this article from 1969:
Imposs1904 has now put up the whole of that artice about Formosa:
http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2023/04/facing-facts-in-formosa-1953.html
Then it was a question of Formosa (Taiwan) invading China with US support. Now it is a question of China invading Formosa. A measure of how the balance of imperialist forces has changed since 70 years ago in that area
Here’s what Article 5 of NATO says:
“Article 5
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.”It does not say anything about using nuclear weapons or even about declaring war, just about taking “such action as it [a member state] deems necessary”. You could say that NATO’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an example of what could happen under Article 5.
In any event, Russia is highly unlikely to mount an armed attack on a NATO member state. So that all this is academic and speculation.
It is also unlikely that NATO will mount an armed attack on Russia. In fact, they seem to have told Ukraine not to do this either.
The crunch would come if ever Ukraine were to be in a position to invade and conquer Crimea. Even then it can be doubted that Russia would use nuclear weapons, though it could threaten to (though only against Ukraine). It has plenty of “conventional” weapons it could use or threaten to use to flatten Kiev or some other Ukrainian city.
So-called “conventional” warfare is bad enough (as we seeing daily in Ukraine).
No it won’t. All it says is that if one NATO state is attacked all the other NATO member states are obliged to help it. It doesn’t say that they have to drop a nuclear bomb on the attacking country. Where did you get that from?
Because there’s a war on between NATO and Russia. And war stories and scare stories sell newspapers and that attracts revenue from advertisers.
It seems that all Stoltenberg said is that Ukraine can join NATO after “victory”. But “victory” (in the sense of driving Russia troops out of and ethnically cleansing the Donbass and Crimea of pro-Russians) is completely unrealistic, that could be never.
And then there’s this:
Apparently — or ostensibly — the Hungarian government objects to Ukraine oppressing its Hungarian-speaking minority.
That might be the reason — because it’s involved in an actual war over an issue it considers a vital issue? Why else?
But it isn’t, as I pointed out before him. Did you look up the links he gave which showed that all nuclear states threaten to use them under certain circumstances? That’s what nuclear weapons are supposed to be — a permanent threat.
I read it as saying that the matter is on the agenda but not that it will be decided that Ukraine will be admitted ie that there will be a discussion about it. Ukraine doesn’t really need to be in NATO at the moment as its conscripted armed forces are already fighting for NATO.
It’s the same with joining the EU. The principle may be decided but it will take ages. Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria have already made it clear that they are not prepared to allow wheat from Ukraine to flood their markets.
By coincidence Imposs1904 has just posted on his blog the 50 years ago column from the April 2003 issue of then Socialist Standard, ie an article from 1953. It’s about Formosa (as Taiwan was still then known) in the context of the clash between China and the US. At the time the Korean War was still on.
http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2023/04/50-years-ago-facing-facts-in-formosa.html
I don’t know if it is relevant but World War III didn’t happen ….
I don’t know but not necessarily. And a lot more would have to have happened before that hypothetical situation arose.
I suppose it would be because the Russian ruling class consider that its “vital interests”, in this instance the control of Crimea as a warm water base for its navy, as under direct threat. Just as the USA did in 1962 in response to the threat of Russian missiles being based in Cuba.
Russia isn’t the only power doing this. All the nuclear states are. That’s why they have nuclear weapons — to threaten any other state that might think of impinging on their “vital interests”.
So the members of the Royal College of Nursing have rejected their officials’ recommendation to accept the government’s pay offer (by 54% to 46% of the 61% of the members who voted).
The government can’t really complain. They have always said that their offers should be put to a vote, in the expectation of course that they will be accepted. Well, in this case it hasn’t been and now they are faced with a dilemma. If they up their offer this will encourage other workers to vote against what they have been offered, in the expectation of getting more. If they don’t, they will be faced with more strikes. They’ll probably try “divide and rule” tactics since the members of other unions have voted to accept.
The officials of the RCN also face a dilemma. To try to get round the vote or to accept and carry out the wish of their members. So far they have interpreted the vote as a vote to carry on with strikes, taking their orders from the membership (which is as it should be).
It’s a strange but instructive evolution for the RCN, originally set up under royal patronage as a professional body for nurses. Now it is a militant trade union — more militant than the TUC (and Labour Party) affiliated UNISON. It is affiliated to neither. Nurses are wage-workers just like the rest of the working class.
The British Medical Association has undergone a similar evolution. But they have evolved into more of an old-fashioned craft union where you have to had gone through an apprenticeship to join. But “junior” doctors too are wage-workers. Today I passed their pickets outside a nearby hospital. Naturally I tooted and gave them the thumbs up.
