The Communication Workers Union Clerical Branch in Northern Ireland has proposed a motion to the annual conference in May to re-nationalise British Telecom.
The Socialist spoke to David Bell, proposer of the motion and branch secretary of the CWU NI Clerical Branch.
“BT announced last November 10,000 jobs (or 6% of the workforce) were to be lost. The reason for the massive job losses isn’t because these workers are no longer needed it is because BT want to lower costs so they can increase profits. BT share prices rocketed 12% on the day they announced the job losses.”
“Chief executive Ian Livingston has admitted that BT has a deficit in its pension fund of £5billion. In May 2007, BT announced a £1billion surplus in their pension scheme yet in less than 2 years this has plummeted to a £5billion shortfall!”
“Our union needs to fight for the re-nationalisation of BT so jobs can be protected and the profits being made by BT are used to develop the service for the public good, not to enrich shareholders.”
New party for working class needed
Thousands of secondary school students awaited A-level and GCSE results anxiously last month. Again it was another record-breaking year for Northern Ireland students who again improved on the previous years results. But even pupils who have achieved top grades will be forced to compete for the miniscule amount of university places on offer. This, and the fact that the education budget faces cuts of 25% this year, leaves tens of thousands of young people in the North without any access to education or a decent job.
Tommy and Gail Sheridan’s perjury trial is now in its sixth week and is certain to be the longest case of its kind in Scottish legal history. And that’s just one of many precedents that have been set in this scandalous vendetta against Scotland’s best-known socialist.
Separate church from all public services