“Unemployment is at crisis levels. More than 59,000 people are officially unemployed, but this is not the true figure. The Assembly parties are covering up the true extent of this crisis. An additional 55,000 people who are looking for work are classified as economically inactive but do not appear on the official unemployment figures. The real number of unemployed people in Northern Ireland stands at 114,000.
“Youth unemployment has reached a new high with 22.5% officially out of work. Instead of creating jobs the parties in the Assembly Executive are about to set a budget which will lead to 30-40,000 job losses! This is economic madness.
“We need an emergency job creation scheme to get people back to work. The banks should be taken fully into public ownership and run democratically in the interests of the ordinary people and used to invest in a massive job creation scheme.
After sixteen weeks struggle and numerous ups and downs, Belfast’s sacked traffic attendants have finally reached an end to what has been a hugely important dispute for both the workers involved and the wider trade union movement. 
We reprint a collection of leaflet, articles, press releases and letters that were produced during the campaign to stop racist attacks on Roma families on the Lisburn Road. Socialist Party members who live in the area played a key role in organising local residents to oppose racism and fight for jobs and homes.
The announcement of massive job cuts in the banking sector further underlines that the bank bailouts had nothing to do with defending the interest of working class people.