May 10:Holyhead worker victimised for speaking his own language
A Bangor Socialist Party member
The front page of the North Wales Daily Post on May Day splashed a story of a worker at the Holyhead Morrisons store who had felt compelled to quit his job after being told not to speak Welsh. The last straw was when he asked another worker in Welsh to move some items into the store warehouse, when the store manager (who only speaks English) was passing by. The manager asked him not to speak in Welsh as he thought the workers might be talking about him. According to a Morrisons spokesperson the worker was having a conversation with the manager when the incident occurred. On the face of it, this amounts to bullying a worker into speaking a particular language.
The 2001 census showed that over 20% of the population of Wales spoke Welsh, but this increases dramatically in North West Wales, with 69% and 60% speaking Welsh in Gwynedd and Anglesey respectively. This means that Welsh is the first language of a sizeable proportion of workers in the area. Indeed in the quarry industry, which 100 years ago was the area’s main industry, the North Wales Quarrymens Union conducted all its business in Welsh. Moreover, being forced not to speak Welsh has echoes of the period of the emergence of capitalism in Wales which saw English bosses ban workers from speaking the language in order to maintain their dominance, and children who only spoke Welsh at home forced to speak and study in English at school.
In the present case, the worker's trade union, USDAW, did not initially take this issue up, although they are now investigating it. That was left to Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language Society) who have organised a picket outside the store to demand the right to work through the medium of Welsh. They have raised the need for the Welsh Assembly to have legislative powers over the Welsh language which should include the right to work through the medium of Welsh. Whilst this is undoubtedly correct, it doesn't go far enough.
Under capitalist society there are plenty of rights on paper, yet often the bosses can ignore them when it suits their needs. Workers have always had to fight for their rights, such as the right to vote or the right to belong to a trade union, which have been fought for. In reality, only workers organised via the trades union movement can guarantee those rights. Workers should have the right to communicate with people in any language that the person they are talking to is comfortable talking in. They shouldn't be bullied into speaking into any particular language just because a manager wishes to pry on their conversation!

April 27:Gorseinon College - Still Fighting!
Ronnie Job updates:
UNISON and other campus unions in Gorseinon College are once again having to campaign against the effects of funding cuts. On Friday, April 24 union-organised protests took place at the College’s outreach centre in Pontarddulais, Canolfan-Y-Bont and outside Labour Party Wales Conference at the Guildhall. We are still fighting despite the announcement from the Assembly of ‘additional funding for Further Education’ made on April 15.
continued on Education Page

May 26: Bangor Socialist Youth Conference.
Young Socialists from North Wales received a helping hand from comrades from the South for an all Wales day of action last Saturday in Bangor. The day started with a successful ‘Youth Fight for Jobs’ protest in Bangor.
Report by Sarah Mayo

Workers and students stopped to take our bi-lingual leaflets and sign our petitions and our well travelled ‘YFFJ’ banner attracted a lot of attention (this banner has previously visited Cardiff, Pontypridd and Swansea!)
continued

May 26: Wales TUC - victory for democracy.
The attempt to downgrade the Wales TUC was defeated at the Llandudno conference. The proposal to replace the annual forum for trade unionists with a biennial conference and a toothless 'Campaigning and Strategy Forum'
The Socialist Party clearly emerged as the leading force to the left of New Labour in the Welsh Trade Union Movement.
see full report

May 23: South Hook - Workers victory: Employers back down
Construction workers at the South Hook LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) terminal construction site near Milford Haven have won a big victory over employers by taking unofficial action in defiance of anti-union laws.
Dave Reid

Solidarity action by construction workers across Wales and England has forced Hertel UK to back down from its attempt to refuse to employ any more unionised UK-based laggers on the site. The plant’s contract with Hertel UK is “under review”. Clearly the prompt action across the country, illegal under the current ant-union legislation, was hurting Hertel and the industry as a whole. Hertel was forced to make a humiliating climbdown.
Over 200 workers walked off the site when Hertel refused to employ any more unionised UK-based laggers, members of the GMB, but instead brought in workers from Poland.
continued

June 10: VICTORY AT LINAMAR!
Following the workers' threat of all out strike action, Linamar management has backed down and unconditionally reinstated Rob Williams to his job and as Trade Union Convenor.

Rob would like to thank everyone for their support in helping him get his job back at Linamar.
There will obviously now be no picket or demo but we will be celebrating appropriately soon.
IThe victory completes a great hat-trick for the Socialist Party this week along with the election of Joe Higgins to the European Parliament in Dublin (on a workers' wage) and doubling the number of Socuialist Party number of members on the Unison NEC to 6.
Along with the Visteon Convenors and the leaders of the Lindsey Oil Refinery strike, Rob will be addressing the National Shop Stewards Network conference in London on Saturday June 27th.
A VICTORY FOR WORKING CLASS SOLIDARITY.

Thurs, June 18: PUBLIC MEETING - 'LESSONS OF THE LINAMAR VICTORY'
7.30pm.
Dolphin Hotel, Swansea City Centre.

Campaign reports and back story

June 21: Socialist Party’s first North Wales District meeting
A demonstration of the growing support for the party in the area.

Report by Rae Lewis-Ayling & Iain Dalton