The Cyberunions Podcast: Episode 47 – No matter who you vote for, the Government always wins

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Strikes and elections in Europe

• The weather in Scotland is miserable
• Stephen moved to a new apartment in Mexico city and is very excited
• Walton just started working for Union Solidarity International
• 30,000 cops marched in the public sector strike
• 400,000 people took action – pictures here
• The Tories have broken their contract with the police – could spell trouble
• When the police unionised in apartheid South Africa it undermined that organisation as an instrument of oppression
• POPCRU was formed by Lieutenant Gregory Rockman

6:30 Tech update

• IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat
• We’re going to try to integrate the #cyberunions IRC channel into the web page
• Forums are taking off nicely – thanks

9:20 It’s election time in Greece and France

• Stephen is not keen on voting when there’s no alternative
• France: Hollande is no radical, but his election could represent a sea change in Europe
• People are rejecting austerity
• Radical left party Syriza have come from nowhere to dominate the Greek elections
• Centre left parties need to realise that the centre is collapsing and it’s time to articulate a left alternative
• The Democrats are distancing themselves from the unions
• Parliament is the management system of the status quo
• We need to contest power in the workplace and on the streets
• It’s impossible to get structural change through the ballot box – there needs to be outside pressure
• Voting can change the terrain that struggles happen in – there are strategic reasons for voting
• Another world is possible!

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