This is one of the best bits of UK new for ages. That makes two major union heads who aren't labour party members (Mark Serwotka is the other). A return to trade union militancy is really on the cards now.

Here is a link to a Financial Times article on this election

"His victory, secured with almost two-thirds of the votes, will send a shudder through Downing Street "

 http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020214001690&query=bob+crow

Now we need Amicus to elect a left-winger

but why do you never mention Greg Tucker, another politically inspired rail worker also fighting for socialism ?

Greg Tucker is good too. I saw him speak at a big meeting in London on Tuesday night, saying what a good thing it would be if Bob Crow was elected. Almost everyone who supports Bob would also support Greg.

Go RMT!

hi
just cos bob crow and mark serwotka ain't members of labour don't mean they're automatically good. both were for years members of the labour party, and, at least in mark serwotka's case, they were good class fighters then.

the biggest trade union in the world is in germany (if you don't count so-called "unions" in china for example), it's called "verdi". it's a bit like a merger of UNISON, the T&G, GMB, NUJ, BECTU, GPMU all in one, ie too big, too bureaucratic and not very democratic.

its leader, frank bzirske, ain't a member of the social democrats (SPD), new labour's sister party. he's a member of the Greens.

the first thing he did as president of the new union was to vote to double his own pay (and to sack a load of union staff who work FOR members as the union has "financial difficulties").

so watch out: just not being in labour ain't a good thing in itself.


and watch out too: anyone who thinks the greens are some kind of "alternative" should just look at the sorry story of the German Green Party. They're currently at 4% in the polls and that would mean the end of them for good. Serves them right for doing deals with nuclear power station bosses, the army, supporting (and as they're in the government, actually making) war in the balkans, against iraq, afghanistan etc., the rich and generally being self-righteous smug middle class scumbags, eh!

Yes, contrary to the ultral left purists, election of slightly more radical leaders of the trade unions is a positive sign that things are moving in the right direction (though without a committed and radicalised membership a lefty leader is as much use as a chocolate fire guard.) Talking of ultra left purists...."German Trade Unionist" is right to attack the compromises and sell outs of the German Greens - most English Greens would agree with him - and have said so in numerous international communiques. But his inference that all Greens everywhere are implicated by this and therefore untouchable is just sectarian crap. I have said before on this site, one of the reasons the German Greens have so easily accomodated with the German ruling class is because the radical elements either held themselves aloof in their impotent purism, or left the Greens in a huff as with Bahro and his pals. This left sell out merchants like Fischer to stitch things up. Radical social and political change is not, repeat NOT, some overnight miracle where the masses simply recognise the rightness of ultra leftist ideas in a flash (whether "in struggle" or not - though judging from some comments you find on Indymedia almost any struggle is alien to some people because it involves working with people with differing political ideas and stages of development!) Social and political change comes about through active engagement of the most clued up elements in everyday struggles in as many arenas as possible - social, environmental, industrial, even POLITICAL. Those who cop out of or slag off people who try to make PROGRESS in one or more of these fields simply aid the enemy. They leave the field open to the opportunists and compromisers and then ironically use their victory to argue the case for further abstentionism from a particular field of struggle. No Revolution without evolution!