People attempting to follow the "fair trade -v- free trade" debate currently taking place could be forgiven for thinking that this is just another take on a topic that has been visited countless times before – and despite the protestations of 'fair trade' champion, manufacturing workers union leader Doug Cameron, they wouldn't be far wrong.

He argues that trade with countries with oppressive labour regimes and with no social or environmental regulations should attract a new 'social tariff' payable upon goods landing in Australia. In his own words, "The free trade that we hear so much about is the freedom for big business to exploit working people all over the world. It's freedom for big business to destroy environments all over the world, seek out the lowest labour standards and then try to impose them on workers all over the world." Quite so Doug, but here's a wake up call - it's called capitalism and unfortunately no such utopian ideas as 'fair trade' will overcome the exploitation that is inherent in the very nature of the profits-first system we currently live under. To use an age-old analogy, it's like asking a leopard to change its spots.

Even if the minefield of details such as who was to decide which countries would be subject to the 'social tariffs' and on what grounds, was somehow overcome, any attempt to introduce new tariffs would only be met with similar or worse reprisals from those countries affected. This would in turn have the effect of making both exports and imports more expensive whilst doing nothing to assist workers here or in other countries.

It is exactly this naive (at best) thinking by Cameron and the majority of our labour movement 'leaders' that capitalism, rather than having to be overthrown, can somehow be made 'worker friendly' that led to the disastrous Accord years and that has allowed such a decline in permanent full time jobs and working conditions over the past 20 years or so. The ACTU's latest call for a program of shareholder militancy to force global corporations to be 'good citizens'(!), is just another indication of their capitulation to capitalism and failure to learn the lessons of the past. We think more tariffs will lead to higher prices not only for imports, but also for locally-produced goods as bosses here will have no incentive to keep prices down. A trade war as a result of more tariffs would be a disaster for jobs. Tariffs merely export our problems to workers overseas; instead we should be assisting their unions to grow.

Having said that, the Socialist Party does not campaign against the call for a freeze on the further lifting of tariffs still in place in Australia (currently less than 5% on average) in order to alleviate some of the immediate pressure on jobs. However this needs to be linked to a campaign of education amongst workers that the only way to actually end the on-going assault on jobs, wages and conditions is to overturn the capitalist system itself which relies upon the continued exploitation of workers world wide for its own survival. In the meantime, instead of tariffs demands we should force dodgy bosses to open their books to union inspection, occupy workplaces threatening closure and call for their nationalisation under workers' control. No amount of tinkering at the edges will 'correct' this corrupt and outdated system that has already shown its inability to address the most basic needs of the mass of the world's population.

While outlining the need to eliminate the IMF, World Bank and World Trade Organisation-WTO (as opposed to trying to reform them) and the need to cancel without strings attached the debts of underdeveloped nations, it also explains why these actions by themselves are not enough. The pamphlet outlines the programs, strategies and demands that are needed to challenge global capitalism.

The pamphlet is filled with many interesting statistics and examples both global and Australian with which to convince the unconvinced of the necessity of opposing and eliminating the IMF , and World Bank eg Australia gave Mozambique a total aid package of A$1.4 million after their devastating floods, yet Mozambique pays back US$1.4 million per week in debt repayments ie more than the total Australian Aid package (this after a US $1.7 billion debt reduction last year)! If you want to know how to bring democracy into the economy and into all areas of life, if you want to know what to do after the demonstrations, then you need to read this pamphlet both for the facts and figures and for the inspiration of what can be done and who can do it.

Last month saw $348.05 raised in street stalls in Melbourne, plus $125.90 raised in raffles. It was down slightly on the previous month, when a great effort was made to raise thousands of dollars for two members to go to the CWI school in Belgium. Sydney raised $275 in fighting fund last month, a great effort from that branch.

Saturday 2nd September 4:30pm at Parramatta Town Hall Free Trade Vs Fair Trade - what it means for workers. Monday 11th September 6:30pm at Newtown Neighbourhood Centre, King St Newtown.

Fighting Globalisation - launch of the new pamphlet.

The Melbourne branch has booked two 12 seat mini-buses and one 8-seater for the trip to the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. We leave Trades Hall at 6pm on Thursday September 14th and arrive back on the Saturday. The Sydney branch are working on accomodation for everyone for the Friday night. Seats are going fast-they cost about $50 each, payable a week before we leave-so book now by phoning 9417 0805.

The Garvaghy Road has been the scene of some of the worst sectarian savagery since the IRA and Loyalist paramilitaries ended their military campaigns. In 1995, in response to the paramilitary cease-fires in Ulster, the British government restricted Orange marches through many nationalist areas of the province. This led to widespread anger from the loyalist community - who focussed their anger on the village of Drumcree in County Down. In 1996 and 1997, the RUC blocked the march at Drumcree Church. Loyalists across Northern Ireland responded with roadblocks, vehicle hijackings and petrol-bombings of Catholic households. In 1998, the RUC again blocked the Orange Order parade through the Garvaghy Road resulting in one of Ulster's worst periods of violence. Since the July 1998 Drumcree march, eight people have been murdered as a result of the sectarianism surrounding Orange Order marches in the Garvaghy Road area starting on July 12 that year, when three small boys were murdered while they slept in their home in Ballymoney. March supporters petrol bombed the Quinn home-one of the perpetrators later admitted the sole reason for the attack was because the boy's mother was Catholic.

This year the army and the RUC succeeded in re-routing Orange marches-stemming the tide until next time. But this is no long-term solution for the deeper problems facing working class people in Northern Ireland. To understand the sectarian problem in the six counties, we have to look further than Drumcree; we must examine the mechanics of the Northern Ireland State and the sectarian nature of the Good Friday Peace agreement.

The cornerstone of the agreement is a recognition that two distinct cultural identities exist on the Island of Ireland-a Catholic tradition with republican aspirations and a Protestant tradition with an allegiance to Britain and the British monarchy. The agreement has been lauded across the world, from the White House to Downing Street, and has led to a welcome reduction in paramilitary violence. However, the long-term consequence of the Good Friday agreement is that it institutionalizes sectarianism. We now have a society where people are officially pigeonholed on the basis of their religion. Under the agreement, Catholics and Protestants are destined to lead separate lives, pursue separate cultural identities, read separate history. The architects of the agreement have failed to address the real political dilemma of Northern Ireland-how to draw the two communities together.

The situation is set to enter a new stage over the next few years as Ulster's demographics change. According to British statistics, within ten years the Protestant population in Ulster will have declined to the point where Nationalists may well become the majority group. The sectarianism perpetrated by the Orange Order and Loyalist paramilitaries on the Nationalist minority may be reversed. As we have seen in other ethnic conflicts, the persecuted quite often become the persecutors. There is nothing in the Good Friday agreement to challenge this scenario. Many nationalists may feel justified in exacting revenge for decades of bullying by the Protestant majority, but somehow the cycle must be stopped. Otherwise, twenty years from now we may be dragging the bodies of Protestant children from burning houses. Religious supremacy is a tool used by ruling classes throughout history. It's a simple divide and conquer strategy-you tell the peasant his God is better than his neigbour's God, get him to believe it and pretty soon he's donning your uniform and heading off into the wilderness to rid the world of the great unwashed - in the name of God.

But, if we review the Ulster problem as one of class rather than religion, the solution to ending Northern Ireland's long standing sectarian nightmare becomes clearer. The Good Friday agreement perpetuates sectarianism and further alienates Catholics from Protestants. Yet both sides have common interests. Despite the Celtic Tiger, working people in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland still suffer from discrimination on economic grounds. Housing conditions in working class areas across Ireland are sub-standard, suicide rates for young people are among the highest in Europe. Homelessness has almost doubled in Ireland this year as a result of exorbitant rises in house prices. Unemployment is still frighteningly high and the economies of both parts of the island are increasingly dependent on foreign capital.

Whether you're a Catholic or a Protestant is irrelevant if you are unemployed and in debt, a single-parent or a member of the working poor. A Protestant worker has the same needs, anxieties and aspirations as his or her Catholic counterpart: Employment, housing, education and a decent standard of living for families are the universal needs of every working class person. The attentions of workers from both sides of the religious divide have been deflected away from the real issues by the sectarian bigotry of the ruling classes and the major churches. Address this and we are on the way to a more stable and peaceful Ireland. This is no utopian fantasy. The socialist alternative has been tried in Ireland before and almost succeeded. When James Connolly and Jim Larkin formed the Irish Transport and Workers Union in 1911 - it quickly became the largest trade union in the British Empire - boasting a membership approaching 100,000, which consisted of Catholic and Protestant workers as well as agricultural workers and women. During the Dublin worker's Lockout of 1913, the ITGWU set up the Irish Citizen Army, the world's first Red Guard, to protect striking workers against attacks from hostile police - the ICA later went on to play an integral part in the Easter rebliion of 1916. (The socialist component of the 1916 rising was conveniently forgotten amidst the orgy of nationalism that followed) Throughout the early twentieth century, Irish socialism seriously threatened the political status quo-so much so, that when Connolly was awaiting sentencing for his part in the 1916 Easter Rising, the captain in charge received an anonymous letter-'under no circumstances must Connolly live'

Even after Connolly's execution, socialism continued to bring Catholic and Protestant workers together. In 1919, during the Belfast worker's strike 90,000 workers, of all denominations joined together demanding a Socialist Republic, control of the means of production and an end to bigotry along religious grounds. The delegation even contained 100 members from Harland and Woolf's Orange Lodge.

The Irish socialist experiment ended in 1922 with the implementation of partition-when Irish nationalists and the British government decided to split the country into two distinct political entities. Ironically, the one thing Ulster Unionism and the Catholic and Protestant hierarchy agreed on was the need to supress the emerging politically aware Irish working class.

We must learn from the lessons of history.

Aldi Supermarket chain strike - call for international solidarity Five workers in Dublin, Ireland have been on strike for over 5 weeks, after being sacked by the German supermarket chain, Aldi, for joining a trade union - the Irish shop worker's union - MANDATE. Workers across Ireland have taken action to support the Aldi five. Aldi have supermarkets in the US and throughout Europe and will soon be opening in NSW. The following is the text of an appeal from one of the Aldi strikers. Dear Brothers and Sisters, Our contract says that we should work a 20 hour week. But on many occasions our working week varies between 12 and 37.5 hours. When I, as a shop steward, raised these issues with management in the Dublin Aldi store four other workers and I was sacked immediately. This is a small strike faced with brutally repressive management that is using security guards to intimidate workers who are picketing the shops. It is vital that letters of support are sent to the striking workers with copies sent to our union, Mandate, in Dublin. We are also requesting that letters of protest are sent to Aldi management.

Yours,

Antoinette Swan,

Shop Steward on behalf of the sacked Aldi workers and the Aldi Strikers Support group

Aldi address in Ireland:

Aldi,

Carmanhall Road,

Sandyford Industrial Estate

Dublin 18, Ireland

Fax: ++ 353 1 294 5973

For solidarity letters:

Aldi Support Group,

Fax: ++ 353 1 6772592

Australian support co-ordinator: Tiwai Clarke (0296228896)

Peter Taaffe (the General Secretary of the Socialist Party in England and Wales) has written a new book on Cuba that deserves to be on the bookshelf of every worker and young person interested in the struggle for socialist change.

It was written in response to an attack on the Committee for a Workers' International's position on Cuba by the Democratic Socialist Party in their internal bulletin, Activist. As is always the case with political polemics, issues of a more general character are taken up . In this case: Stalinism, the central role of the working class in the fight for socialism, the role of the peasantry, the theory of the permanent revolution and the general approach of the CWI and groups like the DSP to progressive movements in the under-developed world. The issue of the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and its experiences over the following 41 years has been one of great debate in the socialist movement. This is a book aimed at workers and youth active in struggle and Peter writes in a very accessible style, keeping well away from political jargon.

Where the CWI and DSP agree is that the 1959 Cuban Revolution against the US-backed Batista regime was a popular movement of the masses that led to the overthrow of capitalism and landlordism. As a consequence of a planned economy, health and education standards were improved to levels unequaled anywhere else in the so-called Third World. Even today, despite the US trade embargo, mortality rates are lower in Cuba than parts of the US itself!

All over the world, but in particular in Latin America and Africa, the victory of the revolution gave inspiration to the masses and influenced their actions. The Cuban revolution was a bitter blow to the prestige of US imperialism. Ffrom 1959 to today Washington has tried in different ways to see it defeated. Peter explains how the political character of the Fidel Castro-led regime was determined by the way it came to power-a peasant based guerilla war, not a workers' uprising. Its character was also influenced by its reliance of the USSR and the character of the leaders themselves. Where the 1917 Russian Revolution was led by the workers that led to their party, the Bolsheviks, achieving power, 1959 was a peasant-based guerilla movement with workers playing an auxiliary role. The initial plans of Castro were for some form of democratic capitalist society, not a socialist society. It was only the attitude of the US in initiating an economic boycott and blockade of Cuba that forced the regime into nationalising the economy and turning for support to the USSR. As a consequence, the Castro generally followed the foreign policy of the USSR in the next years, including supporting the Czechoslovakian invasion by Russia in 1968 and the crushing of the Solidarity trade union movement in Poland in 1981.

Just as much as one can support unions, but oppose the leadership, so also socialists can be fighters for the gains of the Cuban revolution and be against US aggression, but also point out the lack of workers' democracy in Cuban society. The DSP's attack on the CWI revolves around the fact that we do not share their uncritical approach to the Castro regime. Peter calls the DSP's approach to Cuba "tail-endism". He continues "They (the DSP) attempt to profit from the tremendous sympathy that exists for the Cuban Revolution and its achievements. They do this by distorting the character of the Cuban regime, by excusing the mistaken policies of Castro and his government, and by glossing over and covering up for the real bureaucratic degeneration which has taken place in the Cuban state." Peter systematically goes through the Revolution itself, the lifestyle and political ideas of the leaders, Cuba's foreign policy, the nature of the Cuban state and the current and future state of the country. He rests on the analysis of the CWI and also the rich vein of literature on Cuba by left academics and most importantly by participants in the revolution. In doing so he gives a richer picture of the situation than either the barren ultra-leftism of those who deny any change has occurred in Cuba or the opportunism of the DSP with its sycophantic approach.

Reviewed by Stephen Jolly. Cuba: Socialism and Democracy-Debates on the Revolution and Cuba Today By Peter Taaffe. 123pp. $12. May 2000. Published by CWI Publications. Distributed by Socialist Books. ISBN 1-870958225