Socialist Youth News - North
Interview: France in revolt - Socialist Youth eyewitness

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By Paddy Meehan & Sara Malone

In the past number of weeks, young people across France have taken to the streets in protest against the introduction of the CPE - a new law which makes it easier for the bosses to sack young workers. The Socialist spoke to Socialist Youth member Paddy Meehan who participated in the protests against the CPE in France this week.

Q: What were the attitudes of the young people on the protest?

A: The mood in the universities and in the secondary schools is defiant against this law. We met students in the Saint Denis University who had set up barricades stopping all classes in the building. They made banners on the floor for the demonstration in the centre of Paris in an enthusiastic mood. The building had slogans of “Re Re Revolution” and anti-Villepin slogans draped on the walls.

At the protest itself the mood was very confident that it would have an immense impact on the government. The largest section comprising of young people carrying banners from their universities and schools headed the protest.

Young people are organising in their schools and colleges for almost daily rallies against the CPE. On Wednesday while walking along a small street in Paris a large group of school students paraded past us from their school on the way to a rally. Some of these are spontaneous protests.

Q: What do you think are the lessons of the protests for young people here?

A: The most important thing is the power that young people can have if they get organised and protest against the government. Sometimes young people can feel powerless when they contemplate how to change things on their own, but collectively young people have a lot of power. Especially in France because the youth movement has linked up with the workers’ movement and together they can defeat this draconian law. I hope that the struggles of the young people in France inspire some young people here to fight back against our own low pay bosses and to get involved in the struggle for socialism.

Discussing the mass protests in France

The Socialist Society at Queens University held a meeting on the 29 March to discuss the protests in France. We felt this was an especially relevant issue for students, as the discriminatory and unjust CPE law is aimed at the young people, eroding even further their already diminished rights.

In addition to our regular members we were very pleased to see a number of new faces, and to welcome a new member to both the Socialist Society and the Socialist Party. As meetings go, it was a success; interesting, topical and with good debate and discussion.

The society will be meeting again after Easter.

Workplace News - North
Protesting against the occupation of Iraq

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By a Socialist Youth member

On the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq Socialist Youth took the initiative to organise a protest at Belfast City Hall at quite short notice.

The protest was part of an international day of action against the war and occupation of Iraq.

We did so after it became clear that the Belfast anti-war movement was not willing to do so. Over 40 people attended the protest including young people who joined Socialist Youth that day.

Workplace News - North
Why I joined

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By Kevin Perry, Belfast

I decided to join the Socialist Party and Socialist Youth because I felt it was time to get active within the left-wing movement.

Although I have been interested in socialism and Marxism for quite a long time, I finally decided to join the Socialist Party because a great deal of their beliefs and values reflected my own ideals. I felt that if I was going to be of any use to the socialist movement, I would have to join a party such as the Socialist Party and try to advance the socialist cause in whatever way I could.

One of the most attractive aspects about the Socialist Party is the fact that they are a completely non-sectarian party, with members coming from all sections of the community. In a society with so much division and bitterness between the communities it is refreshing to see a party which operates on a cross-community basis. The constant sectarian bickering between the main political parties in Northern Ireland led me to seek a political alternative, and that alternative was the Socialist Party.

However, the main reason I joined the Socialist Party is because they are a working-class party who can connect with the ordinary men and women on the street. They are always out on the streets campaigning for workers' rights, and as I come form a working-class background I could easily relate to the Socialist Party's politics. Most politicians are completely out of touch with their voters, but the Socialist Party are not. That's why I would encourage any one disillusioned with the current political system to join the Socialist Party, get active and fight for a socialist alternative.