Review of 'Time of the Wolf', director Michael Haneke
'This is a film made for wealthy countries. I wanted to see what would happen if tomorrow we had the same situation here that always exists in the Third World. Since 11 September it's easier for people to imagine catastrophes happening here. That's the "news" element.'
As we go to press, London postal workers look set to go on all-out strike in response to management attacks on CWU reps.
Management has tried to go on the offensive, suspending workers for refusing to carry out duties not in their job description and threatening to derecognise the union.
Workers are increasingly bitter about attacks on pay and conditions, and the cost of living in London. The Unison/CWU one-day strike over London weighting marked a comeback after the loss of the CWU national strike ballot. Now the rank and file is taking the lead.
The resort of Cancun seemed the perfect place for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to hold its talks.
The Zona Hotelera, where the convention centre lies, is a strip of land with beautiful beaches on one side and separated from the town by a crocodile-infested lagoon on the other. The Ritz, Sheraton, Meridian and dozens of other multimillion dollar hotels line the strip, and the street signs and shop fronts are written in English: ’liquor store‘, ’drugstore‘, ’T-bone steak‘. The Zona is a playground for the rich of the US, while half the population of Cancun (a town created solely to service the resorts) are without access to basic services such as clean water.
Sally Campbell investigates claims that 'time is the new money' for women workers.
The wildcat strike by British Airways (BA) check-in staff at Heathrow Terminal One in July was a fantastic example of workers refusing to accept that we have no power over the multinationals. The unofficial action sparked media frenzy. There was a general agreement that this dispute was new and different from the strikes of yore because it was about time and life issues rather than money.
Review of 'Charlotte Gray', director Gillian Armstrong
'Charlotte Gray', based on Sebastian Faulks's novel, is a classic story of girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl signs up as a spy behind enemy lines in Vichy France to find boy, girl ends up with different boy. Cate Blanchett plays the title role, a young Scottish woman with a love of all things French and a hatred of what the Nazis have done to the country. She is naive and romantic, and falls in love with an RAF officer at a party. When he fails to return from a mission over France she resolves to go there and find him.
