Video interview with Darcus Howe
Darcus Howe takes us through his life as a black activist and revolutionary, guiding us though a history of resistance to racism, imperialism and state oppression.
Pedagogy and Politics
As the NUT conference starts, Robin B explains why we have to rescue children from the politicians We are a year away from the 2015 general election. After four years of Gove, it is tempting to think ‘come back Labour- all is forgiven’. Looking back at Labour and Tory visions for teaching and learning reveals […]
rs21 political weekend: Revolutionary organisation and the working class
Charlie Hore writes: Just over 80 people made it to the final session of the rs21 political weekend, a session that was as much about demonstrating the breadth of the weekend as an attempt to sum it up. Ian Birchall began by with a CLR James quote new to most of us: ‘Lenin – not […]
rs21 Political Weekend: Anti-politics: responses to austerity from Russell Brand to Occupy
Where does the ‘anti-politics’ mood come from? And how can revolutionaries relate to it?
Ernesto Laclau (1935–2014)
The renowned socialist political theorist Ernesto Laclau died of a heart attack in Seville earlier this week. He was 78. Adrià Porta Caballé looks back at his life and pays tribute. Ernesto Laclau was born in Argentina in 1935, studying history and graduating from the National University of Buenos Aires in 1964. He was active […]
Ukraine, Russia and the miners of the Donbass
Miners in the Donbass region have played a crucial role in Ukrainian politics since 1989, and are key today, argues Nick Evans The situation in eastern Ukraine is becoming more and more dangerous. It is over a week since pro-Russian forces seized government buildings in the region. Attempts by the Ukrainian government to retake control […]
Inoculation against bosses’ lies
Ian Allinson discusses how his workplace gained confidence through exposing their bosses’ lies In 2003 I went on strike for the first time. We wanted improved sick pay, increased pay and equal pay. There had been no strikes at my workplace for maybe 20 years. Some of us had supported other people’s strikes. None of […]
Grandparent climate action – for our grandchildren
Nancy Lindisfarne reports: Recently in Oslo, I met with Mette Newth, and Finn Bjørnar Lund to learn about the Norwegian Grandparents’ Climate Campaign. They are both activists with ‘fire souls’, as Norwegians say. They couldn’t have been more helpful and encouraging about setting up such a network in the UK. There are already similar campaigns […]
Panic on the streets of Birmingham?
Andrew N, Birmingham NUT executive member (personal capacity), argues that the left needs to stand against Islamophobes and reject media scapegoating Photo: Paul Clarke If you were to believe the headlines in certain Tory papers recently, you would think that schools in Birmingham were being seized by Muslim radicals on a daily basis.”Gove declares war […]
Having no job is a daily grind in itself – on unemployment.
Mary Turner writes about her son struggling to find work. My son is shy and does not always mix well with other people. He lacks certain social skills, but he is a lovely person and sensitive to other people’s needs. He has been unemployed for some time, and there is pressure on him from all […]
UKIP – just another bunch of control freaks.
The recent successes of Nigel Farage and UKIP should leave anti-racists, anti-homophobes and workers concerned with their rights worried. However the ideological pillars of UKIP are rotten. Their claims to liberty and freedom are topsy-turvy, founded on the vilification of migrants and taking away their liberty. Luke Evans rips apart Farage’s hypocrisy, and the flawed thinking he relies on. […]
Paris: united demo against austerity
Clément Mouhot reports from Paris: “Hollande ça suffit !” (Hollande this is enough) was one of the many slogans seen on banners at the demonstration against austerity in Paris last Saturday. Around 40,000 people marched from “République” to “Nation” against austerity and cuts policies put forward by the Socialist Party (PS) government. The protest was […]
Big business and the NHS: Awkward bedfellows
Gill George discusses how drug company greed means the government has wasted millions on stockpiling medicine that doesn’t work Private companies exist to make a profit for their shareholders. The NHS exists to keep people healthy and look after us when we’re sick. When the two get entangled, the NHS tends to lose out. The […]
Anti-fascist 5 trial collapses: interview
S, freed antifascist protester, speaks outside Westminster Magistrates Court shortly after the case against her and four others collapses.
Jubilation as crown case collapses and Antifascist 5 walk free from court
Prosecution grovels as key witness fails to show. Judge refuses to adjourn to September; crown folds. Humiliation for state tactics aimed at repressing protest.
UCU marking boycott: Management have called our bluff – we have a choice
Management at universities across the country, including Bath Spa, UWE, Oxford Brooks, Bradford University, UEA and Westminster University, have told staff that they intend to dock 100% of their pay if they participate in the marking boycott, due to start on 28 April. Jonathan Neale, university lecturer and UCU committee member at Bath Spa University […]
The dullness of work
A university admin worker writes about their job. My job is boring. I’m an admin worker at a popular university in Northeast England. I’ve done the same job for several years. There have been developments and things I do differently, but mostly the job is the same. I answer email queries, update spreadsheets, navigate clunky […]
Sparks strike back against umbrella agencies: NG Bailey vulnerable to action
â— Deadlock at Manchester City ground Balfour Beatty job â— Scottish electricians to meet to set out next steps â— Action could generalise across country and industries by Christian C and Anindya Bhattacharyya Over 40 electricians “cabined up” (ie refused to work) on Thursday morning at a Manchester City training ground. They are demanding “jobs […]
Enthusiastic strike for the London Living Wage
Rob Owen reports from Brixton: Workers at The Ritzy cinema in Brixton are on strike today for the London Living Wage. Pickets began at 9am and will continue into the evening. Workers in BECTU, the media and entertainment trade union, gathered with DIY placards and leaflets using film quotes and art house cinema imagery. Ritzy […]
A response from Venezeula
Dan Gent, writes from Venezuela having witnessed the events surrounding the opposition riots. It is offered as a comradely response to Mike Gonzalez’s Letters from Venezuela. This piece was originally published on the Comrade Markin blog where there are more photos that Dan has taken in Venezuela. Opposition protests have rocked Venezuela for over a […]
Nursery workers refuse to be classed as self-employed: worker’s report
The government made tax changes on Sunday 6 April which many employers are using an an excuse to force self-employment on their workers. Phil T works at a care centre for children in west London that is trying precisely that. Here are details of the situation – and what Phil and fellow workers are trying to do about it. I work for […]
Keep Left in UNISON Higher Education
UNISON Higher Education Service Group Elections: Vote for a leadership that fights for you This week, voting opened in UNISON’s Service Group elections. These elections will decide the national executives for each of the seven industrial areas covered by the union. These committees oversee all bargaining and negotiations for their respective areas, as well as deciding […]
Ritzy strike for the London Living Wage
Workers at The Ritzy cinema in Brixton will be striking tomorrow for the London Living Wage. The strike will be from 9am on Friday to 3am Saturday morning. The picket will be at its largest after 6pm and we are asking campaigners to come and show their support. The workers in Brixton are striking […]
Left lifted by surprise win for Free Education motion at NUS conference
Amy Gilligan from Cambridge University rs21 reports from NUS conference LEFT ACTIVISTS were happy after a surprise win after a tense NUS conference vote this morning. A motion supporting free education passed, committing the union to campaigning against all methods of charging students for education. The vote went to the count, but was passed comfortably – […]
Brazilian workers paralyse refinery construction
Ali S reports from Brazil on the continuing strike by COMPERJ workers in Itaborai, Rio de Janeiro: “Radio Peão” – a set of codified rumours between workers – has been central to the continued paralysis in the construction of Brazil’s second biggest oil refinery. Almost the entire work force of 30,000 workers have walked out. […]
How I learnt about solidarity
An IT worker explains how she learnt about solidarity. In 2007 employees at my site were on strike. The company was attacking us on pay, union recognition, and any other agreements they wanted to bin. I hate public speaking. But fellow strikers twisted my arm and I grudgingly agreed to accompany a colleague to speak […]
Sparks strike at Three Bridges and protect jobs on the cards
report by a Unite rep Electricians in Three Bridges, Sussex, walked out this morning to defend their terms and conditions. Within hours they had forced their employers to back off and hire them on industry standard conditions. The action involved 30 agency workers hired by NG Bailey on a Volker Fitzpatrick construction site for Network Rail. Their Unite union demanded direct […]
Constructing Lads mags – Playboy to Nuts
Estelle Cooch looks at the demise of Nuts and asks what the competition of original porn mags Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler, can tell us about lads mags today. A decade on from its launch, the owners of sexist “lads mag” Nuts announced this week it was due to close, after sales plummeted from 300,000 at […]
rs21 Political Weekend: Social reproduction
Estelle Cooch’s meeting on social reproduction kicked off a debate about the precarious and contradictory positions that neoliberalism tries to straddle when it comes to women. An introduction to the theory was followed by a complex, but useful discussion about the struggle to defend the welfare state, the nature of productive labour, and the pressures facing […]
The hanging of Derek Bentley: a miscarriage we shouldn’t forget
It took decades to win some sort of justice for Derek Bentley – but the fight eventually won.