Greek elections: report from Greece Solidarity meeting
Roderick C reports from a meeting organised by the Greece Solidarity Campaign. The election briefing event organised by the Greece Solidarity Campaign covered two main themes: Firstly, an urgent appeal, hammered home by various speakers, for a massive campaign of international solidarity in support of a SYRIZA government. Second, a quite complex discussion about the challenges […]
8 things you need to know about the oil crash
Kate Deer, Amy Gilligan and Brian Parkin answer some of the key questions surrounding the recent crash in oil prices. Why has my petrol got much cheaper? Anyone who drives, or has passed a filling station won’t have failed to notice that petrol prices have plummeted recently. The average price in the UK for a […]
Driving the strike forwards: bus strike picket line round-up
Lois JC writes: 27,000 bus drivers in London are on a 24 hour strike today over pay differences across 18 companies. Operating under the slogan “One fare for passengers, one rate for drivers!”. The last strike by drivers showed their power when in 2012 they won a bonus for driving during the Olympics, but this time there is a […]
Stop the buses to win!
Tomorrow 27,000 bus workers in London will be on strike to try and sort out the mess that is their pay scales. Show your solidarity with the striking workers by visiting one of the picket lines at bus garages around London – find the nearest one to you on this handy google map. rs21 has […]
“All you people are watching them kill me”
Jimmy Mubenga was killed as he was forcibly deported from the UK in 2010. The guards who were found guilty of unlawful killing at the inquest have now been cleared of manslaughter at the Old Bailey.
Jim Murphy’s election: a view from inside the Labour Party
The pro-independence left have written off the Scottish Labour Party, writes Jim Monaghan – but polling figures for left of Labour parties are tiny, and we need unity to fight austerity and war. The election of Jim Murphy as Scottish Labour leader will have a profound effect on Scotland’s current fluid political landscape. From optimistic […]
Jim Murphy’s election: a death sentence for Scottish Labour?
Jim Murphy is the new leader of the Scottish Labour Party. That he was even a candidate for the job, writes Pete Cannell, shows how little the Labour Party understood what was happening in Scotland during the referendum campaign. The final months of the referendum campaign were a festival of democratic participation. The objective was […]
Challenging the neoliberal university: Inside the Warwick occupation
A building at the University of Warwick has been occupied since last week, after Police violence broke up a peaceful protest. Martin Platais reports from within the occupation. On Wednesday 3 December, the management of Warwick University sent in police armed with Tasers, dogs, and CS-spray who proceeded to break up a peaceful sit-in being […]
Student day of action sees protests, occupations and police violence
In December 2014, a day of action for free education saw students on up to 40 campuses take part in protests, stunts and occupations.
London protesters show solidarity with Ferguson, bringing traffic to a halt
Amy Gilligan reports from last night’s #LondonToFerguson rally Around 2,000 protesters – young, black and white, people of all genders, lead by women – raced through the streets of central London last night to demand justice for Michael Brown and show solidarity with demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri. The London protest came in the wake of Monday’s decision against indicting Darren Wilson, the police officer who […]
Ferguson solidarity protests across the US: Photos and videos
After the decision not to indite Darren Wilson, people across the US people have taken to the streets to demand justice for Michael Brown. Join the protest tonight in London, 7pm, outside the US Embassy, organised by London Black Revolutionaries, NUS Black Students campaign, BARAC and Defend the Right to Protest. Washington DC: The protest […]
Radical Independence Conference – hopeful, energetic, impressive
Three thousand people took part on Saturday in the Radical Independence Conference in Glasgow. Christine Bird reports from an inspiring event, part of the renewal of the left in Scotland.
Students march in London for free education
Dan Swain reports from today’s student demonstration in London. Over 7000 students joined today’s demonstration for free education in London, making it the largest student demonstration in Britain since 2011. The demonstration was organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts and the Student Assembly Against Austerity, and supported by the Young Greens. It […]
Thousands take part in London masked march
Colin Revolting reports Up to 5000 people, mostly in Anonymous/Guy Fawkes masks, gathered in Trafalgar Square last night following a call to protest against austerity, surveillance and a range of other issues. On the base of Nelsons column protesters chanted “One solution: Revolution”, “Whose streets? Our streets!” and “who killed Mark Duggan? Police killed Mark […]
Rooftop protest at Cambridgeshire Sodastream offices
A protest just outside Cambridge highlighted that Sodastream is profiting from generous tax breaks and grants from the Israeli government.
Picturehouse proposes redundancies at The Ritzy just six weeks after dispute ends
Six weeks after voting to accept a pay offer from Picturehouse Cinemas, workers at the Ritzy are being faced with over 20 potential redundancies. Arjun Mahadevan reports. Update, 2 November: Ritzy management have since withdrawn the threatened redundancies. On Thursday 23 October staff at The Ritzy cinema in Brixton, South London were called into a meeting […]
Tens of thousands join parade of the labour movement
Amy Gilligan reflects on Saturday’s TUC demonstration. The large TUC demonstration on Saturday saw tens of thousands of trade unionists march through central London. Branch banners from across the country were visible in many of the union blocks, and groups from outside of the capital made up a substantial proportion of those marching. The demonstration was […]
Fighting back against victimisation
Pat Mollins is a private sector care worker who ended up victimised by management for union organising in his workplace. Here is his story of how they fought back – and won. This piece originally appeared in the Autumn 2014 issue of the rs21 magazine. There were many reasons why we began to orgasnise in our […]
First NHS pay strike for decades gets a great response from the public
by Sophie Williams (Midwives’ picket line at North Manchester General Hospital – photo by Sam O’Brien) Yesterday saw the first national NHS pay strike for 32 years, and the first strike in the 133 year history of the Royal College of Midwives. Picket lines were upbeat and received a lot of support from passers-by. In Harrow, […]
Public sector strikes: a guide to who’s on strike when and why
Next week will see groups of workers from across the public sector taking industrial action in defence of pay and services. The week will culminate with trade union demonstrations in London and Glasgow on Saturday. Amy Gilligan rounds up who’s taking action when. UPDATE, 10 October Two of the strikes were called off yesterday. An RMT statement […]
GMB members strike at TSSA
Adam DC reports Management at the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) have written to of the union’s organisers indicating they do not have an assured role in their new organisation. 30 staff out of a total workforce of 50 in total are being told they will have to go through an assessment in order to […]
Hong Kong protests two weeks on
As another week begins in Hong Kong, people are still blockading the streets in several areas of the city. There are talks about talks, but the protesters say they are not giving up their positions without something much more substantial than what the government is offering. Sue Sparks reports. Two weeks into the protest one of […]
Thousands attend Hong Kong solidarity protest in London
Charlie Hore reports from the protest outside the Chinese embassy on Wednesday 1 October. The organisers hoped for three to four hundred people, I was told, but at its height, there were up to 3,000 people outside the Chinese embassy in London on Wednesday night, showing their solidarity with the struggle in Hong Kong. The demonstration […]
10 things you need to know about the protests in Hong Kong
The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong continue. Demonstrators have set a deadline of midnight tonight for Hong Kong’s Chief Executive to resign. German revolutionary magazine Marx21 interviewed Sophia Chan from Left21, Hong Kong about the background to and prospects for the mass protests taking place. The interview in available in German here. 1. When did the protests start and why? What […]
Mass protests grow on the streets of Hong Kong
Sue Sparks reports on the protests growing on the streets of Hong Kong. The mass protests on the streets of Hong Kong over the past few days have been inspiring. The protests started with university students holding class boycotts and then public lectures in central Hong Kong. These led to an occupation of Civic Square, […]
Worldwide protests against climate change
Olivia Arigho Stiles reports on the People’s Climate March. Around 30,000 people marched from Temple to the Houses of Parliament in London yesterday on the People’s Climate March. Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and actor Emma Thompson addressed the assembled crowds. Thompson asserted the need for boycotts as a mechanism of protest against polluting businesses. The […]
The class divide is clear to see over the Scottish independence referendum
Hanif Leylabi gives his impressions of #indyref day The energy and debate generated by the referendum was clear from the moment my train pulled up at its first Scottish stop. The sheer volume of campaign stickers tells you that this referendum has engaged and involved huge swathes people, including those who have never voted before. What was also immediately […]
Huge turnout as Scots head to the polls
Graham Campbell reports from Glasgow George Square last night was like Glastonbury. 10,000 people filling the square and a joyous party atmosphere: mostly, but not exclusively younger people. Bands and pipers played, reels were danced. Today’s voting has been amazing. The turnout is so high at Alexandra Parade, Dennistoun there was a queue akin to […]
Campaigners in west London mark the closure of two A&E facilities – pictures
(photo report by Steve Eason) The A&E departments at Hammersmith hospital and Central Middlesex hospital were shut down on Wednesday as part of a programme of “improvements” recommended by the Clinical Commissioning Group. To mark the closure protesters from Save Our Hospitals went first to Hammersmith hospital and then on to Central Middlesex. Speakers included campaigners from […]
Autumn rs21 magazine out now
The new edition of the rs21 magazine is out now. Since the last issue of the rs21 magazine came out there has been an explosion of protest globally in response to Israel’s latest assault on Gaza. In this issue a series of authors attempt to grapple with the question of what imperialism means today and […]