Solidarity movement continues to grow – #GazaA9 protest round up
Yesterday once again saw a massive turn out at demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine. In London, Stop the War report that 150,000 people marched in the biggest ever UK protest for Gaza. Shanice McBean took part in the demonstration as it made its way from BBC Broadcasting House to Hyde Park. “The movement is growing, and […]
Tories push ahead with massive expansion of fracking – but will they face a backlash?
report by Ewan Nicolson The government pushed out an announcement last week that over half of Britain – up to 37,000 square miles of land from Scotland to the South East of England – will be opened up to tender for energy companies to bid for fracking rights. The land that companies will be able […]
Muslim Brotherhood Supporters Remain Under Sentence of Death in Egypt
The new regime in Egypt has been handing out mass death sentences to Muslim Brotherhood supporters. General al-Sisi has exploited hostility to the Brotherhood to crack down on mass street protests more generally and to excuse his betrayal of the people of Gaza. More needs to be done to defend the Brotherhood supporters, writes Peter […]
NUS executive votes to back BDS boycott campaign against Israel
(picture of #nus4bds campaigners by Aaron Kiely, NUS executive member, via Facebook) The NUS national executive committee today voted 23-18 with 1 abstention to adopt a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions policy against Israel. Fantastic that #NUSNEC has passed policy to support #BDS || read more about BDS: http://t.co/KHBcC1WgRm #BoycottIsrael #FreePalestine – rs21 (@revsoc21) August 4, 2014 […]
Duggan family launches fresh appeal for witnesses on anniversary of Mark’s death
The Justice for Mark Duggan family campaign is launching a fresh appeal for witnesses to Mark’s death at the hands of police three years ago today. The only independent witness to the shooting to come forward so far was “Witness B”, who described Mark’s killing as an “execution”. The Justice for Mark campaign hopes a […]
The end of Nazi Nick Griffin
Anindya Bhattacharyya looks back at the years of campaigning that led to Griffin’s downfall. So it’s good riddance to Nazi Nick. He was declared bankrupt in January and kicked out of his Euro seat in May. Now Nick Griffin has been booted out as leader by what’s left of the fascist British National Party. Griffin’s replacement is Adam Walker, a former teacher with a record of violence, bigotry and […]
Singin’ in the rain
Ritzy workers went out on their eleventh strike today against Picturehouse Cinema’s refusal to pay the Living Wage. It was also the first time Picturehouse have decided to keep the cinema open to try to break the strike. Ritzy management were planning to screen Monty Python Live from the O2, but even Monty Python star […]
Manchester protest occupies high street shops for Palestine
Around 200 people took part in protests in support of Palestine on Saturday in the centre of Manchester.
Gaza demonstration – rolling coverage
Reports and updates from today’s #GazaJ19 demo in defence of Gaza. 5.30pm – And at long last, after many complaints, here’s the BBC report. 4.40pm – Palestine Solidarity announces next protests are at 5.30 on Tuesday at the Israeli Embassy, and then next Saturday from Whitehall. 4.30pm – Thousands have marched through Glasgow in the […]
Playing the Odds: How fractionals at SOAS organised and won
Today the SOAS Fractionals for Fair Play campaign announced that 95% (on a 63% turnout) had voted to reject a contract offer which fell well short of their demands. They also announced a 25% increase in the fractional population taking out a full UCU membership in July. The UCU branch is now committed to considering industrial action […]
Join the national demonstration for Palestine
National Demonstration in solidarity with Gaza, Saturday 19 July, assemble Downing Street 12 noon and march to the Israeli Embassy.
Anger spills out onto London’s streets in run up to Saturday’s Palestine solidarity demo
Ahead of Saturday’s demo, thousands gathered outside the BBC in London to protest against the BBC systematically ignoring and downplaying Palestinian suffering in the name of being ‘neutral’.
4 Things We’ll Remember David Willetts For
The odious Tory ideologue who masterminded the Higher Education reforms has been shuffled off.
‘We save people not banks’: FBU pensions fight continues
Amy Gilligan spoke to Cameron Matthews, FBU Cambridgeshire Brigade Secretary on the picket lines at Cambridge fire station about the strike and supporting victimised FBU member Ashley Brown.
“Anyone could be a target”
Areej Ali-Al-ashhab is a full-time field coordinator at the Gender Initiative Program at the United Nations Relief Works Agency and a part-time English teacher at AMIDEAST (America-Mideast Educational and Training Services) in Gaza City. In late 2008/early 2009, her university, the Islamic University of Gaza, was partially destroyed in the 22-day Israeli assault dubbed “Operation […]
Gaza solidarity from Salford to Sydney
Estelle Cooch reports: Many were astonished by the size and speed with which the Gaza protests emerged last week. The recent crisis has been a turning point for media coverage of the conflict. The New York Times ran on its front page last week a photo of assaulted Palestinian American teenager Tarek Abu Khdeir, shocking […]
Ritzy benefit video: “You don’t get me, I’m part of the union!”
Over a hundred people packed into The Grosvenor in Stockwell last night for the Ritzy strike benefit. The Ritzy workers have taken nine days of strike action so far and are looking to take more over the summer. The night began at 7pm and went on till the early hours with singing, dancing and bbq […]
Get organised! A guide from Ritzy and Curzon workers
In the past few months the strikes at the Ritzy cinema in Brixton and the growing campaign at Curzon cinema for the Living Wage have been an inspiration for those questioning how we can start to organise young workers or those on zero-hour contracts. Estelle Cooch sat down with Ritzy branch secretary Nia, Ritzy worker […]
Thousands protest in London against attacks on Gaza
Ten thousand people took part in a large demonstration in London this evening against the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Protests also took place in Birmingham and Leicester. More demonstrations are planned in other towns and cities over the weekend Neil Rogall reported from the London demo earlier: Thousands of people are blocking Kensington High St […]
Build in, build out, build up! July 10 strike report
Estelle Cooch writes: Over a million public sector workers went on strike today against pay, pensions and cuts. The strike was the biggest in several years and brought together unions that haven’t struck together since the two big pension strikes of 2011 – June and November 30th. It is worth recapping how the action came […]
Save Our Staff – or we’ll strike!
Shanice McBean reports from Kings College picket lines: Today UCU members at KCL were out on strike following the threat of 120 redundancies in the Health Schools. Fifty seven of these staff have now lost their jobs. Staff under threat are being targeted using arbitrary criteria, such as research grant income, to determine who gets […]
Lambeth College strike: Stage One ends, but prepare for Stage Two
by Matthew Cookson, UCU lead negotiator, EHWLC (personal capacity) Strikers at Lambeth College in south London marched back together to work today (Wednesday 9 July) after five and a half weeks of all-out action. The college lecturers have pledged to resume their strikes in the autumn term if the dispute is not resolved. The UCU […]
Up to 1.4 million to strike on #J10
Over 1.4 million workers from ten different unions are striking on #J10. NUT, PCS and FBU have called national strikes, while Unison, GMB and Unite have called out their local government sections. Local disputes in UCU (in King’s College London), Bectu (Ritzy Cinema) and RMT, TSSA and UNITE (London Underground) have been timed to coincide […]
Yestival and a summer of independence
Christine Bird from Glasgow gives her take on a festival that brought together all parts of the movement for Scottish independence This past weekend, 5 and 6 July, 450 people attended Yestival on Glasgow’s Southside, with at least as many again at the Common Weal Festival at The Arches. Both pro-independence events brought together political […]
“Please boycott us!”: a report from the Ritzy’s 8th strike day
Today Ritzy workers launched their Boycott Picturehouse campaign after another successful strike day. Lois and Estelle report from the picket line: Ritzy workers went into their eighth strike day today after an increased ballot for strike action of 95 percent. We caught up with Robyn, BECTU rep at the Ritzy, about how the campaign was […]
Protesters take to the Tube to highlight Spain’s crackdown on abortion rights
(report by Lois JC and Shanice McBean, pics from mybellyismine.wordpress.com) Spanish activists have launched a campaign called Mi Bombo Es Mío (“my belly is mine”) in response to plans by the government to make abortion illegal in all but a handful of cases. The campaign is now spreading internationally. On Thursday and Friday last week women from Spanish and Irish abortion rights […]
Protest against Israeli terror in Palestine: 5 July, London
Palestinians are facing a horrific escalation of racism and violence as the Israeli state pursues a strategy of collective punishment.
Retribution in Iraq
by Jack Farmer If you like a laugh, it’s always worth looking up what Tony Blair has to say about events in the Middle East. In his latest intervention he insisted that the current crisis in Iraq had nothing to do with the US-British led invasion of 2003: “We have to liberate ourselves from the notion […]
Hong Kong’s new mass movement
‘Beijing and the Hong Kong government have succeeded in producing a genuine mass movement which will not easily be demobilised’. Sue Sparks reports on the mass protests in Hong Kong earlier this week. July 1st in Hong Kong is Handover Day, the anniversary of the handing back of Hong Kong by the British to China […]
Event: Stand Up Against Austerity
Stand up for the People’s Assembly Monday 7 July, 7pm Hammersmith Apollo (Eventim Apollo Hammersmith) Join the People’s Assembly for an evening of comedy from some of the best comedians in the country. As well as an essential way to raise much needed funds for the campaign, this will be an unmissable night out! […]