Letter from an agency worker
Agency work is exhausting, precarious and increasingly the norm but, as one former agency worker writes, recent campaigns around tips offer a glimmer of hope. As a history student I suppose I have a tendency to look at things from a historical perspective. It often used to occur to me on the way to work that […]
Support John Burgess in Unison’s General Secretary election!
Charlie Hore discusses why rs21 members in Unison are supporting John Burgess in the upcoming Unison General Secretary election and the battles that the union faces. This autumn Unison will hold an election for its General Secretary. This is the highest position in the union, and the only directly elected national official, so the […]
Civil Rights and the Trade Union Bill
Ian Allinson discusses the Tories attempts to attack our right to organise in the context of civil rights Since the election the Tories have moved swiftly to attack civil rights. The is the centrepiece of measures restricting the right to resist. Despite our inadequate response to the first five years of austerity, the government is […]
RMT strike over services and safety
RMT members are striking to defend services after First Great Western have failed to guarantee that there will continue to be a guard and buffet on every train. Steve Eason reports from the picket line at Paddington station. Members of the RMT union – drivers, station staff and engineers on First Great Western – are […]
Migrant workers’ victory in Korea
Sam MacDonald reports from Seoul on migrants’ successful struggle to win legal recognition for their trade union. Over the past 50 years, few countries have experienced such a dramatic economic rise as South Korea. A country once known for sweatshops and cheap manufactured goods now produces some of the world’s most advanced ships, cars and electronics. An […]
Discrimination in selection?
Professional statistician Nancy Carpenter and Unite activist Ian Allinson explain how to check for discrimination in situations like redundancy selection. It’s common for employers to select employees for various purposes, including recruitment, redundancy, appraisals, pay rises, bonuses and promotions. It’s common for people to say such actions should be subject to “equality impact assessments” to […]
Miners Shot Down – remembering the Marikana Massacre
Miners Shot Down, an award-winning documentary, brilliantly reveals how government, police and big business work hand-in-glove to suppress class struggle, writes Colin Revolting.
Planning the siege on Tory party conference
The Tories are holding their annual conference in Manchester from Sunday 4 until Wednesday 7 October. Rick Lighten reports from a People’s Assembly meeting that took place in Manchester this week to begin planning for a series of protests and events around the conference. Over 100 people attended the meeting to start mobilising and […]
The Magpie: Tories attack workers’ right to resist
The Magpie takes on the Tories latest attacks on workers’ rights to organise in their latest column The Tories have now published their much-trailed Trade Union Bill. It goes much further than their manifesto in restricting workers’ rights. Key elements are: All strikes will be unlawful without a 50% ballot turnout Strikes in health, education, […]
Are the machines about to kill us and take over?
Last week many people may have seen a news story about a fatal accident at work in Germany. This one managed to make international news on the basis as that the worker was killed by a robot. The involvement of a robot prompted a flurry of jokes about the coming robot apocalypse – a staple […]
Getting to grips with the levels of strikes
Simon Joyce recently published an article arguing that ‘lack of confidence’ is an inadequate explanation for the sustained low level of strikes in the UK. He suggests that the strike weapon being taken out of the hands of stewards is the key factor. Hazel C and Ian A discussed with Simon some of the issues raised. This is a longer […]
London FE colleges hit by six strikes
UCU members in Further Education report on strikes that took place across London yesterday Seven London Further Education colleges took coordinated strike action yesterday against course closures and massive job cuts. Members of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) have been campaigning since the election in May against draconian cuts to college budgets, most notably […]
Hundreds of thousands march against austerity in London
Amy Gilligan reports from yesterday’s impressive anti-austerity demo. Hundreds of thousands of people marched through London from the Bank of England to Parliament Square yesterday on the “End Austerity Now” demonstration, organised by the People’s Assembly. The demonstration was so large that getting an accurate figure for the number taking part is difficult, but the organisers’ […]
Support the 12-day London Newsquest strike
This morning sees the beginning of industrial action by Journalists at the very profitable Newsquest group, in Sutton, south London, reports Adam DC. The workers are striking over their pay and conditions and the proposed restructuring and introduction of new processes, which it is feared will lead to job losses, and the inevitable decline in […]
Back Corbyn (but rely on ourselves, not Labour)
Ian Allinson comments on the news that socialist Jeremy Corbyn has secured enough nominations to enter the Labour leadership contest. The news that socialist Jeremy Corbyn has secured enough nominations from MPs to be a candidate in the Labour leadership has unleashed a surge of activists signing up to join the Labour Party or register […]
Battles in Bromley
Four hundred people marched in Bromley this weekend over cuts to the council. Paul Summers reports: Four hundred people marched this Saturday (13 June) as part of the ongoing fight between Bromley council and Unite members. The council wants to reduce the staff from 3,000 to 300. The council has withdrawn facility time simply stating the […]
Colossal cuts for further education
With colossal cuts looming, Barbara Jeffery and Mark Winter outline the devastating impact that the Tory plans for further education will have on colleges At the onset of their second term, the Government outlined their plans for adult further education. Excluding funding for apprenticeships, the budget for 2015/16 will be […]
National Gallery strikers continue fighting privatisation and attack on their union rep
National Gallery staff have taken further strike action to stop privatisation and win the reinstatement of sacked union rep Candy Udwin, and are celebrating a legal victory. The National Gallery campaign gained a victory yesterday, Wednesday 10 June, when Candy won her “Interim Relief” hearing at Employment Tribunal. The campaign say, “The judge ruled it was likely […]
Glasgow Homeless Caseworkers strike: defending services against austerity and a Labour council
Homeless Caseworkers in Glasgow have been on strike for ten weeks for decent pay. Austerity is forcing working-class people in the city out of their homes. But, as Christine Bird reports, Glasgow’s Labour council seems more concerned about imposing Tory cuts than providing services to homeless people. Last Friday, after they had been on strike for nine weeks, the council made […]
No return to the thirties: an eyewitness warning
Jean Edmond looks back to the poverty and defeats of the 1930s, and warns against them returning. This article appeared in Issue 10 of the Northern Star, a Leeds based publication. My name is Jean Edmond. I was born on 19th March 1921 in Bootle near Liverpool, the daughter to a struggling housewife and an […]
National Gallery sacks union rep as fight against privatisation continues
Management at the National Gallery have sacked a union rep who has played a leading role in fighting privatisation – but that fight continues, with strike action and a demo in the next two weeks. Management at the National Gallery have today sacked trade unionist Candy Udwin. The No Privatisation at the National Gallery campaign have made […]
Platform for Renewal emerges from Irish anti water charges movement
Shane Fitzgerald, a socialist based in Dublin, who will be speaking at They Don’t Represent Us, reports on the emergence of the Platform for Renewal from the water campaigns in Ireland This Friday in Dublin, the five trade unions involved in the Right2Water campaign in the south of Ireland are hosting a May Day Conference […]
Remember the dead, fight for the living!
Ian Allinson reports from the Workers’ Memorial Day event in Manchester. About 150-200 people gathered in stormy weather in Manchester’s Albert Square to mark Workers’ Memorial Day. Each year around 20,000 people die due to their work in the UK, mainly due to exposure to dangerous substances. Across the EU there are around 100,000 occupational […]
“FE means Free Education Further Education For Everyone”
Mark Winter reports 1200 lecturers and students marched on Saturday 25th against the 24% cut in adult education, on a national demonstration called by the UCU (University and Colleges Union). The cuts are massive – UCU estimates that they could lead to a loss of more than 400,000 places for adult students in 2015/16 alone. […]
Students protest against LeSoCo cuts – photo report
Colin Revolting and Ian Crosson report 200 jobs are at risk at Lewisham and Southwark College. Yesterday lunchtime around 50 students from the college took part with others in a protest against these cuts. Shakira Martin, who is SU President in the college has just been elected Vice President for Further Eduction at the NUS […]
NUT conference 2015 report: why are teachers always complaining?
The current coalition government has seen major public sector strikes including all three teaching unions. As we edge ever closer to the general election Andy Stone, president of Wandsworth NUT, reports in a personal capacity from this years recent NUT conference in Harrogate Education is a battleground for two intersecting conflicts over austerity and neoliberal ideology. While the effects […]
Five reasons why Hillary Clinton won’t be good for women
With the launch of Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid last Sunday, Estelle Cooch argues that Hillary’s “feminist family values” will not lead to a breakthrough for the vast majority of women. Standing on a pavement in a generic looking suburb of America, Hillary Clinton launched her candidacy for the 2016 US presidency. “Americans have fought their way […]
Low inflation, deflation and pay – The Magpie
In the second instalment of their column, The Magpie explores how to argue for a pay rise when in the face of deflation or low inflation. For several years employers cut real wages by holding increases in average wages below the increase prices. Bosses, workers and our unions now face unfamiliar territory – low inflation […]
Unison National Executive elections – vote for Reclaim the Union candidates
A Unison Branch secretary recommends that Unison members vote for Reclaim the Union candidates in the National Executive elections. Unison members are voting this month and next for the union’s national executive, and in almost all the contests voters face a very clear choice between supports of the present leadership and activists who want change. […]
Volunteers
David Cameron has announced staff will have the right to three days paid leave from work to do volunteering. Richard Linsert, who works for a charity, explains why it won’t work. The Tories tell us that they love volunteering. They can’t resist the idea, it seems, of delivering public services like libraries without paying staff […]