Ongoing Manchester bus strike defeats fire and rehire
The longest bus strike in British history is poised to win after a campaign involving an indefinite strike, community solidarity and a leverage strategy.
Who should be Unite’s next General Secretary?
Campaigning for Unite’s general secretary election is underway. None of the candidates is ideal, but rs21 argues for critical support for Sharon Graham.
Justice over profit – organising in the legal sector
The law is often seen as a privileged arena, but the industry has staggering wage inequality. Two founding members of Legal Sector Workers United explain their strategy.
Indefinite bus strike in Manchester against #FireAndRehire
Around 400 Unite members at a bus garage in north Manchester have been on indefinite strike since 28 February against fire and rehire. Ian Allinson explains what is going on and the strike’s wider significance.
The Tories are robbing our pensions by stealth
The Tories have sneaked through an obscure change to the Retail Price Index (RPI) that means big reductions in many pensions and downward pressure on pay. Unite activist Ian Allinson explains.
Ten strikes that need your solidarity
As strike activity ramps up again, rs21 brings together ten strikes you should know about this month. At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic there was a short period where no strikes happened anywhere in the UK, perhaps for the first time in decades. This was due to several factors: balloting companies were unavailable, there […]
Tactics of resistance: what’s the point of pickets?
In part two of a series looking at differing tactics for winning battles in the workplace, Derek Fraser looks at picketing, and how it can be used successfully in the current context.
The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists revisited
Construction workers have been among the hardest-hit by Covid-19, with profit-hungry bosses keeping sites open throughout the pandemic.
Combatting unsafe workplaces: an interview with Janet Newsham
Every workplace is a Covid frontline, as employers try to force workers into unsafe situations. We interviewed Janet Newsham of the Hazards Campaign, which is fighting back.
NEU: preparing for the fight of our lives
Supporting teachers to refuse unsafe work is the NEU’s immediate and overwhelming priority, but we also need to learn the lessons from last June and ballot for strike action.
‘Rewards in heaven won’t pay the bills’: priests strike in Norway
‘Rewards in heaven won’t pay the bills’: Norwegian priests are on strike over the Christmas period over a threatened pay cut at the Church or Norway.
Retail tales of festive frenzy
For many bookshop workers, Christmas is a season of stress and exploitation – but it could also be the perfect time to put pressure on management.
Scotland: education workers move towards strike action
Workers at all levels of Scotland’s education system are preparing to fight for workplace safety and job security.
Video: Rail workers strike over pay freeze
Rail maintenance workers went on strike against a pay freeze. rs21 interviewed RMT members and officials Conor Price, Clayton Clive, Michelle Rodgers and Daren Ireland at the Manchester Longsight picket line.
‘We have a right to stop’: interview with a socialist nurse
Whereas the first wave of Covid-19 was an occasion for government-sponsored jingoism, the second wave is seeing health workers abandoned and left to manage the unmanageable.
Unemployment and class power: the example of Portugal
Worker organising in Britain will have to change to take account of rising mass unemployment. We can learn from how workers in Southern Europe faced the wave of austerity after the last economic crisis.
Tactics of resistance: occupations and sit-ins
In part one of a series looking at differing tactics for winning battles in the workplace, Bob Carter explains workplace occupations and how to make them successful.
Poland’s feminist uprising
Women in Poland are making their own cause for hope by taking the streets. rs21 spoke with several feminist activists in Polish union Inicjatywa Pracownicza about the recent wave of feminist strikes and protests.
The power of tenants’ organising
There is a renewed surge of tenants’ organising, but opinions are split on the best way to build power. What kind of organisation can hit back against landlords?
Back Paul Holmes for UNISON general secretary
UNISON members need to turn the page on a decade of inaction in the face of Tory austerity. Paul Holmes’ rank-and-file candidacy is a chance to put this argument front and centre
Building power in a crisis
Covid-19 is a medical crisis, but also a social one. Amid the devastating social impacts of the crisis, we’re also seeing determined new initiatives of resistance.
Neoliberal ‘Omnibus Law’ sparks rebellion in Indonesia
Indonesia’s neoliberal regime is using the pandemic to attack workers’ rights and environmental protections. Workers and students have other ideas.
‘I can’t fathom how bad it’s going to get’
The Covid-19 pandemic is combining with further government attacks on the health service to push the NHS, and its workforce, into unprecedented crisis.
Obituary: Mike Cooley, architect and bee
Brian Parkin pays tribue to Mike Cooley, a modest and inspiring trade union leader with a lifelong vision of a liberated technology, redirected to serving human need.
Video: Fighting back and building power during the Covid crisis
Three separate activists draw lessons from fights to defend working-class lives and livelihoods inside and outside the workplace.
Class struggle against Covid
We are facing a second wave of Covid-19 due to the reckless drive for profit of the capitalist class. Mass action from below is the key to stopping the virus – and remaking society in the interests of the majority.
What a way to make a living – A former mental health care worker
A former care worker details her experiences in residential mental healthcare.
‘The fight of our lives’ | Interview with Marian Mayer
Marian Mayer, candidate for Vice President of UCU, spoke to rs21 about the fightback in the higher and further education sectors
Post-war to post-industrial Scotland
Successive British governments have restructured the Scottish economy in damaging ways. Now we need a radical plan for a de-carbonised and independent Scotland.
Thousands march in first move of NHS pay battle
A wave of actions by NHS workers opens the door for a major struggle against austerity and poverty pay