Why schools can’t ‘reopen’ until safe
Rob Owen explains why teachers, not ministers, must be central to judging how and when it’s safe to return.
Report: ‘They were human, not heroes’ – International Workers’ Memorial Day 2020
28 April is International Workers’ Memorial Day. In 2020, people across the country and the world mourned those who died of coronavirus due to the lack of PPE in their workplaces.
Overdue! A just transition for Scotland
As convergent crises confront the North Sea oil and gas industry with its rapid demise, the need for a just transition for Scottish workers is more urgent than ever.
Remember the dead – fight like hell for the living!
Turn International Workers’ Memorial Day on Tuesday 28 April into a powerful cry of grief and rage. The government hasn’t called a day of national mourning – we must make our own.
Postal workers in the COVID-19 crisis
Postal workers have been let down again by the suspension of strike action, and by the inadequate protection from coronavirus. The example of workers who have walked out on safety grounds should be generalised.
Covid-19: The ‘China’ narratives and Chinese workers
The workers who built China’s emergency hospitals are missing from the dominant narratives about China and the Covid-19 pandemic, writes Hsiao-Hung Pai.
The Scottish general strike of 1820
Pete Cannell recounts the first general strike in the history of capitalism.
Interview: Dealing with the mess
Junior Doctor Stacey Williams speaks about the prospects for organising to defend lives and the NHS through the coronavirus crisis.
Strikes in the time of coronavirus
How can workers respond to the unfolding coronavirus crisis, without forfeiting our collective power? A UCU member reflects. Originally published on Notes from Below.
Organising in response to COVID-19
As criticism of the UK government’s response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic mounts, rs21 members highlight the flourishing grassroots responses that aim to provide support and to demand more effective action from government and employers
Acting on COVID-19
With cases of the pandemic rising rapidly, we cannot rely on government or business to put health before profits. rs21 members have produced a set of actions and demands to campaign around and a summary of the safety legislation can allow workers to take action or leave work.
Film review: The Plan that Came from the Bottom Up
Steve Sprung’s retelling of the story of the Lucas Plan provides an inspiring lesson in how workers might build a sustainable future for all, writes Zareen Taj.
Statement: Students stage occupations at 11 UK universities in support of UCU staff
Students occupy buildings at eleven UK universities in support of striking staff.
Report from the #FeministPickets
Last week we republished the call from Women’s Strike Assembly for feminists to link up with the current higher education strikes. rs21 members report from the #FeministPickets
A crucial week for the university strikes
With negotiations reportedly going well, but the current wave of strikes ending alongside the climate strikes on Friday, rs21 members explain why this is a crucial week and explore some of the debates among strikers.
Feminists to the pickets!
The Women’s Strike Assembly are calling for feminists to link up with the current higher education strikes and organise feminist pickets on Monday 9 March 2020.
University strikes escalate from Monday
UCU and EIS members are briefly returning to work before escalating their strike on Monday. rs21 reports from the higher education strike around Britain.
Solidarity needs rebuilding, urgently
The university strikes provide an opportunity to relearn traditions of collective solidarity which strengthen both the strikers and those giving solidarity.
University strikes resume: day 1
The latest wave of strikes for pensions, pay, equality and against casualization and unsafe workloads began today (20 February 2020). We bring you some initial reports.
Support the UK’s biggest ever HE strikes
From Thursday 20 February, workers across the higher education sector will be taking strike action over pensions, pay, equality, casualisation and workloads.
Report: Youth Strike For Climate, 14 February 2020
Our members report on the Youth Strike for Climate on 14 February 2020.
Tough lessons to learn
The struggle against worsening conditions and cuts in education continues. Andrew Stone, 6th form college teacher and District Secretary of Wandsworth NEU, writes in a personal capacity about an upcoming strike and a ballot in Tower Hamlets.
Brexit day: what now for the left?
Today the UK leaves the European Union. The question of EU membership has divided and often paralysed the British left. Ian Allinson asks if we can reunite on more productive ground for the struggles ahead.
Report: strike day in Paris
Macron may believe he does not need to compromise over his pension reforms. But on the streets of Paris workers have other ideas.
Interview: The formation of the French strike movement
French collective Plateforme d’Enquêtes Militantes explain the strikes in France.
What a way to make a living | Minicabbing since 1979
In the latest instalment of our What a way to make a living series, Mitch Mitchell reports on his experiences driving minicabs over the decades
France on the march: Macron vs. the unions
The movement against Macron’s pensions reform is at the crossroads,. Public support remains high, but it will have to spread to other basic services and key industries to defeat Macron.
British Steel: workers’ rights disregarded
The return of a Tory MP from Redcar, whose steel plant closed in 2017, is a symptom of a feeling of abandonment in many former industrial communities. Brian Parkin looks at the prospect for resistance in what remains of the British steel industry
What a way to make a living | Artistic ‘freedom’
Liz Forster’s article from 2018 takes a close look at the precarious working conditions of the arts.