The Employment Rights Act: what it means and where to go next
To respond to the Employment Rights Act, workers must go on the offensive
Your Party must trust its members
A reflection on the Your Party conference and the future for the new party
Red Friday – why workplace organising outdoes left union officials
The build-up to the 1926 General Strike highlights the dangers of a strategy based on left-wing union leaders.
Fighting for trans people at work and in unions – and winning
How Unite and trans union members fought back against transphobia in a Scottish aerospace factory.
Trans liberation is worker liberation – resource bank
Trade unions are getting involved in the fight against transphobia. We’ve put together resources to help activists organise.
GKN Florence: this is what worker led just transition looks like
After more than 3 years in occupation, the Florence GKN workers’ fight to save jobs and develop alternative production continues
1974 – an end and a beginning
Willie Black looks back at 1974. A pivotal year both in Britain and across the world – high points of workers’ struggles, but also the beginning of five decades of neo-liberalism
Resisting the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act
Ian Allinson discusses the ways workers can resist the government’s latest repressive anti-union legislation.
Without organisation, we have nothing: building a rank and file organisation in schools
After a momentous year of workplace struggles, rs21 teachers discuss the need for ongoing rank and file organisation across schools
How can workers stop the genocide?
An rs21 arms worker on how the Palestine solidarity movement could stop the flow of weapons to Israel.
‘Troublemakers at Work’: Why trade unions need a militant rank-and-file
‘Troublemakers’ brought trade unionists and activists together to discuss the importance of a militant rank-and-file.
School strikes: results and prospects
The tragedy of ending the dispute now is squandering the momentum and resolve we have built.
What is the potential for rank-and-file organisation today?
There is renewed interest in rank-and-file organisation, but confusion about what this means and what is possible.
UCU dispute: members can win the marking and assessment boycott
As the UCU’s marking and assessment boycott gets underway, rs21 members in UCU underline the need for more rank-and-file initiatives and a commitment to genuine member-led democracy in the union. Even before the marking and assessment boycott (MAB) by UCU members in the higher education sector got underway, the union was racking up some successes. […]
UCU dispute at the crossroads
rs21 members in UCU analyse the current UCU dispute and consider the role of the UCU bureaucracy in recent weeks. In January, the future of the UCU dispute over pay, pensions and conditions was in a precarious situation. A vote by the Higher Education Executive committee (HEC) to call indefinite strike action had been publicly […]
Support the UCU strikes!
UCU workers are escalating industrial action in their disputes. Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal explains why this is a vital move and how to support.
Yet more anti-strike laws
As Britain’s strike wave continues to grow, Ian Allinson argues for a more serious response to the Tories’ latest repressive legislation.
Lowering expectations: misrepresentations of McAlevey
Trade unionists have been inspired by McAlevey’s work. But now sections of the union bureaucracy are co-opting her insights.
What is the rank and file strategy?
Transcript of a talk that a Unite rep and rs21 member gave on the rank and file strategy as part of a Notes from Below panel at The World Transformed in Brighton.
Sharon Graham wins stunning Unite victory
Graham recognises the need to focus on rebuilding workplace power to reverse union decline.
What’s at stake in the Unite election?
We have to develop a strategy that challenges the status quo in Unite, and that means taking a different road to the official left.
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.
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.
Three days that shook the UCU leadership
Rank-and-file university workers are pushing UCU’s leadership in a bid for democracy, accountability and a fighting union
The death of irony at UCU congress
At the heart of the fight is the question of who controls the union: the officials or the membership?
Video: what is rank-and-file trade unionism?
Ian Allinson looks at rank-and-file worker organisation – the alternative to a reliance on bureaucrats to cut deals with management.
Breaking with the bureaucrats: how to reclaim Unite
Joe Hayns writes about the need to end the bureaucratic stasis at the top of Unite and support dynamic grassroots struggles led by rank-and-file members. On Monday (27 March) Unite members start to vote on who will be their next General Secretary – the centrist incumbent, Len McCluskey; the right-winger, Gerard Coyne; or the socialist, rank-and-file candidate, […]
For a rank-and-file strategy: supporting #ian4unite in the Unite GS election
Unite activist and former executive member Sara Bennett explains the politics behind Ian Allinson’s challenge to the Unite leadership Long-time Unite workplace activist, Ian Allinson, has thrown his hat into the ring in Unite the Union’s General Secretary election. The election was called at short notice and is the second time that current General Secretary, Len […]
revolutionary reflections | Rank and File Organising – Lessons from America Part 2
The International Socialist tradition has always believed in socialism from below – which means that socialism can only come about by the self-activity of the working class. In this interview Anindya Bhattacharyya and a Unite rep spoke to labour organiser Kim Moody about his experience of rank and file organising in the US since the 1960s, […]
Reviving the rank and file
Why aren’t we following the example set by the junior doctors? Rachel Eborall looks at the arguments we need to make to revive the rank and file movement and put militant action back on the agenda The fact that the working class is paying for a crisis they did not cause is clear for all to see. According to […]