When is it right for a union to support dismissal?
Kathleen Stock has blamed UCU for her decision to resign from her position.
The power to change the system
With COP26 just around the corner, a wave of industrial action in Scotland is demonstrating the huge opportunity of linking workers’ struggle with climate organising.
Obituary: Eileen Cook, 1950-2021
Eileen Cook, who died on 6 October 2021, was a life-long trade unionist, feminist campaigner, and revolutionary socialist. She is much missed by many, including her comrades in Edinburgh rs21, who remember her in this obituary.
Unite Policy Conference backs climate action
Unite’s Policy Conference backed the COP26 protests, workplace action and climate strikes, but remains attached to technical fixes.
An injury to Paul is an injury to us all
Sam O’Brien reports from a solidarity protest for UNISON President Paul Holmes.
How can unions rebuild power?
Ian Allinson reviews Jane Holgate’s new book, Arise! Power, Strategy and Union Resurgence, an exploration of why unions have failed to revitalise themselves.
Sharon Graham wins stunning Unite victory
Graham recognises the need to focus on rebuilding workplace power to reverse union decline.
Outsourced Staff take strike action at the Royal Parks
Picketing Royal Parks staff are part of an industrial struggle backed by two trade unions, Tom Schofield reports.
Stop Cambo
Pete Cannell, an activist in Scottish environmental group Scot.E3, looks at the political significance of the growing campaign to prevent the development of new oil and gas fields in the North Sea
Voting opens for Unite’s General Secretary
Ballot papers for the Unite general secretary election are being delivered this week and voting will end on 23rd August. rs21 members in Unite explain why they are urging a vote for Sharon Graham.
Back the sacked Goodlord strikers
The dispute in the referencing department of East London property services company Goodlord has entered a new phase after the firm sacked strikers in their 13th week of industrial action.
Unite elections: An interview with Howard Beckett
There are three candidates competing for the left vote in the Unite elections. rs21 interviewed Howard Beckett about his election platform.
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.
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.
Next steps in the fight for safe schools
The government’s retreat on school closures won’t last forever. Education workers need to go on the offensive.
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.
‘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.
The exception as the rule: Toronto’s social reproduction organising
In Toronto, community organisers are battling Covid in the shadow of colonial racial capitalism.
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.
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