On the picket line at Picturehouse
Workers at cinema chain Picturehouse went on strike this weekend as part of their campaign for the London Living Wage.
If not Corbyn, then what?
Barnaby Raine offers a viewpoint on left-wing Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Diversify or Die: a new pamphlet from rs21
UK manufacturing workers must reject a continued dependency on defence contracts in favour of a re-dedication of industry to environmentally and socially beneficial production.
NEU radicals?
Andrew Stone, Joint Secretary of the Wandsworth branch of the newly formed National Education Union, writes in a personal capacity on prospects for trade unionists in education after the merger of the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. Numeracy: On 1st September the UK’s fourth biggest trade union was born […]
‘You strike a woman, you strike a rock’
Luke Hodgkin reviews Aliki Saragas’s new film Strike a Rock, which follows the fight for justice of the women widowed by the 2012 Marikana Massacre in South Africa. On 16 August 2012, 34 striking miners were shot dead by the South African security forces, in what has become known as the ‘Marikana massacre’. There has been no […]
Does migration undermine workers’ rights? A case study from waste management
Kate Bradley asks what labour stratification in the waste management industry tells us about British capitalism – and whether ‘managed migration’ would be the answer to the sector’s poor working conditions. Following Jeremy Corbyn’s speech last week on big companies’ abuse of migration, many media outlets including The Guardian have published critical responses. A New […]
What do we need to do to defend the NHS?
Pete Gillard assesses the limitations of Labour’s manifesto promises on health and argues that enthusiasm for the NHS can be used to build unions among health workers.
revolutionary reflections | The Upturn/Downturn Debate: An Introduction
Ian Allinson summarises a debate on the development of capitalism since 1968, and how this has impacted the working class and its struggles, in an attempt to address the question of what revolutionaries should do. This summary was written early in 2015 and is published here for the first time. While pre-dating the failure of […]
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, […]
Fighting for the NHS, a moment for Corbynism
Rob Owen reflects on the largest demonstration for the NHS in recent memory.
Unions: the poison of partnerships
Brian Parkin challenges the idea that there should be ‘partnership’ between workers and their bosses In her first flush of leadership madness, Theresa May promised that from now on, the Tories would be ‘the workers party'(!) And as evidence of this conversion to the cause of the proletariat, she proposed forthcoming guidelines to advise […]
revolutionary reflections | Rank and File Organising – Lessons from America 1
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 Rob Owen spoke to labour organiser Jane McAlevey about her experience of rank and file organising in the US since the 1960s, and their views […]
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 […]
Fawley refinery: Solidarity wins equal pay for migrant workers
Brian Parkin reports that Fawley workers show that solidarity can triumph over scapegoating other workers, rather than fighting the bosses. Yesterday (27 July) at 10.00 am, just four hours before workers at the giant Exxon/Mobil petroleum refinery at Fawley in Hampshire were due to commence their second 24 hour strike, management conceded to their demands. Even in […]
Chicago teachers join Manchester’s biggest May Day for years
Tara Stamps and Matt Luskin from the Chicago Teachers’ Union joined Manchester’s biggest International Workers’ Day festival for years. Ian Allinson reports. Manchester TUC had organised a huge festival for May Day this year. Despite hail, rain and sun we marched into the city centre to Sackville Gardens and the Mechanics Institute (the birthplace of […]
What the Junior Doctors strike tells us about how to organise in the public sector
Rick Lighten looks at the lessons that other public sector workers can take from how the Junior Doctors have organised and discusses how a strike in a site of ‘social reproduction’ might be different to one in an industry that makes a profit. Today Junior Doctors are taking strike action against the attempted imposition of […]
Right to Strike: Infographic
Download this infographic as a pdf here Join the TUC lobby of parliament and the day of action against the Trade Union Bill on 2 November Infographic design by Arjun Mahadevan
“Disruptive technologies”: lessons from Wapping
The idea that new technologies will replace the need for human labour is not a new one. However, it is currently receiving a lot of attention, following a recent Panorama documentary, and arguments made by figures on the left such as Paul Mason and Yanis Varoufakis. Sherrl Yanowitz remembers when Rupert Murdoch began his campaign to […]
Junior doctors’ contracts: not fair, not safe
Patient safety will be jeopardised by new contracts for junior doctors, argues Sophie W, a medical student, London. That’s why she will be demonstrating tomorrow (28 September) outside Methodist Central Hall in London. Junior doctors are to be balloted on industrial action, almost a year on from when union representatives walked out of contract negotiations […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
New Faces, New Voices – left politics after the election
Eleven young people address the question, “after the election, what do you hope will be the response and what to you intend to do going forward?”
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 […]
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. […]
Precarious Work, ‘Compression’ and Class Struggle ‘Leaps’
Kim Moody, author of In Solidarity, continues the discussion begun by Ian A and continued by Kevin Crane about the nature of work and workplace struggle today In his response to Ian A, Kevin Crane raises a number of serious issues concerning the work of socialists in trade unions and the workplace. The heart of his […]
The Magpie: Can we get a political voice?
In a new column, The Magpie discusses working class political representation The feeling that working class people in Britain have no effective political voice was everywhere even before Syriza won. It is shared by followers of Russell Brand; by those who back Labour out of fear of the Tories; and those who back smaller parties such […]
Historical Materialism 2014: Reversing the decline
In the third of three articles, UNITE union activist Ian Allinson reports from four very useful sessions[i] learning from the North American Labour movement at this year’s Historical Materialism conference. Several speakers presented evidence of the serious decline in union membership density (the proportion of workers in a union), collective bargaining coverage (the proportion of […]
Historical Materialism 2014: Migration, the Labour Market and Social Reproduction
The second of three articles by UNITE union activist Ian Allinson, reporting from four very useful sessions[1] on learning the North American Labour movement at this year’s Historical Materialism conference. We’re all busy fighting to stop “blame the migrants” arguments from politicians from UKIP to Labour and from the press getting a hold in our […]