Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century
 
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Unison

UNISON conference backs Palestine, organising, strikes and trans rights

rs21 members in UNISON report that the recent National Delegate Conference saw continued progress and highlighted areas for campaigning and reform.

Woem on picket with placards

Support striking care workers!

Health and care workers are striking in Bristol and Blackburn.

Photo of Birkbeck UCU members picket line during December 2021 UCU strikes.

The Difference is Striking in Higher Education

Thousands of UCU members took three days of strike action last week in a resumption of long-standing disputes with employers. Nick Cimini reports on what the other higher education trade unions are doing.

Protestors in support of Paul Holmes. Banner reads 'We stand with Paul'

An injury to Paul is an injury to us all

Sam O’Brien reports from a solidarity protest for UNISON President Paul Holmes.

UNISON flags. Keywords: UNISON general secretary election

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

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.

Picket line conversation

Picket line conversations

A Unison member reflects on conversations on the picket-lines that offered a different vision about how universities could and should be run.

‘Courageous conversations’: students occupy SOAS library

This week students at SOAS occupied the library in opposition to cuts. Seth Uzman points to the wider education struggles they are part of.

We are working women and we make Glasgow

The strike that began today (Tuesday 23 October 2018) in Glasgow may be the biggest equal pay strike in UK history. Pete Cannell reports on Day One. Thanks to Christine, Mike and Eric for their contributions to the report. The two-day strike for equal pay involves more than 8,000 Glasgow council workers, members of the GMB and […]

Agency cleaners score landmark victory over SOAS management

Outsourced cleaners at SOAS have scored a milestone win – and shown that precarious workers can fight and win

‘There are no foreigners here except the bosses’: Precarious workers strike back

Leo Zeilig, author of An Ounce of Practice (Hoperoad, 2017), describes recent precarious workers’ strikes at the University of London. By eight in the morning on Tuesday last week it had already been raining for a few hours. I had turned up early for the strike and stopped on my way to the picket-line in […]

Durham TA's campaign logo

Durham Teaching Assistants – an inspiring struggle

Durham Teaching Assistants in UNISON are fighting against plans to cut their pay by 23% – plan backed up with a threat from the Labour Council to dismiss all 2700 of them and make them apply for their own jobs on worse contracts. Megan Charlton, secretary of the Durham Teaching Assistants’ Activists Committee, explains what […]

Unison and UCU strike together in FE over fair pay

Jessica Redman, a Unison member at a college in London, reports from Wednesday’s FE strike Wednesday 24 February saw Unison and UCU members in Further Education colleges across England strike together over pay for the first time in a decade. The strike was over an ongoing dispute with the Association of Colleges (AoC). The FE Joint […]

“£1 extra an hour for all” – UNISON and UCU national FE Strike

Tomorrow (24 February), for the first time in over a decade, UNISON and UCU in Further Education will be striking together for more pay. Mark, an FE lecturer in London discusses why they are taking action. Why we are striking Lecturers, admin and support staff working in Further Education colleges in England are to take […]

SOAS is shut down in protest at union rep’s suspension, cuts and marketisation

Nilüfer Erdem and Will Searby report from SOAS where students and workers have shut down the campus in central London in response to management suspending Unison rep Sandy Nicoll and £6.5million of cuts.  Valerie Amos, former advisor to Tony Blair and current interim director at SOAS, has accused students and staff of bullying and intimidating […]

Support John Burgess in Unison’s General Secretary election!

Charlie Hore discusses why rs21 members in Unison are supporting John Burgess in the upcoming Unison General Secretary election and the battles that the union faces.   This autumn Unison will hold an election for its General Secretary. This is the highest position in the union, and the only directly elected national official, so the […]

Planning the siege on Tory party conference

  The Tories are holding their annual conference in Manchester from Sunday 4 until Wednesday 7 October. Rick Lighten reports from a People’s Assembly meeting that took place in Manchester this week to begin planning for a series of protests and events around the conference. Over 100 people attended the meeting to start mobilising and […]

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. […]

Dundee porters on strike against low pay

Mike A reports from the hospital porters’ strike in Dundee. On the wall of the Medical Library at Ninewells hospital in Dundee, there is a poem by Michael Rosen. It’s a fine tribute to all those who contribute to caring for us in hospital when we need it, whether medical staff or not, and I […]

Reject the deal – restart the strikes

Mark Boothroyd, a nurse at St Thomas’ Hospital, on why health workers should restart the strikes for the sake of the NHS. This was originally posted on Mark’s blog. See also the Health Worker leaflet: Reject this rotten offer. Last week UNISON and UNITE’s leaderships voted to call off NHS strike action in response to an offer from the government. The […]

Strike for wages, strike for the NHS

NHS workers are on strike today from 7am to 11am over attacks on their pay. Head down and show your support at the picket lines. The rs21 leaflet supporting the strike can be found here.  The NHS is at breaking point. Chronic underfunding and under-investment is putting patients at risk. Instead of ending the scam […]

Tens of thousands join parade of the labour movement

Amy Gilligan reflects on Saturday’s TUC demonstration. The large TUC demonstration on Saturday saw tens of thousands of trade unionists march through central London. Branch banners from across the country were visible in many of the union blocks, and groups from outside of the capital made up a substantial proportion of those marching. The demonstration was […]

First NHS pay strike for decades gets a great response from the public

by Sophie Williams (Midwives’ picket line at North Manchester General Hospital  – photo by Sam O’Brien) Yesterday saw the first national NHS pay strike for 32 years, and the first strike in the 133 year history of the Royal College of Midwives. Picket lines were upbeat and received a lot of support from passers-by.  In Harrow, […]

Two public sector strikes suspended: proposed council deal offers little

The local government and tube strikes set for next Tuesday have been called off, though the new deal on offer to council workers is little better than the previous one. Two key public sector strikes planned for Tuesday 14 October have been cancelled by the unions involved. The local government workers’ strike by over 1.5 […]

Public sector strikes: a guide to who’s on strike when and why

Next week will see groups of workers from across the public sector taking industrial action in defence of pay and services. The week will culminate with trade union demonstrations in London and Glasgow on Saturday. Amy Gilligan rounds up who’s taking action when. UPDATE, 10 October Two of the strikes were called off yesterday. An RMT statement […]

Secret diary of a NHS nurse

In the first of a new series that looks at what it’s like on the ground for NHS workers facing cuts and privatisation, our correspondent under the pseudonym “the secret nurse”, describes her experience applying for NHS funding and her shock at the entrance of Richard Branson into healthcare I have been a healthcare assistant and […]

Up to 1.4 million to strike on #J10

Over 1.4 million workers from ten different unions are striking on #J10. NUT, PCS and FBU have called national strikes, while Unison, GMB and Unite have called out their local government sections. Local disputes in UCU (in King’s College London), Bectu (Ritzy Cinema) and RMT, TSSA and UNITE (London Underground) have been timed to coincide […]

Unison delegates angry over moves to quash domestic violence motion

(picture: Unison bloc at last year’s Manchester demonstration against health cuts) The Unison union’s annual conference is taking place in Brighton this week. The main themes running through it have been the forthcoming pay strikes and anger at the Labour Party. But the past two days have also seen a highly unusual rank-and-file revolt over […]

Lambeth College strike goes into its fourth day – report from the picket lines

Workers at Lambeth College voted last month for an indefinite strike to defend themselves against a principal who seems hell-bent on wrecking Further Education in the Borough.

Event: Thanet Freedom Festival, 19 July

A multi-cultural anti-racist community event in the spirit of Love Music Hate Racism. Freedom Festival Lineup  Spookasonic Sam Bumble Spyplane Nicola Booth Milky Negro OHHMS Avenge Thee + Naime Snowden Colliery Brass Band Roma Choir (plus 2 more Roma acts) Milos and Niklolas Lucia Xavier Dimitris Michailidis All My Ghosts Darren Barnes GriffAmy Libbi Jaeggi […]