Dock workers in Felixstowe and Liverpool have recently taken coordinated action in struggles for real pay rises. Such tactics should be employed across the whole movement, to topple the Tories and the bosses’ system.
Last Saturday saw demonstrations across the country in support of striking workers, and in protest against the escalating cost-of-living crisis. With the Tories and their system in meltdown, the stage is set for a bitter winter of discontent.
As the crisis in Britain deepens, civil service union PCS is balloting members for national strike action. Socialist Appeal spoke with Fran Heathcote, the union’s president, to discuss what this means for the rising tide of class struggle.
This weekend will see coordinated action across the labour movement, with rail workers, dockers, bus drivers, and posties all striking, bolstered by solidarity protests. This must be the start of a mass campaign to overthrow the bosses’ system.
Following defeat in last academic year’s university strikes, UCU members are again balloting for action. This time, if the vote is successful, branches will all come out together, paving the way for coordinated action – on campuses and beyond.
PCS members begin a national strike ballot today, against a backdrop of attacks on jobs, pay, and conditions in the civil service. Truss and the Tories have declared war on Whitehall. The unions must mobilise and launch a united fightback.
This week’s Labour conference will provide no optimism for activists looking to fight back against the Tories and bosses. By contrast, recent rallies of the ‘Enough is Enough’ campaign have drawn energetic crowds, as the class struggle sharpens.
Only weeks into the new academic year, it is clear that UK schools are suffering from a severe staff shortage. Swathes of teachers are dropping out of the profession, due to low pay and high workloads. But teaching unions are fighting back.
Unison members in higher education at 22 universities are staging stikes over pay. At the same time, lecturers in the UCU are balloting for action. The scene is set for united struggle by workers and students on campuses across the country.
The last year has seen a wave of strikes across industry, with a number of important victories recorded by Unite members under Sharon Graham’s leadership. The lesson is clear: to win, workers need unity, militant action, and socialist policies.
Following the death of the Queen, trade union leaders have cancelled planned strike action ‘out of respect’ to the Royal Family. But the Tories and bosses have not paused their class war. The labour movement must mobilise to topple their system.
This week saw further action by postal workers and telecoms workers in the CWU. This shows the way forward for the trade union movement: to unite the struggles with coordinated action against the bosses and their crisis-ridden system.