The possibility of a Corbyn-led Labour government was given a boost last Friday with the announcement of the election result for the position of Unite the Union general secretary. Len McCluskey’s narrow victory in the Unite leadership contest, however, provides some cautionary lessons to the Left about the way forward for the labour movement.
Members of both the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unison, as well as non-unionised staff in the NHS, are becoming increasingly frustrated with ongoing cuts in conditions and pay. As a result, for the first time in its history, the RCN is polling its members about their willingness to go on strike. Nurses, doctors, and all NHS staff: unite and fight!
The ongoing struggle of cinema workers at the Picturehouse chain continued over the Easter weekend, with co-ordinated strike action taking place across five different London locations. Workers at six Picturehouse cinemas are now involved in the fight for a living wage and decent terms and conditions. Support the Picturehouse workers!
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has just held its last national conference before merging with other teaching unions to become the National Education ‘super-union’. This year’s conference, however, was notable for seeing teachers vote to strike against Tory cuts that have left staff overworked and schools under-funded.
Terms and conditions for workers at major supermarket chain ASDA are under threat, as the bosses look to boost their profits on the backs of their staff. The trade union supposed to be representing ASDA workers, however, is remaining “neutral” in this struggle. GMB leaders need to show the way forward with a call for fighting action.
As ballots for the Unite leadership election arrive through the letterboxes of the union’s 1.4 million members, the Blairite wing of the Labour Party are going into overdrive in their attempts to kick out the incumbent, Len McCluskey. The right wing hope to deal a mortal blow to Corbyn’s Labour leadership. The Left must organise and fight back to kick out the Blairites.
On Saturday 25th March, up to 1000 people gathered in Durham to take part in the solidarity protest and rally organised by the Durham teaching assistants. We publish here a report and interview by the Newcastle and Durham Marxist societies about the struggle of the TAs against wage cuts.
After already being in dispute for several months with bosses at Southern Rail, strikes by railway workers in defence of safety, terms, and conditions have now spread to other areas of the country. On 13th March, strikes were seen at Southern stations, and also at Merseyrail and Northern Rail stations too. We publish here a couple of reports from the picket lines.
Cleaning staff at the London School of Economics are taking unprecedented strike action for two days on 15-16th March in their fight for decent pay and conditions. The example of the LSE cleaners – and their campaign alongside students and other staff – shows the way forward in the fight against exploitation in the workplace.
We publish here a letter by a regular Socialist Appeal reader, Martin Hartnett, a Unite the Union convenor in Coventry, who replies to the right-wing attacks made against Len McCluskey and Jeremy Corbyn in the wake of the Copeland by-election defeat. The Labour right wing are throwing all their support behind Coyne in the proxy war for the Party’s future.
A huge protest against Tory cuts and privatisation was seen in London on Saturday, as over 250,000 healthcare workers, trade unionists, and activists descended on the streets of London in defence of the NHS. This enormous display of anger must now become a platform for a mass political movement against the Tory government and their austerity.
Yesterday, on Wednesday 22nd February, RMT members on Southern rail continued their strike action against job cuts and attacks on health and safety. With ASLEF members now also rejecting a cooked up deal between the bosses and TUC leaders, we will likely see renewed joint action between RMT and ASLEF trade unionists in the coming weeks and months.