Unite’s recent rules conference marks a step forward for the union, which voted to support Jeremy Corbyn for Labour leader and to back illegal action taken by workers fighting against the cuts. Luke Wilson of Unite London ITC branch explains the challenges ahead for Britain’s largest union.
Lawyers of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) this week voted in favour of industrial action that will effectively bring the court system to a standstill. This is the latest move and a significant escalation in the fight against government cuts to legal aid, amounting to 8.75% – enough to put many small firms and self-employed barristers out of business completely.
A new Tory Government was never going to mean a new era of peace and harmony, especially under the social and economic conditions prevailing today. The new anti-union legislation, announced by Tory business secretary Sajid Javid, represents a full frontal attack on the labour movement. The trade union leaders must begin the fight back against the Tories now.
11th July 2015 marked the 131st Durham Miners’ Gala, reportedly one of the biggest in recent years, with over 150,000 on the streets of Durham. Socialist Appeal supporters were out in force, as trade unionists and workers from across the country descended on the city to hear speakers such as Jeremy Corbyn, Owen Jones, and Len McCluskey.
Tube workers on London Underground are staging a series of one-day network-wide strikes over the imposition of night-working arrangements. John Weebol, a member of the TSSA union in London, explains how this action comes after 18 months of attempting to negotiate with London Underground (LU) management.
Hours after Osborne announced his latest attacks on ordinary people, 20,000 Tube workers began strike action over safety concerns. The Tories accuse the unions of “holding the city to ransom”. These are rich words indeed, coming from the very same people who are trying to make workers, the youth, and the poor pay for a crisis they did not cause.
Following successful ballots, members of the UCU union are taking strike action in colleges across the country against cuts that will result in “the death of further education”. We publish here reports from Socialist Appeal supporters in Sheffield and Hackney, London, who have been on the picket lines with UCU members.
Saturday’s End Austerity Now demonstrations defied all expectations. Police estimates for the London demonstration alone gave a figure of around 250,000, with likely numbers exceeding this. From the title of the protest to the placards on display and the slogans being shouted, the message was loud and clear: we reject your austerity!
Staff at London Metropolitan University were out on strike today in protest against plans by management to cut courses, with an associated loss of 165 jobs. The demands of the union members taking action today were clear: not one course to be closed; not one job to be cut – an injury to one is an injury to all!
London Metropolitan University, even more than most institutions of higher education, has suffered brutally over the past five years of cuts. The election of a Tory majority to parliament is ominous for the future of this university. Trade union members are organising a fight back, with strike action taking place this Thursday, 21st May.
Yesterday, around 100 teachers and students attended a demonstration at Hackney Community College, organised by UCU members to mark the opening day of their ballot for strike action at FE colleges across the whole of London. Staff and students are fighting back against Tory attacks on education and jobs.
Before the dead body of Miliband’s Labour leadership was even cold, the Blairites were lining up to try and pull the party further to the right. As various contenders throw their hats into the ring of the leadership contest, the question must be asked: is a move towards the so-called political “centre-ground” really the panacea to all of Labour’s problems?