The heavy rain in London on Wednesday 16th October could not dampen the spirits of several thousand fire service personal who had travelled from all over the UK to attend a mass rally and demo in protest against the government’s continued attacks on all elements of the fire service.
The biggest construction firms involved in blacklisting have this week announced the proposal for an industry funded compensation scheme. We publish here a statement by the Blacklist Support Group to this latest development in the blacklisting scandal.
Sunday 29th September saw over 50,000 trade unionists, students, and local residents march through Manchester in one of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in the city. The national demo, called by the TUC, was nominally to ‘Save Our NHS’ but reflected a general opposition to continuing austerity and widespread anger at falling living standards for workers whilst profits for the rich are growing.
Following the national strike action taken by members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) on Wednesday 25th September, we publish here a letter from a firefighter from Dudley borough, written at the beginning of September at the time of the strike ballot, who outlines the reasons why he chose to vote for strike action, and who answers the accusations of the Tories that a strike of firefighters’ is “irresponsible”.
On Wednesday 25th September, firefighters across the UK from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) went on strike for four hours in protest against changes to firefighters’ pensions. Darrall Cozens of the Coventry TUC reports on the latest action by workers against attacks on the public sector.
Thanks to an online petition of more than 9,000 signatures and the threat of a mass demonstration, management at Birmingham Metropolitan College, were forced to change a policy that, if it had been implemented, would have discriminated against a section of the student population on the basis of their religious identity. Darrall Cozens from West Midlands UCU looks at the wider issues involved of how education institutions are run.
As the new term gets under way in Further Education (FE) colleges up and down the land, trade union members are being encouraged to hold union meetings to discuss the latest pay and conditions offer from the employers’ organisation, the Association of Colleges (AoC). Co-ordinate strike action between the various teaching unions is on the agenda. Darrall Cozens of the West Midlands UCU reports on the latest struggle in the teaching sector.
Structural steel workers at Severfield Watson Structures in North Yorkshire and Lancashire succeeded this August in defending their terms and conditions against attacks from their employer. Socialist Appeal supporters from the GMB union – who help to organise the Severs steel workers – report on this latest successful struggle.
We publish here the latest statement from the Blacklist Support Group, which concerns the reinstatement of Frank Morris – a blacklisted Unite the Union shop steward. Morris is returning to work on the Crossrail project on 9th September. This is a massive victory, not just for Unite but the whole of the trade union movement. His reinstatement sends out a message: unions are back and we are ready to fight our corner if we have to.
As part of overall cuts to the NHS in Yorkshire, Yorkshire Ambulance NHS Trust is replacing highly trained frontline ambulance staff with unqualified crews. Unite the Union, which has 500 members in the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, has been de-recognised by the management of the Trust for raising serious patient safety concerns as a result of these money saving measures. Richard Vivian of Unite the Union reports on the latest action by union members against NHS cuts in Yorkshire.
Call centre workers are amongst the most exploited in society. We publish here a letter from such a worker in a call centre for Apple, the giant consumer electronics multinational, who provides a vivid picture of the appalling conditions in this workplace, which are likely to be found in many other similar workplaces. In addition, the author outlines the need for such workers to unionise, organise, and fight back against such conditions, as part of a wider struggle in society against the exploitation of the bosses and the capitalist system.
Nearly 200 local people and trade unionists demonstrated against the English Defence League (EDL) in Portsmouth on Saturday 17th August 2013. Sylvia Courtnage, NUJ member and delegate to the Portsmouth Trades Council, reports on the successful counter-EDL march, which far outnumbered that of the EDL.