RMT fight on
17 November 2022
Rail workers, members of RMT, have voted overwhelmingly to continue industrial action to defend their living standards, jobs and working conditions.
Why is immigration at record levels?
The never-ending rise in the number of people migrating to Britain provides the clearest evidence that Brexit is being hollowed out from within, including by people who appeared to be in favour of it…
Drax - more at stake than burning wood
Burning wood to generate electricity is no solution for Britain’s tenuous energy supply – and claims it is “carbon neutral” are flawed…
Wake up to the causes of food insecurity
Food shortages and rising food prices have hit Britain. It need not have been that way – governments have squandered the opportunities in front of them…
Unions: be ruthless, seize the right to rule
The working class and their trade unions know that capitalism isn’t working. At least not for us. But it seems to be doing a grand job for the capitalists…
London: workers need to take control
London can either be a huge force for progress in an independent Britain, or a colossal hindrance instead. Which one it will be depends on everyone in the country, not just in the capital…
Who holds the chips?
Government inaction has inflicted an uncertain future on Britain’s largest producer of silicon chips…
SNP record condemned as strikes grow
Despite all the other current problems, Scottish nationalists continue to pursue their aim of disuniting Britain. Yet in Scotland workers are more worried about the economy and the standard of living – worries shared across Britain…
Taxes, taxes, everywhere
Now in paperback, an account of taxation and government spending over the past three centuries casts an interesting light on the nation’s development…
Living on borrowed time
Another month, another prime minister. And yet underneath nothing has changed at all. British capitalism, the oldest in the world and arguably the most cunning, is out of ideas and out of time.
Some honest thinking, at last
The TUC congress met in Brighton from 18 to 20 October. Much of the agenda was routine and predictable, but some unions are thinking honestly and hard about the future of their industries and of Britain.
Redundancy blow at Meggit
Workers at Parker Meggitt found out in mid-October that around 200 jobs will go by the end of the year – only weeks after being taken over by a US rival…
Flooring workers continue pay battle
27 October 2022
Workers in Bury at flooring manufacturer Polyflor are renewing their strike for better pay. The company’s improved offer is still below the level of inflation.
Defence: Priority call
Unite has called on the government to prioritise British jobs and industries when tendering for defence contracts.
Imported politics spark riots
Violence broke out in Leicester in September – the unwelcome result of Indian sub-continent politics coming to Britain in a city where immigrants have settled and lived for decades, for the most part peacefully.
Dairy Products: Drivers strike
Around 70 HGV drivers and shunters at Muller’s Stonehouse factory in Gloucestershire are to escalate their dispute...
1974–78: the Social Contract, trade unions and the Labour government
27 October 2022
Struggles erupted in the early 1970s, notably the engineering union’s destruction of the 1971 Industrial Relations Act and the miners’ fight over pay. The new Labour government preached class conciliation in exchange for moderation of wages.
Barristers: Offer accepted
Criminal barristers voted in October to accept an improved pay offer from the government...
Docks: Liverpool walkouts
Nearly 600 workers at the Port of Liverpool decided to walk out from 24 October to 7 November over pay and job security.
Biomass: EU blow to forests
On 13 September, the European Parliament voted to keep the definition of woody biomass as renewable energy.
University staff vote for UK-wide strike action in historic ballot
24 October 2022
The University and College Union has announced that over 70,000 university staff at 150 universities could strike after an overwhelming Yes vote for strike action in what it calls “two historic national ballots”.
RMT prepares for long battle
23 October 2022
The rail disputes are now nearly six months old, and railway workers and their unions – led by RMT – are now resigned to a long-drawn-out campaign as they fight for the future of their jobs and their industry.
Truss beats the drums of war
10 October 2022
Instead of increasing Britain’s security Liz Truss is making the world a less safe place by leading Europe in arming Ukraine, training their soldiers and leading sanctions against Russia, with the defeat of Putin at the top of her list.
Nurses: a call to arms
9 October 2022
Nurses are considering industrial action on pay. It is time for those of us outside the NHS to stop clapping and hear the call to arms.
Liverpool dock strike enters second phase
7 October 2022
Over 560 dockers at the Port of Liverpool have just completed the first two-week planned phase of their strike action over pay and conditions. Now more workers are set to join in with fresh action from 11 to 17 October.
Barristers ballot on new offer
6 October 2022
With criminal barristers ramping up their industrial action to all-out strike from the start of September, the government has made an improved offer to try to get the courts back to work in England and Wales.
Carelessness and contempt
5 October 2022
During the past couple of weeks the government’s contempt towards its two main domestic creditors – the pension funds and the Bank of England nearly brought about a new, devastating collapse.
FE lecturers launch wave of strikes over pay
27 September 2022
Thousands of lecturers at further education colleges in England are striking this week and next in a battle over pay in the biggest action ever taken by FE workers.
Call this control? A budget for decline
26 September 2022
The new government’s economic policies continue those of the past – with a belief in capitalism as the only possible economic system, whose crises must be paid for by the people of Britain.