Manchester students begin occupation protest in solidarity with striking staff
Students at the University of Manchester, including members of the YCL, have launched an occupation protest in solidarity with University and College Union strikes. This follows years of falling pay, overworking, and casualisation for higher education staff
RMT union holds annual conference in Leeds
On Monday, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) opened their annual general meeting in Leeds. Addressing members, General Secretary Mick Lynch warned that the Conservative government is set to recoup the billions of pounds it spent fighting Covid-19 by attacking workers
New ‘fair-tips’ legislation announced by UK Government
The government has set out plans to make it illegal for restaurateurs to take customer tips or service charge payments from workers.
Facebook suspends union rep for organising protests
A union activist, who campaigned against “impossible workloads” for cleaners at Facebook’s London offices, has been ordered to be removed by the US tech giant’s facilities management firm.
Thatcher: enemy of the working class
George Hughes writes on Thatcher’s historic attempts to disrupt working class solidarity
Keir Starmer set to expel 1,000 Labour members
In what seems like the everlasting ideological war for control of the Labour Party, three groups and their respective members are to be removed from Labour … The accumulation of these suspended groups totals to about 1,000 members. Losing this many members cannot be good for a party which has already seen a massive decline in membership since Starmer’s took over as leader of the party. The ideological war of the Labour Party has been going since nearly it’s inception in 1900.
The British Medical Association consider industrial action
If the Tory government doesn’t increase a 1% pay offer, senior doctors in England may refuse to do overtime. Due to a pay offer that the NHS workforce have labelled as a “slap in the face”, the threat of industrial action has developed following the Royal College of Nursing’s announcement that it would contemplate balloting for industrial action.
Beckett drops out: the fight for Unite continues
The Unite leadership race is now looking more hopeful with Howard Beckett dropping out of the race to endorse Steve Turner.
Workers worldwide block Israeli ships in solidarity
Following apartheid Israel’s massacre in the besieged Gaza strip last month, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions and all other notable Palestinian trade unions have urged fellow workers around the world to refuse to handle Israeli goods and build Israeli weapons. Dock workers in Livorno and South Africa took heed of this call last month when they refused to offload cargo from a ship owned by the Israeli company ‘ZIM’, the eleventh largest shipping company in the world.
Gary Smith elected General Secretary of GMB
Gary Smith has been elected General Secretary of the GMB Union with a resounding 50.18% of the vote, in a three-horse race (3 June 2021). This election happened against the backdrop of the former General Secretary Tim Roach being allowed to retire on full pension after allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies.
