Unite, the largest union in Britain, has come up with an imaginative response to the current austerity crisis by creating a community arm that supports people hard hit by the cuts. GERRY LAVERY reports on how it helps them campaign for change. The aim of Unite Community is to unionise and embrace people “being pushed...
Barnsley Hosts Two Exhibitions on the Miners’ Strike
Two innovative exhibitions are currently showing in the gallery at Barnsley’s Civic Theatre to mark the legacy of the 1984/5 miners’ strike....
Class Gathers to Challenge Inequality
A huge roster of speakers from the Labour and progressive movement has been assembled for a conference on ‘challenging inequalities in wealth and power’ in central London this Saturday....
March to End UK’s Worst Ever Pay Squeeze
The Trades Union Congress is calling on thousands of people to join its three demonstrations this Saturday and rally for an end to poverty wages and a ‘real economic recovery’ that doesn’t favour the rich over ordinary employees. The three marches are being held simultaneously in London, Glasgow and Belfast “to send a message loud...
Tony Benn, the Labour Left ‘and all that’
BARRY WINTER reflects on Tony Benn’s personality and politics, interweaving his own memories of the period as he considers the left’s failures in the 1970s and ’80s and the lessons for those seeking progressive change today. Few people in contemporary politics have attracted such public affection as Tony Benn. In spite of years of vilification...
People’s Assembly March to Demand the Alternative
The People’s Assembly anti-austerity movement is organising a march to ‘Demand the Alternative’ in London on Saturday 21 June....
No Short Cuts to a Progressive Scotland
The Yes campaign is winning increasing support among the left. But, says VINCE MILLS, this is based on wishful thinking about Scottish social attitudes and a failure to grasp the real difficulties of radical social and economic change. ...
Unmasking Austerity, Finding Alternatives
A new book from Dexter Whitfield exposes how austerity policies in Europe and North America have fuelled the fire of recession rather than stimulated growth....
Axing the ILF will be ‘Catastrophic’ for Disabled People
The government’s decision to axe the Independent Living Fund will have ‘catastrophic’ consequences for disabled people, according to the Unite union....
Rally Against Racism
Unite and the TUC are organising a march and rally in London to mark the United Nation’s Anti-racism Day on Saturday 22 March....
Welfare Cuts ‘Leading to Suicide Threats’
Government welfare cuts are driving people to the edge of suicide, claimed the Unite union this week before an MPs’ debate on the impact of welfare reforms on disabled people....
The Great Stumble Forward
The proposed reforms to Labour’s links with the trade unions are both a significant step forward and a fudge, says WILL BROWN. While the changes should be welcomed (with some reservations), the prospect of a mass, democratic, participatory party is still a long way off....