Anti-union laws

Opposing the two Bills (John Moloney's column)

On Saturday 15 January, I spoke at the “Kill the Bill” demonstration in London. The demo protested both the Policing Bill and the Nationalities and Borders Bill. We need an ongoing movement against both pieces of legislation, which represent a slide towards authoritarianism. The government’s war on migrants has direct industrial implications for our union (PCS) members who work in the Border Force. The government wants our members to drag migrant boats back towards France. Given that these boats are frequently overcrowded and unseaworthy, such a policy greatly increases the danger to the...

University ballots close 14 January

Re-ballots on industrial action in 42 universities which just missed the 50% turnout threshold imposed by Tory law will close on 14 January. They could bring many more universities into strikes alongside the 58 which struck on 1-3 December over pay and conditions, over pensions, or both. Action Short of Strike is continuing in 64 universities. As yet it does not include a marking boycott. At many universities, the start of term in January is dominated by exams rather than classes.

Management's anti-democratic manipulation

Tubeworker HQ was alerted to this excellent post on Yammer, which we're reposting...


To me, the most notable thing about [Andy Lord's letter to staff] and the new flyer is that management urge RMT members not to take part in the ballot, i.e., not to use your democratic right to vote.

Unions are...

Stop the expanded Police Bill!

Earlier this year, during sizeable demonstrations against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, there was talk of the law at least being stripped down, removing its most egregious aspects. In fact, after demonstrations died away, the Tories have gone in exactly the opposite direction. As the bill has moved through the House of Lords, the government has proposed a raft of amendments which dramatically expand its oppressive features. Jun Pang of human rights organisation Liberty, which has been campaigning consistently against the Bill (though not mobilising people on the streets), has...

Return to Gate Gourmet!

Over the decades much of the British labour movement has come to celebrate the stormy Grunwick strike of 1976-78. That does not mean the dominant forces in our movement have absorbed what was important about it. Not 45, but just 16 years ago in 2005, another struggle by mainly South Asian, migrant women workers flared up. The fight of the Gate Gourmet airline catering workers against mass sackings designed to drive down conditions and bust a strong union had important similarities with and differences from Grunwick. Although it did elicit important solidarity action, it did not produce the...

Unite strengthens policy on anti-union laws

At the Policy Conference in Liverpool (18-22 October) of Unite the Union, one of the most important composites passed was about the anti-union laws. Previous policy conferences decided for repeal of all the anti-union laws including the Thatcher ones. This conference passed some concrete policy about a campaign on those laws and on the threatened further “minimum service” legislation attacking transport workers. The composite referred to breaking these laws if necessary, and a special conference if and when the Tories introduce the “minimum service” legislation. It commits Unite to push the...

Trade union struggle and political struggle - an interview with John McDonnell

John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington and former Shadow Chancellor, spoke to Sacha Ismail. After Labour Party conference, what do you think will happen with Starmer’s leadership? Do you think he’ll be around for a long time? It’s impossible to tell at the moment. At the conference he used the traditional Blairite, Mandelson playbook. Attack your own party to demonstrate you’re a strong leader; do a big personal speech to try to demonstrate you’re a normal human being; make banal statements instead of policy commitments. It didn’t work: the bounce in the polls didn’t happen. The...

High wages? Start with strong unions

The Tories want to present anti-migrant policies and the labour shortages caused by those by policies, by Brexit and by poor wages and conditions in key industries like road haulage and social care as a boon for workers. That was the pitch of Boris Johnson’s speech to Conservative Party conference, promising a “high-wage, high-skill, high-productivity economy” in place of “the same old broken model with low wages, low growth, low skills, and low productivity, all of it enabled and assisted by uncontrolled immigration.” The Tories are being aided in this misdirection by the lack of serious...

Momentum Internationalists Labour conference briefing

Thanks to Momentum Internationalists for this briefing on Labour Party conference (25-29 September, in Brighton) Who are Momentum Internationalists? Momentum Internationalists was formed by activists from the left anti-Brexit campaign Labour for a Socialist Europe, L4SE , in early 2020 to continue the fight for left-wing and internationalist politics after the Tories finally forced through Brexit. We ran candidates in the Momentum NCG elections of 2020 and promoted motions in the Momentum policy priorities ballot of 2021. We are not just a caucus within Momentum. We have been active on the...

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