Solidarity 333, 13 August 2014

Local government workers and most school support staff (members of Unison, GMB, and Unite) will strike again on Tuesday 14 October, following the mass strike on 10 July (which involved a greater number of unions). Members of Unison, GMB, Unite, and the Royal College of Midwives in the NHS will also be balloted for strikes from late August, and could join a 14 October strike if the ballot returns a yes vote. For those of us in Unison, it had appeared that, for the first time in years, an attempt was being made to set out a serious strategy on pay. This involved: • A clear industrial demand (a...

Fighting in the south-east of Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatists continues. According to the Ukrainian authorities: the separatists have suffered a series of military setbacks, their morale is low, and desertion from their ranks is rife. According to the separatists: the Ukrainian forces have suffered a series of military setbacks, their morale is low, and desertion from their ranks is rife. What is clear is that for several weeks three major urban centres — Donetsk, Lugansk and Gorlovka — have been subjected to daily military bombardment. This cannot have failed...

Care UK workers in Doncaster, south Yorkshire, struck for two weeks from 29 July to 11 August. The strike was part of a long-running dispute to win the Living Wage. Since the dispute began in September 2013, the support workers (120 looking after 140 people with learning disabilities in the Doncaster area) have struck 48 times, often for several days at a time. This is a highly unusual strike in a labour movement where most strikes are for one or two days only. Moreover the workers are expected to “extend and intensify” their action. The determination of this group of workers is an inspiration...

At the time of writing (11 August) a ceasefire between Hamas in Gaza and the Israeli government is holding up. That is only a little comfort and relief for Gaza’s population. Nearly 2,000 Palestinians have died since the start of “Operation Protective Edge”. In Gaza City, 20-30% of the housing stock has been damaged. Ten out of 26 of Gaza’s hospitals have been put out of action either by lack of power or lack of medicine and medical equipment. Such damage ot infrastructure in a place that has suffered from acute shortages, the result of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, is a disaster. The stark...