Something for nothing
With Scottish universities among the highest users of zero-hours contracts, it is fitting that the University and College Union (UCU) should hold its annual congress this May in Glasgow.
Science for the people: Away with superstitions
If all Britain had in the way of scientific research were just what is contained in London, we would be a global scientific power.
The DevoManc debacle
There’s been very little support for splitting up England whenever it has been put to the vote. Two years ago the people of Manchester voted not to have an elected mayor. They could not see why they needed yet another politician.
1975: Victory in Vietnam
Vietnam’s long struggle for independence culminated in victories for this small country against the military might of France and of America…
Barts: start talking
THE LARGEST NHS trust in Britain is blundering towards the precipice of bankruptcy – flawed from the inception of the Barts PFI deal, delivered under the last Labour government.
The battle for the arts: people versus profit
Should the arts be expected to create capital, and capital expected to fund the arts? Or are the arts an essential human function that ultimately cannot be controlled by capital?
Unity 'frees camp' from ISIS
Reports have reached Workers that the combined force of all the armed rival Palestinian factions in the giant Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria, plus the Syrian Arab Army, have liberated most of the camp from ISIS.
Pay turmoil in Unison
Unison’s local government sector has been thrown into turmoil following the hijacking of the union’s democratic procedures after last year’s local government pay fiasco.
Steel - Strike ballot goes ahead
Steel workers employed by Tata Steel in Port Talbot, Scunthorpe, Rotherham and other sites are to ballot during May on strike action over imposed changes to the pension scheme.
Scotland - The £7.6 billion hole
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has concluded that Scotland would be left with a £7.6 billion gap in its finances if it pursued fiscal autonomy, because falling oil revenues would leave the country with a tax shortfall – to be met by cuts or taxes.
RMT protests against subsidising European rail services
A series of protests across the north of England are highlighting the way British rail passengers are subsidising rail services in other European countries.
National strike looms over rail pay
Rail unions RMT and TSSA look set to call around 20,000 Network Rail staff out on strike in a fight over pay after talks at ACAS broke down.
Paying the cost of university
A report at the end of March showed that almost half of the 9 per cent increase in household debt in 2014 in Britain was accounted for by young people trying to fund their way through university.
Cancer care in Britain needs improving
3 April 2015
Britain lags behind in cancer treatment according to Macmillan Cancer Support. NHS England and the Department of Heath suggest progress is being made, but their claims don’t stand up to scrutiny.
No pot of gold for South Yorkshire
3 April 2015
Judges have upheld a reallocation by the Department of Business Innovation and Skills of £50 million EU structural growth funds from South Yorkshire to Scotland and Wales.
Barnsley College workers strike for conditions
3 April 2015
Barnsley College workers are in dispute over restructuring plans that will bring worse pay and conditions. A series of strikes restarted with four more days' action in the week ending 20 March.
Archaeologists unearth map secrecy
31 March 2015
Archaeologists working on the remote Cumbrian island of Walney and on the Isle of Grain in Kent have revealed what were secret trench training grounds forgotten for over a century.
TB in some London boroughs 'worse than Eritrea'
31 March 2015
Figures released by Public Health England at the end of March show that rates of tuberculosis in some London boroughs are worse than some of the poorest countries in the world.
Joint fight to stop huge NHS privatisation
30 March 2015
Three unions are combining to challenge the way NHS England is trying to hand a contract worth over £1 billion for primary care support services over to the private sector.
Middlesbrough looks to outsource its public services
30 March 2015
Labour-controlled Middlesbrough is set to follow in the footsteps of Tory-controlled councils in outsourcing nearly all of its public services.
Unions call for strike mandate over steel pensions changes
30 March 2015
Steel trade unions with members employed by Tata Steel are balloting for strike action over imposed changes to the pension scheme.
Greenwich fights back over newspaper order
30 March 2015
The Royal Borough of Greenwich is fighting government instructions to reduce the frequency of the council’s newspaper from weekly to four times a year.
Attack on May Day march rebuffed
30 March 2015
South East Region TUC has seen off an attempt to prevent the annual London 2015 May Day march from occurring by making the organisers foot the bill for policing it.
Welcome to the zombie economy
16 March 2015
A new book exposes the devastating impact of austerity across society, though it places too much faith in restoring the lost world of social democracy.
TTIP 'danger to environment', say MPs
15 March 2015
A report from MPs says proposals in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership treaty pose dangers for the environment, animal welfare and public health in Europe.
Dulwich gallery strike wins agreement on first day
15 March 2015
Front-of-house staff at Dulwich Picture Gallery, south London, are back at work after a week-long strike begun on the morning of Friday 13 March ended with a draft settlement by the end of the first day out.
Ukraine: the real violators
10 March 2015
Who is demonstrably violating the Minsk peace agreement? Prime Minister David Cameron for one. The US government for another.
EU turns the screws on Greece
10 March 2015
Sensing weakness, the European Union is now demanding that hundreds of "troika" officials go into Greece’s ministries to examine the accounts.
Northampton goes for 'big bang' privatisation
7 March 2015
Conservative-run Northamptonshire County Council is planning to outsource all its services in one go, reducing its workforce from 4,000 to a rump of 150 staff who will simply commission services.
Anniversary of the end of the miners' strike
7 March 2015
3 March 2015 saw the 30th anniversary of the return to work of miners involved in the year long-strike in 1984 and 1985 against pit closures and job losses. Today only a handful of pits remain.