Hospital HR passes the buck
28 February 2016
Under the guise of “employee relations advice”, King’s College Hospital Trust has implemented a glorious modern-day example of how to undermine a union.
Unions
Unions
Anti-union laws - the Spanish model
The TUC’s cringeworthy “Love your Union” week from 8 to 14 February against the Trade Union Bill left many trade unionists at a total loss.
Why trade unionists should vote to leave
One of the big lies of the European Union is that it is somehow good for workers. In fact, the EU is attacking the basis of all progress at work – effective collective bargaining…
No advance without Marxism
13 February 2016
Political statement from the Communist Party of Britain Marxist-Leninist, 17th Congress, London, November 2015. There can be no advance without Marxism, because Marx showed that only the eventual victory of the exploited class, the working class, represents a real future. Capitalism means only destruction and war. Here in Britain, we need our own unique vision of a working class future in order to fight and win in the present.
Government cuts trade union education
15 January 2016
By August 2016 government funding for trade union education via the TUC will be slashed by half. By August 2017 all the funding will probably have gone. It is time for unions to grasp the nettle.
Valentine's stunt put up against Trade Union Bill
13 January 2016
The Trade Union Bill passed its second reading in the Lords on 11 January. In the face of a seemingly inexorable journey towards the Bill becoming an Act, the TUC’s response is a tepid Valentine’s stunt.
How to defeat the Bill
With the fascistic Trade Union Bill – attacking membership and finances – shortly to become law, we need organisation and clarity of thinking.
1: Caught in the check off trap
Rail unions learned just how vulnerable their finances were many years ago when British Rail summarily ended the check-off facility to RMT during a dispute in 1993.
2: Half a century of attack
“Kill the Bill!” was the slogan adopted by trade unions more than forty years ago, in opposition to the Industrial Relations Bill – which came perilously close to being accepted in toto by British trade unions.
Taking on the union myth-makers
Just about every union in Britain has policy opposing privatisation. Many are committed to fighting TTIP. It is the EU that is spearheading these attacks on workers.
Desperate Conservatives try to relaunch union front
5 October 2015
The announcement that the Conservative trade unionists organisation, disbanded over 25 years ago, is to be reconstituted should show everyone in the trade union movement just how weak and desperate government really is.
A young person’s place is in their union
Young people are not enthused by traditional politics – but that doesn’t mean they are apathetic. Harnessing and directing interest where young workers have economic power is not easy.
What’s in the bill?
New restrictions on the right to strike, including a 50 per cent voting threshold for union ballot turnouts, plus in some “essential public services” 40 per cent of those entitled to vote must vote for industrial action.
They want us to disarm and surrender
The Trade Union Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech has resurrected every wish-list governments ever had of smashing the working class. It embodies every anti-worker measure they’ve previously tried to implement and every shred of vindictive class hatred they have had in their ranks reaching back to day one of modern capitalism.
First they come for the unions
We have said that the main danger of fascism in Britain comes from the heart of the establishment, parliament. If you doubt this, take a look at the Trade Union Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech.
A waste of a dispute?
The short dispute among waste collection vehicle drivers in Barking and Dagenham ended with a return to work. One lesson of the setback is that unions must work together.
UCU ready to fight on pay
As Workers goes to press, the Higher Education Committee of the University and College Union will be meeting to discuss the results of its consultative pay ballot.
Unison: anyone voting?
The most significant result of Unison's national executive council elections was the turnout – down 25 per centy on the previous elections, and an average turnout of just 5.6 per cent.
Justice ministry moves to halt union subs collection
6 March 2015
In a further extension of goverment attacks on trade unionism in the Civil Service, the Ministry of Justice says it will no longer collect members’ subscriptions as part of the payroll function.
TTIP and the unions
Many unions are opposing the proposed transatlantic trade and investment treaty – while supporting the EU and endorsing its exclusive right to negotiate TTIP on our behalf.
Pay: a step in the right direction
This October’s TUC national demo will have a single concrete demand: Britain Needs a Pay Rise. It's a welcome change from vague calls such as the March for the Alternative.
Carr Inquiry: Throwing in the towel
The Bruce Carr investigation into trade unions following the 2013 Grangemouth refinery dispute has flopped. Unable to provide an evidence-based argument, Carr has thrown the towel in.
Unity at Scottish TUC
THE SCOTTISH TUC in Dundee in April saw the National Union of Mineworkers, ASLEF, Community, USDAW and GMB, with help from CWU and Musicians’ Union delegates, Work Together and United with Labour, organising a standing-room-only fringe event – featuring powerful calls for working class unity.
The early 1800s: national workers’ organisation arrives
It was during the first half of the 1800s that a nationally organised working class first emerged throughout Britain with centres in for example Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Glasgow and the West Country.
Six calls to action
The Communist Party of Britain Marxist-Leninist held its 16th Congress in late 2012, a coming together of the Party to consider the state of Britain and what needs to happen in the future. Here we set out briefly six Calls to Action for the British working class.
1926: The General Strike
At a time when some are calling for a General Strike we need to get clearer about what happened last time there was one in Britain…
Collective organisation
How did previous working class gains materialise? Improvements and reforms came out of past struggle and campaigns by organised workers.
Origins of our class
What were our origins as a working class? The British working class was the first in the world to emerge out of the land, the first to become an overwhelming majority.
The Future is Ours
The Future is Ours
Political statement from the Communist Party of Britain Marxist-Leninist, 14th Congress, London April 2006. At the 2003 congress the Party laid out an analysis of the state of Britain and the class which has been utterly borne out by events. The questions for us to consider now are: Where do we go from here? What has changed? How do we strike out for a future?
The Future is Ours
Political statement from the Communist Party of Britain Marxist-Leninist, 14th Congress, London April 2006. At the 2003 congress the Party laid out an analysis of the state of Britain and the class which has been utterly borne out by events. The questions for us to consider now are: Where do we go from here? What has changed? How do we strike out for a future?