Strike

Strike

• Clap for us then sack us: Tower Hamlets workers fight back

  

  Tower Hamlets workers went on strike to oppose the Council's plans to sack them and rehire them on worse contracts, reports Sybil Cock 

• Two Days, One Night - film of the week

  

  Chris Nineham is enthralled by this all-too-human study of modern industrial struggle

• Essential workers today; garbage tomorrow.

  

  As the economic turmoil starts to bite, Goldstar Transport workers show how to organise to fight back, reports Richard Allday 

• British Airways' betrayal - a fight for all of us

  

  British Airways has cynically taken money to keep their workers' jobs secure but has used the opportunity to attack them instead, reports John Westmoreland

• UCU members: reject the employers' derisory 'Four Fights' offer

  

  We should not even be balloting on this, but focusing on the issues arising from the universities’ response to the Covid-19 crisis, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• The Equal Pay Act at 50: a bittersweet celebration

  

  That women workers’ pay in the UK continues to lag significantly behind that of men underlines the limits of legal change under capitalism, argues Susan Ram

• Strikes, walkouts, and sickouts: how working-class Americans are organising in the time of Covid-19

  

  Counterfire's Katherine Connelly interviews US writer and historian Chris Wright about how workers are organising to protect lives and homes in America today

• Workers across the US strike on May Day for their lives

  

  Workers from Amazon and other retail companies walked out on May day to demand protective equipment and hazard pay, reports Alyssa Cassata

• We are not expendable: interview with Chris Smalls

  

  Counterfire's Alyssa Cassata interviews Chris Smalls, who led a walkout at an Amazon warehouse in New York to demand protective gear and hazard pay, for which he was fired

• How to build your union at your workplace now: a practical guide

  

  As employers exploit and neglect workers during the coronavirus crisis, Dave offers a practical guide to organising in your workplace now

• Striking for our lives: international industrial action during Coronavirus

  

  While capitalism allows callous employers to prioritise profits over people in the face of the coronavirus crisis, workers and trade unions have been fighting back on an international scale, argues Alyssa Cassata

• Staff and workers still remain exposed - CounterBriefing 30 March

  

  The attempt to look competent by providing regular updates the government is just trying to hide its inadequacies, says David McAllister

• Why St Mungo's workers are striking

  

  Instead of being pressured and punished, staff must be supported and properly resourced

• St Mungo's workers to begin three-day strike action

  

  Workers at St Mungo's are beginning strike action after management continues to prioritise cost-efficiency over services or working conditions, reports Mark Evans

• Striking in the time of coronavirus: results and prospects of the universities dispute

  

  After 22 days of industrial action this year, the University and College Union (UCU) will now contend with the coronavirus outbreak as well, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica.

• All power to the Bexley refuse and cleansing workers!

  

  Reuben Bard-Rosenberg speaks with striking worker about the action and how we can support it 

• Lewisham Hospital workers walk out and demand to be paid and protected

  

  The coronavirus crisis exposes the rot at the heart of Tory policy on the NHS as workers on the frontline of combating the pandemic are the worst treated, reports Tom Griffiths

• The struggle for education: reports from the UCU strikes

  

  We are into the third week of strikes. UCU negotiators are reporting that there has been progress but have counselled us to keep up the pressure. Here is a series of reports of the strikes from different parts of the country

• Bristol rising: Greta Thunberg and the school strike for climate

  

  Over 30,000 school students and activists shut down Bristol on Friday with Greta Thunberg to raise the alarm on climate change, reports Jennifer Van Heerden

• France: Macron stokes up Islamophobia to deflect from the movement to defend pensions

  

  Strikes and elections are redrawing the political landscape, argues John Mullen

• Pickets out in force for first day of UCU strike

  

  Reports from picket lines around the country on the first day of the UCU strike

• Stop the cuts at Goldsmiths: the not–so-hidden costs of the higher education ‘market’

  

  Des Freedman reports on students and staff rallying at Goldsmiths against cuts and how it links up with the UCU strike beginning this week

• If you love the climate, you hate the Tories: reasons to join the Valentine's Day strike

  

  Time is running out but the Tories don't care, join the Valentines Day climate strike and build the resistance, writes Shabbir Lakha

• St Mungo's workers vote overwhelmingly for strike action

  

  The ballot victory comes as proposals by senior management at St Mungo's threaten to deteriorate working conditions and services provided

• As Australia burns, climate strikes set for a new phase

  

  Lucy Nichols reports on twelve months of student-led protest

• High stakes in UCU strike: another 14 days of action announced

  

  Higher turnout likely than last year but the strike needs solidarity from the whole labour movement, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• India rises against Modi

  

  A popular uprising is spreading across India confronting the fascism of the Modi regime, reports Amrit Wilson

• Fighting back in France

  

  Hundreds of thousands are taking to the streets to combat Macron’s war on the welfare state, writes Susan Ram

• What next for the French strikers?

  

  The mass movement in France is impressive and has made significant gains but the battle against Macron's Thatcherite reforms needs a second wind, reports John Mullen

• The fight to keep the guard on the train continues

  

  The RMT Union is flexing its muscles in response to the lack of a commitment by South Western Railway to keep the guard on the train, reports Richard Alcock

• Macron makes more concessions to strikers but the battle continues

  

  The cracks in Macron's neoliberal government are beginning to show and the strikes are continuing to broaden, reports John Mullen

• New year, same struggle: French strikes move into second month

  

  As mass strikes continue into 2020, the movement is on a knife-edge, reports John Mullen from Paris

• Macron had a bad month, but what will it take to break his pensions bill?

  

  An update from Paris on the ongoing protests and strike action against Macron's pension reform bill by John Mullen

• Protect the right to strike

  

  Workers are ready to fight the government's attack on their rights, reports Reuben Bard-Rosenberg

• All power to French workers - report from Paris

  

  An organised movement of French workers unheard of in decades could hold Macron's fractured neoliberal outfit to ransom, reports John Mullen

• UCU: back to work but the struggle continues

  

  The strike is over, but the militancy remains. Graham Kirkwood reports from Newcastle

• France on strike: “We’re fighting Macron and his world!”

  

  Across France, hundreds of thousands strike work and take to the streets to denounce neoliberal pension ‘reforms’, writes Susan Ram

• France strikes against Macron's neoliberal war on pensions

  

  As mass strikes begin across France in response to Macron's attack on pensions, John Mullen looks at what's at stake

• Staff-student solidarity is being built in the UCU strike

  

  Teach-outs are building staff-student solidarity and provide a model for a better university, writes Clare Burgess

• A low point even for Johnson - election briefing 3 December

  

  Lindsey German on plumbing new depths and solidarising with striking rail workers 

• The lecturers are fighting back: reports from UCU strike day 1

  

  As lecturers at 60 universities around the country began eight days of strike action, Counterfire activists reported from picket lines on day one of the strike

• It's the class question, stupid - election briefing 25 November

  

  Lindsey German on class, leadership and this week's strikes

• Confronting fear during a strike: why picket lines are important in industrial disputes

  

  Ahead of the UCU strike, Vladimir Unkovski-Korica argues that mass unity creates strong bonds among strikers

• University lecturers are gearing up for next week's strike

  

  Preparations for the eight-day UCU strike starting 25 November are underway, reports Graham Kirkwood 

• Chicago teachers wield collective bargaining as weapon against austerity

  

  Teachers in Chicago are building on the successes of 2012 to create an inspirational campaign and win important victories, reports Kate O’Neil

• Postal workers vs the establishment: the injustice of the injunction against CWU strike

  

  Despite a 97% vote in favour of strike action by CWU members, the High Court has granted Royal Mail an injunction to stop the strikes, writes David McAllister

• Hospital workers strike for fair pay

  

  Exploited workers out in high spirits for the first round of one of the longest strikes in NHS history, reports Ellen Graubart

• Sixth Form teachers are striking against years of devastating cuts

  

  Andrew Stone, secretary of Wandsworth NEU and a Sixth Form teacher in London, spoke to Counterfire’s Katherine Connelly about why teachers are taking strike action

• “We need to work together”: school student climate striker speaks to trade unionists about the way forward

  

  The speech given by the 12-year-old school student and climate striker to Unite the Union’s Suffolk Area Activists Committee

• US workers strike back: General Motors and Chicago teachers

  

  A surge in strike action in the US shows a labour movement that’s fighting back, argues Kate O’Neil

• Royal Mail: huge turnout and overwhelming majority vote for strike

  

  Royal Mail workers deliver a massive mandate for strike action in historic CWU ballot, reports Shabbir Lakha

• Education is a key front in the battle against climate breakdown

  

  At a climate emergency conference organised by the National Education Union, teachers and union activists discussed how to build the movement against climate change, reports Orlando Hill

• Rebellion in the air – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on XR, strikes, Brexit vacillation and Turkey’s latest assault on the Kurds

• Kick out the crooks - Counterfire freesheet October 2019

  

  Tory crisis, Corbynism, drive to war with Iran, austerity, climate strikes and more in this month's Counterfire freesheet

• Postal workers stand up to management attacks - Interview with CWU’s Andy Hopping

  

  Andy Hopping from the Postal Executive Council of the CWU spoke to Counterfire’s commissioning editor Katherine Connelly, about what’s at stake in the dispute at Royal Mail

• University unions build for an autumn of discontent

  

  Industrial action is the only way to improve conditions in higher education

• A parliamentary crisis with no parliamentary solution - weekly briefing

  

  The quagmire of the mainstream cannot conceal that there's more to politics than Westminster, writes Lindsey German

• Why we all have to support the climate strike

  

  On 20 September, it is essential that socialists and trade unionists support the climate strike, writes Richard Allday

• The planet is on fire: build the climate strike

  

  Business as usual makes a climate catastrophe inevitable. It is time to stop business as usual. Join the global climate strike on 20 September, writes Bill Perry

• Something in the air? The strike action in aviation

  

  The success of the strike action in aviation proves our side can win when it is organised and confident, argues Richard Allday

• Workers' occupation at Harland and Wolff shows how to take on the Tories

  

  The occupation by workers at Harland & Wolff shows that manufacturing workers whose jobs are at risk can fight back, argues Richard Allday

• British Airways bosses' strike ban grounded

  

  British Airways workers are set to go on strike after attempts to stop them in court by the company have failed, reports Eleftheria Kousta

• Listen to the kids: school strikes for climate continue - video

  

  Thousands of students walked out of school once again to protest against inaction on climate change

• Capitalism and climate change - can we avert disaster? - video

  

  At a London public meeting, Elaine Graham-Leigh explains why climate change is a product of capitalism and the solution has to be one that confronts the system

• Strike to demand action on climate change

  

  Joanne Davis reports on the young activists leading the fight for our futures

• Keep fighting for Corbyn: Stop the attacks - Counterfire freesheet March 2019

  

  The soft coup against Corbyn and the weaponisation of antisemitism, Tory Brexit crisis, Winston Churchill, Venezuela, climate change, Palestine and more in this month's Counterfire Freesheet

• Algeria on the brink: is the Arab Spring back?

  

  The working class has hit the streets in Algeria, reviving hopes of revolutionary change in the region and beyond, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• Climate strikers: ‘capitalism is ill-equipped to deal with the crisis’

  

  School students spoke to Feyzi Ismail at the second Youth Strike 4 Climate in London on Friday. They are informed, defiant and resolute

• School climate strike: students shut down Newcastle

  

  Students striking over climate change know exactly who to blame for endangering the world that they will inherit, Newcastle Counterfire reports

• A history of International Women's Day

  

  In this article, originally published in 1998, Lindsey German traces the history of International Women's Day - initially a celebration of the struggle of working women fighting back over suffrage and conditions at work

• Youth Strike 4 Climate: we're fighting for our future

  

  A video report from the YouthStrike4Climate in London

• Learn to conform or learn to transform?

  

  School students have common ground with teachers in finding this government their main enemy, whether it comes to the value of their learning or climate chaos, argues Dean McAndrew

• 1919: When British soldiers went on strike

  

  The Folkestone strikes of 1919 should remind us that the organised working class can effect huge change in this country, argues John Westmoreland

• National school students' climate strike in pictures

  

  The hugely inspiring national school students' strike against climate change should be the start of a coordinated, international campaign, reports Jago Corry

• School climate strike: thousands of students shut down Parliament Square

  

  School students brought Westminster to a standstill as around ten thousand protested against government inaction on climate change, reports Thomas Gibbs

• Student strikes and climate change: demanding action not words

  

  National walkouts from schools, colleges and universities on Friday are taking the fight to the government over climate change, writes Elaine Graham-Leigh

• Mass walkout as Irish nurses and midwives stage historic strike

  

  35,000 nurses and midwives joined a 24-hour national strike on Wednesday with more action planned for next week, reports Eóin Ó Murchú

• Yellow Vests join unions to agitate for a general strike in France

  

  Repudiating Macron’s ‘great national debate’, Yellow Vests join hands with trade unions and the radical left to build for a general strike, reports Susan Ram

• Workers from the MoJ and BEIS go on strike and take to the streets

  

  Despite the cold, picket lines outside the Ministry of Justice and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy were vibrant and defiant, reports Shabbir Lakha

• Standing on the shoulders of a giant: Rosa Luxemburg and The Mass Strike

  

  Marking the centenary of her assassination, Richard Allday looks at Rosa Luxemburg's The Mass Strike and the lessons it holds for revolutionary socialists today

• In India, epic worker mobilisations challenge the Modi government as never before

  

  In what is estimated to be the biggest strike in history, over 200 million workers in India took strike action, reports Susan Ram

• Universities in 2019: facing the perfect storm

  

  As the Tories' mismanagement of higher education continues, Des Freedman looks at the battles ahead

• French high school students rise against Macron in 'Black Tuesday' protests

  

  Opposing Macron's neoliberal education reforms and police repression, tens of thousands of students are out on strike, vowing to join up the struggles, reports Jack Hazeldine

• Jeremy Corbyn joins teachers to demand an end to education cuts

  

  The National Education Union organised a march and rally in Westminster on Tuesday, declaring "enough is enough" and launched an indicative strike ballot

• Stop Tommy Robinson, All out for 17 November - Counterfire Freesheet November 2018

  

  Opposing the far right, people's vote, police racism, precarious workers, climate chaos, universal credit and more in this month's Counterfire freesheet

• Talk about equality is cheap, but paying women a decent wage is much too costly - weekly briefing

  

  Less glass ceilings and more grassroots is the key to reviving the role of women’s liberation in our struggle, argues Lindsey German 

• Glasgow refuse workers respect picket lines in solidarity with women’s pay strike

  

  Strike action in Glasgow spreads, showing the power of solidarity of men and women workers, reports Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• Glasgow Women's Strike: thousands of women strike for equal pay

  

  8,000 women council workers are beginning the largest coordinated strike action in Glasgow since 2011, Mark Porciani reports

• Amazon's pay raise is a tactical retreat as workers fight back

  

  Corporate exploiters like the Jeff Bezos giant are feeling the heat as workers organise, but its pay announcement should be treated carefully, writes John Clarke

• Uber strike: precarious workers fight back

  

  Uber drivers organised a 24 hour strike and rallied at Uber offices against precarious working conditions and unfair pay, Shabbir Lakha reports

• France in 1968: myths, realities and unanswered questions

  

  50 years on from the 1968 crisis, John Mullen gives an overview of events in France, the debates historians are having and the lessons today's anticapitalists should take

• Fast food, pub and delivery workers strike across the country

  

  The Fast Food Shutdown - #FFS410 - sees TGI Fridays, McDonalds and Wetherspoons workers strike in nine workplaces, joined by UberEats couriers in at least six cities

• Cleaners go on strike and win an early victory

  

  Cleaners have begun three days of coordinated strike action for a living wage and sick pay, and have won one victory already reports Jonathan Maunders

• Post PCS pay ballot blues

  

  In spite of the Tories' anti-strike laws, there are grounds for optimism for PCS in the coming year, argues Floyd Codlin

• UCU: we are the union

  

  The annual UCU conference has begun and the leadership, unwilling to accept criticism, has acted anti-democratically and with contempt of its members reports Des Freedman

• 'Just do it': the politics of fighting precarity

  

  Richard Allday reminds us that we need to work together; we can’t be socialists on our own

• May ‘68: France on the cusp of revolution

  

  Susan Ram looks back at the tumultuous events of May 1968, where students and workers united against the establishment, and asks what we can take from them today

• UCU pensions dispute: the battle is over, but the fight continues

  

  UCU members recently voted to suspend industrial action; the action may be on pause but the dispute is far from over. 

• After Windrush: this racist government must go - Counterfire Freesheet May 2018

  

  Windrush, May 68, Palestine, UCU strike, Marx and more - Counterfire freesheet edition 025, May 2018

• 50 years after 1968: Storms raging in Macron’s France

  

  Neither Macron and the bosses, nor France's working class have made a decisive breakthrough in recent weeks. But the movement is solid and imaginative, writes John Mullen in Paris

• Kentucky school teachers: why we're walking out on strike

  

  As school teachers walk out across the US, in Kentucky they're storming the state Capitol and making big demands, reports striking teacher James H. Miller

• University workers' statement on UCU ballot result

  

  The strike is over: our fight is not

• The case to vote 'no' in the UCU ballot and how we can win

  

  As university workers vote in a ballot on UUK's latest offer, Lee Jones explains why they should vote no and how the campaign to reject the deal can win

• Vote NO: university workers call to reject proposed deal

  

  Lecturers and supporters met at a national activists meeting today to discuss the campaign to reject UUK's proposed deal

• Is France heading for another May '68?

  

  From student dissent to militant strikes and a radical alternative, the ingredients are there for mass rebellion, writes John Mullen

• Reject the UUK deal: we need to fight now

  

  In this open letter, university workers from across the country argue that we cannot accept the deal as it stands, and must fight for a No vote

• University strikes: employers’ retreat needs to be nailed down

  

  As UUK returns with a further offer, Des Freedman takes a look at the immediate options facing university staff involved in the dispute

• France, March 22nd: the mobilisation of the public sector begins

  

  Across France, hundreds of thousands of people, spearheaded by combative rail workers, mobilise against Macron’s neoliberal assault on the public sector  

• The UCU dispute: a lesson in the power of collective action

  

  Solidarity among UCU strikers was not born on social media, but on the mass activity of the picket line, argues Milly Williamson

• Newham says no to academisation

  

  The fight against academisation in the East End is on, with three schools taking strike action

• Time's up Theresa - Counterfire Freesheet March 2018

  

  Brexit, Corbyn and the Labour right, gender pay gap, commodification of universities and more...

• The government's stance on Salisbury is a big gamble - weekly briefing

  

  Theresa May's Cold War revivalism is a high risk strategy for all of us, writes Alex Snowdon 

• Lecturers' strike: the rank and file have spoken, now we have to take the lead

  

  Feyzi Ismail reports from outside UCU headquarters as the union’s Higher Education Committee votes to reject the employers’ derisory offer

• Lecturers' strike update: no capitulation

  

  Des Freedman and Vladimir Unkovski-Korica explain why the deal between UCU and UUK is bad one and should be rejected

• 'If women stop, the world stops': a view from the mass women’s strike in Spain

  

  After huge strikes and protests in Spain, the message on the ground is to stay in the streets

• Lecturers' strike update: together we can win

  

  As the lecturers' stike enters its final week, a lecturer explains what we have achieved and what we still need to do

• Stunning victory for teachers in West Virginia

  

  This win is a huge step forward for the labour movement in the United States

• Lecturers' strike update: students at Reading University begin occupation

  

  Joining a wave of student occupations that look set to escalate this week, students at Reading University have begun an occupation in solildarity with striking lecturers

• Student Occupations Live #OccupyUUK

  

  Live updates of students occupying university buildings in solidarity with striking lecturers. #UCUstrike #StrikeForUSS

• The lecturers' strikes started in winter but are finishing in spring - weekly briefing

  

  University staff and students have shown that committed and passionate resistance is possible and neccesary, finds Des Freedman

• Lecturers' strike update: inside the occupation at Exeter University

  

  Now on the third day of #ExeterOccupy in support of striking lecturers, Theseus Stefanatos and Alex Rafael Rose report on the action students are taking and why

• Lecturers strike massive blow

  

  The UCU strike is not just about pensions. It is an opportunity to fight for a new vision for Higher Education, argues Milly Williamson

• Lecturers' strike: interview with a QMU striker

  

  A UCU striker at Queen Mary University speaks to Katherine Connelly about the ongoing dispute

• Lecturers' strike update: students occupy in Bristol, Exeter and Leicester

  

  In solidarity with striking lecturers and opposing further marketisation of higher education, students begin occupying management offices reports Jack Hazeldine

• Lecturers' strike: Deepen the action, spread the support

  

  As the strike continues, we must up the ante, argues Des Freedman

• Time for Action - UCU Strike

  

  John McDonnell has released a video saying UCU strikers have "absolute solidarity" from Labour. Jack Hazeldine lays out the next steps

• Against the marketisation of our education

  

  Rather than calling for compensation for lost teaching time, students should stand in full solidarity with university and college staff

• Picturehouse dispute: how far will Nero go?

  

  Responsibility for the failure to resolve the dispute around the living wage for cinema workers lies squarely with one arrogant and obstinate man

• Lecturers' strike report: students show their support

  

  On the 5th day of the UCU strike, picket lines stayed strong despite the weather and students came out in force to show their support

• Europe: why retreat must not turn into defeat for the left - weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German analyses Jeremy Corbyn's speech on Brexit, as well as the importance of the UCU strike and the growing movement against the NRA in the US

• What you can do to support the lecturers' strike

  

  As the strike continues we must keep the pressure on, argues Chris Nineham

• Lecturers' strike updates: Striking to win

  

  As the UCU strike carries on into its 4th day, we put together some short reports from picket lines around the country

• Bristol leads the way in supporting striking university staff - photos

  

  After a huge mobilisation to support striking lecturers on the first day of the strike, Bristolians took to the streets again to show solidarity reports Jack Hazeldine

• Forget the Arctic conditions: our universities are on fire

  

  The UCU strike has the potential to rebuild the campaign against the marketisation of our higher education, writes Des Freedman

• Lecturers' strike day two: ‘The things we have, we fought for on cold days like these’

  

  Another day on the picket line as, across the country, striking lecturers put the pressure on

• Lecturers' strike day one: A bad day for the casino

  

  University strikers across the country are reporting the most successful and well supported industrial action for years

• Solidarity with striking lecturers - resolution

  

  Resolution to submit at your Union branches/CLPs/elsewhere in solidarity with UCU members going on strike from Thursday

• Why we strike: why lecturers need your support

  

  As university staff are set to take strike action, two lecturers, Des Freedman and Vladimir Unkovski-Korica explain why you should support the strike

• Biggest ever strike in higher education? UCU members prepare to defend pensions

  

  As education workers get ready to strike, Des Freedman, a professor at Goldsmiths University, tells us what we can do to support them

• University staff set to strike after ballot victory

  

  University staff are set for 14 days of strike action after voting decisively for walkouts in opposition to attacks on their pensions reports Des Freedman

• The antidote to a very weak but very nasty government - weekly briefing

  

  Now is not the time for wait-and-see, even a small victory could break the back of this wretched regime, writes Lindsey German

• Postal workers' strike: 'Usually trade unions are reactive, but this time we've set the agenda'

  

  As current action hangs in the balance, Shabbir Lakha talks to CWU postal executive member Andrew Hopping about what lies ahead for the postal workers

• Strikes trim BA's wings

  

  Unite's Mixed fleet branch have won a decisive victory against British Airways. Richard Allday reports on the success of the almost year-long strike action.

• Teaching assistants: the results of resistance

  

  As teaching assistants in Durham accept a new pay offer, Megan Charlton debunks the myths about the dispute, and Bridget Yuill explains why she voted for the deal

• As postal workers come out fighting, employers try to use law to stop them

  

  Solidarity from across the movement will be vital as Royal Mail threatens to avert next week‘s strike

• BA strike: no backing down after 85 days

  

  Today’s militants are learning old lessons in double-quick time, writes Isabel Carr

• Unity and persistence have paid off for Barts workers

  

  Cleaners, porters, and catering staff in Barts NHS Trust have won a deal after 24 days of strike action and plenty of protest

• France: All out on September 12!

  

  Workers and political activists prepare to battle Macron’s ‘XXL’ assault on French labour laws, reports Susan Ram

• ‘Supersize my pay!’ – McWorkers stage first ever UK strike and we’re lovin’ it!

  

  McDonald's workers have taken strike action, reports Kara Bryan

• Counterproductive and unjust: PCS to ballot members for pay cap strike

  

  The trade union is demanding that the limit on wages be scrapped immediately

• Scrap the Cap: Nurses take the fight to the Tories

  

  Thousands of nurses protested outside Parliament against the 1% Pay cap, the fight is very much on reports Shabbir Lakha.

• Striking while the iron is hot is the only way to win back some of what’s been taken from working people - weekly briefing

  

  As wages continue to fall and workers rights are attacked further, McDonald's and other workers have begun to strike. Lindsey German explains why they are so important.

• McStrike at McDonald's: a report on today's action

  

  McDonald’s workers from two branches struck today for the first time in the company’s history in the UK in protest against poverty wages and insecure working conditions, reports Isabel Carr.

• Chaos in the White House - weekly briefing

  

  Steve Bannon has been dismissed as the fallout from Charlottesville continues, Sarah Champion has resigned and recent strike success has shown what's possible

• Birmingham bin strike: the dust settles… for now

  

  Striking workers offer further evidence of a shifting industrial terrain, reports the Angry Trucker AKA Richard Allday

• Suez Sita’s brand of eco-capitalism is a trap

  

  Hippy styled waste management in Doncaster has got workers’ resistance to look forward to, reports Mick Wattam  

• BA Mixed Fleet: the fight continues

  

  British Airways strikers are unrelenting in their campaign for fair pay, writes Richard Allday 

• The secrets of success: how SOAS cleaners fought and won

  

  The historic victory of SOAS workers after a bold and militant campaign should serve as inspiration for struggles across the public sector, argues Feyzi Ismail.

• Now they've shafted the young, they try to blame it on the old - weekly briefing

  

  When it comes to social division, socialists need to keep their eyes on the prize – class, argues Lindsey German  

• Solidarity breeds strength: Unite members demand fair pay

  

  Striking Unite members joined at the Bank of England to fight for justice, reports Jonathan Maunders

• Grunwick: The Workers' Story - review

  

  The Grunwick strike, 1976-8, was a pivotal event for the labour movement, and this classic account contains key lessons for activists, argues Richard Allday

• British Airways strike action: the fight goes on

  

  The Mixed Fleet will surely come back stronger, writes Richard Allday

• Pay up, guvnor: Bank of England staff go on strike

  

  Workers at the Bank of England want a fair wage rise, reports Peter Stauber

• SERCO Workers’ strike 25 July 2017: #BartsStrike

  

  Defence of the NHS and resistance to outsourcing continue to fuel the fledgling industrial fightback, reports Ellen Graubart 

• Serco strike: an incredible show of solidarity with hospital workers

  

  Cleaners, porters and security staff striking for better pay staged an enthusiastic and lively protest in East London on Saturday

• ‘We need to stand our ground’: hospital workers in London continue their fight for a pay rise

  

  On their second strike day, cleaners in East London remain confident they can win

• Red sky thinking: BA strikes and their lessons for today

  

  Once again, it is workers uninhibited by tradition that have the most to teach us, reports Richard Allday the Angry Trucker

• St Barts Trust: striking for change

  

  Overworked NHS staff take industrial action against Serco, writes Kara Bryan

• Justice for workers at St Bart's trust: Unite strike against SERCO

  

  Cleaners, porters and security rally at the Royal London Hospital prior to strike action

• NUT conference: from the Lions of Durham

  

  The Durham TAs' experience - struggle builds confidence; the more we fight, the stronger we become 

• Value us: the Lions of Durham keep roaring

  

  Saturday March 25 saw a County Durham Teaching Assistants national march and rally, Dawn Warcup was there to report

• Durham teaching assistants: an open letter to a Labour councillor

  

  Dear Labour Councillor, don’t blame me if you are now being held to account for your decisions…

• Strike 4 Repeal: International Women's Day in Ireland

  

  On International Women's Day, thousands of women in Ireland went on strike and took to the streets reports Amy O'Donoghue

• What's going on with the Teaching Assistants' strike action?

  

  The Durham Teaching Assistants' dispute has been going on for some time now, Tony Dowling speaks to Megan Charlton to find out what it's all about

• Boiling point: the crises created by neoliberalism

  

  The crises facing the NHS, London Underground and housing are just a few examples of the results of austerity and privatisation argues Lindsey German

• Why are London Underground staff striking?

  

  We asked Kieran Crowe, a TSSA representative, for his view on what the strikes are about

• Rail rip-off: uniting to campaign for renationalisation

  

  The campaign to renationalise the railways is heating up but the TSSA video is not the way to go argues Mick Wattam

• Pride, solidarity, anger and hope: 2016 for Durham Teaching Assistants

  

  Durham Teaching Assistants' year of resistance is summed up by Megan Charlton

• What happened to the Christmas of discontent?

  

  Despite the media's pre-Christmas strike hysteria the strikes didn't take place - Richard Allday examines why

• What is really going on with the Southern Rail strikes?

  

  Doncaster Counterfire speaks to ASLEF President Tosh McDonald about the industrial action on Southern Rail

• Southern Rail: striking for safety

  

  Southern Rail train drivers and guards continue their strike action, Jonathan Maunders reports from the picket lines

• Southern Rail: playing politics for profit

  

  As half a million would-be passengers endure another day of frustration, they are being encouraged to blame fellow workers for their misery, instead of the real culprits

• Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, But Mostly Conversation

  

  Studs Terkel’s life was spent documenting working-class life and struggle in the US. Alan Wieder’s biography captures him splendidly, says Graham Kirkwood

• A vote for McCluskey is a vote for hope

  

  Unite's general secretary has resigned to trigger an election, but hopes to continue as head of UK's biggest union

• Striking to defend the education of their communities

  

  The Durham Teaching Assistants ratcheted up their campaign with two days of strike action last week. Megan Charlton was there to report

• Defend the Kinsley School cleaners

  

  The small disputes, which appear separate, are coming together to form a movement, argues says John Westmoreland

• Solidarity with Durham Teaching Assistants: what comes around, goes around

  

  Thousands took to the streets of Birmingham last weekend to protest the Tory Party conference. Megan Charlton of the Durham TAs was there to participate and report

• Junior doctors: renewed strike action

  

  Junior doctors must continue to stand firm against the creeping marketisation of the NHS, writes Mona Kamal

• Gig economy meets the real world: the Deliveroo strike

  

  Deliveroo workers across London are taking part in strike action, Joe Odell reports from the picket line

• The race to the bottom - the secret life of the courier

  

  As Deliveroo drivers take strike action, a cycle courier explains the reality of precarious work

• Southern Rail crisis: re-nationalisation is the only answer

  

  Elaine Graham-Leigh takes a look at the crisis of Southern, caused by years of privatisation, and resulting in misery for staff and passengers 

• China on Strike: Narratives of Workers' Resistance

  

  China on Strike gives in insights into Chinese workers’ struggles and the nature of capitalism in China, writes Orlando Hill

• Class struggle in France: a temporary stalemate

  

  The government has been stunned by the strength of the strikes and protests, but what now for the movement? John Mullen investigates

• Junior doctors: the fight goes on

  

  The battle to save the NHS is only just beginning, argues leading activist Mona Kamal

• Lecturers' strike: fighting for fairness and the future

  

  Higher education (HE) workers across the country took the first of two consecutive days' strike action in the campaign for fair pay. Graham Kirkwood reports 

• Junior doctors: we will keep fighting

  

  Support surges for the junior doctors as they strike, in another bad day for Jeremy Hunt

• The Tories' crisis is our opportunity

  

  The tide is turning against austerity. How can we take advantage of the Tories’ crisis?

• Limpiadores: SOAS Cleaners' struggle - podcast

  

  Yasmin Dahnoun speaks to Fernando González, whose documentary Limpiadores tells the story of the SOAS cleaners' fight for justice

• Rosa Luxemburg’s The Mass Strike - key texts

  

  Rosa Luxemburg argued that the majority of people would be won to socialism through struggle, writes Paul Vernell in this introduction to The Mass Strike

• Always in the front line

  

  Women workers have been at the forefront of every new wave of struggle