Starmer promised a reset after Labour’s dire electoral performance, but the government’s programme still falls far short of the bold action needed, says ANDY McDONALD MP
THE Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival commemorates the ultimately successful struggle to win freedom for six pioneering trade unionists transported for their collective stand against low pay.
It bears a special relevance in a year when the Tories are intent on new anti-union legislation — pushing the draconian Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill through Parliament to ban effective strike action in whole sectors of the economy.
Despite tussles with the House of Lords, the Tories have the numbers to impose their Bill and it will likely become law in more or less its current shape. How does the TUC plan to resist it?
A past confrontation permanently shaped the methods the state will use to protect employers against any claims by their employees, writes MATT WRACK, but unions are readying to face the challenge
CWU leader DAVE WARD tells Ben Chacko a strategy to unite workers on class lines is needed – and sectoral collective bargaining must be at its heart
Ben Chacko talks to RMT leader EDDIE DEMPSEY about how the key to fixing broken Britain lies in collective sectoral bargaining, restoring unions’ ability to take solidarity strike action and bringing about the much-vaunted ‘wave of insourcing’
Incoming Usdaw general secretary JOANNE THOMAS talks to Ben Chacko about workers’ rights, Labour and how to arrest the decline of the high street



