US-based labour and social movements authors and organisers Robert Ovetz and James Tracy interview DANIEL GROSS about his new book, Unions of Our Own: Eight Building Blocks to Change Work and the World
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10 years of Disabled People Against Cuts
DPAC co-founder LINDA BURNIP looks back on the highs and lows of a decade of organising to give a powerful voice to disabled people who are often ignored and excluded
Pic: Paula Peters
JOHN CALLOW introduces the work of Geoffrey Trease, who placed ordinary people at the centre of his historical fiction for children, creating adventurous stories to inspire the possibilities of social change
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The campaign against the Bank of England’s ongoing theft of Venezuelan gold is gaining support across the labour movement and beyond, writes MATT WILLGRESS
Unless ministers match reform with investment, the profession and the people it serves will continue to bear the cost, says KATE RAMSDEN
Claims that Nicaragua has abolished elections followed a headline that stripped Daniel Ortega’s remarks of their historical and political context. The full speech tells a different story, says BECCA RENK FOSTER
FOR THE International Day of Disabled people I have been asked to write about the last 10 years of co-founding and being involved with Disabled People Against Cuts and to talk about some of the high and low points.
To be honest no-one set out with the idea of forming a national campaign group for disabled people’s human rights — all we’d originally planned was a march to protest against the Tories’ vicious austerity cuts at their annual conference in Birmingham but there didn’t seem to be any other organisation or group around at that time that was working to stop these attacks so Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) filled the void.
For me personally the high points have been to do with all of the amazing and dedicated activists I have met over the past 10 years, plus our numerous peaceful direct actions to draw attention to the issues we’ve faced and make sure we could not be ignored.
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