Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
THE start of 2023 has seen new anti-trade union legislation that has further confirmed that this is an increasingly authoritarian government intent on ever-tightening restrictions on our right to resist.
The attacks on our right to strike are the latest addition to the long list of reactionary legislation that includes the so-called Public Order Bill and many other attacks.
As Richard Burgon MP recently said, “It’s clear that, faced with mounting unpopularity, the government is curtailing some of the basic freedoms that we have in a democratic society to oppose its decisions: at the ballot box, through peaceful protest and through strike action.”
Solidarity is needed for the longest strike in NHS history, argues HENRY FOWLER of Strike Map
The US is desperate to stop Honduras’s process of social and democratic change, writes TIM YOUNG
Since 2023, Strike Map has evolved from digital mapping at a national level to organising ‘mega pickets’ — we believe that mass solidarity with localised disputes prepares the ground for future national action, writes HENRY FOWLER
This ‘Big Meet’ our focus is building the next ‘Megapicket,’ say HENRY FOWLER and GAWAIN LITTLE of the General Federation of Trade Unions


