Councillor SAM WHEELER says there’s a tangible shift in mood on the left in the city whose mayor has recently become PM — but there’s no room for complacency
LAST week the gloves came off. The pretence of government consultation of unions was dropped with the vicious attack on the teachers who decline to go back to work without the assurance that it is safe for their members, their members’ families, the pupils and their families.
Their view is shared by the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments and the BMA. It is also shared by the leaders of English local authorities. And more particularly, it is shared by most parents who don’t want their kids to become carriers of the disease.
But the British government is desperate for teachers in England to get back to what it regards as their proper function: childminding — so that business can get back to normal.
The new Employment Rights Act is a step forward, but restoring collective bargaining and union power remains essential to tackling insecurity, outsourcing and low pay, says PAUL WHITEHOUSE
The unions are unhappy with the Employment Rights Act 2025 and with good reason. KEITH EWING and Lord JOHN HENDY KC take a close look at why the Bill promised more than it delivered
On the eve of the 157th Trades Union Congress, MICK WHELAN, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, celebrates victory in his campaign to get dignity for drivers at work



