The newly elected general secretary of the Aslef train drivers’ union speaks to Ben Chacko about union wins, a welcome shift in approach to the rail sector and what still needs to be done
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From GCHQ to minimum service levels, union power can win
PCS leader FRAN HEATHCOTE draws the parallels between a major trade union rights battle 40 years ago and the fight we have ahead of us today
GCHQ union members, who where sacked for their union membership, pictured at the Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union Conference at Blackpool's Winter Gardens, may 15, 1997. Left to right: Alan Rowland, Mike Grindley, Jack Hart and Clive Lloyd
CHRIS NINEHAM, who along with Ben Jamal, is one of the activists facing trial over a Gaza demo last year, talks to Ben Chacko about the state’s increasing use of force against peaceful protest, and the significance of increasing imperial aggression around the globe
Higher growth removes the risks of being swamped by debt and interest payments and should be the way forward for British economy, argues DIANE ABBOTT
While advocating the aubergine or eggplant’s case for a space on your windowsill or patio, MAT COWARD suggest prayers might be required too
May elections will soon be upon us and SABBY DHALU calls for a maximum mobilisation, across Britain, to defeat Reform UK and the right at the ballot box
CHRISTOPHE DOMEC speaks to CHRIS SMALLS, who helped set up the Amazon Labor Union, on how weak leadership debilitates union activism and dilutes their purpose
TODAY thousands of trade unionists from across the movement will come together in Cheltenham to mark the 40th anniversary of one of the longest trade union disputes in British history.
Fourteen civil servants working in GCHQ were sacked simply for being a member of a union. What followed was a 13-year campaign that ended in victory, when the ban was finally lifted. Forty years on, our movement once again faces an existential threat, with minimum service levels undermining the right to strike.
Back in 1984, Margaret Thatcher enforced a ban on trade union membership. Over 100 workers refused to give up this basic right and by 1988, there were 14 workers still holding out. Their defiance cost them their jobs and they were sacked.
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