Robinson successfully defended his school from closure, fought for the unification of the teaching unions, mentored future trade union leaders and transformed teaching at the Marx Memorial Library, writes JOHN FOSTER
Hear the voice of union builders
MARTIN SMITH says unions must be proactive if Labour's promises are to be turned into tangible gains for workers
JUST PAY NOW: (Below) Amazon staff members on a GMB picket line outside the online retailer’s site in Coventry, during a strike over pay, March 2024
A judge in a German court ruled that the ban activity imposed on renowned Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah was unlawful, reports LEON WYSTRYCHOWSKI
At the very moment Britain faces poverty, housing and climate crises requiring radical solutions, the liberal press promotes ideologically narrow books while marginalising authors who offer the most accurate understanding of change, writes IAN SINCLAIR
From Gaza protest bans to proscribing Palestine Action, political elites are showing a crisis of confidence as they abandon Roy Jenkins’s apologetic approach for Suella Braverman’s aggressive ‘hate march’ rhetoric, writes PAUL DONOVAN
ANSELM ELDERGILL examines the legal case behind this weekend’s Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival and the lessons for today
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’
The summer of 1950 saw Labour abandon further nationalisation while escalating Korean War spending from £2.3m to £4.7m, as the government meekly accepted capitalism’s licence and became Washington’s yes-man, writes JOHN ELLISON
I RECENTLY received a very large box from Amazon. When I tore it open it was just a small set of paintbrushes which I had forgotten I had ordered. The rest was just packing paper.
The letdown and feeling of being slightly mocked, if not conned, reminded me of how union builders felt in 1999, when we finally got to open up the big shiny gift box containing the New Labour Employment Bill, only to find quite small changes largely unenforceable
Since the election in July we have been bombarded with repeat announcements that government still intends to end the Minimum Service Levels Act, improve access to workplaces for unions, end fire and rehire, grant a right to disconnect and so on as set out in the New Deal for Working People.
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Martin Smith speaks to general secretary of the App Drivers and Couriers Union ZAMIR DRENI about his members’ fight against the nefarious methods of exploitation by shadowy app giants like Uber and Bolt
As the prospect of a Labour government becomes increasingly likely, MARTIN SMITH looks at the lessons for unions from the 1997-2010 era and focuses on what our core goals should be today
MARTIN SMITH revisits some core organising principles that were to the fore in battles of the ’90s and which remain just as relevant today
Former head of organising at GMB MARTIN SMITH puts forward eight principles to capitalise on the current wave of militancy
