Seventeen years after losing her council job due to needing endometriosis surgery, Michelle Dewar’s campaign for paid menstrual leave gained 50,000 signatures in a week, reports ELIZABETH SHORT

US UNIONS have welcomed President-elect Joe Biden’s decision to appoint Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as US Labour Secretary.
Before becoming the mayor of Boston, Walsh was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and previously the head of the Boston Metropolitan District Building and Construction Trades Council, covering over 20 union locals in the construction industry.
Walsh joined the Labourers Union Local 223 at the age of 21 and served as its president.

TONY BURKE revels in the publication of previously unreleased tracks by the great US folksinger

This is a remarkable set of hop hip, salsa, reggae, soul, cumbia and traditional Mexican music finds TONY BURKE

New releases from Madalitso Band, Gabriel da Rosa, and Femi Kuti

A New Awakening: Adventures In British Jazz 1966 - 1971, G3, and Buck Owens