Years of austerity and political failure have left classrooms overcrowded and staff overstretched – now educators are organising across roles to demand change, says ED HARLOW
Rail ticket office closures – yet more managed decline of our public services
The government’s goal is to cut staff and maximise profits at the expense of those who most rely on public transport, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE MP
An RMT member campaigning against ticket office closures
While US restrictions tighten economic and social pressures on Cuba, international allies and grassroots campaigns are stepping in to support the island’s resilience, writes BERNARD REGAN, secretary of Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Labour’s approach to Scotland reveals a long-running tension between rhetoric and reality, warns PAULINE BRYAN
We can't move forward as a progressive society, until we break away from our neoliberal past, says CHRIS WILLIAMSON
Austerity is breaking the education system. We must unite to save our schools and pay our teachers properly, says NEU national president ED HARLOW
Marx’s early lectures on economics, together with Engels’s additions, provide a valuable introduction to Marxist political economy today, writes the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY
DESPITE some rumoured wavering among some train companies, the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) and the government are pushing ahead with their plan to close down almost every station ticket office — over 1,000 in all — in a demonstration of corporate and governmental contempt for the wishes and wellbeing of passengers, especially vulnerable travellers.
Rail unions have seen huge support from the public in their campaign to prevent the closures that will surely have been reflected in responses to the consultation, but the government’s readiness to enable privateers to fatten profits over the wellbeing of the public is well known, despite a large majority of the public favouring the renationalisation of public services, including two thirds for rail.
The privatisation of the British rail industry has been a source of contention since its implementation in the 1990s. The closure of railway ticket offices is yet another example of this managed decline away from public ownership and accountability of our public services.
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Our members face daily abuse, being spat at, sometimes even deadly assaults, and employers fail to take the issue seriously despite the increasing danger, writes RMT general secretary EDDIE DEMPSEY
After yet more disgraceful price hikes enacted purely to line the pockets of private shareholders, RMT general secretary EDDIE DEMPSEY demands that Labour finally does the right thing for rail workers and passengers