Politicians who continue to welcome contracts with US companies without considering the risks and consequences of total dependency in the years to come are undermining the raison d’etre of the NHS, argues Dr JOHN PUNTIS
Technology should be used to better serve workers, not to cheat them out of pay
With AI now widespread across TV, film and video games, actors and performers need their rights vigorously defending from fraudulent use of their work, says Equity leader PAUL W FLEMING
Equity leader Paul W Fleming
MISH RAHMAN introduces the platform of a new organisation within Your Party, which will campaign for the highest level of democracy, accountability and participation, having learned from the mistakes of Labour in the 2015-19 era
The colonial mindset behind the governance of the UN is the reason for its inertia when it comes to conflict resolution, argues ROGER McKENZIE – but can China’s Global Governance Initiative point in a new direction of global equality?
ANDREW MURRAY wonders what the great communist foe of Oswald Mosley would make of today’s far-right surge, warning that while the triumph of Farage and ‘Robinson’ is far from inevitable, placing any faith in Starmer in an anti-fascist front is a fool’s errand
LOTTE COLLETT welcomes the arrival of a new party for the left, a vehicle for councils to finally fight for progressive policies on housing, green spaces and public facilities, rather than administering cuts and misery from central government
KEVAN NELSON reports back from a delegation to the epic celebrations for the anniversary of Vietnam’s 1945 revolution, where British communists found a thriving, prosperous socialist country, brimming with ambition and well-earned national pride
THOSE who oppose new technologies are sometimes accused of being Luddites in a pejorative way — it’s a term thrown at those who simply oppose progress or change.
However, as trade unionists, we should perhaps bear the mantle of Ned Ludd’s movement as it was originally intended by our radical working-class forebears.
The movement’s response to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI), whether in the creative industries or in the economy and society more broadly, merits the Luddite rallying call not to oppose change or progress but to tackle technology which was used, as they said “in a fraudulent and deceitful manner” to cut jobs, pay and undermine terms and conditions.
More from this author
Actors and entertainers have to pay significant fees to appear on directories in the hope of getting a job. Equity believes it should be the bosses who pay, not the workforce, says PAUL W FLEMING
PAUL W FLEMING reports on the progress made by the 93-year-old union
The strike action of Equity’s sister union in the US is an inspiration and a reminder that in this country too we need a guarantee of our long-overdue rights, writes PAUL W FLEMING
On the eve of his union’s conference, Equity general secretary PAUL W FLEMING writes that the trade union movement has become energised in recent years and the bosses’ narrative has been shifted for the better, thanks to revived collective struggle
