Once again Tower Hamlets is being targeted by anti-Islam campaigners, this time a revamped and radicalised version of Ukip — the far-right event is now banned by the police, but we’ll be assembling this Saturday to make sure they stay away, says JAYDEE SEAFORTH
Tolpuddle’s enduring legacy
Unison South West regional secretary KERRY BAIGENT charts the recent successes for industrial action and organising in her area, and outlines the challenges ahead, urging Labour to deliver on workers’ rights and social care
Fighting and winning: A Unison picket during their successful dispute with Wiltshire Health and Care.
URI WELTMANN reports on a day in the life of peace activists from Israel, travelling to help Palestinians in the West Bank harvest their olives under threat from settlers and soldiers
The independent TD’s campaign has put important issues like Irish reunification and military neutrality at the heart of the political conversation, argues SEAN MacBRADAIGH
Italian unions are mobilising against rearmament and for wages and investment – but left blunders still leave the ‘post-fascist’ Italian PM looking likely to keep her job, says NICK WRIGHT
New research into mutations in sperm helps us better understand why they occur, while debunking a few myths in the process, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
CAROL WILCOX argues for the proper implementation of the land value tax, which could see unused plots sold off and landlords priced out of landlordism, potentially resolving the housing and planning crises
THE annual Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, organised by the TUC, brings together thousands of trade unionists, socialists, and progressive campaigners in a collective celebration and commemoration of a 19th-century injustice against six agricultural workers, which became a fundamental cause for workers’ rights.
The legacy of these workers, known to history as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, acts as an important reminder to all trade unionists that the rights of workers to organise, take collective action, and form a union were not granted willingly and were only won following huge sacrifice, solidarity, and collective campaigning, even against forces that seemed overwhelmingly powerful.
The story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs is, therefore, one of inspiration. Every year we gather to meet, discuss, exchange ideas, and, most importantly of all, to organise.
Similar stories
After one year of a Labour government attacking winter fuel allowance and disabled people, the trade union movement must step up regardless of who holds power, writes STEVE GILLAN
The courage of striking Unison members across south-west England shows workers are ready to fight for their rights – and win, says Unison South West regional secretary KERRY BAIGENT
As the labour movement meets to remember the Tolpuddle Martyrs, MICK WHELAN, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, says it’s an appropriate moment to remind the Labour government to listen to the trade unions a little more
As trade unionists gather for their annual conference, battles against health service privatisation and exploitation of migrant workers highlight the urgent need to counter Reform’s divisive message, writes KERRY BAIGENT