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
Unions: now is the time for an organising approach
Former head of organising at GMB MARTIN SMITH puts forward eight principles to capitalise on the current wave of militancy
UPSURGE: A PCS on the picket line in May this year
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
THE recent groundswell of wage militancy across the public, private and privatised sectors did not drop out of a clear blue sky — it has been almost 15 years in the making.
The challenge of decades-long wage theft, made worse now by profiteering energy companies driving an inflationary spiral, simply has not lent itself to a “servicing model” trade union response, and needs a collective organising one, centred on workplaces.
Unions were perhaps better equipped to capture this wave of working-class militancy than they might have been — but now is the time for the “organising agenda” to deliver on its promise.
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MARTIN SMITH says unions must be proactive if Labour's promises are to be turned into tangible gains for workers
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
