Since 2010, one in five firefighter jobs has disappeared alongside 30% funding cuts — all while climate breakdown brings record blazes and flooding. It’s time to fund our fire service properly, writes FBU general secretary STEVE WRIGHT
Latest editorial
Why our democracy is in need of an upgrade
TOM HARDY of Extinction Rebellion looks ahead to an event in Windsor Great park when XR will be showcasing the people power of citizens’ assemblies
Climate campaigners from Extinction Rebellion Scotland protest outside the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association Conference at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), to highlight the flawed climate risk models used by pension funds and to call on the funds to stop investing in fossil fuels, February 28, 2024
In the current climate, it is vital to bust the myths and put forward the case for a humane and decent social security system that supports people, argues FRAN HEATHCOTE
CWU leader DAVE WARD tells Ben Chacko a strategy to unite workers on class lines is needed – and sectoral collective bargaining must be at its heart
Labour must not allow unelected members of the upper house to erode a single provision of the Employment Rights Bill, argues ANDY MCDONALD MP
With 121,000 vacancies and 44.8% of staff feeling unwell from work stress, the NHS 10-year plan will not succeed unless the government takes immediate action to retain existing staff, writes ANNETTE MANSELL-GREEN
With 90 courses from health and safety to neurodiversity, AI and political economy, we are helping workers understand the political context of their struggles, writes general secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions GAWAIN LITTLE
FROM August 30 to September 1, Extinction Rebellion will host Upgrade Democracy, an event in Windsor Great Park, to highlight the potential of citizens’ assemblies to bring hope and renewal to our broken system through deliberative democracy.
As we prepare to gather outside Windsor Castle, it feels fitting to echo the King’s own appeal, which makes clear that our mission to survive is beyond politics.
“We are at a historical moment — because we face a future where there is a real prospect that if we fail the Earth, we fail humanity. To avoid such an outcome which will comprehensively destroy our children’s future, we must urgently confront and then make choices which carry monumental implications.” (from “Harmony” by King Charles, Tony Juniper and Ian Skelly)
More from this author
As summer nears, TOM HARDY explains how unions are organising heat strikes and cool stations while calling for legal maximum workplace temperatures — because employers currently have no duty to protect workers from dangerous heat
Thanks to impressive progress in Britain with wind and solar generation, clean electricity now costs a fraction of the price of gas — yet the current system keeps bills artificially high to protect fossil fuels, writes TOM HARDY
TOM HARDY traces how these climate conferences have been captured by fossil fuel interests while CO₂ levels have continued to rise since 1995 — but XR’s citizen assemblies and direct action have offered an alternative
Will Labour live up to its campaign promises and support this vital Bill as it passes into the next stage of its passage through Parliament, asks TOM HARDY
