With fascists and their supporters cynically and falsely posing as ‘defenders of women,’ the left must take violence against women seriously and gain a better understanding of women’s oppression, warns HELEN O’CONNOR

As some celebrate a pay rise, outsourced, privatised workers face continued exploitation — ending this injustice by bringing them in-house must become a top priority for the labour movement, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

HELEN O’CONNOR sees a worrying trend of women exiting the labour movement in their thousands, and warns that if this tide is not stemmed with proper and effective action, it will only be to the benefit of the capitalist class

Far from being ‘more efficient’ and providing ‘choice,’ privateers taking over the public sector have worsened service delivery, and workers rights’ have been utterly compromised on the altar of corporate greed, warns HELEN O’CONNOR

Outsourced workers at Princess Royal hospital are fighting back against appalling treatment by their employer, ISS. They deserve our full support, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

Dedicated staff at Epsom and St Helier NHS are taking strike action over unjust pay practices – they deserve our full solidarity as they stand up for their rights, says HELEN O’CONNOR

The way in which women like this legendary Irish trade unionist and socialist rose from extreme poverty to political leadership of the class struggle should be remembered — and emulated, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

The millionaire celebrity’s attitude towards women was on open display long before the recent criminal allegations — he is no left-wing, anti-establishment hero, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

The fight against cuts and privatisation must be at the centre of a real-world agenda that speaks to working-class people's day-to-day needs, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

We need an openly political and co-ordinated fightback against any kind of privatisation of the NHS, rather than a slightly slower path to its annihilation, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

Although there have been setbacks in healthcare organising, nurses and other NHS workers are becoming more active and engaged in their trade unions and this is still a beacon of hope, says HELEN O’CONNOR

Only pertinent arguments and staff engagement in union work will deliver lasting success, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

Union equality structures need a fresh approach to break out of siloed thinking and develop women’s abilities to organise within their workplaces against exploitative employers, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

Ambulance staff are out on strike on January 11 and once again they are calling on the entire labour movement and the general public to support them in their struggle to save universal healthcare, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

Speak to any striking nurse and they will tell you ‘reform’ is not needed — indeed, it is the supposed modernisation of the NHS that has been slowly wrecking the system for private profit, explains HELEN O’CONNOR

Industrial action is sounding the alarm about the crisis point our health service has now reached after years of being deliberately run down by the government, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

Now the ballot has been won, we must all do what we can to support industrial action when it comes — for the good of the NHS itself, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

It is time for all NHS staff in all unions, especially nurses, to vote Yes to industrial action during this ballot period, or further 'restructuring,’ marketisation and degradation of our health service will follow, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

As 65 per cent of the public-sector workforce are female, this puts them on the front line of the struggle against privatisation and de-regulation — unions must centre women workers for an effective fightback, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

We must build a united front industrially and politically, with clear, relevant demands and a co-ordinated campaign to deliver them or the Tories will crush us, argues HELEN O’CONNOR

Labour has lurched to the right under Starmer – and it’s working people who are suffering as a result of a lack of proper opposition, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

The battle against outsourcing is being fought in south London — and this May 30, we must all show our support, writes GMB regional organiser HELEN O’CONNOR

HELEN O’CONNOR is unimpressed by an imbalanced discussion of ‘sex work’ where women who do not feel empowered and liberated by prostitution are either dismissed or ignored

This is the finale to decades of free-market ideological war on our jobs, homes and lives. What seems like chaos reigns, but we must realise this is a well-organised attack – and our response must be too, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

HELEN O'CONNOR charts the slow creep of damaging change in the NHS since the ’90s, with a burgeoning number of ‘managers’ with no healthcare experience, increased fragmentation and privatisation, and the abolition of the nursing bursary

… but Croydon hospital workers have won — so can you! HELEN O’CONNOR tells the remarkable story of how they organised from scratch to win a groundbreaking 24% pay rise and a sick pay scheme

Women have just as big a role to play in the trade unions and in political life as men – every aspect of our day-to-day lives is affected by workplace policies and by the decisions of the politicians in Westminster, argues HELEN O’CONNOR

Hospital staff in south London will soon ballot for strike action to gain proper sick pay, a living wage and to be brought in-house — this is a fight for the future of nationalised healthcare, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

HELEN O’CONNOR explains how brave GMB members are battling Mitie to try to prevent it eroding standards in St George’s Hospital – and why everyone should get behind these workers in their fight for pay justice

G4S employees who carry out vital NHS work are struggling to survive on the minimum wage and don’t get decent sick pay. HELEN O’CONNOR says they deserve all our support

The push to move responsibility for our health onto our personal lifestyle choices is increasing – but all the evidence about growing inequality shows that traditional in-hospital care is absolutely vital, explains HELEN O’CONNOR

HELEN O'CONNOR reviews the very recent disasters from attempts to use private companies and private finance instead of a publicly funded NHS — now this discredited approach is back to 'drive down waiting lists'

Revisiting the work of Bolshevik revolutionary Alexandra Kollontai HELEN O’CONNOR finds that when genuine efforts are made to involve working-class women into the labour movement, this advances the interests of the entire working class

Launching and winning future health ballots will require a drive to engage members and to explain to them what is at stake — and the struggle is only just beginning in earnest, says HELEN O’CONNOR

NHS staff are rising up against a Tory move to open up our health service to privatisation. Join them, support them — or lose the NHS for good, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

For more than a decade the NHS has been subjected to a brutal regime of cuts and there has been no co-ordinated resistance. But a turning point has now been reached, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

The bulk of the government’s latest funding announcement is likely to be diverted into the private sector and used in the drive to further fragment the NHS, while prefabricated ‘surgical hubs’ are opened to replace proper local hospitals, warns HELEN O’CONNOR

With NHS workers overwhelmingly rejecting the government’s measly 3% pay offer, HELEN O’CONNOR believes it's crunch time for health unions, campaign groups and all who value the service

The historical mistreatment of Irish women, the ready willingness to deny them education, the right to consent or autonomy over their bodies bears striking similarities to how women and girls are still treated across the world today, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

Once again market methods are being posed as the solution to the growing NHS and social care crisis, says HELEN O’CONNOR

If there is money for this government to pour billions into the private sector, there is money for a fully funded 15 per cent pay rise for NHS staff, argues HELEN O’CONNOR

There is a growing awareness that protecting front-line NHS staff is integral to the struggle to keep healthcare free in this country, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

The defence of the health service is one of the biggest emergencies facing the country, says HELEN O’CONNOR

Using a system that makes accessing payslips tricky and raising pay queries trickier still, outsourcing giants have deliberately hardwired underpaying workers into their practice, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

HELEN O'CONNOR says low pay is not just a slap in the face for those on the front line of the Covid crisis – it is part of the NHS privatisation strategy

Denigration of health workers harms the NHS. Their dedication and hard work during the pandemic deserves fair reward, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

Controlling women – what we think, what we do, what we say, what we wear and look like – is still pervasive throughout society, writes HELEN O’CONNOR of newly formed women’s rights group Women Will Not Be Silenced

HELEN O’CONNOR reports from Saturday’s vigil for Sarah Everard, where mourning women found themselves victims of a brutal display of state force

The struggle for #nhspay15 is as important to health staff as it is to the country – we will all need free, accessible care at some point in our lives, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

The government’s shoddy treatment of heroic health workers is disgraceful – and trade unionists will be fighting hard to ensure their vital work is fairly rewarded, says HELEN O’CONNOR

The NHS white paper reveals an intention to drive down standards in the NHS through professional deregulation, warns HELEN O’CONNOR

The consistent themes of the leadership response during the pandemic have been too little, too late and too slow, says HELEN O’CONNOR

Amid the pandemic it is falling on the labour and the trade union movement to build power to hold this negligent government to account, says HELEN O’CONNOR

What Irish history shows is that governments can improve public health when the will is there to do it, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

The government is falsely claiming a trade-off between protecting mental health and preserving life, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

Tackling endemic societal racism starts with improving health and life chances, which can only be achieved with the decent pay, terms and conditions that too many BAME working people are denied, says HELEN O’CONNOR

HELEN O’CONNOR looks at how private firms supplying drugs to the NHS have their hands up to the elbows in NHS tills

GMB members who are still at work in this lockdown know that ‘libertarian’ charlatans like Farage and ‘business as usual’ politicians must be confronted, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

The NHS cuts and privatisation agenda is continuing apace – it must be resisted, warns HELEN O’CONNOR

Our movement must use the pandemic to unite around a clear set of demands that protect public health and advance an alternative economic vision that puts working people before private profit once and for all, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

In light of the disgusting wage hike for our parliament of millionaires, the #NHSpay15 campaign must be the centrepiece of the labour movement's resistance to the Tories' agenda, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

The plight of the underpaid and overworked staff must be recognised and put at the heart of any strategy to save and rebuild our NHS, explains HELEN O’CONNOR

If lessons are to be learned and effective action taken to address the serious issues of bullying, sexual harassment and cronyism highlighted in the recently published GMB report it must be recognised these problems exist not just in one union but across the entire labour and trade union movement, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

As nurses, still on the Covid-19 front line, march for fair pay, HELEN O'CONNOR recalls their struggle so far and urges them to rally around recent victories against the Tory government

From short pay, zero-hours contracts and ridiculous workloads there is just no evidence that private companies will be on the side of their employees — or good for the nation's health, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

It is clear that the shoddy employment practices of the management companies operating in the NHS are putting us all at risk. We need to take all workers back in house today, writes HELEN O'CONNOR

Now is the time to unite outsourced workers’ demands to become NHS employees, on NHS pay and conditions, with the fight to stop the privatisation of our health service altogether, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

Unions have an opportunity to join together at national level and put in the type of pay claims that could start to raise all key workers and their families out of poverty for good, argues HELEN O’CONNOR

Nurses’ safety, rights and working conditions must be protected like never before, writes HELEN O’CONNOR

Coming out of this crisis, the trade union movement will have choices to make about how we can fight for the future of our health service, says HELEN O’CONNOR

HELEN O’CONNOR shines a light on how companies are blatantly disregarding equalities legislation – and asks how trade unionists can apply pressure to make sure disabled workers are treated fairly

GMB will fight until every worker feels safe and protected at work, says HELEN O’CONNOR