MIKE COWLEY welcomes half a century of remarkable work, that begins before the Greens and invites a connection to — and not a division from — nature
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Mark Serwotka’s contribution must be recognised
At the helm of Britain’s eighth-largest union for a quarter of a century, he is rightly seen as one of the most principled and effective class fighters of our times, writes JOHN McINALLY
General secretary of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, Mark Serwotka (centre), joins union members of the on the picket line outside the office of HM Treasury, in Westminster. Around 100,000 civil servants from 124 government departments, the Border Force, museums, February 1, 2023
ANDREW MURRAY recommends a volume of essays that nail the visionless, racist and neoliberal character of policy under Starmer’s Labour Party
JONATHAN TAYLOR appreciates how, for a black British musician, to walk onstage can be a rebellious act
Since 2023, Strike Map has evolved from digital mapping at a national level to organising ‘mega pickets’ — we believe that mass solidarity with localised disputes prepares the ground for future national action, writes HENRY FOWLER
Like dictators of the past, Trump is seeking an enforcement agency answering only to him, asserts CJ ATKINS
From tens of thousands left abandoned to a militarised ‘looting’ crackdown, Hurricane Katrina laid bare racial inequities and government neglect, writes NATALIA MARQUES
MARK SERWOTKA’s retirement after nearly 25 years as general secretary of Civil Service and outsourced workers’ union PCS, is a significant moment for the union itself and the wider movement.
When I visited him in Papworth Hospital as he awaited a heart transplant in 2016, a procedure fraught with danger, we were both aware it may be the last time we met, yet he focused little on his own precarious situation but expressed great concern toward me following a dreadful bereavement.
His concentration and strategic foresight in the detailed conversation that followed was, given the burden of his condition, remarkable for its analysis of PCS’s perspectives and identification of the tasks ahead.
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April 9 1928 – July 26 2025
JOHN McINALLY argues trade unions and socialists must demand properly funded healthcare instead of a change that, combined with neoliberal capitalism, will see working-class people pushed towards suicide
JOHN McINALLY warns that Labour’s hasty push for legislation ignores the international evidence of expanding eligibility criteria, potentially normalising the ‘social murder’ of working-class people under the guise of compassion
Labour must fight to ensure any new laws do not become tools for social cleansing of the poor and disabled, argues JOHN McINALLY, as some begin considering NHS savings that could come at the cost of working-class lives
