As Colombia approaches presidential elections next year, the US decision to decertify the country in the war on drugs plays into the hands of its allies on the political right, writes NICK MacWILLIAM
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
The move against alleged PKK members that sparked outrage as a community centre in north London was raided last year has now come to trial, writes TONY BURKE, but in the meantime, the peace process abroad has changed the situation almost entirely
A new report points a way to overcome complacent framing of climate issues, ‘by sparking a wider public reckoning with climate realities,’ and reconnecting with working-class people. IAN SINCLAIR reports
We cannot understand today’s world without understanding the rise of China – and we cannot understand China without understanding how it was shaped by the second world war, writes JENNY CLEGG
NICK WRIGHT reports from Italy, where 80 cities saw Gaza strikes as unions paralysed transport and massive crowds clashed with police in Milan — but France is also kicking off, and Westminster, in a very different way, is facing a crisis of legitimacy too
Escalating anti-China rhetoric from the West has a clear purpose – to manufacture consent for the new cold war, and potentially a hot one, argues CARLOS MARTINEZ
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.
More from this author
Martin Smith speaks to general secretary of the App Drivers and Couriers Union ZAMIR DRENI about his members’ fight against the nefarious methods of exploitation by shadowy app giants like Uber and Bolt
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
