TUC president and POA leader STEVE GILLAN speaks to Ben Chacko on the eve of Congress 2026
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Striking to win the dispute or defeat the government?
KEITH FLETT looks at the long-running quandary faced by strike movements like the one gripping Britain today: do we aim for influence over the ruling party — to drive it from power — or both?
Students shout slogans during a protest in Lyon, central France, March 9 2023, during massive nationwide protests against the government's push to raise the retirement age.
DOUG NICHOLLS welcomes a turning point at this year’s Congress, where many motions call for a co-ordinated plan to revive British industry, a perspective outlined in his new book
HOPE VIRGO of campaign Dump the Scales warns MPs voting today they should be alert to the threat legalised assisted death poses to people with eating disorders
The Together Alliance is hosting two summits, North and South, to build power and plan action against the scourge of racism peddled by the right. DANIEL KEBEDE urges mass participation
The drift toward militarisation in Europe is not inevitable, left-wing and peace movements can preserve sovereignty and prevent war, says DÁIRE HUGHES MP
Whatever differences exist among international sympathisers of the Bolivarian revolution about its current trajectory, they should unite against the imperialist power that is the source of an enforced retreat, argues ROGER D HARRIS
Trade unions need to step up and force a turn in the policies of the labour movement to effectively confront the far-right threat, argues NICK WRIGHT
WHEN the Radio 4 news at 7pm on March 15 could report first on Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Statement, and then secondly note that it had almost been overshadowed by strikes on the day, it’s clear something significant is moving — at least potentially.
The strikes involved a range of unions — Prospect and PCS in government employers across Britain, NEU teachers in England, Aslef and RMT on London Underground, BMA junior doctors in England, and UCU university workers across the UK.
There was an impressive central London march and rally. I attended one called by the Wales TUC in central Cardiff. At the Cardiff rally, there were of course veterans of many previous fights, but there were also numbers of younger trade unionists. Indeed, such was the scale of the action that many on strike would have been doing so for the first time.
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