STEVE JOHNSON relishes a celebration of the commonality of folk music and its links with the struggles of working people the world over
'I see socialism and trade unionism as two sides of the same coin'
Ben Chacko talks to LEN McCLUSKEY about his new book Why You Should Be a Trade Unionist
HEART OF THE MATTER: Len McCluskey, General Secretary of Unite the Union (centre) and delegates voting on Labour’s Brexit policy during the Labour Party Conference in Brighton
This thriller is a politically charged and morally complex dive into climate activism and police repression, judges JENNY FARRELL
Cat show killer, avenging the pawns, women hunt the Ripper, and running dry in the outback
The Bard reflects on sharing a bed, and why he wont go to Chelsea
MARY CONWAY applauds a new play that foresees the unscrupulous tactics of a future far-right minority government
RON JACOBS is moved to tears by an eloquent journal of heartfelt intensity and human portraiture
ROBERT OVETZ recommends a case study, from the University of Leicester, in their struggle against precarization, AI, privatisation, outsourcing, and work intensification in higher education
LEN McCLUSKEY’S slim volume Why You Should Be a Trade Unionist is a whistle-stop tour of its subject — the ethos, history and practical value of trade unionism.
Given the breadth of the issues it examines — from the birth of the Labour Party to the fight to organise precarious workers and from the Tolpuddle Martyrs to climate change — it’s amazing he managed to cram it all into 145 pages.
“It’s supposed to be brief,” McCluskey tells me when we meet to discuss the book. “There are lots of books on the history of the trade union movement. This was deliberately short in the hope it would attract young people, shop stewards, people coming into our organisations for the first time.
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