War: Asian exercises
The US and South Korea announced the start their biggest joint war games for years on 22 August. Troops plus warships, aircraft and tanks simulated an attack on North Korea.
News
News
Barristers: Indefinite strike
After nearly two months of intermittent industrial action, criminal barristers in England and Wales have voted to escalate to uninterrupted, indefinite strikes.
Medical training capped again
A month after praising Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital as “amazing” for the treatment his wife had received, Education Secretary James Cleverly has re-imposed the cap on medical training places.
Reach journalists take to the picket lines
23 August 2022
Around 1,000 journalists across Britain and Ireland working for the Reach group start four days of strike action on Friday 26 August after rejecting a pay increase of 3 per cent.
Bus services in England slashed [updated]
Massive cuts in bus services across England are under way as the government cuts financial support. This is deliberate and avoidable government policy.
Telecoms workers fighting for pay
21 August 2022
BT Group and Openreach telecoms workers will hold further strikes at the end of August. They are fighting against below inflation pay increases – in effect, wage cuts.
Post Office pay – more strikes likely
21 August 2022
Post Office workers are continuing industrial action in their ongoing pay dispute. Like other workers their employer has offered a pay increase well below inflation.
Liverpool dock strikes imminent
17 August 2022
Liverpool port workers are preparing to start strikes after an inadequate pay offer. A ballot of Unite members overwhelmingly supported taking action.
Felixstowe Port workers strike over pay [updated]
Felixstowe’s container port ground to a halt on 21 August as Unite members there walked out on an eight-day strike over pay..
Red Funnel workers in dispute
15 August 2022
Ferry Workers on Red Funnel Isle of Wight routes are fighting for better pay with a series strikes throughout August.
Libraries lose purpose
4 August 2022
A controversial series of children’s story readings are only part of the underlying tale of the decline of children’s library services in Britain.
River pollution: challenge to water companies
17 July 2022
Sewage pollution of rivers and canals has become a serious public health concern. It's so bad that the Environment Agency wants to jail offending water company CEOs.
Student loan burden grows
17 July 2022
British students pay heavily for their loans because of high interest rates and flat wages meaning graduates don't make substantial repayments.
Switzerland tilts towards NATO
17 July 2022
NATO is rapidly expanding its influence in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Switzerland, legally a neutral country, is one of those being drawn into NATO influence.
Brewing pay fight
15 July 2022
Workers at Budweiser’s Samlesbury brewery are in a continuing dispute over pay. They are strking again in response to an offer well below inflation.
Barristers walk out over legal aid pay
29 June 2022
Hundreds of criminal barristers began a series of strikes on 27 June over unacceptable pay rates for legal aid cases. The action has already led to eight out of ten crown court hearings being postponed.
Trade Unions - Membership drops
Bad news on trade union membership: the proportion of the workforce belonging to a union is at its lowest level since the current method of calculation began in 1995.
Avoidable air delays hit hard [print version]
Airline travellers have suffered several months of cancellations and long delays at airports. On one day in late May, 377 flights were cancelled affecting 56,000 people.
Nurse 'poaching' continues [print version]
Britain continues to recruit nurses and other health staff from “red listed” countries, who have their own shortages...
Shameful overseas nurse recruitment continues
16 June 2022
Britain continues to recruit nurses and other health staff from countries also short of health staff.
SNP tries to block gene editing progress
The Scottish government intends to block the deployment of gene-edited crops even if the proposed new legislation on gene editing applies to the whole of the UK.
Financial Conduct Authority fight continues
Workers at the Financial Conduct Authority have stepped up their fight for better pay and conditions, and union recognition, with a two-day strike.
Airport delays – the real reasons
14 June 2022
Airline travellers have suffered several months of cancellations and long delays at airports, which look set to continue. This is a crisis of the industry's making.
Strikes erupt on the railways as inflation rockets
12 June 2022
RMT has announced strikes in Network Rail and most of the passenger train companies which will effectively close the national rail network for a week in June.
Tube disputes escalate
9 June 2022
The tube in London was shut down on 6 June by ongoing disputes with tube workers. Station and revenue control staff were on strike against job cuts and attacks on their pensions.
Cuba battles against US social media subversion
27 May 2022
Elizabeth Ribalta Rubiero of The Cuban Friendship Institute is visiting Britain to give an update about the situation in Cuba as the country emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, with the 60-year US blockade still in place.
Massive vote for action on railways
25 May 2022
RMT members have voted overwhelmingly for strike action on pay, jobs and safety.
The Elizabeth Line: a British working class achievement [updated]
23 May 2022
The opening of the Elizabeth Line this week is a great achievement, to be celebrated despite delays.
FE lecturers in NW England fight for better pay [updated]
19 May 2022
UCU is campaigning for an 8.5 per cent pay increase for their FE members. With strike action taking place in NW England, they are beginning to have some success.
Fish take away
18 May 2022
Fish and chips, once an affordable take-away meal, is becoming more and more expensive, underlining what’s wrong with Britain’s food policy.