Organise! Educate! Control!
When workers discuss the state Britain is in, the question that follows inevitably is what can be done about it? It’s a tough question, one not yet answered.
Unions
Unions
1787: The Calton Weavers
In 1787 six striking weavers from the Calton area of Glasgow were killed and many more injured. The annual commemoration of their watershed struggle is building towards the 240th anniversary in 2027.
The British working class and its trade unions
The British working class and its trade unions
Tuesday 9 September 2025 19:00
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For better or worse, there’s nothing like British trade unions, set up by workers, not by employer, government or church.
The working class created them to survive. Without them capitalism would have starved and worked us to death.
But defence is not enough. If we don’t remove the attackers, they keep coming back. British workers want change, but they still expect someone else to do it for them. That must change.
Come and discuss. Email info@cpbml.org.uk for an invitation.
Cultural workers gear up for AI battles ahead
Artificial intelligence is touted as a means to boost economic growth. It is of course a great step forward and has great potential. But workers – especially in the creative industries will have to find ways to exercise control…
Net zero is a trade union issue
21 October 2024
This year’s TUC showed rising tension between an ideological support of net zero and the real-world impacts on workers. A life-long trade unionist has contacted Workers with his observations.
No to fire and rehire
21 October 2024
Food manufacturer Oscar Mayer wants to fire and rehire workers at its Wrexham factory to reduce wages. The workers began a 4-week strike in September, extended when the firm refused to negotiate.
Employment rights – still blocked by law
21 October 2024
The Employment Rights Bill, published on 10 October, does not repeal all the anti-union acts enforced by Thatcher and her successors, Tory and Labour. And the promises of change don’t stand up to scrutiny.
Why are public services getting worse?
Public services are in a sorry state, and the new government has other priorities, like devolution and backing wars. Our focus must be on what change is needed in our public services – and how we can make it come about…
Assert the right to strike
The capitalist class wants to shackle organised workers. That’s the whole point of its recent legislation on minimum service levels. What can we do about it?
1984: GCHQ trade union ban
Forty years ago workers at a government intelligence centre stood out against a ban on union membership…
Pay victories across Britain [print version]
Workers across many sectors organised in Unite have recently secured over £430 million in additional pay and benefits because of successful disputes.
Anti-Union Laws: Cheltenham march [print version]
On Saturday 27 January thousands of trade unionists from across the country assembled in Cheltenham for a TUC march and rally against the latest anti-strike laws.
On the march for the right to strike
8 February 2024
Workers gathered in Cheltenham on 27 January to remind government that they will resist anti-union laws.
Time to take up the challenge
A short twelve months ago NHS workers and their unions were deep in preparation for what everyone knew was going to be a major battle on that most central of issues, pay and conditions.
Much done – but far more to do
Workers have made remarkable progress in the past year in asserting the interests of the class. Yet in 2024 we need to do more.
Unions united against law
20 December 2023
The first special Congress of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) for over forty years took place in early December. It considered how trade unions should respond to legal attempts to restrict their activity.
TUC Special congress [print version]
The first special Congress of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) for over 40 years took place in early December. It considered how trade unions should respond to legal attempts to restrict their activity.
Assert the right to strike
Assert the right to strike
Tuesday 6 February 2024 19:00
Capitalism’s response to the successful workers’ action in health and rail is to make such action illegal. The right to strike can only be asserted in practice, not won in argument, or legislated for in parliament.
Come and discuss. Email info@cpbml.org.uk for an invitation
Protect the right to strike
Protect the right to strike
Saturday 27 January 2024 12:00
Cheltenham 27 January 2024
12 noon Montpellier Gardens, Cheltenham GL50 1UL
TUC march and rally against new restrictions on the right to strike, the next stage of the continuing campaign against new anti-stike laws.
This takes place at the home of GCHQ, where 40 years ago Margaret Thatcher banned workers from union membership.
https://www.tuc.org.uk/protectrighttostrike
Cruise operator withdraws conditions threat
1 December 2023
Cruise operator Carnival quickly withdrew an apparent threat to fire and rehire over 900 maritime professionals. After urgent negotiations with their union, the company confirmed it will not do so.
Strike laws – TUC calls special conference
17 November 2023
The government is trying to stop workers fighting for pay and conditions. A TUC special conference will discuss the trade union response.
What’s next for workers?
No worker really thinks that one year’s success ends the necessity for future defence of pay. Yet perpetual, unending strikes are not the answer either…
Rail - a crisis created by government
Rail workers should ensure that the strong workplace organisation that has been developed when they built support for their campaigns of industrial action is not dissipated...
Rolls-Royce claim stalled [print version]
Workers at aerospace and defence company Rolls-Royce plc recently rejected the company’s pay offer in response to the workers’ cost of living claim made on 2 February this year.
Teachers reject pay offer in fight for education
The well crafted and deliberate attacks on education by government are now being resisted by workers, who believe this is a critical point in the struggle to arrest decline…
Creating class control in practice
Control is the power of directing what happens in a country, or an industry. We say workers must take control, but that has quite a different meaning for workers than for capitalists…
Trade union laws: a brake on workers' action
Workers have always organised to defend their interests, governments have always used the law to oppose them, but struggle does not stop…
Anti-union law: a brief history
As workers began to challenge the power of capital and employers at the start of the industrial revolution, trade unions were simply made illegal by the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800.
Nurses escalate action [print version]
From 1 to 3 March Royal College of Nursing members at every employer in England with a strike mandate will be taking action including on night shifts.