The 22 June People’s Assembly, with its trade union backing and its 3,000 registered participants, presents the most serious – and the last – opportunity to unite the anti-cuts struggles within a single, democratic federation of groups and campaigns. This is no easy task, and it is certainly not the intention of the Assembly’s principal […]
This is a horrific act, committed in front of ordinary civilians, women and children. We sympathise with the family of the victim and those traumatised by witnessing such appalling scenes. But London Mayor Boris Johnson’s claim that it has nothing to do with British foreign policy and the claim that British soldiers are bravely defending us […]
On November 21 the National Union of Students (NUS) will march in London under the slogan ‘Educate, Employ, Empower’. The protest is supported by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC), Education Activists Network (EAN) and the UCU. Activists across the country are organising for the biggest possible turnout, but participation seems uneven and […]
London’s sparks have targeted rogue construction outfit BFK for some special treatment – flying pickets, direct action and brand contamination. The capital’s high-profile Crossrail project has received some unwelcome publicity when building workers, students and supporters blocked traffic near Tottenham Court Road for an hour. But matters got worse for the blacklisting and corner-cutting consortium a […]
Protesters picketed the BFK (Bam-Ferrovial-Kiers) Leeds Arena construction site this morning, demanding the reinstatement of workers sacked for trade union activities. The company, subcontracted by Crossrail, has been fiercely resisting the efforts of union Unite to win collective bargaining rights for those working on the project. A health and safety rep was suspended last month […]
Racism rife, jobs and services in shreds, justice denied – Jeremy Dewar reports
Rebellion, a national event of the Anticapitalist Initiative (ACI), took place in London on 14 July. It attracted around sixty people – somewhat less than were at the founding meeting. In the view of Workers Power this meeting was a failure; not in terms of the numbers it attracted, but rather in what came out […]
In a dramatic turn of events on the eve of the second London bus strike, the employers appear to have conceded. Clearly the private bus operators and Tory Mayor Boris Johnson’s Transport for London feared yet another gridlock from yet another strike. According to a report in the Evening Standard, Unite, the drivers’ union, has […]
Today’s strike saw hundreds of bus drivers from 17 companies putting on some of the biggest and most militant pickets seen in recent years. Up to 25,000 drivers are on strike, demanding an equal share of the £500 Olympic bonus given to transport workers to compensate for the extra workload expected during the games. Despite […]
By Peter Main Hundreds of demonstrators have prevented Sri Lanka’s President Rajapakse from addressing a business meeting in the heart of the City of London. He had been due to deliver a keynote speech at the Commonwealth Economic Forum at the Mansion House. Protesters waving Tamil Tiger flags and placards demanded not only that he […]
By Rix Bragg This summer London will play host to the 30th Olympiad, a sporting extravaganza touted as a showcase of the best of British, as providing unparalleled opportunities for urban regeneration and private investment in the East End. The reality is very different. The promised private investment never materialised, leaving the taxpayer to foot […]
By Marcus Halaby THE HEADY combination of big business, land development, local and national politics, and the struggle for international prestige has always ensured that major sporting events like the Olympics are fraught with issues for the communities that live and work near them. Few people, however, could have expected the news that ground-based […]
BUS DRIVERS in the capital are to ballot for strike action in pursuit of a £500 Olympic bonus to compensate for the 800,000 extra passengers expected during the summer Games. The mental stress and physical strain (the extra work of the engine in a jam-packed bus jars the drivers’ back) of working extra hours in this […]
In the last week, the London Metropolitan Police have become swamped by a series of exposes of police racism dating back to the London riots. The allegations expose the way the whole justice system protects the police and defends racism. On 30 March the Guardian newspaper released a recording made by Mauro Demetrio, a 21 […]
This morning, Wednesday 28 September, the second London demonstration of electricians and supporters with official backing from Unite the Union took place. Billy McKean was there
A FIGHTBACK is brewing at the London Sovereign bus company, writes Joy Macready.
As images of buildings and cars set ablaze spread through the media, Joana Ramiro reports on the harsh reality of North London’s Tottenham Hale community, where police brutality, racism and repression are, 30 years after the Brixton riots, still the inescapable reality.
The fascist English Defence League (EDL) is marching through Tower Hamlets on 3 September. Richard Brenner argues that we need to remember the lessons of Cable Street, when anti-fascists drove the far right off the streets of East London, and challenge the anti-Muslim lies they are feeding off. From all over Britain, enemies of racism […]
Lambeth Save Our Services is planning to follow up the tremendous 30 June strike with a joint union reps meeting, campaign to stop call centre privatisation and solidarity with librarians’ strike. Jeremy Dewar reports from an action-packed meeting
By a striking Unison Teaching Assistant 8.00am The NUT rep and I mounted a picket at our school – much to the Headteacher’s surprise, who had expected a passive, going-through-the-motions strike. Until yesterday, we had an agreement that seven Unison members would respect the picket line, but this crumbled at the last minute with colleagues […]
A world in economic crisis, growing social inequality, war in Afghanistan and Libya and revolutions across the Arab world. Neo conservative thinkers used to argue that we had reached the ‘end of history’ in liberal capitalism and that the old ideas of socialism and revolution had failed. Workers Power invites you to a series of lectures […]