Nurses in UK fight over pay and conditions in gov’t health system

Vol. 87/No. 21 - May 29, 2023

BY ANDRÉS MENDOZA, DAG TIRSÉN AND PAMELA HOLMES LONDON — Thousands of nurses and other health workers took part in a one-day work stoppage at half the hospitals across England May 1, in a long-running dispute with the government over…


Paper workers in the UK strike over pay, respect

Vol. 87/No. 21 - May 29, 2023

MANCHESTER, England — Forty production workers at Saica Paper UK here have been carrying out a series of one-day strikes for higher pay and better job conditions. The Unite union members voted 97% in favor of strike action after rejecting…


Nurses and teachers in U.K. set strike action over pay

Vol. 87/No. 18 - May 8, 2023

MANCHESTER, England — Nurses, members of the Royal College of Nursing union, who before last December had never gone on strike in their 106-year history, voted April 14 to reject the government’s most recent pay offer, against their national officers’…


Communist League: ‘Amnesty for immigrant workers in UK’

Vol. 87/No. 13 - April 3, 2023
Tens of thousands of teachers and civil service workers demonstrate in one-day strike in London March 15 for higher pay, better working conditions. Labor battles today require unity of all workers, including countering government anti-immigrant measures and demanding amnesty.

MANCHESTER, England — “The unions should fight for amnesty for all workers who the government says don’t have ‘proper’ papers,” Peter Clifford, Communist League candidate for Manchester City Council, told retired sewing machine operator Pam Grocock when he knocked on…


Thousands take to streets in biggest strike in UK for 10 years

Vol. 87/No. 7 - February 20, 2023
Over 1,000 workers protested in Manchester, England, Feb. 1, part of 500,000 nationwide who rallied for raises, better work conditions and the end of government attempts to limit strikes.

LONDON — Up to 500,000 workers from different unions went on strike Feb. 1. Some 300,000 teachers, 70,000 university lecturers, thousands of train and bus drivers and 100,000 civil servants walked out. “It’s the biggest strike for 10 years, but…


Manchester rail workers join nurses pickets, bring support

Vol. 87/No. 5 - February 6, 2023
Maggie Heaton, left, Royal College of Nurses union representative for North West England, discusses strike for pay raise and improved working conditions Jan. 18 with rail workers Ólof Andra Proppé and Gary Boyle, who brought solidarity from Manchester Piccadilly Station.

MANCHESTER, England — “Representatives from the RMT and ASLEF rail worker unions came and showed their solidarity with the nurses. They handed around a sheet with 130 messages of support from workers from Piccadilly Station,” reported the Manchester Evening News…


Solidarity key to strengthening union actions in UK

Vol. 87/No. 4 - January 30, 2023
Hundreds of trade unionists join protest against government anti-strike bill Jan. 16, Downing Street, London. Action was called by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union.

MANCHESTER, England — “On our 16th day of action fighting for a pay rise I want to extend support to all the other unions that are in this fight,” train conductor Clayton Clive told a Jan. 7 solidarity rally of…


London Abellio Bus drivers strike against attacks on wages, conditions

Vol. 87/No. 3 - January 16, 2023

LONDON — “The strike is solid,” Jim Hart, Unite union representative at the Abellio Bus depot in Battersea, told the Militant Dec. 31. They’ve carried out 13 days of strike action since November, fighting against boss attacks on their wages…


Protests hit Scottish rulers’ attacks on women’s rights

Vol. 87/No. 3 - January 16, 2023
Hundreds have protested Scotland’s “Gender Recognition Reform Bill.” Action outside Parliament in Edinburgh Oct. 6 denounces policies of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

EDINBURGH, Scotland — Hundreds gathered outside the Scottish Parliament here Dec. 21 to protest the passage of a bill based on anti-scientific notions that “men” and “women” are merely subjective categories that can be changed at will. Such views undermine…


Nurses, rail, postal workers go on strike across the UK

Vol. 87/No. 1 - January 2, 2023
Nurses picket Royal Marsden Hospital in London Dec. 15, one of a series of nationwide work stoppages aimed at beating back low wages, effects of inflation and eroding work conditions.

LONDON — Rail workers, postal workers, ambulance drivers and nurses are joining in nationwide union work stoppages to fight declining real wages, job cuts and eroding conditions of work, and they’re winning support from other workers. Ten thousand members of…