Riot police showed the brutal face of the British state on the streets of London last week. But protests that threaten governments—let alone the capitalist system—are rare. Much of the time it can seem that people are relatively content with the way things are.
The outcome of last week’s climate conference in the luxury resort of Cancun, Mexico, shows the utter contempt the world’s richest governments have for the planet.
Production of millions of cans of Heinz beans and other foods will be shut down this week as more than 1,000 workers at the company plant in Wigan are set to strike.
Some of the lowest-paid workers in the NHS are preparing to strike this week.
Three crucial strikes are set to take place on the tube over Christmas. Two of the walkouts are against the victimisation of RMT union activists.
Around 350 firefighters marched through Hull last Saturday in protest at plans to slash 170 jobs by reducing crew on fire engines from five to four.
Teachers and council workers in Tower Hamlets, east London, this week moved a step closer to a borough-wide strike against cuts.
The year ends with clear signs of the potential for local anti-cuts groups to mobilise big protests.
Villiers High School in Southall, west London, was closed to most students on Wednesday 8 December when 60 members of the NUT and ATL teaching unions struck against management bullying.
Nearly 70 delegates from further education colleges in Scotland shrugged off the snow and met in Glasgow at an emergency EIS conference over the cuts last week.
The NUT national executive has deferred a decision on a timetable for action on proposed changes to the Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS) until its next meeting on 20 January.
Strikes are set to spread across regional newspaper company Newsquest after journalists at its titles in Blackburn, Bradford, Bolton and York voted decisively for walkouts.
