Campaigners against privatisation lobbied the HSBC rail business awards in London on Friday of last week as part of their fight to keep Tyne & Wear Metro public. Nexus, the regional passenger transport executive, has lined up three private-sector bidders to compete for the right to run its operations and some infrastructure. The Metro is Britain’s last wholly public sector rail service, and is the country’s best performing rail network.
Strike action by rail workers could severely disrupt Britain’s train network after two unions announced ballots of over 10,000 members at Network Rail and three other major train companies over job and pension cuts.
We are now in the midst of recession and the levels of personal debt dwarf anything debt advisers have ever dreamed about in their worst nightmares.
The student movement in support of Gaza shows no sign of slowing. Occupations, protests and campaigns continue to be a major feature on Britain’s campuses.
The recent wave of occupations has brought hundreds of students into political activity for the first time.
The growing corporate culture in universities over recent years has involved a serious erosion of students’ ability to organise.
There was a shock for Doug Foreshew when he visited a job centre to sign on last week after being sacked by BMW.
Some 400 workers at Sogefi Filtration downed tools and staged a 24-hour walkout on Wednesday of last week over attacks on terms and conditions.
Every day brings new announcements of job cuts and closures. This is a volatile situation and individuals can make a difference.
Unemployment is stalking towns and cities across Britain.
Hundreds of postal workers lobbied parliament on Tuesday, angry over the New Labour government’s plans to push through the privatisation of Royal Mail.
Shares on the London Stock Exchange soared on Tuesday after the news that Gordon Brown and chancellor Alastair Darling will guarantee the toxic debts of nationalised banks, such as Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland, to the tune of £500 billion.
