Gordon Brown could not ignore the question of the Iraq war as he faced protests, heckling and tough interrogation in Coventry last Sunday, at the first of a series of Labour Party leadership and deputy leadership hustings.
Teachers are also moving towards action over pay. Kevin Courtney is a member of the NUT teachers’ union national executive. He told Socialist Worker, "Teachers are in the second year of a two year pay deal. We received a 2.5 percent pay increase in September 2006 and are due to get 2.5 percent this September.
Local government employers met trade unions this week – and reaffirmed that there is only a wage-cutting deal on offer for a million workers.
Trade unionists in the health service greeted Unison union leader Dave Prentis’s call for united action across the public sector with enthusiasm.
Firefighters in Cornwall will march in protest on Thursday of next week against plans by the county council to axe one in six full-time firefighter posts and cut night cover at Cambourne and Falmouth stations.
The unity necessary to break Gordon Brown’s 2 percent public sector pay limit took a major step forward last week as Unison union leader Dave Prentis called for coordinated strikes.
Postal workers from across Britain have been contacting Socialist Worker. Here is a selection of their views:
A group of Polish workers in the food processing industry have won an important victory at an employment rights tribunal, which said they should be considered employees rather than self-employed. The workers are members of the T&G section of the recently merged Unite union which originally brought the case in 2005.
Reacting to the news that Gordon Brown will become Labour leader unopposed, Respect MP George Galloway said:
A proposal to raise the standard and craft rates of pay for nearly 150,000 farm workers and staff employed in horticulture and fruit picking was given a cautious welcome today by union leaders.
The potential for fighting unity across the public sector over pay and privatisation is getting stronger.
