'I AM 50 years old and have never taken part in any sort of political activity. But this is about life and death and nothing is going too far." That comment came from Angela Wilson, who joined the anti-war demonstration in Swindon last Saturday.
IN A shock move Turkey's parliament last weekend refused to allow the US to use the country as a launchpad for war. This is a stunning achievement for the global anti-war movement. As MPs met to discuss a deal between the US and the Turkish government, 100,000 people marched through the streets of the capital, Ankara. The demonstration was much larger than had been predicted.
"WE'RE ASKING the members whether they support the claim for £4,000 London weighting and also whether they are prepared to take whatever action is necessary to win it. Unfortunately the national union leaders are refusing to sanction such a ballot, despite us asking them to do so.
SCHOOLS AND libraries in parts of London faced possible closure this week because of a strike by council workers in a long-running dispute over pay. Caretakers and other support staff at 70 schools in the capital walked out on Monday for a week as part of a union campaign for the London weighting allowance to be raised to £4,000.
AROUND 3,500 workers at the massive Ryton Peugeot plant in Coventry were set to walk out for 24 hours this week. The shift systems mean the plant could be closed from Friday 7 March to Monday 10 March.
RAIL WORKERS in the RMT union on First Great Eastern have voted by four to one for strikes over pay. The strikes have been set for 17 March and 31 March after the company refused to treat all grades of its workers equally.
THE CHORUS at the English National Opera (ENO) staged an unprecedented strike on Tuesday of last week. The chorus singers were protesting against ENO managers' plan to sack 20 of the 60-strong chorus.
SUPPORT HAS been growing for the campaign to reinstate two leading activists, Candy Udwin and Dave Carr, to the Unison union. The recent expulsion of Candy and Dave has created shockwaves within Unison and beyond.
MEMBERS OF the civil servants' PCS union have massively voted for more democracy in their union. They voted by 31,322 to 18,926 in favour of annual national executive elections. This is an overwhelming endorsement of general secretary Mark Serwotka's stand against the abuse of power by the right wing "Moderate" dominated national executive.
Around 120 staff and students came to an anti-war meeting on one site of London's Metropolitan University on Friday. The speakers included Tariq Ali, Paul Mackney, leader of the Natfhe lecturers' union, and Jean Geldhart, a local Unison branch secretary.
FOR THE first time in 18 years a proportion of the Sun and News of the World will be printed by unionised labour. This follows a great victory by print workers in the GPMU union at Newsfax International in east London, who have won trade union recognition.
