Some 200 workers from the bins and street cleansing sections of Sandwell council in the West Midlands demonstrated at the council cabinet meeting on Wednesday of last week.
The derailment of a Central Line tube train in London on Thursday of last week is down to the privatisation of London Underground infrastructure. It could have been avoided if management had listened to the warnings of the RMT rail workers’ union.
Protest by Wigan care workers
Care workers in Wigan held an angry protest against privatisation on Wednesday of last week. More than 600 council staff are under threat.
Millions of people in Britain will have been pleased to see the back of Tony Blair as prime minister. Many will have greeted Gordon Brown’s start as premier as an opportunity to put an end to the failed New Labour policies of war and privatisation.
The announcement that the East London Line’s operations are to be handed to private operator MTR Laing after refurbishment in 2010 was condemned today by the Tube and rail network’s RMT union.
Gordon Brown is coming under intense pressure to concede the "fourth option" for council housing – direct investment to fund improvements as an alternative to privatisation. This would challenge the other three options of stock transfer, arm’s length management (Almos) and the private finance initiative.
Gordon Brown and the contenders for deputy leadership of the Labour Party might be making soothing noises about council housing – but the New Labour council in Tower Hamlets, east London, is determined to press ahead with privatisation.
As mainstream politicians line up behind business driven schools, author Francis Beckett and teacher Alasdair Smith check the small print and discuss how to stop the schemes.
The PCS civil service workers’ conference this week sees a major debate about the strategy needed to win our dispute with the government over 100,000 job losses, low pay and privatisation.
