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AROUND 150 bin workers in north Lanarkshire in Scotland struck on Friday of last week. They are set to escalate strike action after council chiefs hired scab labour.

Four socialist members of the Scottish parliament have been suspended from the chamber for protesting in support of the right to demonstrate outside the G8 summit in Gleneagles.

EVEN EXPERIENCED protesters were amazed by the size and atmosphere of Thursday's magnificent protest. Thousands poured into the capital from all over Britain, from Aberdeen in northern Scotland to Plymouth in the south, and joined hundreds of thousands more Londoners.

"BY SUPPORTING the struggles of the world's oppressed and exploited against capitalist globalisation, Socialist Worker has helped continue the internationalist tradition at the heart of socialist politics. At a time when other sections of the left have vacillated or capitulated in the face of the new imperialism, Socialist Worker has stood firm. It has provided activists throughout the UK with detailed and uncompromising arguments against Bush and Blair's 'war without end'." NEIL DAVIDSON, author of The Origins of Scottish Nationhood and Discovering the Scottish Revolution

FIVE THOUSAND nursery nurses struck over pay in Scotland last week. The five days of strikes were staggered so workers at nurseries in different regions took action starting on different days. Scottish nursery nurses have not had their pay scales regraded for 15 years. After working for ten years a nursery nurse can expect to earn a maximum of £13,800.

THOUSANDS OF nursery nurses across Scotland were taking strike action this week. They began a strike, set to last five days, on Monday of this week. The action, called by the Unison public sector workers' union, was part of the Scottish nursery nurses' ongoing fight against low pay, which has so far lasted for six months.

WORKERS AT insurer Direct Line are on the verge of striking just weeks after many of them joined the union for the first time. If they go ahead this will be the first strike in the history of Direct Line, which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Brilliant march – and now for Bush visit I was one of eight socialist students and Scottish Socialist Party members from Dundee on Saturday 27 September’s brilliant demo. We were amazed at the scale and diversity of the march.

OVER 2,000 nursery nurses from the Unison public sector union took part in a noisy and vibrant demonstration in Edinburgh on Wednesday of last week as part of their fight for decent pay. Members of the public tooted their car horns, cheered and applauded to demonstrate their support as the march passed them. Nursery nurses in different areas of Scotland struck on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week.

Scotland SCOTTISH nursery nurses planned more industrial action this week in their dispute over pay. They are angry that the employers' body, Cosla, has not come up with a serious pay offer. The nursery nurses announced the next stage in their campaign at a well attended family day held in Glasgow last Saturday.

OVER 2,000 people joined the biggest, and angriest, demonstration yet last Saturday against the Dungavel refugee detention centre in Lanarkshire (right). Scotland's "asylum prison" has been the subject of protests since it opened two years ago. Saturday's demo began with furious demonstrators banging on the huge metal barrier around the centre chanting, "Shut it down!"

NURSERY NURSES in Scotland plan two days of strikes in all regions next week. Some areas will strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, others on Wednesday and Thursday. The action will include a major protest in Edinburgh on the Wednesday. But the first event is the major rally planned for this Saturday, 13 September, to give other workers and parents the opportunity to join nursery nurses and show their support.