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STRIKING NURSERY nurses were greeted with a wave of support from parents and the public. But they received staggering contempt from their employers, COSLA-the Labour-dominated Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities. "We are in a decisive dispute," says Carol Ball, the Unison union convenor of the nursery nurses' campaign. "All we want is for COSLA to talk to us about a national deal. Yet it's come to an all-out strike. We are calling for support from across the movement."

HILDCARE SOCIAL workers in Liverpool were set to start a three-day strike on Friday in a dispute over lack of staff and workloads. Around 145 workers, members of the Unison union in Liberal Democrat run Liverpool City Council, will be out on Friday. They will also be out next Monday and Tuesday.

OVER 150 protesters filled the steps of Ealing Town Hall in west London on Tuesday last week to protest at the council's plans for £17 million of cuts. West Acton preschool playgroup, Hanwell nursery, the Caribbean Elderly and Ealing Alzheimer groups, Ealing pensioners, Unison, the NUT, NASUWT and Ealing Trades Council all brought banners and chanted "No more cuts".

UNISON MEMBERS in Newham council look set to get the go-ahead for an official strike ballot to fight the New Labour authority's attack on their union.

NEWHAM COUNCIL workers in the Unison union have overwhelmingly backed a call to launch a strike ballot to defend their union.

STRIKERS FROM a number of Unison union branches packed out a rally organised in Newham, east London, last week. It was to mark the second week of the latest phase of selective action to win improved London weighting for council workers. The Newham branch has come under attack from the New Labour council.

A DETERMINED campaign and the threat of industrial action has defeated an attempted partial privatisation of services at Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive. Unison branch chair Tony Wilson told Socialist Worker that the important campaign had lasted two and a half years.

THE RELATIONSHIP between Unison and the Labour Party will be a key theme at the conference of the union's United Left in London on Saturday 6 December. The United Left is the grouping which pulls together a broad spectrum of socialists and left wingers within Unison. A measure of the feelings over government policy within Unison came at a meeting of the union's official national Health Service Group Executive last week.

HUNDREDS OF members of the public sector workers' Unison union across 12 London boroughs began a week-long strike on Monday. The strike is the latest phase of their long-running battle over London weighting.

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.

A PRIVATISATION threat hanging over Nottingham City Council housing has sparked protests from council workers and tenants. A 90-strong meeting was held at Nottingham's YMCA building to discuss how to fight off Nottingham City Council's housing plans. It started with the presentation of a 60-page report from Nottingham City Unison. "Nottingham is not for sale," was how the Unison officer summed up the report.

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.