Local government

Lambeth library staff strike to stop Labour council's cuts

22 March 2016
Library workers in Lambeth, south London, began a solid two-day walkout on Tuesday in their battle against the Labour council’s deep and unpopular library cuts.

Anger at austerity simmers at SNP’s Scottish election conference

15 March 2016
Celebratory party leaders failed to contain SNP delegates’ fury at cuts, reports Raymie Kiernan

Glasgow school janitors strike over pay as council agrees new cuts deal

15 March 2016
Primary school breakfast clubs in Glasgow were cancelled on Monday of this week as school janitors began a three-day walkout.

SNP’s cuts threaten 15,000 council jobs in Scotland

23 February 2016
The supposedly “anti-austerity” Scottish National Party (SNP) is slashing £500 million from Scottish council budgets this year. The Scottish government’s budget was set to be finalised in Holyrood this week, signalling the start of another round of severe local government cuts.

New killer cuts hit councils - and help give businesses more power

16 February 2016
The Tories are licking their lips as more savage cuts to local services start to bite. Raymie Kiernan looks at what’s at stake

Reports round-up

16 February 2016
Strike for children's services in Oxfordshire | Unofficial walkout hits Coventry bins | No trust imposition say Sandwell children's service workers | Day of action against Sports Direct shame | Students march to stop Nazis in Kent | Protest supports the Heathrow 13 | No public cash to referendum racists

The best way to defend union rights is to strike like Lambeth library workers

09 February 2016
The TUC’s week of action against the Trade Union Bill began on Monday with plans for workers to hold workplace meetings and protests against the new anti-union laws.

Walkouts called to fight south London library cuts

02 February 2016
Library workers in two south London boroughs were set to strike on Monday of next week to defend local library services.

Protesters in Dundee march to save council jobs

02 February 2016
Hundreds of people marched through Dundee last Saturday against plans to cut council jobs.

Strikes can bring library bosses to book

26 January 2016
Also: fighting dismissals at Glasgow Life

‘Dirty money’ cut is snow joke for school janitors in Glasgow

19 January 2016
Some 130 primary school janitors in Glasgow are refusing to clear snow or spread grit in a row over “dirty money” with bosses at council-owned Cordia.

Trash Trident: six deadly nuclear myths...and how to defuse them

18 January 2016
The government plans to put the renewal of Britain’s Trident nuclear submarine programme to the vote later this year. It wants to spend more than £160 billion on four Scottish-based submarines whose only purpose is to threaten the whole of humanity.

Marchers say Lambeth Labour's library cuts are a ‘disgrace’

10 November 2015
Over 500 people marched against library closures by Labour-run Lambeth council in south London last Saturday.

Protests over council cuts in North Lanarkshire

27 October 2015
North Lanarkshire’s Labour-run council is proposing to axe up to 1,500 jobs and slash over £45 million over the next two years.

Reports round-up

20 October 2015
Northumbrian water workers; Unite call of EDF strike; Mimpin property fair; victory at Ministry of Justice; Lambeth libraries demo called

Hundreds join protests to stop London councils’ bonfire of books

13 October 2015
Some 300 people protested against library closures in Lambeth, south London, on Monday of this week.

Fresh walkout hits Barnet council bosses

06 October 2015
Workers at Barnet council in north London were set to strike for 24 hours on Wednesday of this week.

Barnet workers strike against privatisation

29 September 2015
Workers at Barnet Council in north London were set to strike during the Tory party conference to highlight the danger of outsourcing local government services.

Fury at plans to axe jobs in Edinburgh council

22 September 2015
Unison union officials at Edinburgh council have warned of strikes against bosses’ plans to axe as many as 3,000 jobs.

Tory council nightmare to boost robbery by the rich

28 July 2015
Selling off services means misery for ordinary people and more wealth for the rich—now the privateers are using cuts to grab more, writes Raymie Kiernan