By Alec Thraves Swansea Socialist Party Once again, just before Xmas, the jobs of thousands of Tata UK steelworkers are threatened by the announcement that Tata Steel intends to make its UK business “self-sustaining” whilst at the same time off-loading its Netherlands based operations, making the UK, with approximately 8000 workers, its sole European steel operation. Around 4,000 of those ...

By Alec Thraves 2020 has been a health, social and economic disaster for workers across Wales and is graphically outlined in a Senedd Research document earlier this summer. But more importantly is the living experience and the devastating impact Covid has had on almost every community, workplace and family in Wales, particularly on the poorest and most vulnerable sections of ...

By Alec Thraves Media reports over the week-end that Tata Steel in Port Talbot was considering shutting down its two blast furnaces and replacing them with ‘greener’ electric arc furnaces, which would require far less workers, have provoked anger and panic amongst the workforce, steel unions and local politicians. Electric arc furnaces would basically turn the works into a steel ...

Swansea residents will be dipping into their pockets once more because of the failure of the council to fight for the resources need to run the city off the Tories in Westminster and the Welsh-led Labour Government in Cardiff.

By Alec Thraves Rob Williams, Chair of the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN), addressed a very successful NSSN public meeting in Bridgend, bringing solidarity and support to the Ford workers in their efforts to keep the plant open and to retain the 1,700 jobs threatened by the proposed closure. The almost 40 strong audience, including Ford workers, trade unionists and ...

By Alec Thraves CWU members at Parcel force set up a picket line this morning outside their Swansea Depot in support of their local rep who is being threatened with disciplinary action and who has been forced away from his job for the past 21 weeks. CWU members frustration at the lack of progress to resolve this dispute blew up ...

By Alec Thraves, Swansea Socialist Party If you want to sneak through £24 million of council cuts next year, call a Cabinet meeting at 10.00 in the morning when most residents are at work, waffle through the ten minutes allowed for public questions and then vote unanimously for the council officers’ latest round of brutal cuts! Within twenty minutes Swansea ...

By Alec Thraves Swansea postal workers have won a big victory forcing Royal Mail management to re-instate postman Martin Henwood, after the threat of strike action at Swansea Delivery Office by Communication Workers Union (CWU) members. Martin ‘Rodders ‘ Henwood has worked for Royal Mail for 32 years and has no previous disciplinary record. His sacking has caused uproar among ...

By Alec Thraves Swansea’s Labour controlled council have passed a £28 million cuts budget for 2018/19 as well as voting through projected cuts of a further £70 million over the next three years. During the 10 minute session allowed for public questions Socialist Party members highlighted that these medium term financial plans included some departments having their budgets cut by ...

By Sasha O’Neil, Caerphilly Socialist Party Campaigners in Pontllanfraith have forced Caerphilly Council to back down on plans to close Pontllanfraith leisure centre. Their victory shows that if you fight the cuts you can win. This is the second successful blow against the cuts in the Blackwood area. Two years ago, in a hard-fought campaign, the same campaigners stopped the ...