News and Analysis

By Alec Thraves, Swansea Socialist Party and Swansea Trades Council Steelworkers in Community and GMB unions  are awaiting the results of a vote on whether to accept a settlement with Tata Steel. Unite the Union representatives decided that the terms were not good enough at that point to be put to the vote. Up to 2,800 direct-employed jobs will be ...

By Mark Evans Around 200 people marched on the demonstration in Llanelli on Saturday 7th of September to get the council to reverse its decision not to fund a new purpose-built school. For years, the council including the previous Plaid leader Emlyn Dole gave an undertaking to staff and pupils that a new school that would replace Heol Goffa which ...

Build the pressure! By Geraint Thomas “Save our ‘stute”, chanted the hundreds marching through the town of Blackwood against the eye-watering £45m cuts proposed by Caerphilly council (see article). Cheered on by passers by, onlookers, and cars, the march rally took place at the square overlooked by the threatened Blackwood miners’ institute.The working class people from across the community were ...

By Mariam Kamish, Secretary Caerphilly Trades Council (in a personal capacity) Caerphilly Council’s cabinet is proposing to close two South Wales Valleys cultural icons and end an essential service to the community. Not out of financial necessity – but on the advice of a consultancy firm. The plans – out for public consultation until 10 September – include the closure ...

After over a week of horrific violent racist and Islamophobic attacks, huge numbers took to the streets in counter-protests. Millions of Black and Asian people, especially Muslims, have been living in fear. That is the desired effect of the hardcore far-right agitators stoking violence and intimidation. In Cardiff and Swansea over 500 have turned out to anti-racism protests last weekend. ...

By Dave Reid The more things change, the more they stay the same. Eluned Morgan has taken over as leader of Welsh Labour, the third First Minister of Wales in five months. She was nominated unopposed and will be crowned First Minister on August 6th. But the more the personnel at the top of Welsh government changes the more things ...

By John Williams Valley Vets workers are continuing their historic strike action with a second week  and many more weeks possibly on the cards. Cardiff and Area Unite Community branch have already donated £500 to the strike fund, with more unite branches hopefully to follow. They’re striking for fair pay, fair fees and smaller profits. And there’s plenty of money ...

By Dave Reid Vaughan Gething has resigned as first minister for Wales after an ongoing scandal that pre-dated his election as Welsh Labour leader in March. Gething had accepted a £200,000 donation to his leadership campaign from an environmental company that had been fined for multiple breaches of polluting offences and in which workers had been injured and killed on ...

By Dave Reid Workers at Valley Vets at four sites in Cardiff are taking two weeks strike action to demand fair pay for workers and fair fees for customers. The company is owned by Vet Partners that is worth £3 billion but bosses have offered just 1-1.5% pay increases. This is the first strike by workers in the private veterinary ...

By Alec Thraves, Swansea Socialist Party and Swansea Trades Council As negotiations between Tata, the steel unions and the new Labour governmentcontinue, Tata has started the process of ‘seeking expressions of interest’ from thosesteelworkers considering whether to accept the re-confirmed enhanced voluntaryredundancy package.In a blatant attempt to impact on negotiations and to pressurise and bribe workers tosell steel jobs, Tata ...