Trade Union

By a Cardiff and Vale nurse Two Welsh health boards have announced plans to privatise their hospital pharmacies. Betsi Cadwaladr and Cardiff and Vale health boards say they cannot afford to employ sufficient dispensers to maintain an adequate service. They predict that outsourcing outpatient services to a private, community pharmacy will improve inpatient pharmacy services by reducing workload. This is ...

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 Rob Williams (former Unite convenor at ex-Swansea Ford plant) After months if not years of rumours and speculation, which have shredded the nerves of workers and their families, Ford have finally announced the closure of the Bridgend Engine Plant after nearly 40 years of production. This is a catastrophe for these 1,700 workers, their families and communities and the ...

By Ross Saunders Train fleet maintenance workers in the RMT union are celebrating in South Wales after scoring what looks like a complete victory without having to fire a shot. With a turnout of 80%, 98% of members voted in favour of strike action, sending an unignorable message to franchise-holder Transport for Wales Rail Services (TfW RS) that worker would ...

By Ross Saunders RMT members in train fleet maintenance in Wales are planning to begin industrial action this June against a threat to their job security, pensions, pay and terms and conditions. A resounding 98% voted in favour of strike action on an 80% turnout, which should give confidence to union members everywhere that with the right approach it is ...

By Dave Reid “Today is OUR day, May Day is the day for the working class across the world” declared Dave Bartlett, secretary of Cardiff Trades Council to hundreds of trade unionists gathered in Cardiff city centre as he opened the Trades Council’s annual May Day celebration. Led by the Ynyshir brass band they marched through Cardiff in glorious sunshine ...

By a Welsh NHS nurse Following a damning report on maternity deaths at Cwm Taf Health Board, maternity services have been put in to special measures. Between January 2016 and September 2018, there were around 25 serious incidents including eight still births and five neonatal deaths at the Royal Glamorgan hospital, Llantrisant and Prince Charles hospital, Merthyr Tydfil. Parents report ...

By Beth Webster, nurse, Cardiff West Socialist Party The NHS crisis has reached horrifying new levels. Over 300 NHS nurses have died by suicide in seven years. In 2014, one nurse a week took their own lives. This is a tragic reflection of how overworked and desperate staff have become in a health service decimated by Tory austerity. The risk ...

By Gareth Bromhall In the early hours of 26th April the town of Port Talbot was rocked by a large explosion that residents report sounded like a bomb and woke many across the community. The incident at the local Tata Steel plant, that employs thousands and maintains thousands more across the area, was caused by the spillage of molten metal ...

By Gareth Bromhall Socialist Party members took part in the Swansea Trades Council lobby of the Swansea City Councils budget setting meeting on the 28th February, along side trade unionists from across the city. The council, a labour administration once again waved through tens of millions in cuts to jobs and services in the city, whilst praising themselves for a job well ...