Trade Union

By Mariam Kamish, Caerphilly Trades Union Council secretary ‘Rebel councillor’ Brenda Miles has joined campaigners marching to save the ten local libraries that Caerphilly Labour council wants to close or offload. Councillor Miles says this would put the council in breach of its statutory duty to provide library services. Our march set off led by local children dressed as story ...

Editorial of the Socialist issue 1331 On 21 July over one thousand trade unionists – on Zoom and via a live feed – met to discuss the fight for a new workers’ party. The meeting arose from a petition for trade unionists – with over 2,000 trade unionists, including 43 current and former members of trade union executive committees signed ...

Victory to the bin workers – support the mega-picket on 25 July and call a national Saturday demonstration in Birmingham Support the suspension from Unite membership of Angela Rayner and the cutting Birmingham Labour councillors Fight for a political voice for workers The emergency motion to support the striking Birmingham bin workers, suspend from Unite membership Deputy Prime Minister Angela ...

Starmer’s Labour government is preparing its attacks on disability benefits. Hundreds of thousands of disabled people who currently receive Personal Independence Payments (PIP) will have it taken away entirely, and over a million people will lose some benefits. For weeks, disability rights campaigners have been protesting, writing to newspapers, and pleading with MPs to stop the Welfare Reform Bill. Work ...

25 current and former trade union national executive members from eleven unions have launched a petition calling for steps to be taken now to establish a new political voice for working-class people. The petition reads: ‘The May 2025 election results show the need for a new party that the working class can trust. ‘Stagnant wages, underfunded public services, the scandal ...

By Jacob Lloyd, Cardiff graduate tutor and UCU member (personal capacity) Cardiff University and College Union (UCU) has resisted 400 cruel job cuts. Now, in a massive U-turn, the uni executive board has ruled out all compulsory redundancies for 2025. This significant short-term victory is the result of hard-fought efforts and the threat of industrial action from union members. In ...

By Mariam Kamish, Caerphilly Trades Council Secretary Public Debate! We had a hard time persuading a Plaid Cymru councillor to take part. Would Labour send someone to represent the council? In the end, they didn’t. But the room filled with people determined to save Abertridwr library. In the front row sat two young boys who’d come on their own. Posters shone ...

By John Williams, Cardiff Central Socialist Party Thousands demonstrated against the Supreme Court ruling that disgracefully attacks trans rights. We haven’t seen a demo this big since Donald Trump’s first state visit. The sense of solidarity was overwhelming. From start to finish, anger was clear. The first speaker said, if you stand with trans women, you also stand with disabled ...

B y Jacob Lloyd Cardiff University UCU Neoliberal policies make university life harder for all, be it unmanageable staff workloads or increased student fees. These have been issues at Cardiff University, with controversies surrounding vain and costly capital projects, unsustainable international recruitment, exorbitant upper management salaries, and, most recently, the shock-and-awe announcement of hundreds of staff redundancies. The departments of ...

John Williams, Socialist Party Wales LGBTQ+ convenor The Cardiff trade union movement celebrated trans day of visibility, with a demo outside the HMRC building in Cardiff. The event had a fantastic broad range of speakers, all highlighting the different personal struggles of growing up trans, as well as the solidarity from the trade union movement.  What was evident through all the speeches was complete ...