Welsh News

By Alec Thraves The proposal by the Tory Government and Tata Steel for the Port Talbot plant to shut down its two blast furnaces and replace them with ‘greener’ electric arc furnaces, requiring thousands less workers, have provoked anger and panic amongst the workforce, steel unions and the local community. Electric arc furnaces would basically turn the works into a ...

By John Williams and Dave Reid Unite members at Cardiff council have started a two-week strike on 4 September which will be followed by a three week strike starting on 25 September unless the council agrees to an increase in pay. Council workers in Unite are also striking in Wrexham and will soon be followed by Gwynedd. However, there’s a ...

By Joe Fathallah (Cardiff West Socialist Party) Hundreds of services could be cut from already meagre and expensive bus services in Wales as the Welsh government yet again passes on cuts from the Tory Westminster government while bus companies, either private or arms-length municipal companies that are run as if private, prioritise profit over service. Socialist Party members have kicked ...

By Jonathan Golding (Cardiff East Socialist Party) Pentwyn Leisure Centre never reopened after the pandemic. It is now threatened with downgrading to a smaller pool, with 70% of the site rented to Cardiff Rugby. The Labour council and GLL/Better – the private company that manages the site – insist that this is the only financially viable option. That is disputed ...

By John Williams (Cardiff East Socialist Party) A community campaign fought the privatisation of St David’s Hall earlier in the year, and opposed plans to close a Cardiff library and further library cuts. Unfortunately, the Labour council went ahead with privatisation. It’s now been revealed that the council agreed a secret anti-union deal with the new owners, when it privatised ...

By Mark Evans (Carmarthenshire County Unison Branch Secretary (personal capacity) Unison Local Government Service Group Executive personal capacity) The Welsh Labour government has threatened new round of cuts to Welsh public services, incredibly including to the NHS (already on its knees), citing a £900 million hole in Welsh public finances. The Socialist Party has highlighted how the Welsh Assembly Labour Government ...

By Dave Reid The next UK government is likely to be a Labour government led by Keir Starmer. The huge lead that Starmer currently enjoys is not a vote of confidence in him, the current leadership of the Labour Party or their (non) policies. Rather it is a reflection of the disgust with the divided Tory party and the effects ...

By George Phillips, Cardiff University Socialist Students Staff were protesting throughout Cardiff University’s graduation week – 17 to 21 July. It’s part of the University and College Union’s (UCU) long-running dispute over pay, pensions, working conditions and workload. Throughout the week, UCU members handed out sashes and badges for graduating students to wear. Students were running towards the UCU stall ...

By Alec Thraves (Swansea Trades Council and Socialist Party) Hundreds of NASUWT members walked out of secondary schools across Swansea to support one of their colleagues who is being victimised by Swansea’s Labour controlled council. 92% voted for strike action to defend a male teacher who intervened to stop two boys fighting. After being initially disciplined, the teacher was exonerated ...

By Mark Evans, Swansea and West Wales Socialist Party On 8 July, a protest was called in Llanelli by the far-right group Patriotic Alternative (PA), supposedly for ‘boots on the ground’. Only a handful of PA members turned up. Socialist Party members played a central role in the counter protest against PA, organised by Swansea Trades Council, alongside Carmarthenshire County Unison ...