By Dave Reid Junior doctors went on strike at hospitals across Wales for three days January 15th -17th. At UHW hospital in Cardiff doctors chanted “Claps don’t pay the bills” on a very lively picket line. Hundreds of junior doctors attended the rally at the Senedd on the 2nd day of strike action. Some junior doctors earn just £13.65 an ...
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Anger at the elites on the rise
From airstrikes on Yemen to the Post Office scandal… Editorial from The Socialist Issue 1258 Hundreds of thousands people took to the streets of London and other towns and cities on 13 January 2024 in the first mass protests of the year against the ongoing slaughter of the Palestinians. The demonstrations were fuelled by huge anger at the Tory government ...
Read More »Swingeing cuts in latest Welsh government budget must be fought
What is the point of a Welsh Labour government if it merely passes on UK Tory cuts? By Dave Reid Happy New Year! – the Welsh government has put forward a devastating budget for public services in Wales for 2024. The figures are terrifying: £1.3 billion of cuts in real terms since 2021, even though Welsh Government ministers have said ...
Read More »Cardiff council workers strike to defend wages
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 ...
Read More »Welsh government threatens even more cuts to Welsh public services
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 ...
Read More »25 years of Welsh parliament – 25 years of Welsh Labour
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 ...
Read More »While royals and rich parade and party… We won’t accept being made poorer
By John Williams 750,000 people visited a food bank for the first time last year, an increase of 37%, according to the Trussell Trust, a UK food bank charity. It gave out nearly three million food parcels in 2022-23 and there’s no signs of this slowing down. However, according to Bank of England economist Huw Pill, we need to “accept” ...
Read More »Cardiff marches to save St David’s Hall from privatisation
By John Williams (Cardiff East Socialist Party) Labour-led Cardiff city council are attempting to push through the privatisation of St David’s Hall, (currently in public hands) to Live-Nation, quoting a maintenance backlog of £55m- which is actually more like £9m, according to the campaign organisers against the plans. They’ve refused to seek alternative funding streams, despite a signed letter from ...
Read More »Truss’s measures escalate British capitalism’s chronic crisis
Editorial in the Socialist issue 1197 Faced with the chronically sick, deteriorating British economy, the Tories in government have swung from one path of crisis to another. Having failed over and over again to come up with policies that could improve the health of the capitalist system they represent, today they can barely think ahead beyond their chance of winning ...
Read More »Leadership lack responsible for Unison council workers accepting pay offer
By a Cymru/Wales Unison Local Government member Many trade unions have been and will be taking industrial action in the near future, however based on the outcome of the pay consultation ballot announced this week it does not appear likely that Unison Local Government Workers will be joining them on masse this year. The vote in Wales was 66% to ...
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