There have been penalties for those who looked the other way when Epstein was convicted of child sex offences and decided to maintain relationships with the financier — but not for the British ambassador to Washington, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
Education for the whole trade union movement
From AI to class-struggle unionism, the the GFTU's new courses aim to equip activists with skills to take on employers and halt membership decline, writes HENRY FOWLER
EDUCATING FOR STRUGGLE: Unite members on the picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital, London in a dispute over pay on June 27 2024
Labour’s new Treasury unit will ‘challenge unnecessary regulation’ by forcing nominally independent bodies like Ofwat to bend to business demands — exactly what Iain Anderson’s corporate clients wanted, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
DR DYLAN MURPHY looks at a Big Brother Watch report which exposes the government as an enabler of DWP secret spying on benefit claimants
The EU faces a critical choice: will it remain in the shadow of an increasingly unreliable US ally, or will it forge its own path in a multilateral world where co-operation with China is essential, asks MARC VANDEPITTE as leaders meet for the EU-China Summit
A lot of discussion about how the left should currently organise – including debate on whether the Green Party is a useful vehicle for advance – runs the risk of refusing to engage with or learn from the reasons the left was defeated previously, argues KEVIN OVENDEN
For Egypt trade trumps the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians, but how long can the country’s ‘misleaders’ – and others in the region – continue their indifference against the popular will of their own people, asks ROGER McKENZIE
TODAY the General Federation of Trade Unions Educational Trust launches its 2024-25 programme at the annual Durham Miners’ Gala. Building on the success of our programme in 2023-24, in this our 125th anniversary year, we’re clear that our mission is to be a place for education for the whole trade union movement.
As we look back at the last few years, with increasing levels of strike action, ballot after ballot “smashing” the anti-union thresholds, we have seen a renewal in our activist base and also a renewed sense of hope across our movement. This is all backed up by a historically strong show of support for trade unions and the action they are taking across society, characterised by the ongoing YouGov tracker polls.
Despite this incredible period for our movement, the most dynamic since the 2011 united front against the cuts to public-sector pensions, as workers and unions across the economy began to extract better offers from various government and private-sector employers, we have seen the acceptance of deals from unions and an ebb in the levels of formal strike action.
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Head of education, campaigns and organising for the General Federation of Trade Unions HENRY FOWLER explains why it is launching a fund to support trades councils and give them access to a new range of courses and resources
Although we are not at work, this pandemic offers a real chance for trade-union renewal in education and across the whole public sector, writes HENRY FOWLER, national campaigns manager of the NEU
National campaign manager of the NEU’s Councillor’s Network HENRY FOWLER explains how trade unionists are coming together to save local government and schools
After three years of successful struggles, NEU national campaign manager HENRY FOWLER heralds the launch of a new, united campaign for our schools
