After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
Latest editorial
Reply to Kevan Nelson on NEU and support staff
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) take part in a rally through Westminster to Parliament Square, London, July 5, 2023
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
Alba party leader KENNY MacASKILL makes some suggestions on how to save our pubs and reduce irresponsible drinking
The catastrophe unfolding in Gaza – where Palestinians are freezing to death in tents – is not a natural disaster but a calculated outcome of Israel’s ongoing blockade, aid restrictions and continued violence, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Opinion polls point to electoral collapse, parliamentary rebellion and a looming leadership challenge as Starmer’s Labour haemorrhages working-class support and the far right exploits the vacuum left by a hollowed-out party, says NICK WRIGHT
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
WITH regard to Kevan Nelson’s attack on the National Education Union for organising support staff, the sad reality is most school support staff are not in a trade union at all.
The National Education Union would like to see all support staff join a trade union to protect their interests at work.
The NEU does not have bargaining rights at a national level, but because we have an organised presence — standing up for education and education workers in the majority of schools — a number of support staff have opted to join the NEU. So much so that we have tripled our support staff membership since the formation of the NEU, with the majority of these new members not having been previously members of any trade union.
We extend the hand of solidarity to Unison and all other unions in organising a low-paid, badly treated and predominately female section of the education workforce.
DANIEL KEBEDE
General secretary, National Education Union
Similar stories
KEVAN NELSON reveals how, through its Organising to Win strategy, which has launched targeted campaigns like Pay Fair for Patient Care, Britain’s largest union bucked the trend of national decline by growing by 70,000 members in two years
Despite caring for vulnerable children and often covering classes, support staff remain undervalued, with some earning less than supermarket workers — but GMB’s campaigning offers new hope, argues DONNA SPICER