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Helen O’Connor
(Right) anti-racist protesters in Glasgow and (left) a far-r
Features / 11 August 2024
11 August 2024
With fascists and their supporters cynically and falsely posing as ‘defenders of women,’ the left must take violence against women seriously and gain a better understanding of women’s oppression, warns HELEN O’CONNOR
OUT IN THE COLD: School support staff members of Unison duri
Features / 3 August 2024
3 August 2024
As some celebrate a pay rise, outsourced, privatised workers face continued exploitation — ending this injustice by bringing them in-house must become a top priority for the labour movement, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
VOCAL: A woman on an International Women’s Day march in Lo
Features / 11 June 2024
11 June 2024
HELEN O’CONNOR sees a worrying trend of women exiting the labour movement in their thousands, and warns that if this tide is not stemmed with proper and effective action, it will only be to the benefit of the capitalist class
RESOLUTE: GMB ambulance workers in Shropshire on strike last
Features / 10 June 2024
10 June 2024
Far from being ‘more efficient’ and providing ‘choice,’ privateers taking over the public sector have worsened service delivery, and workers rights’ have been utterly compromised on the altar of corporate greed, warns HELEN O’CONNOR
The picket line outside the Princess Royal hospital
Features / 30 May 2024
30 May 2024
Outsourced workers at Princess Royal hospital are fighting back against appalling treatment by their employer, ISS. They deserve our full support, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
Features / 1 May 2024
1 May 2024
Dedicated staff at Epsom and St Helier NHS are taking strike action over unjust pay practices – they deserve our full solidarity as they stand up for their rights, says HELEN O’CONNOR
Members of the Irish Women Workers Union on the steps of Lib
Features / 19 December 2023
19 December 2023
The way in which women like this legendary Irish trade unionist and socialist rose from extreme poverty to political leadership of the class struggle should be remembered — and emulated, writes HELEN O'CONNOR
Features / 20 September 2023
20 September 2023
The millionaire celebrity’s attitude towards women was on open display long before the recent criminal allegations — he is no left-wing, anti-establishment hero, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
Features / 6 September 2023
6 September 2023
The fight against cuts and privatisation must be at the centre of a real-world agenda that speaks to working-class people's day-to-day needs, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
NHS AT 75 / 4 July 2023
4 July 2023
We need an openly political and co-ordinated fightback against any kind of privatisation of the NHS, rather than a slightly slower path to its annihilation, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
GROWING CONFIDENCE: Ambulance workers from the GMB gather on
Features / 7 May 2023
7 May 2023
Although there have been setbacks in healthcare organising, nurses and other NHS workers are becoming more active and engaged in their trade unions and this is still a beacon of hope, says HELEN O’CONNOR
UNITED VOICES OF RESISTANCE: Ambulance workers on the picket
Features / 25 March 2023
25 March 2023
Only pertinent arguments and staff engagement in union work will deliver lasting success, writes HELEN O'CONNOR
Paramedics of the GMB union protest outside Parliament on Ja
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2023 / 6 March 2023
6 March 2023
Union equality structures need a fresh approach to break out of siloed thinking and develop women’s abilities to organise within their workplaces against exploitative employers, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
Features / 9 January 2023
9 January 2023
Ambulance staff are out on strike on January 11 and once again they are calling on the entire labour movement and the general public to support them in their struggle to save universal healthcare, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
Staff Nurse Courtney Watson joins members of the Royal Colle
Features / 19 December 2022
19 December 2022
Speak to any striking nurse and they will tell you ‘reform’ is not needed — indeed, it is the supposed modernisation of the NHS that has been slowly wrecking the system for private profit, explains HELEN O’CONNOR
Features / 29 November 2022
29 November 2022
Industrial action is sounding the alarm about the crisis point our health service has now reached after years of being deliberately run down by the government, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
Features / 9 November 2022
9 November 2022
Now the ballot has been won, we must all do what we can to support industrial action when it comes — for the good of the NHS itself, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
NHS workers march from St Thomas' Hospital to Downing Street
Features / 8 September 2022
8 September 2022
It is time for all NHS staff in all unions, especially nurses, to vote Yes to industrial action during this ballot period, or further 'restructuring,’ marketisation and degradation of our health service will follow, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
Low pay, scandalously low levels of sick pay and the failure
Features / 4 September 2022
4 September 2022
As 65 per cent of the public-sector workforce are female, this puts them on the front line of the struggle against privatisation and de-regulation — unions must centre women workers for an effective fightback, writes HELEN O'CONNOR
People in Newcastle take part in the People's Assembly natio
Features / 19 August 2022
19 August 2022
We must build a united front industrially and politically, with clear, relevant demands and a co-ordinated campaign to deliver them or the Tories will crush us, argues HELEN O’CONNOR
WITH THE ELITE: Sir Keir Starmer enjoys the royal box on Wim
Features / 19 July 2022
19 July 2022
Labour has lurched to the right under Starmer – and it’s working people who are suffering as a result of a lack of proper opposition, writes HELEN O'CONNOR
The titanic days by Rene Magritte (skewed)
Book Review / 24 June 2022
24 June 2022
Features / 21 May 2022
21 May 2022
The battle against outsourcing is being fought in south London — and this May 30, we must all show our support, writes GMB regional organiser HELEN O’CONNOR
Features / 3 May 2022
3 May 2022
HELEN O’CONNOR is unimpressed by an imbalanced discussion of ‘sex work’ where women who do not feel empowered and liberated by prostitution are either dismissed or ignored