BEN CHACKO reports on fears at TUC Congress that the provisions in the legislation are liable to be watered down even further
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A fresh look at our prison estate
At the start of the Prison Officers Association annual conference in Eastbourne, general secretary STEVE GILLAN reflects on changing attitudes to what is happening behind those high walls
Our criminal justice system is broken, from a decade of court closures causing huge backlogs to a failed privatisation experiment destroying the probation service. But it is in our prisons where savage budget cuts and government negligence and have caused the most damage and created the most danger.
CHRIS HOOFE calls for support for GMB’s Potters’ Pledge campaign, aimed at making sure the historic pottery industry based in Stoke-on-Trent is supported over cheap, low-quality imports and counterfeits
Investing the £75 billion slated for defence spending on a green new deal, healthcare and education would create jobs and help communities far more than weapons spending, argues UCU general secretary JO GRADY
Speaking to the Morning Star’s Ceren Sagir, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists LAURA DAVISON outlines the threats to journalism from Palestine to Britain, and the unique challenges confronting the industry through the rise of AI
We must organise broad-based counterprotests and celebratory local community events to rebuild class consciousness and challenge the far-right’s divisive lies, writes KEVIN COURTNEY, ahead of this Saturday’s big demo in London
Artists should not be consigned to a life of precarious working – they deserve dignity and proper workers’ rights, argues ZITA HOLBOURNE
THERE seems to be much more interest in prisons among the public, press and politicians since our last conference a year ago — and that can only be a good thing.
For far too long, the reality of living and working behind bars has been hidden by the high walls and huge gates my members pass through every day to keep their communities safe.
Out of sight, out of mind, so the saying goes. But the pandemic threw a spotlight on the state of our jails and gave people a taste of life under lockdown.
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Our members face serious violence, crumbling workplaces and exposure to dangerous drugs — it is outrageous we still cannot legally use our industrial muscle to fight back and defend ourselves, writes STEVE GILLAN
After one year of a Labour government attacking winter fuel allowance and disabled people, the trade union movement must step up regardless of who holds power, writes STEVE GILLAN
Tory austerity triggered a crisis in our jails and only a decisive break from the past can turn this around, explains STEVE GILLAN
Stripped of their industrial muscle and left at the mercy of ministers and management, prison officers have been pushed way beyond breaking point, warns STEVE GILLAN
