TSSA

Tube strike suspended after safety guarantees won

Three days of strikes by more than 7,000 RMT station staff, signallers and drivers have been suspended by the union after lengthy talks this week yielded guarantees on a raft of safety and staffing issues.

Faced with the prospect of three days of strike action from 18:30 on Sunday, London Underground has abandoned plans that the union had described as a fundamental attack on Tube safety standards and casualisation of safety critical work.

RMT and TSSA vote for joint strike action

RMT station staff and train operator members voted Thursday by a margin of five to one for strike action in defence of safety on the London Underground.

The strike ballot saw 1,673 members vote for action with 333 voting against. The ballot result opens the way for joint action with fellow Tube union TSSA, whose own members voted for action earlier this month. The unions are opposing management attacks on safety standards and the casualisation of safety-critical work (details in notes below).

Rail workers may strike across the UK

Rail workers across the entire national network are preparing to strike over increases to employee pension contributions.

If the strike goes ahead it will be the first national shutdown of the rail network since 1926, involving tens of thousands of workers in every train operator, network rail and maintenance companies.

news

Scottish council workers plan further strike action
Scotland faces more council strikes after local government employers refused to increase a 2.5% pay offer.

articles

The Russian Revolution and the Communist Party - Alex Berkman
Alexander Berkman analyses the role of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution, written June 1921 in Moscow.

1968

1952-1973: Radical perspectives in the Caribbean
The experiences of Fundi, Carribean Situationist. " From the start we saw through the fraud of the "independent" unions ... We decided that the union bureaucracy must stop; that there should not be any mediation between us and the boss for this has been responsible for suppressing confidence in ourselves to take up the total task of ending capitalism. ... We developed the capacity for instant strike action. We had meetings on the factory compound and the farms during work hours against the wishes of the boss and traditional unionism. ... Such actions are the bedrock of direct participation which stands in truth against the lies of centralized leadership."

Tea Break

Tea Break July 2008
First issue of an irregular workers' bulletin put together by users of the website, libcom.org. This issue focuses on the 2008 pay dispute over sub-inflation pay offers.