United Kingdom

Posted by: John Phoenix No one has explained why some of the most hardworking and essential employees should bear the brunt of a crisis they had no hand in making. Under capitalist conditions, consultants are paid hundreds of pounds an hour to fix broken IT systems, endless billions are available for wars and bank bailouts, but no cash can be found for keeping our streets clean, or our schools and hospitals funded. Birmingham bin workers have been out on strike since 11 March. They are being told to take a pay cut of up to £8,000 after national austerity and local speculation combined to bankrupt the city. The council is refusing to back down, preferring to let 17,000 tons of refuse pile up uncollected in the streets. Rats are everywhere. The stink of rotting rubbish is unbearabl...

Posted by: John Phoenix So where are the trade unions? Party leaflet Subscribe to our  channel Instead of celebrating the replacement of Tories with Labour overseers of austerity and war, a trade union movement worthy of the name would be organising mass movements of workers to sabotage the war effort abroad and to defend the lives and livelihoods of workers at home. Download this special supplement as a pdf. Where are the unions? If there is one crime against the people that no worker in Britain can avoid being aware of, it is what is euphemistically referred to as the ‘cost of living’ crisis. This month, just as last month and the month before that, workers in Britain will find themselves a bit poorer and a bit less able to cope as a result of ra...

Posted by: John Phoenix Harpal Singh Brar died at 10.10am Indian time (4.40am UK time) on 25 January 2025, at 85 years of age. He was at the home of his nephew Manpreet Singh Badal, in Chandigarh, India. His close comrade and leader of the CPGB-ML Ella Rule, as well as his daughter Joti, and sons Ranjeet and Carlos were with him. He leaves us bowed in grief. But we are grateful to have been part of his deeply meaningful life and work. Truly we can say that he shed light on our path. And that the struggle to which he dedicated his life will continue. Harpal was cremated the same evening, in his ancestral village and the place of his birth, Fattanwala, near the town of Muktsar, in the state of Punjab. The entire village and many people from surrounding villages and towns atten...

Posted by: John Phoenix Confirming what might have been anticipated about how sincere the Labour party was in its pre-election pledges to bring in a ‘New Deal for Workers’. Proletarian writers Subscribe to our  channel So much for working-time directives. With the ubiquitous spread of mobile communications, more and more workers are finding that their employers expect that the fact that they can be reached anytime anywhere means that they should be ready to respond to work calls and emails at any time of the day or night, including on days off and holidays. Not only individuals but their families are paying the price, all adding to the steep rise in the numbers suffering severe burnout from overwork in Britain. As British prime minister Sir&nbs...