London

The Scum - comic about the Wapping strike, 1986

Steven. — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:00:58 +0000

Tube strike suspended after safety guarantees won

Steven. — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:44:11 +0000

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.

Direct action gets the goods again, this time in London

Alan — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:35:37 +0000

Cesare Copeta, an Italian national working seasonally in London, was employed by The Food Room, owners of The French Table restaurant in Surrey and the Tom Ilic restaurant in Battersea, which has been spotted listed in Time Out's Top 50 London restaurants.

RMT and TSSA vote for joint strike action

Ed — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:13:46 +0000

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).

Wapping print works to close

Saii — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:00:59 +0000

Around 400 jobs are expected to go when Wapping closes, with jobs across the industry potentially threatened as the Murdoch press looks to aggressively expand into the contract print market.

Science museum staff vote to strike

Ed — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:57:08 +0000

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) working for the National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI) are furious that a below inflation pay offer has been imposed on them at a successful time for the museum.

Refuse workers take to the streets

Steven. — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:02:36 +0000

The local Guardian reported that refuse workers fear they will not be able to pay their mortgages or look after their children if the cuts go ahead, and are threatening to strike.

Wess, Woolf, 1861-1946

Battlescarred — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:17:00 +0000

“He was the most modest of men” - Rudolf Rocker
Woolf Wess was born to a Jewish family in Vilkomar (or Ukmerge) near Kovno in Lithuania in 1861.

He was the son of a Hasidic master baker and at age of 12 was apprenticed to a shoemaker.

Reds On The Green - A Short Tour of Clerkenwell Radicalism

Ret Marut — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 15:54:06 +0000

There has been little easily available to read concentrating specifically on the long and rich history of the politics and struggles of the area. The following account charts the changing fortunes and developments of the communities, classes and individuals involved. It also offers some passing comments on the Clerkenwell of today.

London: Improvements for the homeless

Freedom — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:55:09 +0000

LCAP, which was set up in August as a means of providing support to people who are not getting their legal rights through taking on ‘direct action casework’, identified homelessness as a growing problem in the capitol as resources are stripped away from shelter provision. Mat, a volunteer for LCAP, spoke to Freedom in a personal capacity about the group and campaign.

Tube cleaners claim massive pay victory

Ed — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:09:56 +0000

RMT today revealed that Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has agreed that the London Living Wage of £7.20 an hour will become the minimum for some 900 cleaners on former Metronet contracts from the moment TfL take charge of them.

For some cleaners paid only the minimum legal wage of £5.85 it will mean an increase of at least £1.35 an hour - well over 20%.

London civil servants on strike

Ed — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:29:49 +0000

Up to 1,800 members working for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), will be taking part in the action.

Members will be picketing outside Caxton House on Tothill St, London today from 12pm-2pm with members in Sheffield, Darlington and Runcorn also taking part in the strike.

Tube workers prepared to fight staff cuts

Ed — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:52:45 +0000

Trade unions have called a public meeting yesterday (Thursday) to fight the plans, which will see travellers unable to seek staff assistance at crucial times of the morning and night.

UK: Union claims victory as Metronet strike ends

Steven. — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:53:26 +0000

Strike action by more than 2,300 Metronet maintenance workers was suspended late last night after more than eight hours of talks between RMT, the failed company, its administrator and TfL yielded progress on the issues involved in the dispute.

UK: Tube maintenance workers begin six days of strikes

Steven. — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 12:02:07 +0000

The strikes were called after the company and its administrator failed to give the unequivocal guarantees on jobs, transfers and pensions that the union is seeking.

"The letter we have received from Metronet and the administrator falls way short of the guarantees our members need and deserve," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today

Metronet works vote 95% in favour of strike action

catch — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 03:12:01 +0000

Metronet collapsed into administration recently, four years into a controversial PPP costing £17 billion. Jobs are going to be transferred to Bombardier, one of the stakeholders in the Metronet consortium.

Transport for London workers vote for strike action over pensions

Ed — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:23:30 +0000

The union is calling on the employers involved (list below) to guarantee that they will not bring forward or support proposed changes that would dramatically affect qualification for ill-health pensions.

1850-1994: The Battle for Hyde Park: ruffians, radicals and ravers

catch — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 08:40:11 +0000

[9,500 words]

Contents
1855: Marx in the Park: "it looked as if the demonstration was going to simmer down to harmless Sunday amusements, but the police reckoned differently"

1866: The Hyde Park railings affair: "The police brought their truncheons into active use, and a number of the roughs were somewhat severely handled"

1914: Suffragettes on the Serpentine.

The Battle of Cable St, 1936 - Joe Jacobs

Ret Marut — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:25:16 +0000

Joe describes events leading up to the march, including the changes in the CP leadership's tactics as they finally realised their calls for a peaceful demonstration elsewhere would be ignored. His account corrects false impressions later created by official Communist versions of the events.

London tube workers strike over safety

Joseph K. — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:24:54 +0000

Drivers and station staff walked off the job for 24 hours at 10pm last night (Thursday) over management plans to reduce the number of station staff available to remove passengers from trains. This has caused the closure of the Bakerloo line between Queens Park and Harrow and Wealdstone.