Britain: North-East Storm Warning! While the leaders and lieutenants of capital continue their assault on the pay, conditions and jobs of workers everywhere, strikes have broken out sporadically across the UK, including in transport. As was the case with the bus drivers of Essex and Greater Manchester, in August the workers of GoNortheast in Washington in the North-East of England also walked out of pay talks after rejecting a pitiful offer of just 2% over 18 months.
Britain: Postal workers take national action UK Postal workers are out on a national two-day strike over management plans in effect to destroy the Royal Mail. Picket lines are being staged at sites up and down the country. The bosses, backed by Lord Mandelson, who is looking to hit back at the union over his failed attempt to privatise the mail, have refused to negioate.
Britain: The Deficit, the Councils, the Unions and the Tories It was only a few months ago that public anger against the banks and an unprecedented crisis of capitalism seemed to have an almost revolutionary tone. Public consciousness and official opinion seemed to have shifted decisively to the left. Yet this rage seems not to have effected any political change at all and somehow the public debate (i.e. the editorial line of the press and the rest of the media) has swung far to the right. But the anger and opposition to bank bailouts has not disappeared, it has only been driven underground because it is no longer on the media’s agenda and the lack of any political change has obviously disappointed protestors.