“Out, Out, Out” ring the chants of workers throughout this film capturing the magnificent struggle of mainly women clothing workers in Leeds in the 1970s. After their union, the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers (NUTGW) negotiated a wage agreement that continued to retain the unequal pay structure between male and female workers, as…
Unite members at Optare in Yorkshire returned to the picket lines on 16 November for the first day of their now escalated four-days-a-week strike at the bus manufacturers. Iain Dalton, Leeds Socialist Party Threats from the police to fine strikers if they continued to picket, citing the new Covid restrictions, had prevented picketing, until the…
On the very first day of the new national lockdown, police issued dispersal orders to a picket line of striking workers, on the grounds of breaching the new rules. Iain Dalton, Leeds Socialist Party Unite members at Optare in Sherburn-in-Elmet have been social distancing and wearing masks, in contrast to contractors the company employs, who…
At a meeting held on the picket line on Friday 30th October, Optare workers voted to escalate their ongoing strike action in their long-running pay dispute from two days a week, to four days a week starting from Monday 16th November. Iain Dalton, Leeds Socialist Party Two weeks into the strike, many of the deliveries…
Leeds Labour-run council has announced plans for massive cuts in services and jobs across the city in the coming months and year, on the basis of pressures on the council due to Covid-19. Michael Johnson, Leeds Socialist Party In September alone, the council made plans for cuts of around £32.6 million, with a reduction in…
Unite members at bus manufacturer Optare, in Sherburn-in-Elmet, on the outskirts of Leeds, took the first strike in a series of discontinous 48 hour strikes starting on 15th October, alongsideside a continuous overtime ban. Iain Dalton, Leeds Socialist Party During pay negotiations in 2019, workers had been given a promise of a decent pay rise,…
“Claps don’t pay our bills” and “Nurses are for life, not just for pandemics” were amongst some of the slogans on homemade placards at the 250 strong demonstration of NHS & care workers fighting for a pay rise. This turnout would have been even bigger if it weren’t for the local lockdowns imposed on some…
The Covid-19 crisis has pushed councils up and down the country into a new financial crisis. The Centre for Progressive Policy thinktank expects eight out of ten tier-one local authorities to face the threat of bankruptcy. Labour-led Leeds City Council is the biggest of the councils to publicly raise this possibility. Iain Dalton, Leeds Socialist…
Supporters of the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) in Leeds held a protest outside Debenhams in Leeds, alongside others organised in London, Plymouth and Southampton against the companies savage cuts to jobs and stores, as part of a day of action called by members of the retail workers union, Usdaw, in the NSSN. Iain Dalton,…
There was a palpable sense of anger and optimism at the around seven thousand strong Black Voices Matter protest in Leeds on Sunday. James Ellis, Leeds Socialist Party The largely young, diverse and working-class protest went off peacefully, with social distancing being observed and a hunger for ideas on how to take this movement forward….
