Union organising

Outsourced workers at the University of London are striking for equal rights and union recognition. Their "3 Cosas" ("3 Things") campaign has fought for parity of sick pay, holiday entitlement, and pension rights between outsourced and directly employed staff. They are striking on 27 and 28 November for these demands, against potential job losses resulting from the closure of Garden Halls, and for recognition of their union, IWGB. A demonstration is planned at 6pm on Wednesday 27 November at Senate House (see here for details), and picketing from 6am on Thursday 28 November (see here for more)...

Many university teachers get less than the minimum wage, as little as £4 an hour, for the work they put in. Some are beginning to organise. Josie Foreman discusses the issues. Academics love nothing more than having a moan about the terrible state of the neo-liberal university. We tend to be slightly less enthusiastic when it comes to getting up from our desks and doing something about it. This has begun to change, as pockets of resistance have begun to emerge at several different British universities in the last few years. There is a squeamishness among some older and more established leftist...

After a spike because of the 2011 public sector pensions dispute, the level of strikes in the UK fell to a seven-year low in 2012. Royal Mail, a key bastion of public sector unionism and industrial strength, was privatised in October 2013 without any effective resistance. A strike planned for 4 November was called off and anyway was called after the privatisation had gone through. At the Grangemouth oil refinery and petrochemical plant, arguably the most economically significant workplace in Scotland, bosses were able to inflict a crushing defeat on a well-organised, industrially-powerful, and...

Academics love nothing more than having a moan about the terrible state of the neo-liberal university. We tend to be slightly less enthusiastic when it comes to getting up from our desks and doing something about it. This has begun to change, however, as pockets of resistance have begun to emerge at several different British universities in the last few years. An excellent discussion among Marxist academics at the 2013 conference of the "Historical Materialism" journal pointed to various different forums in which ‘knowledge workers’ might and should resist privatisation. From building...

• “Boycott the Tories' review”, Dale Street, Solidarity 304, 20 November • “The role of leverage”, Mark Best, Solidarity 304, 20 November • “The left on Grangemouth”, Dale Street, Solidarity 303, 13 November • “Lessons from the Grangemouth defeat”, by Anne Field, Solidarity 302, 6 November • “More lessons from Grangemouth”, by Mark Best, 30 October • “Understanding the Grangemouth defeat”, by Dale Street, 29 October • “Occupy Grangemouth!”, by Dale Street, Solidarity 301, 25 October

We continue our discussion of the lessons of the Grangemouth defeat. Here, a contribution from Mark Best discusses how Unite’s “Organising and Leverage Department” can help win disputes. Football pundits are fond of pointing out that it is not so much the defeat itself that teaches you anything meaningful about a team, but how they react to it in the matches that follow. Much the same could be said about Unite and the left following Grangemouth. This was a big defeat. Exactly how big remains to be seen, but the workforce at Grangemouth have accepted massive cuts in terms and conditions and the...

Outsourced cleaning, catering, and security workers at the University of London will strike on 27 and 28 November. Their strike ballot returned a 97% vote in favour of strikes, on a 70% turnout. The workers, who are employed by agencies such as Balfour Beatty and Aramark, have been fighting for sick pay, holiday, and pensions equality with their directly-employed colleagues through the "Tres Cosas" ("Three Things") campaign. The campaign has organised regular direct actions, often in conjunction with the University of London Union, and has recently been the victim of attempts to university...

Outsourced cleaning, catering, and security workers at the University of London are balloting for strikes in their long-running campaign to win sick pay, holiday, and pension equality with their directly-employed colleagues. The workers are organised by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), a small union with few resources. Solidarity and financial support are essential if the workers are to be able to take the kind of action necessary to force concessions from the bosses. You can donate to the strike fund online. For more information on the campaign, including updates on the...

On Tuesday 5 November, cleaning, catering and security workers at the University of London begin balloting for strikes. The strikes are part of the workers’ ongoing campaign for sick pay, holiday, and pensions equality with their directly-employed colleagues. The workers are members of the Independent Workers’ union of Great Britain (IWGB), and have run the rank-and-file “Tres Cosas” (“Three Things”) campaign since summer 2012. A demonstration in support of the campaign on Thursday 24 October saw university management surreptitiously film activists before calling the police, who attempted to...

The Alliance for Workers’ Liberty (AWL) met for our annual conference on 26-27 October at the University of London Union. The purpose of the AGM is to review our activity over the previous year, debate and decide policy, agree our political priorities, and elect our National Committee. The conference noted some significant successes. AWL has been integral to the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign, which has beaten back Tory attempts to cut maternity and A&E services, preparing the hospital for closure. We helped coordinate the international campaign to defend Australian trade unionist Bob...