Fighting Back

Strikers at London Metropolitan University held a rally on 31 July as part of the continuing action against cuts and redundancies by members of the University and College Union (UCU).

On 7 August, Unite strikers at the Institute of Cancer Research launched all-out indefinite strike action with a rallly. The streets of quiet plush South Kensington echoed to the chant of “We fight cancer every day, we can’t do it on low pay!”

120 staff, Unison members at Housing Association East End Homes, have been on strike since 1 July against plans to transfer staff from their current pension scheme to an inferior one.

Privatised NHS staff, working for ISS, are taking six days of strike action over two weeks. The workers accuse managers of bullying, including racism, failing to properly pay bank holiday overtime, and unmanageable workload.

On Thursday 7 May, teachers and support staff in the National Education Union at Highgate Wood School in Haringey will begin a series of strikes against a package of cuts

Bus drivers at Bow garage in east London were on strike on Friday 17 April. This followed four strike days in March, and one-day strikes on 24 April and 15 May are planned.

I went to support the lively University and College Union (UCU) picket line at London Metropolitan University (aka London Met). There were impassioned speeches from teachers and one student defending what should be London Met’s fundamental role of giving working-class students opportunities.

National Education Union (NEU) members across 18 schools in Enfield took strike action on 27 March, after the Labour local authority and other school trusts in the borough imposed a punitive sickness policy.

Unison members at King’s College London voted by 89% to strike. The first two days of strike action took place on 10-11 March, and a further two days on 25-26 March.

Teachers and support staff at Brick Lane Independent Special School began a five-day strike on 18 March. Support staff report working an extra hour each day compared with those at the borough’s state special schools, yet still earn below the London living wage.