Portugal: the Carnation Revolution of 1974-5

Above: crowds in Lisbon, April 1974 (Wikimedia Commons) Portugal’s revolution began on 25 April 1974, set in motion by a military coup against the country’s nearly-50-year-old fascist regime. It was effectively ended by another coup on 25 November 1975. Portugal started 1974 as a backward, isolated colonial power run by an authoritarian regime, and began …

Food couriers fight for living wage

By Ray Dartmoor and Satya Pine (first published in the present issue of Solidarity) Food couriers working for online delivery services are conducting a wave of wildcat strikes across England. The drivers seek a minimum pay of £5 per delivery, plus £2 per mile travelled, from large online platforms such as Deliveroo, Uber-Eats, JustEat, Stuart …

Could the miners have won?

This week marks the fortieth anniversary of the great miners’ strike of 1984-85. This article, by Sean Matgamna, written in 1992, at a time when the Tories were pushing through a further wave of pit closures, discusses the lessons of the heroic miners’ fight, and the effects of their defeat. It is a famous picture, …

Channel Four’s half-story of the miners’ strike

Above: the 'Battle of Orgreave' By John Cunningham Some aspects of the Channel 4 documentary on the 1984-85 miners’ strike, The Battle for Britain, are worth paying attention to. It includes interviews with former striking miners, who give straightforward, honest and hard-hitting accounts of what happened to them and, in particular, their appalling treatment at the …

We need to get serious about what “non-compliance” means

This is a discussion article written by a Free Our Unions supporter. To respond, please email freeourunions@gmail.com. or write a comment below the line: The Trades Union Congress meets for a special congress today, Saturday 9 December, to discuss the new “minimum service levels” anti-strike laws and possible resistance to them. The congress is only scheduled to …

“No work today – let Amazon pay!”

By Sacha Fox 11 July, 6:30am, Coventry, Amazon BHX4 warehouse. 570-plus workers out on lively pickets in the morning (likely followed by 100-200 this evening) - chanting, blocking the road, and convincing their workmates to join up. Industrial action officially started in January with a walkout of 350 followed by a round of strikes in …

What kind of trade unions do we need?

Above: Amazon strikers picket in Coventry (Picture: Richard Millner) This article, by Terry Conway of Anticapitalist Resistance, discusses the recent surge in industrial action in Britain, led by multiple trade unions, in response to a substantial decline in living standards, and analyses the opportunities, challenges, and obstacles faced by these movements in their fight for better …

Amazon workers’ Coventry strike

Close on 500 GMB members at Amazon's West Midland 'fulfilment centre' (ie: warehouse) are striking from 13 to 17 March. In January and again in February, around 350 workers at the warehouse in Coventry were the first UK-based Amazon employees to take industrial action. The GMB union is calling for a pay rise from £10.50 to £15 …