STRIKE

We’re now less than a week away from the largest co-ordinated  industrial action the UK has seen for decades – perhaps since the General Strike of 1926. Around three million workers will be out on strike next Wednesday – in effect, most of the public sector, from over twenty different trade unions. That’s over twenty [...]

You can shove your rubber bullets…

Wednesday of this week marked exactly a year since the glorious day in November 2010 when thousands of students charged into and smashed up the Conservative Party headquarters at Millbank. A year on – and 11 months since Parliament voted through the £9k tuition fee rise – the student movement was out to prove that [...]

Glasgow anti-cuts activist gets 18 months… for throwing a kids toy

An anti-cuts activist from Glasgow was sentenced to eighteen months in HMP Wandsworth at a London court on Friday, following his arrest at the March 26th TUC anti-cuts demonstration in London. His crime? Throwing a spent joke shop smoke bomb, picked up from the street, in the direction of a branch of Topshop – apparently enough to [...]

What's going on in Greece?

On Thursday evening, the Greek Parliament voted through its latest austerity package – approved by all but one of the deputies from the ruling ‘social democratic’ party, PASOK. Tens of thousands of workers will now suffer dramatic wage cuts of 40%, the slashing of pensions and the tearing up of collective bargaining agreements, on top [...]

The early days of a better nation? – an account of the current situation in Scotland

Turning out to the annual STUC march – held yesterday in Glasgow – I witnessed thousands of people marching in the pouring rain (and it really was monsoon level) for over three hours, and rallying at the end of it. Watching everyone come into the park at the end, and then watching them keep coming [...]

This is Britain, and everything's alright. It's FINE.

All conflict dies in the brotherhood of flags After last weeks multiple days of consecutive rioting, there’s a chance now for some calm, measured discussion on the upheaval that saw the capital and several English cities burn, high streets looted and alleged gangster Mark Duggan shot dead – with three others killed defending their property. [...]

Huge course cuts voted through at Strathclyde & Glasgow

Crunch decisions over cuts at both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities over the past week have yielded mixed results for the anti-cuts movement in the city. With, in particular, Humanities subjects under threat at both universities, a huge amount was at stake. Since February, when course cuts were revealed at Glasgow University, a mass campaign has [...]

J30: Support the Strikes!

Next Thursday will see up to 750,000 public sector workers walking out on strike over pension cuts, in perhaps the largest direct confrontation with the government’s austerity agenda seen yet. Nearly 300,000 civil servants who’re members of the PCS will be joined by education workers in the NUT, UCU and ATL unions. It comes at the [...]

We gotta fight fight fight fight, fight all the cuts

A ‘Coalition of Resistance’ is set to get off the ground in Glasgow over the next few weeks, with a view to bringing together the various strands of the anti-cuts movement in the city. SSY has been involved in initiating the group, as one of the signatories to an open letter, an edited version of which was [...]

Cops run riot at Strathclyde

Another day, another demo, another series of spectacular fuck ups by Strathclyde Police. In an approach to public order policing fast becoming customary for the force, Thursday’s otherwise completely peaceful demonstration against course closures and job losses at Strathclyde University saw a lengthy stand-off between protesters and the police, following the audacious arrest of a [...]