Given that the work-in started fifty years ago in June 1971, we are pleased to showcase the work of Derek McKechnie on the back cover (above). Derek McKechnie explains why he created the UCS work-in image on the back cover. ‘My parents grew up during the 1970s in Glasgow to working class families and both […]
Roz Foyer outlines the STUC agenda for the coming period and how it is working to gain these goals. Across Scotland there are thousands of workers’ families, retired workers’ friends and communities who are carrying the pain of loss of their loved ones. The shocking statistic of over 100,000 COVID-19 related deaths is an indictment […]
Pat Rafferty sees much opportunity to strengthen union organisation amid the challenges of COVID. The last year has been one of the most challenging for us as we have had to confront a threat to our way of life, and a direct threat to human life. Many of us have struggled with not being able […]
Cat Boyd eyes opportunities to put class before constitution in the coming period. If there’s anything good to say about the pandemic, it’s that unions have been forced to rethink our strategies. The turbulence of 2020 encouraged us to contemplate how we do things. COVID-19 should force those in power to re-evaluate too, because what’s […]
Denise Christie says our fire and rescue service requires the Scottish Government to make a decision turn. The COVID-19 pandemic very quickly forced us to find new ways our movement can continue to campaign and organise, away from the traditional means we have been used to for many years. The FBU has very effective democratic […]
Phil Fairlie says the time for debts to be paid to public service workers has now arrived. Following a year of living life that has been completely dominated by a global pandemic and one which has had an immeasurable impact on every one of us in a way we could never have envisaged, we now […]
Mary Senior surveys the changing landscape to identify the countless challenges in higher education. In unprecedented times, last March the University and College Union’s (UCU) members returned from 14 days of strike action – over pensions, casual contracts, workloads and discriminatory pay – to a global health pandemic and lockdown. Overnight, university staff rose to […]
Mike Kirby reports that UNISON Scotland is meeting the challenge of organising online. Over the last year, UNISON branches across Scotland have adapted to the radically changed circumstances in which we have been operating. We have expanded and developed our range of organising and campaigning techniques, and we have grown in number. The vast bulk […]
Craig Anderson shows how the CWU union takes a class position on communication. The COVID pandemic has changed how we look at home and work, and how we look out into the world. Millions of workers have had to get to grips with working at home and shopping from home, whilst of students, pupils and […]
Mark Griffin explains the rationale behind his Scottish Employment Injuries Advisory Council Bill. The testimonies I heard from the women GMB union members in January were quite simply heart-breaking. Meeting them in the final weeks of my consultation on a Proposed Scottish Employment Injuries Advisory Council Bill, what they retold crystallised just how out of […]