Sounding off

Gary Ironmonger, who was a miner at Cortonwood in South Yorkshire, reflects on his experiences of the 1984-5 miners’ strike On Sunday 4 March 1984, I attended a packed Cortonwood National Union of Mineworkers meeting to discuss the announcement of the closure of our pit. Along with 400 others, I...

Dr Emma Runswick, deputy chair of the council of the British Medical Association and a doctor in psychiatry, says stick together and win together Doctors across the UK are campaigning for full pay restoration. We deserve to be paid the same in real terms as doctors earned in 2008. Across the grades...

Alex Forrest, Canadian trustee of the International Association of Firefighters, on the next battle in the war of firefighters everywhere against carcinogens at work In June 2022 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that firefighting is a Class 1 carcinogen – the same...

Our children deserve safe school buildings, says Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU teachers’ union The situation with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in schools is a national scandal. But “crumbly concrete” is just the tip of the iceberg. Many buildings affected by RAAC also...

Joe Weir, FBU executive council member for South East England, says effects are clear. Very rarely does a single incident neatly demonstrate the impact of cuts to public services. But on Saturday 15 July, a fire broke out at the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton, East Sussex. This was not the first...

Labour peer Alf Dubs says the government’s policies on immigration are fuelling human trafficking The government’s “Illegal Migration” Bill Parliament, contravenes the UK’s international obligations, is unworkable and expensive, and will fuel the trade in human trafficking. The United Nations High...

Paul O’Connor of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) explains why it is fighting the government in court Since 2021 PCS has been engaged in litigation against the Home Office on behalf of our members who deliver the UK’s asylum and immigration system and of vulnerable refugees whom the...

Zarah Sultana MP, Coventry South and FBU parliamentary group chair, on why she will oppose attacks on the right to strike and workers’ living standards After proposing below-inflation pay rises, the Tories are proposing mandatory minimum service levels (MSLs) in fire and rescue, as well as in other...

Pat Cullen, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, urges solidarity and support between firefighters and nurses as both contemplate strike action to protect patients and the public Nurses have said enough is enough – no longer can we accept that we are too important...

Hannah Marwood, legal access manager for the Care4Calais refugee crisis charity, urges support for the campaign against government plans to offload refugees to Rwanda At Care4Calais, we know from the refugees who we have worked with over the last seven years that people arriving in the UK have...