Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
ONE of the central themes of the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom (CTUF) has been its opposition to the new generation of trade agreements — TTIP, Ceta, Tisa and TPP — not least because of the deregulatory impact on employment rights that these treaties pose.
Those readers of the Morning Star who also follow the Centre for Labour & Social Studies — Class — on social media may have noted that right at the start of the referendum campaign I blogged about Brexit and the pro-corporation investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) procedure contained within TTIP, making the point that Leave or Remain would be likely to make little or no difference to the rush to get these treaties signed.
I said back in May that “TTIP is an issue that transcends Remain or Leave not least because TTIP is just one part of the network of new generation deregulatory free-trade deals being negotiated around the globe.”
The biggest strike in global history is a template for our future. The silence tells you all you need to know, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
Starmer sabotaged Labour with his second referendum campaign, mobilising a liberal backlash that sincerely felt progressive ideals were at stake — but the EU was then and is now an entity Britain should have nothing to do with, explains NICK WRIGHT
It is only trade union power at work that will materially improve the lot of working people as a class but without sector-wide collective bargaining and a right to take sympathetic strike action, we are hamstrung in the fight to tilt back the balance of power, argues ADRIAN WEIR
In an address to the Communist Party’s executive at the weekend international secretary KEVAN NELSON explained why the communists’ watchwords must be Jobs not Bombs and Welfare not Warfare


