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
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March 15: Aslef tube drivers join the fight
The Tories are starving TfL of funds and now the company is tearing up agreements and coming for our pensions. Our members won’t accept this — in March, we strike, writes MICHAEL CULHANE
We are in no doubt that in the days leading up to the strike, the right-wing press will do their worst and portray us as greedy — Increasingly, however, people are seeing it’s the CEO class that is crippling this country with its greed and excess.
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
MORNING STAR readers may recall my previous article outlining the reasons for Tube drivers on London Underground balloting for industrial action. Well, the results are in and the anger of Aslef members is beyond doubt. 98 per cent voted Yes to industrial action on a turnout of nearly 80 per cent.
These are incredible figures when we consider the whole postal ballot system is designed to suppress turnout and prevent results such as the one recorded by Aslef this week.
Tube drivers will now join hundreds of thousands of teachers and civil servants in walking out on Wednesday March 15 — a huge display of working-class solidarity in the face of a continued assault on our standard of living.
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On the eve of the 157th Trades Union Congress, MICK WHELAN, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, celebrates victory in his campaign to get dignity for drivers at work