The Tories introduced the 50% strike ballot threshold to make industrial action harder. MATT WRACK argues that a Labour government has no justification for leaving it on the statute book
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A wake-up call for the trade union movement
The Sandie Peggie v NHS Fife tribunal shows unions need to get up to speed with where the law stands on the requirement for workplaces to provide single-sex spaces, writes JANE McLENACHAN
Sandie Peggie, a nurse at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline, arrives at an employment tribunal in Dundee, February 7 2025
In the wake of Ann Widdecombe’s murder, JOHN GREEN wonders whether the government will really get to grips with the root cause of these attacks on our MPs
The new PM’s opening addresses offered hope, council homes and reform — but little detail on how any of it will be delivered, warns CLAUDIA WEBBE
Despite the screeching from the right-wing media, Burnham’s speech chimed with the public mood - and socialists should take advantage, says Morning Star editor BEN CHACKO
Scotland's Labour leader cannot continue to evade responsibility for the party's decline, argues LAUREN HARPER
Nature as well as society works dialectically, asserts the Marx Memorial Library and Workers’ School
EMPLOYMENT tribunals rarely create waves. But the case of Mrs S Peggie v NHS Fife and Dr Upton is holding both political parties and public bodies to account while forcing a reality check on the trade union movement.
Sandie Peggie’s claim against NHS Fife is for sexual harassment, belief discrimination and victimisation. A nurse with 30 years’ service, she objected to sharing a female changing room at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy with a male doctor who identifies as a woman. Her employer’s policy meant her single-sex changing room was now mixed sex.
She raised her concerns with her line manager before an incident one night when she expressed her discomfort directly to Dr Upton. He complained, resulting in her investigation for misconduct and suspension. The class power dynamic of the situation is difficult to overlook.
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