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
Latest editorial
Time for Scotland’s workers to demand better
TOM MORRISON looks ahead to next week’s STUC Congress
BATTLE AHEAD: STUC general secretary Roz Foyer speaks during a Protect The Right To Strike rally
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
THE Scottish Trades Union Congress takes place next week in Dundee under the slogan “Scotland’s Workers Demanding Better,” and indeed they have been, over the past year, through widespread industrial unrest.
Looking through the agenda, it gets off to a good start with a fiery introduction by our general secretary Roz Foyer.
As she says, the “trade union movement have been at the forefront of fighting for pay and economic justice.” It certainly hasn’t been the Scottish government (even before its recent troubles) or Labour, be it at Scottish or British level.
Similar stories
Campaigns against nuclear weapons on the Clyde, financial backing for arms firms and rising militarism are converging with solidarity for Palestine, as Scotland’s peace movement builds momentum ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election, says ARTHUR WEST
ROZ FOYER explains the significance and tradition of today’s St Andrew’s Day March and Rally
Working-class women lead the fight for fair work and equitable pay and against sexual harassment, the rise of the far right and years of failed austerity policies, writes ROZ FOYER
CWU leader DAVE WARD tells Ben Chacko a strategy to unite workers on class lines is needed – and sectoral collective bargaining must be at its heart