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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‘It is through engaging with members that enables you to be in touch with the real issues they face’
JANICE GODRICH talks to the Star about the challenges facing PCS over the pay cap, the importance of bringing about e-balloting and why Corbyn and McDonnell’s union-friendly approach is exciting for the movement
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
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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
WOMEN leaders in the trade union movement are beginning to get the recognition they deserve. For too long, despite making up over half of the membership of unions and the TUC gaining Frances O’Grady as general secretary, the labour movement still suffers from a white male and stale image.
Although Janice Godrich would be the first to say leadership begins in the workplace, few will be aware of her successfully being elected 17 consecutive times to the PCS presidency. And today she is standing for the general council of the TUC.
Her almost unparalleled mandate and heady heights of union leadership seem a world away to when she started in the Selly Oak unemployment centre back in 1981.
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