‘Our Jobs Are Killing Us’: Firefighters Are Facing a Cancer Epidemic
Firefighters are three times more likely to die from certain types of cancer. In the absence of government support, they are organising to demand justice.
32 Articles by:
Andrew Kersley
Andrew Kersley is a freelance writer. His work has appeared in Wired and LabourList, among other outlets.
Education On the Brink
Teachers and support staff are leaving education in droves. There’s one way for the government to stem the flow: reverse twelve years of cuts, abandon austerity 2.0, and pay education workers properly.
In Tory Britain, ‘Hard Graft’ Doesn’t Pay
It’s comforting for politicians like Liz Truss to tell themselves low productivity is caused by laziness, because it absolves them of responsibility for an economy in which all hard work gets many people is a spot in the food bank queue.
Inside the Arriva North West Strike
As Britain’s strike wave intensifies, 1,800 Arriva North West bus drivers have called a continuous strike – the latest group of workers to take to the picket lines in the fight for a real pay rise.
The Poor Are Not to Blame for Poverty
Tory MP Lee Anderson’s claim that food bank use stems from personal failings is a pathetic attempt justify an economic system leaving millions hungry – and proves just how out of touch our political class really is.
The Government’s Tips U-Turn Is a Betrayal of Low-Paid Workers
The government’s broken promise to ensure staff can keep their tips is a betrayal of low-paid workers – and a green light for bosses to continue theft and exploitation in the workplace.
In Worthing and Barrow, Bin Workers Are Fighting Back
Britain’s bin workers were clapped as heroes during the pandemic, but that appreciation was never reflected in their pay packets – in Worthing and Barrow, they’re striking to get what they deserve.
Fix the Damn Sick Pay
The government is ending self-isolation requirements and urging ‘personal responsibility’ instead – but as the pandemic proved, it’s hard to be ‘responsible’ when sick pay is so low that staying off work means not making rent.
Scotland’s Bar Workers Are Fighting for Better
Workers at Macmerry bars in Glasgow and Dundee faced years of underpayment, unsafe conditions and impossible hours – but then they joined a trade union, and the tide in the workplace began to change.
‘Heating or Eating’ Shouldn’t Be a Choice
The extortionate cost of energy bills will see millions going without heating in Britain this winter – a reminder of the avoidable scandal of fuel poverty.
Portugal’s Home Working Laws Are a Model for the Post-Pandemic World
In Portugal, new legislation is offering workers additional rights in the ‘work from home’ world – banning out-of-hours contact, outlawing surveillance and forcing employers to pick up the tab for expenses.
How Cuts and Privatisation Caused the Sewage Crisis
The government hopes its recent U-turn will make the public forget about the sewage crisis – but unless it reverses privatisation and cuts to environmental authorities, the problem is here to stay.
Behind Glasgow’s COP26 Bin Strike
After years of neglect, Glasgow’s refuse workers are taking a stand for liveable wages, decent conditions and better services – by striking during COP26, they might finally get a hearing.
Poverty Shortens Your Life
New research into life expectancy across England’s richest and poorest areas reveals the real cost of social inequality – a decade of life.
The Real Way to Solve the Social Care Crisis
The Tories’ plan to save social care won’t get anywhere close, but that doesn’t mean the problem is unsolvable – the real answer is a National Care Service, funded by taxing the rich.
Britain’s Labour Shortage Has an Easy Solution: Better Pay and Conditions
Employers already know the solution to the labour shortage hitting industries across Britain in recent months: increase wages and improve working conditions.
Britain’s Minimum Wage Is a Joke
While the government ‘names and shames’ a few bosses who broke the law on pay, the minimum wage itself remains a scandal – denying millions of workers enough money to live.
Remembering Jean Charles de Menezes
On this day in 2005, police shot and killed Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell station – their attempt at a cover-up revealed the rot at the heart of Britain’s security establishment.
Ending the UC Uplift Shows that Poverty Is Tory Government Policy
Ending the Universal Credit uplift could force up to 1.2 million people into poverty and increase foodbank usage by 20% – but the Tories are pushing ahead because deprivation sustains Britain’s low-pay economy.
Liveable Sick Pay Saves Lives – But the Tories Don’t Want You to Have It
This week we discovered that the Treasury suppressed information about access to sick pay – just the latest scandal from a government which has refused to make liveable sick pay available throughout Covid-19.