Labour’s Employment Rights Bill promised to enhance much-needed workers’ rights in the UK, but the legislation has become a shadow of itself. Now unions must lead the fight to get it back on track.
Working in the hospitality industry this summer was an interesting experience. Like bartenders the world over, I readied myself for the seasonal rush, made jokes about this with my colleagues, and looked forward to the inevitable increase in pay that would come with more hours of work. But the high season never came. A heady mixture of a cost-of living-crisis and a general decline in ‘out out’ culture made sure of this. Instead, I spent this summer experiencing (once again) the struggle of collectivising staff in a sector that is structurally designed to prevent organising.
Along with about twenty other workers, I was brought in on a short-term contract to pull pints and shake cocktails on Brighton Beach. We were met with the usual conditions: poor pay, insecure hours, and absent safety standards. The deepest felt issue, however, was ongoing bullying and discrimination, which twice tipped over to physical assault. The biggest barrier to collectivising workers, as it often is, was the fear of losing our jobs.
Increasingly, workers spend their lives in industries marked by precarity. To rebuild the union movement and empower our class, we must organise in such conditions — this...
Former University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore is not guilty of the allegations levied against him by a female staff member, his attorney argued outside court on Thursday, Januar...