The Socialist 17 October 2018

Tories’ Brexit bust-up - general Election Now

Tories' Brexit bust-up - general election now

Universal credit = universal misery

New anti-poll tax type revolt needed today

Homeless driven from Windsor streets for royal wedding: abolish the monarchy and end homelessness now!

Toxic fracking gets the go-ahead while protesters jailed

No to fat-cat top judges' £59k pay hike - fight for decent pay for criminal justice workers

Tory and Trump hypocrisy over murder of Saudi Arabian journalist

Fully fund mental health services now

PCS union: nominate Chris Baugh as Left Unity candidate for assistant general secretary

Striking Brum home carers reject 'final' pay cut offer

South Western rail workers launch five-day safety strike to save guards

Uber drivers strike against unfair 'deactivation' and low pay

Bolton hospital workers strike

Grimethorpe dinner ladies stage all-out strike against redundancy

Cable makers' pay strike bites as production falls 33%

Newham finance staff fight pay and grading insult

Libres y Combativas: striking for women's rights in the Spanish state

The renewed relevance of Engels' classic Socialism: Utopian and Scientific

Demo against far-right DFLA

Socialism - the podcast offering Marxist analysis for the movement against capitalism

'Corbyn-council' faces a choice: Implement or fight the cuts

Devon foster carers fight 30% cut in allowances

De Montfort freshers stall

Peterloo film exposes bloody nature of capitalism

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Grimethorpe dinner ladies stage all-out strike against redundancy

Dinner ladies in Grimethorpe are on indefinite strike to save their jobs, photo by US Dept of Agriculture/CC (Click to enlarge)

Angie Waller, Barnsley Socialist Party

"No ifs, no buts, no dinner lady cuts," is the song from the picket line. Nine dinner ladies at Ladywood Primary School in Grimethorpe, Yorkshire are now on indefinite strike against being made redundant.

Teaching assistants are working to rule, and will join the strike organised by public service union Unison on 22 October. The school has proposed that teaching assistants take over supervising meals to save cash.

Initially the women took six days of strike action, but the school would not back down. And Barnsley Council has not helped to resolve the dispute, saying the school is 'well managed'!

School management claims it faces a significant shortfall in the budget for 2019-20. However, teachers and school staff who support the dinner ladies say this does not make sense.

The school has money enough to employ two assistant heads and two newly appointed teaching assistants, and has kept on permanently the teaching assistant who was covering maternity leave.

The mood is very strong and the women are standing firm, along with the solidarity from their colleagues and the parents at the school. Parents are joining the dinner ladies on the picket line every day.

It's the parents who have put a petition up to say they have no confidence in the school head, as she has failed to resolve concerns about teaching. Now 900 people in the community have signed the petition.

Unison has highlighted a number of areas where the school could make savings without any redundancies, and had offered to suspend industrial action for a review of the staffing structure. But school management refused.

The spirit on the picket line remains strong and solid, and the singing continues!