Workplace news in brief


Lights out

Unite have accused the government of allowing the ‘light to be snuffed out’ on steelmaking in Teesside, following the announcement that the coke ovens and blast furnace at the SSI Redcar steel mill would be closed. As reported in the Socialist last week, the steelworks was set to be mothballed and stop production after nearly 100 years.

However, as Unite national officer Harish Patel said: “The hope of a buyer stepping in has been cruelly extinguished by the liquidator’s haste and the government’s refusal to step in. It is devastating news for all those whose livelihoods depend on steel making on Teesside and the hopes of a community who thought that an alternative solution could be found.

“Following the announcment the Socialist Party continues to call on the government to fully nationalise the plant, safeguarding the up to 9,000 jobs that rely on the production of steel in the area. We also call on the trade unions that represent workers’ at the site to get behind the call for nationalisation and hold pickets and protests in support of this, to channel the anger that has swept the region since the announcement.

Kill the Bill lobby

Join the TUC and union members from all over the country coming together to lobby and rally against the trade union bill on Monday 2 November 2015, Central Hall, Westminster (rally) and the House of Commons (lobby of parliament). The rally will kick off at 1pm and the lobby at 2.30pm.

Junior doctors protest

Following the government’s announcement of a brutal new contract for junior doctors, protests have taken place up and down the country. On Saturday 17 October, thousands are planning to attend a protest at Waterloo Place, London from 2pm to 6pm. For more on the contract and protests see pages 9 and 16 and also issue 872 and 873 of the Socialist.