The action taken by the defiant posties followed months of bullying and harassment by management concerning working hours and shift lengths, but the impromptu strike ensured that the suspension was reviewed and the matter further investigated.

With a ballot due on the deal reached between Royal Mail and the CWU this incident is a reminder to workers of what may face us in the future following the company's privatisation and the essential need to maintain our ability and right to strike.

A Southampton postal worker

Cleaners' strike

Cleaners working at the Royal Opera House in London are due to strike during the Bafta film award ceremony to be held there.

The workers are fighting for the London living wage of £8.80 an hour. They earn £7 an hour at the moment and have just had their tea break abolished.

The strike will be from 10pm on 16 February, the night of the awards. The workers are employed by contractors Mitie and are members of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain.

Yorks ambulance

Unite is balloting its 450 members at the Yorkshire Ambulance Service for strike action over the imposition of longer shift patterns.

There has been no consultation with the union over the proposals which the trust want to impose in February.

The new shifts could mean staff working ten hours before having a meal break. The union is fighting for a protected 30 minute meal break after six hours work.

The trust has been making cuts in the service - now up to £46 million over five years. And it de-recognised the union last February.

The trust is also using Emergency Care Assistants - workers with six weeks of training, while paramedics have to undergo a two-year degree course.

The union suspects that the cuts and changes are to prepare the service for privatisation - private ambulances are already having to be used at peak times.

The ballot closes on 24 January.

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.

Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.

We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.