Councils Are Paying Dodgy Bailiffs to Collect Tax Debts
Andrew Kersley
With unpaid council tax hitting a record high, councils are turning to debt collectors. But with histories of controversy and questions over their efficacy, campaigners are demanding a stop to the practice. Andrew Kersley reports.
Amazon Accused of Union-Busting at Striking UK Workplaces
Polly Smythe
A strike leader at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse has had his hours reduced while workers are being subjected to anti-union posters and briefings.
Union-Busting Pub Landlords Pay Thousands in Compensation to Striking Workers
Polly Smythe & Simon Childs
Workers at the Saint James Tavern in Brighton were awarded over £100,000 in back pay and compensation after their boss said he would ‘get rid’ of anyone involved in the union.
Yolanda Díaz Is Showing How You Fight the Far Right
Eoghan Gilmartin
Rather than indulge Vox’s nationalism, Spain's new leftwing Sumar alliance is offering policies that will actually make people's lives better - starting with €20,000 for all 18-year-olds, funded by a wealth tax. Eoghan Gilmartin reports.
Charity Boss Apologises After ‘Enraged Rant’ at Union Reps
Polly Smythe
St Mungo’s CEO Emma Haddad had a ‘meltdown’ and told union reps that talk of stronger financial governance was ‘absolute crap’.
Turning Point UK Questions Inanimate Object After Bloodshed at Demonstration
Simon Childs
After an antifascist activist was beaten and bloodied while protesting a Turning Point UK rally, the rightwing group asked the 'burning' question: ‘why did they have a red pen in their pocket?’
Striking Workers Say Homeless Charity Has Lost Its Way
Polly Smythe
Workers at St Mungo’s have announced an indefinite strike over pay, and have spoken out against burn-out, spiraling executive pay, and dodgy deals with the home office. Polly Smythe reports.
Barbican Forced to Apologise for Silencing Palestinians
Rivkah Brown
BREAKING: The Barbican cultural centre has apologised after one of its staffers advised a Palestinian speaker to avoid talking at length about Palestine – an intervention it has since described as “unacceptable”. Rivkah Brown reports.
Panama’s Workers Forced the Government to Negotiate Live on TV. What Was the Point?
Octavio García Soto
Last year, workers in the world’s sixth most unequal country dragged the state to the negotiating table - and won caps on fuel and food prices. Now, many are accusing the state of brazenly abandoning its promises. Octavio García Soto reports.
Trade Union Leader Loses Appeal Against Sexual Abuse Scandal Dismissal
Polly Smythe
The disgraced former TSSA general secretary took his top off in an appeal hearing, where he argued that he had been 'made a scapegoat' and shouldn't be fired over abuse allegations. He lost.
Donald Tusk Gives Polish Leftists the Ick. They Might Have to Get Over It
Ana Oppenheim
On Sunday, half a million people took to the streets of Warsaw to hear Donald Tusk rail against the government. The march presented a dilemma for the Polish left, torn between its disdain for continental Thatcherites like Tusk and its hatred of the far-right incumbents. Ana Oppenheim reports.
This Indigenous Leader Survived Colombia’s Death Squads. Now She Wants Justice
Maozya Murray
Earlier this year, Esneda Saavedra Restrepo returned home after denouncing Anglo-Swiss mining giant Glencore when armed men opened fire on her family. Now she’s come to the UK to demand reparations.
Meet the Robin Hood-Style Activists ‘Shoplifting’ for Food Banks
Simon Childs
Activists in Scotland are taking food off supermarket shelves and putting it straight in donation bins.
These Nuns Helped the Homeless Until They Showed Up On Their Doorstep
Rivkah Brown
When squatters set up a homeless shelter in a disused convent, they thought the nuns – whose religious order prides itself on helping the homeless – might show mercy. They called the police. Rivkah Brown reports.
This Housing Association Was Started to End Slum Landlords. Then It Became One
Andrew Kersley
Notting Hill Genesis was set up by a social activist to deal with ‘damnable housing conditions’. Now its residents are complaining of exactly that.
A Bailiff Was Arrested for a Firearms Offence After a ‘Brutal’ Attempt to Illegally Evict Squatters
Charlotte England
Bailiffs with illegal weapons tried to evict squatters from a former Tory councillor’s empty factory. Cops arrested a bailiff and let squatters back in again.
‘I Felt My Rib Give’: People Attacked By Police While Protesting Anti-Drag Demo Speak Out
Clare Hymer
People opposing a rightwing demo say they were crushed, kicked and beaten by police officers, with one even being “picked up by the throat and thrown”.