Durham is known worldwide for its 900-year-old cathedral. But there is another historic building in the north-east city that holds a special place in the hearts of local people, one being reborn as a hub of heritage and hope for the county’s stricken communities. MARY STRATFORD explains....
A new book on Durham Coalfield communities is a timely testament to working class resilience, says MARY HULL, bringing together evocative tales of ‘marras’, meetings, strikes and marches as well as banners, brass bands and allotments. ...
As a church minister, CHRIS WILSON at least knows “the boss” is OK, although “the middle management can be a real problem”. Clergy need trade unions as much as any other workers, he says....
In these uncertain times, trade unions are a vital counterbalance to capital, says CHRIS WILSON. So why is union membership on the decline, and could the little known World Organisation of Workers point the way forward?...
The election of a new Labour government raises hopes that the scales between labour and capital will begin to be re-balanced. JOHN CUNNISON assesses the evidence so far....
The left needs an economic re-set, a more radical aspiration of empowerment, says CHRIS WILSON. Can co-operatives help put the ‘social’ back into socialism?...
For KATH CONNOLLY, Robert Gildea’s oral history of the year-long dispute is a much-needed bottom-up record that finally highlights the experiences of those most affected – the miners, their families and their communities....
Despite years of austerity and workplace exploitation, across the economy as a whole most workers are still not trade union members. CHRIS WILSON wonders why and suggests ways to halt the decline....
CHRIS WILSON surveys today’s exponents of an old left tradition still helping to promote the importance of ethical values in driving progressive change....
If progressive politics is not ethical, how will it ever be attractive, asks CHRIS WILSON, for whom the Christian socialist tradition provides both inspiration and hope....
Digging through family history, RAYMOND SWEETMAN uncovered the story of his great uncle – an ILP pioneer and ‘middle ranking’ socialist whose long-lost tale deserves to be told....
Northern Ireland is changing, argues GERARD GALLAGHER, and it’s time for Labour to allow the region’s growing and increasingly relevant party to field its own candidates....