Well, well, well, just when you think society cannot become more debased, news comes along that Laura Johnson has been appointed permanent Director of Development and Property at the Barnet Group, which manages the borough's 13,000 council homes. This is the same Laura Johnson who, as Director of Housing at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, played a principal role in the cost-cutting that led to the Grenfell fire.
If you saw a Solidarity Federation sticker on a lamppost in Didsbury, the chances are it was Ron Marsden who put it there. Ron, born in 1937 in Lancashire, passed away peacefully on 21 August 2026 after six decades fighting for and promoting anarcho-syndicalism, a revolutionary form of trade unionism based on direct democracy, class struggle and anti-authoritarianism.
The need to help the people of Ukraine should not blind us to the fact that there is no such thing as a just war. There are only wars in which ruling elites use ordinary people like pawns to be sacrificed to meet their immediate interests.
The University and College Union (UCU) is on strike at your institution from Monday the 28th to Wednesday the 2nd. The National Union of Students (NUS) has also called a student strike on the 2nd.
The strikes need your support. The best way to help us win is to stay out of university today.
WHY SHOULD I SUPPORT THE STRIKE?
Teachers’ working conditions are your learning conditions. Many of us will go on to work in education too, so this is directly in our interests.
Lecturers’ pay has fallen by 20%.
One third of academic staff are on precarious, short-term contracts.
Unite has suspended today’s strike by First Manchester bus drivers after the company made an improved offer in the dispute over pay.
Action planned for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have also been suspended while Unite ballots its 300+ members on the new offer. If it is accepted the dispute will have ended. If members reject the offer then strikes already scheduled for February 15, 17, 18, 21 and 25 will go ahead as planned.
Strike action began last month in the dispute over low rates of pay. The strike action was highly effective causing considerable disruption to bus services across Greater Manchester.
While bumbling Boris continues to lie through his teeth in a desperate attempt to cling to his job, the reality behind all his triumphalist talk has yet again been exposed in a new report by the Resolution Foundation.
Over the last few weeks, Johnson has repeatedly claimed that, thanks to his efforts, unemployment is now lower than before the start of the pandemic. The study by the Resolution Foundation did support Johnson's claim that unemployment levels were slightly lower but as ever with Johnson it is only half the story. The report also found that many young workers were made unemployed during the lockdown and once lockdown rules were relaxed, they could only find work in insecure jobs.
Bus drivers employed by First Manchester have announced fresh strike action in their dispute over pay. The new dates for industrial action are a direct consequence of the company’s failure to make an improved offer to resolve the dispute. The new days for strike action are January 31, February 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23 and 25. In effect, the 300+ Unite members will be striking for three days a week next month.
The dispute is in regards to pay and First Manchester’s refusal to honour the anniversary date of August 1 (when the pay increase for 2021 was due to come into effect) and to backdate the pay increase from this date. Bus drivers are also unhappy about a new roster system the company is attempting to impose.
As the ‘partygate’ row reaches fever pitch, it’s worth putting things into context. Politicians and their various hangers on in the media may be getting a touch overexcited but, in the end, what does it really matter? If Johnson goes or stays, in a few months’ time it will be all be forgotten and the whole circus will have moved on to the next big issue.
manchestersf@solfed.org.uk | facebook.com/manchestersolfed | twitter.com/McrSolFed
Well, well, well, just when you think society cannot become more debased, news comes along that Laura Johnson has been appointed permanent Director of Development and Property at the Barnet Group, which manages the borough's 13,000 council homes. This is the same Laura Johnson who, as Director of Housing at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, played a principal role in the cost-cutting that led to the Grenfell fire.
If you saw a Solidarity Federation sticker on a lamppost in Didsbury, the chances are it was Ron Marsden who put it there. Ron, born in 1937 in Lancashire, passed away peacefully on 21 August 2026 after six decades fighting for and promoting anarcho-syndicalism, a revolutionary form of trade unionism based on direct democracy, class struggle and anti-authoritarianism.
The need to help the people of Ukraine should not blind us to the fact that there is no such thing as a just war. There are only wars in which ruling elites use ordinary people like pawns to be sacrificed to meet their immediate interests.
WHAT IS GOING ON? 
Yesterday there were two demonstrations in Manchester. Firstly an anti-war Demo and a save the NHS demo
Unite has suspended today’s strike by First Manchester bus drivers after the company made an improved offer in the dispute over pay.
While bumbling Boris continues to lie through his teeth in a desperate attempt to cling to his job, the reality behind all his triumphalist talk has yet again been exposed in a new report by the Resolution Foundation. 
Bus drivers employed by First Manchester have announced fresh strike action in their dispute over pay. The new dates for industrial action are a direct consequence of the company’s failure to make an improved offer to resolve the dispute. The new days for strike action are January 31, February 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23 and 25. In effect, the 300+ Unite members will be striking for three days a week next month.
As the ‘partygate’ row reaches fever pitch, it’s worth putting things into context. Politicians and their various hangers on in the media may be getting a touch overexcited but, in the end, what does it really matter? If Johnson goes or stays, in a few months’ time it will be all be forgotten and the whole circus will have moved on to the next big issue.
