Left voices, unfiltered, unedited, Ungagged.
This last July saw the 34th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster, in which 167 people needlessly lost their lives. Workers on two nearby platforms, Claymore and Tartan which pumped to Piper Alpha, could see that the platform they were pumping to was alight. But they had been told never to shut off the oil […]
I just woke up this morning to this article. My friend Richie Venton, a superb union representative for the union USDAW, and IKEA worker, has been sacked. During lockdown, I phoned Richie about an issue a family member was going through in her work. He didn’t have to give me advice – Richie was representing […]
by Councillor Jim Bollan “A whistle blower approached myself and my colleague Cllr George Black about corruption by senior WDC officials. We met the whistle blower in Dumbarton in late 2016. The main charge was that the managing director of a private company Called JRB Construction Ltd was being “allocated” Council work below the radar […]
The subject of Social Class is an area where angels fear to tread, but in these times of deep fragmentation of the UK political Left, it is time to look at what the “Working Class” means to Socialists in the 21st Century. As I write, and the news about PM Boris Johnson’s planned prorogation of […]
As a lifelong trade unionist & socialist to boot, I find some flaws in the GMB’s stance regarding the current situation within ASDA changes to employees T&C’s. Maybe this is a personal rant, But I’d like to look at it objectively. Where do I start? Maybe at the beginning is always a good place, Even […]
Available FREE on iTunes and Podbean Welcome to part two of Ungagged’s podcast based loosely around the Karl Liebknecht.” quote, “The basic law of capitalism is you or I, not both you and I.” On this episode, Paul Sheridan lead singer of The Wakes tells us, “Profit before people, coca cola is it!, The talented Debra Torrance tells […]
I was devastated, but perhaps not really surprised, to hear of the closure of Dundee’s largest industrial employment base – Michelin – a couple of weeks ago. Last month I wrote about how the 2008 financial crash signalled just how broken our economy is. The Michelin closure is perhaps the most recent example, close to […]
As I vacuum the dark green carpet while listening to an interview with author and Democracy Now! Co-host Juan Gonzalez, I’m struck by a particular statistic: 70% of the world’s population will reside in cities in the next two years. The implications of this, says Gonzalez, are gigantic for progressivism, as these cities will become […]
Growing up American feels like the old metaphor of a fish being removed from the river. The fish has no concept of water itself because the liquid home is all it has ever known. Once it is yanked from the stream, its worldview is shattered. A new world has been discovered and the fish […]
My father is one of the most hardworking people I know. He works as a university administrator in the provost’s office of the school he taught at for nearly two decades. He served as Chair of the Faculty Senate with no additional pay prior to accepting that position. He maintained his duties in the provost’s […]