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ONSITE & ONLINE PANEL: Decolonising Education: Learning for the Future at the Marx Memorial Library & Workers' School
Starts Thursday, 27 March 2025 - 6:00pm
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BOOK SALE
Starts Saturday, 7 June 2025 - 11:00am
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Past Events

An opportunity to catch up on what we've been up to

Trade Union Strategies in Post-Tory Britain

28 November 2024

Gawain Little, general secretary of the GFTU, chairs a discussion on the new challenges facing Britain’s trade union movement with Fran Heathcote (general secretary PCS), Alex Gordon (RMT President) and Sarah Woolley (general secretary BFAWU). This includes the challenges of maintaining and enhancing members' pay, terms, conditions and legal rights and freedoms under the current government and more strategic issue of how collectively to create a movement in communities and workplaces that can combat the arguments of the far right and redevelop wider class solidarity.

Marxism, Imperialism and National Liberation

23 November 2024

Special lecture from Ofer Cassif, member of the Israeli Knesset for the Hadash party. This onsite and online lecture is free-of-charge, but please register in advance using the link below. Dr. Ofer Cassif is a member of the Knesset, representing the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) in parliament since 2019. A scholar in the field political science, he obtained his PhD from the LSE on research project involving Marxist approach to nationalism. MK Cassif has been a loud and clear voice against the genocide in Gaza and war crimes of Israel, advocating for Palestinians rights, freedom and sovereignty from the heart of the Israeli political system. He suffered ever growing persecution and repercussions, including an attempt to impeach him for supporting South Africa’s ICJ case and multiplies bans on parliamentary activities. He supports a just peace based on immediate end of the occupation, following the traditions of the Communist Party of Israel, which he is a lifelong member of. He joined its ranks as a young adult after refusing to serve in the occupied Palestinians lands during the first intifada, and consequently facing military imprisonments.

Engels as Popular Educator: Making Marx Accessible

17 November 2024

This lecture in partnership with the Working Class Movement Library will be delivered by Professor Marj Mayo will explore Engels as Educator Engels has been valued in so many ways, as a theoretician in his own right as well as having been Marx’s co-author and editor. His contributions to political education have been far less recognised. This lecture will argue that Engels does indeed have much contribute here too, though, making Marx’s writings accessible and relevant for wider audiences. ‘Socialism: Utopian and Scientific is a classic example’. But this isn’t all. Engels’ writings have also been trail blazing in terms of developing Marxist understandings of language, cultures and changing consciousness, understandings which have underpinned subsequent understandings of the development of class consciousness

Printworkers as pioneers

14 November 2024

Printworkers as pioneers

A panel jointly organised by the Marx Memorial Library & Workers' School and Unite GPMITC Sector in celebration of the MML's Printworkers' Collection.The inaugural annual lecture in celebration of our Printworkers' Collection, in partnership with Unite GPMITC Sector. MML is currently carrying out a two-year project to catalogue and make available this incredible collection of material documenting the history of printworkers' struggle and union organising. With archive material donated by Unite and the personal papers of activists in printworking, this collection provides a history of nearly 200 years of workers organising in the print, paper and publishing industry, in addition to some key disputes.This panel will examine printworkers as pioneers in the development of collective rights and bargaining, and the importance of ensuring that heritage is preserved for future generations. Ann Field will look at the history of printworkers organising and highlight key moments in the fight for collective agreements to improve pay and conditions by them. Matt Dunne will introduce the printworkers collections and discuss the importance of maintaining that history so that crucial stories of labour movement history are not lost or forgotten. Matt Whaley will finish by looking at current organising and bargaining in the growing IT and digital technology companies within the sector today.Speakers:Matt Whaley is a Unite regional officer with responsibilities for the GPM&IT Sector.Ann Field was a national officer of Unite/GPMU and represented print and publishing workers from 1974 until 2009. She is joint creator of the Wapping exhibition and archive at MML. Matt Dunne is the archivist at MML and is carrying out a two-year cataloguing project on the library’s Printworkers' Collection. Chaired by Tony Burke, former assistant general secretary of Unite and former deputy general secretary of GPMU, and currently co-chair of the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom.
 

The 1974 Health & Safety Act: a vision betrayed?

30 October 2024

A panel reflecting on the legacy of the 1974 Health & Safety Act.  This Act was passed by the Labour government of Harold Wilson. It reflected the demands of the trade union movement at the height of its power in the aftermath of the defeat of Edward Heath.  For the first time it gave trade unionists the right to demand the cessation of work in face of workplace hazards and directly involved trade union representatives in the safety monitoring of workplaces.  The years immediately following saw a significant improvement in workplace safety.  However, the past period has seen a drastic erosion of Health and Safety funding and personnel, a major decline in trade union density, especially in the most dangerous industries, and a crisis in enforcement.  Janet Newsham of Hazards and Geoff Fletcher, Emeritus Professor Middlesex University, will discuss what needs to be done to reverse the decline.

 

 

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