Workers at Co-op Academy Manchester write to headteacher and the Co-op Academies Trust calling for school closures and better working conditions, while Andy Burnham lends support for partial closures under a “tier system” during the winter.
Students’ Union staff condemn controversial furlough deal leaving them with minimal pay and an uncertain future
Student staff of the Students’ Union at the University of Manchester have spoken out about a lack of support after management decided to furlough zero-hours workers with conditions that severely limited their pay and left many unable to cover their rent and living costs.
Council gets personal in row over Central Retail Park
As expected, the redevelopment of the former Central Retail Park was approved by Manchester City Council’s executive. But it was not without drama, as terse words were exchanged between Labour councillors and the opposition Liberal Democrat representative.
Mutual aid groups have been a lifeline to many – should they continue post-pandemic?
The pandemic lockdown saw communities banding together to provide support for the vulnerable, filling the gaps to support left by a slow to act state. Mutual aiders describe the challenges they face providing help during the Covid-19 crisis.
Manchester ‘collective solidarity’ protest demands end of hostile environment and harassment of refugees and asylum seekers
Human rights campaigners in Manchester are protesting the re-opening of Immigration Registration Centres which had been closed due to Covid-19, and have joined a nationwide call for Leave To Remain to be granted to all undocumented migrant people.
As future students get their grades, hard-working lecturers and staff at the University of Manchester are getting redundancies
As prospective university students get their A-level grades, thousands of lecturers and university staff are getting redundancies. While the sector reels from the effects of Covid-19, the marketisation of higher education has cultivated an industry of insecure and exploited teaching staff who are worked the hardest, and are now being disposed of.
Conditions that led to the Covid-19 crisis in social care
Salford Council have guaranteed full pay for care workers isolating because of Covid-19 under ‘The Salford Offer’. Now the council and UNISON are pressing private care homes to take up the policy, with the mayor and a local MP leading protests.
Will this year’s A-level and GCSE predicted grades increase inequality between students in Manchester?
Concerns around this year’s A-level and GCSE predicted grade system, following the cancellation of exams due to Covid-19, have highlighted wider systemic issues of bias and inequality in the UK education system.
University of Manchester invigilator says he was denied ‘most basic of dignities’ during Covid-19 lockdown
Exam invigilator Steve Hanson reveals the lockdown induced ordeal he has been through at the University of Manchester, and questions why it took over 100 days for invigilators to find out that they were not eligible for any compensation. Steve Hanson has a PhD from Goldsmiths, is a book author about small town austerity Britain, […]
Road map to ‘building back better’ after Covid-19, published by Co-operatives UK
Report paves the way for a stronger co-operative sector after the economic devastation of Covid-19, with directions for government to rebuild a fairer, more resilient and sustainable economy. Co-operatives UK policy director James Wright puts forward the case for a more mutual future post-pandemic. The economic crisis brought on by Covid-19 is steadily gathering pace. […]