Increasing numbers of people across Greater Manchester are being signed up or switched over to the controversial and heavily criticised Universal Credit system. To help those struggling to cope with the change to the new welfare system, Greater Manchester Unite Community Branch (GMUCB) have published a Universal Credit survival guide. Universal Credit, the Tory and […]
The Spider’s Web – how Britain helps the wealthy avoid tax globally
‘The Spiders Web: Britain’s Second Empire’ documents Britain’s central role in creating and orchestrating a web of offshore tax havens that help the rich and powerful across the world, avoid their obligations to society, to build up ever greater piles of wealth in companies incorporated in British Crown Dependencies such as Jersey, or Overseas Territories […]
Trade unionists bring fight against RBS bank closures to streets of Manchester
Unite activists were on the streets of the city on Wednesday campaigning against the Royal Bank of Scotland’s controversial plans to close around 260 high street branches nationwide. The move, which has been termed “an act of corporate vandalism” by campaigners, brought members of the trade union together from all over the North to hold […]
McStrike is the tip of the iceberg: unionisation is needed across the hospitality industry
Manchester’s McDonalds workers are leading the way against poor pay, working conditions, and lack of union recognition in the hospitality industry with their ‘McStrike’ on 1 May at the Oxford Rd store in the city centre. But there is still much work to be done in getting other hospitality workers to organise. The Meteor had […]
McStrike comes to Manchester on May Day
McDonald’s workers in Manchester have had enough of their poor & unequal pay, lack of union recognition and zero-hour contracts. To remedy the situation they are going on a ‘McStrike’ with other Mcdonald’s workers at selected outlets around the country. Workers supported the action by a 95% vote in favour for a strike on 1 […]
Disabled People Against Cuts are calling for an end to the ‘conscious cruelty’ of Universal Credit
Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) are calling for Universal Credit (UC) to be stopped and scrapped due to its multiple flaws, and old welfare payments to be reinstated. This report covers DPAC’s talk at this years Lush Summit where they explained the devastating effect UC is having on people claiming it. DPAC’s #StopAndScrap Universal Credit […]
Manchester is putting Housing First – and the results look good
This article is part of ‘The Meteor Explores: Homelessness in Manchester‘ series. Decadence, procrastination and occasional nudity. It would be tricky to explain some of our private domestic activities to an imagined third-party observer, but anarchic indulgence is for many the wholly necessary backend to the economically functional front which the aforementioned observer would probably wish […]
Manchester rejects post Brexit toxic trade deals with Trump
Do you fancy tucking into a turkey bathed in chlorine for your Christmas dinner? British academics think that may be a question we have to ask ourselves due to future trade deals with the USA, post Brexit. Chemically disinfected Christmas turkeys, with chemicals not meeting current safety standards, is just the latest scare story worrying […]
The Addy land squat: a missed opportunity for Hulme?
When masked bailiffs arrived to clear the North Hulme Adventure Playground of a group of squatters and dismantle the homes they had built there, it marked the end of the most recent in a series of occupations, and eventual evictions, of non-residential buildings across Manchester. The site’s residents spent three months clearing, building and planning […]
Austerity: the false economy increasing homelessness (part two)
Second article in ‘The Meteor Explores: Homelessness in Manchester‘ series. Part one of this story can be viewed here: The safety net of the ‘cradle to grave’ welfare state, implemented by Atlee’s government after the Second World War, is becoming increasingly threadbare due to the economic and humanitarian degradations of austerity. Increasing numbers in the […]