Discuss: The struggle of the working class

Photo by Kaihsu Tai / CC BY-SA 3.0 under Creative-Commons license The working class was born into struggle as workers fought for a living wage. In the years since the fight for a decent life has waxed and waned.

Notable victories include the achievement of the 1945-50 Labour government which created the NHS and welfare.

Notable defeats include the miners’ strike of 1984.

Today in the age of austerity times are hard indeed. But there are signs that once again the working class is fighting back with strikes on the rise and trade union membership increasing.

We'd like you to share your thoughts with us and with each other. Here are some questions to ponder:

• What is the relationship between class and struggle?
• Do we still have class politics?
• What are the issues?
• Where are these issues contested?

Let us know your responses to the statements below, then give us some more of your thoughts, experiences and memories of working class struggle in the comments section lower down this page.

Once you've discussed struggle, you can visit other discussion hubs about working class work, housing, leisure and representation. You can also order a free journal of working class life to dig deeper in to each of these issues.