UK

The striking bin staff had been complaining about management bullying after staff refused to double their workload due to lack of vehicles and under-staffing. As part of what workers called management's "bully tactics", four refuse workers had been moved onto different crews sparking anger amongst the depot and leading to the wildcat action.

Staff at the Hollingdean Depot downed tools on Wednesday morning in retaliation to having tightly-knit crews broken up by managers. Four men have reportedly been moved from one lorry to another as management try to address the problem. Another worker said his cousin, who also works at the depot, had been "punished" for having time off sick by being put onto another shift.

Other highlights are an investigation of South African politics post-Mandela, a recollection of the Reagan and Gorbachev nuclear disarmament summit of 1985 and a fascinating analysis of the period in the Second World War when the Nazis ruled Rome.

Monday 11 February - 8.30 - 9pm - BBC1 - Panorama - No More Mandelas

The action at Edinburgh's Waverly station was taken in a dispute over the provision of cover for breaks. David Simpson, of Network Rail in Scotland, said the "deliberately disruptive, unprovoked action" was "completely unacceptable".

Ian MacIntyre, the RMT's regional organiser for Scotland, was reported as saying: "Our members took the action in the interests of safety.

The non-profit Housing Association manages former council housing in South Cheshire. A spokeman warned the striking workers that the strike was unofficial, claiming that had brought in scabs as to ensure 'services will not be affected' and that they were sure that workers would return to work tomorrow, according to icCheshire. The company has also contacted the relevant trade unions.

Other highlights examine the plight of pensioners in cold weather, the classic diplomatic showdown between Kennedy and Khrushchev, and the untold story of the rubbish-dwellers of Cairo.

The ballot for industrial action short of a strike and a one day strike follows a below inflation pay offer with cost of living increases of no more than 1. 9%.

Following a decision in November last year by the former secretary of state Peter Hain, Remploy will close 28 out of it's total network of 83 factories as part of a modernisation deal.

In a strong and varietous week for political programming, other highlights include documentaries on alternative education, the fate of the abducted children of Argentina, alternative virtual lifestyle

January,

The renewed threat of closures resurrects a plan which local people had believed to be over when a community campaign overturned the proposed closure of 22 schools and four community centres in the ci

After a grants round which saw a large drop in funding for some sectors, cutbacks are set to bite heavily in North Yorkshire and the South West.

Other highlights include exposure of the corruption inherent in both the mayoral system of London and the nation's security industry.

Back in November 2006 in this blog, I did a quick analysis of our media and how it compares to the mainstream in any given fortnight (to accommodate the fact that Freedom comes out that often - look a

The local Guardian reported that refuse workers fear they will not be able to pay their mortgages or look after their children if the cuts go ahead, and are threatening to strike.

The BBC reported that sixteen mechanics and 40 cleansing drivers also came out in 'wildcat' support, disrupting refuse collections.

Other highlights in a strong week for political programming are the social history of wrecking, an exploration of the internal culture of San Quentin prison, and an interview with a high-profile recen

“He was the most modest of men” - Rudolf Rocker
Woolf Wess was born to a Jewish family in Vilkomar (or Ukmerge) near Kovno in Lithuania in 1861.

Other highlights of the weeks political viewing include documentaries on pay differentials and the effect on human and animal health of intensive farming methods.

Attached are the submission deadlines for the first half of this year's Freedom, so if any of you budding writers need to check, it's now on here. First of the year is January 10th.