Putting people first

People’s China always puts people first and that’s what the Zheng Zeguang, the Chinese ambassador in London told the readers of the Guardian last week in an article outlining his country’s response to the continuing Covid crisis.Zheng stressed that over the past three years, China has always put people and their lives left, right and centre while it tries to keep Covid under control, and promote economic and social development. China’s response policies have been effective, science-based and in line with China’s national conditions.
    The Chinese ambassador underlined that as the Covid-19 situation in China continues to improve, the effects of policies to stabilise economic growth continue to emerge, and the exchange of Chinese and foreign personnel becomes easier, China’s long-subdued consumer demand will be released, investor confidence will be boosted and the economy will rebound strongly. This is good news for not just China but the entire global economy.
People’s Daily

Year of the Ox in London!

By New Worker correspondent

Nelson’s Column was lit up red in the run-up to the Chinese Lunar New Year last week. The dazzling display in Trafalgar Square began on Wednesday 10th February to celebrate the Year of the Ox which started the following Friday.
    The London Chinatown Chinese Association (LCCA), with the support from the Mayor of London, organised the display to celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year, which is also known as the Spring Festival. This is the most important festival in China. Celebrations begin about a week in advance and end with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the New Year.
    The London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: “Very special to see Trafalgar Square lit up for Chinese New Year this Friday. East and South East Asian Londoners have made immense contributions to our city for generations. As we mark the Year of the Ox, I'd like to wish you much success and happiness for the year ahead”.
    He added that many Londoners will be celebrating this Lunar New Year very differently this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
    “Some will be away from their family, friends and communities for the first time as we all continue to protect each other from COVID-19. Thank you for everything you're doing to keep our city safe,” he said.

Deaths at Work

By New Worker correspondent

Last week saw the release of figures from the Office of National Statistics relating to Covid-19 fatalities. These, said transport union RMT showed that male bus and coach drivers and taxi drivers are two of the occupational groups with the highest rates of Covid-19 deaths.
     Mick Cash, the union’s departing General Secretary said: “Bus workers and taxi drivers have kept vital connections running throughout the pandemic for other key workers and essential travellers, and we need an industry-wide approach which ensures their safety and takes action to address the threats from the new Covid variant.
     “RMT is reiterating its calls for the Government to ensure that transport workers, are classified as a priority group for Covid-19 vaccination. This will save lives and maintain the resilience of the UK’s transport networks.”
     With regard to the situation on the rails the union also warns that “a complacent and callous approach to the increased threat from Covid-19 is leading to a surge in deaths and illness of transport workers”.
     Members report that since November the number of deaths and illnesses due to coronavirus amongst rail workers have at least doubled. At the same time Department for Transport figures also show that rail use is three times higher when compared to the last national lockdown.
    The union blames a “creeping complacency and a callous refusal by transport bosses to mandate a nationwide overhaul of risk assessments to take into account the heightened risk of the new virus has caused the surge”.
     Mick Cash deplored the Government’s laxity in dealing with “a lethal cocktail threatening rail workers … But instead of responding to our call for a urgent national review of all risk assessments we are being told its business as usual – this is as callous as it is complacent.
    “We are advising our members of their right to stop working if their safety is threatened and I will be seeking an urgent meeting with Grant Shapps asking that he intervenes to take speedy action to address the new threat and also to prioritise transport workers for the vaccine”.
     At one bus depot, that of Bannockburn First Bus, operations are still ongoing and bosses are only reducing services despite having 28 positive cases of Covid-19 which represents over half the workforce at the depot.
     Graeme Turnbull, a Unite industrial officer, demanding the temporary closure of the depot saying: “This is a timely reminder of the considerable risk and sacrifice that our members and all transport workers undertake on a daily basis to ensure key workers and our communities function in these challenging times. It is also vitally important that the company conducts an immediate investigation to understand how the virus has been able to take hold and spread across the workforce.”

Cuts on the campus

by New Worker correspondent

A dispute is bubbling away at the University of East London (UEL) where the University and College Union has warned of industrial action against the university’s plan to impose compulsory job cuts.
     Balloting it presently underway. The issue is over ten compulsory job cuts, including seven academic posts, and the effects of the additional workload which remaining staff would face. Last July the university said it needed to make 134 people redundant due to an expected decline in student numbers due to Covid-19, but the now the university is forecasting higher student enrollments than last year. These cuts would mean 92 jobs would go in total, after 82 staff agreed on voluntary redundancy. The latest cuts target senior academics in the social sciences and the university’s architecture departments.
     The union said it sent a worrying message to students that the university was cutting almost 100 jobs despite the university forecasting an increase in student enrollments, and with staff workloads already at unbearable levels.
     In addition UCU argues UEL is acting unlawfully and is considering a legal challenge on grounds of lack of meaningful consultation, unfair selection, unfair dismissal, victimisation and discrimination. Six of the seven academics facing the sack are over 50 years old, five are of black and minority ethnic heritage, and five are female. This, said UCU makes the university’s pious claims of commitment to equality and diversity “ring hollow when it treats staff like this”.
     By a strange coincidence no less than four of the seven academics facing the sack are also UCU activists, including the branch chair and vice-chair.
     The university claimed it has been acting properly stating that “Following an extensive consultation, that commenced at the beginning of July, at the end of both the legal process and then a further nine weeks of consultation with at-risk individuals – demonstrating the university’s commitment to seek all reasonable alternatives to compulsory redundancy – eight roles remain at risk and efforts are continuing to identify suitable redeployment opportunities for those people.
    Evidently unconvinced UCU regional support official Amanda Sackur said: “UEL staff are reporting unmanageable workloads but the university is insisting on more cuts. The decision to sack another 10 staff on top of the 82 who have already accepted redundancy this year is completely unjustified”, adding that “Most of the academic staff the university is trying to sack have protected characteristics, and we believe UEL has deliberately tried to get rid of UCU activists. It is outrageous that the university trumpets its commitment to diversity and equality and then attacks staff in this way. UEL now needs to step back from the brink, limit any further damage to its reputation, drop these disastrous cuts and engage meaningfully with us in finding alternate solutions”.
     On the same campus teachers at the London Design & Engineering College (LDE) are taking strike action over the dismissal of a National Education Union rep. This is one of those free schools where the headmaster is a law unto himself.
     Squashed into a corner of the UEL, it is far too small for the number of pupils and even lacks a playground. After a NEU rep raised health and safety concerns during the pandemic, the Head promptly sacked the rep saying she had no rights because she had been employed for less than two years.
     Even after a judge found the sacking was unjustified and instructed LDE management to reinstate her the bosses reneged on their promise to do so and another person was appointed in her place. The rep said she was unaware of any investigation and simply had a dismissal pack sent to her house.

Safety Battle Won

 by New Worker correspondent

London’s bus drivers have won what has almost been a year-long battle to secure an improved air conditioning system on the buses. Unite, which represents over 20,000 London bus workers, say the changes will greatly reduce the risk of drivers being exposed to the COVID-19 coronavirus whilst driving because the new air conditioning systems ensure air entering the driver’s sealed cab comes directly from the outside and does not pass through the passenger area of the bus.
    The first concerns were aired (so to speak) in February to Transport for London (TfL) and the private operators, even before the first lockdown. They were backed up by a University College London (UCL) report on the exposure of bus drivers to COVID-19.
    Initially the installation of the new air conditioning system was due to be finished on all buses in January, but it has already been completed.
    John Murphy, the union’s lead officer for London buses, said: “This is a major victory in Unite’s continuing campaign to improve the safety of London buses during the pandemic.
    “Unite highlighted its concerns about the air conditioning system when the first cases of COVID-19 began to emerge and it was instrumental in ensuring the air conditioning was turned off and a replacement system introduced.”
    But he warned that: “While this was a positive development, Unite will not rest on its laurels and is continuously ensuring that drivers’ safety is maintained and improved throughout the second wave of the pandemic.”
    London bus drivers have been greatly affected by COVID-19, with 30 drivers having tragically died of the disease during the pandemic.

Ecclesiastical News

 By New Worker correspondent

About a fifth of workers at an important London establishment are at risk of redundancy when the government’s job retention scheme ends in October.

It’s Westminster Abbey, where funds are very tight because it has been closed to visitors and its income is down by more than £12 million. As the Abbey no longer has land and serfs it is dependent on tourists.

The Dean, the Very Rev Dr David Hoyle, said the coronavirus had dealt a “shattering blow” to the Abbey’s finances. It was truly heart-breaking to hear him add that the Abbey’s financial reserves would be depleted by a third from September and they would continue to fall as visitor numbers were not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels for up to five years.

In a normal July, the Abbey gets 1,000 visitors per hour, many of whom buy tourist tat to keep the Right Rev in surplices, but not this year.

As all New Worker readers will be aware, the Abbey is a Royal Peculiar, which means it is owned directly by the Queen and thus is not eligible for funding by the Church Commissioners.

The Abbey has already scrapped regular Sunday services in next door St Margaret’s and the professional choir at St Margaret's will be disbanded. Worshippers will be told to merge with the congregation in the Abbey.

Elsewhere the Church of England’s 42 cathedrals expect to be down more than £28.4 million on what they thought their budgets would be this year, with another £15.5 million expected to be lost next year. Lincoln Cathedral is already seeking voluntary redundancies or a reduction in hours amongst its 120 workers.

The Association of English Cathedrals warns that job cuts will hit all Anglican churches, but the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says faith organisations have access to government support including the Coronavirus Community Support Fund.

Theatre industry faces bleak future

Nuffield Southampton Theatres (NST), an institution comprising two venues in Southampton, is set to close permanently. The theatre, which has run for over 50 years, went into administration in May after it suffered a severe drop in ticket sales amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though the Government announced an emergency support package to help protect the future of theatres, several venues such as NST have still had to close.

Philippa Childs, head of BECTU, the union representing over 40,000 staff in the media and entertainment industries, said the horizon is not looking good. Due to social distancing measures and uncertainty, many theatre companies say they cannot see themselves re-opening before 2021.

“The theatre industry is in a pretty parlous state, theatres were told to close down back in March. Since that time, they've been dark pretty much,” Ms Childs said.

“Some theatres have already started to cancel pantomimes, which is a money spinner for theatres – they rely on the money from pantomimes in order to survive throughout the year.

“Generally, theatres don't have huge reserves, so this period of having absolutely no income has been quite devastating for them. We've seen some go into liquidation, and we've seen a lot in the last couple of weeks starting to talk about redundancies.”

Part of the industry's frustration is that the Government has not issued a roadmap out of the crisis with clear dates for theatres to work towards.

The concern is not just about the finances of the industry but also about how it can continue in a post-lockdown world with social distancing measures.

“If you know lots of British theatres, the buildings are old, the entrances are very narrow, the toilets are very small, the seats very squashed together. So the idea of even one-metre-plus, and people being able to go back to the theatre at one-metre-plus is not financially viable and actually, I wonder, how enthusiastic people would be under those circumstances anyway. It's a pretty bleak picture for UK theatre at the moment,” said Ms Childs.

       On 4^th July, the Government announced that theatres could reopen but could not stage live performances. As the key selling point of any theatre is that of its live performances, many within the industry were left scratching their heads on how to continue to operate under the guidance.

A number of major theatres quickly looked to use technology in order to keep their services open.

“Theatres are all about live performances, so those that have the facilities and the abilities to do so are putting on some performances that can be streamed,” Ms Childs said.

The Royal Opera House and the National Theatre were quick to offer such services, but smaller theatres were not and are still not able to do that.

“I think the frustration is that people want to have a date to work towards, they want to have some protocols that they can work around. So they can look at their buildings and think about, when the time comes, they can get back into the building and put on a show and that they've got everything in place to be able to do that.”

Many are concerned that a continuation of restrictions could mean that the industry is set to lose more revenue.

The Government recently announced a new £1.57 billion emergency support package to help protect the future of theatres, galleries and museums in England.

This was well received by many in the theatre industry, who saw it as a lifeline to keep the arts sector afloat.

The support fund for cultural organisations is made up of £880 million in grants and £270 million of repayable loans.

The Government said the loans would be “issued on generous terms” and decisions on who will get the funding would be made “alongside expert independent figures from the sector”.

Ms Childs was quick to release a statement on the emergency package, praising the Government for offering their support to the sector but warning that it was too late for some small theatres and rapid action was needed to “stem the tide of redundancies and closures that are emerging in the sector”.

“We will now be scrutinising the details of this package to make sure it lives up to the real needs of our sector," she said. “The terms of these grants and loans must recognise that there is still a long journey to recovery for theatres and live events and this package is the first cautious step towards reviving the sector.”

Xinhua

On the Tube

By New Worker correspondent

Britain’s bosses and unions are increasingly at war over a possible return to work. It also seems that a considerable number of the public are eager to get their teeth into health-giving McDonald’s burgers once again. Some bosses, such as the notorious Sports Direct, were even trying to force workers furloughed at taxpayers’ expense to work one day a week in the warehouses.

      The trinity of rail unions, ASLEF, RMT and TSSA, have denounced plans to run more trains in a letter to the Prime Minister and leaders of the devolved assemblies. The unions point out that they have worked during the crisis to ensure key workers are able to get to work and to move essential medical and food supplies. They demand that company profits must not come before people’s lives however, and the lockdown should not be lifted until it is safe to do so.

In particular, they warn “that attempts by operators to increase service levels sends out a mixed message that it is okay to travel by train – despite official advice suggesting otherwise” will lead “to the public flouting the rules on travel and work”. They also note that there is no agreement on actually how services can be increased whilst protecting workers and passengers, warning: “We will not accept new working patterns that put the lives of railway workers and passengers at risk.”

A leaked report from Transport for London (TfL) shows that if social distancing were to be imposed on the London Underground system it could only carry 15 per cent of its capacity. This means that even with a 100 per cent service, only 50,000 passengers could board every 15 minutes, compared with 325,000 normally boarding every 15 minutes at rush hour peak prior to lockdown. At present, the reduced service can carry 30,000 passengers boarding every quarter of an hour.

Unsurprisingly, TfL said: “Whatever happens over the coming weeks and months, everyone who can work from home must continue to do so for some time yet. Our intention is to progressively build up service levels, but it is clear life simply won’t be returning to what it was before.”

Obviously this will apply not just to the London tube but to buses and trains across the country, meaning that few people will be able to travel any distance to work. RMT’s General Secretary Mick Cash commented: “The report leaked this morning to the BBC exposing the impact on passenger numbers of maintaining Government social distancing guidelines on the tube is a wake-up call to all those tub-thumping for a jacking up of transport services from May 18th without properly assessing the consequences.”

Also on the London tube, cleaners employed by cleaning contractor ABM are being treated as second-class citizens by being denied staff travel cards that allow travel across the TfL network despite other tube workers receiving this benefit, according to their union, RMT. It also points out that furloughed cleaners are also only receiving 80 per cent of their pay whilst other Tube staff are receiving 100 per cent.

     In addition to refusing to give the cleaners staff travel cards, TfL refers to them as “non-core”. After hearing the Mayor of London praise the cleaners to the sky, RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “The hypocrisy towards tube cleaners is breath-taking. On the one hand they are told by the Mayor and others they are doing an amazing job and they’re vital to the fight against coronavirus, then in the same breath they’re told you can’t have all the same basic conditions of employment as other tube staff, not even free tube travel”...

 ...and On the Buses

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said he wants more buses running, but Unite the Union demands that should not be before certain conditions such as risk assessments are undertaken and fully applied and social distancing measures to protect drivers are preserved. In particular, Unite demands that drivers’ protective screens are sealed, seats around the driver cordoned off and non-cash payments implemented. Restrictions on overloading will need to be introduced.

Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland said: “The increase in services must be underpinned by safety and maintaining the confidence of bus workers and passengers at all times. Unite is in regular discussions with the government on these issues.

“It must also be recognised that a considerable number of drivers cannot currently work and that this should not result in the remaining drivers being required to undertake excessive hours, which risk their health and safety.”

Unite also represents the taxi trade, so she added that: “The government should remember and fully utilise taxis in the return to work. Purpose-built hackney carriages are designed for social distancing and they should play a full role in helping workers to return to work.”

One branch of London buses where Unite unsuccessfully demanded suspension of services after the death of a driver is the Dial-a-Ride service for elderly and disabled residents who have mobility issues and who cannot otherwise use public transport. This call was made in the aftermath of the death of a driver, Patrick David, who died after 17 years service.

At present, such buses carry only one passenger per vehicle at any one time and drivers are now being provided with sufficient PPE [personal protective equipment] for each customer. But as drivers also help passengers onto vehicles, fasten them in, and help them in and out of their home, it is impossible for social distancing to be achieved at all times.

In place of the service, Unite is calling on TfL to ensure that the elderly and disabled service users are supported through the many community initiatives that deliver food and medicines to vulnerable people during this crisis.

Speaking of the suspension demand, Unite regional officer Simon McCartney said: “This was a very difficult call for our members to make as many of them have dedicated their lives to working for Dial-a-Ride and they appreciate the service is a lifeline for many of its users.

“Once the service is suspended, Unite is committed to working with TfL to introduce measures to get it up and operating again as quickly as possible.”