Victory at the Ministry of Justice!

By New Worker correspondent

 UVW members have overcome the odds winning a ballot for trade union recognition at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) with a whopping 70 per cent vote in favour!

The victory has come just three weeks after the workers won full pay sick pay for Covid-19 related absences and some two months after the death of their colleague, cleaner and UVW member, Emanuel Gomes. Gomes’ death was mired in controversy with reports the MoJ ignored repeated warnings of potential Covid-19 infections and had put workers’ lives at risk through its refusal to provide full pay sick pay or face masks. Something which saw Labour’s Shadow Justice Minister, David Lammy MP, call for an official investigation.

This victory has come despite the MoJ contractor, OCS, subjecting the workers to a vicious campaign of union busting. The cleaners, security guards and porters have voted in favour of recognition of their union, United Voices of the World (UVW), in a statutory ballot administered by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). The UVW is a street union founded in 2014 that mainly represents outsourced migrant workers in London and beyond.

And this marks the first time that a non-TUC affiliated union has won a recognition deal in Whitehall.

The workers defied what the union called the OCS’s “shocking union busting” which led to the UVW submitting several complaints to the CAC. They say OCS offered pay rises to UVW activists if they agreed to transfer to other sites while blocking other key union members from attending meetings for the purposes of discussing recognition. The union claims the contractor also refused to provide employees with facemasks which prevented meetings between the workers and the union from taking place - something which saw the UVW lodge a formal complaint with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The UVW has vowed to continue fighting until the Ministry of Justice ends outsourcing and hires the workers directly on equal terms and conditions with civil servants. To that end the union is going to also bring a case to Employment Tribunal arguing that outsourcing the entirely BAME and migrant workforce on inferior terms and condition to civil servants is a breach of the Equality Act 2010.

The union has also pledged to bring a Judicial Review against the Health and Safety Executive and the Ministry of Justice’s failure to mandate the use of face masks, which the union claims encourages employers to breach health and safety legislation.

Speaking after the result of the ballot was announced, one of the cleaners, Fatima Djalo, said the following: We have won, we have won, we have won. We beat them. We beat their union busting and won our rights. I’m delirious with happiness with this result. Now let’s go for full victory!”

Yet again UVW members have shown what can be done when workers organise and use their collective power to show the boss that they will not be intimidated. The fight isn't over and they still have a long way to go before their members are treated with the full equality and dignity that they deserve, but they are getting closer than ever!

US virus research in Eastern Ukraine?

by Theo Russell

Revelations by whistle-blowers are ringing alarm bells across Europe. Campaigners in Kharkov province, Eastern Ukraine, are appealing for international support to expose the work of US-financed bio-research labs in Merefa district, 10 miles south-west of the industrial city of Kharkov.

According to the Kharkov Ecological Monitoring Association (KEMA) and independent Kharkov journalists and bloggers, the laboratory complex was built by the US company Black & Watch, which has close ties with the Pentagon. The facility has been operating for several years and is officially called the Central Abstract Laboratory.

`KEMA’s source confirmed that in 2018 the lab carried out studies of influenza viruses with pathogens brought from the USA. Local staff were told that this research was to develop a so-called “universal, smart” vaccine, able to adapt to multiple virus mutations. These studies ended in early summer 2019 and all the results were “exported”.

The whistle-blowers also say they have evidence linking one of the laboratories with outbreaks of measles and diphtheria in Eastern Ukraine in 2018–2019.

The source also highlighted serious health and safety concerns at the lab. Water and electricity supplies were regularly cut due to local power cuts, including during major experiments. He said medical refrigerators were often turned off and adequate temperature ventilation conditions were often not maintained.

Last year some patients taking part in the lab’s medical experiments died, but details have been kept secret.

Strangely, the facility is guarded not by the Ukrainian police but by the National Bureau of Interpol in Ukraine.

In 2019 the laboratory collected biological samples and tested new drugs on residents of Kharkov, often homeless or low-income people. Attempts were made to give drugs being tested to state health and education providers, and even children's camps.

The Kharkov lab also carries out research on the ability of insects to carry dangerous pathogens including the Zika virus, West Nile Fever, Dengue Fever and others. In 2018 insects were released in a forest near the lab to study how the infected insects transmit the virus to animals.

A former employee of one of the biological laboratories located between the villages of Pesochin and Podvorki contacted KEMA anonymously and explained that the laboratory was working on normal research, but its real work was hidden from public view.

The laboratory’s work is under the direction of Melinda Haring, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Centre. The Atlantic Council was founded in 1961, is very close to NATO, and describes itself as “a non-partisan organisation that galvanises US leadership and engagement in the world, in partnership with allies and partners, to shape solutions to global challenges”.

Haring’s assistant Paul Niland is managing director of Pan Publishing and an active backer of the Kiev regime. He apparently oversees the ongoing research and co-ordinates the interaction of American and Ukrainian specialists.

The bio-labs are financed by the International Renaissance Foundation, part of the global network of ‘human rights and democracy’ organisations run by financier George Soros, with funds passing via the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

Whilst KEMA’s source was still working in the laboratory, ex Health Minister Ulyana Suprun, her deputy Pavel Kovtonyuk and the head of the National Health Service of Ukraine Oleg Petrenko were personally involved in the project.

KEMA’s source also named Americans who have worked at the Kharkov facility, including senior researchers and professors from Vanderbilt University, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Indiana University School of Medicine, and several US hospitals.

One of these, Kartlos Kankadze, a Washington-based native of Tbilisi, is a pharmacist from USAID (United States Agency for International Development) who specialises in research on infectious diseases, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

KEMA has sent the evidence it has collected to ecological and health organisations in Europe and elsewhere, proposing joint research into the activities of the Kharkov bio-research labs.

According to KEMA: “We have sufficient information to start an investigation at the state level. However, given the complete absence of our country's sovereignty, the Ukrainian authorities will never take this step.”

Taking the knee in Feltham

by Siobhan Kelly

The murder of George Floyd by racist cops in Minneapolis in May sparked protests that have rocked the United States and a wave of solidarity actions in Britain and the rest of Europe. The British Black Lives Matter movement has taken the lead the campaign demanding racial equality, social and criminal justice and basic human rights. Last Sunday they took the knee for George Floyd in the Feltham Arcade in West London.

            BLM supporters, including two Labour councillors as well as local religious leaders, gathered in Feltham High Street at 1.30 pm for a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with all protesters against racism and demand racial justice globally. The West London organisers plan to continue the demonstration on a fortnightly basis and the next one is set for Sunday 12^th July.

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