Organisation is the key!

The May Day March that made its way from outside Marx House on Clerkenwell Green to Trafalgar Square last Monday was the largest for decades and showed that Britain’s trade union movement can still turn out thousands when it has a mind to.
Here was the real British working class united and in upbeat mood to fight to defend pensions, education and the NHS; to oppose privatisation and to demand backing for a new Bill of Workers’ Rights. It was a far cry from the image of ignorant, apathetic racists that much of the media – and some Blairite Labour MPs – regard the working class to be. There were also plenty of colourful international contingents on the march as usual; reminding us that in celebrating May Day we are part of a global movement supported by billions.
As one speaker in Trafalgar Square put it, “How can we hope to win against people like Bush and Blair? We’ve only got six billion on our side!”
Organisation is the key. The power and strength of millions of workers can only be effective through unity and organisation. In 1848 the Chartist leader Ernest Jones told a rally in Manchester: “Some tell you that teetotalism will get you the Charter: The Charter don’t lie at the bottom of a glass of water. Some tell you social cooperation will do it; cooperation is at the mercy of those who hold political power. Then what will do it? Two year ago and more, I went to prison for speaking three words. Those words were: ‘Organise – organise – organise’… And this day again I say: ‘Organise! Organise! Organise!’”
Organisation is power and the ruling class know that once the working class is properly organised, they are doomed. That is why ever since the Chartist days they have sought to destroy and undermine working class organisation. They have sent splitters into our movement to foster faint-heartedness, reformism, revisionism, confusion and ultra-leftism.
The front line of the class struggle is inside the labour and trade union movement because the ruling class know that spreading disorganisation here is the key to them holding on to power.
The Labour Party was founded to be the political expression of the trade unions, the organised working class. And the ruling class set out to subvert it from the beginning. The correct strategy of the working class must be to combat that subversion and throw out the treacherous Blairites. But that cannot be done by quitting the arena of struggle. That is to surrender the labour movement to the enemy.
One small group calling themselves communists were calling on the unions to “Break the link with Labour! Defy the anti-trade union laws!” Nothing would suit ruling class better than to have the potential power of organised working class further fractured and splintered. Break the link with Labour and the movement will be fragmented and working class unity virtually impossible to achieve.
We owe it to our predecessors from the Chartists onwards, who struggled to build the labour movement we have today – and to the rank and file trade unionists and Labour Party members who are still working hard to save the party from a catastrophe in the local elections and keep the BNP at bay – to defend the unity and strength of the movement.
The current spate of scandals surrounding John Prescott and Charles Clarke – not to forget Tessa Jowell and the cash for coronets scam – have brought disgrace on the Labour leadership. The privatisation policies of Patricia Hewitt and Ruth Kelly are an attack on the working class. But all of them put together pale into insignificance compared to Blair taking the country into an illegal war on false pretences.
The trade union and labour movement leaders throughout the country must be aware that the leadership of their party is in the hands of the class enemy – and that they have the power and the organisational tools to throw out Blair and his clique. The rank and file have made their feelings clear on May Day. By the time you read this, it is likely that voters throughout the country will have made their views clear. The labour movement must use that power and deliver the movement from Blairism.

Biggest London May Day march for years

OVER 10,000 trade unionists last Monday took to the streets of London to mark International Workers Day and to give their backing for a new Campaign for Workplace Justice and a Bill for workers’ rights.
But the contingent from the RMT transport union alone was well over 1,000. The Transport and General Workers’ Union and Amicus also had huge contingents.
Other unions present included public sector union Unison, the Communication Workers’ Union, the GMB general union, building workers’ union Ucatt, train drivers’ union Aslef, the National Union of Journalists, broadcasting union Bectu, shopworkers’ union Usdaw, PCS civil service union, the National Union of Teachers and many more. There was hardly a union not represented.
There were banners, placards, flags and balloons. And there were jazz bands, brass bands, Punjabi drummers, and a lone bagpiper.
Dozens of trades councils were present, along with pensioners’ groups, an assortment of left wing parties and many international contingents. These included the colourful Turkish and Kurdish community groups and even a group from Bolivia.
The Gate Gourmet workers were there in force, along with the workers from Peugeot’s Ryton works, threatened with closure and the loss of 2,300 jobs.
Veteran trade union leader and International Brigader Jack Jones stood near the entrance to Trafalgar Square to welcome the marchers as they entered.
In the Square his successor, the TGWU general secretary Tony Woodley, spoke of the new initiative against the Thatcherite anti-union laws and for justice in the workplace. He said: “Solidarity must be put back at the centre of trade union and Labour Party policies.”
He called on the Government to heed the support of many MPs and millions of working people for the Trade Union Freedom Bill, which would allow trade unionists to take solidarity action in certain circumstances, and is supported by Labour Party conference policy.
The Bill would also remove restrictive procedures for ballots and notice of industrial action, and help develop justice at work for those whose rights were stripped away by successive Tory anti-union laws.
“Labour voted against each of those laws when in Opposition,” said Tony Woodley. “Surely it is not too much to expect the Government to recognise the need to restore fairness in the workplace through the measures contained in the Trade Union Freedom Bill.”
While no law could deliver fairness at work without the vigilance of trade unions to enforce it, the time had come to restore some equilibrium in industrial relations in Britain. needed now
“Strong trade unions are needed now more than ever to secure proper rights for all workers in safe workplaces. There are those who say that trade unions are old-fashioned and their concerns have been overtaken by the freedoms of the marketplace in labour and services,” he added.
“Don’t bother trying to explain that to the hundreds of workers killed each year because of unsafe working environments, or to the 150,000 seriously injured, often as a direct result of the criminal indifference of those who employ them. “The freedom of the market place is little consolation to the families of 23 Chinese migrant workers sacrificed on Morecambe Sands last year to the wickedness of exploitation which has gone on for so long in the farming and food industry.
“And freedom of employers to sack workers by text, by megaphone and by bullying also underlines the vital job which trade unions have to play in fighting for basic rights in employment.
“A series of vicious anti-union laws introduced by the Tories violated the concept of fairness at work, and we have waited more than long enough to restore equilibrium in industrial relations.
“Our demands are many, and I make no apology for that. But our basic requirement on behalf of all workers – and particularly the underpaid and exploited – is a decent living and a proper balance between working hours and family life.” Amicus general secretary Derek Simpson warned the Labour leadership that they face a “disastrous defeat” at the next general election unless the Government urgently addressed concerns over NHS cuts, job insecurities and pensions.
He called for a change in the Labour leadership to stop the rapid decline in support for the party. Simpson told the rally: “The sooner this Government learns some humility, starts listening to ordinary people, does something about employment laws, does something about pensions, does something to protect industry, then this demonstration would have served its purpose.”
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber told the rally strong laws were needed to end poverty pay, close the gender wage gap and tackle discrimination.
“No longer should British workers like the Peugeot workers in Coventry find that they are the cheapest and easiest in Europe to get rid of when the going gets tough,” he said.

Workers' Memorial Day

WORKERS all round Britain – and all around the world – took time off from work last Friday, 28th April, to mark Workers’ International Memorial Day. This is an annual international trade union event that is growing in size and support.
It is aimed to commemorate all workers who have been killed, injured or made ill at their workplace and is marked by wearing purple ribbons.
Last year more than 200 people died at work and 150,000 were seriously injured. Globally, each year more than 56,000 workers die from job injuries and illnesses, and another six million get injured.
This year’s Workers’ Memorial Day theme was: “Union Workplaces – Safer Workplaces”.
The purpose behind Workers’ Memorial Day has always been to “remember the dead: fight for the living” and unions are asked to focus on both areas, by considering memorials to all those killed through work but at the same time ensuring that such tragedies are not repeated.
That can best be done by building trade union organisation, and campaigning for stricter enforcement with higher penalties for breaches of health and safety laws.
This year trade unionists in London marched from Canada House in Trafalgar Square to the Tate Modern and then on to the Greater London Authority headquarters near the southern end of Tower Bridge.
In the south-west of England the local Forest of Dean history society has commissioned a dramatic sculpture to honour those who worked, suffered and were killed in iron and coal mines and quarries in the Forest.
Last week the sculpture, created by local artists, Graham Tyler and John Wakefield, provided the backdrop for a wreath laying ceremony to mark Workers’ Memorial Day.
In Bristol city safety representatives gathered with other trade unionists at the City Council’s Romney House site to tie purple ribbons to the Workers’ Memorial Day tree.
A similar event took place in Wolverhampton by the Workers’ Memorial Day Tree, next to the war memorial in St Peter’s Square. In Birmingham there was a wreath-laying ceremony at the Workers’ Memorial Stone, Brueton Park, another in Solihull and a service of remembrance in Coventry.
In Sheffield there was a public meeting followed by a ceremony organised by the Sheffield Trades Council. At Immingham there was a memorial service at the Workers’ Memorial in the grounds of the War Memorial.
There were other similar events in Leeds, Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Manchester, Chorely, Preston and Liverpool. In Scotland students on the TUC health and safety planted a tree and placed a bench, both with plaques, in Dundee’s Discovery Point – one of the town’s busiest tourist attractions.
There were ceremonies in Edinburgh, Bathgate, Bonnyrigg, and Glasgow.
Trade union leaders spoke at these events and released statements. Transport and General Workers’ Union general secretary Tony Woodley said: “We call all these deaths accidents, but it is time we used a more precise term. They are killings, and many of them are the result of criminal greed and indifference to safety at work.
“If the Government wants to show how tough it is on crime, then this criminal waste of human life must be addressed immediately with legislation that identifies the responsibility of company directors for killings at work, and forces them to make workplaces safer.”
Bill Callaghan, who chairs the Health and Safety Committee, spoke of the 200 workers killed and 150,000 seriously injured last year in Britain. He said: “There has been progress in reducing this figure but the progress has been slow. Workers have the right to be protected at work. Everyone has a duty to see this happens; employers, regulators, trade union representatives and the employees themselves.
“We must all remember that every injury and death at work seriously affects not only the victim but those around them, their families and work colleagues.”
The shopworkers’ union Usdaw gave full backing to the Workers’ International Memorial Day. General secretary John Hannett said: “In Usdaw we can take pride in the fact that we were one of the first British trade unions to adopt Workers’ Memorial Day back in 1995.
“It’s good to see how the event has grown in stature and is now truly international so it is only right and fitting that we should all take a few minutes to reflect on the toll of death and serious injury that poor health and safety management causes.
“A safe workplace to work should be a right and not a privilege, yet millions of workers are killed and maimed every year. Even greater numbers suffer diseases and ill health as a result of risks that can and should be prevented.”

The Meaning of May Day

MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS of workers throughout the world are marching on Monday to mark international workers’ day. In the socialist countries the Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian and Cuban peoples are holding festivals to celebrate their revolutionary successes and pay tribute to the struggle of the international working class.
In the developing world, workers and peasants are rallying to rededicate themselves to the struggles ahead against imperialism and oppression. And in the heart of imperialism, in Britain and the other centres of global capitalism, workers march for peace, trade union rights and socialist advance.
Though May Day festivals go back to hallowed antiquity, the modern celebration recalls the grim days of 19th century America.
On 1st May 1886 American workers went on a general strike over the eight-hour day and better working conditions. In Chicago workers were gunned down by the cops during a rally in Haymarket Square. Eight of their leaders were condemned to death on trumped up charges and despite mass protests at this travesty of justice four were hanged the following year.
In 1889 the First Congress of the Second International decided to mark every May Day as a day of remembrance for the Chicago martyrs and international workers’ solidarity. These were the “martyred dead” our Labour Party leaders once honoured, often in their ignorance, when they sang the Red Flag.
But May Day is much more than honouring the dead. It is the one day of the year when the entire world’s labour movement marches in step, east and west, north and south. It is a time for reflection, a time to pause and honour the martyrs who died for the cause and a time for optimism for the socialist future that will liberate the entire human race. It is a powerful symbol of working class unity and strength — a challenge to the capitalist system of oppression, plunder and exploitation which must be ended once and for all.
Marx and Engels, who spent much of their working lives in Britain, were practical revolutionaries as well as great thinkers. Though they laboured tirelessly to build the working class movement, they knew they would never see socialism in their own lifetimes. Yet they never doubted the inevitability or the necessity for change.
Marx and Engels witnessed the epic days of the Paris Commune in 1871 when working people took destiny into their own hands for the first time in history. The torch of freedom that fanned the fires of the Commune and blazed in Chicago lit the flames of the 1917 Russian Revolution that continues to burn throughout the world.
The imperialists rejoiced at the counter-revolutions in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. They preached “globalisation” which meant nothing more than the restoration of the old world of colonialism, oppression and exploitation. But a new generation of working class fighters has risen to challenge their “new world order” in Venezuela and throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia. Now these imperialist dreams are dying in the mountains of Nepal and the streets of Baghdad.
The revolutionary storm that liberated the Chinese and Korean people; that freed the people of Vietnam and Cuba now steels the Nepalese masses struggling to rid themselves of a hated autocrat.
The lesson of these epic struggles is that socialism can only be won through revolution and that revolution can only be led by a revolutionary party. It can’t be done through elections because when the bourgeoisie is threatened it reaches for its gun and abandons all trappings of democracy.
It can only be achieved through the mobilisation of the masses – the working class along with a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist party around which the class can close ranks around.
This is the meaning of May Day for us and together we are marching forward again. Whether we live to see the day of victory is not important. What we can be certain is that day will surely come.

A tale of two London boroughs

ANTI-FASCIST and anti-racist campaigners all over Britain have, for the last few weeks, been pounding pavements on countless housing estates, delivering leaflets and newsletters and speaking to voters on their doorsteps to convince them not to vote for the fascist British National Party. This is not difficult.
Once voters are told who and what the BNP is and the lies told by the BNP are explained and refuted, only a tiny, tiny handful would ever support them. The vast majority of the working class in Britain are not racists or fascists.
And it is not difficult to find volunteers to do this work – much easier than to find people willing to canvass votes for Blair’s New Labour. Many are trade union activists and campaigning against the BNP can involve people from a wide political spectrum from the left fringe to Tories.
But this weekend these valiant volunteers all felt as though they had been stabbed in the back by remarks from Barking Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who claimed that eight out of ten voters in the estates she has canvassed in her constituency have considered voting BNP. This is an enormous exaggeration and an insult to the working class people of Barking. But more reliable research by the Joseph Rowntree Trust and by Searchlight anti-fascist magazine puts the figure of those considering voting BNP at between 20 and 30 per cent – which is quite high enough to raise real concerns.
The BNP has targeted the area, as it has the neighbouring borough of Dagenham but there is a different story in Dagenham. Dagenham Labour MP Jon Cruddas has a long and honourable record of leading the anti-fascist campaign in Dagenham, of going round on the doorstep, talking to people and taking up their concerns. Consequently support for the BNP in Dagenham in last year’s general election was less than half what it was in Barking.
Hodge has never done this door to door work until now. Like too many of the New Labour elite, talking to ordinary people was beneath her. Now suddenly she is crying that Labour has neglected the needs of the white working class and thousands of people are going to vote for the fascists in protest.
New Labour has neglected the concerns of all the working class whatever their colour – and it expects to do badly in the coming local elections. Some believe that Hodge may be preparing an alibi in advance for that electoral disaster to come. If so, she is playing with fire. The BNP itself is jubilant at her remarks.
Others believe she is trying to scare people into voting Labour on the basis that there is no alternative. Searchlight criticises other mainstream parties – the Tories and Liberal Democrats – that they are not standing in many wards, leaving voters who oppose Labour with nowhere else to go but BNP or abstention.
Make no mistake, the BNP must be stopped. Its aim is to gain up to 70 council seats throughout Britain on 4th May. It will do nothing with these seats. BNP councillors have never functioned as proper councillors. But the party aims to use this base to go on eventually to take a seat in the European Parliament; to become part of the neo-fascist bloc with Le Pen from France and Haider from Austria and so get European Union funding.
The condescending New Labour elitism of Margaret Hodge will not be able to stop them. The traditional Labour grass roots hard work of Jon Cruddas, talking to voters and taking their concerns seriously, can smash the BNP’s hopes.
Other measures that would turn out the Labour vote in force on 4th May of course would be bringing the troops home from Iraq, rescuing the NHS from its financial crisis, dropping the privatisation of our public services and sacking Tony Blair.
We call on all Labour MPs – along with trades unionists like those who have been campaigning tirelessly against the BNP – to use the strength they have in the Labour Party to bring this about.

Kim Il Sung remembered

SAKLATVALA HALL in Southall, west London, was packed last Saturday with friends of Democratic Korea celebrating the birthday of the great Korean revolutionary leader, Kim Il Sung. NCP leader Andy Brooks delivered the solidarity greeting of the NCP and other messages came from Michael Chant of the RCPB (ML) and representatives of the CPGB(ML), SLP, the British Juche Society and Southall Respect.
The day finished with Indian poetry and music, Korean songs and dances performed by the sons and daughters of the DPR Korea’s diplomatic community, and a piano composition from Michael Chant.

London bombings: Al Qaeda 'not linked'

THE MEN who carried out the 7th July London bombings last year had no direct support from or connection with Al Qaeda, according to the official inquiry into the bombings.
The first forensic account of the bombings that claimed 52 lives was published last week. It revealed that the attacks were planned on a shoe-string budget from information on the internet; there was no fifth bomber and although two of the bombers had visited Pakistan, there were no direct links with Al Qaeda.
There was no international terror network behind the bombings and all the materials involved cost no more than a few hundred pounds.
A Whitehall source said: “the London attacks were a modest, simple affair by four seemingly normal men using the internet.”
The inquiry also concluded that the attacks were motivated by anger at Britain’s foreign policy, which was perceived to be deliberately anti-Muslim.

London opens office in Beijing

Visiting London Mayor Ken Livingstone opened a new London office in Beijing on Tuesday to boost cooperation and exchanges between the two cities.
The London Economic Development and Inward Investment office is the first the city has established abroad to boost trade, investment and social exchanges.
Livingstone said the office aimed to promote the exchanges in commerce, trade and tourism.
The two cities could learn much from each other, especially in staging the Olympic Games, the mayor said.
Sebastian Coe, head of the London delegation bidding for the 2012 Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games, met on Tuesday with Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Both sides pledged to support each other's Olympic Games projects and carry forward the spirit of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
Nearly 400 Chinese enterprises have established branches in Britain and the Olympic Games will lift the Chinese capital's cooperation with London to a new level.
Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2008 Olympics, made the remarks during a meeting with the visiting London Mayor Ken Livingstone.
"Beijing and London had traditional friendship, and the Olympics has offered a good opportunity for the cooperation between the two cities,"said Liu.
Livingstone, who has visited Beijing Olympic venues as well as the urban planning exhibition during his stay, said that London will share experience and enhance exchanges with Beijing in hosting the Olympic Games.
The mayor added that the Olympics bring both cities opportunities for development, but also responsibilities of delivering it successfully due to the Games' great influence on billions of people in the world.
He said that the delegation of London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games has met the Beijing organisers, laying a foundation for the cooperation between the two cities
Some 7,700 Chinese students are studying in London,while the number of Chinese tourists and business people going to Britain has increased rapidly in the last six years.
Livingstone said London was the gateway for Chinese enterprises into the European market, and hosted the European and British headquarters of many Chinese enterprises.
Xinhua news agency

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Billy Bragg's Hope not Hate tour

ANTI-FASCIST singer Billy Bragg this week, in the run-up to the 4th May local elections, launched a Hope Not Hate Tour to oppose British National Party election endeavours – with the backing of a House of Commons motion.
The Commons motion, and the Hope Not Hate campaign, is being driven by Dagenham Labour MP Jon Cruddas with the support of MP’s from the West Midlands, the East Midlands, the North West, the North East and Yorkshire – all areas where the BNP are running candidates and where the Billy Bragg tour will roll into town offering an alternative to the hate, division and violence of the BNP.
The Hope Not Hate tour is backed by four of the country’s biggest and most powerful trade unions – Amicus, GMB, the RMT and Unison – along with the campaigning organisations Unite Against Fascism, Searchlight, Love Music Hate Racism and Glastonbury Festival’s Left Field.
Jon Cruddas said: “The Hope Not Hate tour will give a real boost to the campaign against the BNP in the regions where they are touting their racist poison. The trade union movement has risen to the challenge thrown down by the BNP and will be mobilising their members under the Hope Not Hate banner.”
Billy Bragg said: “In my home town, Barking, we’ve organised and begun to turn the tide on the BNP. It couldn’t have been done without the support of the unions. If you want to know what trade unions are all about, it’s not just what happens in the workplace, it’s about building communities – communities where people can live side by side in peace and prosperity.”

Further information: Geoff Martin 07831 465 103 or 020 8644 2965. Hope Not Hate tour dates at http://www.billybragg.com

Justice for London cleaners!

by Caroline Colebrook

THE TRANSPORT and General Workers’ Union is fighting to improve the wages and conditions of office cleaners employed by major banks in London at Canary Wharf and at the giant Deutsche Bank in the City of London.
The union announced last Friday that it is stepping up its campaign for justice for the cleaners in Canary Wharf and that, unless rapid progress is made in resolving the Wharf cleaners’ grievances, it will ballot its members for strike action.
Senior industrial organiser for the TGWU Paul Davies said: “Our members at the Wharf have had enough. They’ve had enough of working for some of the wealthiest companies in the world for low pay and of their managers refusing to meet with their union.
“Each and every cleaning contractor at Canary Wharf, and their clients the banks, should be working with the cleaners’ union on a way forward. Some of the more enlightened contractors and some of the more socially aware clients are working with the union to improve the pay and other conditions of employment of cleaners.
“But others are hiding their heads in the sand and failing to respect their cleaners’ demand for justice.
“In those buildings at the Wharf where there is still no constructive dialogue we will be planning industrial action.
“Regretfully, unless we can see some significant progress on the part of the banks and the contractors in the next seven days, we will proceed towards a series of strategic strikes in key buildings across the Wharf.”
The TGWU’s Justice for Cleaners campaign represents cleaners in Reuters, the Financial Services Authority, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, HSBC, Lehman’s, Credit Suisse, 1 Canada Square, the Bank of America, McGraw Hill, and Clifford Chance. They are fighting for a living wage, sick pay, improved holidays, a pension and recognition for their union.
Meanwhile, a few miles away in the City of London, cleaners being paid £6 an hour to clean the London offices of the giant Deutsche Bank are urging the bank’s top bosses to help them get a fair deal at work.
The cleaners hand-delivered a letter last Tuesday to the bank’s head of operations in Britain, Aidan Brady, asking Deutsche Bank to tell the Lancaster office cleaning company to pay them a long-promised bonus and start talks with their union, the TGWU.
“Deutsche Bank’s top executive is now paid €11.9 million a year, and the company has a reputation for paying big bonuses to many staff,” said Paul Davies.
“Our cleaners’ expectations are rather more modest, but they are the basic demands of employees in any civilised country. They are only asking for £6.70p an hour plus a sick pay scheme.
“They expect their trade union to be able to negotiate for them with their employers, and they expect their employers to keep their promises. At a meeting before Christmas, Lancaster promised our cleaners a quarterly bonus and this should have been paid last week. They are still waiting for it. We believe a little encouragement from Deutsche Bank could remedy this situation immediately. “That’s why we are asking Deutsche Bank to tell Lancaster to treat their workers properly. After all, Deutsche Bank boasts that it is ‘a European global powerhouse dedicated to excellence, constantly challenging the status quo to deliver superior solutions’. Sorting out Lancaster Cleaners shouldn’t pose too big a problem for the bank.”

Tube workers protest at safety cuts

WORKERS employed by London Underground last week protested at Westminster and lobbied their MPs over changes to fire regulations.
Union leaders argued that planned changes to regulations introduced after the 1987 King’s Cross fire will affect the level of cover.
Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT transport union, said existing regulations must be kept. "These regulations are not academic," he said, "they are quite literally a matter of life and death, and our members and the travelling public have the right to expect that rules that protect them are not thrown out."
The RMT has claimed LU scrapped its fire inspection programme and abolished the post of fire safety adviser.

PROTESTERS DEMAND TROOPS OUT!

AROUND 100,000 people marched through the streets of London last week to call for an end to the illegal three-year invasion of Iraq and for British troops to be brought home. They also voiced their strong opposition to the threat of a possible air strike against Iran.
The march, organised by Stop the War and CND, was one of many all around the world to mark the third anniversary of the morning that Bush declared war on Iraq: in Basra, Baghdad, Rome, New York, Sydney, Madrid, Dublin, Istanbul, Chicago, Toronto, Karachi and Dhaka. The march, from Parliament Square to Trafalgar Square, took a long route along Victoria Road, Buckingham Palace Road, Green Park, Piccadilly and the Haymarket. It passed the offices of Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, to underline the illegality of the war and that both Britain and the United States are guilty of war crimes.
The march ended in a huge rally in Trafalgar Square that was addressed by many speakers, including MPs and peace activists from many countries.

photo: Marching along with the NCP banner on Saturday

Tributes to Karl Marx

by Rob Laurie

Karl Marx died in his study at half-past two on the afternoon of Wednesday 14th March 1883. To commemorate his passing the Marx Memorial Library has for many decades held an annual graveside oration at his burial place in Highgate Cemetery in North London at the exact moment of his death.
This year the speaker was David McLellan. In addition to being the author of many well received books on Marx, David McLellan is both president of the Marx Memorial Library and Professor of political theory at the University of Kent.
In his address MacLellan stressed that the writings of Marx and Engels, although produced in the 19th century, are equally relevant for the 21st century. Indeed the first description of what is commonly known by the fashionable buzzword as “globalisation” appeared in the Communist Manifesto of 1848.
Marx’s view that to understand the world one needs to look first and foremost at the relations of production is as true today as it was when first formulated.
He concluded by observing that the remarks made by Frederick Engels at Marx’s funeral in 1883 have been vindicated by history: “His name and works will endure down through the ages”.
NCP leader Andy Brooks represented the New Communist Party and the turnout included Library committee members and delegations from the London embassies of socialist countries, including Cuba, People’s China, Vietnam and the DPR Korea, many of whom laid flowers at the grave. The turnout was swollen by the presence of a large group of young Chinese students studying at the University of Westminster.
This year was the also the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the iconic memorial to Marx which was sculpted by Lawrence Bradshaw in 1956. A BBC radio reporter was on hand to record participants’ views on both Marx and the monument. Hopefully these remarks will be broadcast shortly.

Photo: NCP General Secretary lays flowers at Marx's grave

London news round-up

Eurostar cleaners ballot for strike

MORE THAN 100 members of the RMT transport union who are employed by OCS as cleaners on its Eurostar contract are to be balloted for industrial action over the company’s failure improve a pay offer that falls way short of eradicating poverty pay rates. Members are to be asked to vote to strike and for action short of strike to back their campaign for a minimum pay rate that matches London mayor Ken Livingstone’s recommendation of a living wage of at least £7.05 an hour. “OCS is paying cleaners as little as £5.50 an hour, even for nights, Sundays and bank-holiday work, and that is simply not good enough,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said last week. “The paltry increase they are offering includes consolidation of a £10 weekly attendance bonus and boils down to an insult of 20p an hour and would still leave pay rates around £1 an hour below a living wage. “I am sure that Eurostar passengers will be horrified to learn that the people who clean their trains and stations are paid at such miserable rates. “If OCS can afford to pay their top director £175,000 a year and can stump up cash to sponsor a stand at the Oval they can afford to pay the people who actually make their money a decent wage. “And it is no use Eurostar burying their heads in the sand either. Poverty wages are being paid to cleaners working on their railway, and they also have a responsibility to stop it. “If OCS want to avoid industrial action it is up to them to come back to the talks table and negotiate decent pay rates,” Bob Crow said. 

  Rally against global warming 

 MORE THAN 20,000 people filled Trafalgar Square last Saturday in a mass rally to demand that the Government acts to tackle the threat of global warming. The event was organised by Stop Climate Chaos and supported by over 40 organisations, including Greenpeace, Friends of the earth, Oxfam, Make Poverty History, Surfers Against Sewage, the Women’s Institute and the Ramblers’ Association. It was timed to come just before the United Nations climate change talks in Nairobi and just after the Stern report into climate change. Those who came included walkers from the West Midlands, cyclists from Somerset and one man who paddled his canoe from Oxford. Ashok Sinha, the director of Stop Climate Change, said: “The event reflects how widespread the concern about climate change is. It is emerging out of the green box. People realise it’s not just an environmental question but a moral one.” The Bishop of Liverpool, James Stuart Jones, was critical of the Government stance on the environment; he said: “Ministers have lent their support to the Stern report on climate change, but, sadly, lent is the word because they give support one day and take it back the next.” A large contingent of the protesters marched past the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square on their way to Trafalgar Square to highlight the US position as the planet’s worst polluter.

Remembering the Soviet war dead

by New Worker correspondent

PAUL Kyriacou, the Mayor of Southwark and Philip Matthews of the Soviet Memorial Trust Fund last Sunday led a ceremony of remembrance at the Soviet war memorial, in the grounds of the Imperial War Museum, for the 27 million Soviet citizens killed in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany. This year marks the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow, considered to be one of the greatest battles of history. Nazi forces attempting to capture Moscow were halted and thrown back by the Soviet counter-offensive, which began on 5th December 1941. Wreaths were laid by the Mayor, by the local MP Simon Hughes, on behalf of the House of Commons, and by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation. Others who laid wreaths included the ambassadors of the Ukrainian Republic, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and other former Soviet Republics; a representative of the RAF Russia Association, the Royal British Legion, the local branch of the trade union Ucatt and the Russia Convoy Club. The event was organised by the Soviet Memorial Trust.

Disgrace at Dolphin Square WORKERS at the luxurious Dolphin Square hotel in Westminster, where many MPs lodge while in London, are to be made redundant on little more than a pittance whilst the company buying the prestigious development have been accused of offering incentives to tenants to sign new leases. The Transport and General Workers Union said it was a disgrace that the low paid staff were being treated with low esteem and given a low reward for their loyalty. The union also accused the new owners of closing down the hotel merely to increase profits. TGWU regional industrial organiser Nick Grainger said the reason put forward for the closure, which the union has been told is to comply with a planning regulation and breach of lease enforced by the landowner Friends Provident, was viewed with scepticism. He said it was hard to believe how the hotel could operate for decades but that the change of ownership now triggered a hitherto unknown and unnoticed clause in the lease. “If what we have been told is right, it seems the hotel should never have been allowed to open let alone operate for 30 years,” he said. “People will draw their own conclusions from this explanation and feel for the loyal staff who have been misled.” The union said the allegedly “generous” redundancy offer was, in reality, a further month’s pay on top of the statutory minimum terms. “When you’re on a low basic pay in the first place, the extra month doesn’t actually amount to a great deal compared to the service our people have given,” he said. Up to 90 staff will be made redundant in early April 2006 when Mantilla Holdings, the Jersey-based new owners of Dolphin Square, convert the hotel to long-term leases. The TGWU said it understood the company has spent over £200 million to purchase the lease of Dolphin Square and to compensate tenants. Nick Grainger said the sums of money being talked about for the tenants were “fantasy land” as far as the staff were concerned. “If multi-million pound sums are floating around to help ease tenants’ concerns, it is entirely understandable how the staff feel completely let down,” he said. “Many of the tenants are MPs and many are Labour MPs. “As they pocket their incentives on top of their parliamentary salary and accommodation subsidy, we would urge them to think of the people who have served them who now face a bleak future. We urge them to demonstrate a real and living commitment to social justice literally on their doorstep.” Apology And £100,000 For Duwayne Brooks DUWAYNE Brooks, the friend of race murder victim Stephen Lawrence, who called was attacked at the same time and called the emergency services to aid his stricken friend, has been awarded £100,000 and an apology from police after they botched the handling of the case. On Friday the Metropolitan Police announced that it had agreed to pay Brooks and issue him a letter of apology. A statement from the Met said: “The Metropolitan Police Service can confirm that it has reached a settlement regarding civil actions brought by Duwayne Brooks against the MPS. “The claimant has agreed to discontinue a claim against a number of named individuals. The claims against the Commissioner have been settled. “This has been a protracted and difficult period for all persons involved and was initially borne out of the tragic racist murder of Stephen Lawrence and the attack on Duwayne Brooks. “The terms of this settlement include a written letter of apology and financial compensation, which was authorised by the MPA.” Brooks’ solicitor Jane Deighton said the settlement was unprecedented in terms of the figure and also the fact that the claim was brought purely on the matter of race. “The size of the settlement and the fact that there was a written apology says that they have accepted that there are lessons to be learned,” she said. Brooks had been carrying the action against the Met for seven years over the way he was treated by investigating officers following the death of his friend Stephen 13 years ago. Six years ago, a judge at a Central London County Court had rejected Brook’s claims for compensation against the Met. But in 2002 three appeal judges reopened the case allowing him to sue the Met Commissioner and 12 police officers for breaches of the Race Relations Act. Brooks claimed that detectives treated him like a criminal while conducting the investigation. He said the police failed to take his account of the attack seriously and that he was not treated as a victim. He claimed victimisation and that he was treated as a suspect in the matter. Deighton said Brooks was delighted with the settlement and will now seek to get on with his life. “He thinks it’s a sensible settlement. It’s a very large amount of money, sufficient to help him put away last 13 years. His persistence has been vindicated.” Camden Abu Dis Meeting CAMDEN Trades Council recently held a joint meeting with the Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association at which Dr. Huda Dahbour spoke on life in Abu Dis, a town near East Jerusalem which has been dissected by the notorious Israeli apartheid wall. This wall, which is claimed to be a defence against suicide bombings, is in reality a means of driving the Palestinians from their homes in order to expand Israel’s boundaries by stealth. Dr Dahbour, a medical doctor, runs a psychotherapy unit to help women suffering from the stress of unrest and domestic violence. She has suffered greatly from the Israeli occupation; her own son is presently one of about sixty Abu Dis teenagers in prison for throwing stones at heavily armed Israeli soldiers. The course of the wall cuts off residents of Abu Dis from schools, jobs in East Jerusalem and medical facilities (one school has the wall going through the playground). While the wall has a number of crossing points Israeli troops make life as difficult as possible. At the Abu Dis crossing point pregnant women going to hospital have to jump across a large ditch, thus causing injuries to themselves and their unborn children. After Dr Dahbour spoke the audience took part in a lively discussion on the practicalities of developing links between Londoners and Palestinians. To underline just how difficult life is for Palestinians under Israeli occupation, another member of the planned delegation to Camden was unable to come because she was was refused permission to leave by the Israeli border guards at the airport. Len Crome Lecture EACH YEAR the International Brigade Memorial Trust holds an annual lecture to commemorate the life of Doctor Len Crome, a Latvian born doctor who played an important role in organising front line medical services for the volunteers who fought with the International Brigades against the fascist rebels in the Spanish Civil War. This year, the seventieth anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict, the speaker was Enrique Moradiellos, Professor of History at the University of Extremadura in Caceres who spoke on “Albion’s Perfidy: the British Government and the Spanish Civil War”. The speaker’s title perfectly sums up Britain’s policy towards Spain in the nineteen thirties. Dr Moradiellos made it perfectly clear that British policy was clearly in favour of Franco’s rebellion. The policy on “non-intervention” was simply a cloak for supporting the fascists. This covert support was recognised by Franco himself as being even more decisive that the massive support received from Hitler and Mussolini. From the start Franco’s rebellion was covertly supported by the British Government. By declaring an arms embargo on both sides the British Government immediately put the lawful elected Government at a disadvantage as they were the only side able to purchase arms. Needless to say Britain had been a major arms supplier to Spain for over a century. Britain also refused to condemn support for the rebels which came from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and put heavy pressure on France, who under the Popular Front Government were supportive of the Spanish Republic, to follow the British line. There was no namby-pamby pinko liberal nonsense about one bourgeois democracy coming to the aid of another. As one might expect the British National (i.e. Conservative) government was not displeased to see a democratically elected left wing government which included Socialists and Communists come under fire. As British investors owned huge tracts of Spain’s metal mining industries the British government could be relied to defend their interests. However, the British government’s response was not just about safeguarding profits; they had a much broader strategic view. They wanted to ensure that their ownership of Gibraltar, which was the key to maintaining British control of the Mediterranean. For the same reason they were keen to maintain good relations with Mussolini’s Italy which presented a potential threat to British control of the Suez Canal and hence to the Empire in India. The British Government was not openly in favour of Franco, that was politically unpalatable for the British public who were overwhelming opposed to Franco from the start, so the British Government had to deceive the electorate. While the British Government initially hoped that Franco’s rebellion would secure a quick victory and that Britain and a more reactionary Spain would resume business as usual some elements in the British Government were concerned about the war dragging on. The unexpectedly strong resistance of the Spanish people and International Brigades, who were aided by the Soviet Union, forced Hitler and Mussolini to drastically increase their support, leading some in the British establishment to fear that Franco would become too dependent on his fascist friends. In some respects certain British officials were more Francoist than the Francoists. One British diplomat was given a ticking off by the Foreign Office for giving Fascist salutes at meetings. The same individual even urged Franco to execute some captured British Brigaders, an attitude that shocked even Franco who was by no means squeamish on these matters. Remembering Tom Mann by Rob Laurie LAST WEDNESDAY saw supporters of the Marx Memorial Library, trade unionists and family members witness the unveiling of a recently restored portrait of legendary trade unionist Tom Mann. Alongside Library Chair Mary Rosser, Barry Camfield, Assistant General Secretary of the Transport & General Workers Union paid tribute to Tom Mann who in a long career was one of the founders of the present day Transport and General Workers Union. It was therefore appropriate that the TGWU funded the restoration. Tom Mann who was born in 1856 at Coventry began his working life at the age of nine. At fourteen he began an engineering apprenticeship. On moving to London he eventually secured a post in an engineering shop where his foreman introduced him to socialist ideas. Taking part in his first strike in 1886, he first read The Communist Manifesto in the same year and after this date openly declared himself a communist. After a spell in the north of England he played an important part in leading the successful 1889 dock strike in London. He became first president of the newly formed General Labourers’ Union, (now part of the TGWU). As a member of the Independent Labour Party he stood for Parliament three times. For nine years, 1901-1910 he lived in Australia, continuing his trade union and political work. On his return to Britain he took a Syndicalist stand arguing that socialism would be achieved through trade union activity rather than by parliamentary elections. During World War One he opposed to Britain’s involvement in the First World War. Elected as Secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering Union in 1919 he was forced to retire in 1921. At an age when he could have enjoyed a well deserved retirement he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain becoming a strong supporter of the Soviet Union. He was still being arrested in his late seventies. He died in 1941 in Leeds. • The unveiling was attended by NCP General Secretary Andy Brooks and other London comrades. Celebrating Marx Comrades and friends from Africa and India gathered at the NCP Party Centre last Saturday for a reception to celebrate the life of Karl Marx, who passed away on 14th March 1883. In the formal part of the celebrations Explo Nani-Kofi from the African Liberation Support Campaign Network spoke highly of Marx and NCP leader Andy Brooks talked about the contribution of Marx and Engels to the revolutionary movement in 19th century London. “We are standing on the shoulders of giants” Andy said. “and our struggle today will pave the way for the inevitable revolutionary changes to come”. A representative from the RCPB (ML) called for the unity of communists and the unity of the working class to counter the bourgeois offensive and NCP President Eric Trevett praised Karl Marx’s immense contribution to the working class movement. Though most of the evening was spent in meeting new friends and old there was, of course, time for a collection for the New Worker, and that raised £295 for the fighting fund.

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An inquiry that's needed...

THE TORIES are not the best placed to talk about sleaze, given the record of the past Thatcher and Major governments, but that doesn’t mean their call for a public inquiry into the Jowell affair should be ignored.
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell’s husband David Mills, an international lawyer who works for Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, is accused of taking a £344,000 bribe from Berlusconi in return for providing false witness in court for his client. This, Mills denies.
While her husband’s business has nothing to do with her, the Sunday Times claims that Jowell signed a document to facilitate the transfer of this money to Britain.
According to the paper there is a link between a loan application she signed on the couple’s house and the money that Italian prosecutors allege was a bribe. This loan was then reportedly paid off some weeks later allegedly using money Mills received from Italy. Jowell categorically denies it was paid off with Berlusconi’s money. “I agreed that we would take out a loan on our house. That is not unusual, it’s not improper, and it’s certainly not illegal,” she told the media on Sunday. That being the case there should be no problem in meeting the Tory demand for an independent inquiry to see if the Labour politician has breached the ministerial code of conduct.

...and a panel that’s not

THE DISGRACEFUL suspension of Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London by the obscure and unelected Adjudication Panel of England has been frozen for the time being. But the verdict of this body, on behalf of the Standards Board for England, was unjust, inconsistent and plainly disproportionate to Livingstone’s alleged offence.
Last year a Tory Brent councillor was brought before the board for saying “Jews run everything in Britain and practically run America”. But while the board accepted that he had “expressed a controversial opinion that offended a member of the public”, no action was taken because this London Tory councillor had not committed “a criminal offence” nor had his remarks put “individuals or groups at risk”.
It’s a different tune when it comes to the Labour Mayor of London.
Livingstone claims that the London Evening Standard has pursued a 25-year vendetta against him. That’s not surprising as the paper is a consistent supporter of the Tory party. But celebrities and politicians must expect the attention of the paparazzi whether they like it or not. The Standard reporter who door-stepped a party at midnight to catch Livingstone off-guard was doing his job. Equally Livingstone was entitled to tell him where to get off.
Comparing the reporter, who is Jewish, to a German war criminal and a “kapo”, a term the Nazis used for Jewish collaborators in the concentration camps, was as offensive as it was intended to be. But it clearly wasn’t racist or anti-semitic – a fact the Board of Deputies of British Jews, who made the complaint, recognise.
Nevertheless the three-strong panel asked to consider their complaint, deemed that Livingstone’s conduct was “unnecessarily insensitive and offensive” and had brought his office into disrepute, ruling that the Mayor should be suspended from office for a month.
Livingstone has quite rightly vowed to appeal and take this case through the courts if the decision is not rescinded. Though the panel has the powers to punish those it decides have breached the standards code, the Mayor points out that the code itself is going to be amended by the Government to restrict it “only to matters which would be regarded as unlawful”.
Ken Livingstone has been a forthright opponent of racism and fascism throughout his political life. No one seriously believes this incident was no more than a storm in a tea-cup inflated by those who seek to discredit the Mayor and the London Labour Party.
The suspension, which cuts across the democratic rights of Londoners who voted Livingstone in, must be dropped.

London celebrates Chinese culture

The largest celebration of Chinese culture "China in London 2006" was formally launched in the last days of January with the switching on of a specially designed Chinese lantern lighting display in the heart of the capital by London Mayor Ken Livingstone and China's Super Girl champion Li Yuchun.

"China in London", a season-long celebration encompassing over 100 events and exhibitions across the metropolis, demonstrates the close links between London and China, which is further reinforced by Beijing and London as the next host cities for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

After lighting up the Chinese lanterns at the world-famous Oxford Circus, Li Yuchun performed in front of a large crowd with British band Liberty X.

"I am very pleased that Li Yuchun is able to join London in launching the largest ever celebration of Chinese culture to have been held in the City. Her appearance at this event is a demonstration of the growing links and strengthening of relations between London and China, which were given a huge boost by London's successful bid to host the Olympic Games in 2012," said Livingstone.

The launch also marked the beginning of the capital's Chinese New Year celebrations, which has been traditionally the largest of its kind outside Asia. The annual Chinese lunar New Year parade and festival took place on Sunday 29th January, marking the start of the Year of the Dog.

Chu Ting Tang, president of the London Chinatown Chinese Association, said: "Super Girl Li Yuchun's launch of the China in London season is an exciting curtain raiser to the capital's Chinese New Year celebrations, which are growing every year. Around 80,000 people attended last year's festivities in Chinatown and Trafalgar Square and we expect the turnout to be truly phenomenal this time around."

The Chinese New Year parade and festival was one of the biggest events during the "China in London" season, which features a wide range of other activities, from exhibitions, performances and film screenings, to food tasting and the appreciation of Chinese language and literature.

James Bidwell, chief executive of Visit London said: "We're delighted to play host to such an extensive celebration of Chinese culture in London. With Li Yuchun performing, the cultural links between China and London could not be stronger. In 2004 Chinese visitors represented eight per cent of all trips to the United Kingdom from Asia and, with the receipt of approved destination status in 2005, we would expect this figure to rise in 2006. This celebration of Chinese culture in London highlights the city's cultural diversity and the economic benefit it brings."

Livingstone noted that later this year he will be visiting Beijing and Shanghai with a delegation of representatives from London business. "I will be opening London offices in both cities to promote links between London and China. I regard it as the highest strategic priority for London that we develop the strongest possible links with the Chinese economy. It is also central to the continued strength of London, as a financial centre, that we remain open to the most important developments in the global economy."

The Chinese season is organised through a partnership between the Mayor of London, Visit London, and the Royal Academy of Arts, as well as a wide range of organisations, including London Chinatown Chinese Association, New West End Company, Regents Street Association, Transport for London and the London Development Agency.

Highlights include a spectacular specially commissioned window and in-store display at Selfridges, performances by the Gold Sail Dance Troupe from Beijing, the Shanghai on Screen film festival in the West End and Docklands, as well as a Beijing Olympics Photography Exhibition at London's City Hall.

A cornerstone exhibition is the acclaimed China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795 now on show at the Royal Academy of Arts and featuring 400 works, many of which have never been shown outside China.

The Red Mansion Foundation, a non-profit organisation which promotes cultural exchange between China and Britain through contemporary art, is staging shows like Bad Girls, Good Girls and China Coup. There will also be a wide range of theatre, dance and live performances such as Yellow Gentlemen, a new play by Benjamin Yeoh, and a version of Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale by the Yellow Earth Theatre Company.

London's growing relationship with one of the fastest growing markets in the world brings significant economic benefit. London attracts around 30 per cent of the Chinese foreign investment projects in Britain, the largest European recipient country of Chinese foreign direct investment projects.
Xinhua news agency

London rally against Islamophobia

by Caroline Colebrook

THOUSANDS of Muslims gathered in Trafalgar Square last Saturday to present the peaceful face of Islam and to show their concern at growing Islamophobia in the West.

Also present were many non-Muslims: peace activists, representatives of other religions, to demonstrate their solidarity with Muslims facing discrimination and oppression.

This followed a smaller demonstration in the previous week outside the Danish Embassy where a different group of Muslims, protesting at the now notorious Danish cartoons, had called for violence against non-Muslims.

The pictures of this demonstration, splashed across the media, fuelled more anti-Islamophobia and helped the Government in its efforts to sell its draconian proposed anti-terrorist legislation.
The masses attending Saturday’s rally were determined to distance themselves from this but nevertheless to express their anger at the Danish cartoons and what they represent in a world where the western imperialists have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and are threatening other Muslim countries and those who resist are demonised as terrorists.

Speaking for the Muslim Council of Britain – one of the groups who organised the event – Inayat Bunglawala said: “The reasons for the rally are two-fold. We want to allow peaceful expression of the hurt caused by the publication of the cartoons but we also want to allow people to publicly distance themselves from the extremists because for most of Britain this is the only impression they have of Muslims in this country.”

Faiz Siddiqi, of the Muslim Action Committee, said: “What is being called for is a change of culture. In any civilised society, if someone says, ‘don’t insult me’ you do not, out of respect for them. Europe has a history of not treating minorities properly. The Holocaust is an example of that. The imagery being used today is the same kind that Hitler used against the Jews. Look where that ended up: in world war.”

Coaches brought protesters from Bradford, Oldham, Luton, Leicester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow. Hundreds of placards and banners carried peaceful slogans, condemning incitement.
Speakers at the rally included Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather. Respect MP George Galloway faced a subdued reception, which included some booing, as he addressed the crowd.

London mayor Ken Livingstone also supported the rally and told the crowd: “I am supporting this event because, unlike some of the BBC’s coverage, it will allow the views of the mainstream Muslim community to be properly heard.”

Speaking of the cartoons, Livingstone said: “There is no excuse for breaking the law and anyone who does so should and will face prosecution. But there is no getting away from the fact that this whole episode has allowed much of Europe’s media to engage in an orgy of Islamophobia.”

Tube contractor axed for doing the dirty on cleaners

METRONET Rail last Monday terminated its contract with the Blue Diamond cleaning company after the Transport and General Workers’ Union informed it that Blue Diamond had been consistently withholding workers’ pay.
The TGWU, which represents cleaners on London Underground, discovered that Blue Diamond had been paying their workers £5.05 per hour despite having agreed a basic wage of £5.50 with Metronet at the start of the contract in October 2005.
Metronet agreed at a meeting with the TGWU in January to investigate and the TGWU last week welcomed Metronet’s decision to fire Blue Diamond from their prestigious cleaning contract on the District, Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith and City and East London lines, believed to be worth in excess of £20 million over three years.
This is the first time in 20 years that a contract has been ended due to concerns over the abuse of workers.
TGWU deputy general secretary Jack Dromey said: “Blue Diamond robbed the cleaners, ripping thousands of pounds off hard-working men and women who serve Londoners 24 hours a day. Metronet have done the decent thing, acting promptly and properly to terminate Blue Diamond’s contract.
“The TGWU is determined to end the often shameful treatment of cleaners. In London many are migrant workers. This decision demonstrates that contractors who behave badly will no longer be employed by responsible client companies. Blue Diamond did the dirty on cleaners and is paying the price.”

• Pay victory for Parliament cleaners

CLEANERS at the Houses of Parliament last week won a significant victory in their long, well-publicised battle for decent pay.
The Transport and General Workers Union said the cleaners will now get £6.70-an-hour, statutory sick pay and 28 days’ holiday.
The campaign, which attracted widespread support from the public, MPs and peers from all political parties, involved two one-day strikes last year.
TGWU deputy general secretary Jack Dromey said: “One year ago, Parliament paid poverty wages. Now the cleaners have won a living wage and respect.”
Negotiations are continuing on implementing a pension scheme and there will be no job losses as a result of this agreement.

Hackney dinner ladies may strike

SCHOOL dinner ladies employed by the London Borough of Hackney are considering strike action after improvement’s to the dietary quality of the meals they prepare left them with a lot more work to do but no extra pay.
The cooks and catering assistants based at 27 schools in the borough are currently employed by contractors, but say they do not receive the same rates as those directly taken on by the council. The dinner ladies, some of whom earn as little as £9,000-a-year, claim their workloads have increased in the wake of Jamie Oliver’s TV programmes which called for more freshly prepared meals.
The dinner ladies are members of the Transport and General Workers Union and are represented by Cathy Stewart, who works as a dinner lady in Hackney.
She said: “The dinner ladies are under tremendous pressure after the Jamie Oliver programmes to deliver top notch nosh but at rock bottom pay.
“To say they are angry is an understatement as they see little or no effort being made by the schools and the contractors to sort out their grievances.
“These dinner ladies don’t earn a fortune but they are under extra pressure from heads who want them to do extra duties for which they are not being paid and are not responsible.
“Quite rightly they say it is about time they were shown some respect.”
Paul Fawcett, TGWU officer for London, said the chance of a walkout was a distinct possibility. He said: “It’s very likely there will be strike action, we are now going through the preliminary proceedings, and the result of the ballot will be known in March.”
The union says the contractors have been paid an increase in their contract price of 11 per cent to cover discrepancies under the single status agreement, but none of the dinner ladies have seen this reflected in their pay.

Harry Stanley's widow calls for police changes

IRENE STANLEY, whose husband Harry was shot dead by police in 1999 because they thought the table leg in a bag he was carrying was a gun, last week learned that the officers concerned will not face disciplinary charges.
She responded by calling for an end to the police practice of “pooling recollections” after deaths in custody.
The decision, by the Independent Police Complaints Authority, to take no action against the officer was made even though the IPCA had accepted that their “detailed and consistent accounts lack credibility”. obscured
From the beginning, a search for the truth has been obscured by the police officers “pooling their recollections” and writing their notes up together on the night of the shooting.
Irene Stanley doesn’t want other families whose loved ones die at the hands of the police to feel deaths are “covered up” from the start: the police service must put an end to this discredited practice.
Harry Stanley was a 46-year-old Scottish painter and decorator. He was recovering from a successful cancer operation. On 22nd September 1999 he left his home in Hackney telling his wife he was going to visit a friend.
He wanted to collect a table leg from one of his brothers who had fixed it after it had been damaged earlier in the year.
On his return home he visited a public house. Another customer, mistaking Stanley’s accent for Irish rather than Scottish and noticing that he was carrying something long in a bag, telephoned the police to say that a man with an Irish accent was leaving the pub with a sawn-off shot gun in a plastic bag. no reason
Within a few minutes PC Fagan and Inspector Sharman, an armed response unit from the Metropolitan Police service specialist firearms unit SO 19, arrived in the area. The officers approached Stanley from behind. They shouted, “Stop, armed police!” Stanley (who had no reason to imagine that the police wanted him or that they were indeed police officers) did not stop at that command.
The police say that they shouted again, to which Stanley responded by turning around. The police officers opened fire, with one shot hitting him in his head, the other hitting him in his left hand. In the bag was the repaired two-foot table leg, which he had collected from his brother.

Army unit probed in Menezes inquiry

THE MINISTRY of Defence launched and internal inquiry last week into the role played by an elite army surveillance unit into the shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in order to discover "if lessons can be learnt".
They say they are trying to discover how Menezes, an innocent man, came to be wrongly identified as a terrorist suspect. But the decision has raised questions about the role of military personnel on our streets.
The army surveillance unit comprise members of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, who had been seconded to the Metropolitan Police to work with under-cover officers, monitoring the flats in south London where Menezes lived.
The Independent Police Commission has questioned the soldiers as part of its investigation into the shooting dead of Menezes at Stockwell Tube station last July.
Now the MoD has set up its own separate inquiry into the events leading up to the shooting. It is reviewing the procedures and command structures that allowed apparent surveillance failures to happen.
The Special Reconnaissance Regiment was formed in April 2005 and is based at SAS headquarters in Hereford. Its members are said to have developed specialist skills in the occupied north of Ireland. It is believed that one of the soldiers taking part in the surveillance of the south London flats was armed and that it was a soldier who incorrectly identified Menezes as an "IC one male" – the police term for a white man, when he left his flat.
During the surveillance one of the soldiers, who had to relieve himself against a tree, temporarily lost sight of Menezes, according to reports. This led to a series of communication problems.
One senior counter-terrorism expert commented: "I can’t understand why non-police personnel were used to do something that important. They won’t know police procedures. If you start using the army on the streets without a proper public debate it will end in disaster."

Social cleansing in south London

by Edwin Bentley

RESIDENTS of one of the few remaining working-class neighbourhoods in south- east London are bracing themselves for a massive programme of social cleansing that will transform the Walworth area into an up-market residential and commercial area.
Estate agents don’t have a very good reputation. Rather like bookmakers, their job is to make as much money as possible out of people’s dreams. But among themselves, estate agents and bookmakers have to be totally realistic; they must know the facts, whether or not they share them with you and me.
Back in April 2002, a report commissioned by estate agents in the Walworth area stated that “the strong working class element to the district has prevented gentrification in an area that geographically would make it a prime candidate.”
But on 27th September 2005 the local council, Southwark, opted to remove the biggest barrier to this threatened gentrification. The Liberal Democratic-run council finally decided to demolish the massive Aylesbury estate; 2,759 council flats will be knocked down, to be replaced by a mixture of private and housing association accommodation.
The neighbouring Heygate estate will also be flattened, removing a further 1,194 council homes from the area.
Immediately after his election in 1997, Tony Blair had gone to the Aylesbury estate to announce a whole new way of dealing with the housing problem in London. Blair spoke of “forgotten people “ who were dumped in the most decaying, unpleasant surroundings without any hope of a better life. But rather than invest money in improving local council housing, the Government has opened the door to big business.
The Aylesbury and Heygate estates are next to the Elephant and Castle, the transport hub for south London. As Southwark council states in its propaganda, this area is far closer to the attractions of Central London than people imagine. Only a few minutes from the centre of the city, bus, road, rail, and underground links mean that a lot of people find it a convenient place to live. But as our estate agent friends pointed out, it is also solidly working class.
Over the past 40 years Walworth has become home to many different groups of immigrants who have come to London in search of a safe place to live and work. Early in the morning, many of the workers going down into the Elephant and Castle Tube station or catching a bus are Africans and South Americans, heading off to do their cleaning and other low-paid service jobs all over London.
There was a time when these estates were seen as a symbol of a bright new future. Following severe bomb damage during the Second World War, the old rows of Victorian terrace houses were knocked down and replaced in the 1960s with spacious flats and maisonettes. But as was so often the case, the necessary maintenance work was never carried out on a regular basis, and the quality of materials used in the construction was so low, that very soon major problems developed.
Over the years Southwark council thought of the Aylesbury and Heygate estates as sink estates, where they could house the most disadvantaged people, who would not complain too much about conditions. Neglected by both central and local government, the condition of the area got worse.
In 2001, Southwark council tried to wash its hands of the problem by transferring all housing on the two estates to the control of a housing association. The proposal was put to a vote in a local referendum, and overwhelmingly rejected by the tenants.
This time round, Southwark has only engaged in “consultations”, to ensure that decisions about the future of this working class community could be taken without giving local people any direct say.
Following demolition, during which time the existing tenants will be moved out to other flats all over London, contractors will move in to build the new homes. On the Aylesbury Estate, although 4,900 new homes will be built, 2,700 of these will be luxury properties that will be sold off to the highest bidder; 2,200 flats will be classified as “social housing”, and run by a housing association. That means that the housing stock for working class people will be reduced by 500 properties.
In addition, these flats will be smaller and much less well-appointed than those designed for private sale.
What is so wrong with council housing being transferred to housing associations? For a start, local people have the example of the Church Commissioners, which owns quite a lot of property in the area. Right from the 1880’s, Church Commissioners’ flats had been let at well below the market rate. This has all changed, and from now on all new tenants will be obliged to pay the market rate, which will be many times the present rent.
The example of other providers of social housing is also alarming. Just in the last year alone, the Peabody Trust has sold off more than 400 properties in London, saying that it needed the money to maintain its existing stock of properties. That really is selling off the family silver.
Housing associations can only be effective if they are adequately supported by Government finance, if there is an element of democratic control, and if they refuse to sell off their properties to those tenants who can afford to buy them. At present, they meet none of these criteria, and are liable to be swept away by market forces.
Ultimately, local people know that they will only have peace of mind if they live in properly funded and maintained housing provided and controlled by the elected borough council.

London newsbriefs

London police bodies oppose arming all officers

London’s policing bodies have opposed arming all police officers. Experts have pointed out that in the US many more officers are shot, and that arming the police creates a gun culture.
Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair said: “ninety per cent of the Met remains unarmed – I want to keep it that way”.
The Metropolitan Police Federation, representing rank and file officers, says three quarters of its members “did not want to be routinely armed”. The Metropolitan Police Authority, represent political parties and community groups, said that the current level of armed officers, 10 per cent, is “appropriate for London’s protection”.
The call for routine arming has also been opposed by the Association of Chief Police Officers.

London cabbies join low pollution drive

The mayor of London has announced plans to reduce emissions from London’s taxis by one third in three years, as part of plans to make London a Low Emission Zone which is also targeting buses, coaches and lorries.
London cabbies have a choice of buying new, cleaner cabs, fitting catalytic converters or filters, or converting to liquefied petroleum gas. This is being funded by a surcharge of 20p on all taxi fares which is already in place.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone says Taxi drivers themselves are exposed to pollution and tend to operate in the most polluted areas, such as central London and Heathrow airport.
London has the worst air quality in the UK, believed to be responsible for 1,600 premature deaths a year.

Britain's worst employment blackspot

London has lowest level of employment in the country

London has been revealed as the country’s worst employment blackspot, as well as having the second highest unemployment, despite being by far the wealthiest part of Britain.
London is the only region in Britain where unemployment is now higher than in 1979.
Only 69.4 per cent of the workforce are working in the capital, the lowest in the country, against a UK average of 74.7 per cent.
In five boroughs - Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Haringey and Barking & Dagenham - employment is below the EU average of 63.3 per cent.
Although there are enough jobs in London, they are not being taken up for various reasons. The capital has the highest proportions of ethnic
minorities, lone parents, ex-prisoners and drug addicts, who often lack
education and skills.
Astronomical rent and house prices prevent many from taking low-paid jobs and losing benefits. Many of the best and well-paid jobs are taken by commuters from outside London.
Unemployment in London (people actively seeking work rather than just
receiving benefits) is 6.6 per cent, second only to the north-east and way above the national average of 4.7 per cent.
Unemployment is far worse for the capital’s minorities - 11.7 per cent
compared to 5.3 per cent for white Londoners. In Tower Hamlets 23.6% of
non-whites are unemployed.

Middle-Class Flight

Meanwhile an urban taskforce led by architect Lord Rogers has warned that the middle classes are abandoning inner London and other cities, threatening a “deepening racial and social divide”.
The study called for the development of more mixed communities on recycled urban land to tackle “massive inequalities”, even though Britain’s inner cities have overcome many of the problems of the 1980s and 90s caused by industrial decline.
The taskforce of architects and planners said there was increasing
“ghettoisation” between rented and private housing because new projects had low quality housing and were isolated from existing communities.
The group decided to produced their own study because recommendations they made six years ago in a government-backed report had been virtually ignored.
Lord Rogers singled out developments along the River Thames , saying “if you take a trip down the Thames, you’re absolutely amazed at the appalling design.”
One reason for this was a maze of public agencies, all with separate
funding.
The report says government funding was skewed towards new building in areas which were already over-congested, undermining existing communities – a criticism of deputy prime minister John Prescott’s “sustainable communities” plan focused on four big growth areas in southeastern England.

Off the rails!

South East Trains re-privatised

Keith Norman, head of the rail union ASLEF, says the government has “ignored its responsibilities to passengers, staff and the tax-payer” by re-privatising South East Trains.
Train operator Govia has been awarded an eight year franchise in an exercise costing the Department for Transport £3.85 million. Its first decision was to increase fares by 3% above inflation.
Norman described the move as “the politics of the madhouse and the economics of the asylum” and “a slap in the face for millions of commuters across the south-east of England”. The two years in public hands after Connex lost its franchise saw great improvements in South East Trains’ punctuality and profitability.
Norman pointed out that the Labour Party conference fully supported South East Trains staying in public hands. “Their decisions have been ignored, and the government’s real attitude towards public ownership has been revealed.
It seems the real policy is privatisation, pure and simple.”
A recent poll showed 72% of the public would like rail companies to revert to public control when franchises expire - demolishing the myth of British Rail’s appalling services.

Northern Line crisis could be end of line for tube PPP

The Northern Line, London underground’s busiest section, suffered a four-day shutdown in November as a direct result of carving the system up between ever more contractors with part-privatisation.
The crisis saw transport minister Alistair Darling, London’s mayor,
Transport for London (TfL), the head of London Underground and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), united in calling for French contractors Alstom to be sacked.
The shutdown happened when tripcock safety brakes were declared unsafe by RMT stewards after multiple failures.
They were backed by transport commissioner Bob Kiley and London Underground chief Tim O’Toole, while Alstom denied any threat to safety.
According to RMT head Bob Crow, Alstom opposed daily testing of the
‘failsafe’ brakes because the resulting delays would incur financial
penalties.
For the first time London Underground issued an ‘emergency direction’,
ordering contractors Tube Lines (Alstom’s parent company) to speed up
repairs.Since then London Underground has effectively taken over safety maintenance on the Northern Line until the problems have been resolved.
Under the labyrinthine PPP system, TfL inspectors could only take action after four stages of legal action.
Dozens of lawyers had to plough through two million-word PPP contracts and the 18 volume PFI contract between Alstom and Tube Lines.
Following the crisis Bob Kiley and transport minister Alistair Darling gave TfL the green light to end Alstom’s contract. According to Darling,“no-one can regard the present situation as anything but unbelievably unsatisfactory”.
Incredibly even parent company Tube Lines warned Alstom that their PFI
arrangement was not working, no doubt worried about its share prices.
The crisis has raised the prospect that the ill-fated part privatisation will not last until 2032 after all.
The government may now opt for a similar solution to that following the
collapse of Railtrack, and the creation of publicly owned Network Rail.

How corruption was built in to underground contracts

Public-private partnership on the tube, one of the most convoluted deals ever made, has been described as a “gold-plated cash cow” for the
contractors.
The contracts came complete with generous “success fees”, involve no risks, guarantee a huge income until 2032, and frequently change hands with huge profits made.
Construction firms Jarvis and Amey were floundering when they won their contracts and were saved by the PPP contracts, which became their main profit earners. Jarvis has sold its contract to Amey, which was then bought by a Spanish company.
The Metronet consortium running six tube lines plans to subcontract train maintenance to Bombardier, making front-line engineering staff redundant and leaving separate companies running its trains, track maintenance, and train maintenance.
The RMT’s Bob Crow says London’s mayor should be able to halt further
subcontracting. “No amount of fine-tuning can transform the PPP from a
vehicle for profit without responsibility into one that delivers
improvements safely and at reasonable cost.”
Meanwhile Ken Livingstone and transport commissioner Bob Kiley have operated public services superbly.
The Docklands Light Railway extension, East London line and Oyster card
ticketing, improvements to busses, and central London traffic reduction, are all on time and within budget.

Overcrowding + Delays = Higher Profits

The contractors pay high penalties for rush hour delays in central London. But early morning delays due to late engineering incur small fines, even though they cause knock-on delays throughout the morning rush hour.
So now we know: tube users suffer delays and crowding so that contractors can boost their lucrative profits.

Targets not met? Get paid anyway!

The contractors still get paid for work, even when it is not done. New
District Line trains are a year late, but Metronet has been paid.

The Victoria Line refurbishment, station renewal and track renewal are all late - but the contractors have already been paid!

Multiculturalism works for London

by Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London

Against a backdrop of the London bombings, the scenes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the riots across French towns and cities, a furious debate on racial equality and community relations has unfolded in the media over the summer and autumn.
After the terrorist attacks in July, some commentators and newspapers urged London to abandon its policies of respect for different cultures and celebration of diversity – in favour of what some described as the ‘French model’.
The suggestion was that, London, by celebrating the contribution of
different cultures to our city, was emphasising differences rather than what people have in common and encouraging ‘segregation’. In reality the Greater London Authority’s research shows that the real trend is not of ‘segregation’ of ethnic minorities, but of increased dispersal as new communities become established over time.
It was suggested that the French model, which supposedly disregards ethnic and religious differences – to the point of banning Muslim headscarves in schools – would produce greater social cohesion. As France does not collect statistics on ethnic and religious communities, there is little evidence of whether the model allows ethnic minorities to get their fair share of jobs,resources and opportunities.
But the riots which spread across France from the end of October suggest the French model has singularly failed to integrate the 10 or more per cent of its population of Arab and African heritage – and instead confined them to vast ghettos with many times the average levels of unemployment and poverty, and the indignity of being disproportionately singled out for police identity checks when they leave their local area.
In Britain, it was stop and search operations disproportionately targeting black youths that triggered the riots which swept the country more than 20 years ago in 1981. It should not be forgotten that, at that time, much as in France today, there was not a single black or Asian member of parliament, virtually no representation on local councils, virtually no black police officers, few teachers and virtually no leading business people. London still faces great challenges. Our education system does not give black schoolboys the start in life to which they are entitled. Far too little has been done to ensure that those leading and staffing our public services and private companies properly reflect all of the city’s communities.
But, as the united response to the bombings showed, London’s model of
multiculturalism works. Its cornerstone is the simple economic reality that in the age of globalisation the world’s great cities will become more and more diverse. We want any company, anywhere in the world, looking to invest here to know that their staff will find a community to welcome them and help them be themselves.
We can celebrate our diversity and make it a great source of creativity and dynamism, or we can fight it, as in the clash of civilisations thesis, and turn our cities into zones of fear and conflict.
London’s choice is clear. We celebrate diversity. We aim to give every
community its fair stake in our city’s politics, prosperity and culture. We want every community fully represented in our police service, teaching profession, boardrooms and politics. We have no illusions about how far we still have to go to achieve social justice and racial equality – but we have no doubt that we have chosen the right path for the future.

with thanks to The Londoner, newspaper of the GLA.

A Lack of Respect

RESPECT MP George Galloway last week made a catastrophic political mistake in taking part in the Celebrity Big Brother programme on Channel Four. His declared aim was “to bring political debate to wider audience” of young people who are out of touch with political issues. But the programme makers have gagged him. Every political word he utters is edited or bleeped out.
It has to be so. Broadcasting standards authorities do not allow the expression of political opinions in programmes unless they are “completely balanced” with a right of reply for all mainstream viewpoints. Programme makers cannot achieve this except in designated discussion programmes, documentaries and well-signposted satires.
This is why in dramas and soap operas no character ever expresses an opinion on any current major news topic or takes part in any political activity. This has led to a generation of young people who have grown up thinking that getting involved in politics is not quite normal.
George Galloway is experienced enough to know that no aspect of the bourgeois state can be used against the system. He has made a fool of himself and played into the hands of those who want to discredit his campaign against the war on Iraq.
Just a few months ago his political stature was miles high after he publicly berated the US Senate Committee over the war on Iraq. Now he has undermined his own credibility by mistaking a programme chiefly about sleaze and voyeurism for a political platform.

RMT battles for Tube safety

THE RMT transport union last Monday slammed the management of London Underground for ignoring Tube safety rules in an attempt to beat strike action by station staff over the imposition of unsafe rosters.
RMT London regional organiser Bobby Law said that the system was being kept open by untrained staff and managers who were working shifts of up to 20 hours.
“Due to the intransigence of London Underground, trains full of passengers are running through closed stations, in direct contravention of safety rules.
“For instance, instead of disembarking passengers, Piccadilly lines are running through three consecutive closed stations: Caledonian Road, Holloway Road and Kings Cross,” he said.
Bobby Law also outlined one incident at Upminster Bridge on Sunday evening when an emergency alarm stopped the train halfway into the platform.
Unruly passengers began opening the doors and the driver retreated to his cab and locked himself in. Police arrived 40 minutes later with a supervisor who had been called in from his home to open the station.
“It is clear that London Underground attempts to run a network without adequate station staff is putting the public at risk. They can’t even keep their headquarters station, St James’s Park, open without using untrained staff,” said Bobby Law.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said the blatant safety breaches showed management desperation.
“We will be balloting the union’s entire London Underground membership for action short of strike action over these health and safety breaches.
“However, the union appeals to London Underground, even at this late stage, to postpone the imposition of these unsafe staffing plans in order to assess all safety implications,” he said. The RMT also welcomed the announcement of a safety investigation by HM Chief Inspector of Railways into reported breaches of safety regulations by London Underground during the New Year’s Eve strike by 4,000 RMT station staff.

Bus, tube and train fares surge upwards

COMMUTERS in London and throughout the country are facing above inflation-level increases in fares on just about all forms of public transport.
Train travellers are angry at rises of up to nine per cent on unregulated fares and up to 3.9 percent on regulated fares (season and saver tickets).
Passenger groups complain that services are not improving as fares rise. Trains are still unreliable and often very overcrowded.
The Rail Passengers’ Council said: “We have had loads of complaints. People are really worried about the massive price rises made by all the train companies. For lots of passengers forced to travel to work at peak times, these new price hikes will make the train unaffordable.
“At the moment people do not think they get value for their money. They see no benefits for the price they pay. Commuters are facing a monopoly where they have no choice but to travel with certain companies at certain times.” shamelessly
Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT transport union, also criticised the private train companies. “The train operators are shamelessly using their route monopolies to maximise revenues and profits on premium routes.”
Londoners face even bigger rises for bus and tube fares. The price of a single journey by tube in central London has risen by 50 per cent to £3 while the cost of a single bus journey in London has risen to £1.50.
London mayor Ken Livingstone says the price rises are intended to encourage Londoners to get Oyster travel cards which give discounted fares. But even on these the discounted single bus journey fare is now £1 – a 25 per cent rise from 80 pence last year.
And weekly bus passes – which can be included on an Oyster card – have risen by nearly 25 per cent from £11 a week to £13.50. These increased travel costs will hit hardest those on the lowest incomes who cannot afford to travel any other way.
There is great resentment as many feel that the poorest Londoners are being taxed in this way to fund the 2012 Olympics – which will be of no benefit to them at all as they will be unable to afford the entry price to the events and will face only increased disruption, increased prices and congestion during the Olympics.