Pay the Living Wage!

by New Worker correspondent

On Monday a group of militant workers paid another visit to Justice Minister David Gauke to remind him that his cleaners, receptionists and security guards live in poverty because he refuses to pay them the London Living Wage.

Seeing that Gauke had been ignoring their messages and refusing to meet tem, the protesters  decided they'd pop over to the 9 am event he was holding around the corner from his office at the Ministry of Justice.

Dave and his hosts, the Conservative ‘Reform’ think-tank, weren't impressed and called the police on a group of workers, including mothers with children, in an attempt to intimidate and discourage the workers from making their voices heard. The Justice Minister then ran out of a back door, ashamed to face his workers.

            The protest was called by the United Voices of the World (UVW), a street union founded in 2014 to represent the mainly outsourced migrant workers of London. Their message to Gauke and his accomplices is: Dave, we will be back. Wherever you speak, we will be there. You can continue to run away from your workers but you cannot hide. See you at the next event.

            The UVW is a members-led, campaigning trade union which supports and empowers the most vulnerable groups of precarious, low-paid and predominantly migrant workers in Britain.

The new union rapidly gained media attention and popular support with a series of high-profile victories for workers serving Sotheby's, Harrods, and the London School of Economics and in the capital’s other outsourced industries, which include cleaning, portering, security, retail, waiters and bar staff.

The UVW campaign for all members to receive at least the London Living Wage (£10.55 per hour as of November 2018), contractual sick pay and other rights, dignified and safe conditions, and general respect.  The union also challenges outsourcing itself, which creates two-tier workforces in order to slash wage bills and deny important rights.

Year of the Pig in London

Enter the Dragon...

London hosted one of the largest Chinese New Year celebrations outside Asia on Sunday, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to the heart of the capital to share the joy.

The celebration began with a grand parade featuring 30 teams, including a Chinese Dragon and Lion team, an iconic London double-decker bus and a variety of floats, streaming through the streets from Trafalgar Square via the West End before reaching its final destination, Chinatown.

More live entertainments were presented on the many stages set up around Chinatown, and a martial arts and cultural zone was also put up to offer a show of Chinese handicrafts, Chinese zodiac animals and a dim sum feast.

Despite some drizzle, visitors' enthusiasm remained high for the celebration to mark the arrival of the Year of the Pig, the last of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals.

Winston Lo, one of the presenters of the stage performances, said that there is “a growing and greater sense of eagerness” amongst the British public to participate in the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration as China's cultural influence continues to expand across the globe. “Look at this weather, and thousands and thousands of people are still coming.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who was amongst the audience in Trafalgar Square, said that London and China enjoy a strong friendship with a “huge link in business, tourism, and students”, and that London remains open to the Chinese and other communities despite Brexit uncertainty. “We see everyday, Chinese community and young people coming to our city making a massive contribution. It's really important that carries on going forward and my message is London is open.

“China has made a massive contribution to world civilisation for centuries. And I'm pleased to see London benefiting from the contribution of the Chinese community as well."

Chinese ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said that the Brits' enthusiasm for the Chinese Spring Festival has been very high, which shows increasingly close ties between China and Britain and a greater eagerness of British people to know about China.

“The Spring Festival is a miniature of China–Britain cultural exchanges. I expect even more fruits to be reaped from China–Britain cultural and people-to-people exchanges in the Year of the Pig,” Liu said.

The Chinese New Year celebrations in London, organised by the London Chinatown Chinese Association (LCCA), began as a small community event in Chinatown more than 20 years ago. The festivities have now become the largest of their kind outside Asia, attracting tens of thousands of people to the capital each year.

Xinhua

Preparing the movement for future struggles

by New Worker correspondent

Members and delegates from affiliated organisations, including the New Communist Party (NCP), attended the annual conference of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) in London last Saturday.

The LRC was established in 2004 by left-wing Labour Party members, MPs and trade unionists who want to restore the Labour Party to its original socialist roots.

Alex Kempshall moving the NCP motion

The NCP affiliated to the LRC in 2005 and a number of party members and supporters took part in this year’s conference, including NCP leader Andy Brooks as well as National Chair Alex Kempshall and Theo Russell from the Central Committee.

Although membership and affiliations were slightly up, this was not reflected in the turn-out at Student Central, the home of London students that was formerly known as the University of London Union (ULU). Just 127 LRC activists took part in the one-day conference, which largely opted to close ranks around the policy statement of the National Executive Committee. This was reflected in the defeat of motions to the left of the LRC mainstream, including an NCP motion on taxation, others on Zionism, and at elections that saw most candidates returned unopposed.

Fire Brigades Union leader Matt Wrack and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell made important contributions to the general discussion on where Labour is going in the run-up to a possible general election this year. Walter Wolfgang, the veteran Labour activist, moved the Labour CND motion on peace that was passed unanimously.

The election of Jeremy Corbyn – one of the leading founders of the LRC – to the leadership of the party in 2016 and the crushing defeat of a Blairite challenge the following year has led to a mass influx of new Corbyn supporters into the party. With over 550,000 individual members, Labour is now the biggest party in western Europe. How to reach out to them and to the other left pressure groups inside Labour was another key topic in the afternoon’s discussion.

Finally, in what has become an LRC tradition, the conference closed with a rousing speech from Ian Hodson, leader of the Bakers’ Foods and Allied Workers’ Union, followed by the singing of the Red Flag and the Internationale.