Trades Union Congress
London, East & South East
Race Relations Committee (RRC) support:
IRISH HISTORY EVENTS 2018
• Walking Tour of Irish and Jewish Communities in East London
Sunday 11 March 2018, 11.45am
This walk will look at the different and vibrant immigrant communities in East London from
the Irish community of the 17th century to the Jewish community in 1870’s. Visiting Brick
Lane, which was the home of the French Huguenot community (Refugees) in London from
the 1680’s, then the Jewish Community fleeing pogroms in Poland and Russia, and more
recently the Bangladeshi and Somalian communities. Then on to Commercial Road, and the
history of women and men who worked and lived in the streets in that area. We will walk
through to Cable Street and the site of the famous anti-fascist resistance in East London
between Jewish, Irish and progressive forces against Police and the Mosley's British Union of
Fascists. We will be exploring how this developed and how different communities joined in
the fight against Fascism in the 1930’s up to the present day.
This event is FREE (voluntary donations at event close)
Please register: lese@tuc.org.uk / 020 7467 1220
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Trade Union presence on the St. Patrick's Day Parade in London
Sunday 18 March 2018, 11.30am
TUC London, East and South East representatives will be marching in London on the
St. Patrick's Day Parade. Trade Union participation is in dedication to all the Irish Workers of
the last few centuries which made Britain the most industrialised nation in the world.
Through their mass concentration of cheap labour, British industry boomed through the high
level of production in the factories, construction and transport. Irish women were als,
formidable through their work in the street markets, the cotton industry and nursing. As a
result, the Trade Unions membership rapidly increased and this year, it will be 130 years
since the Match Girls Strike! Teenage girls of Irish heritage had the most successful strike in
British history. After withdrawing their labour for three days, all their demands were met for
better pay and conditions. The contribution of Irish workers in Britain must never be
forgotten!
www.london.gov.uk/events/2017-03-17/london-st-patricks-festival
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
2
• London Memorial to the Irish Famine (An Gorta Mor)
Sunday 13 May 2018, 1-2pm (outside TUC Congress House)
Sunday 13 May 2017 marked 170 years since the systematic number of deaths became
more advanced during "An Gorta Mor" (Great Hunger) in Ireland.
There will be a commemoration outside TUC Congress at 1 pm with guest speakers. This area
in the Parish of St. Giles was the first recorded "Little Ireland" in London from the end of the
eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century. It was populated with Irish
workers living in poverty and squalor. Many Irish people fled the Famine to this part of
London and soon died of starvation as well as typhus. The failure of the potato crop began in
1845 and impacted heavily on the Irish population, as other crops had to be purchased for
survival at a very high price or forfeited to their landlords. Hence, the starvation took effect in
1846. During the following year, it was the beginning of more than a million deaths as Britain
refused to supply grain to the starving Irish population. By 1848 was the year of revolutions
throughout Europe, 170 years ago, the deaths of Irish people were in a very advanced stage
and there was an even an attempt at rebellion in Ireland. It is important that we
commemorate "An Gorta Mor" (The Great Hunger) in London.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
• LESE RRC Irish History Event
Thursday 17 May 2018, 6.30pm, TUC Congress House
Guest Speaker: Mary Doolin, PCS, Senior Full-Time Officer, will be speaking on the history
of Irish women in the British Trade Union movement. This year it will be 100 years since our
first woman MP following the success of the Suffragettes, who achieved the Votes for
Women.
It is also 130 years since the "Match Girls Strike" as teenage girls of Irish heritage achieved all
their demands since they withdrew their labour for three weeks in 1888.
Please register: lese@tuc.org.uk / 020 7467 1220
www.tuc.org.uk/lese-race-relations-committee
• Please note that this list is not exhaustive and if an event is not mentioned
specifically it should not be inferred that LESE does not support it
News and views for trade Unionists and supporters in the Green Party
Tuesday 27 February 2018
CHAMPIONS OF EQUALITY: TRADE UNIONS AND LGBT RIGHTS
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Event to be held at the following time, date and location:
Tuesday, 20 March 2018 from 19:30 to 21:00 (GMT)
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Share this event:
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Sunday 25 February 2018
Save our Square – Waltham Forest Trades Council
Save our Square – Waltham Forest Trades Council
Slide-show of photos of demonstration against tower block construction in Walthamstow which will do nothing to help working class people who need somewhere to live in the borough.
http://community-languages.
What we need (apart from the overthrow of capitalism and workers' control, of course) is more rent controlled council housing, not ghost towers for investment opportunities.
http://community-languages.
What we need (apart from the overthrow of capitalism and workers' control, of course) is more rent controlled council housing, not ghost towers for investment opportunities.
acknowledgements to Steve Cushion
All photographs copyright Mick Holder who is happy for them to be used on social media but if any commercial media wish to use them, they should contact him…
Friday 23 February 2018
Welcome to the latest Rising Tide Newsletter:- GET ON TRACK FOR ANTIFRACK STOP FRACKING IN THE SOUTH-EAST :
Welcome to the latest Rising Tide Newsletter:- GET ON TRACK FOR ANTIFRACK
STOP FRACKING IN THE SOUTH-EAST :- When: 11am-6pm-ish, Friday, 2nd March (and Sunday 25th March).
What: South-East Anti-Fracking Site "Tour".Where: Meet outside Dorking Station at Antifrackers banner.
Who: You! Please bring food & flask. Wear warm waterproof clothing with stout footwear (its muddy!).
How: Trains Friday from London Waterloo at 9.54am & 10.24am arrive at Dorking at 10.42am & 11.12am respectively, plus from London Victoria at 10.02am arriving at 10.50am. Pick-up to Leith Hill , Horse Hill, Brockham, Balcombe and Broadford Bridge.
RSVP AT:-
Following the successful RisingTide/RtP Gathering these are our first bash at helping activists & residents near local sites to see how best we can support local communities in opposing the fracking threat in the South-East, throughout 2018 and beyond (look out for a Tour-de-Frack too). We'll visit Leith Hill Protection Camp and there may be work going on at some of the sites at the time, with a chance for optional "investigations". Any logistical problems on the day 'phone 07549-018610. If you can help with transport please let us know.
For Sunday 25th (similar plan but different train times)
https://www.facebook.com/
MEGA SAVE-THE-DATE!
Saturday 27th April 2019, yes next year, forewarned is forearmed!
As part of the Stop New Nuclear Alliance Rising Tide are helping to organise a Mass Action at a Nuclear Power site and we hope you all can come.
STOP FRACKING IN THE SOUTH-EAST :- When: 11am-6pm-ish, Friday, 2nd March (and Sunday 25th March).
What: South-East Anti-Fracking Site "Tour".Where: Meet outside Dorking Station at Antifrackers banner.
Who: You! Please bring food & flask. Wear warm waterproof clothing with stout footwear (its muddy!).
How: Trains Friday from London Waterloo at 9.54am & 10.24am arrive at Dorking at 10.42am & 11.12am respectively, plus from London Victoria at 10.02am arriving at 10.50am. Pick-up to Leith Hill , Horse Hill, Brockham, Balcombe and Broadford Bridge.
RSVP AT:-
For Friday 2nd March:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/Following the successful RisingTide/RtP Gathering these are our first bash at helping activists & residents near local sites to see how best we can support local communities in opposing the fracking threat in the South-East, throughout 2018 and beyond (look out for a Tour-de-Frack too). We'll visit Leith Hill Protection Camp and there may be work going on at some of the sites at the time, with a chance for optional "investigations". Any logistical problems on the day 'phone 07549-018610. If you can help with transport please let us know.
For Sunday 25th (similar plan but different train times)
https://www.facebook.com/
MEGA SAVE-THE-DATE!
Saturday 27th April 2019, yes next year, forewarned is forearmed!
As part of the Stop New Nuclear Alliance Rising Tide are helping to organise a Mass Action at a Nuclear Power site and we hope you all can come.
That's all for now, see you on the streets.
Love Rising Tide UK,
c/o LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, LONDON E1 1ES
Thursday 22 February 2018
Who cares about care?
Who cares about care?
Date Mon 9 Apr 2018 - 10:00 to 15:30
Location Congress house, 23-28 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3LS London
Contact lese@tuc.org.uk
Cost Free
Overview
London, East & South East (LESE) Pensioners’ Network Annual Seminar
Every week we hear about failures in the care services: neglect and ill treatment in residential homes, limited care times and poor service in users' own homes. This is aggravated by the bad working conditions and low pay of carers.
In 2016 LESE asked what can be done to support and improve conditions both for service users and service providers. This Seminar is a follow on and will outline the problems of the system, point to new ways forward and give participants the opportunity to express their own views.
For more information, call 020 7467 1220
Speakers
Wednesday 21 February 2018
Tomorrow over 40,000 lecturers, researchers, administrators and librarians in UCU are set to begin a wave of strikes
Tomorrow over 40,000 lecturers, researchers, administrators and librarians in UCU are set to begin a wave of strikes in opposition to devastating cuts to their USS pension scheme. 14 days of strike action have been called at 64 universities across the UK (the "pre-1992" older institutions as opposed to the former polytechnics who are on a different pension scheme) to prevent university employers from scrapping the existing 'defined benefit' schemes in favour of 'defined contribution' schemes where individual pension payouts are tied to the fluctuations of the market. This is likely to lead to cuts of some £10,000 per year for new entrants and some £208,000 across retirement as a whole.
There is real anger over this issue such that members nationally voted 88% in favour of strikes on a 58% turnout. Many UCU members are clear that this is a dispute driven by the desire of some of the largest and most powerful institutions to 'de-risk' and 'de-mutualise' pension funds in order to strengthen the grip of market forces inside the higher education sector.
Students, up and down the country, have reacted magnificently - supporting the demands of the strikers, turning market forces against institutions by claiming compensation for disruption and connecting the dispute to the neoliberal direction of travel inside the higher education sector that was initiated when fees were trebled in 2012.
This isn't a dispute about a pampered bunch of college professors but a strike that challenges the notion that market forces should play a determining role in university life. The employers claim, using dodgy figures, that the pension fund is in deficit and that they can't afford to increase their contributions to maintain benefits. This comes from a sector whose surplus in 2016 was over £1.5 billion!
UCU members need - and will welcome - the support of fellow trade unionists, anti-austerity activists, students and the local community. We all deserve a decent pension when we retire and we should all have the right to a well funded higher education system with qualified and motivated staff.
Picket lines will be running for 14 days in the next four weeks: on 22-23 February, 26-28 February, 5-8 March and 12-16 March. There are likely to be 'teach-outs', rallies, marches and stunts in most cities and campuses. You can show your support by joining these activities, sending messages of solidarity to UCU branches and emailing individual vice-chancellors demanding that they call on the employers nationally to return to negotiations.
There's lots of information at https://www.ucu.org.uk/why-
Live from the picket line:We will be going live from our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ThePe The People's Assembly Against Austerity http://www.thepeoplesassembly. |
| The People's Assembly Against Austerity · United Kingdom This email was sent to yrrumuk@googlemail.com. To stop receiving emails, click here. You can also keep up with The People's Assembly Against Austerity on Twitter or Facebook. |
Tuesday 20 February 2018
croydon assembly manifesto 2018
https://insidecroydon.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/manifestocouncil2018a4.pdf
Monday 19 February 2018
Croydon Assembly: ‘Save Our Schools – Stop Funding Cuts’
Croydon Assembly:‘Save Our Schools – Stop Funding Cuts’Saturday 24 February, registration 11.30amRuskin House, 23 Coombe Road, CR0 1BDDear FriendI hope you will join teachers, parents and students at the Croydon Assembly this Saturday, February 24 to plan a fight back against drastic education cuts that have hit the borough.New research from the Schools Cuts Coalition shows that the ratio of pupils to each classroom teacher has gone up in 58% of Croydon’s secondary schools since 2014/15,Cuts in spending have seen secondary school staff numbers in England fall by 15,000 between 2014/15 and 2016/17 despite them having 4,500 more pupils to teach.Joseph Flynn, Croydon NUT secretary says: “Government cuts to education are really hurting Croydon’s schools. Fewer teachers per student will inevitably have a damaging effect on pupil’s education.”The Assembly is being sponsored by the National Education Union and Croydon TUC.As well as planning action to stop the education cuts, we are also having a film launch of our People’s Manifesto for the council elections.The manifesto spells out alternative policies and calls on councils to abandon being “managers of austerity” an instead mobilise the community to demand a stop to the destruction of its local services.The manifesto calls for the end of the cabinet system and the restoration of the committees system to give all councillors and Croydon residents a louder voice in council decisions, and demands “mandatory and binding ballots” on all developments affecting local communities.It takes particular aim at the council’s Brick by Brick company, which it accuses of “acting like the developers in imposing new schemes on estates while ignoring residents’ views”.If you haven’t yet registered, please follow this link to book your place. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/save-our-schools-stop- education-cuts-tickets- 42079211053 I look forward to seeing you on Saturday.Ted Knight, chair Croydon Assembly
Saturday 17 February 2018
Friday 16 February 2018
Wednesday 14 February 2018
No free pass to pollute! Climate change, aviation and shipping 26 February 7-9pm,
No free pass to pollute! Climate change, aviation and shipping
All welcome at our meeting to discuss these crucial issues and find out about actions coming up.
26 February 7-9pm, SOAS, London WC1H 0XG
While climate activists try and get governments to engage meaningfully with their commitments under the Paris climate deal, it's easy to forget that two major industrial sectors were excluded from the deal - aviation and shipping.
In April, negotiators will come to London from around the world to decide on climate targets for the shipping industry. While Pacific islands and some European nations are pushing for high ambition, other proposals on the table have no meaningful emissions cuts. These talks usually go under the radar and have been described as 'captured by corporations' but we can't afford for that to happen this time.
Meanwhile, the aviation industry does have an international agreement to cut emissions - but it has holes so big you could fly a jumbo jet through it. And the UK government is determined to push through a third runway at Heathrow despite the Committee on Climate Change repeatedly pointing out that this would presumably make us miss our climate targets. With MPs voting on the third runway this summer, Cait Hewitt of the Aviation Environment Federation will help unravel the misinformation and spin to understand what's at stake.
Date:
Monday, February 26, 2018 - 19:00 to 20:45
HDV going to Court of Appeal.
HDV going to Court of Appeal.
Grateful for any promotion of second round of
crowdfunding, for HDV going to Court of Appeal.
We are challenging on all four grounds and the judge has left that open
as in one case he says that the outcome may well have been different if
Haringey had consulted on HDV which it was admitted they did not.
The judgement rests in good part on our being ‘’out of time’’ but there
is a very strong case that we could not challenge the decision until it was in
fact set up in July 2017.
And it will matter for Councils, and local democracy across the country,
if we can get a ruling against the way in which Cabinet was used to determine
assets transfer and strategic decisions, exclusive of the Council, and wider
public.
The political battle has now been won locally, and is reverberating more
widely. But the HDV is only halted, not stopped altogether.
http://bit.ly/2nZiiDB
The renewed crowdfunder — for the £7k more for Appeal - needs some punters again.
The renewed crowdfunder — for the £7k more for Appeal - needs some punters again.
Tube cleaners day of action
Join us: Tube cleaners day of action
Wednesday, 21st of February '18
TUBE - CLEANERS - ABM CONTRACT DEMO OUTSIDE CITY HALL AND ABM OFFICES ON WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY AT 2PM
At 2pm on Wednesday 21 February, we will be holding demos to protest against the treatment by outsourcing companies (especially new mega contractor ABM) of cleaners on the London transport network.
The first demo will take place outside City Hall (Address: The Queen's Walk, SE1 2AA) with participants then moving on to protest outside the nearby ABM headquarters (Address: George House, 75 - 83 Borough High Street, SE1 1NH).
The demo is intended to name and shame the people responsible for the poor treatment of cleaners and lobby for a change. We demand that cleaners be directly employed by TfL, that they - like their colleagues - receive free travel, decent sick pay and improved wages reflecting the often anti-social hours which they work.
The London Mayor needs to act NOW. ABM is already busy ripping up the sick pay policy of workers who transferred to it from outsourcing company “Vinci”. The demo will be letting everyone know what is going on.
Members are invited to attend and encouraged to bring banners, flags etc. Following the demos, there will be recruitment activity, designed to boost union membership amongst ABM workers.
(Note to London Transport Region branches: Supporting attendance at this day of action, is a legitimate use of branch funds).
Yours sincerely,
Mick Cash
General Secretary
General Secretary
Tuesday 13 February 2018
Wednesday 7 February 2018
Strengthen the TUC climate change motion.
Motion to UCU Congress
We recognise that the motion on Climate Change passed at last year's TUC makes progress towards the resolution passed at UCU Congress in 2017. However, we regret that there is no mention of opposition to fracking or airport expansion. We therefore call upon the UCU NEC to continue to campaign within the trade union movement in support of all our demands.
- Energy democracy and a rapid transition from fossil fuels including a ban on all Fracking.
- A stop to airport expansion
- Promotion of alternative to short-haul flights, including publicly owned rail in UK and Europe
- A genuine commitment to reducing lethal air pollutants
- A just transition employment strategy to climate jobs and well-paid, skilled, sustainable employment
- Improved links between anti-war, refugee and climate campaign movements
- Action against trade treaties that threaten climate justice
- A Climate Justice Fund funded by wealthy nations and polluting companies.
Tuesday 6 February 2018
Kilburn Unemployed Workers' Group strike again
Today (6/2/2018) we headed down to DWP HQ to welcome that Electric Lady Esther Mcvey. Mira and I (Pam) arrived shortly before Paul K, then CJ, Pete Murry (Green Party) and Gerry Downing. As we laid out our placards and banners our old mates the security guards made it clear that were very happy to see us (true!) one shouted to his colleagues "They're back! They're out here! They're here!" I read out the leaflet as an intro, then we started the serenade to Esther.
Familiar with kuwg's routine our chummy security mates asked us what songs we were going to sing, they had been excited to see the line from The Who, Won't get fooled again (meet the new boss...) on our leaflet, that excitement must have been short-lived as we started off with Mungo Jerry's Wild Love, CJ mostly carried this as we are unfamilar with the lyrics (and tune). Next up was Jeff Beck's Hi ho silver lining which we all belted out, followed by Electric Lady by Geordie, Golden Earring's Radar Love and Leo Sayer's The show must go on.
Then we began packing for the interval coffee,our security mates even promised to direct any late kuwg arrivals to the coffee shop then to MOJ! Angie joined us just then, so we were guaranteed better singing for part 2.
Coffee over, our Kuwggie charabanc moved on to MOJ. We saw outside there Austin Harney, PCS and he works at MOJ. On impulse I picked up the bullhorn and shouted "David Gauke please hurry and become Chancellor...Shadow Chancellor" then again read our leaflet. I noticed a very classy looking lady (in furs and posh boots) laughing at the words and then reaching out to take a leaflet. Imagine our leaflet in her house, just the coat or shoe rack would be good!
I think probably the shouting via bullhorn (CJ and myself) drew the MOJ's best buffoon outside. He appeared in his ill-fitting suit and began asking us not to shout into the building. He used a reasonable tone unfortunately coupled with an 'I am a big cheese' facial expression. CJ told him to 'Get lost! Now feeling a bit stupid, Big Cheese responded with "Is that how you wanna go?" to which CJ said "What???" Cheese looked really out of place and kept feebly repeating "That's how you wanna go?" Angie attempted to reason with him and then...Mira approached him! Luckily for Cheesy, CJ called Ange and Mira to start our singing, so if he thought our talking was intolerable!
We started with the piece de resistance the Alvin Stardust pop classic My Coo Ca Choo! So much fun! Cheesy had vanished, possessing not an ounce of good taste, his suit being proof. I hope Gauke loved it as much as we did, especially CJ shouting We love you Gauke! Please come back! We miss you! We carried on with Suzy Quatro's 48 Crash, Amoureuse by Kiki Dee (all pining vocals from us), Scullery by Clifford T Ward...
...and then came the Kuwg version of Alice Cooper's Schools Out amended to Gauke's Out! I expect Gauke was thrilled to hear us, that song is perfectly suited to Kuwg's vocal range, and I am sure he was grateful that we didn't sing the line, 'Gauke's been blown to pieces', but instead used the orginal lyric 'School's been blown...'
It brings a new meaning to the phrase 'on the rock n roll'. I think we had made 40 leaflets, these were very well received. None left. I saw one worker pausing in the MOJ doorway, coffee in hand, gazing back at us, feeling his pain, Angie beckoned and called to him "Come and join us!" he smiled wistfully and said "I would love to but I'd get the sack" in he walked as Angie said "There are plenty of other jobs!"
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