tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6702669339997024592024-03-12T18:25:18.317-07:004 the membersAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-2533736277189937922013-02-18T13:57:00.000-08:002013-02-18T13:57:20.882-08:00ACT NOW! Defend Mexican Trade Unionists - A Labourstart Campaign<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">PKC, a Finnish auto-parts supplier, sacked more than 100 union supporters including the entire union committee in December 2012 for campaigning for the election of an independent trade union at their plants in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Eleven sacked union leaders are fighting for reinstatement and representation by a democratically elected union. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The workers want to be represented by independent union Los Mineros, so as to win higher wages (most make $55 US per week), improved health and safety, and an end to arbitrary treatment and sexual harassment.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">PKC, operating by totally different standards in Finland, has refused to negotiate with Los Mineros, instead signing a contract with a company controlled union. Despite threats and intimidation, Los Mineros came close to winning an election in October </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">and is now organizing for a new election. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Los Mineros and IndustriALL Global Union call on trade unionists from around the world to send a message of protest to Matti Hyytiäinen, PKC President and CEO in Finland.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Support the campaign: <a href="http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1724" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; color: #009eb8; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1724</a></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-89562592863228235772013-02-08T05:28:00.000-08:002013-02-08T05:28:25.248-08:00Exercise you democratise right and VOTE in the national ballot<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.666666984558105px;">The PCS National Ballot runs from the 8th February until the 4th March 2013.</span></div>
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The ballot papers for the latest strike proposals by the PCS leadership will start arriving on your doormat over the next few days. </div>
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4themembers believes in a membership led union, where members endorse our unions industrial strategy. It is after all, our union's members that will be taking industrial action and losing pay.</div>
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Industrial action must always be apart of any unions arsenal, but should only be used as a last resort when all else fails and in defence or promotion of our members interests.</div>
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The question we would ask is whether this ballot is being run for our members or in support of a politically driven agenda.</div>
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The leadership of PCS is dominated by the <i>Socialist Party</i> which has been pushing for a General Strike for months.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.666666984558105px;">The ballot asks you to take industrial action over three issues; Pensions, Pay and Conditions of Service.</span></div>
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These are all critically important issues that effect us all in our working lives; however, <span style="font-size: 12.666666984558105px;">4themembers believes the dispute is flawed both industrially and politically from the start.</span></div>
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<b>Pensions:</b> PCS won the argument and even the court cases before the government changed the primary legislation, effectively removing our members legal argument. There is little chance of overturning the imposed and detrimental changes and the argument now is around the contribution rate. </div>
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<b>Pay:</b> The demand for 5% or £1,200 pay increase in support of financially hard pressed members is right but unrealistic; with people losing their jobs left, right and centre the Government are not going to move on pay whether we like it or not and industrial action will simply lose members money they cannot afford.</div>
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<b>Conditions of Service:</b> The proposed changes are a disgrace and our union should be fighting against the introduction of a two tier workforce; however, they will not in the main affect any current members of staff. The leadership of PCS cannot in all seriousness believe that current members will strike about something that will not effect them. </div>
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<b>The demands made by the union will not be agreed by this despicable government, especially when they include demands framed to ensure a settlement cannot be achieved and instead, drive our union towards industrial action.</b></div>
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We are not advocating rolling over, PCS must protect and promote its members interests. The issue that our members have to consider is whether this action is driven by that need or by a separate political agenda. If members believe this call to action is in their interests there will be an overwhelming majority voting for it. If members believe that the action is politically driven as we do, it risks failure.</div>
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<b>What we are advocating is that members need to vote, ensuring a majority vote not a minority one decides the industrial strategy of PCS.</b></div>
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Exercise your democratic right and VOTE in the ballot.</div>
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<a href="http://4themembersblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/pcs-calls-for-co-ordinated-strike-action.html">http://4themembersblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/pcs-calls-for-co-ordinated-strike-action.html</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-33426095132449465952013-01-24T06:43:00.001-08:002013-01-24T06:43:37.395-08:00Nominate and support 4themembers candidates in 2013 PCS elections<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><b><i><span style="color: black;">4themembers</span></i></b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b></b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b><span style="color: black;"> - Fighting to return PCS to its members</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><span style="color: black;">· </span></span><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"><b> </b><span style="color: black;">4TM is a network of independent minded trade unionists (from across the political mainstream and none) committed to returning PCS to being what it was set up to be; a Trade Union.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><span style="color: black;">· </span></span><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"> <span style="color: black;">4TM opposes the misuse of PCS by outside political organisations for their own agendas through the so-called Left Unity/Democratic Alliance organisation.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><span style="color: black;">· </span></span><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"> <span style="color: black;">4TM believes PCS should be a politically neutral Civil Service Trade Union, run by individuals who put their members interests before any outside allegiance.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><span style="color: black;">· </span></span><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"> <span style="color: black;">4TM stand for Democracy, Free Speech and openness within the PCS Union. </span></span><span style="color: black;">4TM opposes political extremism whether it comes from the Far Left, the Far Right or Religious Fundamentalism.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><span style="color: black;">· </span></span><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"> <span style="color: black;">4TM stands for the rights of the individual and believes these rights in the workplace can be enhanced through the collective approach of the trade union movement</span></span><span lang="en-gb"><span style="color: black;">.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><b><i> <span style="color: black;">4themembers</span></i></b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b></b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b><span style="color: black;"> Candidates for the PCS National Executive Committee</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><b>President:</b></span><span lang="en-gb"> Di Breen (DWP)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><b>Vice-Presidents:</b></span><span lang="en-gb"> Rachel Barrowclough (DWP), Lynda Frankland Barber (HMRC), David Hunter (Scottish Government), Rod West (BIS)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><b>NEC:</b></span><span lang="en-gb"> Rachel Barrowclough (DWP), Di Breen (DWP, Rob Bryson (DWP), Joe Cox (CSA), Owen Dodd (UKBA), Lynda Frankland Barber (HMRC), Christine Galligan (DWP), Martin Gault (HMRC ), Hubert Gieschen (MMO), Ravi Kurup (HMRC), Howard Fuller (DWP), Gurmit Kang (DWP), David Hunter (Scottish Government), Andy Magee (HMRC), Winston Murray (FCO), Robert Mottershead (HMRC), James Reynolds (BIS), Willie Samuel (MyCSP), Rod West (BIS),Angie Withers (CSA)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-gb"><b><i>Plus Independent:</i></b></span><span lang="en-gb"> Jake Wilde (HMRC).</span><span lang="en-gb"></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Please nominate these at your Branch Annual General Meeting, and Vote for them in this years PCS Elections.</span></b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-79366308791227166902013-01-07T13:39:00.000-08:002013-01-07T13:39:13.105-08:00To Conference or Not to Conference
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">National Delegate Conference
the sovereign body of PCS and Group Delegate Conference’s appear to be under
threat as groups are told to hold off booking group hotels.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Though there is nothing on
the PCS website, the lack of electoral time scales leading up to conference
2013 is adding weight to the rumours floating around many social networks that
this years conference is under threat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">One possible reason for any
alteration to conference 2013 is being sited as the coalitions attack on our
facilities agreements and special paid leave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">While using our own time to
attend conference will prevent many representatives from attending, we all know
that conference is the annual gathering of activists from across the union to
catch up, network and plan for the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">While the numbers attending
might go down, we believe that the majority would still attend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">If the majority of activists
would attend in their own time (we are a dedicate, die hard bunch), the
question needs to asked, is there some other reason for amending or altering
conference 2013?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Is the financial situation
PCS faces more sever than we have been led to believe? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Have we gone from a strong,
solvent union to one that cannot afford to hold conference, the policy making,
sovereign body of our union?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">If we have then every single
member should be questioning the current leaderships ability to run our union
and represent our members interest; plus, every branch should be considering
what any alteration to our democratic structures and processes means?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-975087700990310172012-12-12T08:22:00.001-08:002012-12-12T08:22:31.312-08:00PCS calls for co-ordinated strike action<br />
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px 0px 0.8em; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The national executive committee (NEC) has agreed plans for a campaign for fair pay and working conditions. The union will be writing to employers setting out our demands and calling for immediate formal negotiations.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px 0px 0.8em; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The NEC will meet in January to assess the government’s response. If employers do not respond satisfactorily then it was agreed to move to a national ballot for a programme of industrial action - possibly in February 2013.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px 0px 0.8em; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/index.cfm/id/9F3A6A1F-C63E-42A3-A19BA9F633A75A61"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/index.cfm/id/9F3A6A1F-C63E-42A3-A19BA9F633A75A61</span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strike action is the last resort of any trade union and should be taken to protect and promote their members interests.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4TM is completely opposed to austerity and the continuing idealogical attacks on civil servants and supports membership endorsed strike action; however, we have to ask who is really calling for a general strike and what are their motives?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPc1b5oNnSPiog7weF0fPiyFEc2Z8XVdbxMA45syKBwfAKu94rriyApaVTHejNzz_kxue6FlC-n5cl8hA4jjmhjTwCgEimmxe9IFir3TN8lXtsgUnHb7cBavDqrh57AXQYwn0FzZa6GFs/s1600/Godrich+calls+for+a+General+strike_Page_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPc1b5oNnSPiog7weF0fPiyFEc2Z8XVdbxMA45syKBwfAKu94rriyApaVTHejNzz_kxue6FlC-n5cl8hA4jjmhjTwCgEimmxe9IFir3TN8lXtsgUnHb7cBavDqrh57AXQYwn0FzZa6GFs/s640/Godrich+calls+for+a+General+strike_Page_1.jpg" width="451" /></a></div>
<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-40707907683785708262012-12-12T04:30:00.001-08:002012-12-12T04:30:52.158-08:00Fight in British unions for solidarity, not boycotts - Eric Lee<br />
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the course of just a few days, three news stories came across my desk that highlighted one of the problems we face in the British trade union movement.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I write these words, the Israeli nurses’ union is engaged in a major fight with the Netanyahu government. Netanyahu is the health minister (as well as prime minister) and his government stands accused of starving public hospitals, while coming up with millions to construct new illegal settlement housing. The nurses strike deserves the support of unions everywhere, in particular unions which organise nurses.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Israel’s public sector unions solidified a major victory early this month. An agreement that ended February’s general strike has now been translated into results on the ground. The general strike had been fought over the question of precarious employment and the Histadrut won a substantial victory. This week, contract workers in the public sector will get huge wage gains and back pay thanks to the solidarity of unionised workers who shut the country down and compelled the government to make concessions.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both examples show an independent, and sometimes militant, Israeli trade union movement that deserves the solidarity of trade unionists in Britain. Indeed, the Israel public sector unions may even have a thing or two to teach their British counterparts about how to win on issues like contract labour.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But unfortunately Unison and the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), unions which should, in theory, be promoting solidarity with the Israeli nurses and indeed with all the Israeli public sector unions, have played a rather different role recently.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unison and PCS were among the leading unions which actively pushed the recent congress of Public Services International (PSI) to adopt a new policy supporting boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) targetting Israel. PSI is also now on record supporting the slander that Israel is an “apartheid state”.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is unusual for a global union federation like PSI to take such a strong position in opposition to Israel, even if its BDS call was limited to “firms complicit with the occupation”.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The pro-Hamas Palestine Solidarity Campaign hailed the decision as a breakthrough. I want to step back here and try to understand what is going on.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Israel is the only country in the region with a strong, independent trade union movement. It is not a perfect movement and there is much to criticise about it. But when Unison sent a delegation over to meet with Israelis and Palestinians, everyone they spoke to — including the Palestinians — encouraged the British union to keep up its relationship with the Histadrut.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No one, not even the far-left critics of the Histadrut, suggested to Unison that it disengage.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when the report of the Unison delegation was put to the national executive, it was rejected and Unison carried on with a policy supporting boycotts of the Jewish state and its trade union movement as well.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This makes absolutely no sense.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you oppose the right-wing, neoliberal policies of the Netanyahu government, shouldn’ t you support the struggle of the Israeli nurses? Shouldn’t you support the Histadrut’s general strike which resulted in such an important victory?</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead of engaging with the Israeli labour movement, unions like Unison and PCS are moving away from it.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a time not long ago when British unions played a more constructive role. They would bring over representatives of the Histadrut and the Palestinian unions to Britain where they could meet British trade unionists — and each other. British unions saw their role as bridge-builders, taking no sides in a tragic conflict between two nations.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One doesn’t want to get all nostalgic about this — instead, I suggest we try to find ways restore some sanity and balance into the British labour movement’s view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Above all this means educating activists and members, whose only source of information seems to be the pro-Hamas camp, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, there is no effective alternative voice in the British labour movement today.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If members of Unison, PCS and other unions were to be made aware of the reality of the Israeli trade union movement, its struggles and its victories, I think it might be possible to have a more interesting and productive debate.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the moment, the agenda in those unions is being dictated by supporters of Hamas, and that, comrades, is not a good thing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"><b></b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b>Go to:</b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b></b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b></b></span><span lang="en-gb"> </span><a href="http://www.tuliponline.org/"><span lang="en-gb"><b></b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b><u><span style="color: blue;">http://www.tuliponline.org/</span></u></b></span><span lang="en-gb"></span></a><span lang="en-gb"><b></b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b> for further information</b></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-4000995256379658602012-12-11T07:52:00.000-08:002012-12-11T07:52:52.606-08:00Is the BNP Back? No!<br />
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<span lang="en-gb"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;">Hope Not Hate Reports:</span></b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b></b></span><span lang="en-gb"><b></b></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"></span><span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The British National Party declared it a “great result!” and announced to its supporters that they were again on the road to winning major breakthroughs.”</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You would have thought that the BNP had just pulled off an historic victory but instead it was celebrating its third place in the Rotherham by-election. But, given the recent problems of the BNP, it was perhaps something to cheer.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“Not only did we beat both the government parties, achieving a total number of votes which surpassed theirs put together, but we beat the widely-predicted winner Respect in a heavily Islamised constituency,” the BNP crowed on its website and in a fundraising email to supporters.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So, is the BNP back? No, and we </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">will explain why.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The BNP certainly did perform well in the Rotherham by-election and if UKIP hadn’t grabbed the headlines over the removal of children from a foster family because of their membership of the party then it is likely that the BNP would have done better. They might even have been battling for second place and their vote would have certainly have been well above 10%. As it was they came third with 8.5% of the vote.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But let’s not read too much into this. After Barking & Dagenham, Rotherham gave the BNP its highest vote in the 2010 General Election. It has had two councillors in the constituency in recent years and the council has been beset by an awful cover-up which allowed a grooming gang to operate for ten years without hindrance. The by-election was caused by a resignation of an MP for fiddling his expenses and the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were always going to struggle. It was a perfect opportunity for the BNP but their vote, respectable as it was, was the consequence of other factors rather than anything the BNP did.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There were two other parliamentary by-elections last Thursday but only one was contested by the BNP. Perhaps they should not have bothered. The party polled just 1.9% of the vote, well down on the 5.8% the BNP received in the 2010 General Election.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Two weeks earlier the BNP contested two other parliamentary by-elections. The party received 3.0% in Manchester Central, down from 4.1% in 2010, and just 1.7% in Corby, well down on the 4.7% it polled in the last General Election.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The BNP have, if anything, done even worse in other elections held over the last month. Of the dozens of council by-elections held over the last few weeks the BNP contested just two. In Ardwick ward, Manchester, the BNP polled 1.7%, while in Branksome East ward, Poole, the BNP's William Kimmet was last with a laughable 28 votes.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The BNP did not even bother to contest the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections. They claimed it was a moral stance against the politicisation of the police service but of course it was because the party did not have the money to stand.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Seen in the wider context the BNP result in Rotherham was an anomaly rather than a sign of an upward trend. If anything, the BNP is in a weaker position now than it was two months ago. The English Democrats did surprisingly well in the PCC elections, saving its deposit in five contests and coming second in South Yorkshire. UKIP, on the other hand, end the month with 13% in the latest national opinion poll and, for the moment at least, it is basking in the limelight of being a respectable right wing alternative.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Also, it should be pointed out that while 8.5% was OK for the BNP it was nowhere near their best parliamentary result. In fact, a quick look back at the records shows the BNP candidates have gained a higher share of the vote than that received in Rotherham on 17 occasions since 2001. Even in 2010 the BNP gained a bigger share of the vote in eight constituencies so let's put Rotherham into perspective.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-gb"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So while Nick Griffin crows about the Rotherham result the reality, as always, is quite different. The BNP has been on a downward spiral since its European Election triumph in 2009 and nothing in the last few weeks demonstrate that this is going to change in the very near future.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-10911588339340055312012-11-21T15:29:00.000-08:002012-11-21T15:29:16.454-08:00From the River to the Sea
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">At first glance, who could oppose the Palestine
Solidarity Campaign?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The very name implies one of the most noble human
aspirations – solidarity with a people. And in particular a people like
the Palestinians, whose suffering is genuine. No doubt many people
who join the PSC, attend its demonstrations, donate money to it
or encourage their unions to back it are expressing their support for
the idea of solidarity with the Palestinians.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">But there’s a difference — a huge one — between
showing solidarity with the Palestinians and supporting the PSC. Despite
the PSC’s best efforts to convince everyone that these are one and the
same thing, they aren’t.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">And this becomes obvious whenever things heat up in
Israel and Palestine, and when war is in the air.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Last week, I found myself at the demonstration of the
PSC opposite the Israeli embassy in Kensington.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The call for the demonstration focussed on the Israeli
air offensive against Gaza and was issued at a time when the only
casualties seemed to be Hamas fighters, in particular Ahmed al-Jabari, the
leader of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Still, by the time demonstrators began to arrive at
the embassy, things had gotten worse and a number of civilians — on both
sides – had been killed.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The demonstration would have focussed on those
killings, right? It would have called for a cease-fire or something like
that, wouldn’t it?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">But the very first thing I heard was not a call for an
end to the violence — which would have been understandable and would have
gotten sympathy from anyone — but instead was the chant, “<em>From the river to the sea, Palestine will be
free</em>“.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">From the river to the sea?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Sorry, but there’s no way to be polite about this. <strong>That chant, and the PSC’s own logo of a map of
Palestine from the river to the sea, and the subsequent chanting of
“Israel out of Palestine” really could mean only one thing.</strong><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><strong><br /></strong></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The demonstrators, or at least the people leading the
chanting and making up the slogans, were supporting<strong> a one-state agenda</strong>, a
solution to the century-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians
by demanding that one side pack up and leave.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">As it’s unlikely the Israelis are going to do this
voluntarily, realistically what the demonstrators were calling for was <strong>the expulsion of the Jews from Palestine</strong>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Not from the illegal settlements in the West Bank — no
one mentioned those.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Jews are to leave “Palestine” — from the river to
the sea.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is an exterminationist agenda.</span></strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> I don’t think that’s too strong a term.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">These are not people who dislike Israelis or Jews, or
who want to discriminate against them, or put them in their place, or
treat them as second class citizens. That would be ordinary anti-Semitism.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is a different kind of anti-Semitism, the kind
that imagines a Palestine without its six million Jews, from the river to
the sea.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">An exterminationist anti-Semitism whose solution to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be another Holocaust.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Of course one expects to see radical Islamists at a
demonstration like this — after all, that’s been their agenda for decades.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">But it’s not the agenda of the mainstream Palestinian
national movement, not anymore. It’s been nearly a quarter of century
now since Arafat and the leadership of the PLO embraced the
two-state solution, which paved the way to the Oslo accords.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Palestinian President Abbas isn’t calling for driving
the Jews into the sea. The Palestinian trade unions aren’t calling for
that.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">But that’s what the Palestine Solidarity Campaign was
doing in Kensington — that’s their agenda.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So what was the Socialist Party doing there — a party
which historically opposes the boycott of Israel and which supports
a two-state solution? On their website, they write that
“The Palestinians and the Israeli Jews have a right to their own separate states.”
They don’t say that one of those states will be in Palestine, and the other — in the sea?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">And what was the SWP doing there, for that matter? Do
they too support the expulsion of the Jews from Palestine?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is fitting and proper for people who are shocked by
the violence, and angry at the decision of the Israeli government, to
protest and to show their solidarity with Palestine.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">But to do so by chanting for the destruction of the
Jewish state is to do the Palestinians no service.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">For socialists to participate in such a demonstration
is a disgrace.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
<hr align="center" size="2" width="100%" />
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Howard
Fuller (4TM) adds: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">For
some time PCS has had “Palestinian Solidarity” at the “centre” of its
“International work as the website blurb states. Some of us have always
objected to the one sided view that the union takes as the result of the
activities of the PCS Deputy General Secretary Hugh Lanning who is Chair of the
so-called “Palestine Solidarity Campaign.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I
wrote to PCS Reps earlier this year pointing out the uncomfortable fact (for Mr
Lanning) that the former Chair of the PSC was expelled from their organisation
as he was a promoter of Holocaust Denial (and said he was proud of it). In
other words he promotes the disgusting view that there were no mass murders of
six million Jews under the Nazis during the Second World War.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Disturbingly
one fifth of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign voted against his expulsion. To
me that says a lot about some of the members of this pernicious organisation
and would call on PCS to disaffiliate and support instead a genuine peace
orientated organisation Trade Unions Linking Israel & Palestine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Trade
unionists should be trying to bring working people together, not perpetuating
sectarian conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Go
to: <a href="http://www.tuliponline.org/">http://www.tuliponline.org/</a> for further information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-37585783950545861682012-11-06T13:40:00.000-08:002012-11-06T13:40:11.866-08:00More employers must sign up to the Living Wage<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The living wage is a voluntary rate of pay designed to help low-paid workers to afford a basic standard of living. The new rate is £8.55 an hour in London and £7.45 elsewhere. The adult minimum wage rate is £6.19 an hour.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the UK's biggest companies increased their cash reserves by over £80bn between 2007 and 2011. There is no excuse for cash-rich employers to deny low-paid staff a decent wage.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-85988658843089712282012-11-06T13:20:00.000-08:002012-11-06T13:20:20.808-08:00Hope Not Hate<br />
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A new fascist party is being born in Britain. Called True Brits (TB), it is made up of current and former members of the British National Party (BNP) and it will seek to attract the hundreds of activists who have left the BNP in recent years.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it will also bring together some of the more extreme elements of the British far right, including antisemities and holocaust deniers.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last month, Yorkshire and Humber MEP Andrew Brons resigned from the BNP claiming mistreatment from Nick Griffin and the party hierarchy. This was the green light the rebels had been waiting for.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fall-out between Brons and Griffin are organisational disputes rather than political differences and, if anything, the new party will be even more extreme than the BNP. It will remain embedded to racial nationalism and total opposition to a multiracial society. Only last year, in a radio interview, Brons described the English Democrats’ “courting of multiracialism” as the primary reason he opposed their party.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new party will include some of Britain’s most hardline racists, antisemites and Holocaust deniers. It will be BNP mark II but even more toxic. It will be TB in name and equally dangerous.</span></span><div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new party will be led by Peter Phillips, a former BNP member who in 2006 stood for election as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Andrew Brons will become its President. Newcastle-based Kevin Scott is acting as the Secretary of the Steering Group and Andrew Moffat and Ken Booth its deputy chairmen.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Around them will be former BNP organisers and activists, people drawn from small and hardline groups such as England First and the Democratic Nationalists and a number of former National Front activists who were prominent in the 1970s and 1980s.</span></div>
<div class="testimony" style="background-color: white; background-image: url(http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/images/quotes.png); background-position: -180px 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; width: 550px;">
<div class="testimonial" style="background-image: url(http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/images/quotes.png); background-position: 450px 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #787878; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 20px 90px; position: relative; width: 350px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new party will include some of Britain’s most hardline racists, antisemites and Holocaust deniers. It will be BNP mark II but even more toxic. It will be TB in name and in nature.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its strength will initially be in the North East, Yorkshire, East Midlands and London, though it is likely to quickly attract other disillusioned BNP members from across the country.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Britain’s most hardline antisemites and Holocaust Deniers will be joining True Brits. These include Peter Rushton and Bob Gertner. It was Gertner, together with Phillips, who registered the party with the electoral commission.</span></span><div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another person who has been involved in the discussions over the formation of the new party is Richard Edmonds, John Tyndall’s former deputy and now a leading figure in the National Front. Edmonds is a hardcore nazi and Holocaust Denier, so any involvement from him will clearly demonstrate the true nature of Brons’ new party.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brons’ group will be expected to contest some of the forthcoming parliamentary by-elections, including Middlesbrough and Croydon, both to be held on 29 November. However, the new party will really look towards next year’s county council elections to stamp their mark on the British far right.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next few months will decide whether Brons’ new far right outfit replace Griffin’s BNP as the dominant force on the British far right or whether Griffin will weather the storm and remain in control. True Brits will have the activists and the enthusiasm but Griffin is a political street fighter and his party has the recognised brand name.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, let us not think that there is anything moderate in this new party. It is simply BNP Mark II but even more toxic.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 9pt; margin-top: 9pt; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And whoever emerges dominant, HOPE not hate we will be there to oppose them at the ballot box and in the community.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-31034150259144892532012-11-01T13:52:00.000-07:002012-11-01T13:52:05.379-07:00William Hague's antique anaconda cost £10,000 to re-stuff<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Foreign Office has spent £10,000 on the "essential maintenance" of a stuffed anaconda called Albert.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">The story was uncovered through a Freedom of Information request by </span><a href="http://order-order.com/" style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; text-decoration: none;" title="Guido Fawkes">political gossip website Guido Fawkes.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We wonder what the civil servants who are losing their jobs feel about £10,000 being spent on Albert.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-62255845561906558272012-11-01T12:57:00.003-07:002012-11-01T12:57:35.431-07:00The Tory Argument Against Regional Pay<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s not common for a Government to conclusively lose the argument about one of its own policies purely on the basis of the evidence. Ministers are usually able to construct something resembling an intellectual fig-leaf which maintains their dignity and allows them to press ahead with their project. Not so with regional pay in the public sector. Ever since George Osborne announced his grand plan to introduce “market-facing pay” in his 2011 Autumn Statement, it has increasingly looked like a policy in search of a justification.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="http://labourlist.org/2012/11/the-tory-argument-against-regional-pay/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://labourlist.org/2012/11/the-tory-argument-against-regional-pay/</span></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-73206792385920009052012-11-01T12:50:00.000-07:002012-11-01T12:50:28.630-07:00NEC meeting to agree campaign activity in November<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">The Executive Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) called for a Day of Action and Solidarity, across Europe on 14 November in order to mobilise the European trade union movement behind the ETUC policies set out in the ‘</span><a class="spip_out" href="http://www.etuc.org/a/10049" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #af0015; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Social compact for Europe’</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px 0px 0.8em; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The NEC of PCS will consider campaign activities for the day.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px 0px 0.8em; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The government continues to attack the civil service and we all face a bonfire of our terms and conditions of service as the Cabinet Office demand every </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">department reviews all terms, conditions, policies and practices - the things civil servants rely on to manage their working lives. Included are:</span></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; overflow: auto; padding: 0px 0px 1em 1.5em; text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hours</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leave</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parental and special leave</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Childcare</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Job sharing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Volunteering</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vacancy filling</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Promotions</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Attendance management.</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px 0px 0.8em; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The NEC will be considering a campaign plan involving a day of protest at the end of November against the coalition government's proposed review of civil service terms and conditions.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px 0px 0.8em; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Members in PCS must fight to protect our terms and conditions of employment otherwise they will be driven down to the barest legal minimum by the current government.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px 0px 0.8em; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our NEC need to listen to ordinary members and understand the leadership role model they want. They want a leadership that fights for our members rights and not one that fights personal political gain.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px 0px 0.8em; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670266933999702459.post-3412867199084679992012-10-31T14:05:00.001-07:002012-10-31T14:05:43.715-07:00Who are 4 the members<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 the members is a grouping of trade union members and activists within the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As trade unionists, our touch stones are the principles of liberty, equality, solidarity, human rights, social justice, the provision of welfare and free & fair elections.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We believe in membership led democratic decisions to ensure the issues facing our members in their working lives form our union's bargaining agenda. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PCS must represent the views of its members. It is not a political party and does not exist to further the personal political views of individual representatives. </span><br />
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Want to know more?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please visit our website at: <a href="http://www.4themembers.org.uk/">http://www.4themembers.org.uk</a></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13300877269660667203noreply@blogger.com0