Thought I would celebrate my modest 200th post with a picture of health workers fighting off local privateers (coutesy of Diary of the Dead!!)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Derek Simpson exposes the myth of the free market
Yesterdays Morning Star had a brilliant Headline; Union Leader: Free markets have failed.
Derek correctly pointed out that the neo liberal dogma, so much loved by Brown and co is a 'lame duck'.
More and more workers are beginning to realise that the money we are paying today to keep the struggling banks afloat, who through their own actions have put the entire economy at risk. Workers might by paying today but as Derek says "if things get worse, a full blown recession could mean paying with our jobs".
For a long time now the government and its shadows in the Tory Party hold up the free enterprise economy as unchallengable. The left are derided and lectured to get out of the stone age of old Labour. According to arch Blairite's we just dont get it.
But what the Blairites 'dont get' is that the policies they pursue will return us to the 70s far quicker than they would realise and this time the left wont take the blame.
Derek goes onto to say that Trade Unionists should become the force of change in the Labour Party and while the LP remains at such a low ebb in terms of membership there is a logic to organise trade unionists to takeover the reigns in view of the economic crisis caused by Tory and New Labour policies.
Click title for Unite press release.
Derek correctly pointed out that the neo liberal dogma, so much loved by Brown and co is a 'lame duck'.
More and more workers are beginning to realise that the money we are paying today to keep the struggling banks afloat, who through their own actions have put the entire economy at risk. Workers might by paying today but as Derek says "if things get worse, a full blown recession could mean paying with our jobs".
For a long time now the government and its shadows in the Tory Party hold up the free enterprise economy as unchallengable. The left are derided and lectured to get out of the stone age of old Labour. According to arch Blairite's we just dont get it.
But what the Blairites 'dont get' is that the policies they pursue will return us to the 70s far quicker than they would realise and this time the left wont take the blame.
Derek goes onto to say that Trade Unionists should become the force of change in the Labour Party and while the LP remains at such a low ebb in terms of membership there is a logic to organise trade unionists to takeover the reigns in view of the economic crisis caused by Tory and New Labour policies.
Click title for Unite press release.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
The former Labour MEP, Cameron and the TUC
I must admit being not at all surprised that Cameron, forever the opportunist, actually fielding such an idea. Click title for report from the Independent.
It is insulting to think that a representative of a party that set as its main priority the destruction of the Trade Union movement back in 1979 would even be considered to address TUC conference. While it comments that one third of trade unionists support the Tories it is highly unlikely that these trade unionists are activists who would serve as delegates to TUC conference.
The report though should be seen as a warning. Cameron's march for the so called 'middle ground' which both he and New Labour worship, will see the Tories attempt to mop up the anti Labour mood amongst the Unions.
There are a few suggestions to stop Cameron in his tracks; give public sector workers decent pay; introduce the Trade Union Freedom Bill; stop the privatisation of our public services; build and stop the sale, of council houses and re-nationalise the companies sold off during Thatchers reign of terror. Most of all break this servile relationship the UK has with US foreign policy.
The Unions affiliated to the TUC would rally behind a workers Labour Party committed in this way. Cameron would disappear back into the hole he come from.
My wife has just asked the question; whats the difference between Blair speaking to the TUC and Cameron doing it? Answers on the back of a postcard please.
It is insulting to think that a representative of a party that set as its main priority the destruction of the Trade Union movement back in 1979 would even be considered to address TUC conference. While it comments that one third of trade unionists support the Tories it is highly unlikely that these trade unionists are activists who would serve as delegates to TUC conference.
The report though should be seen as a warning. Cameron's march for the so called 'middle ground' which both he and New Labour worship, will see the Tories attempt to mop up the anti Labour mood amongst the Unions.
There are a few suggestions to stop Cameron in his tracks; give public sector workers decent pay; introduce the Trade Union Freedom Bill; stop the privatisation of our public services; build and stop the sale, of council houses and re-nationalise the companies sold off during Thatchers reign of terror. Most of all break this servile relationship the UK has with US foreign policy.
The Unions affiliated to the TUC would rally behind a workers Labour Party committed in this way. Cameron would disappear back into the hole he come from.
My wife has just asked the question; whats the difference between Blair speaking to the TUC and Cameron doing it? Answers on the back of a postcard please.
Robocop to be re-made?
Huge tragedy if this happens. Are Hollywood really running out of ideas so that they have to start remaking classic films like this.Made in 1987 it was not just a brilliant sci-fi film but an excellent critique of Reagans America. It also served then as a warning to what the world was becoming. Who cannot but feel the film forsaw very much the world how it looks today.
Paul Verhoeven it seems was very much a visionary. Even though he had released one or two 'clangers', the hilarious Showgirls being one of them, the vision showed in Robcop and the fascistic futures portrayed in films like Starship Troopers and Total Recall makes uncomfortable viewing for critics of current imperialistic foreign policy.
If you want to know the future of globalisation, its here in these films.
If you are a Verhoeven fan it would be good to know if you enjoyed Black-book (Zwartboek) which was released in 2007. A story of intigue and resistance set during the final years of Nazi occupation in Holland in 1944. While a little on the long side I watched every second and thoroughly enjoyed the movie when it was shown on Film4 earlier this year.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389557/
Has Digby Jones finally lost it?
The fact that he said these things is no surprise. The fact that he is relied upon as a government spokesperson is baffling.
The guy is a pratt and needs to go.
The guy is a pratt and needs to go.
Bank crisis;Banks benefit
Click the title to see how you bear the brunt of the Credit crisis.
I remember a Tory once saying to me 'if you dont want the time , dont do the crime'.
Again the real people who control society make the masses pay. Where is the democracy in this?
How do we make the banks accountable?
When are we going to see a windfal tax on their huge profits?
Realities for working people are again confirmed in the Times as more increases with the same old excuses are wheeled out here http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/consumer_affairs/article3601812.ece
Re-nationalisation anyone?
I remember a Tory once saying to me 'if you dont want the time , dont do the crime'.
Again the real people who control society make the masses pay. Where is the democracy in this?
How do we make the banks accountable?
When are we going to see a windfal tax on their huge profits?
Realities for working people are again confirmed in the Times as more increases with the same old excuses are wheeled out here http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/consumer_affairs/article3601812.ece
Re-nationalisation anyone?
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Cameron is 'down with the kids'
Click the title to get a good insight into the 'torytwatery' that says more about the embarrasing politics all the parties aspire to than the complete buffoon Cameron makes of himself.
Remember Blair and his 'Cool Britainia'?
Remember Blair and his 'Cool Britainia'?
Sleeping Giant
Click the title.
The Public sector, you remember, the sector of employment that Labour MPs, Labour party activists and affiliated trade unionists swore to defend time and time again between 1979 and 1997, is facing a lead from an important group of workers.
When Unison stops witch-hunting and expelling members http://www.socialist.net/unison-whats-going-on.htm maybe they can assist with the PCS and other public sector unions to unite together for a joint attack on the Darling- Brown Public Sector pay policy that will leave thousands and thousands of public sector workers in pay poverty.
Little bit of up to date economics here which I hope will put people in the picture how bad things are getting
Average earnings forecast
The Treasury‘s latest summary5 of forecasts shows average earnings expected to rise, on average, by:
· 4.0% in 2008, with the forecasts ranging from 4.4% to 3.6%.
- Goldman Sachs forecast 4.4%;
-Ingenious Securities 4.3%;
-Daiwa Institute of Research 4.3%; EC 4.3%.
· 4.0% in 2009, with the forecasts ranging from 4.7% to 2.9%.
INFLATION – 4.1% increase in the Retail Price Index (RPI)
In the year to February 2008 the all items retail price index (RPI) rose by 4.1%, unchanged from January.
The prices of many essentials have been rising at a far higher rate than RPI inflation:
- Mortgage interest payments are up 11.8%. Note: this is not included in the CPI.
- Oil & other fuels up 40.0%
-Water and other charges up 6.5%
- Electricity up 5.2%
- Households now have to pay on average £20.44 a week for electricity and gas in January 2008 - £2.68 or 15.1% more than in January 2007
- Average domestic energy bills has risen to £1,063 a year in January 2008 up from £924 in January 2007 says Energywatch
- Gas and electricity bills combined have increased by 59.6% or £397 since January 2005
- Petrol & oil up 20.3%
- Maintenance of motor vehicles up 5.4%
- Motoring expenditure up 5.1%
- Bus and coach fares up 4.8%
- Rail fares up 4.4%
- Food up 6.1%,
with
- butter up 36.3%
- eggs up 30.8%
- milk up 16.7%
- cheese up 15.6%
- bread up 15.1%
- vegetables up 10.3%
- potatoes up 7.0%
- poultry up 6.0%
- fish up 5.3%
- And if there’s any money left, the cost of entertainment and recreation has also gone up by 5.1%
For the complete breakdown of how prices have been rising go to the following link:
www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/cpi0308.pdf
Retail Prices Index (Jan 1987=100)
Date All items index % Annual rise
2007
February 203.1 4.6%
March 204.4 4.8%
April 205.4 4.5%
May 206.2 4.3%
June 207.3 4.4%
July 206.1 3.8%
August 207.3 4.1%
September 208.0 3.9%
October 208.9 4.2%
November 209.7 4.3%
December 210.9 4.0%
2008
January 209.8 4.1%
February 211.4 4.1%
The CPI rose by 2.5% in the year to February, up from 2.2% in January. RPIX rose by 3.7% in the year to February, up from 3.4% in January.
FOOD BILLS UP BY £572 A YEAR
Research, from the price comparison website Mysupermarket.co.uk, said that a typical family of four must spend an extra £572 a year to buy the same items of food.
The average bill for such a family, who typically spend £100 a week at the supermarket, has shot up by 11% in the last year, according to the website's research.
Supermarket prices of basic foods such as butter, milk and eggs have risen by up to 60% over the last year, nearly 30 times faster than inflation.
Families are struggling to cope with the surge in prices and face further misery because more inflation-busting increases are on the way.
Source: www.mysupermarket.co.uk/
£100 A MONTH WORSE OFF
The average family is more than £100 a month out of pocket as wage rises fail to keep pace with the cost of living.
From October 2008, the National Minimum Wage will be:
· £5.73/hour up from £5.52 currently for over-22’s.
· £4.77/hour up from £4.60 currently for 18 to 21 year olds.
· £3.53/hour up from £3.40 currently for 16 to 17 year olds.
The Chairman of the Low Pay Commission, Paul Myners said: "I am delighted that the Government has confirmed that these increases will go ahead. The UK has had a minimum wage for almost nine years now. Throughout that time it has served the nation’s lowest paid workers well, increasing their pay without endangering their jobs. The minimum wage is accepted on all sides as a positive and abiding part of UK labour law.
Pay has gone up by £44 a month but households bills have rocketed to £148 a month according to uSwitch.com survey. Costs have soared 9% but salaries have only gone up a miserly 3.4%.
9 million workers who face the year with no pay rise and public sector workers such as policemen and nurses with just 2% increases are the hardest hit.
And as a nation we will be £21billion short of making ends meet this year as bills shoot up £1,783, the study discovered. The biggest rises are in mortgage payments (£1,020), groceries (£324), petrol (£192), energy (£114) and council tax (£59).
Ann Robinson, of price comparison website uSwitch.com, which did the survey, said: "We're working harder but not getting any wealthier. Lower than anticipated salary rises can only mean consumers are in for a bumpy ride."
Source:www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/03/10/100-a-month-worse-off-89520-20346356/
After all these are the people who, according to the New Labour philosophy, we have to strike a balance with in order to stop the downfall of civilisation as we know it.
FTSE 100 DIRECTORS BONUSES RISE 20% & PAY BY 7%
According to the annual survey of remuneration trends by Rrev, FTSE 100 chief executives annual bonuses rose by 20% on average, from £654,400 to £787,000 and salaries rose 7%, from £663,000 to £711,000. Taking total cash remuneration to £1.35m, up 15% on the previous year.
Source:www.ft.com/cms/s/0/20cf0d6e-ef0d-11dc-97ec-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
What conclusions are we as Socialists to draw from this?
With the credit crunch putting huge pressure on working class families the Political Party of the working class will have to get its act together if it is to stop the Tories getting back in.
(Thanks to the TGWU Bargaining Brief for all the info.)
The Public sector, you remember, the sector of employment that Labour MPs, Labour party activists and affiliated trade unionists swore to defend time and time again between 1979 and 1997, is facing a lead from an important group of workers.
When Unison stops witch-hunting and expelling members http://www.socialist.net/unison-whats-going-on.htm maybe they can assist with the PCS and other public sector unions to unite together for a joint attack on the Darling- Brown Public Sector pay policy that will leave thousands and thousands of public sector workers in pay poverty.
Little bit of up to date economics here which I hope will put people in the picture how bad things are getting
Average earnings forecast
The Treasury‘s latest summary5 of forecasts shows average earnings expected to rise, on average, by:
· 4.0% in 2008, with the forecasts ranging from 4.4% to 3.6%.
- Goldman Sachs forecast 4.4%;
-Ingenious Securities 4.3%;
-Daiwa Institute of Research 4.3%; EC 4.3%.
· 4.0% in 2009, with the forecasts ranging from 4.7% to 2.9%.
INFLATION – 4.1% increase in the Retail Price Index (RPI)
In the year to February 2008 the all items retail price index (RPI) rose by 4.1%, unchanged from January.
The prices of many essentials have been rising at a far higher rate than RPI inflation:
- Mortgage interest payments are up 11.8%. Note: this is not included in the CPI.
- Oil & other fuels up 40.0%
-Water and other charges up 6.5%
- Electricity up 5.2%
Have you noticed by the way how the Government keep going on about the CPI?
- Households now have to pay on average £20.44 a week for electricity and gas in January 2008 - £2.68 or 15.1% more than in January 2007
- Average domestic energy bills has risen to £1,063 a year in January 2008 up from £924 in January 2007 says Energywatch
- Gas and electricity bills combined have increased by 59.6% or £397 since January 2005
- Petrol & oil up 20.3%
- Maintenance of motor vehicles up 5.4%
- Motoring expenditure up 5.1%
- Bus and coach fares up 4.8%
- Rail fares up 4.4%
- Food up 6.1%,
with
- butter up 36.3%
- eggs up 30.8%
- milk up 16.7%
- cheese up 15.6%
- bread up 15.1%
- vegetables up 10.3%
- potatoes up 7.0%
- poultry up 6.0%
- fish up 5.3%
- And if there’s any money left, the cost of entertainment and recreation has also gone up by 5.1%
For the complete breakdown of how prices have been rising go to the following link:
www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/cpi0308.pdf
Retail Prices Index (Jan 1987=100)
Date All items index % Annual rise
2007
February 203.1 4.6%
March 204.4 4.8%
April 205.4 4.5%
May 206.2 4.3%
June 207.3 4.4%
July 206.1 3.8%
August 207.3 4.1%
September 208.0 3.9%
October 208.9 4.2%
November 209.7 4.3%
December 210.9 4.0%
2008
January 209.8 4.1%
February 211.4 4.1%
The CPI rose by 2.5% in the year to February, up from 2.2% in January. RPIX rose by 3.7% in the year to February, up from 3.4% in January.
FOOD BILLS UP BY £572 A YEAR
Research, from the price comparison website Mysupermarket.co.uk, said that a typical family of four must spend an extra £572 a year to buy the same items of food.
The average bill for such a family, who typically spend £100 a week at the supermarket, has shot up by 11% in the last year, according to the website's research.
Supermarket prices of basic foods such as butter, milk and eggs have risen by up to 60% over the last year, nearly 30 times faster than inflation.
Families are struggling to cope with the surge in prices and face further misery because more inflation-busting increases are on the way.
Source: www.mysupermarket.co.uk/
£100 A MONTH WORSE OFF
The average family is more than £100 a month out of pocket as wage rises fail to keep pace with the cost of living.
In the meantime lets celebrate one of the important gains of the Labour Government in the past 10 years. Pity its still so low.
NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGEFrom October 2008, the National Minimum Wage will be:
· £5.73/hour up from £5.52 currently for over-22’s.
· £4.77/hour up from £4.60 currently for 18 to 21 year olds.
· £3.53/hour up from £3.40 currently for 16 to 17 year olds.
The Chairman of the Low Pay Commission, Paul Myners said: "I am delighted that the Government has confirmed that these increases will go ahead. The UK has had a minimum wage for almost nine years now. Throughout that time it has served the nation’s lowest paid workers well, increasing their pay without endangering their jobs. The minimum wage is accepted on all sides as a positive and abiding part of UK labour law.
Pay has gone up by £44 a month but households bills have rocketed to £148 a month according to uSwitch.com survey. Costs have soared 9% but salaries have only gone up a miserly 3.4%.
9 million workers who face the year with no pay rise and public sector workers such as policemen and nurses with just 2% increases are the hardest hit.
And as a nation we will be £21billion short of making ends meet this year as bills shoot up £1,783, the study discovered. The biggest rises are in mortgage payments (£1,020), groceries (£324), petrol (£192), energy (£114) and council tax (£59).
Ann Robinson, of price comparison website uSwitch.com, which did the survey, said: "We're working harder but not getting any wealthier. Lower than anticipated salary rises can only mean consumers are in for a bumpy ride."
Source:www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/03/10/100-a-month-worse-off-89520-20346356/
After all these are the people who, according to the New Labour philosophy, we have to strike a balance with in order to stop the downfall of civilisation as we know it.
FTSE 100 DIRECTORS BONUSES RISE 20% & PAY BY 7%
According to the annual survey of remuneration trends by Rrev, FTSE 100 chief executives annual bonuses rose by 20% on average, from £654,400 to £787,000 and salaries rose 7%, from £663,000 to £711,000. Taking total cash remuneration to £1.35m, up 15% on the previous year.
Source:www.ft.com/cms/s/0/20cf0d6e-ef0d-11dc-97ec-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
What conclusions are we as Socialists to draw from this?
With the credit crunch putting huge pressure on working class families the Political Party of the working class will have to get its act together if it is to stop the Tories getting back in.
(Thanks to the TGWU Bargaining Brief for all the info.)
Friday, March 21, 2008
Lets all laugh at 'Hi I'm Dave'
Click title to link
The guy is obviously a dick. Why he cant be chauffered around like his Tory chums I dont know. I expect at some point the novelty of trying to be street cred will wear off and he can start behaving like true Tories are supposed to.
The guy is obviously a dick. Why he cant be chauffered around like his Tory chums I dont know. I expect at some point the novelty of trying to be street cred will wear off and he can start behaving like true Tories are supposed to.Stop Post Office closures
Its a bit rich of the Tories to protest at the closure of 2800 post offices over the next 12 months, when during their 'reign of Terror' they were responsible for the closure of over 3500!!Do you remember dissident Tory MPs protesting against closures at the time?
http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/hampshirenews/display.var.2136318.0.labour_mps_slammed_over_post_office_closures.php
Bloody hypocrites!!
The privatisation agenda of the Tories which runs through their blood and always will do, will lead to a continuation of their policies which between 1979 and 1997 saw a decline of the Post Office as a service. New Labour's tinkering is not doing them any favours as the mini rebellion of MPs shows. Again this will be reflected in a loss of votes at the General Election.
New Labour must ensure that a strong publicly funded service remains.
http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/hampshirenews/display.var.2136318.0.labour_mps_slammed_over_post_office_closures.php
Bloody hypocrites!!
The privatisation agenda of the Tories which runs through their blood and always will do, will lead to a continuation of their policies which between 1979 and 1997 saw a decline of the Post Office as a service. New Labour's tinkering is not doing them any favours as the mini rebellion of MPs shows. Again this will be reflected in a loss of votes at the General Election.
New Labour must ensure that a strong publicly funded service remains.
Make Safety a priority. No more deaths in the Workplace
Two reports of cases taken against Companies by the HSE. This is scant reward for the Families who have suffered from the wait for the court cases to happen. Justice always seems to take so long. A strong Corporate Manslaughter Bill is needed where the threat of imprisonment for cases such as these will force employers to ensure the safety of their employees.
http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=284&storycode=3109430&c=0
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-evening-chronicle/2008/03/19/firm-fined-over-workers-deaths-72703-20647358/
http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=284&storycode=3109430&c=0
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-evening-chronicle/2008/03/19/firm-fined-over-workers-deaths-72703-20647358/
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Exxon Mobil gets a Bloody Nose from Chavez
Get the view of Socialist Appeal/Hands off Venezuela Campaign here
http://www.socialist.net/london-tribunal-rules-favour-venezuela-against-exxon.htm
http://www.socialist.net/london-tribunal-rules-favour-venezuela-against-exxon.htm
Sunday, March 16, 2008
RIP Mickey Dread
Just found out on u75 that Mickey Dread has passed away. Unfortunately I dont know anymore detail apart from the fact that he died from a brain tumor yesterday.
I first discovered Mickey when he was credited for producing the Clash on a number of tunes they did. Complete Control, I think was one of them, also Bankrobber and a few others. He guested and was credited on quite a few albums and he certainly toasted on a track on Sandinista.
His website can be found here http://www.mikeydread.com/homex1.html
The guy introduced me to reggae as much as Bob Marley. This was the same for many young punks during the late 70s , early 80s.I remember fondly many an evening spent 'herbally' enjoying his tunes and heavy bass lines. Unfortunately I never got to see the guy live for one reason or another but my recent acquisition of a USB turntable allowed me to be reintroduced to his classic Dread at the Controls label.
He has apparently been touring on a regular basis up until recently. I will add more detail when I find out. Ashamedly I havent seen any mention on the BBC/1xtra as of yet.
A sad loss from a very creative and influential era.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BN_kVIT2LK4&feature=related
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikey_Dread
The Black Review due 17th March.
The review of the Health of Britains working population is due out on Monday. I must admit to being interested in the recommendations (if any) that come out of this. I just hope that the review isnt a kind of New Labour lip service to what undoubtably is a growing work related sickness problem that has been allowed to get worse over the last 10-15 years.
HR news report on it here
http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/03/14/44940/black-review-on-workplace-health-due-to-be-published.html
Caution is not what our tired workforce requires.
As I have nagged about previously, we have a problem in the UK where the long hours, high pressure culture experienced by UK workers coupled with the worry of increasing debt that many workers face, could lead to a potential sick crisis of unacceptable proportions. Thats if its not viewed at that already.
Words like 'sick note culture' doesnt help matters either.This view seems to be coming from Ministers and Employers alike. The government need to dictate to employers that they bear a lot of resposibility for the problem, in their pursuit of larger profits.
In this 'globalised economy' the flexibility that employers demand comes at a price and it shouldnt be workers who pay it.
HR news report on it here
http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/03/14/44940/black-review-on-workplace-health-due-to-be-published.html
Caution is not what our tired workforce requires.
As I have nagged about previously, we have a problem in the UK where the long hours, high pressure culture experienced by UK workers coupled with the worry of increasing debt that many workers face, could lead to a potential sick crisis of unacceptable proportions. Thats if its not viewed at that already.
Words like 'sick note culture' doesnt help matters either.This view seems to be coming from Ministers and Employers alike. The government need to dictate to employers that they bear a lot of resposibility for the problem, in their pursuit of larger profits.
In this 'globalised economy' the flexibility that employers demand comes at a price and it shouldnt be workers who pay it.
12th March. Anniversary of the beginning of the Miners Strike
It was just by pure chance yesterday that when reading some stuff on industrial disputes in the UK I noticed that we had just past the anniversary to the start of the 1984-5 miners strike.
The 12th March 1984 , 24 years was a defining time for the UK working class.Miners at Cortonwood Colliery walked out in protest at the threatened closure of the pit. The subsequent strike saw miners and their communities being victimised and discriminated against in the most disgusting way by the whole media. It was a make or break time for the whole Labour movement to oust Thatcher and if it wasn't for the cowardly leadership of the Labour Party and one or two certain Trade Union leaders, I believe it could have happened.
The subsequent defeat in my view saw the root to the Blair/New Labour project start, which germinated into the 'don't- rock- the- boat- we- have -to -get- the -Tories -out' strategy of Labour which dominated the next 12 years.
The tragedy is that a whole section of industry was mercilessly destroyed by a government committed to smashing the NUM in particular and trade unionism in general without any consideration to the communities that the mines served.
The working class are still paying for what the Tories did then , today.
Here is the BBC take on the first day of the strike;
1984: Miners strike over threatened pit closures
Tens of thousands of Britain's miners have stopped work in what looks like becoming a long battle against job losses.
More than half the country's 187,000 mineworkers are now on strike. Miners in Yorkshire and Kent were the first to down tools this morning - by tonight they had been joined by colleagues in Scotland and South Wales.
The trouble began over an announcement by Chairman of the Coal Board Ian MacGregor six days ago that 20 uneconomic pits would have to close, putting 20,000 miners out of work.
Miners at Cortonwood colliery in Yorkshire - the first earmarked for closure - walked out at midnight on 5 March in protest at the plans.
National Union of Mineworkers president Arthur Scargill is calling on members across the country to join the action. He is relying on flying pickets to drum up support.
'Very lengthy strike'
Today, violence flared on the picket line at Bilston Glen colliery in Scotland, when miners from the recently closed Polmaise pit tried to stop others going into work.
Punches were thrown and one picket was hurt when a vehicle ran over his foot.
At Harworth in Nottinghamshire, where miners are known to be more moderate, miners' wives turned out to support their husbands crossing the picket lines.
In South Wales, initial soundings suggested miners were overwhelmingly opposed to a strike - and a number of pits were still working today.
But local NUM spokesman Terry Thomas predicted support for the stoppage would grow.
"Over the next 24 hours there is going to be a realisation by the members still at work that if 85% of the coalfield see fit to stand up and try to save their industry, I honestly believe they will be joined by the people now at work," he said.
Mr MacGregor says he is ready to fight. "Our customers are prepared for a very lengthy strike. Judging by what our customers have done, they have put together large stocks because of their concern about the fairly wild statements that have been made," he said.
About four months' supply of coal, or 22m tons, at the pitheads and more than 26m at the power stations, have been stockpiled in readiness for a prolonged stoppage.
Mick McGahey, vice-president of the NUM, told a news conference the miners were not just fighting for their own jobs - but other industries too.
He said: "I want to emphasise the knock-on effects of the closure in pits and the loss of miners' jobs, the effect that will have on railways, the steel industry, engineering and electrical industries, because we don't only produce coal."
The 12th March 1984 , 24 years was a defining time for the UK working class.Miners at Cortonwood Colliery walked out in protest at the threatened closure of the pit. The subsequent strike saw miners and their communities being victimised and discriminated against in the most disgusting way by the whole media. It was a make or break time for the whole Labour movement to oust Thatcher and if it wasn't for the cowardly leadership of the Labour Party and one or two certain Trade Union leaders, I believe it could have happened.
The subsequent defeat in my view saw the root to the Blair/New Labour project start, which germinated into the 'don't- rock- the- boat- we- have -to -get- the -Tories -out' strategy of Labour which dominated the next 12 years.
The tragedy is that a whole section of industry was mercilessly destroyed by a government committed to smashing the NUM in particular and trade unionism in general without any consideration to the communities that the mines served.
The working class are still paying for what the Tories did then , today.
Here is the BBC take on the first day of the strike;
1984: Miners strike over threatened pit closures
Tens of thousands of Britain's miners have stopped work in what looks like becoming a long battle against job losses.
More than half the country's 187,000 mineworkers are now on strike. Miners in Yorkshire and Kent were the first to down tools this morning - by tonight they had been joined by colleagues in Scotland and South Wales.
The trouble began over an announcement by Chairman of the Coal Board Ian MacGregor six days ago that 20 uneconomic pits would have to close, putting 20,000 miners out of work.
Miners at Cortonwood colliery in Yorkshire - the first earmarked for closure - walked out at midnight on 5 March in protest at the plans.
National Union of Mineworkers president Arthur Scargill is calling on members across the country to join the action. He is relying on flying pickets to drum up support.
'Very lengthy strike'
Today, violence flared on the picket line at Bilston Glen colliery in Scotland, when miners from the recently closed Polmaise pit tried to stop others going into work.
Punches were thrown and one picket was hurt when a vehicle ran over his foot.
At Harworth in Nottinghamshire, where miners are known to be more moderate, miners' wives turned out to support their husbands crossing the picket lines.
In South Wales, initial soundings suggested miners were overwhelmingly opposed to a strike - and a number of pits were still working today.
But local NUM spokesman Terry Thomas predicted support for the stoppage would grow.
"Over the next 24 hours there is going to be a realisation by the members still at work that if 85% of the coalfield see fit to stand up and try to save their industry, I honestly believe they will be joined by the people now at work," he said.
Mr MacGregor says he is ready to fight. "Our customers are prepared for a very lengthy strike. Judging by what our customers have done, they have put together large stocks because of their concern about the fairly wild statements that have been made," he said.
About four months' supply of coal, or 22m tons, at the pitheads and more than 26m at the power stations, have been stockpiled in readiness for a prolonged stoppage.
Mick McGahey, vice-president of the NUM, told a news conference the miners were not just fighting for their own jobs - but other industries too.
He said: "I want to emphasise the knock-on effects of the closure in pits and the loss of miners' jobs, the effect that will have on railways, the steel industry, engineering and electrical industries, because we don't only produce coal."
Saturday, March 15, 2008
BBC, The White Season
Last night I set up the TV to watch some of the BBC White Season on my cheap old free view recorder. There has been a lot of who-ha regarding this series of programmes , especially from the left, so I thought I would give my take.
As a paid up member of the 'white' working class (I have always wanted to say that!) I found the idea of documenting working people in this way intensely patronising. This is clearly middle class people giving a middle class slant on what they see as working class people.It is fuel for the far right nationalist bigots in the BNP to peddle their hate and division. It is a far cry from the method of say film director Ken Loach who says more in his films about UK working class life and culture than these BBC documentor's do. The fact that most of the 'liberal' middle class have been writing off the working class as not existing anymore, for the past 15 odd years is lost to these people. The working class, the class of low paid employees, have never gone away.
I want to have a pop at one particular part of the series and what it was trying to interpret. It was the one about immigration (mainly Polish and eastern Europeans) in Peterborough. The reporter interviewed about three white job seekers who wouldn't take on the jobs migrants were doing and stated clearly that they would rather be on benefits. It was very staged. Only three?
Surely to make the point more, hundreds of white workers would have had to be interviewed in order to make the point that white workers are lazy benefit scroungers!! Clearly not the case but the middle class point was made.
In my entire working career I think I can count so called benefit scrounger I have met, on one hand. What I can count is the huge amount of workers who have been disenfranchised by the monotony of low paid unskilled work that they cant escape from.We have a situation today of historically low unemployment. What we do have is an abundance of low paid menial jobs, protected by the abysmally low minimum wage that is benefiting migrant workers escaping poverty in their own countries. UK White workers would and have done, the same themselves if there was a higher wage country elsewhere and mass unemployment here.
The programme showed migrant workers working every hour under the sun. Well anyone care to cast their minds back to the 80s would remember that after a few years on the dole , earning nothing and receiving meagre benefits, you would have worked every hour under the sun the first job you got. This is exactly what these migrant workers are doing. From £250 a month, if they had a job back in the east , to £250 per week plus in the UK. F*ck me no wonder all the hours under the sun are being worked.First job I got in 1986 after a year on the dole I was working a six day week and all the overtime under the sun.
And don't the employers love it, just like that stone mason employer in the documentary.
Employers don't want UK labour. They want migrant Labour because its on offer and cheap. Its a deliberate strategy by the capitalists and the government to bring jobs down to the lowest pay possible so that white workers who over the last 50 years have fought and won good working conditions will have eventually no choice but to take the crap. Meanwhile employers make and will continue to make huge profits.
With union membership at around about 30% workers are still in a weak position to improve things. Unions should and are organising amongst the low paid to bring them together under a common agenda. Workers are currently going to achieve a lot more this way than relying on voting as the low turnouts in elections show. With a Labour government which still leans on the finance(through the unions) and the votes of working people things aren't any better (could they get any worse with recession round the corner? Didnt someone say boom and bust had ended?)
The White Season just further reinforces the day to day discrimination working class people suffer at the hands of the liberal middle class media. I am surprised Billy Bragg had anything to do with it.
Enjoy Seamus Milne's comment from this weeks Guardian. New Labour wake up. Don't give the election to Cameron.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/13/budget.economy
As a paid up member of the 'white' working class (I have always wanted to say that!) I found the idea of documenting working people in this way intensely patronising. This is clearly middle class people giving a middle class slant on what they see as working class people.It is fuel for the far right nationalist bigots in the BNP to peddle their hate and division. It is a far cry from the method of say film director Ken Loach who says more in his films about UK working class life and culture than these BBC documentor's do. The fact that most of the 'liberal' middle class have been writing off the working class as not existing anymore, for the past 15 odd years is lost to these people. The working class, the class of low paid employees, have never gone away.
I want to have a pop at one particular part of the series and what it was trying to interpret. It was the one about immigration (mainly Polish and eastern Europeans) in Peterborough. The reporter interviewed about three white job seekers who wouldn't take on the jobs migrants were doing and stated clearly that they would rather be on benefits. It was very staged. Only three?
Surely to make the point more, hundreds of white workers would have had to be interviewed in order to make the point that white workers are lazy benefit scroungers!! Clearly not the case but the middle class point was made.
In my entire working career I think I can count so called benefit scrounger I have met, on one hand. What I can count is the huge amount of workers who have been disenfranchised by the monotony of low paid unskilled work that they cant escape from.We have a situation today of historically low unemployment. What we do have is an abundance of low paid menial jobs, protected by the abysmally low minimum wage that is benefiting migrant workers escaping poverty in their own countries. UK White workers would and have done, the same themselves if there was a higher wage country elsewhere and mass unemployment here.
The programme showed migrant workers working every hour under the sun. Well anyone care to cast their minds back to the 80s would remember that after a few years on the dole , earning nothing and receiving meagre benefits, you would have worked every hour under the sun the first job you got. This is exactly what these migrant workers are doing. From £250 a month, if they had a job back in the east , to £250 per week plus in the UK. F*ck me no wonder all the hours under the sun are being worked.First job I got in 1986 after a year on the dole I was working a six day week and all the overtime under the sun.
And don't the employers love it, just like that stone mason employer in the documentary.
Employers don't want UK labour. They want migrant Labour because its on offer and cheap. Its a deliberate strategy by the capitalists and the government to bring jobs down to the lowest pay possible so that white workers who over the last 50 years have fought and won good working conditions will have eventually no choice but to take the crap. Meanwhile employers make and will continue to make huge profits.
With union membership at around about 30% workers are still in a weak position to improve things. Unions should and are organising amongst the low paid to bring them together under a common agenda. Workers are currently going to achieve a lot more this way than relying on voting as the low turnouts in elections show. With a Labour government which still leans on the finance(through the unions) and the votes of working people things aren't any better (could they get any worse with recession round the corner? Didnt someone say boom and bust had ended?)
The White Season just further reinforces the day to day discrimination working class people suffer at the hands of the liberal middle class media. I am surprised Billy Bragg had anything to do with it.
Enjoy Seamus Milne's comment from this weeks Guardian. New Labour wake up. Don't give the election to Cameron.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/13/budget.economy
Friday, March 14, 2008
UK Strike Days lost
Info coutesy of the TUC
Day lost in strikes
The number of days lost in stoppages last year passed the 1 million mark for the first time since 2002, according to official figures. The number of workers involved was also the highest since 2002.
Provisional figures from the Office for National Statistics put the number of days lost in 2007 at 1,034,000 — a rise of more than a third (+37.0%) on the 2006 figure of 755,000. It was also the highest figure since 2002 when 1,323,000 days were lost.
Office for National Statistics
Day lost in strikes
The number of days lost in stoppages last year passed the 1 million mark for the first time since 2002, according to official figures. The number of workers involved was also the highest since 2002.
Provisional figures from the Office for National Statistics put the number of days lost in 2007 at 1,034,000 — a rise of more than a third (+37.0%) on the 2006 figure of 755,000. It was also the highest figure since 2002 when 1,323,000 days were lost.
Office for National Statistics
Thursday, March 13, 2008
.....Subtle as a bucket of Lard.......!
Its quite common now to come across a story of an employer rubbing their work- forces collective noses in it. I have reported on similar issues before and will always try to highlight incidences in the 'wonderful' world of work to show people what a complete shower of shit some employers can be.
The bosses at British Gas must be up there in the Top Ten hall of shame.
http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/03/13/44924/british-gas-in-hot-water-over-timing-of-jobs-cull-and-trip-to.html
I wonder how they gloss this one over to the workforce?
Employers! They never fail to let you down!!
The bosses at British Gas must be up there in the Top Ten hall of shame.
http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/03/13/44924/british-gas-in-hot-water-over-timing-of-jobs-cull-and-trip-to.html
I wonder how they gloss this one over to the workforce?
Employers! They never fail to let you down!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The World turned upside down
Something must be seriously wrong with Labour if the Liberals are saying this....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7284895.stm
I must admit to having a tiny bit of respect for Vince. I thought he raised some pertinent points during the Northern Rock debate, points which I believe a Labour MP with a certain amount of back bone, would have raised in the past. Mind you John McDonnell has that back bone and said it all earlier and far better, so there.
I think Vince's view here about non doms is credible even though I see he falls for the usual 'dont upset the middle ground' piffle that New Labour obsesses about.
Dont worry though, I am not taking a turn to the Liberals. What Labour have to take seriously is that the Liberals are outflanking Labour from the left. (I have heard some argue that the Tories have with some policies!!! I have yet to be convinced of that)
All this will have a decisive effect in the marginals.We have a lot of them in 'middle England'.
Labour have to make a determined and bold commitment to tackle inequality and poverty. If that means upsetting New Labour's millionaire backers, so be it.
Somehow I think it wont happen.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7284895.stm
I must admit to having a tiny bit of respect for Vince. I thought he raised some pertinent points during the Northern Rock debate, points which I believe a Labour MP with a certain amount of back bone, would have raised in the past. Mind you John McDonnell has that back bone and said it all earlier and far better, so there.
I think Vince's view here about non doms is credible even though I see he falls for the usual 'dont upset the middle ground' piffle that New Labour obsesses about.
Dont worry though, I am not taking a turn to the Liberals. What Labour have to take seriously is that the Liberals are outflanking Labour from the left. (I have heard some argue that the Tories have with some policies!!! I have yet to be convinced of that)
All this will have a decisive effect in the marginals.We have a lot of them in 'middle England'.
Labour have to make a determined and bold commitment to tackle inequality and poverty. If that means upsetting New Labour's millionaire backers, so be it.
Somehow I think it wont happen.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Its socialist policies , stupid!
Following on from my Living wage post I thought a bit of evidence is needed to back up the reality of increasing costs for working people. Where better than to take evidence from a Tory ‘Daily Mail’ site.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgages/article.html?in_article_id=432396&in_page_id=8&ct=5
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=432394&in_page_id=2
With huge pressure on the working population driven by debt this will not be good news for the fawning government and their employer friends. The economy is, I believe on the brink of recession and more and more working people are questioning the obscene wealth demonstrated daily in our celebrity obsessed press. It will be obvious to all except the few no marks in New Labour that consistently ignore the increasing class consciousness of the UK working population.
It is a clear message that we are entering turbulent times.
Its a clear message that our so called 'socialist' leaders need to change course.
Well some hope unfortunately. In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgages/article.html?in_article_id=432396&in_page_id=8&ct=5
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=432394&in_page_id=2
With huge pressure on the working population driven by debt this will not be good news for the fawning government and their employer friends. The economy is, I believe on the brink of recession and more and more working people are questioning the obscene wealth demonstrated daily in our celebrity obsessed press. It will be obvious to all except the few no marks in New Labour that consistently ignore the increasing class consciousness of the UK working population.
It is a clear message that we are entering turbulent times.
Its a clear message that our so called 'socialist' leaders need to change course.
Well some hope unfortunately. In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.
Living Wage Now!
This weeks announcement for a rise in the minimum wage, effective from October is very welcome. But its not until you see where support for the rise is coming from do you question the amount as not enough by a long shot.
http://www.cbi.org.uk/ndbs/press.nsf/0363c1f07c6ca12a8025671c00381cc7/822aa50c2e307e08802574020048daa0?OpenDocument
Again we see the government more keen on trying to strike a balance with employers than seriously tackling the issue of poverty pay on the advice of the people who should know, the unions.
The TUC softly, softly approach is here http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-14397-f0.cfm
A little bit more, wake up to reality, is said here http://www.amicustheunion.org/Default.aspx?page=8078
Personally we should establish a minimum at around £7.50 an hour. The vast majority of business would whinge as you would expect, but the government should treat poverty pay as a priority and with a more realistic left in the minimum wage they should look at the issue of a living wage. For too many workers even £7.50 per hour might not be considered enough when you see the cost of living rising so much around you.
http://www.cbi.org.uk/ndbs/press.nsf/0363c1f07c6ca12a8025671c00381cc7/822aa50c2e307e08802574020048daa0?OpenDocument
Again we see the government more keen on trying to strike a balance with employers than seriously tackling the issue of poverty pay on the advice of the people who should know, the unions.
The TUC softly, softly approach is here http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-14397-f0.cfm
A little bit more, wake up to reality, is said here http://www.amicustheunion.org/Default.aspx?page=8078
Personally we should establish a minimum at around £7.50 an hour. The vast majority of business would whinge as you would expect, but the government should treat poverty pay as a priority and with a more realistic left in the minimum wage they should look at the issue of a living wage. For too many workers even £7.50 per hour might not be considered enough when you see the cost of living rising so much around you.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Raise the Redundancy Award now.
Important campaign potential here and obviously the TUC is trying to provide the lead. This needs to be taken up by all Trade Unionists. But it needs to run hand in hand with stronger employment legislation to stop companies 'upping sticks' and going abroad. We need a level playing field with european law in relation to redundancies and company closures.
Isnt that what membership of the EU is for?
http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/02/29/44647/tuc-seeks-to-raise-weekly-limit-on-statutory-redundancy-pay.html
Isnt that what membership of the EU is for?
http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/02/29/44647/tuc-seeks-to-raise-weekly-limit-on-statutory-redundancy-pay.html
Every little Helps
Hat-tip to Charlie Marks for this
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/27/tesco.supermarkets
Another answer to the age old Tory question, 'Where is all the money going to come from' to fund socialist policies.
Its there, stupid!!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/27/tesco.supermarkets
Another answer to the age old Tory question, 'Where is all the money going to come from' to fund socialist policies.
Its there, stupid!!
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