RMT Strike - Bob Crow explains who is responsible for it going ahead

Strike is solid; please send messages of support; picket; message from Bob Crow

Click to join the Facebook group at Support the Tube strike!

The strike is pretty solid, with massive disruption on most lines. Info from the London Underground strike committee:

1. Please send messages of solidarity
http://www.rmtlondoncalling.org.uk/supportus

Please also look out for opportunities to call into radio phone ins, text in to vox pops, take part in polls supporting the strike etc...

2. If you can help at one of these picket lines early tomorrow morning, it would be much appreciated.

Loughton - thurs after 1pm
Stratford Jubilee - thurs 5:30am
West Ruislip - thur 4.30am
Golders Green - thurs 4:30am
to support fleet
Stonebridge Park - tonight from 5:30pm or thurs at 5:30am
Neasden, Upminster and Ealing Common all @10pm tonight and 4:30am thurs

3. Below is a copy of Bob Crow's take on talks with LU management and how this all could have been avoided at 6:30pm on tuesday.

**

June 10, 2009
Personal Letter to LUL Members

Dear colleague,

A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM THE GENERAL SECRETARY
THE TRUTH (AND IF NOT SUE US FOR LIBEL)

This is my 31st year as a member of this Union and a worker on London Underground and in all that time I have never experienced such dishonesty from any management that I have dealt with. Let me explain to you what really happened at the talks.

The Facts

Pay.

Management made a revised offer on a two year deal or four year deal. We said we would go away, speak to our members and representatives and come back to them. We said this did not have to be resolved immediately and hence we could suspend the action.

Breaches of Agreements.

It is an out and out lie that we were only interested in the two sacked drivers. There were another five specific cases where management had abused the disciplinary procedures. It was agreed that ACAS would look at all seven cases and we said that we would be able to suspend the action to allow this to go ahead.

On the application of the sickness procedures, management were abusing it by making unannounced visits to members without a Trade Union representative being present. They were also issuing 52 week warnings as opposed to the maximum allowed which is 26 weeks. We reached agreement that the 26 weeks maximum would be adhered to and that a Trade Union representative would be in attendance at the interviews.

Redundancies.

In 2001 after campaigning that the privatisation of the infrastructure would be a disaster LUL members were transferred to Metronet. We reached an agreement with LUL and Metronet that there would be no compulsory redundancies and that staff would be offered alternative employment in the event of their job going. This was enshrined in members' contracts. As we predicted Metronet went bust with massive debts. We asked that all Metronet members that came back to LUL, and all other LUL members, should have the same agreement of no compulsory redundancies.

At 6 o'clock, and hour before the strike was to begin, agreement was reached with the Acting Managing Director, Richard Parry. In fact I signed a document to this effect and this was to go back in front of your General Grades Committee immediately so that we could suspend the strike.

At 6.35 p.m. whilst awaiting the final typed agreement we were told by management that they had made a phone call and that they could no longer abide by the agreement - they reneged before the ink was even dry. We were stunned that management could be so dishonest.
I have no doubt that the phone call made was to the Transport Commission or City Hall and they instructed the negotiators to pull the agreed deal. It became quite clear that the Transport Commission or City Hall were using stalling tactics to try and extend the talks to 7 p.m. in the hope that staff would believe agreement had been reached and turn up for work and members were also getting anonymous texts telling them the action was being called off.

It is an absolute disgrace that these bodies should interfere in the negotiations taking place between your Union and the LUL management. We negotiate in good faith and expect the same from the other side. It is the management side that have forced this strike to go ahead and now they will have to find a way to deal with the outstanding issues all over again.

The RMT want a negotiated settlement without interference from the Politicians. Agreement can be reached if management sit down and negotiate honestly.

Thank you for your support - the strike is solid and it is a tremendous effort by all of you. I will write to you with developments

.

Best wishes

Bob Crow
General Secretary

Egg attack on BNP leader Griffin

Taken from the BBC News website...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8091605.stm

There's some excellent footage both of the egg attack, and an interview with Griffin after...

Here are two links on youtube as well.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO-7gnh1PFY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrA1WRczkis

BNP leader Nick Griffin has been pelted with eggs and forced to abandon a press conference outside Parliament.

Dozens of protesters disrupted the event, which follows the British National Party winning its first two seats in the European Parliament.

Chanting anti-Nazi slogans and holding placards they surrounded Mr Griffin as he was bundled into a car.

Mr Griffin was elected for the North West region - a result condemned by parties across the political spectrum.

Mr Griffin and Andrew Brons, who was elected in the Yorkshire and Humber region, staged a press conference on College Green, opposite the Houses of Parliament.

The BNP leader began the event by holding up copies of national newspapers and talking about what he said were media lies about him and his party.

Scuffle

He denied he had past links with Oswald Mosley, as the former fascist leader "was very hostile to the National Front from which I am from".

He had been speaking for about two minutes when about 50 to 100 protesters marched towards him chanting slogans and throwing eggs.

Nick Griffin was forced to retreat from college green

There was a brief scuffle as Mr Griffin was jostled by protesters - and a scrum of cameramen - before the BNP leader was bundled into the back seat of a waiting car by his security men.

A tourist who was caught up in the melee was treated in an ambulance, after suffering an injured leg.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "We are aware of the incident and will pursue charges if a complaint is made."

'Low turnout'

Members of Unite Against Fascism, a new group supported by trade unions and MPs from all parties, including Tory leader David Cameron, and veteran left wing campaigner Tony Benn, said they wanted to "defend democracy" against what they regard as the "fascist" and "racist" policies of the BNP.

One told the crowd his message for Mr Griffin was: "Wherever you go in this country we will make sure you are welcomed by demonstrations."

The demonstrators kicked and hit the BNP leader's car with their placards before cheering as he drove off.

Protest organiser Weyman Bennett, national secretary of Unite Against Fascism, said he believed it was important to stand up to the BNP.

"The majority of people did not vote for the BNP, they did not vote at all. The BNP was able to dupe them into saying that they had an answer to people's problems.

Nick Griffin calls the protest 'an absolute outrage'

"They presented themselves as a mainstream party. The reality was because the turnout was so low, they actually got elected."

Speaking to BBC News afterwards, Mr Griffin alleged that the three main political parties were trying to prevent the BNP getting its message across by colluding with protesters who he said were mainly left-wing students.

"It's a very, very sad day for British democracy," he said.

"People should be entitled to hear what we have to say and to hear journalists question us robustly."

He described protesters as an "organised mob that's backed by all three main parties to stop us getting our message across to the public" and added: "It does not represent ordinary people."

He said he suffered only a "glancing splattering" with egg but a television cameraman was hit full in the face.

'Terrible thing'

He says the BNP is not racist and says it won votes because it "spoke openly about the problem of immigration".

And he argued that the "political elite" were responsible for making "the indigenous British majority... second class citizens in every possible sphere".

Mr Griffin said the BNP plans to hold a press conference in Manchester tomorrow and he hopes that the police will take action against any violent protests.

On Monday Tory leader David Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said they were "sickened" by the BNP's win and Labour deputy Harriet Harman said it was "a terrible thing".

The number of people voting BNP across the UK as a whole went up slightly, from 808,201 to 943,598 in the European elections, but went down slightly in the two regions where it gained MEPs, with the party benefitting from a collapse in the Labour vote.

They won 6.2% of votes, compared with 8.6% for the Green Party, 13.7% for the Lib Dems, 15.7% for Labour, 16.5% for the UK Independence Party and 27.7% for the Conservatives.

Cookery for today:

Eggs, an excellent accompaniament to the every day table.

First, get your eggs....the older the better for that 'vintage' texture...

Hold aloft, check for a head wind.....when you are ready, get your fascist...any will do, bonehead, racist thug, though for that extra 'something', try the Nick Griffin variety as they go down so well, and with a vigorous hurling action, aim and throw. Best done in groups so you get full coverage.....can be addictive but don't worry, its all good clean fun :D

RMT Strike 9th June 2009

The RMT have called for a 2 day strike from 7pm tonight (Tuesday 9th June). I, as much as anyone else are not looking forward to the inevitable chaos this will cause in travelling home, and back to work during the dispute. I decided to find out why the strike has been called. The television and print news have given mostly one side of the story, and I wanted to find a more balanced view.

Here is information about why the strike has been called. It has been taken from the RMT website. This tells a different story to that being shown in the media. It outlines the issues, as well as the voting figures ( a more full version can be found at:

http://www.rmtlondoncalling.org.uk/sites/default/files/ltrc%20may09%20strike.pdf )

"The Issues: Jobs

London Underground is cutting 1,000 jobs and TfL may cut 3,000 more. Neither will rule out compulsory
redundancies. LUL says that these are ‘only’ admin jobs. But transport needs administrators as well as frontline staff.
Unlike your employer, RMT values all our members’ jobs. LUL/TfL are pushing through an ‘Organisational Change Process’ which allows for compulsory redundancies, in breach of an agreement it signed with RMT (and ASLEF) in 2001. If LUL gets away with tearing it up, then no job is safe – including engineering and operational grades.

The Issues: Pay

RMT asked for a one-year deal, a substantial pay rise, a £26k minimum, and improvements to conditions. LUL offers a five-year deal: 1% for 2009 and RPI+0.5% for the next four years. With CPI (the government’s preferred inflation measure) at 3.2% in February, this is a year-on-year pay cut in real terms. The five-year timespan takes us past 2012. LUL wants to stop us demanding a decent reward for working
during the Olympics. TfL has not even made an offer! Both employers have refused to even consider our other claims, on issues such as medical redeployment, shorter working hours and family-friendly policies.

The Issues: Justice

LUL is clamping down on attendance and discipline, leading to rampant mistreatment of staff - over-the-top punishments; sick pay stopped; pay docked for emergency domestic leave; endless contact when you are sick; warnings given with no discretion; managers spotting fictitious ‘patterns’ of non-attendance; union representation denied; sickness treated like a crime. Many actions by managers are aggressive and punitive, and many are outside the company’s policies and agreements. Management have created a regime of fear, where people even come to work when they are ill. We have all suffered under this harsh regime ourselves or know a workmate who has. This has to stop."

Details of the voting:

Q1 Are you prepared to take strike action?

LUL: Yes 2,810 No 488 Majority = 85.2%, or 6:1

TfL: Yes 60 No 15 Majority = 80%, or 4:1

Q2 Are you prepared to take industrial action short of a strike?

LUL: Yes 2,927 No 362 Majority = 89%, or 8:1

TfL: Yes 67 No 8 Majority = 89.3%, or 8:1


This shows the issues from the RMT point of view, as their view is not being publicised in the media. Please read and make up your own mind.

If you feel that you want to lend your support to the RMT workers, you can leave a message of support at :

http://www.rmtlondoncalling.org.uk/supportus

Haringey Independence Day 2009

Yesterday, Denise and I were at the Haringey Independence Day event. We ran a stall for Spectrum London. This is the 2nd year we have attended, and we learnt our lessons well. Last year, we brought heaps of literature for the stall. It was an achievement for any one to see behind the teetering piles of paper :P This year, it was a lot less, and less to carry home too.

http://www.haringey.org.uk/independenceday/

You can get an idea of what it was all about there, though It probably won't give you the feeling of the event. One of the most constructive, inclusive and friendly events I've been to in a long time. The sun was out, and it was a lovely day. I got a new friend who is called jeffrey. It is a Peace Lily, which is one of my favourites. Now I have one plant, I expect it won't be long before Mikey Mansions becomes home to more flora in the near future.

Lots of workshops and films, which we both missed as we stayed on the stall for the most part. We had a few interested folks taking literature and met some great people. Most folks looked, and moved on. A few raised their eyebrows but nothing negative. We were well placed, by the food area which was very convenient. We snacked away with organic lemonade, scrumptious salads and carrot cake. Denise made some good contacts with some folks involved in Domestic Abuse issues in local london boroughs. We had copies of the press release for the Trans Domestic Abuse online survey which launches Monday, and this was very well received. It was nice to get some honest views from some folks, thanking Spectrum for the work that we do. I think I blushed a few times :=]

I managed to get a couple of the Visteon t'shirts (in XL, which was a blessing as it only just fit me!)

Last year, Reel News ( http://www.reelnews.co.uk/ ) filmed, and as they had a stall there I tried to get a copy of the issue with a report on last years HID. It was the one edition they hadn't brought with them, still we have a copy on its way through the post to us. They were also interested in the short film that Spectrum London produced for this years LGBT History Month, and we may have it included in a later edition (once we have sorted out copyright clearance issues).

I met a few old friends from the past which was great. One of them was there with the food stall, which did an amazing job feeding all the hungry attendees. If you are looking for a vegan caterer for your event, then check them out. They are non profit making, concentrating on producing gorgeous vegan grub. I watched as the cake stall was replenished periodically with fresh out of the oven slices of wonderfulness :D Their website is http://www.vegancampaigns.org.uk/ or you can write to :

Vegan Campaigns
BM 2300
London
WC1N 3XX


Email via info@vegancampaigns.org.uk

At the end of the day, we joined the final workshop session where in the far to short amount of time left, we discussed ways forward from the event. Some excellent ideas, with folks committing themselves to work together bringing them to fruition.

We missed the after party as I wasn't feeling too good, with what felt like a horrible head cold coming on, though it could be related to finally kicking the smoking habit.

I can't wait for next year, so much to do but all good stuff!

Haringey Independence Day: Community DIY for the Credit Crunch

This event is on tomorrow. Last years event was an excellent day, and Spectrum ran a stall there, and will be again this year. Lots to see and do, including kids with a free creche, face painting and entertainment.

More information at http://www.haringey.org.uk/independenceday/

Haringey Independence Day: Community DIY for the Credit Crunch

Saturday 30th May, 12 noon to 6pm (with kids activities from 10.15am)

West Green Learning Centre, West Green Road, N15

The recession might be making life more difficult for many of us, but campaign and community groups in Haringey are looking at alternative ways of organising and making real changes to improve our lives.

Haringey Independence Day brings these groups together for a day of discussions, workshops, stalls and films. It's a day of independence from party politics (not an expense claim in sight), religion and government, where individuals and groups in Haringey can exchange ideas, get inspired and make our own plans for a summer of radical recession-busting and resistance. A wide variety of groups will be participating, including Haringey Solidarity Group, Sustainable Haringey, Naturewise, Haringey Federation of Residents’ Associations, Haringey Cycling Campaign and Haringey Independent Cinema.

From growing your own food and cycling, to looking at radical solutions to redundancies and repossessions, the day includes a whole range of activities for all ages. There’s a Dr Bike session and a ‘Give or Take’ community recycling event. Film showings throughout the day include Post Code Wars followed by a discussion by the pupils from Park View Academy who made it, and there’s a special guest performance from poet and songwriter John Hegley, organised by the Kids Collective Arts group.

Local resident Marlene Barrett, one of the people involved in organising the day, said: "Last year’s Haringey Independence Day was a huge success, with over 250 people taking part, and we hope this year’s will be even bigger and better. There’s something for everyone - an opportunity to share news, views, ideas and experiences, to find out what’s going on, to get inspired, to get involved or maybe to start something new."

Another local resident and organiser, Tony Wood, said: “We want to find ways to support each other, without relying on banks and other institutions who just prey on us for profit.”

NOTES:

1. Full details of workshops and stalls at http://www.haringey.org.uk/independenceday

2. This free event is organised by individuals and supported by Haringey Independent Cinema, Radical History Network, Haringey Solidarity Group and Haringey Justice for Palestinians.

3. The venue is West Green Learning Centre, Park View Academy, West Green Road, N15 3RB. The building is fully wheelchair accessible.

4. Kids are welcome (with children's films from 10.15am to noon) and there’s a free crèche.

squirrels, pigeons, blue tits and foxes....

its been a quiet bank holiday weekend, no great adventures -unless you count going out into the street in my bare feet to chase a cat away that was lying in wait for squirrels.

We get a number of visitors, looking for a nibble, and this weekend its been hectic. Another bunch of squirrels, taking turns to scrap on the window sill, whilst grabbing nuts from the bowl. It occasionally gets hairy when one of them comes into the living room window, and realises 'shit! I'm in a house!' We then get panic scrabbling letmeoutletmeoutnow sorta stuff, before she finally manages to flee the way she came in.

...and what is so nice to see, is that the local bird life have cottoned on to the bowls of nuts we put out, and have been having their own peanut picnic on the window sill.

...for some reason I have been waking at about 5 am every morning this week. Shame about the loss of snooze time, but it is compensated by the birdy chorus.

I tend to open the window to allow the birds and squirrels to reach the bowls of nuts, and the other morning I was pleasantly surprised to find a fox waiting for me under the window. She didn't seem freaked, just curious, and having a good time helping herself to the odd pile of nuts that had been overlooked by the rest of the hungry neighbours.

We haven't seen any sign of the mice since we removed the one we caught the other month. Denise took it out to the woods near here, which is probably a good thing as we would probably run out of nuts with so many nibblers visiting!

It is one of my most favourite things, experiencing the day so early on. 5 am and you get the birdy choral performance, the occasional squabble between squirrels and the odd wood pigeon, blue tit or jackdaw hoovering up any nuts on the grass out front. I don't think I could put a price on it, y'know? Our rent isn't that cheap here, but the bonus of the peace and quiet, the local wildlife, woods for walking and so on makes it less of a burden, and just a slight annoyance...well, ish :=]

so thats my Bill Oddie bit for the week done, I'd like to say....always make time to stop and smell the flowers... after all, we all get there in the end, so lets enjoy the journey :D

Salt Of The Earth (1954)

another gem from the internet Archive site...

http://www.archive.org/details/salt_of_the_earth

"Salt Of The Earth"

Tells the tale of a real life strike by Mexican-American miners. The story is set in a remote New Mexico town where the workers live in a company town in company owned shacks without basic plumbing. Put at risk by cost cutting bosses, the miners strike for safe working conditions. As the strike progresses the issues at stake grow beyond that, driven by the workers' wives. At first the wives are patronized by the traditional patriarchical culture, however they assert themselves as equals and an integral part of the struggle, calling for improved sanitation and dignified treatment. Ultimately, when the bosses win a court order against the workers preventing them from demonstrating gender roles reverse with the wives taking over the picket line and preventing scab workers from being brought in while the husbands stay at home and take care of house and children.

This film was selected for the National Film Registry in 1992 by the Library of Congress. It became public domain after its copyright was not renewed in 1982.

"Salt of the Earth" was produced, written and directed by victims of the Hollywood blacklist. Unable to make films in Hollywood they looked for worthy social issues to put on screen independently. This film never would have been made in Hollywood at the time, so it is ironic that it was the anti-communist backlash that brought about the conditions for it to be made. In many ways it was a film ahead of its time, mainstream culture did not pick up on its civil rights and feminist themes for at least a decade.

Unfortunately, the source of this copy is not of very good quality, hopefully it can be replaced by a better version.

You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page. (this text taken from the Archive page for the film).