Showing posts with label Merseyside. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Merseyside. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 April 2020
Coronavirus: Wirral binmen walk out
The union claims workers concerns have been ignored Refuse collectors in Merseyside have walked out over fears they are being put at risk of catching coronavirus.
Friday, 13 April 2018
Liverpool Anarchists say: 'Have a happy bookfair!'
SHADES of GEORGE ORWELL's 'MINISTRY OF LOVE'
by Brian Bamford
ARRIVING at the Black-E at 11,45am for last Saturday's Liverpool Anarchist Bookfair, I was greeted by the organiser 'Maria' of the 'News From Nowhere' Radical & Community Bookshop. She set about scolding me saying severely: 'We sent you an e-mail and you can't attend!' by Brian Bamford
Then up pops Pablito from Salamanca, who works in 'hospitality', who asks me 'Are you going to leave!'
I comply but only after noting down their utterances and swallowing a blood pressure pill.
As I picked up the bookfair program I observe on the front page the cheerful words 'Have a happy bookfair!'
Not so happy!
One of the local activists who came to address the talk on blacklisting at 3 o'clock, ended up saying that he would never attend an event 'like this again'.
The spokesman from the Merseyside Trades Union Council, who came in a personal capacity to speak on blacklisting told me that he was 'disappointed at (the) lack of comradeship' at the event, and that regarding 'The individual concerned from the Blacklist Support Group' it was time to 'move on and make progress'.
The blacklist talk had been broken-up after a man was asked to leave because he supported Helen Steel in her dispute with the trans community. At this point Pablito from Salamanca, as part of the squad for the defence of safer spaces, ended up with a kick in his backside flank.
The spokesman from the Merseyside Trades Union Council, who came in a personal capacity to speak on blacklisting told me that he was 'disappointed at (the) lack of comradeship' at the event, and that regarding 'The individual concerned from the Blacklist Support Group' it was time to 'move on and make progress'.
The blacklist talk had been broken-up after a man was asked to leave because he supported Helen Steel in her dispute with the trans community. At this point Pablito from Salamanca, as part of the squad for the defence of safer spaces, ended up with a kick in his backside flank.
Others at the blacklist meeting complained that the bloke had been chucked out without proper consultation about the leaflet he had been distributing, and to which some people had objected. The justification for excluding the individual was presumably rooted in the 'Safer spaces policy' of the 'Liverpool Anarchist Book Fair' which naively claims 'aims to be a welcoming, inclusive and safe space'.
What presents itself as a 'Safer spaces policy' is a charming catechism which innocently enunciates a programme worthy of Big Brother and his thought policemen with beautiful elegance. What is demanded in the text of this scheme is a censorship of language and thought such as Orwell's 'Newspeak' predicted in the 1940s.
To survive the trauma of such linguistic cesspit one would have to bleach all natural thought processes of any original ideas to sink into the realm of stunted dialogue thus squeezing out all human passions and originality, for fear of making an odd unorthodox remark or stuttering some unintended outburst.
Conversational Analysis of 'Safer Space' & 'Thought Crime'
A conversational analyst would be delighted with the text offered by the Liverpool Anarchist Book Fair 'Safer Spaces Policy'. The text is rich in the straight-jacket of thought control.
The 'Safer spaces policy' states 'Abusive, violent, threatening or harassing behaviour will not be tollerated'.
It then gives some examples: 'Oppressive language, literature or attitudes that insult, express prejudices or reinforce preconceptions about a group of people that are marginalised, disadvantaged or oppressed by mainstream society are not welcome.'
Then the organisers typically offer us a list of taboo topics: 'racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and classism' .
The dogma of what can only be defined as a totalitarian epistle to the glories of 'thought crime' is delightfully documented in the final paragraph where it says: 'Don't make assumptions (based on, for example, race, pronouns, class, sexual orientation etc.)
One would be tempted to say all this is characteristic of medieval thinking that one might find in the Catholic Church before Martin Luther to having wayward and sinful thoughts, but it is more totalitarian than that in that it seeks to extend its bans and gags in a style of Soviet proportions in which the required terminology may change from overnight if not sooner.
The Safer spaces document says 'we refuse to normalise prejudice, reinforce oppression or recreate hierarchies' but instead on the ground yesterday Pablito and Maria engineering an good impression of a Fred Karno's Circus or the Keystone Cops* with the thought-policemen / women / transgender / creatures or whatever wading-in to exclude folk without any fair trial or due process. Where is the justice in that comrade Pablito (the hospitality worker) or Compañera Maria (from News from Nowhere bookshop)?
Of course, justice is not what is going on here.
At one point as I stood outside looking like a drowned rat in the Liverpool rain, Compañera Maria suggested I go a cafe to warm-up. I told her that in Manchester we were used to standing in the rain on picket lines with Steve Acheson to combat blacklisting at sites like MRI (Manchester Royal Imfirmary) or Fiddler's Ferry. She said this is not the same kind of blacklisting!
I asked her to please explain how this differs from the blacklisting by the bosses?
Compañera Maria didn't reply but looked very uncomfortable.
Later Maria told Milan Rai, the editor of Peace News, that the Liverpool Anarchist Collective had decided to ban me because of an obituary I wrote in 2012 about the former AF member, the teacher Bob Miller in 2011, and something about putting Simon Saunders from the Morning Star / Freedom in a neck-lock on the 22nd, June 2016, following having been dragged out of the Freedom Bookshop by him and Andy Meinke and then being pinned to the wall in Angel Alley by Compañero Saunders and ten other comrades.
The trouble with this argument is that the original application to do a talk on blacklisting came from me as Secretary of Tameside TUC, and by banning me they Liverpool Anarchist Bookfair is blissfully unaware that it is blocking the participation of a North West trade union body. In short, the Liverpoll Anarchist Bookfair Collective failed to cover itself with glory yesterday.
* The Keystone Cops (often spelled "Keystone Kops") were fictional, humorously incompetent policemen, featured in several silent film slapstick comedies produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917.
It then gives some examples: 'Oppressive language, literature or attitudes that insult, express prejudices or reinforce preconceptions about a group of people that are marginalised, disadvantaged or oppressed by mainstream society are not welcome.'
Then the organisers typically offer us a list of taboo topics: 'racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and classism' .
The dogma of what can only be defined as a totalitarian epistle to the glories of 'thought crime' is delightfully documented in the final paragraph where it says: 'Don't make assumptions (based on, for example, race, pronouns, class, sexual orientation etc.)
One would be tempted to say all this is characteristic of medieval thinking that one might find in the Catholic Church before Martin Luther to having wayward and sinful thoughts, but it is more totalitarian than that in that it seeks to extend its bans and gags in a style of Soviet proportions in which the required terminology may change from overnight if not sooner.
The Safer spaces document says 'we refuse to normalise prejudice, reinforce oppression or recreate hierarchies' but instead on the ground yesterday Pablito and Maria engineering an good impression of a Fred Karno's Circus or the Keystone Cops* with the thought-policemen / women / transgender / creatures or whatever wading-in to exclude folk without any fair trial or due process. Where is the justice in that comrade Pablito (the hospitality worker) or Compañera Maria (from News from Nowhere bookshop)?
Of course, justice is not what is going on here.
What's going on? Anarcho-Bossism!
What's going on here is 'Malas linguas' (bad mouthing); false accusations; victimsation and yes, if you like blacklisting. We could call this anarcho-Bossism and Blacklisting.At one point as I stood outside looking like a drowned rat in the Liverpool rain, Compañera Maria suggested I go a cafe to warm-up. I told her that in Manchester we were used to standing in the rain on picket lines with Steve Acheson to combat blacklisting at sites like MRI (Manchester Royal Imfirmary) or Fiddler's Ferry. She said this is not the same kind of blacklisting!
I asked her to please explain how this differs from the blacklisting by the bosses?
Compañera Maria didn't reply but looked very uncomfortable.
Later Maria told Milan Rai, the editor of Peace News, that the Liverpool Anarchist Collective had decided to ban me because of an obituary I wrote in 2012 about the former AF member, the teacher Bob Miller in 2011, and something about putting Simon Saunders from the Morning Star / Freedom in a neck-lock on the 22nd, June 2016, following having been dragged out of the Freedom Bookshop by him and Andy Meinke and then being pinned to the wall in Angel Alley by Compañero Saunders and ten other comrades.
The trouble with this argument is that the original application to do a talk on blacklisting came from me as Secretary of Tameside TUC, and by banning me they Liverpool Anarchist Bookfair is blissfully unaware that it is blocking the participation of a North West trade union body. In short, the Liverpoll Anarchist Bookfair Collective failed to cover itself with glory yesterday.
* The Keystone Cops (often spelled "Keystone Kops") were fictional, humorously incompetent policemen, featured in several silent film slapstick comedies produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917.
******
Friday, 7 October 2016
North West Union Boss Banned From Office
ALEC McFadden, a prominent figure in the North West trade union movement, has been forced out of office following allegations of 'inappropriate behaviour’ on a march from Wirral in Merseyside to the Tory Party Conference in Manchester last year.
Mr. McFadden, as well as being a leading member of the Unite union in the North West, has been for many years the North West regional representative on the Joint Consultative Committee of the Trade Union Councils in the UK*. It is now clear that Mr. McFadden has also had to stand down from this position on the TUC-JCC, and that nomination papers have been sent out for the affiliates to the Trade Union Councils in the North West to nominate a replacement for this position as well.
Talking to the Liverpool Echo on the 13th, September this year, Mr. McFadden, a high profile member of Unite, strongly denied any wrong doing.
But following a disciplinary hearing of the Unite union Mr. McFadden has been told that he can’t hold any position of power within the union.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo McFadden said:
‘It is correct that I was subjected to a disciplinary process in relation to charges I firmly denied and continue to reject in their totality.’
McFadden added:
‘There was an agreement that I should attend an equalities training course which I am delighted to do. I have sought details of available courses and am awaiting responses. My membership of Unite was never in doubt and the fact that I remain a member of Unite has been confirmed in recent correspondence from the union.’
He said that he had been contacted by national newspapers ‘which report having been told that I was expelled from my trade union Unite’.Mr. McFadden, as well as being a leading member of the Unite union in the North West, has been for many years the North West regional representative on the Joint Consultative Committee of the Trade Union Councils in the UK*. It is now clear that Mr. McFadden has also had to stand down from this position on the TUC-JCC, and that nomination papers have been sent out for the affiliates to the Trade Union Councils in the North West to nominate a replacement for this position as well.
Talking to the Liverpool Echo on the 13th, September this year, Mr. McFadden, a high profile member of Unite, strongly denied any wrong doing.
But following a disciplinary hearing of the Unite union Mr. McFadden has been told that he can’t hold any position of power within the union.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo McFadden said:
‘It is correct that I was subjected to a disciplinary process in relation to charges I firmly denied and continue to reject in their totality.’
McFadden added:
‘There was an agreement that I should attend an equalities training course which I am delighted to do. I have sought details of available courses and am awaiting responses. My membership of Unite was never in doubt and the fact that I remain a member of Unite has been confirmed in recent correspondence from the union.’
He said: ‘That allegation is false.’
The 4-day People’s March Against Austerity 2015 began in Holylake in the constituency of former Tory MP Ester McVey.
Organised by trade unions, including Merseyside TUC & MrMcFadden, they joined a group of marchers who had started in south Wales.
A Unite union spokesman said: ‘Unite does not tolerate sexual harassment in any form. Unite can conform that the matter has been dealt with in line with the union’s disciplinary procedures. We are supporting the victim & the individual concerned has been removed from holding office in Unite.’
At the time of writing Northern Voices does have the precise details of the alleged offence Mr. McFadden is supposed to have committed, and while we do not condone any form of sexual harassment, we cannot at this moment comment on the basic justification for the charge against Mr. McFadden.
At the time of writing Northern Voices does have the precise details of the alleged offence Mr. McFadden is supposed to have committed, and while we do not condone any form of sexual harassment, we cannot at this moment comment on the basic justification for the charge against Mr. McFadden.
* Trades Union Councils' Joint Consultative Committee:
Trades Union Councils represent an important form of union organisation: local trade union branches acting together in pursuit of a common agenda within the community. The capacity for a reinvigorated Trades Union Council to take action and to mobilise workers in support of campaigns is vast. Trades Union Councils should act on this by working with trade union branches to build organisation locally, but they must also take a lead in forging links with other parts of the community. Crucial to this is identifying issues on which unions and other organisations share a common agenda – an agenda based on the pursuit of social justice.
Our argument has to be that only through union strength can we win rights at work and deliver a better quality of life for people throughout society. Trades Union Councils need to make the case for a broad coalition, which tackles injustices, both in the workplace and in the community.
Our argument has to be that only through union strength can we win rights at work and deliver a better quality of life for people throughout society. Trades Union Councils need to make the case for a broad coalition, which tackles injustices, both in the workplace and in the community.
Thursday, 4 June 2015
White Man's Burden
Comrades
A White Man march is to take place in Liverpool on 15 August. The initial announcement was given in https://libcom.org/news/next-white-man-march-be-held-liverpool-03052015
We are planning to hold a united counter demonstration involving as many interested parties as possible. A previous White Man march took place in Newcastle in March and was met by a counter demonstration of over 4000 trade unionists and anti-fascists. We have asked members of Newcastle Unite to come down and share their experiences with us.
The first meeting of the planning group for the demonstration will take place at 7 pm on 10 June in the Unite building in Liverpool and I am writing to invite your union, anti-fascist organisation or community group to send a representative if you wish to be involved in the planning for this counter demonstration. If you are sending a representative please let us know at merseysidetuc@gmail.com .
Thanking you in anticipation
Yours in solidarity
Liz Epps
Secretary Merseyside TUC
A White Man march is to take place in Liverpool on 15 August. The initial announcement was given in https://libcom.org/news/next-white-man-march-be-held-liverpool-03052015
We are planning to hold a united counter demonstration involving as many interested parties as possible. A previous White Man march took place in Newcastle in March and was met by a counter demonstration of over 4000 trade unionists and anti-fascists. We have asked members of Newcastle Unite to come down and share their experiences with us.
The first meeting of the planning group for the demonstration will take place at 7 pm on 10 June in the Unite building in Liverpool and I am writing to invite your union, anti-fascist organisation or community group to send a representative if you wish to be involved in the planning for this counter demonstration. If you are sending a representative please let us know at merseysidetuc@gmail.com .
Thanking you in anticipation
Yours in solidarity
Liz Epps
Secretary Merseyside TUC
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Liverpool TUC discuss 'Boys on the Blacklist'
LIVERPOOL Trade Union Council (TUC) have invited three speakers from Tameside Trade Union Council to talk about the book 'Boys on the Blacklist'.
Liverpool TUC meeting,
at Jack Jones House,
7pm, Thursday 15th, January 2015
(5minutes from Lime Street station).
The speakers will include the two authors of the 'Boys on the Blacklist and Graham Bowker, who is one of the lads featured in the book. The book is an historical ethnography about five activist electricians from Greater Manchester, who by force of circumstances began to campaign against blacklisting in the British building trade over ten years ago in 2003.
The speakers will include the two authors of the 'Boys on the Blacklist and Graham Bowker, who is one of the lads featured in the book. The book is an historical ethnography about five activist electricians from Greater Manchester, who by force of circumstances began to campaign against blacklisting in the British building trade over ten years ago in 2003.
Copies of 'Boys on the Blacklist' to will be on sale as requested by the organisers of the event.
The event is being advertised in Merseyside and Manchester. This is a monthly delegate meeting of Liverpool TUC and is open, as always, to strikers, anti-cuts activists, students etc.
There will also be other items on the agenda; such as report from Liverpool Against the Cuts, which Liverpool TUC helped to set up three years ago, see motion Old Swan Against the Cuts moved. The conference proposed will be held in February and all who are fighting cuts will be welcome.
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