Blacklist Support Group Day of Action

BLACKLIST Support Group (including 4 UNITE EC members) occupying London offices of Skanska was just one of the highlights of the Day of Action against Blacklisting which included protests against blacklisting firms across the UK and ended in lobbies of parliament in Westminster and Holyrood.

Skanska occupied: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFad_ATewmg&feature=share

Brighton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHFACj6ZLiw

Scotland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wb4LdIS8hk&feature=youtu.be

London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuDoS4BUz_Y&feature=share

https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-9046-Continuing-the-fight-for-blacklist-justice#.WisL0LacbeQ

Every parliamentarian who attended the events at Westminster & Holyrood, including John McDonnell, Richard Leonard, Jack Dromey, Chris Stephens, Neil Findlay, Laura Piddock, Rebecca Long Bailey, Angela Rayner, Louise Haig, Jon Ashworth, Chuka Umunna and many others publicly called for 3 key demands:

• Full public inquiry into blacklisting
  
• Blacklisting to be made a criminal offence
  
• No publicly funded contracts for firms involved in blacklisting

Great contributions from Tony Sweeney, Paul Filby and Shrewsbury campaigners to keep the MPs and unions on their toes. As acknowledged by Gail Cartmail, UNITE AGS, nothing will ever be achieved unless the rank and file keep pushing for it. 

Blacklisting in the gig economy on ITV: https://www.itv.com/news/2017-12-06/gig-economy-worker-blacklisted-after-employment-rights-court-case/

Spycops inquiry latest: torture, human rights, secrecy, imbalance of power and a complaint to the United Nations  

https://paper.li/tombfowler/1448144109#/

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-93bd-Mitting-inquiry-wont-release-name-or-alias-of-spook-accused-of-spying-on-Stephen-Lawrences-family#.WisJ6bacbeS

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2017/12/08/pressure-mounting-inquiry-reveal-names-undercover-police-officers/

https://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2017/12/08/undercover-police-officers-how-far-does-their-legal-liability-go/

https://policespiesoutoflives.org.uk/deceived-women-launch-sexism-complaint-to-united-nations-against-uk-government-undercover-policing/

https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-ac7b-Spies-victims-take-sexism-claim-to-UN#.Wi5nKCOcbeQ

http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2017/12/09/women-deceived-spycops-launch-un-case/

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/help-victims-of-police-spying/

Blacklist Support Group

book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

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Blacklisting & Construction Union Collusion Claim?

BELOW is the full text of the original Open Letter dated December 20, 2016, which may have forced the hand of Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, to agree to commission a barrister to examine allegations that union officials colluded with a covert blacklisting operation financed by major firms(with more names added):

OPEN LETTER FROM BLACKLISTED CONSTRUCTION WORKERS:

WE the undersigned, are writing this open letter in the spirit of fraternal debate amongst members of the newly merged UCATT / UNITE construction union.
The upsurge in industrial militancy in the last few years demonstrates that when the official union works alongside rank and file activists, it is possible to mobilise workers even in a hostile environment. The merger offers an opportunity to start anew the fight against the appallingly high fatality rates and casualization of the construction industry by combining the best traditions of the two unions.
However, one issue threatens to cause internal friction: possible union collusion in blacklisting.
Some years ago, both UCATT and UNITE carried out internal investigations into possible union involvement in blacklisting. But that was at a time when barely any of the documentation was available.
Since the High Court, all that has changed. The employers were forced to provide witness statements and disclose 40 years worth of documentary evidence. It is now in the public domain that officials in both unions were recorded as the source of information on Economic League and Consulting Association blacklist files. Some of those named, remain senior officials in UNITE and UCATT to this day. Every union activist in construction knows who the named officials are, as does every major employer.
The leadership of both unions have now seen the evidence: discussions about those officials potentially implicated in blacklisting or with overly cosy relationships with industrial relations managers has been part of the behind the scenes discussions in the run up to the merger.
The High Court litigation won a multi-million pound settlement for blacklisted workers. We fully acknowledge and recognise the tremendous legal, political and industrial campaigns that the unions have undertook.
But compensation is not the same as justice: there has still been no-one held accountable for their actions. We remain resolute in calling for a public inquiry into blacklisting. But that is for a future Corbyn government. Now is the time to put our own house in order.
We the undersigned call upon the new UNITE construction section to engage an independent legal expert to carry out a thorough investigation of the allegations relating to union collusion in blacklisting, with a remit drawn up in conjunction with the blacklisted workers. If the implicated officials are completely innocent, then this is their opportunity to clear their name once and for all.  But if the independent investigation concludes that there is a case to answer, then the union should take the appropriate disciplinary action. We are not looking for a witch-hunt, we simply want answers into possible union collusion in order to avoid repeating mistakes of the past.
This issue has haunted the union for years and until it is prepared to act, it will continue to be a running sore that hinders building unity in the newly merged union. We need to unite in order to fight against unscrupulous employers and the Tories, but the newly merged union needs to start with a clean slate.
We urge members to please attend your branch or regional meetings, and send a motion in support of an independent investigation to the UNITE EC.

Yours fraternally:

Blacklist Support Group

Construction Rank and File (national)

(plus in a personal capacity)

Steve Acheson – ex-UNITE branch secretary & safety rep

Dave Ayre – ex-Crook UCATT branch secretary

Royston Bentham – ex-UCATT steward & secretary UNITE Liverpool construction

Graham Bowker – treasurer UNITE Manchester contracting branch

Graeme Boxall – branch secretary UNITE London construction branch

Ian Bradley – UNITE London contracting branch

Terry Brough – ex-UCATT North West Regional Council

John Bryan – retired Bermondsey UCATT

Daniel Collins – UNITE London construction branch

John Connolly – UNITE Liverpool

Paul Crimmins – ex-UCATT branch secretary & steward

Dan Dobson – ex-UNITE SE construction branch secretary

Stewart Emms – ex UCATT full time officials

Peter Farrell – UCATT, Construction Safety Campaign

John Flannaghan – ex-UCATT, now UNITE

Jack Fawbert – ex-UCATT convener

Lee James Fowler – ex-offshore safety rep, UNITE

George Fuller – ex-UCATT safety rep

Jim Grey – Jubilee Line steward, UNITE London contracting

Jim Harte – chair UNITE Combine Committee

Brian Higgins – ex-UCATT Eastern Regional Council & branch secretary

Kev Holmes – chair, UNITE Manchester construction branch

Stewart Hume – UNITE construction NISC

John Jones – ex-UCATT London Regional Council

Tony Jones – UNITE Manchester construction branch

Bill Kaye – UNITE Eastern Region

Steve Kelly – Jubilee Line steward, ex-UNITE branch secretary

Stephen Kennedy – Jubilee Line steward, UNITE

Greig McArthur – UNITE construction NISC

Frank Morris –UNITE EC member for construction

Tony O’Brien – ex-UCATT Southwark convenor & branch secretary

Jason Poulter – secretary UNITE Manchester construction branch

Jim Ryan –Crossrail steward, UNITE London contracting

Tony Seaman – UNITE construction NISC

Pete Shaw – UNITE construction RISC, Combine committee

Dave Smith – ex-UCATT branch secretary & London Regional Council

Frank Smith – ex-UCATT branch secretary & steward

Billy Spiers – chair UNITE construction NISC, ex-AMICUS EC member

Tony Sweeney- ex-UCATT Liverpool convener

Colin Trousdale – ex-UNITE NW Region RISC

Victor Williams – Unite construction

Grenfell Fire Sheds Light on Unfair Society

& the British Building Trade

LAST month, the National Rank & File construction workers held a conference in Manchester at which a booklet. which formed part of the theme of the conference, was promoted entitled 'BUILDING WORKERS INTO BEGGARS'.
This week the Grenfell fire illuminated some of the most telling problems of modern society not just in Britain but throughout the world.

Yesterday, the Financial Times ran an editorial, which one former communist told me was better than anything in the Morning Star; the FT leader writer wrote:

'The tower's  blackened silhouette looming above London's most affluent enclaves, is rapidly becoming a symbol of the divisions in British society.  The tragedy is fuelling resentment over inequality over the inequality and impact of austerity on the poorest.  It represents a serious political threat to a prime minister struggling to assert her authority.... Yet the disaster is also causing disquiet across the world in cities where high rise housing is an essential part of contemporary urban living.'

Pre-fabricated construction & low pay

Meanwhile, in their book at the building worker's Manchester Rank & File conference Dr. Brian Parker and Peter Shaw, a Technical Member of  the Institute of Technology wrote in their introduction to their booklet 'BUILDING WORKERS INTO BEGGARS' :

'The UK construction industry has a long-established, and rarely broken history of low basic wages, employment casualisation, bonus and incentive pay reliance, low trade union density as well as persistently high serious injury and fatality rates.'

The Parkin and Shaw report continues:

''.... over the last four decades {construction) has been in many ways transformed by increased mechanisation, modular and pre-fabricated systems of construction methods and pre-site assembly of many electrical and mechanical services systems.... Over the same period the employers have consistently attempted to further deregulate the construction industry's labour market by an outright assault on skilled (mainly) electrician's pay grades...'

This brief report explains how it arose from discussions at the National Construction Rank & File executive 'concerning the plight of younger construction workers, who due to [the] low entry level ...of in-course training pay, find themselves excluded from an already out of control housing market.'

What this report is outlining is that the lads (and it is mainly lads) that build the houses in this country can't afford to live in them, and that on the technical aspect the book is highlighting that today 'pre-fabricated systems of construction.. and pre-site assembly (methods)' are being used.

The Devil of Deregulation

The National Rank & File construction worker's booklet report is naturally concerned about the 'deregulation' of skills, pay and conditions.  The Financial Times editor is worried about the deregulation applied generally to the building industry.

The FT warns the government that this (Grenfell Tower's Fire) 'should serve as a warning to anyone in government who still believes in deregulation measured on an absurd "one in three out" numerical basis, as an ideological goal.'

Yesterday's FT editorial concludes:

'The fire that swept through King's Cross underground station in 1987 prompted tougher regulation, a huge progamme of works to make the tube network safer and a fundamental rethink of approaches to fire safety.  The towering inferno in North Kensington was a tragedy that could almost certainly have been prevented and demands a similar response.'

At the time on the Lisbon earthquake on November 1, 1755, the greater part of the city of Lisbon, Portugal, was destroyed, sixty thousand were said to have lost their lives, and the property damage, although it cannot be estimated accurately, was of course enormous.  But the Lisbon earthquake was what some call an 'Act of God', the Grenfell fire is not.  Because of the sociological circumstances of the time the Lisbon earthquake caused tremendous theological disputes over the nature of God and the responsibility of the Pope, not least between the French philosophers Rousseau and Voltaire. 

A leading letter in the FT yesterday from Prof. Christopher Hall writing about the Grenfell fire said:  'The fact of this fire is a regulatory failure of government.  It is particularly damning that this failure occurred in public housing, where government must be the guarantor of safety for tenants who may have little choice where they live.' 

Pro. Hall then claims that with regard to the 'lethal danger of combustible materials and unimpeded cavities on the exterior of buildings' that '[i]t is elementary to avoid such features, but it requires alert and expert regulators to keep abreast of changes in construction methods and materials.'

Alternatively, we could always adopt Jean-Jacques Rousseau's recommendation provided following the Lisbon earthquake:

'(That) if men had abandoned city life and returned to nature rather than congregating in Lisbon, the result would have been different. "Admit," wrote Rousseau, "that it was not nature's way to crowd together 20,000 houses with 6 or 7 stories each, and if all the inhabitants of this large city had been dispersed more equally, the damage would have been much less, maybe nil."

Ian Allinson's Thoughts for Unite's Future etc.

by Ian Allinson

MY provisional thoughts are that we should establish some ongoing organisation within Unite. I think it is important that this isn’t primarily focused on elections – it shouldn’t be a rival to the United Left, but occupy a position more like the Construction Rank and File which includes members who are and are not United Left supporters.  Though I disagreed with their stance, many good activists have backed Len McCluskey in the current election and members need all of us to work together after the election.
If its focus isn’t internal elections, what could such an organisation do? Some possibilities, depending on the views and commitment of those involved, could include:

1. Putting like-minded activists in touch with each other on the basis of region, industry or issue.
2. Acting as an umbrella organisation supporting groups of activists in particular industries pushing for a more robust approach to specific industrial issues e.g. to reject bad deals, raise neglected issues or challenge partnership arrangements.
3. If I’m not elected as General Secretary, can we as activists implement some of the pledges anyway? For example a regular bulletin highlighting disputes, campaigns and other information; or collecting case studies of our successes?
4. Campaigning to change Unite Policies and Rules.
5. Getting experts and activists together to thrash out effective responses to specific issues affecting many sectors e.g. performance management.

In addition to the issues raised in the election campaign, many members have been raising the need to reform Unite’s election processes, for example:

• Control of campaign spending. Are the huge sums spent by the two establishment candidates in this campaign external interference in our democratic process? Or are they from Unite funds? Does anyone seriously think members expect hundreds of thousands of pounds of their money to be spent promoting candidates rather than promoting their interests?
• A level playing field on access to and use of branch, activist and member data to strike the right balance between trying to engage members and preventing them being spammed by candidates with privileged access.
• Official hustings so that all members can engage directly with the debates.
• Change from First Past The Post to Single Transferable Vote (as used by many unions) so members can vote for the candidates they want without fear of “splitting the vote?

 Many of the ideas put forward in our campaign have gained wide support – not just from those who voted for me.

• All meaningful change comes from below, and all meaningful change is the result of collective effort. So how can we most effectively take forward our ideas after the campaign?
  The ian4unite campaign is organising four post-election meetings to discuss this. If you want to push forward the broad agenda I’m campaigning for you are welcome at these meetings no matter who you have supported in the election:
  
• Saturday 6 May: 1:30 – 3pm, Avant Garde, 34-44 King Street Glasgow G1 5QT [Facebook event]
  
• Sunday 7 May: 2-4pm, Peterloo Room, Mechanics Centre, 103 Princess St (Major St entrance), Manchester, M1 6DD [Facebook event]
• Saturday 13 May: Alumni Lecture Theatre, Room 110, SOAS Senate House, Paul Webley Wing, Malet Street, London, WC1 7HU [Facebook event]
• Sunday 14 May: 3-5pm, Briar Rose, 25 Bennetts Hill, Birmingham B2 5RE [Facebook event]

Download leaflet for post-election meetings

Manchester Rank & File Meeting

Comrades

The next meeting of the Rank and File will be held on:

Saturday 20th May 2017

in

Mechanics Institute

103 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 6DD

at

12noon - 3pm

Hope to see you all there.

If you haven't voted in the GS and EC elections, please DO IT NOW. Today is the last postal date for it to be in for the 19th April, due to the Easter holiday. A reminder of who our candidates are:

General Secretary:   Len McCluskey

EC Ucatt sector:       Frank Morris, Joe Pisani, Jimmy Tyson and Tony Seaman.

Gerard Coyne is running a particular nasty campaign, with personal attacks, praying on people's fears and using the Sun to get his poisonous message out. This man is not fit to be the head of our union and should be called in to answer serious questions on his actions after this election.​

In solidarity

Jim

Crossrail Dispute

Financial Appeal

Terry Wilson was elected as shop steward 6 weeks ago at  the Tottenham Court road site his employer Laing O'Rourke refused to recognise Terry as the steward they have also denied access to any union officials on their sites for months now and are a well known blacklisting firm , there industrial relations officer is Brian Boyd ex aeeu official. The day after attending a demo over 2nd tier payments Terry  was told he was being transferred to another site which is not part of the crossrail project . The Lor workers cabined up over the dodgy transfer for 2 days last week , and walked off site last Friday.Today at a picket off the site the workers voted to continue the strike and have said they will not return until Terry is allowed to return to the Tottenham Court road site. We cannot allow Lor to get away with their union busting tactics any longer
Please donate to the strike fund
Account name:Unite London Construction LE/0555 Branch
Account number :20276649
Sort Code :608301
Cheques payable to Unite the Union. Send to Peter Kavanagh marked Crossrail dispute Tottenham Court rd
Unite the Union 33-37 Moreland Street London EC1V 8BB
Many thanks in Solidarity National Construction Rank and File

Failure of Vision on the British Left:

Political Leadership and moral decline

 

THE success of the Conservative Party in last week's elections showed up the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the British left in general.  Since the death of the former leader of the British Labour Party Michael Foot, I have been arguing that the Labour Party has for many years been a party that has outlived its mission.  Last week's election result merely confirmed what has been evident for a long time. 

But the failure is not just that of the Labour Party but that of the British left in general, including the trade union movement in this country.  Since the strikes of the miners in the 1980s, the British trade union movement has been industrially a busted flush that has politically looked to the Labour Party to usher in social change.  The unions had no plan or serious strategy of their own other than capturing influence and power through the British Labour Party in government.  That involved them in the rather vulgar prospect of buying political influence through the sponsoring of Members of Parliament.  In the eyes of some of their members this has been a case of throwing good money after bad. 

Last November, at the building worker's Rank and File Conference, I watched closely as one such Scottish Labour MP, Ian Davidson, performed as a honoured guest of the building workers.  Mr. Davidson was then introduced as the M.P. for Glasgow West, and it was he who performed so well when he recently he chaired the Scottish Affairs Select Committee enquiry into blacklisting in the British building trade:  see the books 'Blacklisted: The Secret War Between Big Business & Union Activists' by Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain (price £9.99), and Tameside Trade Union Council's 'Boys on the Blacklist' by me and Derek Pattison (price £3).  In his speech to the building workers Mr. Davidson was careful not to offend the trade unions, some of whose paid officials disgracefully may well have been involved historically both in the enforcement, and supply of intelligence about blacklisting in the construction industry.  Last week after the elections, Ian Davidson was calling on Jim Murphy, the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, to stand down, as he and almost all of the other Scottish Labour M.Ps had lost their seats to the Scottish Nationalists.  Unlike Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, Jim Murphy who performed worse than either is, at the time of writing this, determined to to stay in office. 

Surely it is more than a failure of leadership that has brought about the decline in the fortunes of the Labour Party, and in some respects the labour movement.  It is a systemic failure that is rooted in an underlying lack of imagination and political vision that is common, not just in the trade unions, but on the left in general.   The British left, including the anarchists, seem to fear of self criticism.  On the eve of the election Russell Brand called on his anti-establishment constituency to vote Labour but to no avail.   

Janan Ganesh in the Financial Times last Saturday wrote:

'Elections are decided by fundamentals that take shape years in advance.  The five-week flurry of campaigning at the end might actually be the least significant phase of a parliament.....  But the best campaigners understand that campaigns do not change very much:  they merely uncover what already lurks inchoately in the mind and breast of the electorate.  On that score Labour lost the election long ago.' 

I can remember at the Manchester Labour Party Conference in 2010, when Ed Miliband was anointed as leader of the Labour Party.   At that time it was seen by some, particularly in unions like Unite, as a victory for the left.  It now looks like another dose of what George Elliot in 'Felix Holt: Radical' called 'vain expectations' from which the British left periodically suffer.  As Labour faces another leadership election Janan Ganesh warns:

'Whoever they choose (as leader), there has to be the all-out argument that was dodged in 2010, when the party entered a stupor of mutual reassurance and wishful thinking.'

It is doubtful if either the the Labour Party members or their trade union paymasters understand what is required here.  Unfortunately, Mr. Ganesh doesn't help his case when he writes:

'The consolation is that it (the Labour Party) can choose a  new leader from a promising field.  Andy Burnham, from the left, will offer Milibandism without Miliband.  The more market friendly flank of the party might assemble behind Liz Kendall or Chucka Umunna, the man the Tories fear most.'

 

Not much sign of profound vision or any great social transformation for humanity here.

National Construction Rank & File Meeting

Dear All,

Please note correction to time. Meeting commences at 12.00 noon, not 11.00am as previously stated. Could you please forward to all your contacts. 

National Construction Rank and File Meeting

Dear Comrades, 

You are invited to attend the next meeting of the National Construction Shop Stewards Committee meeting being held at the

The CASA BAR and VENUE,

29 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BQ

(Opposite the Philharmonic Pub, Hope Street)

12.00 noon to 3.00pm on Saturday 10th May 2014.  

You are also invited to attend the peaceful demonstration outside Laing O’Rourke/Alder Hey Hospital site, East Prescot Road, Knotty Ash, Liverpool, Merseyside, L14 5NG at 8.00am on your way to the meeting. All three Construction trade unions have been invited to send two of their Regional Officials to attend the demonstration. We will remain outside the site until 9.30am and then leave for our main meeting. Please encourage others to come along to both events. 

Yours in unity,

Steve Kelly:  Chairperson,  National Committee.