March on the City - We Won't Bail out the Bankers (Today in London)

Students, pensioners and working people are marching in London to the Bank of England today to make it clear to the government and the bankers that we will not pay for their crisis. Assemble outside the Bank of England at 4pm today.

Within a day of confirming £50bn to part-nationalise Britain's biggest banks, this figure was turned into £500bn. There was talk of another £50bn available to the eight largest banks and building societies, another £200bn for short-term borrowing to provide liquidity and a special company to provide up to £250bn in loan guarantees. Did the taxpayer ever get a chance to agree to this change? Or indeed the whole idea of bailing out the banks and the bankers? The short answer is no.

But part of the problem is, so far, "recapitalisation" of the banking industry has done nothing to regain confidence in the markets, let alone being a "bold and far-reaching solution" to the crisis, as Gordon Brown would have us believe. This is because nobody knows the extent of "toxic assets" or where they are located, least of all the government. The FTSE index has lost nearly 19 percent so far this week, just short of the losses during the crash of 1987.

So where does HM Treasury get all this money? Government borrowing means that the taxpayer pays for this crisis. In time this means there will be less money for schools, less money for hospitals and less money for the things that the majority need; that is, unless the government chooses to spend public money on these things. Or, unless the public makes the government spend money on these things.

Even if city bonuses are reduced from their staggering levels, the Centre for Economics and Business Research reports that the forecast for bonuses to be paid out this year is £3.5bn. Billions in company profits among energy companies such as British Gas and supermarkets such as Tesco, combined with rising fuel and food prices by these same companies, is only feeding anger among working people.

Pensioners are also being hit badly by the crisis, with no benefit from the bailout. According to analysts, in the last month alone, retirement savings have lost more than 10% of their value as investors sell their shares to avoid the worst effects of the credit crunch. Ros Altmann, an independent pensions analyst said, "the government's response to the credit crunch is dreadful for pensions. This knee-jerk panic reaction shows no sign of understanding how we got into the mess, nor how to get out of it."

This is why students, pensioners and working people are marching to the Bank of England today to make it clear that we will not pay for their crisis. When it comes to bailing out the banks and the bankers the government can find hundreds of billions of pounds, but when it comes to pensioners freezing in their homes, student poverty, or money for the NHS, the message from the government is that we need to tighten our belts. This is our chance to say no.

Cardiff Council Are Rubbish! Victory to the Bin Men & Women!

Wolfie Smith from North Cardiff Left Alternative reports on the upcoming bin strike on Monday.

Recently City Boss, Rodders (Rodney Berman, Leader of Cardiff Council - Ed.) has been trying to act the hard man facing down the unions. Berman is, of course, singular inappropriate to play the role of hard man as he doth more resemble a petulant child prone to temper-tantrums, but there is a nasty edge to the LibDem/Plaid Council and its attacks on council workers and trade unions: The petulant child is turning into a bully.

A few months ago it was the attempt to introduce a new tough regime for workers who dared to take time off sick, now it is the attempt to impose new shift patterns with no proper consultation.

Traditionally local refuse collectors have done a shift beginning at 7 am and wrapping up at 3 pm at the latest. But now the Council has taken a unililateral decision to change workers contracts and terms of employment, and replace shifts with two new shifts from 6 am to 2 pm, and 2 pm to 10 pm related to the introduction of new weekly food waste collections.

In response, to the failure to properly discuss these changes with the workforce, 90% of GMB members voted to stage a strike beginning on Monday. There seems no recognition from Cardiff Council that working from 2 pm to 10 pm would count as anti-social hours, especially if you have a family (ten minutes to see your kids at the breakfast table?!), and workers should receive a raise in wages accordingly. There also appaars be no recognition of the impact that such a radical change of working patterns might have, and the basic need to be led by workers representatives to facilitate any transition.

More disturbing is the report that our taxpayers money is going to be used by the LibDems and Plaid in Cardiff to pay for scab labour. Why not contact your local councillor to complain? We would also suggest putting signs on your rubbish saying, 'To be collected by GMB members only, Scabs don't touch!'

Left Alternative members and supporters of the People before Profit Charter will be sure to visit picket lines and workers to show support and solidarity for their just cause, for the workers united can never be defeated!

The Evil is Gas Bills - Protest Increased Bills

PROTEST AT THE OFFICES OF BRITISH GAS
NO TO GAS BILL INCREASES & NO TO FUEL POVERTY

Saturday 27 September at 2 pm
British Gas Office
Churchill Way (off Queen Street)
past Capitol arcade

Bring banners, placards, drums . . . people etc.!

*Windfall tax on profits to alieviate burden on poor & fund environmental measures such as house insulation
* Greater regulation and price capping
* Re-nationalisation of the energy companies

This protest is initiated by Cardiff Chartists - Supporters of the People Before Profit Charter & supported by leading city trade unionists, environmentalists, community and social justice campaigners.

The call for a demonstration has also received messages of support, in a personal capacity, from Jill Evans MEP, Leanne Wood AM, Bethan Jenkins AM (Plaid), veteran left wing concillor, Ray Davies (Labour), Cllr Ron Davies, former Welsh Secretary, Jill Gough, National Secretary of CND Cymru, Cymdeithas and many others.

For more information or to sign the Charter, email: cardiffchartists@live.co.uk

The LEFT Alternative fights for Greener Local Councils

Preston City Council voted yesterday to recognise trade union "environmental representatives" to help the council set and meet stringent carbon emission targets. The TUC and its affiliate unions have been actively working towards establishing such reps as part of their Green Workplaces Project.

The motion was part of a radical package proposed by the LEFT Alternative councillor Michael Lavalette (pictured right) and actively supported by left-wing Labour councillors in the city.

The motion also proposes that the council should commit to the principle of establishing a local power company, under local authority control, which will provide cheap, carbon neutral energy to the local population.

Cllr Lavalette, who proposed the motion, said:

This is an incredibly significant motion. When it is implemented - alongside other motions we have passed on public transport systems - it will make Preston one of the greenest cities in Britain. But the motion also puts us in line to be the first significant employer to recognise trade union environmental reps. The unions will be important players if we are to tackle climate change; it is only right that they and their members are given a recognised role in setting and implementing carbon emission targets.

Labour Deputy Leader Matthew Brown added:

Setting up a local power company is a realistic possibility. It allows us to deal with issues associated with climate change and carbon emissions, and, at the same time, allows us to provide cheap fuel for the people of Preston, some of whom are amongst the poorest in the country.

Both councillors said they hoped that the Preston motion would become a model that other councils would follow. The full motion is as follows:

Preston City Council notes:

1. The continuing threat from abrupt climate change.
2. The world's leading scientists and recognised climate change authorities note that if action is not taken to reduce greenhouse gases (CO2 equivalent emissions) within 30 years there is likely to be an irreversible effect on the Global Climate.
3. The Government's Royal Commission on Environment Pollution has predicted that the target reduction in greenhouse gases, expressed as CO2 equivalent emissions, should be 60% by 2050 and 80% by 2100.

Preston City Council further notes:

1. The efforts made by Woking Council to adopt a comprehensive Climate Change Strategy on a scale that is likely to meet The Royal Commission on Environment Pollution targets of 60% reductions of CO2 equivalent emissions by 2050 and 80% by 2100.
2. That Derby Council have a five year strategy to achieve a 25% reduction in carbon emissions and Norwich council have an annual reduction target of 6%.
3. That the TUC (via its Green Workplaces Project) and its affiliate unions are actively campaigning for employers to recognise 'environmental representatives' with a role in setting CO2 reduction targets, initiating workplace environmental audits and educating members on green and sustainability issues.

Preston City Council resolves:

1. To use solar panels on the Town Hall as a means of meeting energy needs and reducing CO2 emissions
2. To commit to the principle of establishing a local power company within Preston, in local authority ownership, to generate power for the area and investigate how this can be implemented.
3. To use sustainable combine heat and power sources of energy in the City Council buildings - discouraging the production of CO2 type gasses.
4. To increase use of photovoltaic and renewable energy
5. To investigate improvements to insulation in all council buildings and workplaces.
6. To incorporate planning policies which will ensure that new developments in the City reduces CO2 equivalent emissions of greenhouse gases.
7. To establish a carbon neutral approach to the future of services and activities within the City
8. To make progress as speedily as possible on the long-delayed City Council travel plan, aimed at reducing car use for travel to work and staff (and member) travel on business.
9. To enter negotiations with all local authority trade unions to recognise environmental representatives, and to establish with the unions the active role of the representatives in achieving the council's carbon emission targets.

Dole Queue Rock

On benefits?

Then voting for a mainstream party is akin to a turkey voting for Christmas: The LEFT Alternative is proud to be the only party that stands up for people on benefits, we welcome unemployed members of the working class into our ranks with open arms.

Had a benefit decision go the wrong way?

Remember to lodge an appeal. Usually you have nothing to loose from an appeal, and appeals sometimes win. You normally only have one month to do that though, so be quick! (There are some exceptions allowed, so consider still appealing even if outside the time limit). Independent medicals can be paid for viathe legal aid scheme, so it can be worth making an appointment with a lawyer also for medical related appeals.

With Economists predicting that unemployment is set to rocket due to the credit crunch, the government has launched an offensive on claimants to make life much harder.

The new welfare reform will see the introduction of 'workfare' where people unemployed for over a year face working for their dole doing 'community service' such as collecting litter of the streets or cleaning graffiti for a fraction of the minimum wage.

Sick and disabled vulnerable people face harsh medical tests by private doctors and increased harrasment in order to claim meagre benefits. There is also the threat of being forced prematurely into work - the new mantra is "work is the best medicine": While sitting down to a morning of Trisha might not help you out of your depression, the LEFT Alternative reckons that neither will doing a shit McJob.

Alongside a mass campaign against welfare reform, traditional working class self-help is needed to help claimants - such as credit-unions, grassroots community welfare schemes, and advocacy to help people appeal - if you have skills in these kind of areas why not get in touch!

Our City is Not For Sale - No to Privatisation

The LEFT Alternative fully supports Cardiff UNISON's campaign against the possible privatisation of council services, which could see rising prices for swimming pools, leisure centres, libraries, theatres and other services: Our city is not for sale, and we will resist the corporate takeover of Cardiff - by any means necessary.

Branch secretary, Mark Turner was quoted last month as saying in the South Wales Echo, privatisation would

"sever the link between democratically elected councillors and the management of the service and replace public control with the control of the market. In other cities in the UK where charitable trusts have been set up to run leisure centres, libraries, swimming pools and theatres they have had to increase ticket and entrance prices to keep afloat. Council services are about people. Inevitably people take second place to profit if the private sector or its methods were to be used in Cardiff.”

In May, when the LibDems and Plaid Cymru formed a coalition to run Cardiff Council they made a public commitment that there would be a "presumption against privatisation", yet in the public "consultation" one of the options being considered, as part of the shake-up of council services, is for the delivery of services to be moved out of the council’s direct control to arms-length organisations and charitable trusts. We urge the ruling parties to keep this pledge.

If you want to know what privatisation would mean in practice, Cardiff UNISON on their website give a glimpse of previous sell-outs:

"Car Parks controlled by Cardiff Council sold to private company

Council now powerless to stop massive price rises seen recently. Profits going into private hands instead of supporting rate payers.

University Hospital of Wales entered into long car park lease with private company

Now unable to comply with Welsh Office requirements to cut patient parking charges for many years. Profits going into private hands instead of supporting patient care.

Suicide victim left in garage for 5 hours

Due to Police now using private firm for FME that do not have manpower to act swiftly. Unlike previous system of using local doctors

Do we want this happening to council services ?
This could happen under the council's 'Partnership for Change'
This is likely to lead to job and service quality losses"

Another Cardiff is possible!

Council Workers Strike

If you are around during the day, there are two events which you can attend to show support for striking council workers, LEFT alternative supporters hope to be out in force!

Wednesday 16 July

Rally at The Point, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay, 11.30am.

Thursday 17 July

Lobby of the Senedd, the Welsh Assembly, Cardiff Bay, 12 noon.

Solidarity Forever! Support the Local Strikes

The politcal elites are using the credit crisis to drive down our wages, they hope to stabilise their profits by squeezing the working class. They seek to impose a cut in living standards on all public sector workers, as the first step in attacking the wages of all working people.

There has been (or will be) strike action across a huge section of the union movement: Teachers, Postal Workers, Civil Servants, Council Workers, Railway workers, Lecturers and others. If all these unions were strike on the same day - a general strike of the public sector - it would turn an economic dispute into a political blow against New Labour.

Brown has been using divide and rule - in his references to public sector workers enjoying privileges that most workers don't enjoy - but if the attack on pay in the public sector succeeds it will send a clear signal to big business to start cutting wages for workers in the private sector: They divide each to conquer all.

Therefore, each individual struggle of a group of workers against the pay freeze is a fight for all working people, because they are part of a fightback against the attempt to impose a cut in living standards and wages on ALL working people.

In our group we have been trying in a modest way to support groups of workers on strike - taking collections at our workplaces for striking workers, setting up an informal network of rank and file unionists, trying to make people aware that these disputes are in defence all working people, and trying to push for co-ordinated strike action. We also seek to build a grassroots alternative to the union bureaucracy and Labour Party link. Sure it's not perfect, but if we can help build a fighting coalition of the working class on some level, then that will be something.

Supporters of the LEFT Alternative will be on strike this week, and others will be visiting picket lines. It's all about basic working class solidarity. For us, any working class people trying to fight back against the bosses merit support.

This strike is taking place against the backdrop of wider unrest. Currently a huge proportion of people in Wales work in the public sector, the attempt at a wage freeze comes at the same time as workers are already feeling the pinch of rising fuel prices, electricity and water bills, rising council tax, rising food prices. We also know that it's not everyone being told to tighten their belts - for the rich, they've never had it so good!

As socialists we support the trade union movement. We believe that if this strike is successful it will build confidence among other workers to organise and improve the lot of our class. People in Britain now work the longest hours for the worst pay in Europe - why? Because the trade union movement was smashed under Thatcher. Supporting these seemingly small disputes is part of rebuilding the combativity of working class organisations so that we can begin to improve the life and conditions of people in Wales and start pushing back against the continued dismantling of the Welfare State and the reforms won in 1945 like free health care and free education. Because of their strategic power under capitalism, workplace organisation is very important, the best weapon for social justice that we have.

The strikes this week are not just a dispute between one group of workers and the council, but rather about working people as a whole bettering themselves through collective organisation and collective struggle.

Support the Strikes!

Two trade union reps are standing for Cardiff Respect under the banner LEFT Party. Vote Joe Redmond in Adamsdown & Karen Tyre in Butetown! You can meet them tommorrow at the NUT strike rally at 10.30 am, St Peter's Hall, St Peter's Road (off City Road) where they will be showing support for striking teachers: THE WORKERS UNITED CAN NEVER BE DEFEATED!

Left List supports call for strike action
22/04/2008

Gordon Brown is facing the biggest political crisis of his premiership over the abolition of the 10 percent income tax band for Britain's lowest earners. There is now serious speculation that he could even be forced from office. But if Brown has found himself in a hole, he has only himself to blame.

It is his commitment to big business and his determination to make the poorest in society pay for growing economic turmoil has led him into this storm. We are both workers who have been hit by Brown's attempts to clamp down on public sector wages - and we are both taking strike action on Thursday of this week to break through his pay limit.

We will be walking out alongside hundreds of thousands of teachers, lecturers, civil service workers, council workers and others.The strike is a great chance for workers to ramp up the pressure on the prime minister. It is a chance for us to put our demands - for decent pay, housing, public services and living standards - at the heart of the political storm that Brown now faces.

The attacks we face are caused by Brown's commitment to policies of profit, privatisation and war. That's why we need a political challenge to New Labour. On Thursday of next week we'll have a chance to show there is an alternative - by voting for the Left List in the London and local elections on 1st May.

The Left List is standing to represent ordinary working people who have been betrayed by New Labour and sold short by all the mainstream parties' challenge to the neoliberal drive of Brown and his New Labour cronies. That's why we're calling on everyone to back our strike this Thursday, 24th April - and to vote Left List on Thursday, 1st May.

Oliur Rahman, East London Respect/Left Party councillor, PCS union member and candidate for London Assembly
Sara Tomlinson, joint branch secretary of Lambeth NUT teachers union (pc)

'A Question of Social Justice'

A report from the Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union Conference by Joe Redmond, Adamsdown RESPECT candidate and workplace environmental union representative. His report of the Heathrow climate camp can be read here

Saturday 9th February 2008 saw the UK’s first national Trade Union conference on climate change, convened by the Campaign against Climate Change and believed also to be the first of its kind in the world. Hundreds of activists and trade unionists packed the main hall of University College London Union to discuss the role of unions in developing just and equitable solutions to the potential threat of climate change, an ecological catastrophe that threatens billions of people especially the poorest and most vulnerable - who will inevitably be its victims. RESPECT Environment spokesperson Elaine Graham Leigh called it ‘a question of social justice’ and was one of many speakers to cite the £50billion investment in Northern Rock and several billions more into the so-called ‘War on Terror’ as draining taxpayers money from investment in alternative energy sources that would break our dependence on fossil fuels.

While capitalism and its roots in the industrial revolution are undeniably the causes of the problem, governments and the international business community rely on the free market to provide the solution through carbon exchange schemes and development of new technologies. This is clearly double speak from the ruling classes who are more than aware that unqualified freedom creates exactly the opposite – with restraints to trade removed there is nothing to stop the strongest from oppressing the weak (as successive announcements of record profits for oil and gas companies demonstrate). Author and socialist Jonathan Neale reminded activists at the conference that the whole world economy was re-drawn for the Second World War – and a similar seismic shift is needed to tackle climate change.

With industry the main contributor to CO2 emissions, and government nowhere near to applying meaningful regulation, workers must pressure their employers to make change. Chris Bough from the PCS union said that environmental impact is a logical extension of health and safety and echoed the belief of many delegates that green reps should be given legal status. He added that unions should promote learning peers to educate management and co-workers.

The role of trade unionists

For many trade unions and their leadership the environment has historically been a divisive issue – workers are generally told their jobs are under threat - however, a transition to ‘green collar’ jobs would see workers trained towards a future in a low carbon economy. This was envisioned by Lucas Aerospace workers in the 1970’s, who attempted to defend their jobs by calling for an end to the production of military goods and a switch to high technology equipment like kidney dialysis machines. (Lucas workers also argued that the radar systems used in fighter planes could be used for sight aid for blind people).

The workforce would be much happier with this from the point of view of jobs and the quality of work.

Under capitalism the world's resources and wealth are owned and used to make profit for the wealthy. Money is invested where profit is highest and the fulfilment of human needs is always a secondary priority. The Lucas Plan challenged many of the basic assumptions of capitalism: why should profits come before people? What value have weapons in a world with so many other pressing needs?

Affordable jobs and homes

Providing good jobs locally would help minimalise day to day travel (particularly by single car users) and reduce the stress of commuting. Investment rather than privatisation in public transport would decrease pollution and begin to tackle the health problems caused by the amount of traffic in cities. Spiralling fuel and food costs only further diminish the quality of life for workers, especially in an era of public sector pay freezes (which are locked below the level of inflation – effective pay cuts in the real world).

A strong presence of teachers at the conference was reflected in the reception granted to Christine Burr (NUT) who said that 14% of pupils are delivered by parents in private transport. A lack of school buses coupled with closures, particularly in rural areas, has only exacerbated this problem. She added that schools are forced to tarmac important recreational spaces to accommodate temporary classrooms and parking spaces for teachers.

RESPECT believes that people should be able to live near to where they work or study and should be able to do so in decent quality council housing without having to pay extortionate rents dictated by the property market, driven by New Labour’s love of buy-to-let mortgages – which place no responsibility on landlords while offering tenants no security. Developers in major cities continue to build high price luxury flats which stand empty while working families endure endless council and housing association waiting lists.

Emergency

Matt Wrack (FBU) highlighted the problems faced by Fire & Rescue Services in responding to emergencies like last year’s nationwide floods. Insurers have only this week said they will not pay out in such cases in future and that developers should think twice about building on flood plains – offering small consolation to people who cannot afford to buy a home elsewhere! Fire & Rescue are not tasked with responding but have to since no-one else can. FBU members believe the Fire Service Act should be changed to recognise this and include training and money to deal with these increasingly regular incidents. Perhaps in older days the army would have rolled out the Green Goddesses (as during the fire workers’ strike a couple of years ago) however they are too busy overseas looking after our ‘energy security’.

It’s the individual, stupid!

Instead of addressing these many problems, we are told we are failing in our individual responsibility to the planet. We are told to switch off our televisions and buy energy saving light bulbs, we are told to recycle, as if our habits of consumption are solely to blame rather than the society that created and depends on them.

By doing this the government gets away with doing nothing and creates among individuals the familiar state of denial that Mark Lynas describes in his book ‘Six Degrees’: “There is the metaphor of displaced commitment… denial of responsibility ("I am not the main cause of this problem"); condemnation of the accuser ("You have no right to challenge me"); rejection of blame ("I've done nothing wrong"); ignorance ("I don’t know the consequences of my actions"); powerlessness ("Nothing I do makes much difference"); comfort ("It is too difficult for me to change my behaviour"); and "fabricated constraints" ("There are too many impediments").

Direct Action

John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, bemoaned his own party’s record. He called for re-nationalisation of railways and energy companies and invited anyone and everyone to come to the next climate camp at Heathrow Airport – to protest and take direct action against the planned third runway which would see air traffic double and several hundred of his constituents forced from their homes.

Since 2005 Campaign against Climate Change has organised annual Global Days of Protest, and 65 countries were involved last year. In London, tens of thousands took part and will do so again at the next national demonstration on December 6th. If politicians are not prepared to act then we must go onto the streets and demand that they do!

RESPECT’s Nine Point Plan to Save the Planet

* Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by at least 90% by 2050 and massively increased investment in renewables

* No nuclear power

* Cheap, integrated, publicly-owned public transport system, run for need not profit

* A new binding international treaty to ensure real cuts in greenhouse gas emissions

* Halt airport expansion and end the £9 billion tax-break to the airlines

* Increase public investment to make all homes energy efficient, and all new homes sustainably designed

* Localise food production, packaging and distribution where possible, to cut food miles

* High-quality facilities to maximise recycling and no incinerators

* No biofuel production, which takes land needed for food crops and drives up food prices

Who Should Be Blamed for the Missing Discs?

Marianne Owens is a member of Rhondda RESPECT and currently Vice-Chair of the PCS Union in Wales, she writes in a personal capacity.

Following the loss of 25 million peoples personal records by the government, over 6,000 pensioners personal data was lost in an office in Cardiff. This is clearly linked to job cuts. Cardiff RESPECT was proud to visit PCS picket lines during the strike last May against attacks on civil service workers jobs and conditions.

The news that 25 million tax payers’ records have been lost by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) comes as no surprise to anyone, like me, who works for the organisation.

For several years our PCS union has been warning that the relentless “efficiency measures” being imposed by the department would lead to disaster. We are working under extreme pressure as jobs are cut, our offices are closed and there are weekly announcements of “procedural changes” designed to cut costs and corners.

One particular efficiency program that PCS members have been in dispute over has led to mountains of unopened post piling up – we believe that there are a million pieces of mail sitting unopened in dusty warehouses.

Staff training has been slashed. When I started work at HMRC five years ago, I received 16 weeks training, now new staff get a maximum of only four weeks.

What has incensed me most about the whole discs affair is the news that the government is holding a junior official – on administrative officer grade, and therefore earning around £14,000 a year – responsible for the scandal.

I find it unbelievable that an employee at this level would be solely responsible for the dispatch of such sensitive information. I am a grade higher than this, and I am barely allowed to sneeze without permission.

It is a disgrace that an ordinary low paid civil service worker, who would have been following orders, is used as a scapegoat for a national scandal while chief executive Paul Gray is allowed to resign, keep his pension, and no doubt a substantial pay off.

Let’s lay the blame squarely where it belongs – at the feet of our ex-chancellor and new prime minister Gordon Brown.

Marianne Owens, PCS R&C group executive committee member (pc)

RESPECT builds Trade Union Support for the Anti-War Movement

A group of health workers from South Wales went as an official delegation to the recent International World against War conference hosted by the UK Stop the War Coalition which saw over 1,000 leading activists in the global anti-war movement descend on London to debate the way forward for the movement.

Blackwood RESPECT member and Shop steward Ian Thomas, who helped to organise the group, said,
“Our union branch unanimously backed this event. And by raising the Stop the War in the union, we’ve made the union more relevant.”

Nursing assistant Davide said,
“It’s important to get everyone together to hear different opinions and experiences”.

Selena, who is international officer for the Cardiff Unison union, agreed, “Last year we sent two delegates to this conference. This time there are five.”

Gareth, who had not been to a Stop the War event before, said,
“I’ve come to educate myself about the issues.”

RESPECT believes in building fighting trade unions capable of fighting the system on all fronts. We want to build a labour movement that not only fights for decent pay and conditions for all working people but also takes up political issues such as war, racism and islamophobia, the defence of asylum seekers and climate change to build a new society.

Our Bus Service is not for Sale!

“While I understand a minority shareholding would be involved, I believe this would be the thin edge of the wedge and will open the door to full privatisation of Cardiff Bus which will gradually reduce the service to customers.

Any private company would expect a return of at least 15 per cent on turnover.

The only way that can be met is through increased fares and/or a large reduction in marginal services which Cardiff Bus operates as a sort of dividend for the owners, the people of Cardiff: This looks like a fire sale to deal with a short-term financial position." - Steve Pantak, Chairman of Cardiff Bus

The corporate take-over of Cardiff continues unabated. The neo-Liberal democrats cuts and privatisation agenda reveals that they are "yellow Tories". First school cuts, then the Library cuts, now a brutal attempt at privatising the local bus network.

Cardiff Council is currently talking about selling off a 40% slice of the Cardiff Bus Company - this could pave the way for total privatisation of one of the few remaining Bus services in the country still in public ownership under the municipal control of local government.

A Bus service run for profit could see price rises and vital services cut.

RESPECT defends the idea that local bus services should be publicly owned and democratically accountable to local government. This is the only basis on which an integrated, low carbon transport network can be built. We campaign for free or cheap public transport available to all workers as an alternative to car-mageddon.

The fruits of bus privatisation have already been seen across the UK. In the early 80s when the Tories privatised and derregulated public transport, they said it would increase competition, drive down prices and the travelling public would benefit. Instead workers have faced increased prices, fewer services, a lack of accountability, and incessant cuts and timetable changes.

The long-term fruits of privatisation and de-regulation have been private bus monopolies seizing control of the market throughout the country by driving out smaller operators.

In order to satisfy private operators’ endless thirst for increased profits, they have to constantly cut or remove the less profitable services. These are often the routes that provide a social service, linking isolated local communities and providing a lifeline for many people, especially the elderly.

For corporations run for profit this is of no concern, often declining passenger numbers are then used as an excuse for further rounds of cuts. The knock-on effects are considerable with many vulnerable people left isolated in their communities.

But there is another fundamental issue. When bus services are in public ownership it is much easier to challenge cuts in services, price rises, and provision, but once they are privatised there is no longer consultation or accountability. The bottom line is that the Bus Companies are free to do whatever they want with only their profit margins to worry about.

RESPECT campaigns for the extension of democracy in our society. Decisions on the provision and implementation of local services such as public transport must be made by people accountable to the communities they represent. Therefore we will be building a mass campaign to defend our public services:

Our Bus Service is Not For Sale

Women - Free to Work Harder

The following article by Lindsey German was printed in today's Guardian.

Lindsey is National Convenor of the UK Stop the War Coalition, RESPECT candidate for London Mayor & Author of "Material Girls: Women, Men & Work"

The women's economic miracle has passed largely unremarked, but increasing numbers of women over the past two decades have contributed more to global economic growth than either new technology or the rapidly industrialising giants of China and India. In the 1970s many of us thought working outside the home would be liberating for women, freeing them from financial dependence on men and allowing them roles beyond those of wife and mother.

It hasn't worked out that way. Women's labour has been bought on the cheap, their working hours have become longer and their family commitments have barely diminished. Yesterday's G2 special investigation into how employers treat parents highlighted companies offering decent maternity packages, but many firms refused to take part, and the question remained whether a woman's career would survive childbirth.

The reality for most working women is a near impossible feat of working ever harder. There have been new opportunities for some women: professions once closed to them, such as law, have opened up. Women managers are commonplace, though the top boardrooms remain male preserves. Professional and managerial women have done well out of neoliberalism. Their salaries allow them to hire domestic help.

But more women face worsening conditions: the supermarket or call centre workers; the cooks, cleaners and hairdressers; all find themselves in low-wage, low-status jobs with no possibility of paying to have their houses cleaned by someone else. Even those in professions once-regarded as reasonably high-status, such as teaching, nursing or office work, have seen that status pushed down with longer hours, more regulation and lower pay.

Inequality is not just between men and women, but increasingly between "top" women and those at the lower levels of wages and conditions. Class divisions between women appear in starker form than they did a generation ago. Indeed, those at the top often rely on the labour of those at the bottom to sustain their lifestyles.

Role models such as cabinet ministers Yvette Cooper (three children) or Ruth Kelly (four) do not face the problems of most working women. They receive salaries of three or four times the average female wage, have far longer holidays, access to drivers and other benefits. Estimates have put the cost of employing a nanny at £35,000 a year. Even the cost of a full-time nursery place, at £10,000 a year in London, is close to many women's annual wage.

Women's right to work should not mean a family life where partners rarely see each other or their children. Yet a quarter of all families with dependent children have one parent working nights or evenings, many of them because of childcare problems.

The legislative changes of the 1960s and 1970s helped establish women's legal and financial independence, but we have long come up against the limits of the law. A more radical social transformation would mean using the country's wealth - much of it now produced by women - to create a decent family life. A 35-hour week and a national childcare service would be a start.

It is hard to imagine the major employers conceding such demands. Every gain that women have made at work has had to be fought for.

Women's lives have undergone a revolution over the past few decades that has seen married women, and mothers in particular, go from a private family role to a much more social role at work. But they haven't left the family role behind: now they are expected to work even harder to do both.

Socialism proposes the transformation of human beings

Socialism proposes the transformation of human beings into living poems - Octavio Paz, Mexican surrealist

BELLS OF RHYMNEY
(Idris Davies)

Oh what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Is there hope for the future?
Cry the brown bells of Merthyr.
Who made the mine owner?
Say the black bells of Rhondda.
And who robbed the miner?
Cry the grim bells of Blaina.

They will plunder willy-nilly,
Cry the bells of Caerphilly.
They have fangs, they have teeth,
Say the loud bells of Neath.
Even God is uneasy,
Say the moist bells of Swansea.
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Put the vandals in court
Say the bells of Newport.
All would be well if, if, if,
Cry the green bells of Cardiff.
Why so worried, sisters, why?
Sang the silver bells of Wye.
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney.

Idris Davies was self-taught. His poetry chronicles the decay and social breakdown of Wales in the 20s and 30s . He began work as a miner after leaving school at the age of 14. The defeat of the General Strike of 1926 (see poem below) broke his spirit. He took a correspondence course and left Wales to become a teacher in England.

As to the bells themselves the bells of Brecon and Wye are off the South Wales coalfield, which meant that they could be happy without the mass unemployment endured by the coalfield to the south. Neath is in the anthracite coalfield of South Wales, which didn't experience the depression of the 20s and 30s so severely. Caerphilly is just off the coalfield. Many miners from Merthyr and Rhymney traveled to pits in the Neath valley at that time. At this time the British government was talking of closing down Merthyr and transporting the people to England- hence the brown bells. This is not a 'song' by miners this is a poem by a great poet who happened to be a miner that expressess a great biterness and hurt.The poem was borrowed by an American singer. Nothing wrong with that.

The miners were called, "the worms of the earth". The poem ends defiantly.

Do you remember 1926? That summer of soups and speeches,
The sunlight on the idle wheels and the deserted crossings,
And the laughter and the cursing in the moonlit streets?
Do you remember 1926? The slogans and the penny concerts,
The jazz-bands and the moorland picnics,
And the slanderous tongues of famous cities?
Do you remember 1926? The great dream and the swift disaster,
The fanatic and the traitor, and more than all,
The bravery of the simple, faithful folk? "
Ay, ay, we remember 1926," said Dai and Shinkin,
As they stood on the kerb in Charing Cross Road, "
And we shall remember 1926 until our blood is dry."

Solidarity with the Posties!

As Postal workers enter their third bout of strike action, many pickets lines have seen solidarity visits from other workers.

Karen Tyre, who was a RESPECT candidate in May and is a Unison union steward in the Vale of Glamorgan council took some muffins down to the picket line at the mail centre in Cardiff.

She told RESPECT,

“The pickets were very positive. I was very warmly welcomed and we discussed the need for united action across the public sector.

I have done two collections round my building which I have taken to different post workers. The second collection I did was for the counter workers who work in the post office next to the office where I work. I spoke to them in the morning and they seemed a bit down about the dispute, so I took a petition and collection around my office – most people gave money – and took it back that evening. It was a real boost for the post workers.

The collections boost the post workers’ morale, but its also been really good for people in my office to feel part of the fight back. We have our own issues in the council so it has been good to build links.”

Support School Staff: Term Time Pay - No Way!

UNISON members in Cardiff are campaigning for the fair and equal treatment of ALL staff working in schools. RESPECT supports this campaign 110% and will be doing everything we can to publicise it!

Sign the petition here:

http://www.cardiffunison.co.uk/schoolpetition.htm

(From UNISON website)

DID YOU KNOW:

Support staff make up around 50% of all employees in Cardiff Schools.

Like teachers, they work term time and take their holidays during the school holidays. Unlike teachers, many don’t get paid for the full year.

School support staff are not in ‘part time’ jobs – so how is justified that they get part time pay?

WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING FOR:

* Equality for all school staff and an end to term time only pay, which means;
* Paid 52 week contracts
* Fair pension entitlement
* Full week = full time status
* A maximised number of paid hours and weeks
* Tackling low and unequal pay and achieving proper levels of reward and career opportunities.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US ?

This is a new campaign but already we are building popular levels of support in Cardiff and nationally within UNISON. On top of organised general meetings for all school members, over 60 UNISON members are now signed up as contacts in their school to receive regular information. The campaign is being co-ordinated by UNISON officers, the UNISON Cardiff schools convenor, stewards and school support staff members who make up a campaign steering committee.

SOME COMMENTS FROM UNISON'S PETITION:

"Schools work as teams. All staff contracts should be on similar terms and conditions. 52-week contracts for teachers should mean the same for all support staff. That comes from a teacher. The inequality must stop now!"

"Second class employees First class workers"

"Equality for all"

"I have worked for 20 years in the school but my pension is worked out as 13 years due to being paid for 38 weeks instead of 52."

"Under valued and under paid!"

"Term time workers are just as important as the rest so stop treating them like their not. Equality for all workers now."

"This system discriminates against people ( mainly women) who make a valuable contribution to our children's education, and hence our society. They should be paid in the same way as teachers who they work alongside every day.UNISON is working to end this unequal treatment."

Smash the Pay Freeze

This is going to be a very important meeting in Cardiff for all those who want to support the workers striking against Gordon Brown's pay-freeze.

Let's make sure it's a success and take in the argument that joint action between PCS, CWU and other unions can beat New Labour and increase the confidence of workers all over Britain to fight back against neoliberalism...

Cardiff County Trades Union Council Public Meeting
Defending Public Services, Defending Public Sector Jobs

Tuesday 17th July 2007
Sandringham Hotel
St. Mary Street
Cardiff

Commencing at 7.30p.m.

Confirmed Speakers
John McInally PCS, National Executive Member
Alex Gordon, RMT Member of Council of Executives
Jane Loftus, CWU, President

At a time when workers are feeling under severe pressure and attack, come and debate with those who are leading the fight to save our public services and to defend the jobs of public service workers.

All are welcome - Please support

Postal Workers on Strike! Smash the Pay Freeze!

In the hot summer of 2004 we launched our coalition, RESPECT.

At that time, the CWU in South East Wales voted to support us in the European Elections.

On Friday, RESPECT members in the postal service joined other workers in a strike against Gordon Brown's attempt to impose a pay freeze on workers across the public sector.

Many other RESPECT members also visited picket lines in solidarity and collected donations at their workplaces for striking postal workers.

This follows strike action by workers in the PCS and other unions on the same issue. Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of the PCS and a member of RESPECT's National Council has been pushing for different unions to strike together on the same day. It is rumoured that he has written 5 times to Billy Hayes, the leader of the CWU with the proposal that they co-ordinate strike actions and not received even a reply.

It seems that Labour Party member, Billy Hayes, places loyalty to his discredited party over the interests of CWU members and working people as a whole. RESPECT members are organising at the grassroots to put pressure on the union bureaucracies to co-ordinate strike action to smash Gordon Brown's pay freeze.

Jonny Jones from Splott RESPECT in Cardiff visited picket lines to show solidarity, he writes:

"From the Post Office in the Mumbles to the massive sorting office in Cardiff, the CWU picket lines in South Wales were friendly and very determined to win their dispute.

There were around a dozen pickets at the main sorting office in Swansea, most of whom were very glad to see Respect supporters on the picket line. One picket joked that there were more teachers than posties!

In Cardiff the strike was almost completely solid. One picket said that only one person had gone in and that we should feel free to print his name in bold.

AJ Singh of Cardiff CWU said, “If Alan Leighton wants dignity and respect in the postal service then he needs to show some dignity and respect by paying staff properly and not eroding their working conditions”.

Strikers talked about the possibility of joint action with the PCS and will be working with PCS members to set up a joint union meeting on how best to beat Gordon Brown’s pay freeze."

We won a minimum wage - Now we need to fight for a living wage

Many RESPECT activists & elected representatives are signatories to this petition - why not add your name?

Hi

I am an activist and a public sector worker from Merseyside. I am running a petition on the 10 Downing Street website in support of a living wage, which has 380 signatures so far. Please can you take a minute to read my e-mail and if you wish to sign, click on the link below and fill in your personal details.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/living-wage-2007/

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to take steps to replace the national minimum wage with a living wage based on the level of pay and conditions that enables a full-time worker to make ends meet for themselves and their family. Official regional living wage figures should be announced such as the one given by Mayor Livingstone for London (and increased by the GLA in April 2007 to £7.20 an hour).

I have also now started a blog to run alongside it, which will be regularly updated and expanded over the coming months, with useful information including what the living wage campaign is about, who supports it, and details of recents news stories and events :

http://livingwageuk.wordpress.com

The information below is copied from my blogsite :

Why a living wage?

The national minimum wage does not allow many workers to escape poverty. The Low Pay Commission do not take into account peoples actual needs in setting the NMW. In the UK 4¼ million adults aged 22 to retirement were paid less than £6.50 per hour in 2006. Two thirds of these were women and a half were part-time workers. A living wage could ensure that no workers receive poverty pay or have to rely on benefits, and could allow contract workers to lay claim to the same pay and conditions as staff directly employed by government and local councils.

Some would say that a living wage would actually harm poor people by losing vital jobs. This is exactly the same argument that was trotted out innumerable times against the introduction of the NMW. And what was the effect of the NMW ? According to the government's own evidence last year to the Low Pay Commission, "UK academic research to date has not found any firm evidence that the adult minimum wage has reduced employment rates or raised unemployment; this is consistent with the available international evidence."

Why now?

In the USA since 1994, over 120 city and state governments have passed living wage ordinances following pressure from local campaigners. Living wage campaigns have raised levels of pay and provided benefits like health care for thousands of workers. Studies there have shown that the living wage has had no significant adverse impact on jobs, business or the economy.

Following pressure from campaigners, London mayor Ken Livingstone has given his backing to a living wage in London. A living wage unit has been set up in City Hall, through which figures for the London living wage are calculated and published. Implementation has so far proved a thornier problem, but the publication of the figures has already started to change the pay bargaining landscape. It follows on some notable victories for low paid workers, in particular cleaners in East London Hospitals and cleaners in Canary Wharf and the City of London, thousands of whom have secured a living wage. Last year QMUL became the UK's first first living wage campus :

The college council committed itself to making Queen Mary the first "living wage campus" in the UK. This means no one will be paid less than a living wage (currently set at £6.70 an hour), or receive fewer than 28 days' holiday and 10 days' sick pay. Crucially, the change includes all staff on campus, not just those directly employed by the university. Queen Mary's cleaning staff are going to get a rise.

For Christine Martin, cleaning supervisor at Queen Mary for 12 years, the living wage will make a huge difference. Martin is employed by the university's cleaning contractors, KGB, and receives £5.20 an hour - the £5.05 minimum wage plus a pitiful 15 pence an hour as supervisor. "It is difficult to survive in London on this kind of money. Sometimes you think you might as well not work for what you earn," she says. "I do a second job and have to claim housing benefit just to make ends meet, so the living wage really has given me something to look forward to."

Guardian April 11, 2006

London's problems are not unique. Everywhere you go around the country, there is poverty pay, and there is a need for a living wage. A living wage in every region in the UK would be a huge boost to millions of low paid workers.

Jean Lambert (Green Party MEP) said in support of my petition

British people work some of the longest hours in Europe yet 7 out of 10 people working over 48 hours per week say they would like to work fewer hours. For many however this is impossible as they simply cannnot afford to do so. It is currently possible for someone to work more than 60 hours a week and still be paid less than £11,000 per year. The number of people living below the poverty line in the UK is higher than the EU average and continues to increase. The long hours culture is endangering our health and acting as a detriment to our family life. We can't have a culture that says you can not rest. We need a national living wage immediately to ensure this changes and everyone can make ends meet without working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Labour Party councillor Richard Bertin (Vale of Glamorgan) added these comments

Yes we have now thankfully got the minimum wage, and yes it is helping thousands of low paid workers. But with the economy doing so well there are repercussions one of which is the rising house prices. Unfortunately, the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow and this needs to be addressed now ! - How ? By rightly establishing a national living wage to ensure that we improve the lives of those on low pay and also do our bit to remove poverty from the 4th largest economy on the world - Great Britain. We need a living wage and we need it now!

Thanks for your time

Nick Wall