Trade Unions and Demos

Heathrow Third Runway Demo
Went to the anti-Heathrow protest last Thursday outside Downing Street and we had a good turnout with speakers from a range of organisations including Hacan Clearskies, Campaign Against Climate Change and both Jean Lambert MEP and Derek Wall from the Green Party. The counter demonstration, which attracted a fair amount of publicity, by the Modern Movement, was very small in comparison.

They seem to be thriving on the publicity, which worries me somewhat, and they recently invited Green Left and the Greens to come to a meeting which they are organising this week and debate the issues with them. Personally I have more important things to do and feel that attending a meeting like that would be the equivalent of having an argument about the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses, if you know what I mean. They have just closed their minds to any rational argument and their response to the Greenpeace member who tried to reason with them at the demo is typical. When asked why they disputed the science around climate change, their response was that they would not be dictated to by scientists! It just reminds me of some of those films made about zany and deliberately cerebrally challenged high school students in the US with unappealing titles such as 'Stupid 4' and 'Even more Stupid 16'.

Anyway, many of the Green Party protesters, led by our sterling London Campaigns Officer, Cllr Romayne Phoenix, managed to get our faces on the front pages of publications which I do not often read like the Daily Star and the Daily Express. I bought the Daily Star on Friday to see the photos, but alas they were not there. And for my sins I had to plough through masses of dreadful right wing dribble blaming asylum seekers and immigrants for unemployment and singing the praises of the likes of UKIP and Migration Watch.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/latestnews/view/70200/Downing-Street-demo-over-runway/


Trade Union Conference
On Saturday I was at the conference on 'Greening the Workplace and the Just Transition' organised by the Green Party Trade Union Group, whose Treasurer I am. We had a very good line up of speakers including Jean Lambert MEP, Tony Kearns from the CWU, Sian Jones, a member of the Trade Union Sustainable Development Advisory Committee Working Group; and Ann Elliot-Day, PCS communications officer. The Press release we issued is below.

During the question and answer session, I asked about the proposal being put forward by the Dutch Greens that there be a statutory right to work from home one day per week. I thought that this would be good in terms of reducing transport with the resulting decrease in pollution and congestion. However, the trade union speakers were very suspicious of this, regarding it as a an attempt by employers to offset 20% of their overheads (heat and light etc) on to the employee. Their view was that it would be ok if there was a resulting agreement by the employer to provide relevant equipment and costs to the employee.

I also asked about the two Warwick Agreements, which were signed between the Labour government and the trade unions. Warwick I was signed just before the last general election and included a commitment to increasing bank holidays for UK workers - the UK has the lowest number of public holidays in the EU. However, nothing whatsoever happened as a result of that and the number of bank holidays remain the same. I then asked what had happened to the Warwick II Agreement and what hope there was of implementing it when Warwick I had not even been implemented. And I quoted Bob Crow, the RMT General Secretary who commented on the relationship between the trade unions and the Labour Party as being similar to necrophilia.

Tony Kearns replied that he was not surprised that the terms of Warwick I had not been adhered to and that one of the central terms of Warwick II was a commitment not to privatise the Post Office. His union were now at the forefront of the struggle to prevent the New Labour government from doing this, as per Mandelson's latest plan. He questioned how long his union could remain linked to the Labour Party. A very good question indeed and one which many trade union leaders should consider. Stand by for Warwick III when Gordon Brown promises the trade unions on the eve of the next general election that any tax increases resulting from the massive government bailouts and debt will fall most heavily on the rich!

"London's Green MEP, Jean Lambert, speaks of a hopeful future at Green Party Trade Union Group public meeting

With the world facing a "triple-crunch" -- climate change, peak oil and the credit-fuelled financial crisis - Jean Lambert, London's Green MEP, told a public meeting organised by the Green Party Trade Union group in Euston last Saturday [Feb 21] that the Party was working, in consultation with unions, non-governmental organisations and experts - towards a complete model for a new economy - a complete Green new deal that was "international, intergenerational and inclusive".

Some aspects of what were needed were clear, she said. First, Britain had to make a large investment in green jobs: "There are 22 million homes in the UK that need a comprehensive package of energy efficiency. A complete retrofit of Britain's housing to Green standards would create more than half a million jobs. More jobs could be created by improved public transport."

She continued: "The whole focus of trade policy has to change to focus on production methods and the outcomes for producers, rather than just prices to consumers.

"And there has to be a recognition that we cannot rely on the private sector to delivery core public sector services. Even Peter Mandelson is talking about a post office bank. That's great, if you can still find a post office."

In moving towards a low-carbon, environmentally friendly economy, an effective framework was particularly necessary for vulnerable industries such as coal and vehicle-manufacturing, she said. Those workers needed a structured system of retraining, of subsidies to redirect production. "The rule is to make resources redundant, rather than people."

It was essential to acknowledge that many people were now suffering a deep fear and insecurity about the future, she said. "We have to give them hope that the economy and society can be managed better, that Britons can feel their life belongs to them, rather than their being tied on to a daily treadmill whose speed they can't control. People need to feel that their life is grounded in family and community, rather than a cycle of money chasing non-existent money."


ENDS

For further information contact: Office of Jean Lambert MEP 020 7407 6269 jeanlambert@greenmeps.org.uk