This morning, accompanied by a colleague from the Green Party Trade Union Group, I went along to a demonstration organised by the UNISION branch at the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University. On May 1st I had taken part in a May Day demo there with members of the Green Party Trade Union Group and Jean Lambert MEP speaking about the rights of migrant workers in the college, many of whom work in the catering and cleaning departments and who were demanding the London Living Wage. Some of the colleges, including SOAS, have acceeded to these demands but others have not. The leading activist among the migrant workers and a UNISON member is Stalin Bermudez. He was recently sacked and we went along today to protest at a SOAS Board meeting about this. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that at 7am, members of the Border Agency police had raided the college and taken away 9 migrant cleaning workers for possible deportation.
I addressed the rally, together with the UNISON branch officers, and said that Jean Lambert would support the workers and do everything possible to limit their terrible ordeal. I compared what was happening to the plot of Ken Loach's film, Bread and Roses, which I recently saw again on Film 4. It is incredible that such things are happening in London today and striking on a Friday, there is a strong possibility that the workers will be deported before they can gain proper access to legal representation - although the union is doing all it can for them.
Jean Lambert and Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones have issued the following press release.
ELECTED GREENS CONDEMN ARREST OF SOAS WORKERS
From the Office of Jean Lambert MEP Green Party Member of the European Parliament for London IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12 June 2009
Jean Lambert MEP and Jenny Jones AM have condemned the arrest of nine cleaning workers at SOAS this morning [Friday 12 June].
It is believed that the staff, mainly of Ecuadorian and possibly Colombian origin, have been arrested and are being processed for deportation.
A demonstration had been organised at SOAS this morning in support of Stalin Bermudez, the SOAS Unison branch chair, who was sacked earlier this year after a highly controversial disciplinary process. A Unison representative arrived at the college, just off Russell Square, at 7am this morning to discover a number of immigration control officers who had detained and were processing cleaning staff, and interrogating them about their status. The union received no prior warning.
The Green Party has pledged its full support for the staff, and Jean Lambert MEP is already in contact with the union, who are arranging legal representation. Unison and UCU were holding an emergency meeting to decide on subsequent action.
Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP, said:
“The circumstances and aims of this raid are utterly deplorable. These cleaning staff have been treated like criminals, and the timing of the raid is particularly reprehensible – first thing in the morning at the end of the university term, with fewer people around to intervene. Luckily, the union has been on hand to help arrange legal assistance for those arrested, and it is also fortunate that the demonstration – ironically called to highlight existing concerns about the treatment of SOAS staff – meant that this raid was noticed and immediate steps could be taken.
“I reiterate and reinforce the support already pledged by the Green Party, and I will be monitoring this case and its outcomes closely. Today’s events highlight the need to find ways for people to regularise their status so that their vital contribution to London and society in general is recognised. It also makes the Strangers Into Citizens campaign, organised by London Citizens, still more urgent.”
Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly, said:
"The effect of such ruthlessness on these workers and on their families is a cruel punishment. Workers have the right to be treated with courtesy and this raid is beneath contempt. Is this really how the Government tells them how to behave?"
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Jean Lambert MEP is an expert on employment and asylum and immigration issues and is an active campaigner for the London Living Wage. On 1 May 2009 she addressed a May Day Living Wage rally at the Bloomsbury colleges in London. Stalin Bermudez also spoke at this demo.
Jenny Jones is a Green Party Member of the London Assembly. She sits on the Metropolitan Police Authority.
For more details of the London Citizens Strangers Into Citizens campaign visit http://www.strangersintocitizens.org.uk/
For more information please contact:
Rosie Lavan, London Media Assistant
media-assistant@jeanlambertmep.org.uk
07760 220424
Jean Lambert MEP and Jenny Jones AM have condemned the arrest of nine cleaning workers at SOAS this morning [Friday 12 June].
It is believed that the staff, mainly of Ecuadorian and possibly Colombian origin, have been arrested and are being processed for deportation.
A demonstration had been organised at SOAS this morning in support of Stalin Bermudez, the SOAS Unison branch chair, who was sacked earlier this year after a highly controversial disciplinary process. A Unison representative arrived at the college, just off Russell Square, at 7am this morning to discover a number of immigration control officers who had detained and were processing cleaning staff, and interrogating them about their status. The union received no prior warning.
The Green Party has pledged its full support for the staff, and Jean Lambert MEP is already in contact with the union, who are arranging legal representation. Unison and UCU were holding an emergency meeting to decide on subsequent action.
Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP, said:
“The circumstances and aims of this raid are utterly deplorable. These cleaning staff have been treated like criminals, and the timing of the raid is particularly reprehensible – first thing in the morning at the end of the university term, with fewer people around to intervene. Luckily, the union has been on hand to help arrange legal assistance for those arrested, and it is also fortunate that the demonstration – ironically called to highlight existing concerns about the treatment of SOAS staff – meant that this raid was noticed and immediate steps could be taken.
“I reiterate and reinforce the support already pledged by the Green Party, and I will be monitoring this case and its outcomes closely. Today’s events highlight the need to find ways for people to regularise their status so that their vital contribution to London and society in general is recognised. It also makes the Strangers Into Citizens campaign, organised by London Citizens, still more urgent.”
Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly, said:
"The effect of such ruthlessness on these workers and on their families is a cruel punishment. Workers have the right to be treated with courtesy and this raid is beneath contempt. Is this really how the Government tells them how to behave?"
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Jean Lambert MEP is an expert on employment and asylum and immigration issues and is an active campaigner for the London Living Wage. On 1 May 2009 she addressed a May Day Living Wage rally at the Bloomsbury colleges in London. Stalin Bermudez also spoke at this demo.
Jenny Jones is a Green Party Member of the London Assembly. She sits on the Metropolitan Police Authority.
For more details of the London Citizens Strangers Into Citizens campaign visit http://www.strangersintocitizens.org.uk/
For more information please contact:
Rosie Lavan, London Media Assistant
media-assistant@jeanlambertmep.org.uk
07760 220424
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