tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92132214490003317252024-03-19T02:10:42.661-07:00Fighting Talk by Mark Metcalf Independent working class journalism. Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.comBlogger1424125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-5630236205796048082024-03-19T02:10:00.000-07:002024-03-19T02:10:04.629-07:00SPARKING INTEREST Unite hopes a new ECS film will mean new members <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">SPARKING INTEREST <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unite hopes a new ECS film will mean new members<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjChRIwndUYQKxjFGTS5XPK6Ln1E3sajIngp3Qx6i5NG-uUaxR7fm06l0IKpRItm9QqRrVwkSiXGh1AoedJi63EOmgOkmI8gK5i4UhyphenhyphenYh40R8CaLwAO8QHtlJAEkUEIzSNc9gpwWhQ10z9pZKprGYYksac4qSQUuRqlqc5ng9sodUdCvTIX4jBIcZsLpaM/s3968/Cover%20BW%20Spring%202024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3968" data-original-width="2976" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjChRIwndUYQKxjFGTS5XPK6Ln1E3sajIngp3Qx6i5NG-uUaxR7fm06l0IKpRItm9QqRrVwkSiXGh1AoedJi63EOmgOkmI8gK5i4UhyphenhyphenYh40R8CaLwAO8QHtlJAEkUEIzSNc9gpwWhQ10z9pZKprGYYksac4qSQUuRqlqc5ng9sodUdCvTIX4jBIcZsLpaM/s320/Cover%20BW%20Spring%202024.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Unite has launched a short film aimed at promoting the union
to non-members when they attend our computer-based electronical certification
scheme (ECS) in our offices nationwide. Members too will enjoy watching the
film and might consider showing it at work if there are the facilities to do
so. The film is also ideal for showing to young people considering becoming an
apprentice in our industry.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The ECS is key to maintaining essential health, safety and
welfare standards for the public and workers in critically safety industries
and has done much to prevent cowboy electricians from operating across the
construction sector. ECS was set up as a joint venture between UNITE and the Joint
Industry Board. (JIB)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">ECS is now the principle card for identifying electricians that
are keeping up to date with new technology and it has to be renewed every three
years. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doing so by booking
online and then attending the test which is delivered at UNITE nationwide
locations – which can include mobile site visits – can take as little as 2-3
weeks.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the few minutes before each test kicks off the examinee
will now be able to enjoy watching a 5 minute plus film. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It begins by highlighting how we can’t exist
without electricity and of some of the interesting, vital jobs there are in
industry. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And at the core of it is the JIB, established in 1968 to
promote high standards for terms and conditions and a unique and powerful and
social partnership between the ECA, representing contractors, and Unite and the
workers and electricians. Initially the JIB was UK based but as companies have
become more internationally based it has sought to work with overseas bodies to
ensure skills are transferable.<b> <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Jason Poulter</b>, national officer for Unite who
represents over 13,000 members on the JIB, explains how the union has helped
raise wages, improved conditions and improved critical safety standards - and
at the heart of which is the work of workplace reps on the ground.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The importance of the ESC to everyone including residents and
tenants is highlighted as it demonstrates competence. Newly qualified
electricians can use it find work with new employers. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The film ends by hearing the voices of apprentices, male and
female, who are going to be central to delivering net zero and the green agenda
including renewables such as solar electric vehicle charging and smart home
technology. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Andy Reakes, JIB Director of Growth and Development
believes, that “a huge amount of options exist for somebody coming into this
sector. It couldn’t be a more exciting time to be in this industry.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqdynXMJYO__iXqpFee8LQdzCYSm6KGd71JGCgixGUKDWMxjoXBng5xhQWmX9b1odjzlYW87bFYnfLneVlsYLJ_XdC_paRgnpOViOgrBWjzdkHdNU2OcIcn6DRLOKydTFXeutu1ouLL1HoHR9Xu47v-zImVs02EuzrBQduXX4k9KHSbXvnHPiUtJnZWw/s3968/BW%20Spring%202024%20ECS%20film.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3968" data-original-width="2976" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqdynXMJYO__iXqpFee8LQdzCYSm6KGd71JGCgixGUKDWMxjoXBng5xhQWmX9b1odjzlYW87bFYnfLneVlsYLJ_XdC_paRgnpOViOgrBWjzdkHdNU2OcIcn6DRLOKydTFXeutu1ouLL1HoHR9Xu47v-zImVs02EuzrBQduXX4k9KHSbXvnHPiUtJnZWw/w480-h640/BW%20Spring%202024%20ECS%20film.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-54332784871133998952024-03-18T06:14:00.000-07:002024-03-18T06:14:12.700-07:00‘THE COURSE UPDATED MY SKILLS’ Training fund for blacklisted here to help<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘THE COURSE
UPDATED MY SKILLS’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Training fund
for blacklisted here to help<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p>Taken from Unite building Worker for Spring 2024 </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAzSWz9OTEZGwgjAqb3U_JR-H6NuyUtWr7Hgko8Ri91ah9XYLPIJwhspyMTACdk3uRxZHPf3C4Qukx9CHskPKor7ug7q4_mSuK8H4X213XnJDD1tgPmZ8CZdx4PafR5fGX-7tu8GqTYD4pt0w0VdVQcu9AzMxQzi8BREjd2MTS7AR8XMcblcs2W0pApc/s3968/BW%20Spring%20Training%20Fund%20for%20blacklisted%20worker%20%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3968" data-original-width="2976" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAzSWz9OTEZGwgjAqb3U_JR-H6NuyUtWr7Hgko8Ri91ah9XYLPIJwhspyMTACdk3uRxZHPf3C4Qukx9CHskPKor7ug7q4_mSuK8H4X213XnJDD1tgPmZ8CZdx4PafR5fGX-7tu8GqTYD4pt0w0VdVQcu9AzMxQzi8BREjd2MTS7AR8XMcblcs2W0pApc/w300-h400/BW%20Spring%20Training%20Fund%20for%20blacklisted%20worker%20%20(1).jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unite building Worker Spring 2024 </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Paul
Tattersfield</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, a
blacklisted electrician, has become one of the first UNITE members to benefit
from the dedicated <b>Blacklisted Construction Workers’ Training Fund</b> that
has been established as part of the settlement against construction companies
that used the Consulting Association (CA), an organisation that held a
blacklist of 3,213 workers who were then denied employment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span>The fund of
£230,000, which is not restricted to retraining in the construction sector, is
administered by the union for victims of blacklisting who have brought
proceedings through Thompson Solicitors, OH Parsons and Guney Clark & Ryan.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span>As of 14
January, 17 grants have been made, where Unite members have been able to attend
a varied range of courses after having received support from the fund</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Grants have
ranged from £3217 for two ten-day Electrical Maintenance courses, to £114 for
Paul’s one day CCNSG Safety Passport renewal course provided by Humberside
Engineering Training Association. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Other
courses attended by members include NVQ Diploma Level 7 in Construction Senior
Management and City & Guilds 2391-52 Inspection & Testing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span>In 2011,
site worker Paul was, thanks to union legal support, awarded just under £24,000
for loss of earnings, injury to feelings and aggravated damages. This was the
result of an Employment tribunal finding that Balfour Beatty Engineering
Services Ltd had refused him employment because he was on the CA blacklist for being
a union workplace rep for his fellow workers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I was just
the guy who was the lay member on large construction sites who agreed to be an
Amicus site representative. I took it seriously on behalf of the workforce who
I wanted to see treated correctly under the agreements we had”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span>Balfour
Beatty was amongst 64 companies who accessed the CA list and began following
the exposure of the Economic League’s practices, that maintained a list of
construction workers like Paul, for decades. The League was forced to close in
1993. The Consulting Association was forced to close in 2009 after it was
raided by the Information Commissioner’s Office. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Since 2011
Paul, a keen Rugby League fan, has worked for Balfour Beatty on two occasions,
once via an agency, and, thankfully not experienced any problems. He has also
taken on the role of a UNITE rep at some workplaces. “It’s just something you
do as you need a voice on site. I think it is something to be proud of. I just
represent fellow workers”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The recent
course he’s attended is the second occasion on which Paul has benefitted from a
fund.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I did the
Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) week long Electrical Regs course.
It was intense. I passed. It updated my skills. This latest safety passport
course will also help as it means I can continue working on large
infrastructure construction projects which are usually better organised because
of a union presence. Pay and conditions are generally better”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Find out
more<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you were
blacklisted who not apply to the training fund? More info and a form is on the
Unite website’s construction page <a href="http://tinyurl.com/3zvzszzw">http://tinyurl.com/3zvzszzw</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigEgm0WfEbntljgOhbn7Nx6cLJ4sL8S15nFqtyWUVluHZl8rYJ_XljjVntl17pIemk6NpcnnE9JdmIB1VOwsl2gZ7ULqS7auQGNcTeo45BttG_Ddlnh2kWsp1Ve6kwu0SCfP3D3qbxB2A4XGgrWQe3frI_VAlzmqIMKTSvuIZwCExtpkUXmpCLvgTnEG4/s3968/Cover%20BW%20Spring%202024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3968" data-original-width="2976" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigEgm0WfEbntljgOhbn7Nx6cLJ4sL8S15nFqtyWUVluHZl8rYJ_XljjVntl17pIemk6NpcnnE9JdmIB1VOwsl2gZ7ULqS7auQGNcTeo45BttG_Ddlnh2kWsp1Ve6kwu0SCfP3D3qbxB2A4XGgrWQe3frI_VAlzmqIMKTSvuIZwCExtpkUXmpCLvgTnEG4/w480-h640/Cover%20BW%20Spring%202024.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-37001381506787290232024-03-18T05:37:00.000-07:002024-03-18T05:37:33.554-07:00PRICE OF PROTEST : Panama’s building workers leaders at risk<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">PRICE OF PROTEST <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Panama’s building workers leaders at risk <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkaMRfhuoFk6xNewSjjkJeHXpY3U2hkRCgqny9cWmo2nARkfszrM7cRIUeDYjepezoQJxgpSLDJ8gvBTtF8Nf3GWr3MMu_jQqeZtN4bAQYgpaGuZdv661YjzxcIjFyX-qJEx6KIndqXk5-kbYdVAM9DcExEftFJ7AC22rh5110n622ninXtxNbJ1z20vw/s3968/Cover%20BW%20Spring%202024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3968" data-original-width="2976" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkaMRfhuoFk6xNewSjjkJeHXpY3U2hkRCgqny9cWmo2nARkfszrM7cRIUeDYjepezoQJxgpSLDJ8gvBTtF8Nf3GWr3MMu_jQqeZtN4bAQYgpaGuZdv661YjzxcIjFyX-qJEx6KIndqXk5-kbYdVAM9DcExEftFJ7AC22rh5110n622ninXtxNbJ1z20vw/s320/Cover%20BW%20Spring%202024.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgXNiTPUmq2sxt_z948jUn_U4pLlX6wW6TzcEF4uXqJMOFY1eH1LkQERMrhg7L0b5mY_juiBMwQSR2i8gO0o9I4iAoFyEQRNk7w7AWt_QKd1Pu7JTu33v8TffqjBDfBWPUzhCGO495fuOxt5aQpqncLYdgkm7065dp-svHa9ynjPWwqzV-sagdQVLpVE/s3968/BW%20Spring%20Training%20Fund%20for%20blacklisted%20worker%20%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3968" data-original-width="2976" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgXNiTPUmq2sxt_z948jUn_U4pLlX6wW6TzcEF4uXqJMOFY1eH1LkQERMrhg7L0b5mY_juiBMwQSR2i8gO0o9I4iAoFyEQRNk7w7AWt_QKd1Pu7JTu33v8TffqjBDfBWPUzhCGO495fuOxt5aQpqncLYdgkm7065dp-svHa9ynjPWwqzV-sagdQVLpVE/w480-h640/BW%20Spring%20Training%20Fund%20for%20blacklisted%20worker%20%20(2).jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Spare a minute to add you voice to the growing international
movement to defend <b>SUNTRACS</b>, the National Union of the Construction and
Similar Industries of Panama, whose leaders are being subjected to persecutory,
repressive, and intimidating treatment by Panamanian authorities. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">SUNTRACS, along with UNITE, belongs to the <b>BWI (Building
and Wood Workers' International),</b> a global union federation of 361 free and
democratic unions representing 12 million members across 115 countries. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Along with <b>LabourStart</b>, an online news service
maintained globally by volunteers, the BWI has organised an online campaign asking
Panamanian authorities to stop persecuting SUNTRACS and respect freedom of
association! Unite members are urged to email Panamanian authorities. Messages
will be forwarded to SUNTRACS.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The persecution of SUNTRACS leaders relates to their prominent
roles in protests that defeated a 40-year mining concession for the
transnational company (TNC) First Quantum Minerals – an extractive policy that
would have caused grave social and environmental damage. Unionists are
improperly being accused of terrorism.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Last year marked the biggest social unrest in Panama since
its re-democratisation. Nationwide protests occurred against Law 406, which
authorised a 20-year concession to the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals
for open-pit copper extraction. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Opposition was based on its environmental impact, including
contamination of water, air, and soil and the degradation of a highly
biodiverse forest. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The second motivation was people's sovereignty. The contract
was highly financially beneficial to the TNC allowing it to dispossess land
arbitrarily. Sovereignty is crucial as Panamanians fought throughout the 20th
century to rid the country of the United States-controlled Panama Canal Zone.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The general strike and mass protests were organised by
environmentalists, indigenous activists, trade unions, churches, and students. Roads
and ports were blocked for over a month. Security forces brutally reacted
violently. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hundreds were injured, over
1500 arrested and three unionists murdered. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">SUNTRACS helped mobilise the protests, which ended when the
Supreme Court of Justice ruled that Law 406 was unconstitutional; moreover,
parliament prohibited all mining extraction, even annulling existing contracts<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What a victory but the fight must go on. SUNTRACS is now being
persecuted as the state-owned Savings Bank has closed SUNTRACS’ bank accounts. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">SUNTRACS leaders Saúl Méndez, General Secretary, Jaime
Caballero, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, as well as the teacher Diógenes
Sánchez and indigenous leaders are being sued by the Public Prosecutor's
Office, accused of allegedly committing crimes against freedom and the economic
order. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to Saúl Mendez, “this is a combined economic and
political operation between the Panamanian banking system and the government.
SUNTRACS is not even allowed to open new accounts in other banks. In the
accounts that have been left open, we are not allowed to deposit the union
affiliation fees.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The BWI/LabourStart petition asks Panamanian authorities to unfreeze
SUNTRACS' bank accounts and cease union-busting measures. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Further mobilisation? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We have been
mobilising, distributing leaflets and will be developing actions that will
intensify until it culminates in a strike, if this problem is not resolved”,
said Mr. Mendez. “I want to thank the international trade union movement,
especially UNITE comrades in the UK, for their solidarity with SUNTRACS. ”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You can sign the petition at:- <a href="http://tinyurl.com/3jp33epa">http://tinyurl.com/3jp33epa</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is a slightly longer piece than appeared in Unite
building Worker for Spring 2024 <o:p></o:p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-39492120547816285432024-03-14T06:15:00.000-07:002024-03-18T06:37:11.008-07:00Suffragette and trade unionist Julia Varley to be honoured by a Bradford Civic Society plaque on 18 May<p> FINALLY.... </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Suffragette
and trade unionist Julia Varley to be honoured by a Bradford Civic Society
plaque on 18 May </span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bradford will honour one its greats on Saturday 18 May at 1.00pm
when a blue plaque to suffragette and trade unionist Julia Varley will be
unveiled at 90 Sunbridge Road BD1 2AQ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by
retired bus driver <b>Mohammad Taj</b> of Unite the union and who was TUC
President in 2013-14. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The funds for the Bradford Civic Society plaque have been
donated by UNITE’s NEY&H region and the union has republished the
booklet <i>Julia Varley - trade union organiser and fighter for women's
rights</i> booklet by Mark Metcalf.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Joining Mohammed Taj</b> will be Bradford City <b>councillor
Sinead Engel</b>, <b>Simon Cunningham </b>of Bradford Civic Society, <b>Sheila
Coleman </b>of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and <b>councillor Taj Salam</b>,
a Unite bus workers rep. Unite general secretary <b>Sharon Graham has been invited</b> to attend. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As a teenage mill worker Julia Varley actively participated
in the Manningham Mills strike of 1890-91. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She was to go on to lead a remarkable life in which as a
leading representative of the General Union of Textile Workers (GUTW) she
helped organise numerous workplaces in her home city and was active on Bradford
Trades Council. In 1907 she was, as a radical suffragette, twice arrested and
imprisoned for fighting for the ultimately successful, fight for the rights of
women to vote.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When she moved to Birmingham, she organised many successful
strikes across the West Midlands and the Black Country. She was key to the
Clayworkers Strike in Cornwall in 1913-14 that paved the way for trade unions
in the county. She suffered violence at the hands of the police for standing up
for all workers, especially women.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When she was appointed as an officer for the Workers’ Union,
she became one of the first women to be an officer in a mixed sex union.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the 1920s, Varley was one of the first women to be
elected onto the TUC General Council. When the WU amalgamated with
the Transport and General Workers Union (which later became Unite in 2007)
Varley was appointed Chief Women’s Officer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Varley retired to Bradford and died in November 1952. In
2013 a plaque was unveiled on her Birmingham home. Now she will be rightly
honoured in her home city. If this is something you’d like to be involved with
then see you on<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May 18th.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The event is being organised by Mark Metcalf and Simon
Cunningham and they can be contacted on 07392 852561 <a href="mailto:metcalfmc@outlook.com">metcalfmc@outlook.com</a> and 07891 913196 <a href="mailto:si-cunningham@live.com">si-cunningham@live.com</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Donations towards the production of a film on the events on
18 May would be welcome. Contact Mark Metcalf. <o:p></o:p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-4176828178807560902024-03-06T06:51:00.000-08:002024-03-06T06:51:58.802-08:00HIGHLIGHTS FROM EP THOMPSON AT 100 event in Halifax in February 2024 <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">On 3 Feb @calderdaletuc hosted a successful EP Thompson at
100 event & what follows are 25 minutes of highlights from the day produced
by Dave and myself <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://youtu.be/sPKxwMt-DBc?si=umNjY4k6sZnqEz7u">https://youtu.be/sPKxwMt-DBc?si=umNjY4k6sZnqEz7u</a>
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9X213NKdSYwe_Ek0W9svFvLdC974Hazq4jvUuteaedcG43-vUyeWH3LyqW9nh2GK0QBadIux0k-UgrckYwpdjsTcBf0FYP5TRznDrdyKBvOxwuDmYJYLTjQrmPl00APTeaLEH4xRc-m3ZCS7jd4VPZeqAZzSbC45ZiGoLAwBnbmAgDv4XIYLNHMxSf08/s3968/IMG_20240218_121052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3968" data-original-width="2976" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9X213NKdSYwe_Ek0W9svFvLdC974Hazq4jvUuteaedcG43-vUyeWH3LyqW9nh2GK0QBadIux0k-UgrckYwpdjsTcBf0FYP5TRznDrdyKBvOxwuDmYJYLTjQrmPl00APTeaLEH4xRc-m3ZCS7jd4VPZeqAZzSbC45ZiGoLAwBnbmAgDv4XIYLNHMxSf08/w480-h640/IMG_20240218_121052.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-29780922125006227912024-02-22T02:16:00.000-08:002024-02-22T02:16:23.112-08:00RURAL: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside - book review <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">RURAL: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside</span></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">William Collins Books</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKj31ukEM45xzTDkhyphenhyphenE1Bjyuzq7wpOhfidAxhdnS-4ZJ3GzCA9_XVumjrQ4Cwz3g61-Scg_J03E3aBDCmR97LPXPJuOY6h5b2FuKjLRj4kF2mmEJ2Xcr5ZQatNz2zLRZuqEYm34Kn3-84vXiL_FcQ3845PqYqyZx8XbYLKhMToThui42AfZIso9amO9c/s3264/pro-rXvA34v8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKj31ukEM45xzTDkhyphenhyphenE1Bjyuzq7wpOhfidAxhdnS-4ZJ3GzCA9_XVumjrQ4Cwz3g61-Scg_J03E3aBDCmR97LPXPJuOY6h5b2FuKjLRj4kF2mmEJ2Xcr5ZQatNz2zLRZuqEYm34Kn3-84vXiL_FcQ3845PqYqyZx8XbYLKhMToThui42AfZIso9amO9c/w300-h400/pro-rXvA34v8.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p>Rebecca
Smith’s work for BBC Radio for over a decade included researching titles for
Radio 4’s </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;">Book of the Week</b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> series and it is surely only matter of time
before listeners will get to hear extracts of this engaging book by the
daughter of a forester on the Graythwaite Estate on Ullswater that has been
owned by the Sandys family for over 500 years. The aristocracy and gentry, many
of whom have family links to slavery, </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">still own 30 per cent of England today and the
imbalance is even worse in Scotland where Smith now resides.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Smith loved
living amidst the iconic landscapes and wildlife of the Lake District. But she
was fully aware that whilst, like many working class people in rural
industries, her families “lives ran parallel” to those of the ancient
landowners their “worlds were very different”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In RURAL,
Smith sets out to highlight, a “part of society that” aside from a magazine
such as LANDWORKER “has been largely forgotten”. Drawing on her childhood
memories, I enjoyed Smith’s highly revealing historical account of the
countryside and, aside from my belief she should have spoken to, at least, one
UNITE workplace rep from a rural setting (1) , her interviews with contemporary
rural working class people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The rural
occupations explored by Smith include working on the land as a forester, mining
– which includes tales of its dangers– textiles, which replaced weavers, that
enjoyed a good living in their day, with child labour and the rigorous
discipline of the clock, tenant farming, tourism, with 16 million visiting the
Lake District annually, slate and food production. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Construction
also features prominently. In 1939 there were, following the 1936 Housing Act
that gave local councils the chance to subsidise building agricultural cottages
for labourers, 159,000 council houses for people working in rural industries in
England. Today, there an increasing number of houses being built in semi-rural
areas. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More are needed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In her book,
Smith rightly stresses how the countryside is still today a “working
environment” but warns that many of today’s rural jobs are often precarious and
highly vulnerable, especially, as is so for many migrant workers, when
accommodation is tied into the contract. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">There are
though also larger businesses which, although Smith does not mention it, are
places of trade union activity include the long established Sullom Voe oil
terminal on Shetland, Sellafield on the Cumbrian coast and the planned
Sutherland space port. Balancing environmental concerns with providing jobs is
always going to be tricky. Some rural communities have, of course, inspired by
the first island community buyout on the Isle of Eigg in 1997, sought to
overcome these problems by taking advantage of opportunities to buy the lands
on which they live. Just under 3 per cent of Scotland’s land is under community
ownership and whilst ‘community buyouts’ in England have largely been for
smaller businesses such as pubs that are 500 community land trusts currently
that have built over 1,000 homes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I am also confused as to how the book
manages to miss the importance of the Tolpuddle Martyrs or such as Joseph Arch.
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccevgNimOgK_rCpaELd326Ryzl0VEvlZQe-AVZYW8K12e1UCMvZOj0yiKktuNesyFW82u0sVjidNnTDFzXy1WmTiTvqP2NJXGYNs-svmAwdsp56PSNvmNglT4fiv3FvRRNNHs5pv-qTVeeYCKIx_gTAcZ8urgzN0170RLznHaP-R_fsfopFReWdb6XHg/s3264/pro-ZVP4UOGc.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccevgNimOgK_rCpaELd326Ryzl0VEvlZQe-AVZYW8K12e1UCMvZOj0yiKktuNesyFW82u0sVjidNnTDFzXy1WmTiTvqP2NJXGYNs-svmAwdsp56PSNvmNglT4fiv3FvRRNNHs5pv-qTVeeYCKIx_gTAcZ8urgzN0170RLznHaP-R_fsfopFReWdb6XHg/w300-h400/pro-ZVP4UOGc.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-58525205208554042122024-02-08T06:22:00.000-08:002024-02-08T06:22:36.366-08:00Derbyshire miners and footballers who played for Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday to be honoured thanks to campaign led by historian Mark Metcalfe and former Manchester United director Michael Knighton<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Derbyshire Times 02 February 2024 <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Derbyshire
miners and footballers who played for Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday
to be honoured thanks to campaign led by historian Mark Metcalfe and former
Manchester United director Michael Knighton<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Three plaques will be unveiled in Blackwell, commemorating
two 19th century footballers and miners killed in an accident at the local
colliery.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The two footballers that will be honoured are former
Blackwell Collier’s, Billy ‘Fatty’ Foulke (1874-1916) and Willie Layton
(1875-1944). Beginning their playing careers for Blackwell miners welfare FC,
both men would go on to play for <a href="https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/topic/sheffield-united"><b>Sheffield
United</b></a> and <a href="https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/topic/sheffield-wednesday"><b>Sheffield
Wednesday</b></a> respectively, leading both men to win England's old
First Division and the FA cup with their clubs.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The unveiling will take place on Thursday 18 April. The
plaques dedicated to the two footballers will be unveiled at Blackwell
Community Hall. The third plaque will be unveiled at the village's pit wheel
monument, displaying the names of seven men who died in a mining accident on
November 11 1895.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Sunday 25 February, there will be a meeting at Blackwell
Community Hall where people can find out more about the unveiling and about the
people the plaques will be commemorating.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Former footballers and Blackwell residents, Willie Layton
(Left) and Billy Foulke (Right) will be commemorated with plaques in the
village.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Descendents of any of the men being commemorated are
encouraged to come forward to be involved with the unveiling, as well as any
former miners at the colliery.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The campaign to get the plaques installed in the village has
been led by football historian and writer, Mark Metcalfe, as well <a href="https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/topic/derbyshire"><b>Derbyshire</b></a> born
businessman and former <a href="https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/topic/manchester-united"><b>Manchester
United</b></a> director, Michael Knighton – the great-grandson of Willie
Layton.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mark said: “It’s a combination of my personal passion to
remember the footballers of the past and Michael Knighton’s willingness to fund
this to make it possible, because of his great-grandads connection to the coal
miners. So that’s how this has come about.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tony Gascoyne, a Blackwell parish councillor, was approached
by Mark and Michael about putting these memorial plaques up in the village. The
councillor described the plaques as being “massively important” to the
village's identity.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">One of the plaques will be unveiled at the Blackwell
colliery pit-wheel monument<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He said: “I think if we don’t remember these people then
they got lost to time, and nobody will actually know about what happened. I
think we’ve all been guilty of living in the moment and not remembering what's
happened in the past.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“We are a mining community and that’s been lost because of
the pits closing and the open cast mining coming in after that. So our identity
has been lost to a certain extent.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tony gave thanks to both Mark and Michael for all they have
done to bring these plaques to the village.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The councillor said: “Mark’s been brilliant and very
proactive in what he does, and Michael as well who has come along and funded
the plaques.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“It’s been eye-opening to have the interest of somebody
who's not really involved with the village personally, but who has got a lot of
time to get things organised and push this forward.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Michael is also hoping to see children from Blackwell
primary school helping at the unveiling.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once working for the Professional Footballers Association,
Mark has helped to put up several plaques around the country, commemorating
footballing legends of yester-year; including Frank Swift, Jimmy Armfield and
Kenny Davenport.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For more details about the upcoming event either contact
Mark via metcalfmc@outlook.com or Cllr Gascoyne
at gazzaddr@hotmail.co.uk.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-32767553919559465522024-01-30T05:40:00.000-08:002024-01-30T05:40:33.676-08:00'Bread not Bayonets'<p> <b style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;">‘Bread not Bayonets’</b></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 10pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><a class="x_x_OWAAutoLink" data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0UxMadnIEA" id="OWA22e45eaa-707a-6098-2cb8-dee9236954d2" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0UxMadnIEA</a></b></span></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 10pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 10pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The story of <b>Halifax in August 1842</b> when local workers downed tools to join a nationwide general strike for </span><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">better pay and extended voting rights and found themselves ruthlessly suppressed with many killed and injured.</span></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 10pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">32 minutes long </span></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 10pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 10pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Directed and edited by Francesca Platt and produced by Mark Metcalf.</span></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-18386684142923752082024-01-29T02:22:00.000-08:002024-01-29T02:22:40.885-08:00BOLSOVER TV coverage of forthcoming public meeting in Blackwell Colliery to remember local footballers and miners <p>Two famous footballers who worked at Blackwell Colliery, Derbyshire and 7 miners who were killed there in a pit disaster in 1895 are to be remembered at a special plaque unveiling on April 18th</p><p>https://markwritecouk.files.wordpress.com/2024/01/blackwell-plaques-cc.mp4</p><p><br /></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-50971345398037677282024-01-24T05:19:00.000-08:002024-01-30T02:17:26.880-08:00Blackwell Colliery public meeting on 25 February at noon <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: red; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;"><b><u>FIND OUT HOW TO HELP </u></b></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://writemark.blogspot.com/2024/01/blackwell-colliery-commemoration-of-its.html"><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><b>BLACKWELL COLLIERY COMMEMORATE ITS MINERS’ AND TWO OF ITS
FINEST FOOTBALLERS</b></span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: red;"><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;"> BY ATTENDING THE COMMUNITY HALL AT MIDDAY ON FEBRUARY 25<sup>TH</sup></span></u></b>
</span></span><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><u><span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: red;"><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup><br /></sup></span></u></b></span></span></span></p><p>Two famous footballers who worked at Blackwell Colliery, Derbyshire and 7 miners who were killed there in a pit disaster in 1895 are to be remembered at a special plaque unveiling on April 18th</p><p>Bolsover TV coverage </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: red;"></span></span></p><p>https://markwritecouk.files.wordpress.com/2024/01/blackwell-plaques-cc.mp4</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On the afternoon of Thursday 18 April there will be
unveiled three plaques in Blackwell Colliery that will commemorate two of its
greatest footballers and seven miners who lost their lives in a mining disaster
in 1895.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">You can find out more & get involved by coming to
Blackwell Community Hall at 12 noon onwards till 3pm on Sunday 25 February.
Especially welcome would be any descendants of the miners killed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Billy
Foulke, Willie Layton, James Fryer, John Gibson, John Jones, James Mee, Joseph
Penshaw, Thomas Shaw and William Martin.</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Blackwell
colliers <b>Billy ‘Fatty’ Foulke</b> (1874-1916), a pupil at the local school,
and <b>Willie Layton</b> (1875-1944) played for Blackwell Colliery Welfare FC
and both won the top flight title and FA Cup with Sheffield United and
Sheffield Wednesday respectively with Foulke playing for England and Layton for
the Football League. Foulke also represented Derbyshire County Cricket Club.
(DCCC)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Willie
Layton was fortunate in that his football duties meant he took the night of
10/11<sup>th</sup> November off work at the colliery and avoided being caught
up in an explosion that killed: <b>James Fryer, John Gibson, John Jones, James
Mee, Joseph Penshaw, Thomas Shaw and William Martin.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Plaques to the two footballers and the seven men are now to
be mounted at the community hall and pit wheel respectively. Blackwell primary
school children are to help out on this special occasion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Come along on 25 February to discover more </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Are you a
descendant of any of the seven miners? </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">If so then we would welcome you getting in touch and hope you
can come along on 25 February.<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Are you a
former miner at the colliery that closed in 1969? </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">If so then we would welcome you
getting in touch and hope you can come along on 25 February. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Are you a
relative of a former footballer who lived in Blackwell Colliery </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">and can tell us more as the Greater
Creative Home Truths Heritage Project would like to interview you for its oral
history project. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Two short
documentary films on Foulke and Layton at:-<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1fcY5vtPo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1fcY5vtPo</a> Layton
– a tale of tragedy and triumph<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zei3KpirqW0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zei3KpirqW0</a> The
Biggest and Best: Billy Foulke <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">For more
details contact football historian Mark Metcalf 07392 852561 <a href="mailto:metcalfmc@outlook.com">metcalfmc@outlook.com</a> and/or Cllr Tony
Gascoyne on 07968 971015 <a href="mailto:gazzaddr@hotmail.co.uk">gazzaddr@hotmail.co.uk</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-56413470235894807262024-01-12T03:31:00.000-08:002024-01-30T02:15:30.928-08:00BLACKWELL COLLIERY COMMEMORATION OF ITS MINERS AND TWO OF ITS FINEST FOOTBALLERS<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">BLACKWELL COLLIERY COMMEMORATION OF ITS MINERS
AND TWO OF ITS FINEST FOOTBALLERS <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On the afternoon of Thursday 18 April at 1.30pm, Blackwell
Colliery will, by unveiling three plaques, be commemorating two of its greatest
footballers and seven miners who lost their lives in a mining disaster in 1895.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Blackwell colliers
Billy ‘Fatty’ Foulke (1874-1916), a pupil at the local school, and Willie Layton
(1875-1944) played for Blackwell Colliery Welfare FC and both later won the top
flight title (Division One) and FA Cup with Sheffield United and Sheffield
Wednesday respectively with Foulke playing for England and Layton for the
Football League. Foulke also represented Derbyshire County Cricket Club. (DCCC)
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Plaques in honour of both men will be unveiled at
Blackwell Community Centre. Family members will be centrally involved in the
ceremony. David Griffin from DCCC also be speaking. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A plaque will also be unveiled at the nearby pit wheel
<a name="_Hlk151371556">i</a></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151371556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">n memory of the 71 colliers known to
have been killed at Blackwell Colliery (1872 -1969) and listing the following
seven who died very early on Monday 11<sup>th</sup> November 1895 in an
explosion. </span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151371556;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151371556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">James Fryer<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151371556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">John Gibson <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151371556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">John Jones <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151371556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">James Mee <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151371556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Joseph Penshaw <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151371556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Thomas Shaw <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151371556;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">William Martin <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151371556;"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Attempts are
being made to find descendants of these men so as to involve them in the
ceremony.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Willie
Layton himself was due to be at work on Sunday 10<sup>th</sup>/ Monday 11<sup>th</sup>
but absented himself in order to play a big football match the following day. Layton
is the great grandfather of artist Michael Knighton, a Manchester United
director between 1989 and 1992, who is paying for the plaques. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">A number of events
and activities are being organised in the lead up to 17 April. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Two short
documentary films have been made on Foulke and Layton and can be viewed at:-<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1fcY5vtPo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1fcY5vtPo</a>
Layton – a tale of tragedy and triumph <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zei3KpirqW0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zei3KpirqW0</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Foulke <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It is hoped
to make a third on the seven miners.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">More details
can be provided by football historian Mark Metcalf<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">07392 852561
<a href="mailto:metcalfmc@outlook.com">metcalfmc@outlook.com</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-19940512275398040922024-01-11T03:22:00.000-08:002024-01-11T03:22:22.926-08:00 The Biggest and Best: Billy Foulke short film <p><b><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;">The Biggest and Best: Billy Foulke </span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>View at:- </b></span></p><div style="border: 0px; font-family: "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zei3KpirqW0" id="LPlnk" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zei3KpirqW0</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It is eight minutes long and is part of a major project in Blackwell Colliery this year. </div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-71300066245869790492024-01-11T02:16:00.000-08:002024-01-11T02:16:44.892-08:00MAXINE PEAKE BACKS APPEAL FOR A DOCUMENTARY FILM ON THE REMARKABLE BETTY TEBBS<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MAXINE
PEAKE BACKS BOLTON TRADES COUNCIL </span></b><a name="_Hlk151037801"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">FUND
RAISING APPEAL FOR A DOCUMENTARY FILM ON THE REMARKABLE BETTY TEBBS </span></b></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151037801;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk151037801;"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Following the publication by Unite of a booklet on Betty
Tebbs remarkable life, Bolton Trades Council are raising up to £6,000 to make
a 30-minute documentary film on BETTY TEBBS – A radical working class hero. <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Maxine Peake is backing the appeal – listen to what she
has to say at:- <a href="https://markwritecouk.files.wordpress.com/2024/01/betty-tebbs-funding-appeal.m4a">https://markwritecouk.files.wordpress.com/2024/01/betty-tebbs-funding-appeal.m4a</a><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>“</b>I’d like to appeal to the trade union and labour
movement to donate up to £6,000 towards a documentary film about the life of my
great friend Betty Tebbs. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Betty was a life-long socialist of 98 years who’s
indomitable fighting spirit and trade union organisational abilities helped to
win improvements in pay and conditions everywhere – particularly at the East
Lancashire Paper Mill – that she worked across the printing and retail sector. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Following the drop of nuclear bombs in Japan in 1945 she
dedicated her life to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peace by
campaigning with CND.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was resolved
to improving women’s rights through organisations such as the National Assembly
for Women.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In her later years, Betty, whose first husband Ernest,
joined the war effort “to fight fascism” and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>laid down his life doing so, took up the cause
of the Palestinian people.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was great that four years ago Unite published a biography
on Betty compiled by Mark Metcalf who is now combining with film maker
Francesca Platt to make a 30-minute documentary film on her life.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Funds are needed - £1500 has already been donated – and can
be sent to Bolton and District United Trades Council, Account number 59020222
Sort code 089018<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------P<b>roduction
of the film</b> will be undertaken by Francesca Platt, production manager of
the Bolton arts project The Videobox at <a href="https://www.thevideobox.tv/contact-us/">https://www.thevideobox.tv/contact-us/</a>
alongside writer Mark Metcalf.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The pair recently collaborated on a well-received 30-minute <b>documentary
film BREAD NOT BAYONETS – Halifax 1842</b> on the uprising, part of the 1842
General Strike, in the West Yorkshire town in 1842. This can be viewed at: - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0UxMadnIEAt">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0UxMadnIEAt</a>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Funds for this work were donated by a number of trade union
branches.<b> <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The work will consist of additional research, on screen
interviews, site visits, sourcing music, photography, editing and production.
There will be a number of costs associated with the work. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There will be a public screening of the completed works and
it will be available free to labour movement organisations & community
groups. The work will go online. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Copies of the Unite publication on Betty Tebbs at:- </b><a href="https://markwritecouk.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/6328-betty-tebbs-web.pdf">https://markwritecouk.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/6328-betty-tebbs-web.pdf</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hard copies from Mark Metcalf on 07392 852561
or <a href="mailto:metcalfmc@outlook.com">metcalfmc@outlook.com</a> <b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Draft resolution </b>This branch agrees to support the
appeal by Bolton Trades Council towards the costs of a documentary film on
Betty Tebbs. We agree to donate……………..<b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Donations to:-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bolton
and District United Trades Council, Account no 59020222 Sort code 089018<o:p></o:p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-33010528706572309822024-01-09T07:56:00.000-08:002024-01-09T07:56:43.751-08:00Hull to become the first UK city to give people the "right to grow" their own food on public land,<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Charlie
Clutterbuck has “warmly welcomed” news that Hull is set to become the first UK
city to give people the "right to grow" their own food on public land,
and now wants “the idea adopting nationally.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Labour
councillor Gill Kennett acted after a local resident’s vegetable patch, which
provided wholesome food for neighbours on public land had to be dug up
following a complaint by a newly-arrived householder. Working closely with Hull
Food Partnership (HFP), Kennett proposed a motion that won unanimous support at
the September full City council meeting backing the right to grow vegetables on
land owned by the authority.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I feel strongly that this ticks so many boxes for
Hull. We are a deprived city and having access to good fresh food, enabling
people to get together to grow it and encouraging skilled growers to pass on
their skills to the less experienced can bring communities together, make
places look better, help tackle social isolation and potentially improve the
mental health of some people,” said Kennett. “Plus, at a time of a
cost-of-living crisis it can help reduce food bills.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Council officers are now working to bring to life
Kennett’s proposal with a report to go before the Communities, Culture and
Leisure Scrutiny Committee in January outlining possible locations, providing access
to water at them and examining the finance required to relieve pressure on
insurance costs. “It might take a few months to get officially started, but I
am excited at what we are trying to achieve,” said Kennett, who for many years
worked in children’s services and on retirement became a councillor in 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“It is great to see what they are planning in Hull,”
said Clutterbuck who has mapped many parts of the NW to show food can be extensively
grown on wasteland and who was central to the establishment of the Incredible
Edible Project, Todmorden, formed in 2008 by Pam Warhurst who has been passing
on her experiences to HFP. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Rubbish land in a valley in the middle of the
Pennines, producing salad crops nearly all year round, several thousand pounds
worth of fruit-tree cuttings, and supporting bees, ducks and cows shows we
could stop transporting food half way around the world by better using our
public realm and reconnecting people to growing food, which includes vegetables
and fruits, often not stocked by supermarkets, for diverse communities,” says
Charlie. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">HFP development officer Anna Route is keen for communities
to get the official go-ahead to grow food on disused public land. “There are
people want to do so now. It will take time to attract others but the more
sites there are across the city will mean they’ll get noticed and attract new
people. It needs to be viewed as a long-term thing as that is how growing works.
It takes determination and effort, trial and error and to keep trying. But the
rewards are worth it.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-68140285326297006652024-01-09T07:53:00.000-08:002024-01-09T07:53:38.053-08:00End fox hunting on our national parks.<p> <b>Unpublished article for uniteLANDWORKER Winter 2023/24 </b></p><p class="MsoNormal">A coalition of charities led by the League Against Cruel
Sports (LACS) are campaigning to push National Park Authorities (NPA) in
England and Wales to do all in their power to end fox hunting on our national
parks.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When Labour did finally sweep away hunting with dogs in 2005
it needed the Commons Speaker Michael Martin to invoke the Parliament Act for
only the fourth time since 1949, after Conservative peers in the Lords
constantly refused to pass the legislation despite MPs support for it on a free
vote. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the trade union for rural workers, the TGWU (now Unite)
welcomed the legislation viewing fox hunting as unnecessary and cruel with
foxes dying terrible deaths after being pursued over lengthy distances before
being caught and ripped to death by the chasing pack. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Countryside Alliance (CA) was predictably hostile,
predicted that the legislation would be unenforceable and threatened
defiance. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the first two years there were just eight successful
prosecutions under the Act but, thankfully, the numbers have risen consistently
ever since. However, there is an overwhelming body of evidence – LACS recorded
nearly 1,000 incidents in the last hunting season - showing fox hunting with
dogs is still being pursued under the smokescreen of ‘trail hunting’, which
involves a pack of hounds following an artificially laid scent. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">LACS is calling on NPA to follow in the footsteps of the
National Trust and Natural Resource Wales in banning trail hunting on their
land. A petition to this effect is being handed into the NPA soon and other
activities will follow. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Karen (*), (not her real name) a farmer with her husband in
North Yorkshire who lives close to the North Yorkshire Moors and Yorkshire
Dales National Parks. (NPs) supports LACS campaign. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Fox hunting takes place regularly locally and this disturbs
lots of wildlife. There have been prosecutions but anyone speaking up takes a
serious risk of being harassed. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Older farmers hunt because they see it as a tradition and a
social event. But others are quite vile and enjoy witnessing a fox or a minx,
as they also hunt those defenceless animals, being ripped apart. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I am pleased LACS and other bodies have a campaign to get
NPs to do everything in their power to end fox hunting across their regions.
This won’t be easy as they don’t own the land and there are some big, powerful
landowners within these areas.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Only 4% of land in the Lake District (LD) Park is owned by
the LD National Park Authority. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Duchy of Cornwall – now Prince William - is one of the
largest private landowners in England with an estate of 135,000 acres of which
13% is in Cornwall and half of which is on Exmoor National Park in Devon and
where animal rights campaigners are seeking to have the law vigorously upheld. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The future King and his wife are keen hunters and William
has spoken out in support of trophy hunting in Africa.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is apparent therefore that it is not going to be an easy
task to push the NP Authorities, which are legal bodies charged with
maintaining a National Park, to act to help finally end fox hunting. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To take action go to: -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="https://takeaction.league.org.uk/page/131959/petition/1?locale=en-GB">https://takeaction.league.org.uk/page/131959/petition/1?locale=en-GB</a><o:p></o:p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-44261176907175759522024-01-09T04:55:00.000-08:002024-01-09T04:55:13.824-08:00MORE RURAL SOCIAL HOMES CALL<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">MORE RURAL
SOCIAL HOMES CALL <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Wait list
length is just plain wrong says Defend Council Housing <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">UniteLANDWORKER
Winter 2023/24 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Housing campaigners
Defend Council Housing (DCH) wishes to speak to rural households stuck on the
ever-growing rural social housing waiting lists that has now reached 197,894/ The
testimonies gathered would be fed into an All-Party Parliamentary Group enquiry
into the need for council housing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lord Best</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">, who led the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation for many years, has written extensively and chaired many commissions
on housing. “As the National Housing Federation (NHF) has revealed the national
position for rural housing has worsened quite dramatically in recent years………….trends
(include) pricing out locals… (and) a fall in availability of private rented
accommodation. In Devon the County notes a 50% decline and in North Devon alone
a 67% fall in just 2-3 years.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The NHF
figures show that 46,318 additional households were added to the national
social housing waiting list in rural areas between 2019-2022. And with just
5,953 new social rent houses constructed rurally over the same period then the
crisis is growing at a rate 10 times that of towns and cities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Best sees
the answers lying in national and local government action. “We need to enable
councils to stop the loss of longer-term lettings to Airbnb-style lets through
a planning consent requirement and we need to embark on a major programme of
social housing, not least for rural communities where so much council housing
has been sold under Right to Buy.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Best chairs
the Devon Housing Commission that has already had 170 submissions, mainly from
rural and coastal communities, from those facing severe housing difficulties. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A similar national
enquiry is now being organised by Best’s parliamentary colleagues that comprise
the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Housing and Social Mobility whose
purpose is ‘to champion social housing providers that support communities to secure
sustainable livelihoods’ by ‘examining evidence led insights.’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">DCH is providing
secretariat (administrative) support to the APPG that is co-chaired by MPs
Peter Aldous <b>(Tory)</b> and Liz Twist. <b>(Labour)</b> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">DCH is keen
to collate the experiences of rural households stuck on long waiting lists for social
housing and would welcome the assistance of Unite members in rural communities to
make this possible. The group has already set up meetings in urban areas
including Rochdale but wants to reach out into countryside communities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">According to
<b>Eileen Short,</b> “we are seeing the return to the slum, overcrowded,
insecure living conditions of the 19th century that drove the mass council
housing movement in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Whether you
are in housing need yourself or deeply concerned for future generations, help
build a movement to address the housing crisis. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“This
initiative could help reveal the facts about the present state of housing and
detail how to mend the housing crisis. Please make contact if you can assist,” she
added. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
conjunction with Homes for All, DCH has put forward a <b>5 Point Plan </b>which
aims to provide concrete proposals to help solve the housing crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1.
Government investment in a mass council housing building programme, including
requisitioning of empty homes and abolition of ‘right to buy’<br />
2. Rent controls and secure tenancies in the private rental sector. Robust
regulation of housing associations<br />
3. New funding to repair and refurbish existing council housing – do not
demolish<br />
4. Adequate funding for fire safety, and for retrofitting and thermal
insulation<br />
5. Planning for the people and the planet, and not for developers’ profits<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To contact
Defend Council Housing ring 07342 098440 and at </span><a href="mailto:info@defendcouncilhousing.org"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">info@defendcouncilhousing.org</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">See also
Homes for All website at </span><a href="http://www.axethehousingact.org.uk/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">www.axethehousingact.org.uk</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixJxDtUOtUDsmn7QKTI0ROZ7i453R_A4Sg_nWJrs6N5_6BGtNST1gUBGIcY2JqA5Z-1XQaCsICS-wuaSDvpZsJIF_MMuqbg6wZY7S1RrLuXcqukLkF0EXr_POPKFAykk0hzs1K0ooFKsPrMmgyrnG2qFD_IzhfDmO649GbhG7EPNgoorrwBm0snBz5cM/s3968/DCHarticlewinter20234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3968" data-original-width="2976" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixJxDtUOtUDsmn7QKTI0ROZ7i453R_A4Sg_nWJrs6N5_6BGtNST1gUBGIcY2JqA5Z-1XQaCsICS-wuaSDvpZsJIF_MMuqbg6wZY7S1RrLuXcqukLkF0EXr_POPKFAykk0hzs1K0ooFKsPrMmgyrnG2qFD_IzhfDmO649GbhG7EPNgoorrwBm0snBz5cM/w480-h640/DCHarticlewinter20234.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-27170350453271818782023-12-21T03:52:00.000-08:002023-12-21T03:53:36.849-08:00THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE - modern slavery<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE </b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The truth about modern slavery, by Emily Kenway, published
by Pluto Press (£14.99) <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Unite Landworker magazine Winter 2023/24 </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Slavery is a term associated with shackles, boats and
cruelty. All right-thinking people are against it and so consequently when they
hear the name of William Wilberforce and the term modern-slavery, which
includes forced labour, human trafficking and slavery they will sit up, pay attention
and help to eradicate it?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The problem is that the modern day slavery framework has
been constructed by some of the very reactionary people, companies, media
outlets and governments who have attacked the very forces – the trade unions –
who can do the most to end today’s slavery.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2016 Prime Minster Theresa May, who a year earlier
introduced the Modern Slavery Act (MSA), was lauded by the media for launching her
‘anti-slavery crusade’ when she said, “this government is determined to build a
Great Britain that works for everyone and will not tolerate modern slavery, an
evil trade that shatters victims’ lives and traps them in a cycle of abuse.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Warm words, that Kenway notes in the real world translated
into only 12 percent of those officially recognised as modern slavery victims
being given a right to remain in the UK in 2016. May, of course, did not use
the MSA to legally require companies to perform extensive investigations into
their supply chains and to subsequently address any human rights impacts they
identified.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile, Labour inspectorates such as the Employment
Agencies Standards Inspectorate, HSE, HMRC’ wage unit and the Gangmasters and
Labour Abuse Authority are all woefully underfunded and understaffed. In 2021,
the anti-slavery charity Hope of Justice revealed that a year after the news
first broke, workers in some Leicester textile factories were still being paid
as little as £3.50 an hour.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And as <b>Landworker</b> highlighted last summer it also
took the Tories over three years to report <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">into the initial Seasonal Workers Scheme. (SWS) This is designed to make
up for the shortage following Brexit of agricultural labour. Unsurprisingly, the
report revealed gross exploitation of migrant workers, particularly those from
Ukraine, who in the meantime were clearly still being terribly exploited as
highlighted in an article on 19 April 2022 by <b>The Guardian </b>titled<b>:</b>
‘Ukrainian workers </span>workers flee ‘modern slavery’ conditions on UK farms.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The SWS, which has been massively expanded to allow up to
40,000 workers, including poultry workers and haulage drivers, to work in the
UK for up to six months is, as highlighted by the Focus of Labour Exploitation
(FLEX) and Fife Migrants Forum (FMF), a bonded labour scheme – forcing workers
to remain with one employer – the likes of which was employed in Britain’s
plantation colonies after the abolition of slavery. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kenway contends that tougher immigration controls, embodied
in Theresa May’s ‘hostile environment’, prevent migrant workers from seeking
help when they experience exploitation, the result of which is a lowering of
wages and conditions for all workers. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">FLEX/FMF proposals to tackle these problems, including
financial support to migrant community organisations and trade unions, who can
then offer tailored support, have largely been ignored by the Scottish and UK
Governments.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kenway, does not, of course, condemn the many honest people
seeking to end modern slavery. Her readers are asked to imagine doing things
differently with each chapter providing possible alternatives to conventional
thought on how to tackle modern slavery, which is a product and not some sort
of extreme aberration of the political economy we live under in which so few
people own so much wealth. Ultimately, modern slavery will exist and even grow
until we find a way to organise workers everywhere to get what we rightly
deserve. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD4obG-87-VaQ42q2Fio58ql-2DwOC4TwsgZAK5iMPibfohNltiXmz6n_O-gIbkRvOCyssW-uMm0UTxIf1n9pmDengzuUyDh3QR8MU1cY-5CW5RVX4KiBlSXL4QLJwufa2Gh3zhaHEJZeSj_DSwl6Z4QTBzbNUgHOh4-c9Yc9iSgc5JH-nxsEUsc6UC3c/s3264/pro-jUEn1LQf.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD4obG-87-VaQ42q2Fio58ql-2DwOC4TwsgZAK5iMPibfohNltiXmz6n_O-gIbkRvOCyssW-uMm0UTxIf1n9pmDengzuUyDh3QR8MU1cY-5CW5RVX4KiBlSXL4QLJwufa2Gh3zhaHEJZeSj_DSwl6Z4QTBzbNUgHOh4-c9Yc9iSgc5JH-nxsEUsc6UC3c/w480-h640/pro-jUEn1LQf.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-21375678707746171522023-12-21T03:28:00.000-08:002023-12-21T03:28:18.132-08:00Colombia: 'COMMITTED TO DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN'<p><b> Unite observer pleased at Colombian result for trade </b></p><p><b>Unite Landworker Winter 2023/4 </b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When <b>Michelle
Smith</b> from the UNITE executive committee visited Colombia last year as part
of a Justice for Colombia (J4C) delegation to observe the presidential election
and monitor the state of trade union and human rights she witnessed “great
enthusiasm… amongst voters… especially young people, women, ethnic minorities,
the peace movement and trade unions.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Michelle was
delighted that <b>Gustavo Petro</b> was elected with his vice-president Francia
Marquez -a long standing peace and environmental activist - becoming the first
African-Colombian woman to hold the post in the new coalition government, the
Historic Pact. “Social investment was promised with pledges to make decent
education and healthcare more accessible to lower-income Colombians. By
developing basic services, including improving sanitary conditions and bringing
clean water to underdeveloped regions, poverty can be tackled”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Michelle met
victims of state violence which includes thousands of trade unionists over the
last half century with Colombia even today the deadliest country for organised
labour. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Petro came
to power promising to honour the 2016 Peace Agreement in which paramilitary and
guerilla groups – of which FARC was the largest – laid down their weapons after
a decades long war that left 450,000 civilians dead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">J4C, which
was established to promote solidarity with Colombian civil society by the trade
union movement here in 2002, played a vital role in facilitating the talks
between the Colombian government and guerillas, of which Petro was one in his
early adult years, that led to peace. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">However,
when <b>Ivan Duque</b> became President in 2018, he allowed inequality to rise
and abandoned the peace pathway leading to over 1,300 social leaders and peace
accord signatories being assassinated. 40 Fensuagro agricultural workers’ union
members were murdered. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Petro’s
government has promised Total Peace as a means of markedly distinguishing
itself from previous fragmented and piecemeal negotiations with individual
armed groups. It intends implementing peace accords as well as pursuing
national unity by reducing inequality levels. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In March
2023 the government made history by recognising the trade union movement as a
collective victim of the lengthy conflict. On 13 September a commemoration
event that included Labour Minister <b>Glorio Ramirez</b>, a former trade
unionist who visited Britain and Ireland with JFC in 2006, acknowledged the
violence enacted against organised labour. Also present were relatives of
murdered trade unionists as well as representatives of Colombia’s three trade
union centres – CUT, CGT and CTC. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Petro told
the crowd “With the strength of the people, I can say that the trade union
movement was a victim of violence in thousands of murders due to greed and
barbarism.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Unsurprisingly,
Michelle is heartened by developments. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Trade
unions in Britain and Ireland have long campaigned for an end to violence
against Colombian trade unionists. We are very pleased that the current Colombia
President recognises this historic injustice and is not only working alongside
unions to develop government policy but has appointed former trade union
leaders into key governmental positions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The
challenge for Petro and the Colombian trade union movement will be seeing the
ambitious social reforms and peace policy implemented inside the four-year
term. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Ongoing
international support will be essential in maximising the possibility of making
this a reality and Unite and other British and Irish unions Ireland are
committed to doing everything we can.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtKaW366Q846PixB-oOMrkzaR-29laCU6rUPHfPKoFxm_8p0vBcseqBbewIUfYIET2BdcqIOWbFQ7gzSCjL8vv9vgJQPB4F__ID9b-HvrktKPJfIuWPlWVSGWxlMqT9bRoX6muVatGv8Q2-GEWPq87doUdk_BALUaVH6BC6kJPM_FUE8hD2yti10Ovk8/s3264/pro-sAKwf3R8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2427" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtKaW366Q846PixB-oOMrkzaR-29laCU6rUPHfPKoFxm_8p0vBcseqBbewIUfYIET2BdcqIOWbFQ7gzSCjL8vv9vgJQPB4F__ID9b-HvrktKPJfIuWPlWVSGWxlMqT9bRoX6muVatGv8Q2-GEWPq87doUdk_BALUaVH6BC6kJPM_FUE8hD2yti10Ovk8/w476-h640/pro-sAKwf3R8.jpeg" width="476" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-33457557925729140032023-11-06T04:47:00.003-08:002023-11-06T04:47:24.975-08:00Images of the Miners' Strike book of Martin Jenkinson's photographs have been republished <p><br /></p><p>See short promotional video:- </p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A3jMwIHrdA</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-71393217297357408402023-11-06T04:35:00.005-08:002023-11-06T04:35:39.104-08:00Finding Willie Layton documentary is a tale of great tragedy, loyalty and triumph <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1fcY5vtPo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1fcY5vtPo</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"> </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext;">Finding
Willie Layton </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-74833913213483113292023-10-29T03:41:00.001-07:002023-10-29T03:41:20.080-07:00Exclusive: Arsenal academy guru Roy Massey on Arteta, Wilshere & facing George Best - Tribal Football<p> https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/exclusive-arsenal-academy-guru-roy-massey-on-arteta-wilshere-facing-george-best-4474376</p><p><br /></p><p>Exclusive: Arsenal academy guru Roy Massey on Arteta, Wilshere & facing George Best - Tribal Football</p><p>Roy Massey has a great anecdote on the (in)famous George Best..."I was with Rotherham, playing Manchester United at Millmoor in a FA Cup replay. With 15 min</p><p>www.tribalfootball.com</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-54054853721682217672023-10-29T02:04:00.002-07:002024-01-11T05:25:36.436-08:00A POWERFUL STORY WAITING TO BE HOLD<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A POWERFUL STORY WAITING TO BE HOLD <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Streetlife Museum,</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Hull <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">UniteLANDWORKER Winter 2023/24 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">More museums (*) are reaching out to the Gypsy Roma
and Traveller community to record their distinctive lives to help their
visitors and the general public at large to understand how these ethnic groups </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">have contributed to British society –
and rural communities particularly - for centuries.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
historical, economic and cultural contribution of Britain's 300,000 Gypsies and
Travellers is slowly becoming recognised.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">When <b>Robin
Diaper</b>, whose work as the Curator of Maritime & Social History at Hull
Museums and Gallery involves overseeing, amongst other sites, the Streetlife
Museum of Transport became aware there were stories about the history of the
gypsy and traveller community in the city and its surrounding areas he sought
help.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“During
COVID we tried doing things remotely. There was man called <b>John Cunningham</b>
in the Hull Pals Battalion who had earned a Victoria Cross for his bravery
during WWI. He was a Romany gypsy. I had seen that <b>Violet Cannon</b> at York
Travellers Trust (YTT) had written a blog on him but as she was having a baby
at the time, she was unable to write a panel on him for the Wilberforce Museum,
which is next door”, explains Diaper, who then was able to get in touch with
Cunningham’s great nephew Charles Newland who was good enough to provide all
the necessary information for a permanent display of a powerful story that was
just waiting to be told. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“That was
great and as we had pockets of unused space at Streetlife and understood that
perhaps we were not covering the heritage of the gypsy and traveller (G&T)
community we asked Violet if she would be willing to help us develop this and
to facilitate contact with communities too,” said Diaper. “What we wanted to do
was make a permanent addition and a meaningful change”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">YTT chief
executive Cannon, who is a Romany Gypsy who spent her childhood roadside at a
time when land was not as scarce as today and legislation, which eventually
forced her family to move into a house, was less restrictive, was inspired by
what she heard to get involved. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“I felt it
would recognise the permanency of Gypsy and Travellers families in Hull where
many families have strong links to York. I have worked in the voluntary sector
from an early age and I am keen to remove the obstacles that I faced for future
generations of my community,” many of whom are no longer travelling round the
country. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Asked to
describe the situation facing today’s G&T community, Cannon said recent
research by Birmingham University exploring Islamophobia and prejudice against
Muslims found that it was exceeded by negative perceptions towards G&T. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Cannon
facilitated workshops with members of the G&T community who decided what
items would go on display to represent them. This includes a life-sized model
of a piebald horse, information boards on diverse subjects and lots of
photographs, many taken by George Norris who is strongly linked with G&T. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3cappU8IQSQSWg0_5R9ABOG4LrBWOs1X5xbUiNjQ-7bSAz81nMWslxLkQxYZVpUrLQj8BdNsSFABE_RyATAMsg-Vf4pg93cR_sK3extyIqm8TALba-kQS4aPLFW8PHI_MjCoA1r7snvayzWFQ7W-sGS-RsPSSgyt4UY_Guyv3VNnqupTAeu4yjmSxQkQ/s3200/D090123-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2133" data-original-width="3200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3cappU8IQSQSWg0_5R9ABOG4LrBWOs1X5xbUiNjQ-7bSAz81nMWslxLkQxYZVpUrLQj8BdNsSFABE_RyATAMsg-Vf4pg93cR_sK3extyIqm8TALba-kQS4aPLFW8PHI_MjCoA1r7snvayzWFQ7W-sGS-RsPSSgyt4UY_Guyv3VNnqupTAeu4yjmSxQkQ/w640-h426/D090123-13.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There is
also a unique painting by </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">Charles Cooper Henderson</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (1803-1845) who is
considered one of the greatest coaching painters of the 19</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> century
and whose works are on display at, amongst others, the Tate Gallery. Amidst the
grandeur of Henderson’s painting of the Hull and London Royal Mail coach around
1835 there can be glimpsed in the corner a gypsy tent with a small ass resting
alongside.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">In a similar
fashion to the total absence of agricultural workers in paintings from the past
this is a silent testament to a race of people that have lived here for
centuries but who have been largely drowned by deafening silence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Cannon hopes
the exhibition will be attended by “gypsy and travellers who will feel valued
to see their culture represented. I hope that other communities attend and
learn something new, or at least open their minds a little”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Diaper has
been heartened that Gypsies and Travellers have visited Streetlife to view the
displays on their culture and social history and “when we did a small opening
there was a couple of families who were passing through locally who came along
and expressed their pleasure afterwards.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He is
hopeful of developing more exhibition projects with G&T. “Now that we have
gained a bit of trust, we have already had some initial interest and we have
some spaces that could accommodate temporary works.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Diaper has
also had visitors to Streetlife, which is ostensibly a transport museum, express
their pleasure at seeing the G&T community represented. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Visitor <b>Ian
Atherton</b> felt it was “only right that G&T are represented in a Hull
Museum. If you want to know the true history of a place then every part has to
be represented and my dad worked as a scrap man with many gypsies.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Atherton,
who has regularly visited Appleby Horse Fair, believes much of the negative
perceptions towards G&T are “generated by the media because once people mix
with one another they soon get along well enough.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Streetlife Museum of Transport is home to over 200 years of transport history
spread across six galleries. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Situated
within Hull’s Museums Quarter, the Streetlife Museum of Transport neighbours
both Wilberforce House and the Hull & East Riding Museum which are also
free to enter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">In recent
times the Wilberforce Museum has been working with the local Black Community to
develop new galleries looking at the legacies of transatlantic slavery. A
temporary exhibition Uncovering Modern Slavery has just opened. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> * I</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">n 2022, Landworker revealed how Worcestershire
County Museum (WCM) at Hartlebury Castle was transforming the experiences of
visitors to its beautiful Gypsy Roma and Traveller (GRT) Vardo (the Romany word
for a horse drawn gypsy caravan) collection. This followed the appointment of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Vardo Project Officer of Georgie
Stevens, part Romany herself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Members of
the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller community are featured in many of the
photographs in the Gordon Shennan collection at Inverness Museum and Art
Gallery. Many museums held special events during June which is Gypsy, Roma, and
Traveller History Month. The historical, economic and cultural contribution of
Britain's 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers is slowly becoming recognised.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIOc0y_lCJD6iWdj5Bbep3bkdLTBQrFzkeB6sZ7ymN-fCNWEbC1BtBa6HNlucgcK6cU9oIx_aL7Op8MAO14VEQpikMHO-PsnFXnx_OX5_F8rtUMF2Lfh8pT9wSXr846fhvc0QcrrcZcfzVDmqAsM2fWdlMFEpteqqzlJRHgRsCcXLaHpsjWwHhfg-AGQ/s3264/hull%20museum%20photo%20page%201.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIOc0y_lCJD6iWdj5Bbep3bkdLTBQrFzkeB6sZ7ymN-fCNWEbC1BtBa6HNlucgcK6cU9oIx_aL7Op8MAO14VEQpikMHO-PsnFXnx_OX5_F8rtUMF2Lfh8pT9wSXr846fhvc0QcrrcZcfzVDmqAsM2fWdlMFEpteqqzlJRHgRsCcXLaHpsjWwHhfg-AGQ/w480-h640/hull%20museum%20photo%20page%201.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_01DsjDcI5PCGu7ZCCPkV0ln9o5qZvSk7GFsekK1n5z7AuPyibkzg6CnOHNdhsBx-NQugRm32ojUj2I-NUJRjqBzadKveT_XhSMve1StgwdE39MSdJ4YE04DJ2sg9WIwpJvPlCtwAISSas0ySnm8UBM_ZPs185Q5mor_VEVQGZWzhG67Dd8y8NJIMI9w/s3264/hull%20museum%20page%202.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_01DsjDcI5PCGu7ZCCPkV0ln9o5qZvSk7GFsekK1n5z7AuPyibkzg6CnOHNdhsBx-NQugRm32ojUj2I-NUJRjqBzadKveT_XhSMve1StgwdE39MSdJ4YE04DJ2sg9WIwpJvPlCtwAISSas0ySnm8UBM_ZPs185Q5mor_VEVQGZWzhG67Dd8y8NJIMI9w/w480-h640/hull%20museum%20page%202.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-25548032101859309362023-10-29T01:58:00.003-07:002023-10-29T01:58:37.288-07:00Milking it - where have all the cows gone? <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Milking
It <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Just as
environmental subsidies are allowing money to grow on trees for big companies
who are buying up large amounts of land for carbon trading projects then so too
are our public funds being misused in a case of missing cows helping to boost
supermarket profits.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the
towns where you buy your packaged milk from the supermarket, you will not have
noticed the radical changes in the fields that are taking place to provide that
carton. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Yet if you
are lucky enough to have the time to roam round the countryside, you will not
see many cows grazing anymore. There are being replaced by black plastic bags
stuffed with grass cuttings ready for storage nearer the farm for use as feed
for cattle, whose pats are washed out and collected in slurry tanks, all ready
to be transported by road to the fields.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Locked
away <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The cattle
still exist and many farms now house several thousand cows - or beef cattle.
They are out of sight in big barns. They stay indoors throughout the year as
the drag of taking them out to fields and bringing them back, twice a day in
all sorts of weathers, is several steps too far for most producers these
days. Quite simply that is ‘inefficient’ in terms of energy and time consumed. The
cattle are there 24 hours a day in sparse conditions. While we rightly hear
about chickens indoors, we hear much less about these cattle, yet they are
sentient creatures.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, the
animals stay indoors, in the dry, and eat mainly grass from the fields. But
they also eat a lot of ‘concentrate’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is usually soy beans, £800million annually
imported from Brazil, and maize (about the same amount in money) mainly
imported from USA. The tax/tariff on this maize has been removed by this
government in June this year, only the second tariff change since Brexit, in
order to keep feed prices low. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The change
from field to factory production has gone on in the last 5-10 years out of
sight and with few controls on conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Banks and
supermarket pressures <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Banks have shoved
dairy farmers, caught by supermarkets pushing them to produce milk ever
cheaper, into major investment. They need massive tractors and mowers to cut
the grass as quickly as possible, often 4 times a year, and then shift the cuttings
into silage bags. Farmers also need slurry tanks to hold the waste washed from
the barns plus slurry tankers to cart the stuff to deposit on the fields, often
along busy roads at high speed. They also need to improve their own
infrastructure to carry this frequently used heavyweight. No wonder 1 in
20 dairy farmers went to the (albeit dry stone) wall last year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Diary
workers quit over working conditions </span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Many dairy
workers have been replaced by ever more accurate machines to feed, precisely
measured amounts, and to milk and measure the production of the beasts. There
are not now enough dairy workers. A survey for ‘The Cattle Site’ found
that four fifths of all respondents were worried by staff recruitment with almost
a third considering leaving the industry due to a lack of dairy labour. 28%
reported staff were leaving due to unsociable working hours. It may also have
something to do with working inside all day. Clearly, they need a union. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">River
damage to be paid for by the public purse <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The environmental
impacts of these changes are poorly understood, as they are poorly studied. One
big issue are excessive phosphates going into rivers, causing ‘nutrient growth’
of algae taking oxygen and thus killing other river life. Half comes from yards
and half from fields. The slurry is rich in phosphates which are not held in
the ground well, and so washes off. It may also be that the slurry soil
works more anaerobically, so not as efficient as old-fashioned aerobic cow manure
in holding the phosphate. But I cannot find any UK Land based research looking
into this issue. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
government announced in August this year - as part of unlocking the old EU’s
‘nutrient neutrality’ law- that £280m is going to be invested directly to
rivers to improve slurry damage with 4000 farm inspections being carried out by
50 new inspectors. There is also a £25m innovative research programme to
improve nutrient (phosphate) holding in soil. Are the supermarkets going
to fund these government costs, rather than coming out of taxpayer’s money, to
make up for their cheap milk policy? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The really big environmental issue concerns global warming.
Cows are often blamed for their methane burps, yet the cow contribution to this
major problem is much more complex. Cows in fields burp across the grass, where
chemicals called ‘hydroxyl radicals’ (charged OH molecules), produced in
sunlight by water on grass, break the methane up into less harmful water and
carbon dioxide. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In the barns there are no radicals keeping things the
methane down. Also, there are all those imported feed concentrates - £1.5
billion in imports from land that would be better left for trees or ranching.
The two dairy footprints - one from grazing and the other from barns are wildly
different. Our food carbon footprint makes its impression all over the world,
when we could be using our grass better. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">New approach needed <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Imagine if we used the £1.5b worth of cattle feed going to
people abroad to regenerate our soils, move the cows more easily, pay dairy
workers living wages, and utilise our land to grow grass without polluting the
rivers. And we’d have cows back in the fields to show off our countryside.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Ex-PM Johnson promised in June 2016 at Gisburn market that
the existing farming subsidies would stay. He lied. They are going. Dairy farms
will be hit by the losses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet new
‘environmentally friendly’ farm subsidies are doing little to address the
environmental issues of barn-bred cattle. Much money is going to consultants on
unworkable schemes to attract inward investors, rather than the farmers
themselves. 2,000 farmers signed up to the </span><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sustainable-farming-incentive-guidance"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">sustainable
farming incentive (SFI) scheme</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">. By
August this year, it had paid out £10,692,415– less than 0.5% of the overall
£2.4bn farming budget</span><span style="color: #121212; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-31222142229597301592023-10-29T01:57:00.006-07:002023-10-29T01:57:40.422-07:00Can the breaking of their chains by enslaved persons inspire today's trade union movement? <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Following the unveiling of a statue by Belfast City Council
to former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Unite in Ireland wants his
legacy and those of other enslaved persons such as Oloudah Equiano, born in
Nigeria, to inspire today’s trade union movement. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland around 1818. He
worked on a plantation. When he was sent to live in Baltimore as a house slave
his mistress, not knowing it was illegal to educate slaves began teaching him
to read. When though the slave master ended this the experience, Douglass continued
his education by swapping food scraps to poor white children in exchange of
knowledge. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At 18, Douglas was reading about the abolitionist movement.
In 1838 he escaped, using faked papers, to New Bedford, Mass. In 1841 he gave
his first anti-slavery oration speaking boldly and honestly about life as a
slave and the traumas it leaves behind. He thereafter became a national leader
of the abolitionist movement. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Chattel slavery was to be outlawed on 6 December 1865.
Douglass, who wrote three autobiographies, died in 1895. Six years earlier he
became the United States ambassador to Haiti where slaves, on what was then
known as Saint-Domingue, waged between 1791-1804 the first successful
revolution under the leadership of former slave and first black general
Toussaint Louverture and by defeating Napoleon Bonaparte’s forces achieved
freedom. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">August 23<sup>rd</sup> is the International Day for
Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition which Unite marked by its
regional equalities officer Taryn Trainor stating “Today commemorates the
insurrection in Saint-Domingue by self-liberated slaves – an event which played
a crucial role in the eventual abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and
reminds us that abolition was driven and eventually won by enslaved and formerly
enslaved persons.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Earlier this year, we welcomed the unveiling of a statue to
former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, funded by Belfast City
Council. Douglass, like Oloudah Equiano in the previous century, travelled
throughout Ireland, and was supported by a network of determined anti-slavery
activists, women and men, from Cork to Belfast. They knew that, as
Frederick Douglass pointed out, there can be no progress without
struggle. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> “As trade unionists, the fight for abolition reminds us
that struggle must always be informed and directed by those most directly
affected.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When Douglass travelled to Britain and Ireland in the 1840s
his lectures excited great interest and now that Belfast has become the first
in Europe to honour Frederick Douglass there are plans in places such as
Halifax to erect plaques at some of the locations he spoke at. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The life-sized bronze statue in Belfast is located at
Rosemary Street, close to where Douglass addressed crowds in 1845.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ms Trainor concluded: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“The impact of chattel slavery continues to resonate today –
not just in monuments and the names of public buildings and spaces, but also in
the ongoing discrimination faced by people of African descent.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> “As attempts are made by far-right actors to stir up
hatred, fear and anger against migrants and refugees, many fleeing war and
oppression, trade unions must draw inspiration from the movement to end slavery
and work side-by-side with those being targeted by these messages of hate to
build an inclusive society.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Belfast historian and tour guide Dr Tom Thorpe said the
statue was appropriate as the statue "takes us into a history which united
us rather than divides us.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"The anti-slavery cause was followed by people from
across the political divide, unionists and nationalists, but also from the
Catholic and Presbyterian communities.” <o:p></o:p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9213221449000331725.post-44446474250952110652023-10-29T01:55:00.003-07:002023-10-29T01:55:47.282-07:00Know your rights in migrant workers languages <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Whilst
migrant workers are protected by the same laws that protect other workers in
the UK and should receive equal pay to British workers doing the same work the
problem is that many don’t know their rights. As they are also often invisible from
other workers then this makes it easier for them to be exploited. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Seeking to
organise workers of all nationalities, UNITEtheUnion across Ireland, North and South has thus produced a series
of Know Your Rights leaflets in 12 community languages: Bulgarian, Czech,
Hungarian, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Romanian, Russian, Slovak,
Ukrainian and Tetum. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The leaflets
point out that workers ‘are entitled to the following statutory rights and protections
from the day you start work. It does not matter how many hours you work.’ They
arose following the exposure of chronic mistreatment in the meat industry with
some workers involved in packing up to 20,000 chicken breasts a day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They explain
rights on:- <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Equal pay
/ equal value<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Sex
discrimination / harassment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø
Discrimination on the grounds of religion / belief<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Age
discrimination<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Racial
discrimination / harassment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Disability
discrimination / harassment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø
Victimisation for trade union membership / activity<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø
Victimisation for Health & Safety activity<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Itemised
pay statement<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Unlawful
deduction from wages<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Dismissal
because of pregnancy<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Written
reasons for dismissal during pregnancy / maternity leave<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Time off
for ante-natal visits<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø 52 weeks’
maternity leave for all women<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Sunday
working rights<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Dismissal
/ victimisation for enforcing a statutory right<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø National
Minimum Wage<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Time off
for holiday and breaks<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Dismissal
/ victimisation for whistleblowing<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø Time off
for family emergencies<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
information is not intended to be exhaustive and, of course, in situations
where there is union organisation then workers should check with their Unite
rep, official or organiser, if something isn’t covered in the leaflet. </span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A recent
report shows how distributing such information everywhere is vital. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_Hlk144377535"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i>Debt. Migration
and Exploitation”,</i> examines the recruitment practices and working
conditions of seasonal fruit and veg pickers employed under the government’s
Seasonal Worker Scheme. (SWS) (which this magazine has covered on many
previous occasions) <o:p></o:p></span></a></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk144377535;"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some
Nepalese workers have been pressurised into paying extortionate, illegal broker
fees of around £4,300 to third-party recruitment agencies in their home
countries to secure a visa. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The report provides
a breakdown of the work process for a fruit picker, and shows how workers
endured debt bondage, long hours, abuse by supervisors, and systematic wage
theft. Meanwhile, the government has yet, despite its promises to do so,
undertaken a full review of the SWS in the agricultural sector in this decade.
Little wonder then that a number of NGOs have written to the Immigration
Minister Robert Jenrick MP asking him to act.<b> </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now with the
passing of the Illegal Migration Bill it is going to be even easier for
employers to exploit migrant workers with the research and policy organisation
FLEX (Focus on Labour Exploitation) stating: ‘The Bill is devastating and will
have far reaching consequences for people both directly and indirectly
affected. It will drive large numbers of people underground, creating fear of
authorities and public services. People in exploitation will fear seeking help.
The Bill has been described as a ‘Traffickers Charter’ as it provides
traffickers with the ultimate coercion tool.’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To download
the Unite leaflets go to:-</span> <a href="https://unitetheunionireland.org/know-your-rights/">h<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">ttps://unitetheunionireland.org/know-your-rights/</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Read “<i>Debt.
Migration and Exploitation” <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://landworkersalliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/LWA-Debt-Migration-and-Exploitation-2023.pdf"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">https://landworkersalliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/LWA-Debt-Migration-and-Exploitation-2023.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06716887628697814090noreply@blogger.com0