MORE TRUCKS FOR PEACE in Colombia

 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2023 

MORE TRUCKS FOR PEACE

 

Help Colombian worker co-ops build a road to peace and prosperity

 

 

Building worker and lifelong trade unionist Ken Routledge is appealing for other Unite branches to join with the Everton NW/UD088 Unite Branch, of which he is secretary, in donating towards TRUCKS FOR PEACE – raising funds for Colombian Co-ops.

 

The co-ops are organised by former FARC guerrillas in the South American Republic south west region around the city of Cali and are essential to helping build peace and co-operativism and in raising living standards amongst poor rural communities.

 

It is seven years since a Peace Agreement was signed by FARC insurgents who in 1964, a time when democratic change appeared impossible, took up arms and over the next 52 years about 260,000 people were killed and millions displaced by the conflict with the Colombian government.

 

One of those involved with the Peace negotiations - in which the Unite backed London based Justice for Columbia organisation played a key role - with the government was Alexandra Nariño, a Dutch former guerrilla fighter and English teacher who joined FARC, then 20,000 strong, in 2002 and became one of FARC’s leading public figures from 2007 onwards.

 

Narino, plus an indigenous former FARC fighter, feature in a short ‘TRUCKS FOR PEACE’ Fundraising Campaign video launched by TRADEMARK, an anti-sectarian Belfast based organisation which has a strong UNITE membership.

 

“The agreement we signed was a good one but the government then changed and we are battling to have it implemented,” explains Narino. Dozens of former guerrillas have been killed in mysterious circumstances by forces loyal to the state whilst Columbia also remains the most dangerous place in the world for trade unionists who are the targets for paramilitary forces.

 

When they gave up their arms and settled for peace, insurgents were awarded $2,000 each to help finance and find work and build a future for the communities they live in. Some have pooled these monies to set up worker cooperatives, whose members also include indigenous people who were never armed fighters, producing coffee, clothes and beer, among many other products. However, the bottleneck for most of them is to bring their products to the market and sell them for a fair price.

 

De Mano en Mano (From Hand to Hand) has been established to help the 27 former FARC members newly formed coops and those from surrounding rural communities in Southwest Columbia to commercialise their products. Marketing will be key but, in addition, transporting products is difficult because “the roads are poor……….so we need a truck,” states Narino.

 

The vehicle will cost around £25,000. As we go to press around a third of this has been raised including £100 from the UNITE English Language Teachers’ Branch and Unite LE128 - Trade Union Staff Branch and £75 from Everton NW/UD088 Unite Branch.

 

“Our members regularly donate to good causes,” explains Ken, who back in 1973 was involved in helping two Chilean exiles, who had escaped South America when General Pinochet took power in a coup and began a period of totalitarianism in which tens of thousands of trade unionists were disappeared, to find work at the Vauxhall car factory, where Ken himself was a steward for over a decade. 

 

“I am full of admiration for South American people who have stood up for their rights for decades as whilst we often lose battles here that usually means we lose our jobs. In Colombia it might mean losing your life. I think Narino’s bravery is also an inspiration.

 

“The monies are needed to help people with the rebuilding of their lives and the communities they live in. I’d urge other branches to show support and also support the invaluable work of Justice for Colombia.”

 

https://trademarkbelfast.com

https://justiceforcolombia.org/about-jfc/

CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE UK AGRI-FOOD SYSTEM

 Book review - uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2023 

Net Zero, Food and Farming

Climate Change and the UK Agri-Food System

Neil Ward

This is an important book that examines the complex implications of the proposed net zero transition by 2050 for UK food and farming and how these can be managed to avoid catastrophic climate change in the crucial decades ahead.

Revolutionary change is needed. Fortunately, revolutions in food and farming have happened before; beginning with the historical transition thousands of years ago from hunter gatherers to farmers. There was then in Britain from 1750 to 1850 seismic productivity improvements resulting from crop rotation, plant and animal breeding and improved farming techniques.

In the 20^th century the US pioneered a dramatic uptake, which eventually swept across the world and took in Britain after WWII, of chemical and mechanical technologies that boosted agricultural productivity whilst reducing the need for farm labour. 

For Ward, a fourth 21^st century revolution is “required, and the urgency of climate change means this revolution will need to be swift … embracing technologies of farming practice… patterns of land use for agriculture and forestry and energy crops … and the way food is processed, distributed and sold.’ For this to happen it will be healthy and instructive to see the world through food.

UK emissions from the food system accounts for 23% of our gashouse emissions and whilst those from agriculture fell between 1990 to 2009, they have not fallen since. The 2020 Climate Change Committee identified changes where the agri-food and land-use system can help dramatically cut transmission levels.

They include everyone reducing their demand for meat and diary products; reducing food waste; changing land-use to grow more trees and bioenergy crops; restoring peatlands and adopting a range of low-carbon farming practices to ensure agriculture remains food productive on less land – the Climate Change Committee that just 77% of today’s agricultural land will be used for food production in 2050 - whilst contributing to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

There are chapters in the book on all these subjects. This brief review concentrates on the continuing need for planting more trees, stopping deforestation, soil carbon sequestration and restoring peatlands with the UK having 15% of Europe’s total peatland area. 80% are in poor condition and Ward tentatively proposes that the damaging practice of grouse shooting on them should be banned.

The UK has an annual target for planting 30,000-50,000 hectares of new trees, which, of course, capture CO2, until 2050. As trees mature the uptake of carbon capture declines but when chopped down, they can also be used as an alternative source to fossil fuels for biomass electricity generation with the emissions captured using carbon capture and storage facilities that are being developed internationally and need much greater government backing here. Of the 23 large-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CC&S) projects worldwide, none are in the UK.

Woodland cover across the UK has grown from 11.7% to 13.3% between 2008 and 2021. Forests are popular with almost 70% of people having visited one in recent years. People enjoy the habitat including hedgerows, many of which have been lost since WWII. Restoring them and planting bioenergy crops such as miscanthus, short rotation coppice and forestry will when gathered deliver massive emission reduction when used alongside CC&S practices.

Ward makes various proposals on how to encourage more landowners to plant trees. It is an issue that has, thanks especially to all Unite reps in the forestry sector and soil scientist Charlie Clutterbuck, been regularly aired in this magazine and it is an issue of vital concern because as Ward states in his conclusions ‘in the short term, afforestation looks to be the most straightforward way to reduce net emissions, and the Climate Change Committee assumes afforestation to be the UK’s most significant contributor to net emission reductions.’

This is a book rammed with ideas and Unite branches everywhere should buy a copy, debate the issues raised and consider inviting Ward along to one of their branch and/or stewards meetings.

Keep Our NHS Public Leeds - 75 Years of The NHS documentary film

 

Keep Our NHS Public Leeds - 75 Years of The NHS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2GVgLQVGDA

The 'Green' Killing Fields

 

 Article from the uniteLANDWORKER 

Summer 2023 

 

The continuing carnage affecting workers in the agricultural sector was brought to life at the 2023 Workers’ Memorial Day event in Chorley, Lancashire. Organised annually since 2005 by Unite activist Steve Turner of Chorley Trades Council, it was attended by 35 people and all of whom were pleased to take away a copy of Landworker.

 

Landworker contributor Mark Metcalf told the audience that whilst construction topped the workplace deaths chart in 2019/20 at 37 workers, agriculture, with around a tenth of the numbers employed in construction, remained the most dangerous sector to work in with 13 deaths, mostly as a result of moving vehicles.

 

Deaths from moving vehicles doubled last year to 25 people killed. These included 3 members of the public, a child aged nine and ten labourers. The figures are likely to be higher as fatal tractor accidents on public roads involving the police will not be reported to the HSE.

 

To highlight why the green killing fields continue to exist, Mark highlighted the article An Endless Uphill Struggle in the Spring 2023 Landworker edition in which retired farmworker Matthew Belsey appealed for safety on farms to be taken seriously by the next generation.

 

Belsey highlighted the unwillingness of the authorities to take robust action with the HSE having very few resources to enable them to do so and whereas there used to be full health and safety meetings annually organised for safety reps by the HSE these have dwindled substantially. Little changes as a result.

 

HSE inspections have fallen dramatically and, in addition, the inspectors rarely have a safety background.

 

In the 90s the HSE worked with Unite to develop a safety rep scheme that visited southern farms in a pilot in 2002. It was jointly funded by HSE, NFU and UNITE’s predecessor union.  Around 75% of employers afterwards said they’d changed their safety practices as a result of the pilot. Lack of funding ended the scheme.

 

There has also been the ending of the AWB in England with its sharp reduction in dedicated agricultural courses such that if an agricultural worker went on specific courses on hedge cutting or any number of occasional courses then they got an increase in their pay. 

 

According to Unite activist Charlie Clutterbuck, Unite’s predecessor union, the TGWU, was also instrumental in creating vocational qualifications for agricultural health and safety levels. 

 

“As the union rep on the HSE executive I pushed for and they responded together with the NFU and 3 awarding bodies such as the Skills Councils to create sets of vocational qualifications on health and safety for agricultural workers.

 

“Out then national officer Chris Kaufmann he got them into the AWB agreements so for a few years if you did one of these qualifications then you got a rise in pay. There was thus a real incentive to go on and get properly trained and work more safely.”

 

Mark reported how Landworker had backed Littleborough shepherd Brenda Sutcliffe, who died in 2016, and her husband Harold, a Unite member, who became the unofficial spokeswoman for thousands of farmers and agricultural labourers who were poisoned, often with fatal consequences, by organophosphate (OP) sheep dip.

 

Brenda calculated that between 1995 and 2005 more than 1,000 shepherds ended their own lives because of OP sheep dip. Brenda fought tirelessly for families to be compensated.

 

Brenda's booklet 'Cause and effect — the search for truth' was first published in 2005. It became widely read right across the globe.

 

Brenda and other campaigners forced the HSE to issue health warnings and instructions on the use of OPs and bring to an end the compulsory order on sheep dipping. But the products — used to tackle sheep scab — remain on the market with the added requirement that anyone purchasing the dip must attend a course — costing in total £150 — to achieve the necessary 'Safe Use of Sheep Dip' licence.

 

Brenda was rightly proud of her considerable efforts and achievements but Mark told the audience that when she last spoke to him before her death she was, as always, forthright in expressing her views and had said "Justice has been denied to the likes of myself whose health was badly affected by OPs.

 

“We, with the help of people like Landworker, showed these were dangerous, deadly  products and we never hesitated to criticise the chemical companies who manufactured them.

 

“We damaged their sales but they have never sued us because our research backed up what we said publicly.  

 

"The government, whether Labour or Tory, public health bodies and solicitors who were supposed to help us ran away from the battle. People still need prosecuting for their roles. We have won a number of battles but OPs are still deadly, too widely used and many products containing them need banning.” 

 

OPs are present in many products and have created multiple health problems for soldiers who served in the Second Gulf War and commercial airline pilots, many of whom are with UNITE’s assistance taking legal action against their employers.

The talk proved popular and Mark, who appealed to the audience to encourage any farm workers they know to join Unite, has now agreed to speak to a local union branch about the issues he raised. Similar invitations from across Yorkshire and Lancashire would be welcome.

Amongst the other speakers were Janet Newsham of Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK), who said that “to be bereaved by work is to be a victim of crime. But to be made to feel like a lesser class of victim. One where you’re not placed at the heart of the justice process, but left to feel you exist somewhere on the periphery” and are constantly let down by the authorities.

“We FACKers pledge to you that we will continue to live the International Workers’ Memorial Day mantra each and every day, as we forever remember our dead, and do our damnedest to fight like hell for the living.”

Pay Up to Save The NHS - The Junior Doctors Strike

 

Junior Doctors are taking further strike action in June and July and this 7 minute documentary explains why. Without a victory in their pay battle the NHS faces even more problems in the future in recruiting staff. 

 https://youtu.be/AA23wwcQTjY

 

 

 

Halifax Chartist Hero Remembered: Benjamin Rushton

On Friday 23rd June, 50 people attended a Calderdale Trades Council Benjamin Rushton commemorative event in Lister Lane Cemetery, Halifax.  

 Speakers included David Glover of the cemetery, Calderdale councillor Jenny Lynn, Vee Smith-UKA of Right to Remain, author Catherine Howe and myself. The event was chaired by Daniel Whittall of the NEU who also read out a solidarity message on behalf of Mohammad Taj, TUC President 2013-14. I was lucky enough to lay a wreath at Rushton's grave, which was rediscovered by Harriett Dell around 15 years ago. 

Fourteen minutes of highlights of the event can be viewed at:- 

https://youtu.be/fp4mth4LfwY

'THIS MAN WAS A HERO' THE TUC PRESIDENT OF 2013 praises Benjamin Rushton

Halifax Chartist died on 17 June 1853. Today, on 16th June 2023, Calderdale Trades Union Council are marking his life by laying a wreath at his grave in the Lister Lane Cemetery. Mohammad Taj, a bus driver for 43 years was the elected TUC President for 2013-14. Unable to attend the event today he has sent the following solidarity message.  

Dear brothers and sisters,

 

I feel very privileged to have been asked to speak on this special occasion to honour a great man who throughout his entire existence battled ceaselessly to improve the lives and political rights of his class, the working class and which constitute the overwhelming mass of the world’s population and of which I am proud to be a member of as bus worker for 43 years, born overseas from Pakistani side of Kashmir. 

 

Sadly, I cannot though attend as I am otherwise engaged at an Employment Tribunal in Sheffield and unable to be able to travel back for the time of this event, and so I would be grateful if this short note could be read out on my behalf.

 

Before I move on to speak about Benjamin Rushton and Chartism in general, I would just like to praise  and thank Calderdale Trades Council for seeking to keep alive the history of Chartism and the role it played in establishing some of the important political rights we still enjoy today, not forgetting, of course, that the generations that followed the Chartists have always needed to be aware they can easily be lost if we don’t seek to assert these rights.

 

I have been fortunate enough to have read the coverage in the People’s Press newspaper of Rushton’s funeral 170 years ago this month. If you haven’t read this and want to read then please ask the trades council to send it to you. What it reveals is the deep respect that so many people who were at the sharp end of capitalist exploitation at the time had for a man who had stood up for them, who had bravely gone first into battle against murderous, which was shown in August 1842 during the great strike, brutal opponents, and some of whom are still honored today in Halifax with statues to them.

 

With around a quarter of a million people taking the time to remember Rushton on the day he was laid to rest then that is, quite simply, a remarkable number. 15,000 packed out this cemetery to see him buried here with his headstone paid for by donations. His cortege from Ovenden passed amidst mass crowds who remained silent in tribute.

 

This man is a hero.

 

His wife Mary had, and at this point I am grateful to Catherine Howe’s Halifax 1842 classic book, died ten years earlier of advanced dropsy, which can result from pregnancy and from malnutrition. Her body would be swollen and painful. In other words, she died because she was poor. Today, hundreds of millions of people are still unable to get enough food to eat on a daily basis. How wrong is this?

 

Benjamin, a weaver, knew that was the case and that is why he was a chartist and a workers’ advocate, seeking better pay & improved political rights which he knew meant greater working class representation in the corridors of power.

 

In 1848, Rushton and Christopher Shackleton, whose own grave is in this cemetery, maintained that the British people should follow the European revolutions including that of France.  Rushton was arrested after the 1842 popular Uprising in which Halifax played a major role and at least five people were butchered by the military.

 

Rushton, at the time, was letting other people across West Yorkshire know what had happened.

 

It only leaves me to wish everyone well and for those who enjoy a pint -  to ask them - to raise a glass - afterwards of the special 1842 brew - to honour Rushton. 

 

Mohammad Taj, TUC President 2013 to 14