Blacklisting costs claim abandoned

From the current issue of the Big Issue North, please buy a copy when you see a seller. 

Carillion will not force Dave Smith to pay up

Building worker still seeks compensation 

Construction giant Carillion has been forced to abandon its plans to recover legal costs from a blacklisted building worker to whom it has apologised. 

Dave Smith was one of a number of workers blacklisted by the construction industry because of their union activities. 

Construction firms did this by providing information on him to the Consulting Association, which for over four decades was paid by 44 companies to vet 3,213 potential recruits in the industry. 

The Consulting Association was forced to close in 2009 after it was raided by the Information Commissioner’s Office. 

Smith, an engineer, could not find work in the industry and saw his income slump from £30,000 a year to £12,000 when he found employment elsewhere. 

The firms are being targeted in the High Court by construction workers, including Smith, who are seeking compensation. Smith worked for Mowlem, which later became part of Carillion. 

‘Full apology’ 

As part of its defence in the case, Carillion is one of eight companies that last month issued a “full and unreserved apology” to blacklisted workers and said: “Ever since the closure of the Consulting Association we have been focusing on trying to do the right thing by affected workers.” 

However, Smith lost in an employment tribunal against Carillion, because he was employed as an agency worker at the time and only direct employees are covered by UK employment law. 

His subsequent request to have the Supreme Court hear his case was refused and Carillion responded by claiming its legal costs, which included £600 for one hour’s work by QC John Bower. The total amounted to £3,494.50. 

‘Moral responsibility’ 

Carillion insisted it was the Supreme Court that made the costs order, not the firm itself. But Smith’s lawyer Declan Owens disputed this, saying: “Carillion’s solicitors wrote to me on 15 October stating the total costs sum that their client is seeking to recover from the appellant Mr Smith is £3,494.50.” 

Smith made publicly clear he had no intention of paying up. Now Carillion has told Big Issue North it will not be seeking to recover the costs. A company spokesperson added: “The issue has no bearing on the statement and apology issued by the eight companies.” 

In a separate “mythbuster” statement issued by Carillion it has claimed Smith helped “organise unlawful, unofficial picketing against Schal”, another company that later became part of Carillion. 

Smith said: “I am very pleased that Carillion has finally seen fit to state that they will not be chasing me for legal costs and it is a huge weight off my shoulders in the run-up to Christmas. 

“But Carillion still refuses to accept their moral responsibility for their blacklisting role and continues to use its corporate website to accuse me of unlawful picketing. 

“The truth is I was peacefully picketing outside their building sites after being sacked after having raised safety issues in my role as a Ucatt safety rep. 

“It was all perfectly legal and officially supported by my union. I was blacklisted as a result.” 

Mary Seacole blue plaque with statue to follow in spring

Mary Seacole - taken from Rebel Road project at Unite the union

http://www.unitetheunion.org/growing-our-union/education/rebelroad/also-of-interest/#Mary%20Seacole

There is a blue plaque commemorating Jamaican nurse  - and heroine of the Crimean War - Mary Seacole at 14 Soho Square, London W1, where she lived in 1857. 

Voted the greatest black Briton in 2004, Seacole, who was born in 1805, was of Scottish and Creole descent. Mary's mother was a free black woman who by practising as a 'doctress' was able to pass on her nursing skills and understanding of local herbal remedies to her daughter. 

In her teens Mary travelled to England with relatives and over the following years journeyed regularly between the two countries and in 1836 she married Englishman Edwin Horatio Hamilton Seacole. Sadly, Edwin died just eight years later and then in 1850, Mary nursed victims of the Kingston cholera epidemic. Three years later, Mary cared for victims of a yellow fever epidemic in Jamaica. Following which she was invited by the medical authorities to supervise nursing services at the headquarters of the British Army in Kingston. 

In 1854, England and France joined forces with Turkey to invade Russia. On 21 October, Florence Nightingale departed to Scutari, accompanied by 38 nurses. Mary began repeatedly offering her services to care for troops in the Crimea, but without success. She was left heartbroken and considered that she might be facing rejection because of the colour of her skin. She put such thoughts aside and decided to fund her own passage to the Crimea and on her arrival she visited Florence Nightingale. By around July 1855 she and a friend of her late husband, Mr Day, had organised the construction at Balaclava of the British Hotel and store for the sale of food and drink to soldiers. This facility was to provide soldiers of all ranks with accommodation, good nourishing food, other provisions and nursing care of a high standard. Testimonies from soldiers, along with independent accounts from journalists, doctors and other visitors, testify to Mary Seacole's great qualities as a nurse and doctress. 

In March 1856 when the war ended suddenly Mary was placed in severe financial difficulties as the stores she had recently purchased were now redundant. On her return to England she was saved from bankruptcy through the donations of well wishers. Thereafter she became increasingly celebrated. Her portrait was painted by Albert Charles Challen in 1869 and when she died in 1881 her estate was valued at over £2,615, which demonstrates that by the time of her death she had recovered from her earlier financial troubles. 

In 1915 when the Crimean War Memorial was erected in London near the junction of Lower Regent Street and Pall Mall it included a Florence Nightingale statue but not one of Mary Seacole. On the centenary of the Crimea War, Jamaica formally recognised Seacole when the Jamaican Nurses' Association named their Kingston headquarters after her. In 1973 her decaying grave at Kensal Green was restored by an association of Jamaican women in London. 

In 1985 the Greater London Council placed a blue plaque on her former home at 157 George Street, London W1 and when this building was demolished the plaque was moved to its present location in Soho Square. 

In 2003 former London MP Clive Soley, now Lord Soley, launched an appeal for funds to erect a statue in central London. In late November 2015 the final funds to make this possible were obtained when the Government made a surprise donation of £240,000 to the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal (MSMSA), which had raised more than half a million pounds before being hampered in their efforts when they were presented with an unexpected huge bill for installation costs. 

The 15-foot plus bronze statue that has been designed by sculptor Martin Jennings will be the first statue of a named black woman in Britain. It will be installed - along with a memorial garden to commemorate health workers killed in conflict zones or combating disease  - in the grounds of St Thomas' hospital, opposite Parliament. It is sure to become a significant London landmark. 

The Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association (CPHVA), which is a section of UNITE, has long campaigned for a Mary Seacole statue. Prominent in this campaign has been Professor Elizabeth Anionwu, CBE, who is vice-chairperson of the MSMSA and vice-president of UNITE/CPHVA, who said, "For all the thousands of people who have donated pennies and pounds to this appeal, for which we raised over £500,000, it is wonderful news that we now finally have all the monies we need. At last we know that by spring next year the statue to this remarkable woman will be on display.” 

For more on Mary Seacole there is a book by Professor Anionwu: A short history of Mary Seacole - a resource for nurses and students. 

Ellen Strange 29 November youtube video now online

Particularly look out for the great speech by Bridget Bell of Women against Pit Closures.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21bDgdwD4FM

When Easington born Jimmy Trotter of Sheffield Wednesday was top scorer in Division One

Jimmy Trotter was, like myself, born in Easington Colliery, Co Durham and so in the week of his birth (in 1899) here is a reproduced tribute piece on the 1926-27 season from my GOLDEN BOOT co-authored book with Tony Matthews on Football's Top Scorers. 

TROTTER, Jimmy    SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

SEASON: 1926-27

Goals scored: 37 (out of 75) 26 home, 11 away

Percentage: 49% (of Wednesday's goals in the season)

Runner-up: Hughie Gallacher (Newcastle United) 36 

Sheffield Wednesday finished sixteenth 

County Durham-born Trotter’s finest football season was without doubt 1926-27. He’d spearheaded Wednesday’s promotion challenge the previous season, scoring 37 times, twice what he’d notched during the previous three seasons.   Almost a quarter had come from just two September games, with nine goals entering the nets of Preston and Stockport County. Trotter’s five against the latter was the second time he had achieved such a feat as he had scored all his side’s goals in a 5-2 beating of Portsmouth in December 1924.

Pitched against local rivals Sheffield United in the first match of the 1926-27 season, Trotter showed signs that his fine form of the previous campaign was going to continue. He equalised just before half time. Timing his run perfectly he met Jack Wilkinson’s cross, and soon after the restart he put his side ahead with a shot from the edge of the area. The Blades, though, had their own danger man and two goals from Harry Johnson proved just enough to give them a narrow 3-2 victory.

Trotter then scored in the following two away games, but even though Wednesday managed three goals at Spurs and Leicester City, his goal at Filbert Street coming after Wilkinson found him with a fine through ball, it was not enough to collect even a single point in 7-3 and 5-3 defeats. There was therefore real relief when Trotter scored the only goal as West Ham was beaten at Hillsborough. 

Trotter then scored for his fifth consecutive game as Everton went back over the Pennines well-beaten 4-0. With Wednesday already leading 1-0, ‘Trotter received the ball on the left of the penalty area. He was tackled by two men but held on and in spite of Baker rushing out and others closing in the centre-forward scored with a beautiful oblique drive to the far corner.’ Another powerful shot and a late header rounded off the scoring for his first hat-trick in Division One. He might even have had another five, but Ben Howard Baker in the Toffees goal had a fine game and prevented his side being much more heavily beaten.

Having failed to score in the sixth game, a 0-0 draw, Trotter then bagged three in his next two matches. Two came at Ewood Park, a 32nd-minute shot and then one on 56 minutes that seemed certain to give the away side both points. Ted Harper, though, hadn’t finished top scorer in the previous season for nothing, and after scoring a penalty he forced a late Blackburn equaliser. Back at Hillsborough, Trotter hit a well-directed shot out of Huddersfield keeper Billy Mercer’s reach in a 1-1 draw. It meant he had scored ten times in eight games. 

After two matches without a goal Trotter hit his eleventh goal of the season, a rising shot from a Wilkinson pass on 38 minutes that helped Wednesday win a thrilling game 3-2 against WBA. Against Derby County, a fierce cross drive on 74 minutes was enough to see Trotter’s side home in a 2-1 victory.

In early December Wednesday beat leaders Newcastle United 3-2 at home. Trotter got two, heading into an empty net on 12 minutes and then seizing on a mistake by Joe Wilson to push the loose ball beyond the keeper to make it 3-1. At Leeds the following weekend he scored again, his last minute effort reducing the arrears to 1-4. On 28 December he scored his 19^th and 20^th League goals of the season to ensure Spurs were beaten 3-1 at Hillsborough. It was, though, to be almost two months before he next scored in the League. 

Championship-chasing Sunderland were the side to suffer as Trotter raced to 23 League goals. Wednesday roared into a three-goal lead in just 20 minutes and dominated throughout in a 4-1 success. ‘Their flank men finessed cleverly especially Wilkinson and Trotters leadership was excellent with first-time and accurate shooting’ reported the Newcastle Journal. Trotter’s hat trick goal came ‘with a great shot on the run’ reported the Journal.

Two more flashed into opponents WBA’s net on his next appearance. First, he headed home Hooper’s high dropping cross. Then using every ounce of his 12 stone 6 pound frame he muscled his way to a second to put his side 2-0 up in the second half. However, hopes of a first away victory of the season were dashed as the Baggies rallied to grab a point. 

 On 12 March he scored his third hat-trick of the season as Arsenal were beaten 4-2 at Hillsborough. First, he dived bravely to head home Wilkinson’s cross before then scoring on the rebound after Dan Lewis had saved his shot, adding his third with a close in shot. Goal of the game however, came from Tony Leach, whose shot from 40 yards sailed beyond the ‘keeper and into the net to the tremendous cheers of the 21,252 spectators. 

There were ten thousand fewer spectators for the game against Manchester United, and they missed a rough affair in which a number of players were to be issued with cautions from the referee.  Trotter scored both the goals, hooking home the first as he fell backwards and then, after forcing Alf Steward into making two fine saves, beating the keeper when Wilkinson cut the ball back to him. ‘The irrepressible Trotter gives Wednesday another win,’ reported the Sheffield Saturday Sports paper. 

He got another two against Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park, but the away side continued to struggle on their travels losing 3-2. Back home, Trotter hit a great drive to open the scoring in a 3-1 success against Aston Villa. He got two more against Villa’s great rivals Birmingham City in a thrilling 4-4 game before hitting his 37^th and final goal of the season against Leeds United on the season’s final day. He had hit the crossbar in the first half before scoring the only goal of the game on 77 minutes. The victory was enough to push Wednesday up to sixteenth place 

The Owls had scored seventy-five times, with Trotter getting almost half of his sides efforts. No wonder the local paper, in its review of the season, reported that, ‘Trotter’s goalscoring abilities has been a godsend. This hard and enthusiastic worker is to be complimented on his distinction and his skill.’ 

Wednesday continued to struggle the following season. Trotter did well by scoring sixteen times, but was overtaken as the club’s highest scorer by Mark Hooper with twenty-one. The Owls looked doomed as the season entered March, but a magnificent seventeen points from the last ten matches helped pull off ‘the Great Escape,’ in which Spurs ‘reject’ Jimmy Seed scored in both matches against his former club to help send them down. 

Twice capturing the title, 1928-29 and 1929-30 were to be the best seasons in  Wednesday’s history. Key to the success was the form of Jack Allen, previously an inside forward who took over at centre forward when Trotter was injured for the game at Portsmouth. Having scored at Fratton Park, Allen then hit a hat-trick against Birmingham and four against Bury and after fourteen games in his new position, he had scored twenty-two from it. It was the beginning of the end for Trotter and his final game came in a 1-1 draw against Sheffield United in February 1929. 

After 160 first team appearances from which he scored 114 goals, Trotter moved on to Torquay United, where he continued to regularly hit the net, scoring twenty-six times in his first season. A spell at Watford was ended when a knee injury forced him to retire from playing, after which became trainer at Charlton Athletic for over two decades before taking over for a five-year spell in charge as manager.

Book review: The Greatest Invention: tax and the campaign for a just society

This book will be the book of the month for December at Unite education. It is an excellent book. 

The Greatest Invention: tax and the campaign for a just society 

A Tax Justice Network (TJN) Production

£12.99 ISBN: 978-0-9931616-3-6 

This is an excellent series of short, easy to read essays stretching back over a decade from the Tax Justice Network, the body which has done the most to change attitudes towards tax and the rich and powerful's aim to avoid paying their proper share of it. If you need any persuading, or just want it reaffirmed, that the UK - and even the developing economies - can afford a decent standard of living, and properly resourced public services, for all their citizens then this book is a must read. 

Multinational companies dominate the world economy with many firms having bases right across the globe. This has allowed them to avoid paying tax by employing transfer pricing whereby one part of the business that is based where tax levels are highest overpays for a product from another part of the business based in a country where tax levels are low or if it is a tax haven then non existent. These practices result in the latter being the most profitable sector of the business and ensures much less tax being paid than should be. 

When the TJN investigated in 2002/3 they found that plastic buckets from the Czech Republic were costing $973 each, $585 more than the cost of bulldozers from Venezuela. And whilst many national tax authorities treat such tricks as tax evasion the sad fact of the matter is that many others don't have the resources to properly scrutinise companies' books to identify such transactions. 

This drive to avoid tax by multinationals is part of a corporate culture that has seen them ruthlessly exploit many of the countries in which they are based. In Nigeria the oil companies have employed armies of accountants and auditors to effect tax evasion on their huge profits. To facilitate this process, and also secure major construction projects, the multinationals have subverted the political process by paying politicians and public officials to 'look the other way.'

In countries where it's not (regularly) possible to openly operate so corruptly that hasn't prevented cheating by big business and the wealthy who, with most politicians, at best, too afraid to challenge their power, have developed a network of tax havens and tax avoidance and evasion schemes. The sums of money involved are incredible, trillions of £s remain untaxed, resulting in countries slashing the public services their citizens rely on. 

The centre of much of these practices is the City (of London), with its network of investment bankers and the big four accountancy firms that all also operate a revolving door policy that takes politicians into lucrative posts and financiers into governments. Thankfully, the fantastic work of the TJN, which remains massively under resourced, means we now know much more about these problems and the book is packed with examples of the discoveries that this remarkable organisation has made and publicised. 

To help tackle these abuses, morally repugnant actions and crimes, the TJN has worked with an impressive array of human rights activists, environmental groups, economists and politicians - including John McDonnell, Labour's shadow chancellor - to formulate a series of ideas, political and practical objectives that can help chart the way ahead to a more efficient, socially productive and fairer society. 

Widening the terms thus forms the latter part of the book. In the UK, amongst many other needs, it is time to rebalance the economy towards manufacturing and away from state subsidies on the likes of PFI projects that see taxpayers in the North and West overpay for projects that are built by companies largely based in London. Far better to have a publicly funded infrastructure development programme under which revenue streams accrue to the regions around the developments with the subsequent boost to the local economy. 

Internationally there must be greater financial transparency, the abolition of shell companies, automatic exchange of tax information worldwide and a requirement of every multinational company to report their sales, profits and taxes paid in each country in which they operate. This would also prevent the activities of criminals such as terrorists, traffickers and money-launderers. 

Finally, the book appendix includes the Tax Justice Network's various declarations the first of which is dated in March 2003 and signed by nine people. There are no people who signed the latest one emanating from the April 2015 conference in Lima but that's only because they've been replaced by over 100 organisations, some of significant standing. Such a huge increase in support is welcome but more is needed so please read the book, bring it to your fellow Unite members attention and consider supporting the TJN. 

www.taxjustice.net 

Union Learning Fund under threat

Taken from the current issue of the Big Issue North magazine, please buy a copy when you see a seller.

Government fund supports millions 

Spending review promises cuts 

A union-led workplace education and training programme with over
1.57 million learners in the last nine years is under the spotlight as this week’s public spending review promises further cuts. 

Stephan Ralph (left), Jola Jodlowwska, Gosia Piasecka and Bob Holt

The Union Learning Fund (ULF) is managed by the Trades Union Congress and provides courses and qualifications in everything from health and safety to communication skills and mentoring apprentices. 

Total ULF funding in 2014-15 was £17.5 million, of which £15.3 million came from central government. 

The ULF is complemented by union learning reps. Elected by colleagues and recognised by their employer, they promote learning in the workforce and identify training needs. 

Onsite learning 

Bob Holt began driving for First Bus UK in Cheetham, Manchester 37 years ago. When one of the First Bus directors proposed to Unite – the union that represents most workers at the company – that it open an onsite learning centre, Holt, a lifelong trade unionist, and his colleague Paul Brown successfully stood for election as union learning reps. 

“I knew that many employees had great potential and just needed some encouragement to get back into learning,” said Holt. “So that I could provide training I undertook many courses myself at various levels including literacy, numeracy and English as a second language (ESOL). ESOL was important as many migrant workers have come to work on the buses and have done jobs that otherwise would remain very difficult to fill. 

“The directors suggested Saturday morning sessions and my colleagues, Paul Brown, Stuart Smith and myself, ran the sessions over many weeks.” 

Among those to benefit were Gosia Piasecka and Jola Jodlowwska who came to Manchester from Poland in the middle of the last decade as they sought to find work at a time of high unemployment at home. 

Both women started as cleaners with First Bus and attended the ESOL classes. Jodlowwska said: “The courses were good fun as the learning environment is very relaxed. I was encouraged
by other workers to do the training as they all stressed how learning is a big part
of workplace activities here and the courses are arranged around your shifts.” 

Piasecka added: “The courses have helped me to integrate into the local community and mean I no longer require a translator at the doctor’s or bank. 

“Bob has helped make the learning centre a place people want to visit, to attend classes, use the computers and improve their skills and education. He has personally helped many people including me.” 

Boosting morale 

First Bus has recognised Holt’s efforts by making him a project worker for lifelong learning, responsible for the oversight of nine union learning centres in its Manchester depots. 

Piasecka has also gone on to do well at her workplace, achieving English and maths Level 2 City and Guilds and an initial teacher training qualification. After qualifying as a driver she has been seconded to providing NVQ training to more than 40 First Bus employees. 

British workers at First Bus have also benefited from the ULF. Stephan Ralph, who left college early and began working at First Bus’s Heywood depot as a driver in 2005, said: “I wanted to earn a living but when I saw the union learning centre that was backed by the company at Bury it encouraged me back into education as it was built around my work and it was easily accessible.” 

Ralph became a union learning rep himself and in 2012 gained a first class degree in education and inclusion from Liverpool Hope University. 

“I believe that if the initial development had not taken place at work I would never have got my degree and improved my career,” said Ralph, who is now employed by First Bus as a performance manager. He said he is “keen to see other employees undertake training both for their own benefit and the company’s, as it increases people’s morale, which must be good for their health, wellbeing and workplace performance”. 

Future unknown 

Clare Quinton, human resources business partner at brewing company Molson Coors (UK) acknowledged the value of union-led workplace learning. She said: “The learning agreement we signed with Unite is a great example of a win-win situation for both the company and the employees. 

The employee benefits from the opportunity to improve their skills, while the company will reap the rewards in terms of engagement and increased confidence.” 

According to Kenny Barron, head of lifelong learning at Unite: “The ULF is crucial
to ensure that thousands of workers and their families can access learning opportunities to embark on a learning journey. It will be a big blow if there are cuts to funding.” 

A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Industry, which funds the Union Learning Fund, said: “We recognise its potential to support employees in the workplace. An exercise to evaluate bids for the 2016-17 funding period has just been concluded and we hope to announce the results by the end of the year. Decisions will be dependent on the outcome of the spending review.” 

One large list of rural museums now up and running

From Aberdeenshire to the Yorkshire Museum of Farming there is now - thanks to the British Agricultural History Society (BAHS) - one list of over 100 rural museums and other fascinating places of interest to visit in Britain and Ireland. Finding the locations is also made easy due to an online  interactive map.

Amongst the places listed is Argyll's Auchindrain Highland Farm Township, open from April to October, and a great example of a small farming settlement that was very important within Scotland's history. 

Cider drinkers can visit Hereford’s Cider Museum and listen to oral history recordings. On 17 and 18 October there is a festival with Morris Dancing, blacksmith demonstrations, children's activities and tutored cider tastings and samplings.

Swath Heritage Museum is a fully restored 17th century Welsh thatched roof cottage located on the beautiful north west Wales coast of Anglesey.

County Mayo's Belcarra Eviction Cottage has been restored to how it was before a family of nine were evicted on Saturday 2 October 1886. 

For more details go to:- www.bahs.org.uk/friends.html