Northern Voices

Who are the real welfare scroungers? The 'Poverty Pimps' on the Government's work experience programme?

2012-02-13T16:18:00.009Z

In a recent interview about the Government`s 'Work Programme', Employment Minister, Chris Grayling, had this to say:

"What we have tried to do is create a situation where our interests and the interests of providers are really aligned. They (the providers), can make shed loads of money by doing things we would absolutely love them to do."

Undoubtedly, over the years, some poverty pimps who have been involved in delivering government schemes for the unmemployed have made 'shed loads of money' out of the taxpayer, but to what extent, has this been value for taxpayers money?

One of the 18 mainly private companies that has been contracted to run the Government's 'Work Programme' is 'Action for Employment' (A4e), whose majority shareholder, is the multi-millionaire Emma Harrison.

At a recent session of the House of Commons 'Public Accounts Committee', it was claimed that A4e had an 'abysmal' record of delivering government programmes and the committee asked why the company had been awarded contracts to provide the 'Work Programme'. Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, wanted to know why the government had awarded new contracts to companies with such a poor track record and she added:

"It seemed rather surprising to me that you didn't have regard to the past performance of contractors. Why not?" she asked the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) permanent secretary, Robert Devereux, and added: "A4e...their performance on (Pathways-to-Work) was abysmal."

Richard Bacon, a committee member then pointed out that A4e, only got 9% of clients into employment in the 'Pathways-to-Work' programme when 30% had been expected.

Mr. Devereux told the committee that because other companies who had bid to run the 'Work Programme' had not got previous experience of running welfare-to-work schemes, it would not have been possible to look at their previous performance. He then told the committee that most of the welfare-to-work providers who had run the previous scheme, had underperformed.

In an attempt to discover where public money paid to A4e ended up, Andrew Dutton, the chief executive of A4e, told the committee that all the companies UK turnover last year, of between £160m and £180m, came from government contracts. He also added that of the £11m paid in dividends to five A4e shareholders, 87% (£9,570,000), went to Emma Harrison. Dutton told the committee that the dividend paid to the five company shareholders reflected their personal risk and pointed out that some shareholders, had effectively "put their own homes and mortgages on the line."

Despite all this talk of personal risk, delivering welfare-to-work schemes for the government, has delivered 'shed loads of money' for Emma Harrison if not jobs for people on the 'Pathways-to-Work' programme. In 2002, this former steel workers' daughter, bought the 100 acre Thornbridge Hall in Derbyshire for £5m. As one former A4e employee once told me, it was a joke amongst company staff that the company logo, A4e, really stood for, 'All 4 Emma'.

As regards the 'Work Programme', the Government have decided that they will not release figures concerning an analysis of the scheme, until the scheme has been running for 18 months, in October. But the 'National Audit Office' claims that the Government's calculation of the number people who will obtain work, is 'over-optimistic'.

Lawyers acting for Cait Reilly, the 22-year-old geology graduate from Birmingham, -who is suing the Government because she claims that by forcing her to do unpaid work for her dole money, it breached the Human Rights Act (HRA), - have written to a number of companies demanding to know whether they intend to continue participating in the government-led 'work experience programme'. The letter which was leaked to the 'Daily Mail' newspaper, says that the "schemes are unlawful and go beyond the Government's powers." The letter also points out that Ms. Reilly, considers that the work-for-dole schemes, breached the prohibition of compulsory labour set out in the HRA. Among the firms that have been sent the letter and are getting unpaid free labour, are: Tesco, Boots, Holland & Barrett, Sainsbury's, Argos, Asda, Matalan, Primark, McDonald's and Burger King. The letter also says that the book seller 'Waterstones' have recently withdrawn from the work experience scheme.

Though the DWP say that this is an attempt to deny opportunities for young people and helping them into work, Phil Shiner, of 'Public Interest Lawyers' said:

"By filling jobs with unpaid workers, there are fewer jobs available for Britain's 2.6 million unemployed. The letter was sent to encourage employers to consider the 'moral and legal principles' of unpaid work experience. It is not a threatening letter."

Pay Rises for Link4Life Bosses Who Sacked Staff

2012-02-07T15:02:00.009Z

Rochdale's Touchstone Challenge Protest Group leader: 'Absolutely Furious!'

CRAIG McAteer, Link4Life managing director, and his deputy, Peter Kilkenny, have had a pay rise of around £20,000 apiece: we can't be precise because we're not dealing with straight-forward folk. Chris Jones, in an exclusive story for the Rochdale Observer (28/01/2012) writes: 'Linki4Life's official financial records for the year ending March 2011 show Mr McAteer's wage jumped from the £100,000 to £110,000 bracket to the £130,000 to £140,000 pay band.' Mr Kilkenny's pay may well have risen from about '£80,000 to £90,000' to the region of '£110,000 to £120,000' according to the Observer.

Link4Life now claim that the records were 'submitted to Companies House incorrectly and include additional employer costs from pension contributions as well as their monthly wage.' But the Rochdale Observer claims: 'even when these figures are taken out' the figures show 'Mr McAteer's wages still rise from the £100,000 to £110,000 band to the higher £110,000 to £120,000 band.' The reason for all this guess-work is that both Mr McAteer and Mr Kilkenny are refusing to come clean about exactly how much they are on. These benefits for the bosses of Link4Life follow on from a series of sackings by them of staff, and cuts in cultural services at Touchstones Museum and Art Gallery. Debbie Firth, the co-ordinator of Touchstone Challenge - a group promoting the arts in Rochdale - told Northern Voices: 'I was absolutely furious when I read that Link4Life Managing Director (Craig McAteer) and his deputy (Peter Kilkenny) have between them received up to £30,000 in pay rises at a time when they are cutting jobs and services within arts and heritage in Rochdale.' When Debbie Firth, a young local mother, first helped set up the Touchstone Challenge group in May last year, she shortly after received an email from a firm of Leeds' solicitors, acting on behalf of the Link4Life bosses, warning her that the group was threatening the business prospects of Link4Life.

Commenting on the present situation, Milnrow Councillor Andy Kelly, who ferreted-out the wage figures for the Observer story, said: 'I am sure that the vast majority of people in this borough think this to be simply ridiculous (and) I have written to the local government minister Eric Pickles asking him to request the district auditor undertake a review of the situation.'

Another founder member of the Touchstone Challenge group, Trevor Hoyle, wrote in the Rochdale Observer last Saturday, complaining of the 'cavalier attitude' of Mr McAteer and Mr Kilkenny. Mr Hoyle wrote: 'It comes as no surprise to those of us who have kept a close eye on the management style of Link4Life that the two top directors have pocketed up to a £20,000 pay rise last year, while sacking staff and imposing a wage freeze on those earning less in a year than their annual pay rise'.

While these Link4Life bosses keep their traps shut about their own pay conditions, they are, in fact, employed by a charitable trust appointed by the local Council, and their salaries plus any pay rises are, according to Mr Hoyle, 'in large part paid for by the rate-payers of Rochdale'. These Link4Life bosses shelter behind a lack of public scrutiny and it is for people like Brian Ashworth, chairman of the Link4Life trustees, to enlighten the public instead of rushing to present the case for the defence.

Northern Voices 13 (48 pages plus cover); with a story from Touchstone Challenge leader, Debbie Firth, will be on sale at the end of this month: Postal subscription for Northern Voices is £5 for the next two issues (post & packing included). Cheques payable to 'Northern Voices' to C/o. 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4AH. Tel; 0161 793 5122. Email: northernvoices@hotmail.com

Afore the House falls in

2012-02-06T13:13:00.004Z

COUNCIL BOSS BOB BIBBY GETS JUSTICE: BINMAN STEWARD DIDN'T!

'THERE is always a warning crack,' says the Spanish Bawd in the novel by Rojas, 'before the house falls in!' Is this what's now happening at Bury MBC, following last Tuesday's dawn raids by police on former Bury Council boss, Councillor Bob Bibby, and his colleague, Councillor Jim Taylor? The police told the Bury Times that the two Conservative councillors 'had accepted bribes in relation to a planning application in Radcliffe'. Three other men were also arrested suspected of submitting the application. In an interview with the Bury Times, last Wednesday, Bibby denied the allegations saying sternly: 'Bribery hasn't been part of local government for 30 years - those days are long gone'. He added: 'I turn 70 this year ... I have had 13 years in local politics and have been around long enough to know that such corruption is not only impossible to hide, but undesirable given the negative attention it is bound to bring to those involved. I have nothing to hide and can speak for Jim as well. These allegations are unfounded.'

It seems that the allegations relate to a planning application tabled in February 2011 by a property company, and that the application was for 200 homes and and a warehouse to be built on land at York Street and Bury Road in Radcliffe. Councillor Bibby admitted the application was 'problematic' because the houses would be near a flood plain. Bibby claimed police had told him they had seen text messages suggesting he would take a £10,000 payment for help with the application. Councillor Bibby strongly denies sending or receiving any such message.

In April 2011, members of Bury planning committee granted permission; now there's a coincidence! Defending himself, Bibby who was then the Council leader, declared to the Bury Times:
'I am in no position to influence planning at all. As council leader, you generally encourage investment in your town and you want companies to come in and clean up grotspots and provide businesses that create jobs and homes for families. But when it comes to the details of particular applications, that is not for the council leader.' Furthermore, he said: 'To allege that someone would pay £10,000 to one individual in relation to an application is very strange.' Councillor Bibby, a Conservative Councillor from Church Ward who became council leader in May 2007, was replaced as leader last May, when the Tories lost overall control to Labour.

Last Tuesday, detectives and uniformed police seized computers and paperwork from Bury Town Hall and from business premises in Moston. Premises in the more middle-class areas of Didsbury and Altrincham were also searched. All five men, aged between 45 and 69, were released on bail until April. Police say the arrests came after an intelligence-led operation conducted in June 2011. Superintendent Rush said: 'This has been a complex investigation and these arrests are a result of a lot of hard work ... I recognise this operation will cause some disruption at the council ... However, the council is co-operating with the investigation and we intend to keep disruption to a minimum.'

A council spokesman, last week said: '... it would inappropriate to comment.'

Joe Cleary, former Bury binman and UNITE shop steward at Bradley Fold sacked in dodgy circumstances contacted Northern Voices last week to say: 'Have you seen the news about Bury councillors allegedly using their positions for pecuniary gain? I can't believe that somebody from Bury Council could be corrupt; this must be a mistake, these people are whiter than white, they don't do anything wrong. Do you think we should offer them our support? Maybe have a collection or maybe picket the police station until the "Bury Saints" are exonerated? I've just bought Bob Bibby a card, on the front it says: "Thinking of you at this sad time." I'm off to post it now!'

Now then; Joe Cleary was a bloke and trade union activist who was sacked a few years ago as a binman in Bury for allegedly allowing himself to be tempted and swayed in his duties by a bottle of 'Strawberry Volvic', unlike Councillor Bobby Bibby now, he was never given the chance to clear himself in an English Court: rather he was condemned and tried by Bury MBC councillors of the likes of Bobby Bibby sitting in a pompous tribunal in Bury Town Hall. Councillor Bibby the politician, is going to get a form of justice that was denied to the binman, Joe Cleary and his colleagues. As our own great bard Shakespeare had one of his character's say: 'Jockey of Norfolk be not too bold, for Dicken thy Master is bought and sold.' Yet, Joe Cleary, a former UNITE shop steward, is typically English in his charitable instincts, whereas a Frenchman may have called for the Guillotine, Joe is recommending a whip-round!

No Spanish Holocaust Humour: Siempre Chufla!

2012-02-02T12:55:00.003Z

'Don't worry Senora, he won't be needing a coat where he's going!'

YESTERDAY in the Spanish Supreme Court the voices of the victims of Franco were heard for the first time from those who were children in 1936 relating their accounts of what happened to their parents in the Spanish Civil War. Pino Sosa, now 75-years-old from the Canary Islands, said: 'On the 19th, March 1937, a group of Falangistas came at 6 a.m. for my father. My mother went to get him a coat and the Falangist said: "Don't worry Senora, where he is going he won't be needing it and he won't be coming back".' Siempre chufla los Espanoles: the Spaniards always can be counted on to crack jokes even in the most dire situations like when they are committing assassinations. It is one of their many virtues; one could hardly imagine 'Comrade Spiky Mike' from Chorton' or 'Knight Rider' from Oldham or the randy secret police agent, Mark Kennedy, coming up with such a turn of phrase before they pulled the trigger now could you: too much of the English stiff upper lip! (The humour has that extra bite to a Catholic killing an anarchist or socialist; because whatever the weather outside is doing in the 'infieno' [HELL] a coat is the last thing one needs.)

About the same time 75 years ago in 1937, the International Herald Tribune reports: '1937 Demonstration in Moscow - One of the mightiest demonstrations in Russian history was held here today [Jan. 30] when more than a million persons massed in Red Square and in surrounding streets to express approval of the verdict in the treason trial concluded at midnight. Thirteen of the 17 defendants charged with conspiring against the state had been sentenced to death... Addressing the group, Nikita Khrushchev, secretary of the committee, said: "We declare that by whatever means the enemy may try to check our advance toward a Communist society we shall crush the attempt." Astonished silence greeted the announcement of the sentences last night in the courtroom.' I wonder if Comrade Stalin and the Russian Communists were as good, in 1937, at droll 'Chufla' as the Spanish Falangists?

Never-the-less, one must grant our local fellow-travellers and one-time admirers of Stalin and Mother Russia a certain banal dark humour; for in 2006 they also held an inquiry at Salford Quays presided over by Alec McFadden, the TUC JCC North West representative, into whether or not it was appropriate to call someone a 'Holocaust denier' for failing to recognise that Spain had suffered a form of genocide during and after the Spanish Civil War under Franco. One witness at the inquiry, John Howard then Chair of the Greater Manchester County Association of Trade Union Councils, even said at this hearing: 'I've never heard of the Spanish Holocaust!'. Since the, of course, the historian Paul Preston, himself a sympathiser of the Communist Party, has published a book entitled 'The Spanish Holocaust', and today Judge Garzon is facing the Spanish Supreme Tribunal on the charge of ulta vires [acting beyond his powers] for investigating the 'crimes of the Francoists' for a 'systemic plan' to eliminate its detractors. In trying to raise these very matters in 2006 at the time of the 70th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War, the Secretary of Tameside TUC was suspended for one year on the recommendation of Alec McFadden: this followed a complaint from Oldham TUC, its then secretary, Martin Gleason and Treasurer, Mike Luft. In the end after contacting Brendan Barber and the TUC, it turned out that Alec McFadden himself had acted 'ultra vires' and beyond his powers in proposing this suspension.

I only wish I was a Spaniard and could come up with some piece of 'Chufla' to capture the spirit of silliness of the occasion at Salford Quays.

US cops use stun gun on Occupy DC protestor. City of London police label 'Occupy London' protestors as 'Terrorists!

2012-01-30T16:05:00.008Z

Interesting video from Youtube of an electric stun gun being used by cops in the USA against an innocent demonstrator. How long will it be before they are used on Tent City/Occupy London protestors in London? Earlier this month 16 January, George Monbiot, writing in his column in The Guardian, had this to say:

"Last month city of London police sent a letter to the banks titled 'Terrorism/extremism update for the City of London business community'. It warned of the following 'substantial' terrorist threats?: FARC in Columbia, al-Qaida in Pakistan, and Occupy London. It advised the banks to remain vigilant as 'suspected activists' from the Occupy Movement were engaging in 'hostile reconnaissance' - language that might have been used to report German spies in the second world war. When asked to explain the letter, the police told The Guardian that it had been circulated to 'Key trusted partners'. The banks are trusted partners of our impartial law enforcers; those who seek to hold them to account are terrorists."

The following text is taken from Youtube:

"U.S. Park Police officer used an electronic stun gun on an Occupy DC protester. Police say he was tearing down fliers warning protesters about the ban on camping in McPherson Square. Police also said the unidentified man was charged with disorderly conduct. The arrest took place shortly after noon Sunday. It is reported that after the incident the man had a seizure, and was then refused medical treatment. A park police spokesman said the man became -aggressive and confrontational'' when officers tried to arrest him and that is why the stun gun was used".

Dave Douglass, Democracy, War & 'the road to hell'

2012-01-26T15:28:00.007Z

THIS Month's Freedom, the anarchist paper, has a centre-spread devoted to the critical comments of Dave Douglass on Barry Woodling's talk at last November's Northern Anarchist Network (NAN) conference in Newcastle on Libya's rebellion and NATO: or as he calls it 'The Support NATO bombing tendency'. Supporters of the NAN from the North West responded to Dave's diatribe in Freedom by accusing him of 'Orientalism' and 'Cookbook politics'. Dave Douglass particularly questioned the wisdom of anarchists who appealed to what he would call 'bourgeois democracies' to support the rebels, as the republican Spaniards did in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 when fighting Franco's forces, and he concluded by likening this to 'Anarchists end(ing) up so wrong-footed and totally confused and ... (that it was) in its slippery slope ... the road to hell ...,' and claiming 'but I now know the answer how old Kropotkin ended up supporting the first world war.'

Comrade Douglass, who is here also attacking Ian Bone's Blog for expressing the same sympathies as these North West elements of the NAN, claims 'bourgeois democracies' and imperialism don't 'give a monkeys about' massacres and bloodshed in places like Benghazi. For Dave it is just one of those simple Marxist cookbook explanations: 'Gaddafi was another peg in the board game against formally anti-imperialist leaders in the Middle East who proved a threat to Israel and US and Western oil interests.'

Really! I thought in recent years Gaddafi was pals with our former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, America billionaires and had financial links with the London School of Economics. In the fuller version of his critique on the Freedom website, perhaps not surprisingly Dave Douglass quotes from the Morning Star, while his opponent, Barry Woodling, based his NAN analysis on empirical work done among Libyan exiles living in Manchester.

Although America took a back-seat in Libya, Dave Douglass's squib does raise an interesting point about how nation's now pursue wars; last Saturday, Peter W. Singer (author of 'Wired for War: The Robotic Revolution & Conflict in the 21st Century') in an article in the International Herald Tribune entitled 'Drone strikes on democracy', expresses concern about how today the US government is processing its war aims. Mr. Singer writes:

'In democracies like ours, there have always been deep bonds between the public and its wars', arguing that 'Citizens have historically participated in its decisions to take military action, through their elected representatives, helping to ensure broad support for wars and a willingness to share the costs, both human and economic, of enduring them.'

Mr. Singer claims that this bond has been broken with the recent US use of drones in Pakistan and that it breaches the intention of the founding fathers to ensure that the pursuit of war is not left 'to the executive ... alone'.

This brought forth a more interesting letter of response from J. Larson in Tokyo:

'Peter W. Singer's concern about the weakening bond between the American public and the wars that the country has involved itself in points to more than a problem of democracy and the Constitution. War has become a business in America, and the military just another corporation that makes its decisions based on money in conjunction with the capital power centers in the United States. This is exactly what James Burnham predicted decades ago in his 1941 book "The Managerial Revolution," where the United States would become more like an oligarchy than a democracy. The "people" now have little say in the wars that are started or their moral justification'

At the time of World War I, the philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote a column in The Labour Leader entitled 'War: the Cause & the Cure', arguing that Britain was at war 'because it has been decreed by a handful of men: the three Emperors, and the cabinets of London and Paris'. For Russell this posed another question: 'Why do ordinary citizens obey their insane commands, and even obey them with enthusiasm, and with the utmost degree of devotion and heroism?'

Clearly, Dave Douglass's 'Road to Hell', and the public support for wars, is rather more complicated than he or any cookbook recipe could define.

NORTHERN VOICES 13
Postal subscription: £5 for two issues (post included)
Cheques payable to 'Northern Voices' at
c/o 52, Todmorden Road,
Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4AH.
Tel.: 0161 793 5122.
email: northernvoices@hotmail.com

The next issue of Northern Voices, NV13 out in February, will include an interview between Barry Woodling and a member of the Libyan community in Manchester: this Libyan lad has now returned to Benghazi to participate in the unfolding events there.

Also in the Northern Voices 13 will be an article by the Jim Petty on the militant pacifist Philip Morrell, MP for Burnley 1910-1918, who almost alone in the House of Commons opposed the First World War forcing a debate.

"Feckless Brits on the dole should learn from hardworking foreigners" says old Etonian, Boris!

2012-01-24T17:55:00.015Z

Cait Reilly the 22 year old geology graduate from Birmingham, has certainly rattled some cages after taking legal action against the Government for forcing her to work for her dole money which her lawyers say breached her human rights.

In recent weeks a number of celebrity pundits have taken up the cudgel with which to bash young Cait, for having had the audacity to challenge the Government for compelling her to undertake forced labour in return for her dole money. Cait told The Guardian:

"I expected criticism, but some of the comments about me have been hurtful as well as inaccurate. Jan Moir's attack in the Daily Mail, for example, overlooked the fact that I was not paid for the work I carried out and implied that I believed such work, as well as Poundland itself, to be beneath me. This is not the case - I would grab a paid job in Poundland with both hands. Similarly, Vanessa Feltz attempted to humiliate me on the radio."

Now the Mayor of London, ex-'Buller' and pampered old Etonian Boris Johnson, has entered the affray accusing unemployed Cait of 'sneering' at "millions of hard-working Brits by saying the unpaid work she did (for 'Poundland') was forced labour." He also added: "It's just amazing. She shouldn't feel above it."

Boris who as Lord Mayor of London is up for election in May, also took a swipe at 'Feckless Brits' on the dole who he believes are out of work because they lack the 'energy and appetite' for it. He sees the thousands of foreigners who work in places like 'Pret a Manger' (French for 'ready to eat') the British sandwich retail chain, hotels, coffee shops and fast food outlets, as a shining example that unemployed Brits need to learn from.

In an interview with Rupert Murdoch's 'Sun' newspaper, this horny-handed son of toil, recalled his first job as a trainee reporter on The Times newspaper.

"I remember when I first got a job, I could not believe how hard everybody had to work. I couldn't believe having left university that it really did mean getting up that early and working at week-ends. It's not forced labour - she'll learn from it."

Unlike jobless Cait, it is unlikely that Boris Johnson will ever need to use a Jobcentre, fill-in a job application form or work for his dole, because of his social and political connections. Upper-class twits like Boris, who don`t have a clue about the real world of work, usually go from one arranged job to another.

Former 'shelf-stacker' turned Daily Mail columnist, Jan Moir, was even more scathing about Cait in her column on 13 January. She believes Cait is "off her trolley" and ought to be in "Cloud-cuckoo-land rather than Poundland". Ms. Moir told her readers:

"Under a government scheme designed to encourage the long-term unemployed back into work, Reilly was told that she had to leave the museum for a temporary stint at Poundland - and that she risked losing her £54 a week Jobseekers Allowance if she turned down the unpaid work experience, which involved stacking shelves and sweeping floors. Instead of meekly going to work at the discount chain, she went to law."

Though young Cait was doing unpaid voluntary work in a museum at the time the placement at 'Poundland' was foisted upon her by the Jobcentre and was seeking gainful employment, the former shelf-stacker was not impressed. She informed her readers:

"Don`t forget that she is doing unpaid work at the museum because she wants to - not because she has to."

Having explained that Reilly and her lawyer Jim Duffy, say that forcing her to do this kind of unpaid menial work amounts to slave labour and was against her human rights, Moir then issued a dire warning to young people like Cait, who stick up for themselves:

"Life is not going well for geology graduate Cait Reilly. And shall I be the first to tell her? It is just about to get a whole lot worse ... Believe me, such a pinched sense of entitlement at this nascent stage of her career will not endear her to many putative employers."

Many of our readers will not be surprised to learn that in 2009, Ms. Moir was awarded the "Stonewall Bigot of the Year Award" after reporting on the death of the 'Boyzone' singer Stephen Gately. Nevertheless, what Ms. Moir and Boris Johnson fail to mention, is that though Ms. Reilly was guaranteed a job interview by her Jobcentre, she didn't get an interview with Poundland. Moreover, she's also made it perfectly clear that the nature of the work was not a problem and that she would have been happy to do it, had she had a say in it and if she had been paid to do it.

Like many other young people on the Government's so-called work programme, Cait Reilly says that doing unpaid work for a major high street store, left her feeling 'useless and demeaned' and does nothing to build on young peoples' skills nor does it tackle the causes of long-term unemployment. To be unemployed today, is seen as some sort of misdemeanour which requires harsh and intrusive treatment. As Ms. Reilly pointed out in her article in The Guardian, some people on the Government's work programme, will have to do unpaid work for up to 6 months - longer than the unpaid work done by criminals given a community service order. This model of work-for-your-dole is now being securely built into the economy and as John Harris pointed out in The Guardian last August:

"Jobcentre advisers are now being told that if a company has no vacancies for a young jobseeker, they should be 'pushy' about the possibility of an unpaid placement."

Jim Duffy, from Public Interest Lawyers in Birmingham, told the Daily Mail that the government had created without Parliamentary authority a complex array of schemes that allowed Jobcentres to force people into futile, unpaid labour for weeks and months at a time and added:

"We have no problems with Government schemes that increase the chances of people getting employment - that is the key to combating the current economic crises - but these 'work-for-benefit schemes have been proven to do nothing other than increase the cycle of unemployment and poverty..."

Employment Tribunal rules that 'Agency Workers' in UK have no legal protection against blacklisting. Case to go to European Court of Human Rights!

2012-01-23T18:12:00.008Z

The text below (which we print in full) is taken from a press release that we have received from the Blacklist Support Group concerning the case Smith v Carillion.

Agency workers have no legal protection against blacklisting by multi-national firms according to a shock decision in the Central London Employment Tribunal today. The court found that Dave Smith (an engineer) had been blacklisted by the respondents Carillion (JM) Limited and Schal International Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Carillion) because he raised concerns about asbestos on building sites and because of his trade union activities. The firms actually admitted that their managers had supplied the malicious information to Mr. Smith's blacklist file in a signed statement to the court.

David Renton (pro-bono barrister for Mr.Smith) argued that the blacklist was a major breach of the Human Rights Act and therefore the law should be interpreted in such a way as to protect all "workers" including agency workers. However the court found that because Mr. Smith was employed through an employment agency, UK employment law does not protect him (or millions of other agency workers), so on that point alone the multi-national construction firms won on this legal technicality.

Mr. Smith said outside the court:

"The blacklisting conspiracy is a deliberate breach of human rights by big business. Human Rights are supposed to apply to everyone but Carillion and their subsidiaries have got away with systematic abuse of power simply because I was an agency worker. If the British justice system does not protect workers rights, then we will be taking our case direct to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg"

A secret blacklist file collated by the Consulting Association was presented as evidence and contained Mr. Smith's photograph, address, National Insurance number, work history, car registration, union credentials, information about his family and pages of information about times when Mr. Smith had raised concerns about poor toilet facilities or asbestos on building sites. This information was secretly supplied to the blacklist by managers from major building companies. The blacklist file was covertly shared amongst the 44 largest construction firms in the UK and resulted in periods of unemployment.

Despite the result, the evidence that came out in court about including invoices and hundreds of blacklist files is almost certain to become a key element in a larger "class action" style claim being brought to the High Court by 100 blacklisted workers in the next few months with representation by Hugh Tomlinson QC (the barrister representing celebrity clients in the News of the World phone hacking cases).

There is more to this case still. The evidence which has come up shows that spies attended union meetings and gathered information about people outside work.

Dave Clancy said in the hearing under oath:

"There is information on the Consulting Association files that I believe could only be supplied by the police or the security services"

He also told the court that the Consulting Association held information on elected politicians, journalists, lawyers and academics.

Dave Clancy is the Head of the Investigations Team at the Information Commissioners Office, the man who led the raid on the Consulting Association premises and discovered the blacklist. He is an ex-police officer.

Labour MP John McDonnell said after hearing these revelations:

“I am calling upon the Government to launch a public inquiry into the full extent and impact on people’s lives of blacklisting. These revelations are truly shocking and warrant a detailed and open, public investigation."

Mr. Smith was represented by: David Renton (barrister) and Declan Owens (solicitor) on a pro-bono basis via the Free Representation Unit

View the Blacklist campaign video here.

Thatcher as a cop-out for failures of British Left

2012-01-23T14:19:00.015Z

BLANCO POSNET on this blog has been bemoaning the prospect of a State Funeral for Lady Thatcher, meanwhile in the Financial Times, Richard Vinen, history lecturer at King's College, London, writes: 'Meryl Streep remarked that she had tried, in the film "The Iron Lady", to capture what it was about Margaret Thatcher that aroused such "venom".' All this endless venom against Thatcher for castrating a bunch of union bosses who were clearly past their sell-by date in the 1980s. Genuine anarcho-syndicalists should worship the woman for this victory and lesson, because it showed us the need to put 'anarcho' into anarcho-syndicalism. For years in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s, we deluded ourselves that somehow the simple-minded syndicalism perpetuated by the British trade unions would self-evidently bring forth power to the working people - we thought that we had identified a trend, a shopfloor syndicalist tradition in British labour relations that would eventually encroach control from the bosses.

We were wrong, because all that we got in those industries in which trade unions had dominant influence, such as down the pits and in the print trade, was another kind of bossism through the tin-pot union hierarchies. The question that 'pure syndicalists' like Blanco Posnet, Dave Douglass and Dave Chapple, must answer is 'why was it possible for Thatcherism and the Ridley Plan to triumph in the 1980's?' I suggest it was because Thatcher had a strategy and a vision, while the trade unionists and their leaders in the last half of the 20th century were hopelessly conservative, irresponsible, and self-serving: one of the major proponents of this school, the miner's leader Arthur Scargill, being a silly syndicalist tactician who had no serious strategy beyond 'miner's muscle' and a bone-headed Stalinism set in Barnsley. It is natural that such a short-sighted creature should now end up sueing his own union, the NUM, in an attempt to hang onto a union property in London. As one miner said of Scargill recently: 'For a socialist, Comrade Scargill, does have a strong penchant for property ownership!'

Thatcher and Thatcherism merely demonstrated the deficiency of 'syndicalism a la Grand Britannia': perhaps rather than castrate the trade unions Thatcher simply debagged them revealing they were little more than Eunuchs. The difficulty for Blanco and the two Dave's is that as much as we may admire their efforts to promote the cause of working people in this country, they don't seem to have grasped the significance of Thatcher's triumph in the last half of the 20th century. Dave Douglass, while his autobiography shows that he wrestles valiantly with the tactical threat of Thatcherism in the past, he does not offer a signpost to show how we should proceed in future; Blanco's most recent offering on this theme came in the Northern Voices' publication 'The Workers' Next Step', which flopped with slow sales figures over the last two years; meanwhile the trade union activist, Dave Chapple, despite his undoubtable skills and talents as a trade union organiser leading to the founding of National Shop Stewards Network which last year ended in tears owing to a power grab by the Socialist Party, has now turned to publishing 'Solidarity', a quarterly magazine aiming to give a platform to rank & file trade unionists.

These three veterans of syndicalism, rather than anarcho-syndicalism, do have a problem as do the young syndicalists around 'Liberty & Solidarity', and it is that they are too focused on the past glories and on tactics rather than on developing a vision or strategy for change and transformation of the workplace. They are altogether too conservative and defensive. In some cases, as Dave Douglass's autobiography shows, they suffer from nostalgia for a past age - sometime in the 1970's - when the trade unions seemed deceptively great and strong. In this respect they lack an understanding of what Thatcher accomplished when she defeated the TUC. As Ricard Viner writes in his FT comment entitled 'Blaming Maggie is just a cynical alibi for the left': 'Lady Thatcher has become a kind voodoo doll for a left that talks as though sticking pins in the image of its enemy will substitute for thinking about its own problems.'

Keeping politics in the family. Local MP's wife nominated to stand for council!

2012-01-19T18:47:00.009Z

She`s an ambitious and spunky young lady is Claire Reynolds (pictured), the wife of Jonny Reynolds the Labour MP for the constituency of Stalybridge & Hyde.

Some time ago, Northern Voices was told of Claire's ambition of becoming a member of the European Parliament, MEP. Unfortunately, Claire failed in her bid to become an MEP but now seems to have consoled herself, at least for the time being, in getting elected as a Labour councillor on shiftyside council, better known as Tameside Council in Greater Manchester.

At a Labour Party selection meeting, Claire won the nomination to fight the Stalybridge/Dukinfield ward at the next May elections. The sitting councillor, former Tory, Dorothy Cartwright, who joined Labour in 2010 after falling out with her Conservative colleagues, was up for election in May, but was deselected. She's now been nominated to fight the hopeless seat of Stalybridge South for Labour.

As a disaffected Tory who left her local party whinging about "back-biting and bullying", Cartwright is flogging a dead horse in trying to win this seat for Labour. Nevertheless, the contest should be interesting. Cartwright and the sitting Conservative councillor, Doreen Dickinson, are old rivals. We understand from sources that on a previous occasion, Dickinson commenced legal proceedings against the former librarian and teacher, which for some reason, were later abandoned.

As for Claire, some might see her nomination to stand for council as being yet again, another instance of the political cronyism which is endemic within Tameside Labour. Yet times are hard nowadays for many people and it must be a struggle trying to make ends meet as an housewife and mother, on an MP`s salary plus expenses and allowances. Though being a Tameside councillor doesn't pay as much as an MEP it's still pin money and with few job opportunities available for ordinary people today, can one really blame Claire for using her political connections to jump on board the political gravy train.

Expert evidence at Employment Tribunal, points to collusion in blacklisting of workers by police and security services. MP demands an investigation!

2012-01-18T19:24:00.003Z

A Labour MP is calling on the government to launch a full Public Inquiry after shocking revelations emerged today in court about security services and police collusion in illegal covert blacklisting of trade union members in the construction industry.

In the Smith v Carillion blacklisting court case being heard at the Central London Employment Tribunal, Dave Clancy gave evidence under oath.

"There is information on the Consulting Asociation files that I believe could only be supplied by the police or the security services"

Dave Clancy is the Investigations Manager at the Information Commissioners Office and an ex-police officer. He is the man who led the raid on the Consulting Association offices which uncovered the building industry blacklisting conspiracy involving 44 of the biggest building contractors in the UK.

Mr. Clancy also told the court that the Consulting Association compiled blacklist files on elected politicians, journalists, lawyers and academics.

Responding to the evidence John Mc Donnell MP said:
"The Consulting Association scandal is one of the worst cases of organised human rights abuse ever in the UK"

“I am calling upon the Government to launch a public inquiry into the full extent and impact on people’s lives of blacklisting. These revelations are truly shocking and warrant a detailed and open, public investigation."

The ET continues tomorrow and a decsion is expected either late Thursday or early Friday

Note to editors: Mr. Smith is a 46 year old engineer who has been blacklisted because of his trade union activities and for raising concerns about safety on building sites. This is conceded in a signed document presbnted to the court by the Respondents in the case (Carillion, Carillion (JM) Ltd and Schal International Management Ltd)

Construction firm admits blacklisting union member - potential major precedent for Agency workers

2012-01-18T19:13:00.000Z

Photo: Mick Holder

(from the Blacklist Support Group)For the first time ever, construction firms have openly admitted in court that they supplied information to a blacklist file and that the reason they added the information was to penalise the worker because of his trade union activities and because he raised health and safety issues.

The dramatic revelations came during the case of Smith v Carillion at the Central London Employment Tribunal yesterday.

In an unusual legal process, Mr. Smith and the respondent companies Carillion, Carillion (JM) Limited and Schal International Limited agreed a joint statement of facts which was presented to the court. Although couched in legalistic language the agreed statement is the first time ever that any of the mutli-national building firms has admitted blacklisting a union member and the reasons behind it.

In the agreed statement of facts and during Carillion (JM) Limited (previously John Mowlem Limited) and Schal International Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Carillion) and Tarmac Construction (the foreunner of Carillion) admit that:

1. They blacklisted Mr.Smith

2. Their managers supplied information to the notorious Consulting Association blacklist about Mr. Smith

3. The Reason was because of Mr.Smith's trade union activities

4. An additional reason was because Mr. Smith raised concerns about health & safety on building sites.

5. The blacklisting caused Mr. Smith a "detriment"

This is the first time any of the major contractors who subscribed to the Consulting Association blacklist have openly admitted this in court.

In the same statement Mr. Smith agreed that he was not a direct employee of any of the respondent companies but worked via employment agencies (and because only "employees" are protected under current UK law, he should not be able to win his Tribunal)

In a shock turn of events, Carillion then applied for the case to be Struck Out as having no reasonable chance of success but the Tribunal refused the application and the case now continues until Friday.

Dave Renton (barrister for Mr.Smith) is now arguing that because of the scale and nature of the blacklisting scandal, the companies involved had breached the human rights of Mr.Smith and the relevent laws should be re-interpreted to cover all "workers" not just employees. If successful this would set a major precedent for agency workers and other employed via contractors.

In additional uncontested evidence presented to the court:

Sales Book and Invoices disclosed for the first time by the Information Commissoners Office following a Court Order demosntatre the extent of the usage of the Consulting Association blacklist by Carillion. Between 1999 and 2004 Carillion paid £32,145 plus VAT, whilst Mowlem paid a total of £20,444 plus VAT to the Consulting Association. Senior managers from both managers attended regional meetings as part of the blacklisting operation. Invoices indicate that managers from Carillion were attending Consulting Association meetings as late as 2008 (only months before the organisation was closed down).

The case continues tomorrow - a judgement is expected on Friday.

The Employment Tribunal continues tomorrow with evidence from Mr. David Clancy from the Information Commissioners Office (the person who led the raid on the Consulting Association offices which uncovered the illegal building industry blacklist).

Witnesses for the companies tommorw include a Director of Carillion.

Balls to 'PLAN B'

2012-01-18T13:56:00.003Z

Len McCluskey says: the Alternative is 'Austerity Apocalypse'!

MONTHS ago Ed Balls, the Labour Shadow Chancellor, was asked by John Humphies on the Radio 4 Today Program what was his 'Plan B'? Ed Balls asserted: 'Everyone needs a "Plan B": the E.U. needs a "Plan B"; the USA needs a "Plan B"!' It was no answer at all.

Yet now, we know that for Ed Balls 'Plan B' is, in reality, 'Plan A', the same as the governing Coalition Government and yesterday the political editor of The Guardian wrote: 'Balls believes he has to reassure an electorate that his support for a short-term Keynesian stimulus to kick-start growth now does not mean that he thinks cuts are avoidable later.'

On Monday, Len McCluskey, the Unite union General Secretary, commenting in The Guardian on Mr. Balls and the Labour Party, wrote: 'The political elite that was united in promoting the City-first deregulation policies that led to the crash is now united in asserting that ordinary people must pick up the tab for it.' He thinks this takes us back to effectively a 'National Government', such as existed in 1931 under Ramsay MacDonald. What troubles Mr. McCluskey now is what has troubled anarchists in England: 'The real points of differentiation between Labour and the government on the economy are now very hard to identify ...' Mr. McCluskey expresses surprise that neither Ed Balls or Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour Party, bothered to 'consult with the trade unions' before announcing its new open approach to 'austerity'.

Mr. McCluskey, formerly a clerk on Liverpool docks, clearly believes that the trade unions are being treated like poor relations by the Labour leadership of Miliband and Balls, and that the City is in full charge of navigation of the economy. Of Ed Miliband, McCluskey writes: 'His leadership has been undermined as he is dragged back into the swamp of bond market orthodoxy.' Earlier last year, I claimed on this Northern Voices' Blog that the Labour Party had outlived its mission as a radical party of social change. Its demise as a party was only delayed temporarily by Tony Blair's skills as a devious politician when he seemed to create a new mission under the label of 'New Labour'. What is now happening may come as a surprise to McCluskey, but even he does not explain how the Labour Party, as a properly constituted parliamentary party, can get us out of 'the swamp of the bond market orthodoxy', nor indeed, has the Keynesian economist Robert Skidelsky or anyone else so far as I'm aware.

Graduate 'pilloried for taking legal action' against UK Government slave labour schemes, responds to critics!

2012-01-16T17:42:00.005Z

WHY THE GOVERNMENT WAS WRONG TO MAKE ME WORK IN POUNDLAND FOR FREE FORCING YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE ME INTO UNPAID WORK IS WRONG – AND EVIDENCE SHOWS IT WON'T SOLVE THE UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS.

The following article which we print in full, appeared in The Guardian on Monday 16th January 2012.

"In a routine appointment with my personal Job Centre Plus adviser last October, I was informed of an open day for people interested in potential retail jobs. Having been unemployed for some time, I was more than happy to attend, and was told by my adviser that, if chosen, I would undergo a week's "training" followed by a guaranteed job interview. It quickly became clear at the open day, however, that the period of "training" would potentially last for up to six weeks. I explained to my adviser my reservations about taking part: I was already in the middle of a work experience placement that I had organised for myself (and which was more relevant to the museum career I hope to pursue), and I already had retail experience.

I thought the "training" was optional, and it came as a shock to be told I was required to attend or risk cancellation or reduction of my £53 per week jobseekers' allowance – despite the fact I have always actively sought paid work. So I began the "placement" with Poundland – it was not training, but two weeks' unpaid work stacking shelves and cleaning floors. I came out with nothing; Poundland gained considerably.

For me, this unpaid labour scheme lasted only two weeks, but some people, as part of the government's work programme, will have to do such unpaid work for up to six months – longer than the community service orders handed out to many criminals.

The nature of such work is not the problem. I would be happy to do it if I had a say in it and, crucially, was paid. While hoping for a career in museums, I have also been applying for any job I am able to do. Like more than a million young people today, I find living on £53 a week extremely difficult, and would be delighted to find any paid work.

Many people seem to think all job seekers are lazy scroungers, sponging off the government. The reality of trying to carve out a career in a tough job market is much more difficult than many appreciate, and not a position anyone would choose to put themselves in.

Last week, I launched judicial review proceedings in the high court – a challenge to regulations that require up to 50,000 jobseekers to carry out unpaid work at major corporations. A case such as this cannot result in significant damages; from day one, my challenge has been about the principle, not the money. It is about social justice.

I expected criticism, but some of the comments about me have been hurtful as well as inaccurate. Jan Moir's attack in the Daily Mail, for example, overlooked the fact that I was not paid for the work I carried out and implied that I believed such work, as well as Poundland itself, to be beneath me. This is not the case – I would grab a paid job in Poundland with both hands. Similarly, Vanessa Feltz attempted to humiliate me on the radio. Such coverage has made taking a stand more difficult than I had imagined.

I am lucky to live in a country that offers financial support to jobseekers. I am also lucky to live in one where citizens do have the right to challenge government decisions. Making a million "neets" (not in employment, education or training) work for free for high-street chains leaves them feeling useless and demeaned, denies paid workers the chance to do overtime, and potentially takes jobs from those who need them. It does nothing to build on young unemployed peoples' skills, or to tackle the causes of long-term unemployment. I hope many more people stand up to what is a badly thought-out system created without the involvement of parliament.

The coalition's commitment to getting people into work is admirable, but this is not the right way to do it. Similar schemes have not worked in other countries, and there is evidence that coercing people into unpaid work masks rather than solves the unemployment crisis. The Department for Work and Pensions hired experts find whether "work for your benefit" schemes delivered benefits. After studying similar programmes in Canada, the US and Australia, they found no evidence such schemes increased an the chances of gaining employment. Whether or not my case is successful, I hope it will make the government think again, and work with young people rather than against them."

Cait Reilly guardian.co.uk, Sunday 15 January 2012 17.47 GMT Article history

North West NSSN: Fag-End or Vanguard?

2012-01-13T14:36:00.009Z

WHEN only nine turn up to a North West National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) meeting in Manchester, that proposes to co-ordinate activity to bring about the forcing of the TUC into setting 'a date for a second day of co-ordinated national industrial action', one is entitled to ask: 'are these people fleas pretending to be elephants?' It is true that among the nine activists present last night in the Subway sandwich bar on Peter Street, three unions, Unison, Unite and PCS were represented, but the decision to join with the new 'Left Unity' campaign suggests that the NSSN bosses now realise the folly of their decision a year ago to develop their own anti-cuts campaign.

That decision broke the back of the NSSN and caused the syndicalists and independent socialists to leave the organisation; leaving only the Socialist Party and a few fellow-travellers in control. Since then Bob Crow of the RMT union is reported to have said: 'The NSSN has lost some good people!'. The result was that by forcing out the syndicalists and independent activists the NSSN became an empty shell: just another anti-cuts group. The Socialist Party leaders of the NSSN talk big and claim they forced the TUC to call a national demo last March and more recently created the conditions for the co-ordinated public sector strikes on Nov. 30th but it has little conviction. In reality the leaders of the TUC had to be seen to take some action to justify their existence but they tend to be inconclusive events and probably undermine the morale of workers in the long run. These so-called 'general strikes' have been in operation in other European countries for years with often mixed results.

As part of a series of articles on 'Capitalism in Crisis' in the Financial Times, Gideon Rachman, wrote last Monday: 'The failure of the hard left to capitalise on the economic crisis testifies to how profoundly communism was discredited by the collapse of the Soviet system.' Alex Davidson of the PCS even bemoaned this collapse at last night's meeting with some qualification. The problem for the British Left, as well as the hard left, may go further than the fall of the Soviet Union. Some self-deception may be a necessary part of politics, but the self-delusion displayed at last night's meeting and of the left in this country is based in the lack of any serious alternative plan to combat the Coalition Government. That is why 'Resistance' is the most common word on the lips of the left: we've had the 'Coalition of Resistance' and now 'Unite the Resistance' - their form of 'resistance' is merely to react to the agenda set by the Government. No-where is there any attempt by the hard left or even the main stream Labour Party to present a plausible alternative program.

There are clearly problems of capitalism now, but the hard left is using the thinking tools of the stone age to deal with the consequences, and the Labour Party has no clear agenda. Gideon Rachman in his article quotes the Italian communist, Antonio Gramsci: 'The old is dying and the new cannot be born: in the interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms will appear.' Mr. Rachman writes: 'Gramsci's observation does resonate now - in an age of ideological confusion.' Perhaps it was too much to expect the folk at last night's meeting to have any fresh ideas: it was at least recognised that the trade unions had yet to recover from the defeats of the 1980s and 90s, and some had hopes that something may yet evolve out of the Occupy movement.

Graduate forced onto Government work-for-dole scheme, takes legal action!

2012-01-12T18:10:00.004Z

Another legal challenge to the Governments 'mandatory work' schemes is going to be heard in the High Court.

In November we gave details of how many major high-street stores including Sainsbury, Argos, ASDA, Tesco, Poundland, Primark, were offering no pay, work-for-your-dole placements, for claimants as a condition for retaining their unemployment benefits.

One claimant who was told by her Jobcentre that she would have to work for no pay to keep her benefits was 22 year geology graduate Cait Reilly (pictured) from Birmingham. The geology graduate spent two weeks stacking shelves and sweeping floors for no pay, for 'Poundland' in South Birmingham. Cait told The Guardian newspaper:

"It seems we were being used as free labour in the run-up to Christmas."

Although the 22 year old was not offered an interview following her placement and had told the Jobcentre Plus of her previous retail experience and that she was volunteering at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, she was told that she would lose her benefits if she did not accept the 'mandatory' post.

Cait is now challenging the Government over a scheme which she feels compels jobseekers into "futile, unpaid labour". She is asking the High Court to quash regulations that her lawyers claim were created by the government 'without parliamentary authority' and 'force people into futile, unpaid labour for weeks or months at a time.'

Speaking to the Metro, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said:

"Our priority is to help people off benefits and into work. It is simply absurd to suggest that we should not be providing this support and effectively leaving people at home doing nothing."

Although Poundland didn't offer Cait a job, they told the newspaper: "Our partnership with Jobcentre Plus is a positive step to get people back into work."

Action against this type of forced labour is also being challenged under the Human Rights Act by solicitors from 'Public Interest Lawyers' in Birmingham who are seeking a judicial review of the scheme on behalf of two clients who they maintain were forced to work against their will when put on the Governments 'mandatory work activity' program. This they say amounted to a breach of their human rights under article 4(2) of the Human Rights Act which states that "No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour."

Zagreb Anarchist Bookfair: Invitation for Northern Voices & NAN to Participate

2012-01-10T12:14:00.013Z

CONTRAST THE SPIRIT OF ZAGREB WITH THE SOURNESS OF MANCHESTER'S BOOKFAIR

AFTER the blackballing of the NAN and Northern Voices by a pair of curmudgeons and churls, who effectively operated as political Godfather and Godmother respectively at the Manchester Bookfair last December, we have just received an invite to the Eighth Annual Anarchist Bookfair in Zagreb this year taking place between March 31st and April 2nd. We have still yet to receive a proper explanation as to why those who reside seemingly under-the-pavement in central Manchester with the other political insects have not found it in themselves to come out into the open and present their criticism: but as we say in Lancashire, there is 'Nowt so queer as Folk'.

A good comrade of ours from the North East, who boycotted the Manchester Bookfair in sympathy because of the way in which we had been treated, said that this kind of thing would not have happened up in Northumbria. Indeed, it is doubtful that such a thing would have happened on such feeble grounds anywhere in the UK.

The organisers of the Zagreb Bookfair (ASK- Anarhisticki sajam knjiga) say they hope to bring in more people every year as participants, publishers, groups, projects - whoever is interested in what the bookfair has to offer. And they say: 'For [the] discussion part everything is open, as every year, so all suggestions, ideas, etc are welcome, as well as texts that you find interesting for further debate.' Furthermore, the organisers in Zagreb say: 'In many different situations, these bookfairs have proven to be important events and meeting places on both local and international levels.' They conclude with a welcoming appeal: 'This is why we need your help - come and support this event with solidarity and participation.'

How very different are these Croatians in Zagreb to the narrow-minded folk who seem to have been behind organising the Manchester Bookfair over the years: the 2010 Bookfair at the Dancehouse on Oxford Road, Manchester, being described by someone as 'one of the most customer unfriendly events' that they had ever attended. The program for the Zagreb Bookfair is not yet completed but for more infornmation: go to http://www.ask-zageb.org/ or email: anarhisticki.sajam.knjiga@gmail.com

Government slave labour scheme hailed as a success in getting the unemployed off the dole, but not into a job!

2012-01-06T14:25:00.010Z

The Daily Malice, better known as the Daily Mail, ran an interesting story yesterday. According to the newspaper the Government have released figures that show that half of those who are on unemployment benefit who are referred for 'mandatory work activity' by the Jobcentre, prefer to stop claiming benefits rather than be dragooned into undertaking forced unpaid labour.

Government figures show that 20% of claimants referred for 'mandatory work activity' cease claiming unemployment benefit immediately and another 30%, have their benefits stopped when they fail to turn up. So impresssed is the Government with the results that it is extending 'mandatory work activity' nationwide, so as to catch a further 50,000 unemployed. A source quoted by the newspaper said that the results so far had been 'extraordinary' and added:

"This has started on a relatively small scale, to see how it would work, but nobody expected the results we are seeing...for the majority it is proving to be a push that gets them off benefits. What this demonstrates is that there really is a hardcore of claimants who have absolutely no intention of working come what may."

Although the government presents these work-for-dole schemes as offering training and work experience for the unemployed, the figures only confirm what has been known for some time, that these schemes are about forcing people off benefits in order to reduce the benefits bill. People working on the schemes are exempted from minimum wage legislation and are effectively being compelled to undertake forced labour in order to retain their unemployment benefit.

Last November, we wrote that solicitors from 'Public Interest Lawyers' in Birmingham, were acting on behalf of two clients involved in the 'mandatory work activity' programme and were seeking a judicial review of the scheme on the grounds that their clients were forced to work against their will which amounted to a breach of their human rights under article 4(2) of the Human Rights Act, which states:

"No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour."

Northern Voices blog has frequently published articles about these work-for-dole schemes (see our posting "Motivating the Workshy - New Deal Bum Deal" September 2009) which in our view amount to an appalling abuse of human rights. No one should be forced into undertaking forced labour, a practice which is more commonly associated, with totalitarian regimes like Nazi Germany.

From Blacklisting to BESNA!

2011-12-23T15:17:00.005Z

HVCA are employing an individual called Steve Quant who used to work for SCANSKA. He was apparently sacked by SKANSKA because he was involved in the blacklisting of construction workers. It is reported that he later became employed as 'Ian Kerr's right-hand man': Mr Kerr, who set up the now disbanded firm The Consulting Association in the Midlands, pleaded guilty to keeping an illegal data base in 2009 in the Knutsford Crown Court and was fined £5,000 plus costs. Steve Quant is now reported to be involved in promoting the new controversial BESNA proposals for electricians in the British building trade.

Say No to plans to give Thatcher a state funeral!

2011-12-22T18:35:00.007Z

In today`s Daily Telegraph, there was an interesting piece by the journalist/writer Peter Oborne about secret plans which are being made to give the 'milk snatcher' Margaret Thatcher, a state funeral.

In the last 200 years, only four British prime minister's have been awarded a state funeral - Wellington, Palmerston, Gladstone and Churchill. The proposal to give her a state funeral did not originate from the Conservative 'Monday Club' as many might think, but was the brainchild of Gordon Brown, the former New Labour prime minister.

According to Oborne, secret discussions have been taking place without public debate to give Thatcher a big public send off at the taxpayers' expense, at a time when public services are being cut along with state benefits and people losing their jobs. Though Oborne admires Thatcher, he argues against giving her a state funeral which he believes would insult "many honest patriotic people".

Many abhor Thatcher's memory and I include myself among them. Yet there is one thing she said that I entirely agree with. Thatcher was once asked what she felt was her greatest legacy to the country and she replied, "Blair and New Labour."

A number of petitions have been set up including "No state funeral for Thatcher" which when I last checked had attracted 6,638 signatures. It can be found here.

In Oborne's article he refers to a letter from David Farham, a former miner who wrote to his local newspaper 'The Shields Gazette'. It is worth quoting:

"I am proud to say I was on strike for 12 months in the 1984-85 strike, when Thatcher used the full might of the state to defeat us. I would stand on a picket line now if it would prevent her having a state funeral. She had a near-pathological hatred of trade unions, and referred to us as the 'enemy within', but what did we do that was so treacherous? We struck to prevent pit closures and to protect jobs, with disastrous consequences. Look at the former pit villages which she left devastated."

In his 'a history of MI5', Christopher Andrew, says that Thatcher took greater interest in the intelligence community than any other prime minister since Winston Churchill and demanded prompt action to deal with the 'wreckers' in British industry. He also says that Thatcher demanded that M15 identify all the 'wreckers' even though this contravened their so-called 'Charter'.

Although the 'Iron Lady' (a name she acquired due to her hatred of trade unions), left office in 1990, she continues to receive allowances from the taxpayer under the 'public duties cost allowance'. Despite her mental and physical infirmity, she has received £535,000 from the taxpayer since 2006 for costs incurred from public duties.

To give the woman who was one of the most divisive leaders in modern times, who destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of British working people and who admired, the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, a state funeral, would be an outrage to public decency. Say no to a state funeral for Thatcher the milk snatcher.

Europe Bans Blacklist

2011-12-16T16:35:00.003Z

BLACKLIST SUPPORT GROUP STOP PRESS REPORT (16th, December 2011):

YESTERDAY in Strasbourg, the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) passed a law to make the blacklisting of workers in the European Union illegal. Labour M.E.P's Stephen Hughes and Glenis Wilmott, were the main movers according to the Blacklist Support Group.

How To Pervert The Course Of Justice?

2011-12-15T15:29:00.005Z

Did Bury Council's H.R. Division Act In Bad Faith?

YESTERDAY Bury Council's Human Resources & Communications Division (HR) held an 'Investigation Interview' to discuss the following allegations of:
* Threatening & intimidating behaviour

* Contravention of the Dignity at Work Policy

against a Unite Safety Representative at Bradley Fold Waste Depot near Bury in Lancashire.

Ought a person, who may later be called as a witness in relation to an alleged event, be properly used by H.R. as an investigator in an 'investigatory interview' into the same event? A legal opinion sought by the trade union Unite claimed that it would be 'a breach of natural justice' for Bury Council's H.R. Division to use the potential witness Mick Morris, Senior Cleansing Manager at Bradley Fold Waste Depot., as an investigating officer into the case against a Bradley Fold Safety Representative, who is facing a complaint of 'Threatening & intimidating behaviour' as well as another separate allegation of 'Contravention of the Dignity at Work Policy'. Ursula Skinner, Senior H.R. Advisor at Bury MBC, brushed aside the legal challenge that Mick Morris may be called as a witness, arguing that she had sought the advice of her 'line manager' and had been told that it was irrelevant to the process. Ms. Skinner, on being asked as to who her 'line manager' was, failed to illuminate.

In correspondence with the Safety Representation who is under investigation, Ursula Skinner wrote: 'You have the right to be accompanied during the interview by you trade union representative or a work colleague who should not be involved in the investigation.' In this case Julie Burgess, the Unite Regional Officer, was allowed to represent the accused Safety Representative facing these charges, but his Bury Branch Secretary, Brian Bamford, who offered to observe and take notes was twice denied entry to the process of investigation by Ursula Skinner on grounds that are still unclear. And yet, Bury Council's Human Resources & Communications Division brought in Mr. Morris as in investigator, who has admitted to speaking to the accused around the time of the incident. When the union Unite made it clear that Mr Morris had a conflict of interest because he was likely to be a witness 'involved in the investigation' in one of the allegations against the Safety Representative under investigation, Ms. Skinner dismissed this as being irrelevant. The Regional Officer of Unite asked that both the banning of Mr. Bamford and the union's misgivings about the presence of Mr. Morris be minuted.

Does this represent a perversion of the course of justice by Ms. Skinner on behalf of the Human Resources Division & Communications at Bury Council?

Trade Union Protest at Ashton Town Hall

2011-12-08T11:27:00.001Z

ON TUESDAY NIGHT, delegates from Tameside Trade Union Council (TUC) and their supporters, including a few blacklisted local electricians, held a protest outside Ashton-under-Lyne Town Hall in Tameside. They were complaining at the failure of the Council Leader, Kieran Quinn, to answer questions from both the Tameside Reporter and the Secretary of Tameside TUC about his role in awarding contracts to Carillion, a global giant accused of being affiliated to firm trading information for money: including the names, national insurance numbers and activities of trade unionists in the British building industry. A local electrician from Denton, Steve Acheson, is one such person who has appeared on this unlawful data base and has been a leading figure in the campaign against this unsavory business described as blacklisting, for which a case is now being prepared by a firm of London solicitors for presentation in the civil courts.

Yesterday's protesters aired their concerns about about the recent transfer of a local authority department of Tameside Estates & Facilities to the private sector under the management of Carillion. This move was at the time of the transfer met with dismay from staff at Tameside Metropolitan Council, who are obviously unaware of the more murky history of Carillion in their recent labour relations, and also to critical comment in the columns of the Tameside Reporter.

Leaflets carrying the Email address of Tameside TUC were distributed at both entrances to the Council Chamber. There was some sympathetic reaction from some of the councillors, and some didn't even realise that Carillion had been linked to a company accused of blacklisting trade unionists. Councillor Quinn, is still presumably a member of the Communications Workers' Union, and who in the past has successfully sought the support of Tameside TUC to support strike pickets of postmen in Greater Manchester, has more recently been accused of arrogance and supercilious behaviour in his dealings with trade unionists and the Trade Union Council.

In reality, it seems that Councillor Quinn since he has donned the robes of high office in the Town Hall following a successful coup against Roy Oldham, now thinks that he can snub his fellow trade unionists shamelessly. He would do well to proceed with more prudence and caution because rumours reaching Northern Voices suggest that he is not so adept as Roy Oldham in covering himself.

Tameside Hospital appoint 'Turnaround Director' costing £1000 per day!

2011-12-07T16:34:00.012Z

The annual Hospital Guide published by Dr.Foster Intelligence, which was released at the end of November, has 'red-flagged' Tameside Hospital for its mortality (death) rate for 2010/11. According to the Guide, the hospital's death rate could be as much as 17% above the average hospital death rate.

Using the 'Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator'(SHMI), which measures deaths in hospital and deaths within 30 days of leaving hospital following hospital treatment, Tameside Hospital is ranked the fifth worst in the country for its SHMI.

The report criticises the hospital for its failure to operate on 40% of patients with hip fractures within two days. It also recommends that the hospital cease performing Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms, due to an increased death rate. The hospital was also found to have had 136 deaths following surgery in the same period:

"which could indicate problems with patients developing complications or could raise questions about whether some operations should have taken place at all."

The hosptal's Medical Director, Tariq Mahmood, said that Tameside Hospital took the findings seriously but pointed out that the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR) of 101.1 for the hospital was well within the normal range. However, the hospital's critics have suggested that the fall in the HSMR at Tameside Hospital, has more to do with the improved recording of clinical data by management than any improvements in patient care.

The Dr. Foster report is the latest in a series of damning judgements made against the hospital this year. In November the local coroner, John Pollard, criticised the hospital for a 'lack of urgency' in the care of a 13 year old boy who died. He also criticised the hospital for its treatment of a seven month old baby who having been discharged from hospital with a diagnosis of a tummy bug, died shortly after, of meningitis.

Although her leadership abilities have been criticised and the hospital given a 'Red Rating' for lack of governance by the official regulator 'Monitor', Christine Green, the C.E.O. of Tameside Hospital, is not the type to brook opposition and she refuses to quit her post.

In a report which was published last year, a senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital, Milton Pena, who is also the Chairman of the Senior Medical Staff Committee, wrote of a "culture of bullying and intimidation that pervades the Trust" and of hospital employees being afraid to ask critical questions.

We also understand that in August, Jack Markovic, the assistant head of Human Resources at Tameside Hospital, was escorted off the hospital premises by security staff after having attended a meeting. Despite our own inquiries, we have been unable to ascertain why the hospital took this action against him.

Health campaigner, Paul Broadhurst, from Dukinfield, is well known for his outspoken criticism of the management of Tameside Hospital. A member of the 'Local Involvement Network' (LINk), he writes regularly to his local newspapers. In September, quite unexpectedly, he received a letter from HEMPSONS solicitors in Manchester. The letter stated:

"We have been instructed by Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust who have consulted us as a consequence of your persistent abuse of the hospital's premises to conduct a campaign to discredit and harass those employed in the management of the hospital. You have previously been invited to express any concerns that you have through legitimate channels. We understand that although you had initially taken up this opportunity you have now reverted to your former behaviour which has been captured on CCTV footage and this is totally unacceptable.

When you come to the hospital you do so on license i.e. by virtue of permission granted to you by the hospital to enter their premises. If you persist in using Trust premises to display or distribute your campaign literature or attempt to disrupt the day to day running of the hospital the license granted to you will be withdrawn. You will become a trespasser and we will unfortunately have to take steps to escort you from the premises.

We do hope that such steps will not be necessary and that you will take advantage of the legitimate channels open to you to discuss your opinions or concerns about the way in which the trust is managed. We confirm the Trust do not seek to exclude you from attending the hospital for the purposes of seeking emergency or planned treatment..."

At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Tameside Hospital which took place in September, Paul Broadhurst thanked Christine Green for the letter he'd received from the hospital solicitor "warning me off". Despite the invitation for Mr. Broadhurst to express his concerns using "legitimate channels", we understand that his e-mails to the hospital now go unanswered as well as his letters.

Although it was announced at the AGM that the hospital had a £1.39 million deficit and had made saving of £4.2 million by August, we understand that earlier this year, the cash-strapped hospital, appointed a 'Turnaround Director' costing in excess of £1000 per day. With consultants now running many NHS hospital's, one does wonder why we need hospital C.E.O.'s like Christine Green, who now receives more in salary £147,000 than the Prime Minister £142,000,(Tameside Advertiser 22 September 2010). Clearly, her enormous salary is not related to performance.

Sparks report on actions today, 7th December

2011-12-07T13:54:00.001Z

Manchester

We are inside the town hall addressing the mp's at the full council meeting as to whythey have awarded the contract of Manchester town hall and library to baileys the blacklisters and one of the party of 7 who wish to impose a 35% pay cut and de skilling of our industry. Please forward to everyone you know.

London

Shut Blackfriars this morning good tear up with rozzers 1 lad nicked. Then bb hq victoria, then grattes victoria. Blackfriars again tonight to stop nightshift going in at 6 pm.

Hartlepool Demonstration

At least 200 and closer to 300 assembled at the Vic Dock entrance to Heerema. Then a march to the Greenland Road entrance of the company.

About 8:30 we decided to march back to our starting point at Vic Dock. Initially the police were unhappy about us marching back on the main road but relented after arguments. Because of the police being argumentative the march accidentally split into two so that we marched in both directions round a roundabout of the main road into Hartlepool. There was a bit of a traffic jam but had the police listened to us in the first place there would not have been any disruption to traffic.

On the way to Vic Dock the police instructed us to march on the pavement but after discussions while marching the police agreed we could march on the road. Then almost at the end of the march the police in display of wanton aggression decided to block our route and started using force to stop us marching any further. One lad was grabbed and manhandled by 2 or 3 cops. Instinctively people went to his rescue and he was released. We then marched through the police lines to our destination about 200 yards further on. Why the police should want to display such gratuitous and reckless behaviour was beyond the belief of everyone.

Then a police sergeant told us that while the demonstration was generally peaceful and good natured the march he said was unlawful and there were he told us some antagonistic elements amongst us.

Heerema has been told that as long as they employ a cowboy outfit like Balfours they will NEVER get industrial peace. We are going to demonstrate at their front door week after week and if need be every day. Indeed if Balfours continues on its reckless union busting adventures we shall be forced to occupy Heerema to have discussions with the management.

Conoco and Corus should not think they are immune to such behaviour either. These employers also will never get industrial peace while they welcome the likes of Balfours.