West Ham on tour: Peterborough, Hull, Cities & Westminster and Chipping Barnet

This morning West Ham Labour members met up outside Stratford Station to go to the launch rally of Labour candidate, Gordon Nardell QC, in the Cities and Westminster seat. This was a packed rally with guest speakers, Shami Chakrabarti and Kier Starmer.

The Labour Party has asked West Ham to support Cities and Westminster in the General election and our Chair of West Ham CLP estimates that we had about 25 of our members attending the rally and the canvass afterwards.

After the canvass I went to the "Big Unions Campaign" launch with West Hammer UNISON member Mumtaz Khan, in Chipping Barnet, of trade union lawyer, Emma Whysall, who only lost out by just over 300 votes in the 2017 General election.

Our UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, was there as well as London Mayor, Sadiq Khan. After this rally I went on a UNISON canvass team with our General secretary, Assistant General Secretary, National Labour officers and National Chair of Young Labour, Miriam Mirwitch. We got absolutely soaked but had a successful canvass in (believe it or not) "Union Street"!

My last call was to a resident who was a traditional Labour supporter who felt very torn about who to support this time. However, she was so impressed that the Party had turned up on her doorstep on such a wet and horrible day that she was willing to give us the benefit of doubt and vote for Emma.

Result!

Our West Ham Labour Candidate, Lyn Brown, had also been out "on the knocker" supporting Labour candidates in Hull and Peterborough.

Workers' Memorial Day 2019 - UNISON Wreaths at Clasping Hands Statue, Three Mills Green, Newham

Today we remembered four local workers who in 1901 selflessly lost their lives,  while trying to rescue a colleague who had collapsed from poisonous fumes, whilst inspecting a ventilation shaft in what is now "Three Mills Green park".

This annual memorial event is organised by my trade union branch, Greater London UNISON Housing Associations, but Workers Memorial Day is an international event supported by the UK Government, remembering those who have been killed while at work or have died of work related illness or injuries.

There were a number of speakers including UNISON members, West Ham MP,  Lyn Brown and Newham Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz.

Lyn reminded us that  today we should also remember the Northern Irish journalist, Lyra Mckee, recently murdered at her work.  Rokhsana said that at the 1901 inquest into the deaths of the workers the employer was blasted for ignoring basic health and safety rules which resulted in their deaths.

Other speakers included London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai; Former Tower Hamlets Council Leader, Helel Abbas, Newham Unite branch Chair, Brenda Bedminster and local Stratford Councillor, Joshua Garfield.

(Hat tip main picture Cllr Mumtaz Khan)