Why Europe is Important to Trade Unions

Claude Moreas, London MEP was the second guest speaker at our London Region Labour Link meeting last week.

Claude has been a UNISON/NALGO member since 1987 and his Mum is still a UNISON steward! Claude gave a very relaxed but at times hard hitting speech about his experiences as a BME London Labour MEP in Europe.

In June next year there will be the European elections. Claude argued convincingly (to me anyway) that it was not only important for the Labour Party to win these elections but also especially important for trade unions and their members.

Due to the enlargement of the European Union (EU) the number of MEPS per country has been reduced. London is losing 2 MEPs (from 10 to 8). The EU legislative assembly is now really important over a wide range of core trade union issues. For example the Agency Workers Directorate which will protect workers with 12 weeks employment with “comparable rights” to permanent staff. This is a huge advance despite some problems. Next month there will be a debate and vote over the working time “opt out”. If we got rid of this opt out, it would be a huge advance in protecting vulnerable workers from exploitation.

However the socialist and progressive majority in Europe is razor thin. If not enough Labour MEPs are elected then the assembly could fall into the hands of EU “Conservatives” and this will mean the end of such progressive policies. It is also critical for the unions to support Labour MEPs so they can oppose the dark side of the EU legislative regime, such as the “Services Directorate” which could result in the forced privatisation of local government and NHS care services.

Claude also warned that the likely collapse of the UKIP (due in part to their corruption scandals and the behaviour of their maverick MEPs) could result in the BNP getting 7% of the vote in London and gaining a MEP.

Claude reminded us that there were according to his calculations (Germany and France are opposed to monitoring of MEP’s by ethnic or other origin etc) 3 times the number of fascist/far right MEPs than black MEPS. He wondered what will happen when the new USA president, Barack Obama, who has been invited to address the Assembly, turns up. He will not only be addressing an assembly whose elected members do not accurately reflect the diversity of the EU.

Barack (this is my thoughts) will be standing directly opposite neo-Nazis and fascists who will no doubt consider him as sub-human. I would love to see how they will cope with this.

The bottom line is that the EU is really important especially to all our trade union members who have benefited from greater protection at work. Unless we mobilise and get out our vote in June this progress could be undermined or even reversed.

Boris and his Monday Morning Tea Meetings.

A little late but here is my first report on the UNISON London Labour Link committee held last week. We had double bubble this meeting with a presentation by GLA member, Joanne McCartney and London MEP, Claude Moreas.

I’ll report first on Joanne. Please note my usual disclaimer about relying on hurried scribbled notes for this post.

UNISON member Joanne told us how the assembly is still waiting for a vision from Boris. He talks about “value for money” but what is his plan? What will be his “way to go”?

His cuts to the Thames Gateway transport system will stymie regeneration. Stopping the Cross London and Croydon Tram link has even upset local Tories who were not consulted and cannot now commit to regeneration programmes for their own boroughs. With Housing, it is plain that Boris is expecting Labour Councils to pick up the bulk of social housings. With regard to youth policies he flies any number of kites but so far no coherent strategy. There was the infamous policy compelling kids to join the scouts. When the scouts protested that they would not accept kids who didn’t want to be there and Boris was quizzed on this, he simply denied that there was any plan to compel. Obviously he doesn’t read his own policy statements.

His apparent breach of confidence as the Chair of the Met Police Authority with regard to Damien Green is very worrying. He had agreed to slash funding of a joint GLA/Police domestic violence unit then once Labour GLA members had made a fuss he again denied it had ever happened and claimed that funding to the unit will be increased.

The most entertaining story that Joanne had heard from more than one source was that apparently there is a weekly “tea” meeting every Monday morning at City Hall with Boris and his advisers. The advisers dread this meeting because every week Boris sails into the get-together with lots of jolly good ideas and wheezes that had occurred to him over the weekend. They have no idea what to expect from week to week.

There was a good Q&A afterwards during which I told Joanne that across London many (not all) Housing Associations were cutting development teams and making staff redundant when we still have a desperate need for new public housing. What could the GLA do to bring forward plans for new build and refurbishment (at social and market rents) to keep people in jobs and build new homes? Joanne made some very constructive and non-partisan suggestions which I will follow up.

Picture above is of Boris desperate to raise money due to the ending of the £25 gas guzzler charge, at one such meeting trying to sell off the London underground system to the yanks.

London Labour Biennial Conference (II)

Gareth Thomas, MP, (good Welsh name) Minister for Trade, Investment and Consumer Affairs gave a cracking speech while giving fraternal greetings from the Co-op Party.

Outside the hall, the Co-op stall was also giving away free bottles of Fair Trade wine with every membership form filled out!

He posed the question - would Northern Rock have crashed or would the Halifax (HBOS) been forced into a merger if they had remained mutually owned? (Of course not)

Not that long ago I was told that those of us who are interested in the concepts of owner citizens and capital stewardship in investments were the “New Rochdale Pioneers”. Which, if accurate, would be a tremendous honour and responsibility. Gareth left a wonderful image of what it was like when the Tories were last in power, when many school buildings were kept aloft only by the woodworms holding hands.

There was then an open Q&A of the panel. I asked whether or not they agreed that one reason for the current credit crunch was due to a failure of ownership and governance by pension and insurance funds. There was a failure to ensure that their money was not misused by those we employed to look after it. Instead it was invested in schemes that no one really under the risk and resulted in us being ripped off by executives motivated by short term bonuses.

Now that was “sort of” the question I had written on my crib card. But to be honest I didn’t actually put it over that well. Tessa Jowell MP answered by saying that she thought that there had been a failure of regulation and transparency rather than anything else. She also thought that due to this there would be a change for ever in the relationship between the regulators and the financial services industry.

Tony McNulty MP, very carefully, said that once the current crisis was over then the government will have to look again at what needed to be changed. However, he did think that there had been a failure of governance not government which needed looking at. But he thought that my “gentile dig” at the government for causing the problems was wrong.

I am pretty sure that I did not get my point over properly and possibly there was confusion over Government and Governance. I wasn't having a dig. But so what - any undertaking to look at regulation, transparency and governance of financial services will be good enough for me.

London MEP Claude Moreas reminded us all that the European Union was important to Londoners. Soon 1.3 million Londoners who work for agencies will soon have significant extra employment rights and protections thanks to the EU. This only happens since there is a small majority of MEPs in the EU who believe in progressive politics. This can change in future elections. There are more MEPs belonging to fascist or racist political parties than black MEPs.

Next year the top priority must be the European elections in June and we need to explain to Londoners why this election is important and relevant.

Andrew Dismore MP gave a Parliamentary report and mentioned the 10 (repeat 10) social housing homes built in Tory Barnet Council last year.

John Biggs, London Assembly member, deputy GLA labour Group leader (and “attack dog”) gave a typically good humoured and thoughtful speech. Boris being described by John as a “vacuous bag of wind” being one of my favourite moments.

Finally Jules Pipe, elected Major of Hackney gave a very confident and lucid report on the problems facing the 9 Labour London Boroughs and our role in “London Councils” as well as the huge social housing problems we face across London.

Next was lunch then workshops.

To be continued.

Photo Dan McCurry

Eating Fish ‘N’ Chips with Ken to help fight off Boris

Last night I went to a Labour Party fund raising “Meet Ken Livingstone and the Assembly candidates” event at the historic Old Town Hall in Stratford, London. At the balcony of this former “West Ham” town hall, in 1892 election, Keir Hardie the first ever elected “Independent Labour MP”, gave a victory speech to supporters gathered outside.

The main hall was full with about 300 people present. A number of trade unions and local CLP’s had adopted tables. We of course had a UNISON table. Apart from the “Fish ‘N’ Chips” and free pickled unions and wallies (aka as pickled gherkins) we had the usual Labour Party raffle and auction (prizes ranged from such as a free trip to the European parliament via Eurostar to “Tea at the House of Commons Terraces” with Harriet Harman. The mystery prize was a (new!) pair of boxer shots with a design of the London underground system upon them.

Ken’s speech was as usual very good. Apart from being generally engaging, and at times very funny he can also switch very quickly to being serious and sombre (BNP). He gave a 30 minute speech without any notes. I have already heard Ken speak several times this campaign in person and on the TV and he somehow is able to make it different, fresh and thought provoking each time.

This time what impressed me was his obvious personal outrage not only at the prospect of an ignorant right wing toff as the Mayor and a BNP assembly member representing his beloved London. But the chronic shortage of affordable housing in London brought about by 18 years of deliberate and ideologically Tory failure to build new affordable homes to rent for London. The housing problem for London is not immigrants coming into London but the decision to sell off homes and not build new ones.

Many existing Labour Assembly member were there drumming up support. We spoke to top Local City & East AM John Biggs, Leader of the Labour group Len Duvall (UNISON member), Lambeth & Southwark AM Valerie Shawcroft and London wide member Murad Qureshi, (UNISON member of the London Housing Association branch!), Bow East Cllr Alex Heslop (UNISON member) for Bromley and Bexley. Tower Hamlets Council leader, Denise Jones, joined us to eat her Fish ‘N’ Chips, listened to Ken before rushing off to another meeting.

We were able to lobby (pushing a very, very open door) London MEP Claude Moreas over equal rights for agency and temporary workers.

At the end there was a London Music Hall act who by co-incidence sang my favourite song of that era “The Lambeth Walk”.