West Ham (CLP) Story

This is two great picture collages of all the successful West Ham Constituency Labour Party Candidates and some of their supporters that took place in the selection process last weekend. West Ham CLP selections took place in the Old Town Hall in Stratford while East Ham CLP took place in the Newham Town Hall.

You can check all the Newham results via the @newhamlabour twitter account.

Hat tip Photos Gordon Miller.

Rae Climbs A Mountain

Off message-ish but former London UNISON Labour Link comrade Rae Voller is trying to raise money for "Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY)". Rae is a nurse who now works in Merseyside. 

She will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in September in support of CRY and raising money via "Just Giving" for this event.

Mountain Warehouse in conjunction with "Just Giving" are running a competition to give an additional £5000 to a chosen charity based on the number of votes received by participants.

To vote for her cause simply go to http://www.mountainwarehouse.com/charity/entries/rae-climbs-a-mountain-e353.aspx and follow the simple instructions.

Share the links below and encourage others to vote. Also donate via Just Giving!

http://www.justgiving.com/Rae-Voller
www.raeclimbsamountain.org.uk
www.c-r-y.org.uk

PS I have suggested To Rae that she climbs up and down Snowdon in North Wales twice in one day as preparation. I am full of such good ideas for others to follow  :)

West Ham Labour Party Ward Re-selection result for 2014

Yesterday I was reselected by members of West Ham Labour Party Ward to be their candidate in the Newham local Council elections in 2014. This was after a hustings in the Old Town Hall in Stratford where all applicants had to give a presentation and then a Q&A with Ward members. Freda Bourne (to my right) and John Whitworth (my 2nd left) were also selected.

Picture of the three of us and some of the West Ham ward members (and EC member Neil Wilson!)

Happy 65th Birthday NHS! We will defend you!

On Wednesday evening during the West Ham CLP fund raising event local Newham MPs Lyn Brown, Stephen Timms and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls helped us celebrate the 65th anniversary of the birth of the National Health Service (today 5 July).

Sitting are former UNISON presidents Dave Anderson (now MP) and Norma Stephenson (Labour Cllr and member of Labour Party NEC). While UNISON candidate for London MEP Sanchia Alaisa is 2nd from left.           

Action Mesothelioma Day Friday 5th July - HOPE

This lunchtime I was at the historic Old Town Hall in Stratford, E15 to help mark "Action Mesothelioma Day".

In the court yard people had gathered to mark the release of white doves as "tributes of love and embrace" to the relatives of all those who have died from asbestos related diseases.

I was asked by London Hazards as a local Newham Councillor to say a few words to the ceremony.  I said that I was a Labour Councillor but also an UNISON safety rep. I worked as a Housing officer in a large 1960s/1970s estate in nearby Tower Hamlets where until recently 90% of homes contained some form of asbestos.

This makes you think of the safety of the workers who first built this estate, those who have since maintained it and the residents who have lived in it.

This commemoration service was not only about obtaining justice and compensation for the many victims of asbestos and their families but also about how we must all argue for a different economic and political society that would not allow the health of future generations to be only second best to profit.

Next I helped out to release the doves - this was very beautiful and moving.

Tony O'Brien chaired the seminar that followed with first speaker Peter Williams pointing out that Newham and Barking had the worse death rates from Mesothelioma in Greater London. This was due to the traditional heavy industries located in East London but it was not only workers in these factories, building sites and docks who were exposed but their neighbours and even children in local schools.

There was a brave message of HOPE by Anne who is a mesothelioma sufferer, that with early diagnostic & good treatment you can have reasonable prognosis of a cure.  Anne wants everyone who knows they have been exposed to asbestos (which is probably all of us) to go for a CT scan as soon as they get any symptoms.

John McLean, GMB national safety officer reminded us that it was nonsense that no one knew asbestos was dangerous in the past. The first confirmed death from asbestos was nearly 100 years ago in Rochdale. The founder of the GMB was a local Labour MP (and before that West Ham Councillor) Will Thorne, who brought up the danger of asbestos in Parliament in the 1930s.

John also reported on the campaign for the removal all asbestos from public buildings & adequate "no fault" compensation for all victims. He told us about the promising research in the USA on treatment for mesothelioma.   This is early but great news for victims it also will help change attitudes to mesothelioma I think if the public understand it is not an automatic death sentence (if caught early and you receive good treatment).

Asbestos regulations are up for review this year but John thinks that the regulations are currently okay but need to take into account inadvertent exposure to the public.

UPDATE: LHC have published my account here with more photos of whole event by Joe Syz which I have copied the first one showing the release of the Doves.

Edward Nolan - Certificate of Merit for 40 Years Labour Party Membership

Picture of Edward (Ted) Nolan receiving his Certificate of Merit from the Labour Party at last nights West Ham CLP fund raising dinner.

The award was presented to Ted and his wife by Ed Balls MP and our local MP Lyn Brown. It was signed by Party leader Ed Miliband and General Secretary Iain McNicol.

Ted has been a member of the Party for over 40 years. A former HGV driver and Transport & General Workers Union activist.

He has lived in Newham all his life apart from 2 years he spent as a Rifleman while on national service during the Malayan Emergency. As well as a tireless organiser for the Labour Party Ted has also spent much of his life as a respected champion of tenant's rights.

A true Labour Movement Hero.

Metropolitan Housing Shooting

This is an article that I wrote today for our branch newsletter. "The exact details of what happened yesterday over the shooting of a Metropolitan HA housing officer and a bailiff during an eviction are unknown.

The use of guns against housing staff is thankfully incredibly rare but don’t forget the recent survey by "Inside Housing" that found yet another year on increase in assaults on staff. In the meanwhile an incident such as this concentrates minds.

Local stewards and safety representatives should be thinking of asking management when did they last review staff risk assessments and safety procedures? Have staff and the union been properly consulted on these documents? Are staff reps invited and enabled to attend safety committees? Do you have a register of residents who may be violent? Is this register up to-date and most importantly is it being used? Is there adequate resources made available for health and safety in your organisation?

The branch is planning to hold a training workshop for all our reps. Details will be sent out soon.
Remember a unionised workplace is a safer work place. The more of us in the union the safer all of us will be in work. If you are interested in being a UNISON safely rep contact the branch. Check out the excellent safety resources on the UNISON website here.

The Spirit Level Documentary Trailer

"Dear Friends, Many of you will remember the extraordinary crowd funding campaign run last year for The Spirit Level documentary. Thanks to your generous support, the filmmakers have now been able to begin this ambitious project - but there is more work to be done.

This Spirit Level film is an official documentary based on Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett's seminal book. It shows how the rising gap between rich and poor has impacted on our societies, and aims to engage people on the issue of inequality, helping them to discover how it affects them and what can be done to reduce it.

We want a film that is talked and written about, that gets into cinemas and televisions, and that reaches millions. More importantly, we want a film that can help us achieve real, tangible change in policies and attitudes that help reduce inequality. The film is being funded by thousands of small donations, and has so far raised a staggering £45,000. This has enabled filmmakers to capture interviews with some of the world’s leading thinkers from the US, UK and Europe.

They've also gathered stories from the frontline of inequality all over the world, but these too need to be filmed. The Spirit Level's filmmakers are aiming to raise a further £30,000 to start this filming; with your help they can get there. If you're able and would like to donate to this project, please visit the film's website. Alternatively, please consider sharing the documentary's trailer with friends, colleagues and online networks.

For more information on the project's progress, and to hear from Katharine Round, Director of The Spirit Level, on the story so far, please visit: http://thespiritleveldocumentary.com/blogW.

Ronald Valentine Higgins - East End Docker, Footballer, Trade Unionist & Lancaster Bomber Gunner

On Sunday 23rd June there was a Newham Labour Party "meet the candidates" BBQ in Cody Docks, Canning Town. Party members met potential candidates standing for selection in 2014.

West Ham MP Lyn Brown was the special guest.  Cody Docks is an amazing regeneration project but even this was out shined on the day by the 3 generations of the Higgins family from East Ham.

I first met 90 year old Ronald Valentine Higgins (born 14 Feb 1923) several years ago at another Labour Party BBQ on Wanstead Flats. Ron has had a pretty incredible life. He started his working life in the famous Thames Iron Works, which was not far away from Cody Docks and the home of West Ham FC. He later played for West Ham and Leyton Orient FC. Since he was a semi professional footballer, he was not eligible to compete in the 1948 London Olympics, even though his running times matched that of the leading British competitors. He also managed East Ham FC.

Before this he served in the RAF during the Second World War as a gunner on Lancaster Bombers. He took part in 32 missions. The life span of an average Lancaster Bomber crew was only 20 missions. They had to complete 30. After the War and football, Ron worked in the Docks and became a GMB convener.

Picture of me, his son also called Ron, Cllr Forhad Hussain, Cllr Terry Paul then below Ron Senior and Hanif Abdulmuhit (picture taken by Ron's Grandson Paul).

I think we were all really proud and humbled to meet Ron.

National Action Mesothelioma Day - Friday 5 July Stratford Town Hall

Friday 5th JULY 2013
"You are invited to attend a commemorative event at 12:30pm to remember all those who have died and who are suffering because of asbestos
Speakers
Peter Williams Head of Asbestos and personal injury,
Field, Fisher, Waterhouse
John McClean GMB National Safety Officer

There will be a release of doves, at 1pm, followed by a short seminar, and a buffet will be provided.
The event is organised by London Hazards Centre and East London Mesothelioma Support, ELMS.
All invited but please RSVP to margaretsharkey@lhc.org.uk

5 facts about asbestos

1 Asbestos is a known human carcinogen and there is no safe level
of asbestos exposure.
2 54 countries have banned asbestos. The UK finally banned all types
of asbestos in 1999.
3 Asbestos fibers can cause asbestosis, lung, and gastrointestinal
cancers, and an aggressive cancer called mesothelioma. The average
life expectancy of a mesothelioma patient is six – twelve months.
4 Asbestos-caused diseases have a 10 – 50 year latency period from
initial exposure to development of disease.
5 The World Health Organisation estimates that 107,000 workers
die annually from exposure to asbestos. And in the UK over
3,200 die from mesothelioma each year according to HSE"