GPTU statement on London Underground Redundancies

The Green Party trade Union group opposes all redundancies as currently they punish workers for the criminal folly of capitalist speculators. We are particularly opposed to redundancies in those sectors , such as public transport, where there should actually be more investment and more jobs being created in order to bring about the just transition to a low carbon economy that is needed to combat the ecologocial and economic crises which we face.


GPTU is therefore saddened to hear that 1000 redundancies on London Underground were announced today (29/1/2009). All redundancies are evil but these are markedly in the wrong sector and at precisely the wrong time. We support all Unions in resisting this retrograde step and trust all elected Green Party representatives in London (Councillors, Greater London Assembly members and our London MEP)will join us in taking this stance.


ENDS

Campaign Against Climate Change Conference March 7 2009 Kings College London

Flyer for the Campaign Against Climate Change Conference March 7 2009 Kings College London at http://gptu.net/gleft/ccctuflyer.pdf.




The huge social and economic changes that are needed to dramatically reduce carbonemissions are of vital interest to trade unionists, as are the methods by which they can be achieved. This conference is a chance to engage and debate with each other on these crucial issues. Campaigners and researchers from the trade union movement will address a series of workshops on a variety of related issues.


2nd Trade Union Conference
We are also hosting three forums to examine crucial debates for those concerned about the environment. The discussions around the future for nuclear power, coal and aviation are controversial ones within our movement. We hope that these debates will help clarify the issues for delegates.


As the world looks forward to the signing of the Kyoto Treaty’s replacement later this year, our closing plenary will look at proposals for a new treaty and how trade unionists can support and join the international protests calling on world governments to sign a climate treaty that will have social justice at its heart.


Speakers include


Chris Baugh (PCS), Tony Kearns (CWU), Jean Lambert MEP, Ian Lavery (NUM),
Mark Lynas, John McClean (GMB), John McDonnell MP, Caroline Molloy,
Ann Pettifor, Dave Prentis (UNISON), Phil Thornhill (CCC), Matt Wrack (FBU)


Affiliated unions include


CWU, Connect, FBU, PCS, RMT and UCU


Admission £10 (£5 concessions)


King’s College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, Stamford Street, London SE1

Latest on Gaza protest in Law faculty Cambridge University

At 2.10.p.m. today (Tuesday 27th Jan) Cllr. Margaret Wright ,who had expressed the Green Party's support for those students occupying the Law Faculty building in the University of Cambridge in solidarity with the suffering of the palestinians in Gaza and with all those seeking peace in the area, was escorted from the Law Faculty Building.


She was responding to an invitation from Cambridge Gaza Solidarity.


When she made a request to speak with these students she was taken to a reception desk by security guards. Here she showed her councillor's ID and University Library card. She was told by the academic secretary to the faculty she could not speak to the students and that she was being
'escorted from the building'.


Once outside she was able to speak to a student representative who was dismayed at her treatment.


Cllr. Wright said,


'The University should be proud of students who are opposing injustices committed on a global scale. Cambridge students have a long tradition of such commitment. While I am certain the the University is able to police a peaceful protest on its premises in this manner, I am nevertheless disappointed that it is choosing to do so.'


See the Cambridge Gaza Solidarity website at http://cambridgegazasolidarity.blogspot.com


Best Wishes
Margaret
_______________________________________________

Progressive(?) London

While all the discussion has been about Convention of the Left, the other event last weekend was Progressive London. Farid attended and has sent the following piece about his impression of the event.


Joseph Healy


Co-Convenor
Progressive London


Summary


Three New Labour Ministers (Jowell, Harman & Lammy) and some Liberal Democrats helped ensure that this was a 'progressive' platform in the sense that conventional right of centre politicos understand.


Ken Livingstone clearly has set out to create a platform for another bid for Mayor in 2012 and is looking for cross-party support of Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Greens for that.


As a small party, the Greens obviously need to participate in a forum such as this and promote its own ideas - hopefully next time it will do so minus another gushing performance praising the EX-Mayor.


Unfortunately for those looking for something new and radical, Ken Livingstone invited these discredited MInisters and crew and therefore could not distance himself from his own culpability in his embrace of the financial sector for all those years (blemishing his very positive record on minority and women's issues).


While I enjoyed the day, and one or two of the meetings, we should keep this firmly in perspective. By all means, let's continue the engagement, as long as we understand this has a narrow agenda and has little to do with creating new Left-oriented parties or even reform the New Labour Party.










Beyond the set-piece session, various meetings took place in Congress House. Some played to a script, others didn't.


For example, Sam Tarry of Compass Youth suggested we break into four groups and come out with one issue for 'Labour' - we became one happy focus group to generate ideas for David Lammy, who then went on to explain how we should expand grassroots activism and 'the politics that matters' - much appreciated by Labour Parliamentary candidates there.


The best session for me was the one on 'Women in London' where Anni Marjoram and the panel gave an exhaustive list of Boris Johnson cutbacks.


While Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn held a packed meeting in a side room on Gaza, they might as well have been a decorative piece to please some 'Lefties' - they were not part of the 'project' and were not given a place at the high table.


For many, the one who stole the show was Professor Eric Hobsbawm. In 'the Age of Change', he called New Labour 'Thatchers in trousers' and gave a detailed analysis of their failures - Harriet Harman sat stoically next to Ken Livingstone to the right of the Professor. When she got to the stage, she gave a very poor speech exhorting us to 'fight the BNP'. It was a pitiful attempt at glossing over her party's failures and trying to divert the audience into supporting her 'team' against the menace of the BNP. Actually, I do not recall any mention of failure or regret.


Notes on a few sessions:


I could not get to all the sessions as they were running simultaneously - they ranged from 'green cities', 'multicultural London', 'blogging and the new media', 'culture in the city', 'transport for a progressive London', 'young London for a progressive future', 'forward march of Cameron halted?', what should we learn from the election of Barack Obama' and 'progressive policies for a progressive London'.


The 'Lessons of London Elections' session was packed to the gills.


Julia Clarke of IPSOS-MORI gave her take on the 2008 elections. She emphasised the racial divide in the voting, overlapped with the Outer-Inner London split, calling it thje 'doughnut effect'.


Allegedly, Londoners voted less on class than on race (she showed similar trends in Leicester).


Londoners were apparently concerned with the cost of living, transport, the NHS and roads. (I wonder this is because the Mayoral/London politicos do not deal with the true economic levers and also where the agenda was still based on an era before 'credit crunch'. I am sure future elections will be decided much more around jobs and survival and the backlash against financiers will bear the hallmarks of class, while race may be the casualty of a disgruntled electorate).


Julia Clarke said the white working class preferred Boris.... , continuing that the focus on minority and ethnic groups done by Ken L was at the expense of white groups.


She explained that while the BME constituted 35 to 40% of the population of London, many are less likely to vote (in comparison to white voters).


Other members of the panel said the Lib-Dem vote went to the COnservatives and suggested the 2008 election was based on 'trivia' (deliberate action by ES and rest of media) but that the economic crisis means this will not happen in subsequent elections - adding that 'state ownership' will be the critical issue.


FInally, Brown, Labour and KL suffer from voter fatigue and they want a change (part-explanation for 2008).


The Age of Change


This session was meant to take a look at the big picture.


KL said the challenges were a) how to rebalance the London economy and b) climate change and used examples from Germany and China as models for London to follow.


Eric Hobsbaum told the audience that 'we have not yet learnt to live in the twenty-first century'. That this crisis is more global than its equivalent in the thirties. The period of unrestrained global capitalism has ended and the future belongs to 'mixed economies' (i.e. no return to Soviet style economy either).


Hobsbaum mentioned that no figure of stature, except John Paul II (and for a different reason) had denounced capitalism over the last twenty years. He said that Brown and Blair were 'Thatchers in trousers', as were the Democrats in the US. He deflated the Obama cheerleaders pointing out Lawrence Summers and the rest's neo-liberal pedigree and role over the last fifteen years.


He continued with an important point that influential people have not given up on the market. His view on Central Banks and government (e.g. Bank of England and Browniet Cabinet) were like blind men in a maze trying to get out of this crisis.


From the floor, one trade unionist expressed his disappointment in many Trade Unions backing the third runway in Heathrow.


Women in London


WIth all the talk about green jobs, are we forgetting that many of the new jobs are engineering based and primarily male? Is anyone planning for women's participation in the new sectors (this was explained to me earlier and I have to admit I had not considered this before).


A.M. led the attack on the new Mayor, referring to how so many posts set up to protect women's interests have been disbanded over the last few months.


Interestingly, the NUS member said that the feminist movement has not been seen traditionally as representing black women. This is not because black women do not want to engage and has more to do with the perception that the movement is seen as relevant to black women. (This has a parallel with the environment movement via a vis BME in UK). SHe suggested that 'pro-choice works both ways and that not all women who want a child are 'oppressed'. Shs brought up the issue of the hijab (headress), saying that women had been unfairly criticised for this.


She called for an 'inclusive feminist movement'.


The editor of F Word (a blog) was asked to talk about the Mayor's agenda on tackling the inequality of women - she said she could not find one! All four Deputy Mayors are white men, with only one in seven Conservative London Assembly members being a woman.


The Mayor seems to have 'a vacuum about women's issues'.


A member of 'Abortion RIghts' said that feminist arguments have unfairly been used to foment racism (especially in Holland and France). She warned that the feminist movement cannot be agnostic over the general trend of politics and should be left of centre. Historically, this has not been so and she pointed that many sufragettes had gone on to join the Conservatives. (Substitute 'feminist' and 'green' movement and the positions seems very similar, in this respect).


Others advised that that this time women will lose their jobs as the service sector gets hit - this is very different from previous recessions.


Economic independence is the cornerstone of women's position and equality - this recession could undermine decades of struggle.

Welcome to the London Socialist Film Co-op

SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2009 SICKO
Michael Moore US 2007 123 mins
Discussion led by Dr Stephen Amiel and Kevin O’Brien


Michael Moore, US 2007, 123 mins, EST, [12A]


America’s most incendiary filmmaker, Michael Moore, returns with this hard-hitting expose of the crisis at the heart of US health-care. SICKO tackles material as controversial as the topics explored in Moore’s other films, yet does so in a way that places the focus on ordinary Americans affected. After detailing just how the system got into such a mess (the short answer: profits and Nixon), he visits Canada, Great Britain and France to see how their health care services differ. Finally, Moore gathers a group of 9/11 heroes – and takes them to a most unexpected place, where they finally receive the care they have been denied and also engage in some unexpected
diplomacy.


Discussion led by Bronwen Handyside, Campaign Manager, Keep our NHS Public, GP Dr Stephen Amiel, Kevin O’Brien, Trades Council Secretary and UNISON delegate,and retired midwife Frances Hook.


Bronwen, Stephen, Kevin and Frances are local campaigners in Hackney, Camden, Sutton and Lewisham, respectively.


SUNDAY 8 MARCH 2009 UK PREMIÈRE OF MADRID BEFORE HANITA
Eran Torbiner Israel/Spain/France/Germany 2006, 58 mins, EST
Eran Torbiner reflects on the segment of the Jewish population that baffled the Zionist community and the Palestinian Communist Party by travelling to Spain to counter the Fascist forces of the Spanish Civil War. Torbiner couples interviews with the handful of surviving olunteers — who reflect on the vicissitudes of their experiences in Spain — with recitations from letters and journal entries of the day and period archival footage.




This screening is dedicated to the memory of Patience Darton




THE GUERNICA CHILDREN
Steve Bowles UK 2007, 62 mins


In the wake of the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, four thousand Basque refugee children were evacuated to Britain: the largest single contingent of refugees ever to arrive in this country. Seventy years on, we hear their extraordinary story and of the conflict between humanitarian need and political convenience that ensued.


Discussion led by Eran Torbiner and Steve Bowles


SUNDAY 5 APRIL 2009 TAKING LIBERTIES
Chris Atkins, UK 2007, 101 mins


Right to Protest, Right to Freedom of Speech. Right to Privacy. Right not to be detained without charge, Innocent Until Proven Guilty. Prohibition from Torture. Taking Liberties reveals how these six central pillars of liberty have been systematically destroyed by New Labour, and the freedoms of the British people stolen from under their noses amidst a climate of fear created by the media and government itself. Irreverent but revelatory, outrageous but true, the film combines these real stories of liberty loss with never-seen before footage, cheeky stunts and comment from Mark Thomas, Tony Benn, leading politicians, celebrities, human rights organisations, academics and lawyers.


THE GREAT GRUNWICK STRIKE 1976-1978: A HISTORY (extract)
Chris Thomas, UK 2007, c20 mins, [tbc]
The Grunwick dispute erupted at a photo processing plant in Willesden, London, in the summer of 1976 and lasted two years. A predominately East African and South Asian female workforce went on strike over appalling working conditions and the issue of trade union recognition. The dispute is remembered as one of the most significant and bitter in the history of the British labour movement. Together with footage of the strike taken at the time, this new film contains interviews with key participants 30 years on, recounting their experiences and what they now think of the strike and its lessons.


Discussion led by Tony Benn


10 MAY 2009 WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN
Steven Okazaki US/Japan 2007 86 min
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, two atomic bombs vaporised 210,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those who survived are called ‘hibakusha’ — people exposed to the bomb — and there are an estimated 200,000 living today. Today, with the threat of nuclear weapons of mass destruction frighteningly real and the world’s arsenal capable of repeating the destruction at Hiroshima 400,000 times over, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki looks at the reality of nuclear warfare with first-hand accounts from those who survived and whose lives were forever changed by the atomic bomb.


ON THE VERGE (extract)
SchNews, UK 2008,c35 mins, [tbc]In 2004 a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pots and pans outside their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust at their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations and has tested the right to protest in the UK. On The Verge tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns to emerge out of the UK’s anti-war movement and direct action scene.


Discussion led by CND Chair Bruce Kent and SchNews


SUNDAY 14 JUNE 2009 THOSE WHO DANCE
Mayyasa al-Malazi and Camilla Cancantata UK 2006, 49 mins
Those Who Dance tells the story of members of a small community in Rossport, Co. Mayo, Ireland, who have resisted Shell’s attempts to construct a high pressure gas pipeline and refinery across their land, which would have potentially devastating environmental and social consequences. The film compares their situation to that of the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta, where Ken Saro-Wiwa and nine others were murdered in 1996 because of their non-violent opposition to Shell’s oil extraction operations and gas flaring. The film offers a powerful critique of corporate practice and philosophy, and challenges viewers to consider the impacts of the oil industry throughout the world, now that the reality of climate change is widely accepted.


THE POWER OF COMMUNITY:HOW CUBA SURVIVED PEAK OIL

Faith Morgan, US 2006, 53 mins, EST, [tbc]


When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba’s economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanised, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens.
Discussion led by Mayyasa al-Malazi, Camilla Cancantata and Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Booking information:


Discussion led by Mayyasa al-Malazi, Camilla Cancantata and Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Green Party Councillor Proposes Living Wage For Lambeth

At a full Lambeth Council Meeting on Wed 28 Jan at 7 pm, Cllr Becca Thackeray, Lambeth's Green Party Councillor, is proposing a motion to make Lambeth Council a "Living Wage" employer. Currently through national pay bargaining rules, every direct employee is paid a Living Wage, but the hundreds of staff who work for the Council via contractors are often not and forced to endure poverty pay.

The motion commits the Council to paying all staff, including sub-contracted staff, the London Living Wage and to use local strategic partnerships and other private sector engagements to promote the living wage more widely.

In November, Green Councillor Jenny Jones successfully passed a motion to make Southwark Council a Living Wage employer. Southwark was only the second Borough to adopt official policy backing a Living Wage, with Lewisham being the other where there are 6 Green Party Councillors.

The Living Wage is the real minimum rate of pay that enables a worker to provide a decent standard of living for themselves and their family. In London, the Living Wage currently stands at £7.45 per hour. The background to this figure can be found in the document, A Fairer London: The Living Wage in London (GLA 2008). Many service sector workers - including cleaners, security guards and catering staff - experience low pay and difficult, sometimes exploitative working conditions. It is estimated that in London alone 400,000 people fall into this working poverty trap.

It remains to be seen if the New Labour Council will support the resolution in Lambeth. The Living Wage is supported by trade unions across London. Whilst New Labour Councillors cross picket lines and force more job cuts, the Green Party continues to campaign in the interests of Lambeth's workers.

Re-elect Jean Lambert as London's Green MEP

by Matt Sellwood

Too often, the impact of the UK’s 87 Members of the European Parliament is ignored. To be fair, some of the time it is easy to see why – they are either mediocre nobodies, unable to get a seat in Westminster, or oddball right-wing xenophobes. Or even worse, properly nasty pieces of work like Kilroy-Silk or Ashley Mote, who spend their time in jungle-based celebrity TV shows or prison. However, a large portion of the UK’s social, environmental and human rights legislation is now discussed, voted on and ratified in Europe. The UK left needs to be much smarter in understanding Europe, and what is going on there.

A good start would be to appreciate the work of the few progressive representatives we currently have at Strasbourg. Specifically, we have two of the most radical Greens in Europe representing UK voters in London and the South-East, in Jean Lambert and Caroline Lucas respectively. Both have been doing the job with real distinction for almost ten years - and bothrepresent Euro regions that are losing a Parliamentary seat as a result of European-wide redistricting, and are therefore becoming tougher to get elected in. In this brief article, I’m going to focus on Jean, simply because as the recently elected Leader of the Green Party, Caroline has had more media exposure.

It would be impossible to discuss all of the issues that Jean has been involved in over the last ten years - so a brief sample of her most recent work will have to serve as an indication of her consistently radical record as an elected representative.

- Working Time Directive

Jean has been an opponent of the UK opt-out to the Working Time Directive since it was introduced, and has campaigned for years to see it abolished. In December 2008 she helped lead the Parliamentary moves to remove the opt-out, which were successful, and have forced the UK government to contemplate new restrictions on corporate power.

- Gaza

Jean has been at the forefront of the efforts over recent weeks by the European Green Group to pass a radical and far-reaching resolution about the atrocities in Gaza….efforts that were successful this week, despite a more anodyne resolution put forward by the Socialist Group (including Labour) in the Parliament. Perhaps Jean’s words will illustrate her views better than mine could, in a press statement just before the massive demonstration on the 10th, at which she was a speaker.

“This weekend a massive demonstration will be taking place in London to call for an immediate and complete ceasefire in Gaza. There is no way to justify this continued devastating assault and granting only three hours of respite a day is simply shameful.

“When I was in Gaza almost a year ago, I witnessed the terrible suffering of the Palestinians as a result of the blockade. They lacked the most basic supplies, including food and essential medical equipment. With many hundreds dead and thousands injured the present situation must be truly horrendous.

“The blockade has totally failed in its stated purpose. It has instead consolidated the power of those parts of Hamas that don’t want a political settlement and weakened the possibility of peaceful, democratic progress.

“As well as the emergency humanitarian response, extensive supplies of health, housing and education resources will be needed to rebuild the shattered lives and communities.

“The EU needs a strong voice on this conflict, calling for a sustained ceasefire on both sides. The European Parliament has voted for EU Governments, including the UK, to halt any upgrading of relations with Israel in light of on-going human rights abuses. It is also time forMember States to take responsibility and end the exports of arms which are being used against civilians. This brutality must not go on.”

- Immigration

Jean is the European Green Group’s lead MEP on asylum and immigration issues, and as such she has taken a prime role in both person-specific struggles and legislative eforts towards a more just and tolerant regime. She was a prominent supporter of an effort in the Parliament to stop EU countries from deporting asylum seekers back to Iraq, and has campaigned vigorously against any deportation of children.

- Human rights

Jean was named the Human Rights and Justice MEP of 2005, and so you would expect her record to be excellent on this issue. Most notably, she has been an outspoken and persistent opponent of the travesty of justice at Guantanamo Bay, and was an active member of the Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry on CIA flights and temporary rendition. She has also campaigned on the issue of rape as a weapon of war, and has testified in front of UN committees on that topic.

Further details of Jean’s human rights work can be found here

- Public Services

Jean has been one of the strongest voices in the European Parliament against privatisation of services, which has included a strong stance against GATs and for the European Trade Union Confederation’s public services campaign. She has marched in support of the NHS, chaired debates on health inequality and poverty in London, and even authored a report that passed through the European Parliament, kickstarting a process whereby it will be made easier for migrants to access social service provision.

These few examples are just a small snapshot of Jean’s work in the European Parliament, which has established her as one of the most progressive MEPs in Europe throughout her decade representing Londoners.

I would argue that the British left should be getting behind MEPs like Jean Lambert, and aiming to ensure their re-election on June 4th. Particularly in the absence of any coherent and unified socialist effort to contest the European elections, we need to do everything within our power to ensure that those progressive politicians we *do* have on a European level, remain there for another term.

If you’re interested in more information on Jean’s views and activities,please visit her MEP site at www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk or her campaignblog at http://re-electjean.blogspot.com
Matt Sellwood is former Deputy Leader of Oxford City Council Green Group, and a former member of the Green Party National Executive.

GL Press Release re Heathrow runway & J.McDonnell MP

For immediate release:

The New Labour government have reneged on their commitment to combatting climate change by going ahead with the third runway at Heathrow. They have ridden roughshod over the opinion of many of their own MPs. John McDonell, the local MP, may have wielded the mace for a few moments but it was a sign of desperation, and a recognition that he wields no power in the Labour Party, far removed from its original principles.

Green Left co-convenor, Joseph Healy, said: "it's time we stretched our hand to fellow politicians with whom we agree more than disagree. We should avoid sectarianism and give people like John McDonell meaningful support. While we will have no truck with a callous Labour Party, we recognise there are individuals with honour and integrity."

" If John McDonell were to stand as an Independent at the next General Election, we would be happy to suggest to the rest of the Green Party that no candidate of ours stand against him as has indeed been agreed by the local Hillingdon Green Party".

This bold step could occur on the basis that any such independent candidate stood for meaningful action to combat climate change.

For more information contact:

Farid Bakht

Media & Communications

Green Left

mail: faridbakht@gmail.com

Green Left General Meeting on Sunday 25th January @ 11.30am in Manchester

Green Left General Meeting on Sunday 25th January @ 11.30am in Manchester
Kro Bar, 325 Oxford Rd, Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester M13 9PG

AGENDA

· The Reawakened Evils – Poverty and Unemployment. A discussion on employment and welfare in the 21st century with Sean Thompson (Green Left) and John Hilary (War on Want) followed by

· Minutes of the last general meeting

· Fare pooling scheme for the AGM

· Conference motions and fringes

· Green Left Newsletter

· Financial Report/Membership Report

· Convention of the Left Feedback

· Trade Union Climate Change Report

· Demonstrations and campaigns

· Iceland – report back

· Date of next meeting

· Any Other Business

The meeting is due to finish at 2.30pm. The venue is in Oxford Road, within walking distance of the city centre. Details here

http://www.kro.co.uk/control.php?_command=/DISPLAY/67/1

We particularly hope that GL supporters from Manchester, the North West and Yorkshire are able to attend. A number of GL supporters from London, including myself, will be present but we are hopeful that this meeting can generate some interest in GL in Manchester. Please inform any Green Party members in the North West, North Midlands or Yorkshire regions who may be interested. The first part of the meeting is a public meeting and is open to all Green Party members or others who may wish to attend. The public meeting will end at approximately 1pm.

Socialist Candidates Challenge Lambeth UNISON Bureaucracy

A group of socialist activists in Lambeth have produced a manifesto which they hope will politicise UNISON members and provide the platform on which to build a "fighting, member-led branch" based on clear socialist politics. The manifesto was the basis for candidates to contest elections at the Lambeth UNISON AGM on a "Lambeth Activists" platform.


The platform currently comprises independent socialists, members of Permanent Revolution, the Alliance for Workers Liberty, Workers Power and Green Left, the ecosocialist platform within the Green Party.


Policies include fighting against all redundancies and job losses, maximising participation and control of the union by ordinary members and ending automatic and uncritical UNISON support for Labour in building a left alternative.


For more information, visit: http://lambethmilitants.blogspot.com/2009/01/lambeth-activists-for-fighting-member.html


James Caspell, a member of Green Left, won the post of Publicity Officer after making a speech in which he outlined a plan to "give members the confidence to fight the Council, fight the Government and ultimately fight capitalism". Rekha Khurana of Permanent Revolution took the posts of International Officer and Assistant Publicity Officer. Dan Jeffery, also of Permanent Revolution, was elected as a National Conference Delegate and Regional Council Delegate.


In his speech for the election of Membership Officer, which was lost by just three votes, Dan outlined that “we need to provide socialist answers to pay and job cuts”. He also highlighted the case of a colleague who because of privatisation had had her pay slashed and now had to work over 50 hours a week, while consultants for Lambeth in the same building get £1000 a day.


After the AGM, Rekha Khurana emphasised that far from being an electoralist front, the activists’ aim was to work with and engage all those who share a socialist political perspective and work towards rebuilding the union movement at the grassroots: “We need to coordinate our struggles with other local trade unions as well as with workers in other countries to win better rights for all”.


Other contested elections were narrowly won by the incumbent branch bureaucracy, though both the speeches and polices of candidates standing on the Lambeth Activists platform were widely supported amongst members, who welcomed the first set of seriously contested branch elections in a generation.


Notes to Editors


To see full platform, election results and list of candidates, please visit: http://lambethmilitants.blogspot.com/

3RD NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION FOR GAZA

STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER
No. 1073 16 January 2009
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7278 6694
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk


3RD NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION FOR GAZA
SATURDAY 24 JANUARY
ISRAEL OUT OF GAZA NOW: LIFT THE BLOCKADE
ASSEMBLE BBC BROADCASTING HOUSE
PORTLAND PLACE, LONDON, W1A 1AA
(Nearest tube Oxford Circus)
MARCH TO TRAFALGAR SQUARE


With over 1100 killed, 350 of them children, and over 5500
injured, the suffering in Gaza is beyond catastrophic. Israel
is ignoring the worldwide clamour for it to stop now and is
escalating its attacks.


A third national demonstration against Israel's barbarity and
war crimes has been called for Saturday 24 January in London
by Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign,
British Muslim Association and many other organisations.


The demonstration will assemble at BBC Broadcasting House,
Portland Place, London, as a response to the BBC's largely
one-sided coverage of the Gaza massacre, allowing Israeli
spokespeople endless opportunities to propagate lies and
deception without challenge.


We will march from the BBC to Trafalgar Square. Further
details, including timings and route, will be available
shortly.


Stop the War calls on all its local groups and supporters to
start building now for what we need to make an even bigger
demonstration than the 100,000 who protested on 10 January.
Israel must be made to stop its carnage and we must show our
solidarity with the people of Gaza suffering unimaginable
atrocities.


Stop the War will publicise further details and updates by
email and on our website, as we get them.

GP SPRING CONFERENCE Motions to Support

Green Party Spring conference 2009 20th – 23rd March, Blackpool Winter Gardens

Please support the following motions

C21 Migration motion (asks GPEW to support European GP migration policy)

C24 Campaigning for an alternative economic strategy (calls for a New Green Deal broadened and reinforced in order to transform fundamentally, rather than simply to try to stabilise and regulate, the current financial and industrial system.)

Also remember

• Look out for amendments to C28 on Maternity Services which critics argue could introduce privatization
• Attend the SOC report (usually the first item of conference) for a challenge to disallowing the motion to afiiliate GPEW to the Convention of the Left

GAZA: Statement by Joseph Healy and fallback leaflet

We are calling on all Green Left supporters and riends to support as a priority the demonstrations taking place on Saturday against the war crimes and atrocities being inflicted by the Israelis on the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza. The latest tonight is that a UN school clearly earmarked by the UN has been attacked and a large number of civilians sheltering inside, including many children, massacred. The UN has described it as a violation of international law.


The main demonstration called by Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and CND will be in London. It will march from Hyde Park Corner (gather at 12.30pm) to the Israeli embassy in Kensington. Speakers, including Green MEP for London, Jean Lambert, will address the rally.


Leaflets and placards will be distributed by Green Left and Green Party members at the demo and Romayne Phoenix and others will send details of that later.


As the party's delegate to the Stop the War Coalition, I have found them more than willing to have a Green Party speaker on the platform. Contrary to what was stated on Derek Wall's blog, the reason why STWC had no party speaker last week at the demo in Trafalgar Square was because the party's national officers did not reach them in time. It is important to state this, as the impression could otherwise be given that STWC is somehow hostile, and this would strengthen the hands of those in our party who want to end our > involvement in this important campaigning organisation.


I am sure that there may be other local protests taking place across the country, such as the one in Brighton outside Lloyds Bank, at which Caroline Lucas is speaking. However, if possible, we are asking people to attend the large national demonstration in London - details of transport etc from local Stop the War groups.


It is vital that the Green Party's presence is clearly visible on this demo and that Green Left takes the lead in ensuring that it is. We have to send a clear signal from here that Israel's war crimes,
aided and abetted by Bush and Brown (whose UN ambassador has blocked the ceasefire moves at the UN) must be stopped.


Joseph Healy


Co-Convenor and Stop the War Coalition Delegate


(Joseph is also GPTU Treasurer but is not making the above statement in that capacity)


National Demonstration: Saturday 10 January: Stop the Massacre : Israel Out of Gaza Assemble 12.30pm Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, March to Israeli Embassy, London W8
• London Rally: Stop The Gaza Massacre, Thursday 8 January 7.30pm Friends Meeting House, Euston Rd, London NW1 2BJ
Speakers include Tony Benn, Tariq Ali, George Galloway MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP Organised by Stop the War Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Campaign Leaflet... Nearest tube: Euston
• Daily protests: Israeli Embassy 5 - 9 January, 5.30pm-7.00 pm, , High St, Kensington,W8


The following is Text for a fallback leaflet adapted from GPEW website, just in case the leaflet currently in preparation by head office is not available to all members.


GREEN PARTY CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE
06 JANUARY 2009
MEPs from the Green Party and other parties have demanded an emergency debate in the European Parliament on the Gaza crisis - and have been rebuffed.
Jean Lambert, London's Green Euro-MP, issued the following statement today:
"An immediate ceasefire is vital to prevent the further loss of innocent lives. Israel cannot justify this continued assault and the devastation it is bringing to the people of Gaza. The Greens called for an exceptional statement from the Council and Commission and an urgent debate on the crisis in the Parliament this week. It has been confirmed that the plenary debate will not take place, but an exceptional meeting of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee will be held tomorrow.


"Certainly this is not the time for the EU to be upgrading relations with Israel, indeed there is a case for examining the existing agreements. The EU needs a strong voice on this conflict, calling for a sustained ceasefire on both sides, since Hamas, too, bears responsibility for the deaths of civilians."
Jean, who was named Justice and Human Rights MEP of the year in 2005, added,


"Being in Gaza almost a year ago I witnessed the severe suffering of Palestinians as a result of the siege, and a lack of medical equipment and other essential supplies. The situation now must be unbearable, with many hundreds dead and thousands injured as a result of the air strikes and ground offensive.


"It is imperative that the provision of humanitarian aid takes into account the deficit of goods and services which existed prior to these latest attacks. As well as the emergency response, extensive supplies of health, housing and education resources will be needed to rebuild the lives and communities of those affected."


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