Not Alone!

I’ve been getting a fair amount of stick recently from other Labour members over my apparent lack of loyalty http://theredimp.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/over-optimistic-or-badly-served/ so it was nice to receive the following letter from a friend whose commitment to the party goes back way further than mine:

“Sorry about the green ink. It’s just that many of my friends are joining the Green Party (teachers mainly) due to MPs not listening to the concerns of local Labour branches, and the way some Branch Secretaries treat female members as if they are a piece of dust. I’m afraid it’s just not good enough.

“In 1997 Labour inherited one of the West’s most unequal societies from the Tories. Far from reversing this trend the Labour Government has allowed the gulf between rich and poor to widen.

“Labour’s insistence on upholding Conservative economic/monetary policies of deregulation and de-unionising the work force has led to a heightened pattern of greed by those at the top but downward pressure on wages, benefits and pensions for those at the bottom.

“The Labour Movement’s all important principle of democratic accountability has been dramatically eroded by the increased use of ‘Commercial Confidentiality’ and the insistence of ‘rolling back the state’ as seen in Government policy on privatisation. I believe the root cause of the current economic problems is the bankruptcy of the prevailing political dogma of past and present Governments.

“Therefore I am calling on the Labour Government to show greater respect to the Labour Movement by:

- allowing CLPs full rights to select MPs and deselect those that they judge to have behaved in a fraudulent or unethical manner

- restoring the democratic traditions that allow the rank and file member to participate more fully, thus reducing the dramatic decline in membership

- discussing future policy meaningfully with CLPs, the Co-operative Party, Trade Unions and other affiliated bodies

- working with other international Governments to ensure that tax havens comply with required economic disclosure

“One of my greatest concerns is that Gordon Brown can appoint unelected people, e.g. members of the House of Lords, to the Cabinet. I would like to see the National Executive Committee and MPs campaign for an immediate end to this undemocratic policy.”

I’ve published the letter in its entireity because, as the saying goes, I couldn’t have put it better myself!!!

Updated – Staythorpe Power Station Jobs – Not for Local Workers!!!

So the story has hit the media with a bang today! See below for some links to the stories. It was good to see David Smeeton from Unite being interviewed on East Midlands Today (you can see the clip on the BBC website). David is the local rep and has been trying to get people to take this matter seriously for some time now. 

At the moment we really need to fight to change the minds of Alstom and their contractors. We certainly can’t believe them when they say they are trying to recruit local workers; the evidence that Unite holds clearly shows Alstom and their contractors to be economical with the truth at the very least.

If our local MP Patrick Mercer is not still embarrassed by the ease with which he was duped by his friends in big business he should now stand up and fight for the people of his constituency – before it is too late!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/7685894.stm

http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=240583

http://www.fenlandcitizen.co.uk/latest-east-midlands-news/Overseas-workers-spark-power-station.4621926.jp

Staythorpe Power Station Jobs – Not for Local Workers!!!

It appears that the fears raised by the Unite Union and Newark Labour Party over the recruitment of foreign construction workers at the new Staythorpe Power Station are more than justified. Word reaches me that there will be few or no jobs for local workers and that the vast majority of positions will be filled by overseas labour. The story first broke in September when the local Labour Party and the union contacted the Newark Advertiser with their fears (see http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/template/temp0.asp?id=81bbca6d-cbb4-102b-8b1e-16c8ad082291 for the original story).

The apparent complacency of local MP Patrick Mercer in being assured that construction jobs would be awarded locally was obviously misplaced. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that Mr Mercer chose to listen to and believe only the opinions of big business whilst ignoring the concerns of the unions and local workers. His lack of commitment to his constituents is more evident every day and is something that local people are picking up on when I talk to them. In contrast, the local Labour Party candidate, Dr Ian Campbell was always sceptical about RWE and Alstom’s assurances that local workers would be protected. Not for the first time Dr Campbell has been proved correct.

I need to make one final comment on this situation. Please don’t think that I am opposed to overseas workers gaining employment in this country (no bigots jumping on this bandwagon please). On the contrary I am a firm believer that we should uphold European Law and promote easy migration of workers throughout the EU. What really concerns me is that unscrupulous employers can try to take advantage of overseas workers by paying them less than the going rate for the job. This has already happened elsewhere in the country on similar projects run by RWE and Alstom. We need to ensure that it doesn’t also happen at Staythorpe. If the fight for jobs for local workers has been lost we need to fight for the rights of those who are employed at Staythorpe wherever they originate from. I wonder if Mr Mercer has the stomach for this fight? I know that Dr Campbell does!