Ma nitkellimx bil-Malti

Colleagues,

Just a brief item before I head off for a week of sunshine (hopefully) and (some) rest in Malta with my family.

All being well I'll also be meeting colleagues from the General Workers Union (http://www.gwu.org.mt/) and labour studies department at the University of Malta (http://www.um.edu.mt/cls).

The image posted with this item is of the GWU symbol on the first class stamp printed in 1983 to mark the 40 year anniversary of the formation of the island's largest union.

The historical development of the labour movement in Malta mirrors that of the UK given the strong historical links and is definitely worth investigation - send me an e-mail and I can send some reading.

Will post a new item when back.

Cheers!

Ian

PS The title of this post translates to 'I don't speak Maltese' as this has to be one of most difficult languages to read let alone speak, although I will be giving it a go. As stated in the Encyclopædia Britannica Maltese is the Semitic language of the Southern Central group spoken on the island of Malta. Maltese developed from a dialect of Arabic and is closely related to the western Arabic dialects of Algeria and Tunisia. Strongly influenced by the Italian dialect spoken in Sicily, Maltese is the only form of Arabic to be written in the Latin alphabet.

There is Power in a Union

Colleagues,

A friend of mine has recently brought this new book (published in September last year) to my attention. To my shame I wasn't aware that it had been published but on reviewing it found it to be one of the most readable and honest books on the development of the labour movement in the US - of which there are hundreds.

To save time (forgive me for this) in doing the book justice I have lifted the book's review from the UCS bookstore - from where all good trade unionists should buy a copy:

This sympathetic, thoughtful and highly readable history of the American labor movement traces unionism from the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1820s to organized labor’s decline in the 1980s and struggle for survival and growth today.

Philip Dray’s ambition is to show us the vital accomplishments of unionism over the past 200 years and illuminate its central role in our social, political, economic, and cultural evolution. There Is Power in a Union is an epic, character-driven narrative that locates this struggle for security and dignity in all its various settings: on picket lines and in union halls, jails, assembly lines, corporate boardrooms, the courts, the halls of Congress, and the White House.

The author demonstrates, viscerally and dramatically, the urgency of the fight for fairness and economic democracy — a struggle that remains especially urgent today, when ordinary Americans are so anxious and beset by economic woes at the hands of employer greed and a new global capitalism that threatens to create a permanent underclass. He notes that security of full-time employees is also threatened in the new 24-hours-a-day workplace dominated by computers and e-mail, which he calls "the electronic collar." Illustrated with dozens of photos, posters and more.

"The unending struggle between unions and big business has never been more vividly told. Philip Dray is a marvelous storyteller who brings history memorably alive, and you will not soon forget the tales of murder and greed, commitment and sacrifice that fill these pages. But this is more than history; the compelling saga of labor as a crucible for social change should prompt some honest and hard debate about what’s happening to workingmen and -women today."
BILL MOYERS, JOURNALIST (HOST OF PBS'S BILL MOYERS JOURNAL)

http://ssl30.pair.com/unionist/ccp7/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=powerunion

Ian

The Slippery Slope Starts Here

With the formal start of the Government's consultation exercise on 'reforming' the process for resolving workplace disputes the sledgehammer is just about to swing on the weak framework of employment rights that UK workers have in comparison to our brothers and sisters on the Continent.

If you look at the consultation paperwork (http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/resolving-workplace-disputes?cat=open) it is no suprise that the Tories have cast this assult on rights within the context of their own austerity measures and, as a result, they wish to
'remove barriers to growth and job creation'.

It beggar's belief that the Tories retain their ideological assumption that a weakening of employment protection = an increase in employment within the economy. This was the same assumption that decried the introduction of the minimum wage (a downward pressure on wages and mass unemployment the lunatics cried) and instead we saw an increase in employemnt and a flattening of wage variance at the lower end of the labour force.

One of the more worrying features of their proposals is the extension back to two years of the qualifying period for the right to take to Employment Tribunal a claim of unfair dismissal. The consultation documents delights in the fact that such a change would result in
'3,700-4,700 fewer claims being made to tribunal' and what of the legitimate claims of unfair dismissal within this number who will fall foul of the change?

The Tories (as it is they who control the government and the attack dogs here) are clear that they will continue, perhaps at even greater a pace than Gordon Brown, the neo-liberal assault on social and welfare protection within the British economy.

As the labour movement prepares for industrial action this year we can expect a new wave of 'reform' that will bite deeply into our capacity and capability to organise and respond to the large scale assult on the public sector and standards in British society generally. We have to resist this in any way we can.

Please take the time to read the consultation document and make sure that your trade union is providing a response. Your general thoughts on this piece are also welcome.

Ian

Egypt: The Workers' Voice

Colleagues,

As the state of emergency in Tunisia bled (literally) into the fleeing of the ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, it was quite clear that, there after, all expectation was of an impact on the largest of all Arab nations, Egypt.

I have the priviledged experience of meeting with and working alongside the Egyptian Centre for Workers' and Trade Union Services (CWTUS) (http://www.ctuws.com/).

Historically the Centre has operated as the quasi-official centre for independent trade unionism in a country where the official labour movement has traditionally been operated and run by the state.

The ITUC's 2010 Annual Survey of the Violation of Trade Union rights provides, as ever, a critically concise snapshot of the state of organised labour in a country under siege:

http://survey.ituc-csi.org/+-Egypt-+.html

As you will see the Survey's report on Egypt charts the way in which the CWTUS has attempted to build an independent labour movement, albeit in the face of a vicious campaign of state-insprited brutality.

It is clear that as the regime of Hosni Mubarak desparately attempts to cling to power a variety of civil society organisations, including the CWTUS, are succesfullly mobilising thousands of protesters across Egypt.

The end game for the Mubarak regime is part testament to the resilience of many organisations like the CWTUS who have, despite the harsh realities of life under dictator, maintained their strength largely through the spirited resolve of the Egyptian working class.

I have maintained contact with the CWTUS and have followed closely the yearly waves of strike action that bursts through the constraints of the official labour movement. Although this has typically result in sackings, jailings and assault it has not diminished the willingness of Egyptians to engage in action that is deemed to, in part at least, challenge the authority of the state.

Clearly the next few days will be critical in determining Egypt's future. And in ensuring that the voice of the Egyptian worker is part of the next stage in dialogue the CWTUS will no doubt continue to play their essential role in building a free, independent labour movement.

I am sure that I speak for many in the UK trade union movement when I send the CWTUS a message of solidarity and strength for the period ahead.

Ian

And So I Stood: David Kitson (25.08.19 - 09.11.10)

Colleagues,

For over 20 years I have kept and treasured a (now dog-eared) large poster which was printed to celebrate the release in 1984 from a South African prison of David Kitson ANC activist, SACP member and pivotal cadre member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK, or Spear of the Nation) the armed wing of the ANC.

With David's death in Johannesburg before Christmas we should both mourn the sad loss of a true fighter in the South African liberation struggle, but also remember the acts of treachery and collusion that led to his political isolation when he moved from South Africa to London following his release.

As a student at Ruskin College in the 1980's I am my contemporaries knew of David's connections with Ruskin as a Ruskin student himself and then, disgracefully, in the way that he was mistreated by his own union (TASS a forerunner of MSF) which withdrew his union-funded opportunity to teach at Ruskin having been shunned by the ANC.

There are some wonderful tributes to David Kitson that do greater justice than I could in recording and celebrating his life. Please take the time to read these and please post comments when you have read these.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/17/david-kitson-obituary

http://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/index.php/international/2008-obituary-david-kitson-principled-communist-and-freedom-fighter-frfi-218-dec-2010--jan-2011.html

Thanks

Ian

Thank you LabourStart!

Colleagues,

Apologies for my late start to blogging in 2011. I have been heavily tied up with teaching since the start of the New Year and have just finished a great 3-day course with local reps of the Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP) in London.

To kick off 2011 I am using the LabouStart picture of 2010. The caption for the winning entry reads:

The 2010 Photo of the Year winner: Farmworkers early in the morning, waiting to start the Pilgrimage for Freedom, a 50 km march for migrant workers rights, from Leamington to Windsor Ontario on Thanksgiving 2010 .

Sticking with LabourStart I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by its range and shape of current industrial unrest across the globe. From protests in Tunisia to the on-going strike action in Cambodia LabourStart provides the global labour movement with an essential service - long may Eric Lee and his team of labour correspondents thrive to perform this function.

So, my first posting for 2011 is a short reminder to, as LabourStart suggests, make sure this site is the one where you start your day (http://www.labourstart.org/).

My very best wishes for 2011.

Ian

2011: We are the Lions

"What you are running is not a factory, it is a zoo. But in a zoo there are many types of animals. Some are monkeys who dance on your fingertips. Others are lions who can bite your head off. We are those lions, Mr Manager."

When I heard the sad news that Jayaben Desai has passed away on 23rd December I couldn't decide whether her death signalled, once again, the irrevocable decline of the of the British trade union movement or instead provides a helpful narrative from which we can draw lessons for what will be a challenging period ahead.

Whichever your view will depend on the significance that you apportion to the famous Grunwick indistrial dispute of of 1977-78. For many people, including me, the importance of the dispute was the extent to which the dispute, led by Desai, challenged the government with the demand that workers automatically have trade union recognition when the majority of the workforce wanted it.

Although the strike was ultimately broken it became a rallying point for the majority of the British trade union movement and smashed the racist/sexist myth that black and Asian women could not of themselves build for and lead industrial protest.

There is a good (albeit) brief obituary in today's Guardian which I commend to you all of you as an excellent way to pay respects to Jayaben and to prepare for 2011:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/28/jayaben-desai-obituary

I would like to wish you all the very best for 2011 and I look forward to documenting all of the challenges and changes to labour and social movements both in the UK and internationally.

Ian