The Save Vestas blog has new ideas for how individuals can help the campaign. The next national day of action is Thursday, September 17th and the campaign is encouraging supporters to organise local protests.
Meanwhile, this year's Camp for Climate Action is happening later this week, and I've been asked to draw attention to the camp's blog, which carries the latest news and comment related to the camp.
That's all for now!
Tuesday 25 August 2009
More Anti-fascism
Well I promised more on Codnor, so here's a link to a more general piece on anti-fascism that I've written for the Third Estate blog. The Third Estate is a relatively new but already well-established left-leaning political blog which covers diverse topics so check it out.
Sunday 16 August 2009
Derbyshire Protest against the BNP
Yesterday I went to the protest against the BNP's 'Red, White and Blue' festival in Derbyshire. I'll write a full post later but thought I'd share a link to a Reuters UK article.
It says hundreds, but I reckon there were about 1,500 of us. Look at the picture slideshow in the article, you can see some of the 'master race' trying to intimidate us with Hitler-salutes.
It says hundreds, but I reckon there were about 1,500 of us. Look at the picture slideshow in the article, you can see some of the 'master race' trying to intimidate us with Hitler-salutes.
Sunday 9 August 2009
Internships
Not that MPs are short of a bit of disposable income, but The Guardian newspaper has been investigating whether any of the 18,000 hours per week worked by unpaid interns at Westminster should be covered under the 1998 National Minimum Wage Act.
Under the legislation, all contracted workers should be paid, but an informal labour market of internships allows employers to get around this. The scandal of unpaid internships is growing during the recession as companies attempt to cut labour costs. Often, interns are effectively doing the same jobs as paid workers. A National Union of Journalists survey of recently qualified journalists found that a quarter thought that their workplace couldn't function without relying on work placements. Over half were still in placements, often unpaid, after qualifying.
Not only is this bare-faced exploitation, taking advantage of graduates in a shrinking job market, but it is closing off professions like journalism to all but the wealthy. The constant cuts in local media mean most opportunities are in the capital. Who can afford to live in central London while earning nothing? Often there is no real application procedure for a position. Landing one relies purely on having the right connections or the right school tie.
A couple of weeks ago the publication of Alan Milburn's 'Unleashing Aspiration' report confirmed what common sense and harsh reality have already taught graduates. While criticising how closed off professions like journalism are becoming, the report only offered typically feeble Blairite 'solutions'. These include extending careers advice back into primary school, and giving more children the opportunity to join a cadet force! No word against the impending hike in university fees. No word about the gross unfairness of the existence of independent schools.
Recently I've heard a range of different opinions from friends and acquaintances who are doing internships, or have done them in the past. What seems clear is that a side-effect of the growing importance of internships has been the lowering of expectations at work. Fewer and fewer graduates expect to get a decent job offer. The danger is that people accept an unwaged position because they see themselves “getting something out of it,” usually skills that will land them a well-paid job in the future. The principle of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay starts to be eroded. The logical conclusion of this argument is that employers refuse to pay anyone in the lower echelons of the workplace, on the grounds that they are learning skills which will get them a promotion. Work now, get paid later. Maybe. If we have the vacancies.
Sure, this isn't the most horrific example of exploitation on the planet at the moment. But it helps to see internships in the context of the wider “race the the bottom” in working conditions that bosses always relentlessly pursue when they get the chance. The current recession is giving them a great excuse. Plants are being mothballed, workers are being asked to work without pay out of a sense of loyalty to the company, as has happened at British Airways.
Clearly, the bosses want us fighting like cats in a sack for the few opportunities available. Clearly they want to lower our expectations to they extent that we will be grateful for a few weeks of unpaid work. Putting up with it because of a possibility that things might get better, or because “there's plenty worse off than you” will only lead to a cycle of lower expectations and embolden those bosses who are hell-bent on wrecking hard-won working conditions.
Unpaid internships should be done away with. Everyone who works should receive a fair wage. Rather than hiding behind pathetic documents like Milburn's report, the government should be spearheading the creation of decent jobs across society, and stopping long periods of unpaid labour becoming the norm in many professions.
Under the legislation, all contracted workers should be paid, but an informal labour market of internships allows employers to get around this. The scandal of unpaid internships is growing during the recession as companies attempt to cut labour costs. Often, interns are effectively doing the same jobs as paid workers. A National Union of Journalists survey of recently qualified journalists found that a quarter thought that their workplace couldn't function without relying on work placements. Over half were still in placements, often unpaid, after qualifying.
Not only is this bare-faced exploitation, taking advantage of graduates in a shrinking job market, but it is closing off professions like journalism to all but the wealthy. The constant cuts in local media mean most opportunities are in the capital. Who can afford to live in central London while earning nothing? Often there is no real application procedure for a position. Landing one relies purely on having the right connections or the right school tie.
A couple of weeks ago the publication of Alan Milburn's 'Unleashing Aspiration' report confirmed what common sense and harsh reality have already taught graduates. While criticising how closed off professions like journalism are becoming, the report only offered typically feeble Blairite 'solutions'. These include extending careers advice back into primary school, and giving more children the opportunity to join a cadet force! No word against the impending hike in university fees. No word about the gross unfairness of the existence of independent schools.
Recently I've heard a range of different opinions from friends and acquaintances who are doing internships, or have done them in the past. What seems clear is that a side-effect of the growing importance of internships has been the lowering of expectations at work. Fewer and fewer graduates expect to get a decent job offer. The danger is that people accept an unwaged position because they see themselves “getting something out of it,” usually skills that will land them a well-paid job in the future. The principle of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay starts to be eroded. The logical conclusion of this argument is that employers refuse to pay anyone in the lower echelons of the workplace, on the grounds that they are learning skills which will get them a promotion. Work now, get paid later. Maybe. If we have the vacancies.
Sure, this isn't the most horrific example of exploitation on the planet at the moment. But it helps to see internships in the context of the wider “race the the bottom” in working conditions that bosses always relentlessly pursue when they get the chance. The current recession is giving them a great excuse. Plants are being mothballed, workers are being asked to work without pay out of a sense of loyalty to the company, as has happened at British Airways.
Clearly, the bosses want us fighting like cats in a sack for the few opportunities available. Clearly they want to lower our expectations to they extent that we will be grateful for a few weeks of unpaid work. Putting up with it because of a possibility that things might get better, or because “there's plenty worse off than you” will only lead to a cycle of lower expectations and embolden those bosses who are hell-bent on wrecking hard-won working conditions.
Unpaid internships should be done away with. Everyone who works should receive a fair wage. Rather than hiding behind pathetic documents like Milburn's report, the government should be spearheading the creation of decent jobs across society, and stopping long periods of unpaid labour becoming the norm in many professions.
Monday 3 August 2009
Which Side Are You On?
I've been meaning to set up a blog for a while, so here goes. With any luck, it'll be a mixture of political analysis and some creative writing (no less political).
In that spirit, I'll kick off with a rewrite of the song 'Which Side Are You On?' that I've just written for 2009. The song originally dates from a miners' strike in the USA in 1931, and was written by Florence Reece. There's a couple of other versions that I'm aware of, the most famous being Billy Bragg's song protesting the anti-union laws brought in by the Thatcher government. I particularly like the line of his, "It'll take much more than a union law to knock the fight out of a working man." Something the Lindsey Oil Refinery workers have certainly taken to heart this year.
Which Side Are You On?
To the tune of Billy Bragg's version. The original version was written by Florence Reece in the 1930s.
They say “make sacrifices” now times are getting hard
And we must work for nothing, or else sign on and starve
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
When the bosses came with their thieving plan, the Visteon workers showed
That with solid determination you'll get what you are owed
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
The cold picket line at Lindsey was warmed by the spreading fire
Of workers' solidarity which serves to teach us and inspire
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
The Vestas struggle has united the Red flag and the Green
We're out to build a movement, the like of which you've never seen
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
From Newport to Kilmarnock, in towns of every size
The ground is shaking to the sound of the workers on the rise
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
From Gaza to Sri Lanka, deaths mounting every hour
The system we fight is a global one, but our class is global in its power
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
So when they try to close your school or cut back on your pay
The question burned on your conscience should be clear as the light of day
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
In that spirit, I'll kick off with a rewrite of the song 'Which Side Are You On?' that I've just written for 2009. The song originally dates from a miners' strike in the USA in 1931, and was written by Florence Reece. There's a couple of other versions that I'm aware of, the most famous being Billy Bragg's song protesting the anti-union laws brought in by the Thatcher government. I particularly like the line of his, "It'll take much more than a union law to knock the fight out of a working man." Something the Lindsey Oil Refinery workers have certainly taken to heart this year.
Which Side Are You On?
To the tune of Billy Bragg's version. The original version was written by Florence Reece in the 1930s.
They say “make sacrifices” now times are getting hard
And we must work for nothing, or else sign on and starve
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
When the bosses came with their thieving plan, the Visteon workers showed
That with solid determination you'll get what you are owed
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
The cold picket line at Lindsey was warmed by the spreading fire
Of workers' solidarity which serves to teach us and inspire
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
The Vestas struggle has united the Red flag and the Green
We're out to build a movement, the like of which you've never seen
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
From Newport to Kilmarnock, in towns of every size
The ground is shaking to the sound of the workers on the rise
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
From Gaza to Sri Lanka, deaths mounting every hour
The system we fight is a global one, but our class is global in its power
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
So when they try to close your school or cut back on your pay
The question burned on your conscience should be clear as the light of day
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
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