New website for Devon Socialist Party

We are always looking for ways to improve how we get our ideas across to people, throughout the county and beyond, and this blog has served a useful purpose in that respect for two years now. But while this site is fine for reading articles and occassionally commenting, we would like a website to be a resource for action as well. This is why we have created a new website, the link for which is below. This website will make it easier for you to act on what you read, through downloading leaflets and petitions for example and also to submit articles yourself.

Please update your links and bookmarks to:

www.devonsocialistparty.org

Thank you to everyone who has contributed articles and comments to this site, we look forward to your contributions on the new site. A special thank you also to David Bishop of Exeter Socialist Party for doing the vast bulk of the work creating the new website.

Lindsey refinery: workers show their strength

Strikes repel attacks on jobs and conditions

Alistair Tice, Yorkshire Socialist Party, reporting from the Lindsey refinery strike

Shades of the miners' strike - mass protests, car park meetings, loud hailers that don't work. Not so much flying pickets as flying texts and emails leading to spontaneous unofficial walkouts and 'illegal' strike action. The anti-trade union laws have been brushed aside without a thought.

Each day brings news of more power plants and construction sites walking out. There's a feeling of: "We must strike while the iron's hot. Enough is enough. If we don't win this we'll be signing on for the rest of our lives."

Out of the frenzy of activity comes improvisation and initiative. National trade union leaders who were secretly holed up in a four-star hotel were tracked down and forced to accept strike committee representation in any negotiations.

So far we can't make direct contact with the Italian workers that have been bussed in and accommodated on a barge in Grimsby dock, rumoured to be a prison ship. They are fenced in by security. The strikers need to reach these workers and leaflets have been produced in Italian.

But an Italian TV station did an interview with strike committee members which will go out in Italy and be seen by the Italian workers on the ship.

There's massive anger against the companies like Total and subcontractors Jacobs and IREM. There's anger against the EU and their directives and court rulings but mostly against Gordon "Thatcher" and "On yer bike" Mandelson.

There's a real sense of betrayal by Labour. The BNP have been bounced off from this site and not been back. Yes, there are one or two union jacks and Brown's promise of "British jobs for British workers" is reflected in some home-made hand bills. But nearly all the strikers will tell you it's not about the foreign workers, it's about the national agreement. It's about jobs, pay and conditions, about trade union strength and stopping this race to the bottom.

The Lindsey oil refinery strike committee issued a call on Monday 2 February to spread the strike into an all-out strike to force the government and employers to concede the demands.

In the first meeting with the strike committee, Total said there would be no negotiations until the strike was called off and the workers returned to work. 48 hours later, on 4 February, they capitulated.

They initially conceded that UK workers could have 60 (40 skilled, 20 unskilled) workers on the IREM contract.

In addition some other concessions were promised. Socialist Party member Keith Gibson recommended rejection of the company's proposals to a mass meeting on behalf of the strike committee. The meeting discussed them for half an hour and overwhelmingly rejected them as not enough.

The company then made an offer which means half the jobs will be filled by UK workers, parity with IREM's own workforce. They have also agreed that all the workers will be paid according to the national agreement. The unions will be able to see the details, so they can ensure that national agreements are being complied with.

No Italian workers will be laid off, only 100 of whom are in Lindsey as yet. All the Italian workers are a core workforce for IREM so will still be employed by them.

So, as The Socialist goes to press, the strikers could be on the verge of a significant victory. The new proposals will be recommended by the strike committee to a mass meeting on 5 February.

But the strike committee know this is only the beginning of the campaign nationally. There's a meeting of the national shop stewards forum on 9 February to plan where to go from here. There's already a big demand for at least a march on parliament.

Socialist Party members and supporters have influenced the strike around a clear set of demands:

• No victimisation of workers taking solidarity action.
• All workers in UK to be covered by the NAECI agreement.
• Union-controlled registering of unemployed and local skilled union members with nominating rights as work becomes available.
• Government and employer investment in proper training/apprenticeships for the new generation of construction workers. Fight for a future for young people
• All immigrant labour to be unionised.
• Trade union assistance for immigrant workers, via interpreters, to give right of access to trade union advice - to promote active integrated trade union members.
• Build links with construction trade unions on the continent

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Since this article was written, the workers at the site have agreed to a huge climbdown by the bosses, and as a result an extra 102 jobs will be created at the site, with the jobs for the migrant workers also secured. This victory is a testament to the action taken by the strikers, and also the impact of the solidarity of refinery and power station workers up and down Britain, including by Polish migrant workers at Langage Power Station.

This strike was about trying to undermine unionised labour with non-union labour, an employers dirty trick, aided by legislation put in place (and preserved) by neo-liberal governments in Britain and from the bosses representatives in the European Commission.

The only answer to these insults is workers unity, between workers at different sites, and between workers in different countries. We call for a socialist Europe, emphasising cooperation and collaboration between workers, and not used as a way of dividing workers as part of the 'race to the bottom'.

The Socialist Party, most notably Keith Gibson, a member of the strike committee, have at all times insisted that this was not about 'British Jobs for British Workers', a slogan used by many workers to point out the hypocrisy of Brown and Mandelson, but about 'Trade Union Jobs and Conditions For All'. The BNP sensed an opportunity, but were turned away with their tail between their legs.

When Keith Gibson ended an address to a mass meeting with 'Workers of the world unite' he was greeted with a big round of applause. However the media and other groups like to present this, this strike was a victory for the working class, in Britain and across Europe.

Across Europe, workers are standing up and saying 'Enough!'. Workers in Britain this past week have done the same, and set a tremendous example by smashing through the anti-trade union laws prohibiting secondary picketing in the process.

It doesn't end here!

Lindsey Oil Refinery Strikers Reach Out To Italian Workers

A leaflet has been produced by Socialist Party members Keith Gibson (also a member of the strike committee) and John McEwan, for the Italian migrant workers at the site. We publish the document below not in anticipation of many readers of this blog speaking Italian, but to demonstrate that this is a strike about jobs and protecting trade union agreements, and not a racist or xenophobic action as the media and other elements on the left have painted it. This follows hard on the heels of the Polish workers at Langage Power Station coming out in solidarity.

Workers of the world unite!
I lavoratori del mondo unitevi!
Trabalhadores do mundo uni-vos!
Robotnicy świata łączą!

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Appello ai lavoratori italiani -
Partecipate al nostro sciopero per salari e lavoro a condizioni sindacali

Estendiamo lo sciopero!

Volantino scritto da Keith Gibson (G.M.B comitato di sciopero improvviso LOR),
John McEwan (Rsu foro nazionale) entrambe a titolo personale

L’Islanda, la Grecia, la Francia, la Lettonia… In tutta l’Europa i lavoratori scendono in piazza per protestare contro governi che hanno fatto arricchire i padroni e i banchieri mentre attaccano i nostri posti di lavoro, salari e pensioni. Finalmente i lavoratori britannici dicono “basta”. La settimana scorsa il nostro sciopero si è esteso rapidamente, con azioni di solidarietà in tutto il Paese, in 20 stabilimenti. Migliaia di lavoratori stanno scioperando malgrado le leggi antisindacali. Il governo è scosso. È l’ora di estendere lo sciopero per costringere il padronato e il governo ad accettare le nostre rivendicazioni.

Gordon Brown - il tuo governo è ‘indifendibile’

Gordon Brown dice che il nostro sciopero improvviso è ‘ indifendibile’. No Gordon, dopo 10 anni di politica a favore del grande padronato, è il tuo governo che è indifendibile. Il New Labour Party ha incoraggiato il padronato a sfruttare i lavoratori britannici attraverso la deregolamentazione, la mano d’opera a basso costo e le politiche antisindacali. Il ministro del Commercio, Peter Mandelson, dice che i lavoratori britannici possono andare a lavorare nell’Unione europea. Queste parole assomigliano a quelle del ministro conservatore Norman Tebbitt, che durante gli anni ‘80 ha detto ai disoccupati di andare in bici a cercare lavoro! Perché dovremmo essere noi a lasciare le nostre case e le nostre famiglie per poter lavorare, mentre le imprese come Alstom e IREM non ci permettono di lavorare qui?

Lottiamo per difendere il lavoro - FERMARE LA ‘GARA AL RIBASSO’

Il padronato, i banchieri e il governo ci hanno messo nei guai dal punto di vista economico. Adesso vogliono che paghiamo noi la crisi, attaccando il nostro lavoro, i salari e le condizioni lavorative.

Non se ne parla neanche!

Con questo sciopero vogliamo fermare la ‘gara al ribasso’. Scioperiamo contro i padroni, come quelli di Alstom e IREM, che rifiutano di assumere i lavoratori locali. Facciamo sciopero contro le leggi europee, che favoriscono il padronato e contro le decisioni giudiziari che rendono legale lo sfruttamento della manodopera a basso costo per massimizzare i profitti dei padroni.
Questo sciopero punta a fermare i datori di lavoro che violano il nostro accordo nazionale (NAECI) e stanno cercando di dividere la nostra forza sindacale.

L’obiettivo non è “lavoro inglese ai lavoratori inglesi” ma:

Lavoro a condizioni sindacali per tutti i lavoratori COSA VOGLIAMO?

Il Partito socialista pensa che i sindacati dovrebbero lottare per:

- Dire no alle azioni disciplinari contro i lavoratori che hanno scioperato per solidarieta’
- Estendere a tutti i lavoratori nel Regno Unito la tutela dell’accordo nazionale (NAECI)
- Registrare i disoccupati e gli iscritti alle sezioni locali del sindacato, sotto il controllo dei sindacati, con graduatorie di avviamento al lavoro
- Investimenti da parte del governo e dei datori di lavoro nella formazione e nell’apprendistato per la nuova generazione di lavoratori dell’edilizia: un futuro per i giovani
- La sindacalizazzione di tutti i lavoratori immigrati
- Sostegno sindacale agli immigrati, incluso gli interpreti, e accesso alla consulenza per promuovere l’integrazione attiva nel sindacato

Update on the spreading strikes by construction engineers in the refinery and power industry

Report by phone from Alistair Tice (Yorkshire Socialist Party) on the mass picket at the Lindsey total refinery North Lincolnshire.

"The strike committee accepted the main demands of Keith Gibson and John Mckewan to put to the mass meeting today.

Keith is a Socialist Party member and on the strike committee and John is a Socialist Party supporter and victimised worker from the refinery.

The strike committee added an extra demand, calling for John to be reinstated into his job.

The demands were

• No victimisation of workers taking solidarity action.
• All workers in UK to be covered by NAECI Agreement.
• Union controlled registering of unemployed and locally skilled union members, with nominating rights as work becomes available.
• Government and employer investment in proper training / apprenticeships for new generation of construction workers - fight for a future for young people.
• All Immigrant labour to be unionised.
• Trade Union assistance for immigrant workers - including interpreters - and access to Trade Union advice - to promote active integrated Trade Union Members.
• Build links with construction trade unions on the continent.

The mass meeting overwhelmingly voted for the demands put to them by the strike committee.

Prior to the meeting Keith and John (and their wives who had came to support the strikers) had seen some BNP members in the car park and told them that they were not welcome, with that the BNP cleared off.

Socialist Party members gave out over 700 leaflets putting our position (which was now the position of the strike committee) and the leaflet was welcomed. One worker (before he read the leaflet) thought that were giving out BNP leaflets and protested that he was not a racist and didn't support the BNP and was relieved when it was explained to him that they were Socialist Party leaflets and supported workers unity.

Keith is part of the negotiating committee that is now in discussions with the management at the refinery. The strike is continuing and looks as if it is spreading throughout the country at the time of writing with Sellafield and Heysham nuclear plants out. Workers at other plants, according to the BBC, have also decided to stay out, these include Grangemouth and Longannon in Scotland. Warrington and Staythope in Newark are also out as well.

The strikes are spreading from fiddlers ferry in Warrington to the Drax power station in Yorkshire."

Strike While The Iron Is Hot - Socialist Party leaflet written by workers in the refineries dispute

Iceland, Greece, France, Latvia ….. all across Europe workers are taking to the streets in protest against governments that have let the fat-cats get rich while our jobs, wages and pensions are being attacked.

Now at last, workers in Britain are saying “Enough is Enough!” Our strike spread like wild-fire last week with solidarity action all across the UK with around 20 sites out by Friday. Thousands of workers taking militant action completely disregarding the anti-trade union laws.

We’ve got the government rattled. We must strike while the iron is hot. We must spread the strike to force the employers and government to concede our demands.

GORDON BROWN – YOUR GOVERNMENT IS “IN-DEFENSIBLE”

Gordon Brown says our wildcat strike is “in-defensible”. No Gordon, it is your government and ten years of pro-Big Business policies that are indefensible. New Labour have encouraged employers to exploit workers in Britain through de-regulation, cheap labour and anti-union policies.

Peter Mandelson says British workers can go and work in the EU. Sounds like Norman Tebbitt telling the unemployed in the 1980s to get on their bikes! Why the hell should we have to leave our homes and families to work when companies like Alstom and IREM won’t let us work here?

FIGHT FOR JOBS – STOP THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM!

The bosses, the bankers and the government have got us in this economic mess. Now they want us to pay the price with our jobs, wages and conditions. NO WAY!

This strike is to stop this race to the bottom. We are striking against the employers like Alstom and IREM who refuse to hire local labour. We are striking against the EU pro-business laws and court rulings that make it legal for employers to exploit cheap labour to maximise profits.
This strike is to stop employers undermining our national NAECI agreement and trying to break our trade union strength.

Rather than saying British jobs for British workers we should say:
TRADE UNION JOBS & CONDITIONS FOR ALL WORKERS

WHAT DO WE WANT?

Socialist Party thinks that the trade unions should fight for:

· No victimisation of workers taking solidarity action.

· All workers in UK to be covered by NAECI Agreement

· Union controlled registering of unemployed and locally skilled union members, with nominating rights as work becomes available

· Government and employer investment in proper training / apprenticeships for new generation of construction workers – fight for a future for young people

· All Immigrant labour to be unionised.

· Trade Union assistance for immigrant workers - including interpreters - and access to Trade Union advice - to promote active integrated Trade Union Members. Build links with construction trade unions on the continent.

The story so far ……………..

A ninety day redundancy notice had been issued around mid November 2008 at Lindsey Oil Refinery (LOR) for Shaws’ workforce. This meant that by February 17th 2009 a number of Shaws’ construction workers (LOR) would be made redundant.

The day before the Christmas holiday Shaws’ shop-stewards reported to the men that a part of the contract on LOR’s HDS3 plant had been awarded to IREM, an Italian company. The Stewards explained that Shaws had lost a third of the job to IREM who would be employing their own core Portuguese and Italian workforce numbering 200-300. Stewards and Union Officials asked to meet with IREM a.s.a.p. after Christmas to clarify the proposal i.e. would IREM employ British labour? Shaws’ workforce were told that the IREM workforce would be housed in floating barges in Grimsby docks for the duration of the job, they would be bussed to work in the morning, bussed to and from the barge for lunch.

IREM workers would work from 7.30am - 11.30am and 13.00 – 1700. On Saturdays they would work 4 hours to make up a working week of 44 hours. The normal working week is 44 hours divided by 5 days, from 7.30 -1600 finishing at 1400 on Fridays (most workers work overtime). Normal breaks include 10 minutes in a morning and a 30 minute dinner break.
Stewards were told that IREM workers would be paid the national rate for the job; to date this has not been confirmed. After Christmas the nominated Shop Stewards entered into negotiations with IREM. Meanwhile, a National Shop-Stewards Forum for the construction Industry held a meeting in London to discuss Staythorpe Power Station where the company Alstom were refusing to hire British labour relying on non union Polish and Spanish workers instead.

It was decided that all Blue Book sites covered by the National Agreement for the Engineering and Construction Industry (NAECI) should send delegations down to Staythorpe to protest against Alstoms’ actions. The workforce on the LOR site sent delegations. Then, on Wednesday 28th January 2009 Shaws’ workforce were told by the Stewards that IREM had stated they would not be employing British labour.

The entire LOR workforce, from all subcontracting companies, met and voted unanimously to take immediate unofficial strike action. The following day over a thousand construction workers from LOR, Conoco and Easington sites descended outside LOR’s gate to picket and protest.
This was the spark that ignited the spontaneous unofficial walk outs of our brother construction workers across the length and breadth of Britain. This worker solidarity is against the ‘conscious blacking’ of British construction workers by company bosses who refuse to recruit skilled British labour in the U.K.

The workers of LOR, Conoco and Easington did not take strike action against immigrant workers. Our action is rightly aimed against company bosses who attempt to play off one nationality of worker against the other and undermine the NAECI agreement.

UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL. UNITY IS OUR STRENGTH

The RACIST ORGANISATION - the BNP - are attempting to intervene in this strike.
How dare they?
The BNP is an anti-trade union organisation that supported Thatcher against the miners in the 1980s.
They opposed the Firefighters’ strike claiming ‘they should not even have the right to strike’.
They have set up their own ‘segregated’ union that will split and divide workers.
BNP policies are like the policies of company bosses who attempt to play off one nationality of worker against another thus undermining the national agreements that protect the hard won rights of workers like the NAECI Agreement in the Construction Industry.

WORKERS NEED A NEW PARTY

The Labour Party is no longer for the working class.

Blair then Brown under a misleading banner of ‘New Labour’ insists on a ‘Pro-Capitalist Agenda’.
The bankers and bosses whose greed for profit has decimated the global economy are rewarded with billions of tax payer’s money. Our money! Daily, without any consultation, it is announced that WE will pay for their greed and incompetence! Trade unions like Unite and GMB should stop paying the trade union levy to ‘New Labour’ because workers know that a NEW party of LABOUR is needed to fight for the interests of workers and their families.

The trade unions should initiate a new workers party, TO REPRESENT THE MILLIONS NOT THE MILLIONAIRES! Join the Campaign for a New Workers Party. Look on www.cnwp.org.uk

CAPITALISM ISN’T WORKING – TIME FOR SOCIALISM

This recession highlights a fact - capitalism does not work. Around the world millions of ordinary people are being thrown into unemployment and poverty while bankers and bosses grow exceedingly rich.

Socialists know that there is enough wealth and resources in the world for everybody to have a decent standard of living but it will never happen under this crazy system of greed that puts profit before the human needs of people, the environment and our planet. We stand for a ‘Democratic Socialist Society’ where the main industries and services will be publicly owned and democratically run by the working class for the benefit of the majority in society.

A well planned society will eradicate capitalist competition that accumulates vast profits for a few at the expense of: mass unemployment, poverty, disease, wars and environmental destruction.

If you agree and would like to know more - then contact us on www.socialistparty.org.uk

Trade Union Jobs and Conditions For All Workers - Support the Striking Refinery Workers

Thousands of construction workers in oil refineries and other major utilities sites are still on strike.

There were mass meetings in the Lindsey and Conoco refinery sites in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Friday and Socialist Party members were well received with 18 copies of the Socialist sold.

The main issue is not that "foreign" workers are being brought in by the employers, as reported in the media, but that there are thousands of unemployed construction workers.

The Socialist Party is raising the demand that any worker should be part of the national engineering construction agreements that cover the wages and conditions on the sites.

We are also calling for an unemployment registrar to be set up under union control that can supply labour to the sites when that is needed.

The reason for the strikes is that the employers have awarded the contracts to an Italian firm that has brought in labour which is not part of the national agreements.

A six-strong strike committee has been set up with a Socialist Party member on the committee. The strikes have been spreading like wild fire according to the BBC, currently covering sites from Scotland to Wales and from Northern Ireland to Merseyside.

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What's Really Behind the Lindsey Oil Refinery Strike?

By Keith Gibson, GMB Union (pc), Socialist Party member and member of the unofficial strike committee

A ninety day redundancy notice had been issued around mid November 2008 at Lindsey Oil Refinery (LOR) for Shaws' workforce.

This meant that by February 17th 2009 a number of Shaws' construction workers (LOR) would be made redundant.

The day before the Christmas holiday Shaws' shop-stewards reported to the men that a part of the contract on LOR's HDS3 plant had been awarded to IREM, an Italian company.

The Stewards explained that Shaws had lost a third of the job to IREM who would be employing their own core Portuguese and Italian workforce numbering 200-300.

Stewards and Union Officials asked to meet with IREM a.s.a.p. after Christmas to clarify the proposal i.e. would IREM employ British labour? Shaws' workforce were told that the IREM workforce would be housed in floating barges in Grimsby docks for the duration of the job, they would be bussed to work in the morning, bussed to and from the barge for lunch.

IREM workers would work from 7.30am - 11.30am and 13.00 - 1700. On Saturdays they would work 4 hours to make up a working week of 44 hours. The normal working week is 44 hours divided by 5 days, from 7.30 -1600 finishing at 1400 on Fridays (most workers work overtime).

Normal breaks include 10 minutes in a morning and a 30 minute dinner break. Stewards were told that IREM workers would be paid the national rate for the job; to date this has not been confirmed.

After Christmas the nominated Shop Stewards entered into negotiations with IREM. Meanwhile, a National Shop Stewards Forum for the construction Industry held a meeting in London to discuss Staythorpe Power Station where the company Alstom were refusing to hire British labour relying on non-union Polish and Spanish workers instead.

It was decided that all Blue Book sites covered by the National Agreement for the Engineering and Construction Industry (NAECI) should send delegations down to Staythorpe to protest against Alstoms' actions.

The workforce on the LOR site sent delegations. Then, on Wednesday 28th January 2009 Shaws' workforce were told by the Stewards that IREM had stated they would not be employing British labour.

The entire LOR workforce, from all subcontracting companies, met and voted unanimously to take immediate unofficial strike action.

The following day over a thousand construction workers from LOR, Conoco and Easington sites descended outside LOR's gate to picket and protest.

This was the spark that ignited the spontaneous unofficial walk outs of our brother construction workers across the length and breadth of Britain.

This worker solidarity is against the 'conscious blacking' of British construction workers by company bosses who refuse to recruit skilled British labour in the U.K.

The workers of LOR, Conoco and Easington did not take strike action against immigrant workers. Our action is rightly aimed against company bosses who attempt to play off one nationality of worker against the other and undermine the NAECI agreement.

THE B.N.P. SHOULD TAKE HEED, U.K. CONTRUCTION WORKERS WILL NOT TOLERATE 'ANOTHER RACIST ATTEMPT' TO SEVER FRATERNAL RELATIONS WITH WORKERS FROM OTHER NATIONS

Demands for Construction Industry:

No victimisation of workers taking solidarity action.

All workers in UK to be covered by NAECI Agreement

Union controlled registering of unemployed and locally skilled union members

Government and employer investment in proper training / apprenticeships for new generation of construction workers

All Immigrant labour to be unionised.

Trade Union assistance for immigrant workers - via interpreters - to give right of access to Trade Union advice - to promote active integrated Trade Union Members

BNP Stall In Exeter

The BNP held a brief stall in Exeter High Street yesterday, and faced with various opponents including the Socialist Party and complaints from the public which attracted the Police, they were forced to pack up and retreat. Unfortunately the Police then made everyone pack up their stalls for the sake of appearing 'even-handed'.

Next Saturday we are encouraging every Community, Campaign and Political group to come and bring a stall to the High Street so that we send the message loud and clear that the BNP are not welcome in Exeter, and also that we will not let them spoil it for the rest of us and allow the Police or Council to stop groups from having stalls in the Town Centre.