British Worker No. 3
November 8, 2009 Leave a Comment
British Worker No. 3 is now available. It is the magazine of the UK Trade Union Solidarity. Solidarity is an inclusive Nationalist Union open to all.
Dumb and dumber – Labour and Tories on cuts
October 7, 2009 Leave a Comment
The depressing NuLab conference promised cuts in public services and sought to ensure those with little paid for the bankers’ crisis. Now the Tories are bidding to show that they will make ordinary workers pay an even higher price.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne made a conference speech focused on public spending cuts, including a one-year freeze on the majority of public-sector workers. Under his plans, only the one million earning under £18,000 would get a rise. This savage Tory plan goes beyond even Chancellor Alistair Darling’s call for a salary freeze for the 750,000 highest-paid public servants.
Osborne also confirmed Tory plans to raise the state retirement age for men from 65 to 66 in 2016, rather than 2026 as new Labour plans. For women, the pension age will be equalised by 2020 (but equalised by moving it up!). Workers are to be forced to work longer and then face an impoverished old age as the final salary schemes have been slowly restricted or abolished.
The endless list of spending cuts will shave a mere £7 billion a year off the record £175bn public deficit caused by the bail-out of the banks. Another £13 billion a year will be saved once the retirement age is raised in 2016.
Britain could, of course, save £100 billion a year just by preventing tax dodging in tax havens which are politically connected to our country [1]. Both Osborne and Brown have expressed the view that tax havens should be eliminated. In his Manchester conference speech Osborne said: “We will also target tax evasion and off-shore tax havens.
Remember we were the first to ask the non doms to make their fair contribution. Everyone must pay their share.”Earlier this year British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, addressing a joint session of the US Congress and Senate, asked: “How much safer would everybody’s savings be if the whole world finally came together to outlaw shadow banking systems and outlaw offshore tax havens?”
Instead of playing dumb and dumber by proposing more and more cuts in services and trying to squeeze ordinary workers and their families why don’t they follow the money and make the rich pay their fair share? If they don’t do the right thing workers must resist the attacks on their standard of living and quality of life whether it is Labour or the Tories attacking them. Solidarity President Adam Walker said “Spending cuts will not only deepen the recession and keep people out of work. The policy is immoral since the banks and political class got us into this situation in the first place. Whilst some other Trade Unions baulk at criticising a Labour Government we have no such qualms telling it as it really is! Whether it is NuLab or Tory attacking the workers they will meet the same response.”
[1] There are 31 obvious ones. 3 are British Crown Dependencies (Guernsey, Isle of Man and Jersey).
7 are British Overseas Territories (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, and Turks & Caicos). 21 are members of the Commonwealth (Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brunei, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, Grenada, Labuan, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Nauru, Seychelles, Singapore, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & Grenadines, UK, Vanuatu)
Proposed BNP teaching ban condemned
October 7, 2009 Leave a Comment
The proposal, now being considered by the Government, to ban BNP members from the classroom been attacked by various liberal/libertarian groups.
Ed Balls announced at the Labour Party conference an investigation into “racism in schools” and whether members of the British National Party (BNP) should be banned from teaching. Although supported by Conference delegates (of a rival party) including Trade Unionists he has been criticised by a member of the Parliamentary Human Rights select committee and by the Solidarity Trade Union.
Lib Dem MP Evan Harris and Committee member in a letter to the Times newspaper wrote:- “It is obviously illiberal to declare that legal membership of a legal political party will be a bar to earning a living as a teacher, especially as what should be actually banned is behaviour — not thoughts, or unexpressed views.”[1].
Patrick Harrington General Secretary of Solidarity Trade Union said “Mr Harris hit the nail on the head when he writes of judging people by their behaviour. Even if the BNP policies were unacceptable within the teaching framework of our schools there is no reason to assume one of their members is any less professional then any of his colleagues or force their views upon pupils. In this country we traditionally act against peoples actions not their views (perceived or otherwise). There are many existing safeguards to ensure teaching standards. Any further restrictions would not be proportionate to the aims pursued.
This proposed action by Ed Balls is a McCarthy style attempt to punish members of a rival Party because of the loss of votes from one to the other. If implemented by this rotten NuLab government it would likely be overturned at a later date as contravenes Article 11 of the ECHR which guarantees Freedom of Association”.
Kevin Scott of the campaign group Civil Liberty also referenced Article 11 of the ECHR, protecting freedom of association.
He said:-
“Under the ECHR freedom of association can be restricted only (i) in the interests of national security or public safety, (ii) for the prevention of disorder or crime, (iii) for the protection of health or morals, or (iv) for the protection of the rights or freedoms of others. Any restrictions must be “prescribed by law, ” and they must be “necessary in a democracy” to achieve one of the four listed objectives. In two cases (the Sidiropoulos [3] and Communist Party [4] cases), the Court emphasised that exceptions must be “construed strictly,” that only “clear and compelling” reasons can justify restrictions, that any restrictions must be “proportional to the legitimate end pursued,” and that there must be “relevant and sufficient” evidence and “decisions based on an acceptable assessment of the relevant facts” before a restriction can be justified.
I believe that the proposed ban will fail these tests. We will work with our comrades in Solidarity to challenge all such restrictions on freedom of association. We will crash their anti-freedom bandwagon.”
[1] Letter to the Times, October 5, 2009.
Sita Suez attack Union rights
August 11, 2008 Leave a Comment
Three members of the autonomous Nationalist Union Solidarity have been suspended from work. In an outrageous attack on Union rights waste disposal specialists Sita Suez suspended them simply on account of their Union membership. The action by the bosses followed a smear campaign by the Unite union. An email from Unite to the bosses made a number of very serious and defamatory allegations against Solidarity. Additionally there appears to be the implied threat that the business interests of Sita Suez would suffer if they did not take action against members of Solidarity.
Sita Suez should be aware that everyone in the UK has the right to join a Trade Union. People are free to join any union. Discrimination against or harassment of a worker because of his or her membership or non-membership of a Trade Union is treated very seriously by the Courts (and rightly so). Solidarity is registered as a Union and as such is provided with the same legal protection in this regard as any other Union. If someone chooses to leave Unite and join Solidarity that is a matter between the member concerned, Solidarity and Unite. It is no business of of Sita Suez as an employer. That Unite has sought to involve the Bosses in this matter shames them.
Solidarity opposes any discrimination by employers based on political or religious belief. Just as they oppose discrimination on other grounds such as race or sexuality. They are one of the few Unions to take a genuinely libetarian stance. They stand for freedom and against the New McCarthyism. Solidarity membership costs only £5 a month – far less than most Unions. It has a network of genuine people working hard to fight for the rights of ordinary people. All genuine liberals and progressives should support their important work.
Solidarity and Civil Liberty also work very closely together. Solidarity General Secretary, Pat Harrington said:-
“We appreciate the support of Civil Liberty. It is helping us fight politically motivated discrimination in the workplace. I urge you to sign our online petition and contact Sita Suez with a polite complaint. If you can I would also like you to donate to Civil Liberty. They are in the frontline of helping those who are suffering these modern-day witch-hunts. Please help them so they can help others.”
Sign the online petition and defend the rights of the ‘Willenhall 3′.
Call or fax Simon at Sita and politely inform him that we live in a democracy that upholds the rights of Trade Unionists. Tell him he needs to turn from his foolish behaviour and make amends.
Is there a plot to kill Solidarity?
June 24, 2008 Leave a Comment
Is there a plot to kill the independent Nationalist Trades Union Solidarity? That is now a question being seriously asked by many political veterans. For the first year of the existence of Solidarity little was done. Former President Clive Potter found reasons not to do things. He failed even to produce a membership card for those enthusiasts who joined despite his almost complete lack of promotional work.
When Pat Harrington of Third Way took the position of General Secretary, Potter did everything he could to delay the progress of the Union using every bureaucratic objection he could. He sought to block every suggestion Pat Harrington made.Then when this failed he tried to expel Pat Harrington and prevent the election of an expanded Executive team. Reason enough for many to suspect that something untoward was going on! Yet this is by no means the end of the story…
When the British National Party asserted that that agents were being used against the Union the State allied Searchlight magazine specifically responded:-
“Searchlight makes no comment about this allegation. However when Solidarity was set up, we examined its rules and wrote in an internal briefing note in January 2006: ‘It would seem difficult for Solidarity to exercise firm control over who joins, and once people are members they can exercise thier democratic rights to elect the Executive Committe, etc. Any attempt to prevent members exercising their rights could result in a complaint to the Certification Officer [the regulatory authority for trade unions]‘”
- ‘Not so solid now’ , Searchlight July 2007, p16.
In the light of this statement it is interesting to note that three people, Potter, McLinden and Mullen have made two ‘Breach of Rule’ complaints each against the Union in the same time period and in collusion to the Certification Office (CO). Additionally Potter and McLinden have brought about a financial investigation into the Union by the CO.
Solidarity is answering all such vexatious and unfounded complaints but nonetheless it is time-consuming and a diversion from the proper functions of the Union. Not only that but it appears to many that the Certification Office is being unwittingly misused as a tool to bureaucratically harass the Union and target Pat Harrington as an individual. Third Way has no doubt that Solidarity will overcome these attempts to stifle it. We have no doubt that Pat Harrington will be exonerated by any fair investigation. The traitors, agents and dupes, Potter, Hawke, McLinden and Mullen will be beaten by determined Nationalist workers.
Bureaucratic harassment of Solidarity Union
May 26, 2008 Leave a Comment
The following will be announced on the Website of the Certification Office tomorrow – 27 May, 2008.
“On 22 May 2008 the Certification Officer appointed Gerard Walker, Assistant Certification Officer, as an Inspector to investigate the financial affairs of the trade union Solidarity.
The appointment was made under Section 37B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. The Inspector’s terms of reference are to investigate the financial affairs of the trade union Solidarity between 1 November 2005 and 24 November 2007; as regards;
the production of receipts for expenditure,
the operation of the Solidarity Paypal account,
withdrawals for the Solidarity HSBC current account on 20 and 25 September 2007 and a transfer to the Solidarity HSBC current account from the Solidarity HSBC Money Manager Account on 20 September 2007,
cheques cashed from the Solidarity HSBC current account between 18 January 2007 and 4 June 2007,
payments made to Mr Patrick Harrington from the Solidarity HSBC current account between 1 February 2007 and 1 May 2007,
the freezing of the Solidarity HSBC Current Account and Business Money Manager Account in 2007,
the opening of a Bank of Scotland account in the name of Solidarity in 2007,
the appointment of Accentuate PR Company by Solidarity in 2007,
the appointment of the auditors of Solidarity’s accounts for the years ending 31 December 2006 and 31 December 2007 and
any other matter, with the consent of the Certification Officer, indicating a financial irregularity within the description set out in section 37B(2) of the 1992 Act that may come to light during the investigation of (a) to (i) above.
The terms of reference exclude the Inspector from reaching any conclusion on the legal issues arising out of the unresolved dispute within Solidarity about the application of its rules to its governance, the resolution of which requires either internal agreement or judicial determination.”
The announcement of an investigation into the financial affairs of the Solidarity Union was expected. It is part of a co-ordinated campaign aimed at disrupting the work of the Brotherhood. Most of the points listed as items for investigation have already been answered by the Union. Additionally the Union is currently preparing fully audited accounts covering the period in question.
Why then has this investigation been announced and the allegations published? We believe it is an attempt to target Pat Harrington personally. The State is terrified of a truly independent Union gaining ground. They first tried to disrupt it by putting ‘blockers’ in place who found excuses not to do anything for over a year. When they were removed and Pat gathered an effective leadership team around him they changed tack. They want to eliminate Pat in the hope that without his motivating presence and vision the Union will fail. They underestimate both him and the rest of the seven strong team which run Solidarity. Solidarity is not a one-man-band. Even were they to suceed in knocking Pat out (a tougher job than some might imagine!) Solidarity will go on.
Third Way sends a simple message to our Brothers and Sisters in Solidarity:-
“We are with you.”
Solidarity members have made it clear time and again that they support the current leadership of the Union, at Special Meetings, by offering financial support and in an Independently scrutinised ballot. They are wise to the lies!
May Day is reclaimed by Solidarity
April 11, 2008 Leave a Comment
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The nationalist Trade Union Solidarity is calling upon its members not only to join in the traditional May Day celebrations but also to mark the ‘Authentic’ date rather than just the Public holiday. ‘Workers Day’ has its roots in the 19th century demand for an eight hour working day. As Pat Harrington, Solidarity General Secretary, says “Since British workers find their pay and working conditions eroded under renewed and relentless pressure from ruthless employers and cheap non-unionised migrant labour; the need for a militant patriotic union to fight their case has never been stronger. Other Unions heavily connected to the Government may try to avoid these issues but we will not. May Day is truly our day“. Ever since May Day has become a public holiday the day has changed each year to coincide with the nearest Monday. May 1st (this year on a Thursday) however is the authentic day for celebrating the traditional ‘First day of Summer’ and ‘Workers Day’. Authentic May Day will be celebrated by Solidarity members throughout the UK on May 1st which will include leafleting and public stalls explaining the ‘days’ significance for British workers. View the web version of the May Day leaflet. |
"JOIN SOLIDARITY UNION" Says British Sikh
March 30, 2008 Leave a Comment
British Sikh, Pramjit Sadra , has spoken out in favour of the independent nationalist Trade Union Solidarity. He sees it as being the only Union that will protect its’ British members, of whatever colour or background, against cheap migrant labour and off-shoring of jobs. This is his statement:-
“As an ordinary working person in Great Britain born in the UK to Indian parents I have seen over the years the culture of employment change. I have worked for around 25 years in various jobs and recently ran a convenience store for 12 years. Most recently I have been aware of the shift of work away from ordinary British people which I feel undermines our communities. The shift towards cheap migration workers and off-shoring, if allowed to continue will totally change the face of this Nation. The effects have already been felt by many in the UK losing work to cheaper labour or suppressing wages, which does not affect just one individual but their immediate family and children, extended family and the communities they have long been part of. We are at best an over crowded Nation that cannot sustain the influx of many Nationalities without the infrastructure to employ, house and integrate into our communities. Furthermore there is no recognition of the impact of importing cultures, including those with a violent/aggressive way of life, upon settled communities. My personal opinion is that this matter is not addressed for fear of political correctness and fear of being labelled a racist. However if this remains the case the real issue will never be addressed. This fear of adhering to rules and regulations wrapped in PC, set down by people in positions of power (in Government both local and National) only works towards a system of divide and rule whereby they (the authorities) can promote their own benefits whilst pillaging the ordinary people of this Nation. Since existing Unions are not protecting their members interests because of PC I urge British workers, both black and white, to join one that will, namely Solidarity.”
Solidarity Annual Conference
February 27, 2008 Leave a Comment
Solidarity the independent Nationalist Union held its second Annual Conference in the Apollo Hotel, Birmingham on Saturday, 23 February, 2008.
First on the order of business was the reading and passing the minutes of the previous AGM and the Special Meeting of July 2007
Then General Secretary Patrick Harrington delivered an upbeat assessment of the Union’s progress in the past year and potential for the future. At the end of 2006 the fledgling union had 42 members. Today it has 211, despite the disruption in the middle of last year and hysterical attacks from the Labour Party and the ultra-left in parliament and the blogosphere. The General Secretary stated that he estimated their efforts had set back Union progress by about six months. He predicted that now that internal disruption had failed opponents of the Union would use State agencies to harass the Union and directly attack it. We must be prepared.
Since holding an independently scrutinised election in November 2007, Solidarity has a new united Executive Committee committed to the slogan, ‘Together we are strong’. This was evident in the spirit of the meeting. Several motions came up for discussion. In the union’s profoundly democratic tradition, everyone had an opportunity to have their say before a vote was taken on the motions. The most controversial motion seeking to bar Muslims from membership of the Union was withdrawn after an amendment was passed reaffirming that the Union was open to all regardless of ethnic or religious background. Other motions condemned off-shoring and the loss of jobs at places like Electrolux and Black and Decker in the North East.
Members were also given the opportunity to ask direct questions of the Executive and Graham Williamson of Accentuate PR.
Members said they were impressed by the professional way in which Union business was conducted at the meeting. Each went away with a 12-page report, optimistic that the vision of a nationalist workers’ union was being made a reality.
Solidarity Union calls for more public holidays
February 7, 2008 Leave a Comment
The independent Trade Union Solidarity is calling for a Public Holiday to mark Armistice Day.
Solidarity General Secretary Patrick Harrington said: – “Workers in the UK do longer hours than the average Continental worker and they get fewer public holidays. Britain presently has 8 public holidays comparing badly to 11 in Germany, 12 in Italy & 13 in France.”
Solidarity is campaigning for a public holiday around Armistice Day, 11 November. This would both honour our war dead and veterans and remind us that we should strive for peace, democracy and harmony in our troubled world. It would also go some way to giving workers here a fairer number of holidays compared to those in Italy, France and Germany.
