[From activists in Belgium...]
From all over Belgium, by bus, bike, taxi, public transport and even by walking, hundreds of activists came to NATO's headquarters in Evere, Brussels. They tried non-violently to enter the NATO terrain and seal gates, windows and doors. At the same time, the NATO has been symbolically buried during a farewell ceremony. Today, this burial is still a symbolic act, but the will to turn this symbol into reality is very high.
Despite the massive presence of police forces equipped with water canons, helicopters, horses, kilometres of barb wire, ... several activists managed to enter the military base to seal gates, windows and doors. 450 peace activists have been arrested and showed clearly that Vredesactie and the Bombspotters do not let the NATO keep going with its business as usual.
"I left Liège this morning and we joined the group from Brussels. We have left the bus on the east side of NATO headquarters and we have spread in smaller groups. There was a lot of police there. I have been arrested very quickly while I was walking towards the fence, but I have seen at least one person who managed to climb over the fences with the support of other participants. Anyway, we have been able to send our message very clearly: NATO must be shut down and the NATO nuclear weapons must disappear!", said Fabien, one of the many participants.
NATO GAME OVER is an action of civil disobedience. We commit an offence trying to prevent severe crimes. We are justified by international law. All over Europe, people campaign against NATO. Today, not only Belgium, but also the Netherlands and Germany have seen actions. In the Netherlands, activists occupy the military terrain of Nieuw Milligen, where DARS is deployed, NATO's mobile air surveillance and command system. In Germany, people have protested at Büchel nuclear weapons base and NATO's headquarters in Heidelberg.
NATO: which future?
NATO is on the threshold of a fundamental reconfiguration. The Strasbourg NATO summit will not only be NATO's 60th anniversary celebration, it will also be the official start of the discussion on a new Strategic Concept. This document will define the direction of NATO for the years to come. This will be a crucial period for the alliance, and hence for Belgium's foreign and defense policy as well.
Due to NATO membership, Belgium fights a war in Afghanistan. Eight years after the start of the war we don't see any progress. In Afghanistan, NATO is stuck in a dead end. Nevertheless, our government does not hesitate to send extra troops and jet fighters. NATO agreements make Belgium and other European countries a logistic hub for the US army. The American war machine is transported on our roads, harbours and airports to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, NATO deploys 150 to 240 US nuclear weapons in Germany, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands and Turkey. According to international law, these weapons are just as illegal as elsewhere. The removal of the US nuclear weapons out of Europe would mean an important boost to the multilateral non-proliferation process and a significant step towards nuclear disarmament worldwide.
With the NATO GAME OVER campaign, we give our government, two weeks before the Strasbourg summit, a message that's hard to ignore: a military alliance which intervenes worldwide, which deploys nuclear weapons and is prepared to use them, is a threat to world peace. 60 years of NATO is more than enough.
International campaigning against NATO
The Strasbourg NATO summit itself will not go unnoticed. From April 1st to April 5th, an international action camp will be organised as a home base for actions and demonstrations. An international counter summit will start on April 3rd. It will be a platform for a broad range of speakers and groups to express their opposition and criticism against NATO and military globalisation.
This conference will be interrupted for the actions on Saturday, to continue on Sunday April 5th. Early morning April 4th, hundreds of activists will try to prevent NATO from meeting with massive street blockades. This action is organised by a coalition of German, French and international groups, one of which is Vredesactie. In the afternoon the broad coalition 'No to war - No to NATO', who also organises the conference and, calls for a big demonstration in the city of Strasbourg.
Monday, 23 March 2009
Thursday, 19 March 2009
UK unemployment passes two million
Britain's economy has fallen into recession, as the global economic crisis deepens.
More than two million people are out of work in Britain, the country's highest unemployment rate in 12 years, official data has shown.
Unemployment rose to 6.5 per cent in the three months ending in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, as Britain weathers its first recession in 18 years.
The number of unemployed people increased by 165,000 over the quarter and by 421,000 over the year, the ONS said, reaching 2.03 million.
The news has hit British stocks, with the FTSE 100 index of leading shares and the pound falling on Wednesday.
The pan-European FSTEurofirst 300 index of top shares was also down 0.1 per cent at 715.48 points by 0941 GMT on Wednesday, after being up to 725.29 points earlier in the day.
Grim predictions
Howard Archer, a European economist at IHS Global Insight, a financial forecaster, said the unemployment figures could increase fears about the "potential depth and length of the recession".
"Unemployment smashed through the two million barrier with ease ... and it seems set to head up towards three million pretty rapidly over the coming months as the economy contracts sharply and struggling businesses look to contain their costs," he said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that the British economy will contract by 3.8 per cent this year, and shrink a further 0.2 per cent in 2010.
It said unemployment is also likely to rise further.
David Blanchflower, a policymaker at the Bank of England, believes the jobless rate could climb up to 10 per cent by the end of the year.
The central bank has attempted to alleviate the effects of the recession by slashing interest rates to a record low of 0.5 per cent.
[From Al Jazeera English, 18th March 2009]
More than two million people are out of work in Britain, the country's highest unemployment rate in 12 years, official data has shown.
Unemployment rose to 6.5 per cent in the three months ending in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, as Britain weathers its first recession in 18 years.
The number of unemployed people increased by 165,000 over the quarter and by 421,000 over the year, the ONS said, reaching 2.03 million.
The news has hit British stocks, with the FTSE 100 index of leading shares and the pound falling on Wednesday.
The pan-European FSTEurofirst 300 index of top shares was also down 0.1 per cent at 715.48 points by 0941 GMT on Wednesday, after being up to 725.29 points earlier in the day.
Grim predictions
Howard Archer, a European economist at IHS Global Insight, a financial forecaster, said the unemployment figures could increase fears about the "potential depth and length of the recession".
"Unemployment smashed through the two million barrier with ease ... and it seems set to head up towards three million pretty rapidly over the coming months as the economy contracts sharply and struggling businesses look to contain their costs," he said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that the British economy will contract by 3.8 per cent this year, and shrink a further 0.2 per cent in 2010.
It said unemployment is also likely to rise further.
David Blanchflower, a policymaker at the Bank of England, believes the jobless rate could climb up to 10 per cent by the end of the year.
The central bank has attempted to alleviate the effects of the recession by slashing interest rates to a record low of 0.5 per cent.
[From Al Jazeera English, 18th March 2009]
Campus fury at vice-chancellors’ windfalls
Joanna Sugden, The Times, Thursday, 19th March 2009.
University vice-chancellors are enjoying some of the highest salaries in the country, while lecturers and students are struggling to cope in the economic downturn.
One vice-chancellor earned more than £500,000 including benefits, and 63 are on salaries of more than £200,000. Their average pay rise was 9 per cent, bringing the average wage to £194,000.
Other academics and student leaders reacted furiously to the results of a survey of salaries of university academic and administrative chiefs by Times Higher Education magazine.
The details emerged days after a report published by vice-chancellors said that universities may double tuition fees to deal with a funding crisis and that they could not afford huge pay hikes for their staff. Lecturers can expect an average wage of £43,686 after a pay rise of 5.7 per cent last year, which vice-chancellors said was the limit of affordability.
Sir Colin Campbell, who stepped down as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham last year, topped the league and made £585,000 — an 89 per cent salary increase on the previous year. He had a pension contribution of £38,000.
John Hood, the outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, received £238,000 in salary and benefits after a 12 per cent pay rise.
The survey of 156 universities in Britain found that the average pension contribution for vice-chancellors was £26,129, a 16 per cent increase. At Cambridge, Alison Richard receives £227,000 in salary and perks for overseeing the administration and academic business of the university.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and Colleges Union which represents lecturers, said: “It is quite incredible and rather distasteful that vice-chancellors again have enjoyed such exorbitant pay rises.
“That vice-chancellors were pocketing close to twice the pay rise they begrudged staff at the time is extraordinary.”
Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “One has to wonder how far the drive to push up tuition fees is being driven by universities’ need to find the money to pay their vice-chancellors’ salaries.”
Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, said: “Vice-chancellors need to practise what they preach. They work incredibly hard for their institutions but so do the frontline staff who they are asking to take minimal pay increases.”
But Diana Warwick, head of Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, said: “The remuneration packages for vice-chancellors reflect what it takes to recruit and retain individuals able to run complex, multi-million pound organisations, which are operating in an increasingly competitive, global market. These particular figures relate back to 2007-08 and it’s important to note that the average increase shown here reflects a period in which overall pay rises for higher education staff were broadly similar.”
Top ten earners
1. University of Nottingham: Sir Colin Campbell £585,000
2. Imperial College London: Richard Sykes/Sir Roy Anderson £429,000 between them
3. London Business School: Laura Tyson £364,000
4. University of the Arts London: Michael Bichard* £307,603
5. University College London: Malcolm Grant £295,621
6. University of Birmingham: Michael Sterling £292,000
=7. Thames Valley University: Peter John £291,000
=7. University of Manchester: Alan Gilbert £291,000
=9. University of Liverpool: Drummond Bone £285,000
=9. University of Surrey: Christopher Snowden £285,000
* Since stepped down
Source: Times Higher Education magazine
University vice-chancellors are enjoying some of the highest salaries in the country, while lecturers and students are struggling to cope in the economic downturn.
One vice-chancellor earned more than £500,000 including benefits, and 63 are on salaries of more than £200,000. Their average pay rise was 9 per cent, bringing the average wage to £194,000.
Other academics and student leaders reacted furiously to the results of a survey of salaries of university academic and administrative chiefs by Times Higher Education magazine.
The details emerged days after a report published by vice-chancellors said that universities may double tuition fees to deal with a funding crisis and that they could not afford huge pay hikes for their staff. Lecturers can expect an average wage of £43,686 after a pay rise of 5.7 per cent last year, which vice-chancellors said was the limit of affordability.
Sir Colin Campbell, who stepped down as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham last year, topped the league and made £585,000 — an 89 per cent salary increase on the previous year. He had a pension contribution of £38,000.
John Hood, the outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, received £238,000 in salary and benefits after a 12 per cent pay rise.
The survey of 156 universities in Britain found that the average pension contribution for vice-chancellors was £26,129, a 16 per cent increase. At Cambridge, Alison Richard receives £227,000 in salary and perks for overseeing the administration and academic business of the university.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and Colleges Union which represents lecturers, said: “It is quite incredible and rather distasteful that vice-chancellors again have enjoyed such exorbitant pay rises.
“That vice-chancellors were pocketing close to twice the pay rise they begrudged staff at the time is extraordinary.”
Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “One has to wonder how far the drive to push up tuition fees is being driven by universities’ need to find the money to pay their vice-chancellors’ salaries.”
Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, said: “Vice-chancellors need to practise what they preach. They work incredibly hard for their institutions but so do the frontline staff who they are asking to take minimal pay increases.”
But Diana Warwick, head of Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, said: “The remuneration packages for vice-chancellors reflect what it takes to recruit and retain individuals able to run complex, multi-million pound organisations, which are operating in an increasingly competitive, global market. These particular figures relate back to 2007-08 and it’s important to note that the average increase shown here reflects a period in which overall pay rises for higher education staff were broadly similar.”
Top ten earners
1. University of Nottingham: Sir Colin Campbell £585,000
2. Imperial College London: Richard Sykes/Sir Roy Anderson £429,000 between them
3. London Business School: Laura Tyson £364,000
4. University of the Arts London: Michael Bichard* £307,603
5. University College London: Malcolm Grant £295,621
6. University of Birmingham: Michael Sterling £292,000
=7. Thames Valley University: Peter John £291,000
=7. University of Manchester: Alan Gilbert £291,000
=9. University of Liverpool: Drummond Bone £285,000
=9. University of Surrey: Christopher Snowden £285,000
* Since stepped down
Source: Times Higher Education magazine
Friday, 6 March 2009
National Demonstration against the G20 in London
YES WE CAN NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION
WEDNESDAY, 1 APRIL: ASSEMBLE 2PM
US EMBASSY, GROSVENOR SQUARE, W1A 1AE
The anti war movement will be marching from the US embassy on Wednesday, 1 April, the day Barack Obama and the other world leaders arrive in London for the G20 Summit.
The march will be in support of Gaza and against the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and for the abolition of nuclear weapons. It will assemble at 2 pm at the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London.
Our message will be: YES WE CAN end the siege of Gaza and free Palestine, get the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, abolish all nukes, create jobs not bombs and stop arming Israel.
We are calling for the biggest possible mobilisation for this national demonstration. We are asking all local Stop the War groups to book transport for the day.
We will also be protesting at the G20 summit at the Excel Centre in East London on Thursday, 2 April at 11AM.
For flyers, posters and other publicity phone the Coalition office on 020 7278 6694 or e-mail office@stopwar.org.uk.
WEDNESDAY, 1 APRIL: ASSEMBLE 2PM
US EMBASSY, GROSVENOR SQUARE, W1A 1AE
The anti war movement will be marching from the US embassy on Wednesday, 1 April, the day Barack Obama and the other world leaders arrive in London for the G20 Summit.
The march will be in support of Gaza and against the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and for the abolition of nuclear weapons. It will assemble at 2 pm at the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London.
Our message will be: YES WE CAN end the siege of Gaza and free Palestine, get the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, abolish all nukes, create jobs not bombs and stop arming Israel.
We are calling for the biggest possible mobilisation for this national demonstration. We are asking all local Stop the War groups to book transport for the day.
We will also be protesting at the G20 summit at the Excel Centre in East London on Thursday, 2 April at 11AM.
For flyers, posters and other publicity phone the Coalition office on 020 7278 6694 or e-mail office@stopwar.org.uk.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Dundee workers occupy over factory closure
Socialist Worker, Wednesday, 4th March, 2009
Workers at a packaging firm in Dundee are occupying their factory after being told they were sacked and that the company had no money to pay their redundancy.
One of the workers, Matthew, spoke to Socialist Worker from the occupied factory.
He said, “We are staying here to make the point that it is not acceptable to treat long-serving employees in this way. We demand some respect.”
Matthew explained that the 12 employees at Prisme Packaging came to work as normal on Monday. At around 9am the managing director resigned and the workers were told to phone the company secretary if they wanted to find out what was going on or what to do next.
The workers were later told that the company secretary was on holiday.
This morning someone the workers had never met before turned up at the factory and said that he was a company director. He brought a lawyer and told the workers that the company was ceasing trading.
“They had no documentation so we sent them away,” said Matthew. “They came back later in the day with redundancy letters for each employee detailing redundancy entitlement. At the bottom of the letters it said that there was no money to pay this entitlement and that we should go to the Citizens Advice Bureau for help.
“This is devastating news – there are some people who have worked here for 12 or 14 years.
“The mood was growing throughout the day that we had to do something about the situation so we decided to stay put. We need some more answers about what is going on. We want to get the word out about what is happening and we want what is legally ours.”
Messages of support to the Prisme workers can be sent to: prismeworkerssolidarity@googlemail.com
Workers at a packaging firm in Dundee are occupying their factory after being told they were sacked and that the company had no money to pay their redundancy.
One of the workers, Matthew, spoke to Socialist Worker from the occupied factory.
He said, “We are staying here to make the point that it is not acceptable to treat long-serving employees in this way. We demand some respect.”
Matthew explained that the 12 employees at Prisme Packaging came to work as normal on Monday. At around 9am the managing director resigned and the workers were told to phone the company secretary if they wanted to find out what was going on or what to do next.
The workers were later told that the company secretary was on holiday.
This morning someone the workers had never met before turned up at the factory and said that he was a company director. He brought a lawyer and told the workers that the company was ceasing trading.
“They had no documentation so we sent them away,” said Matthew. “They came back later in the day with redundancy letters for each employee detailing redundancy entitlement. At the bottom of the letters it said that there was no money to pay this entitlement and that we should go to the Citizens Advice Bureau for help.
“This is devastating news – there are some people who have worked here for 12 or 14 years.
“The mood was growing throughout the day that we had to do something about the situation so we decided to stay put. We need some more answers about what is going on. We want to get the word out about what is happening and we want what is legally ours.”
Messages of support to the Prisme workers can be sent to: prismeworkerssolidarity@googlemail.com
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Protest against unfair sacking at SOAS
WEDNESDAY, 4TH MARCH 2009, 9.30am - SOAS STEPS
Stalin, the chair of Unison at SOAS, was told at 5pm today that he has been sacked from SOAS. His dismissal is a clear attack on trade union organisation and the successful Living Wage campaigns that he helped instigate.
A protest has been organised on the steps of SOAS 4th March at 9.30am. The decision follows a solidarity rally of 80 people last week to coincide with his hearing.
At the Bloomsbury-campus living wage meeting at Birkbeck this afternoon it was unanimously decided to make the statement below in support of Stalin and the protest. Please circulate!
At the meeting, which included representatives of Living Wage campaigns and unions from 6 universities, it was decided to call a joint demonstration to be held on May Day, 1st May. Details in the coming weeks.
STATEMENT
We the undersigned condemn the sacking of José Stalin Bermúdez, SOAS Union Branch Chair, by SOAS management. We believe this to be a victimisation due to his prominent role in the successful SOAS Living Wage Campaign. We call on SOAS management to immediately reinstate Stalin.
Please send messages of complaint to Paul Webley, Director and Principal of SOAS, at pw4@soas.ac.uk, and join a public meeting/protest on SOAS steps, Wednesday, 4th March at 9.30 am.
Julia Rapkin, Birkbeck Unison
Liam Taylor, Institute of Education student
Johnny Darlington, SOAS UCU
Ben Sellers, co-president, SOAS SU
Janet Lucitt, Birkbeck law student and London teacher
Dermot Bryers, English for Action
Luke Stobart, campaigns officer, Birkbeck Students Union
Katie Boothby, SOAS student
Sam O'Neill, UCL student
Richard Carabine, Birkbeck UCU
Sebilio Lillo, SOAS student
Naomi Bain, Birkbeck UNISON
Jesse Oldershaw, Birkbeck student and UCL UCU
Christophe Josiffe, Senate House Unison
Stalin, the chair of Unison at SOAS, was told at 5pm today that he has been sacked from SOAS. His dismissal is a clear attack on trade union organisation and the successful Living Wage campaigns that he helped instigate.
A protest has been organised on the steps of SOAS 4th March at 9.30am. The decision follows a solidarity rally of 80 people last week to coincide with his hearing.
At the Bloomsbury-campus living wage meeting at Birkbeck this afternoon it was unanimously decided to make the statement below in support of Stalin and the protest. Please circulate!
At the meeting, which included representatives of Living Wage campaigns and unions from 6 universities, it was decided to call a joint demonstration to be held on May Day, 1st May. Details in the coming weeks.
STATEMENT
We the undersigned condemn the sacking of José Stalin Bermúdez, SOAS Union Branch Chair, by SOAS management. We believe this to be a victimisation due to his prominent role in the successful SOAS Living Wage Campaign. We call on SOAS management to immediately reinstate Stalin.
Please send messages of complaint to Paul Webley, Director and Principal of SOAS, at pw4@soas.ac.uk, and join a public meeting/protest on SOAS steps, Wednesday, 4th March at 9.30 am.
Julia Rapkin, Birkbeck Unison
Liam Taylor, Institute of Education student
Johnny Darlington, SOAS UCU
Ben Sellers, co-president, SOAS SU
Janet Lucitt, Birkbeck law student and London teacher
Dermot Bryers, English for Action
Luke Stobart, campaigns officer, Birkbeck Students Union
Katie Boothby, SOAS student
Sam O'Neill, UCL student
Richard Carabine, Birkbeck UCU
Sebilio Lillo, SOAS student
Naomi Bain, Birkbeck UNISON
Jesse Oldershaw, Birkbeck student and UCL UCU
Christophe Josiffe, Senate House Unison
SOAS cleaner faces dismissal
Kat Lay, London Student, Monday, 2nd March 2009.
A SOAS trade union activist was waiting to hear the outcome of a disciplinary hearing as London Student went to press.
Supporters say Jose Stalin Bermudez could face losing his job after he took part in the campaign for a living wage for cleaners at the School. SOAS management have angrily refuted the claim.
Students and staff stood outside SOAS last Tuesday February 24th in a show of solidarity, as Joseph Stalin Bermudez went in to the hearing.
In a statement they said: “Stalin, an Ecuadorian immigrant and himself a former cleaner, helped launch a campaign for the London Living Wage after Latin American SOAS cleaners approached him for support, as some of them had not been paid for 3 months by SOAS’s cleaning contractor.
“Stalin, along with other staff and students, organised a series of protests which would see cleaners raise their wages from £5.52 to £7.45 per hour and gain trade-union recognition! This important victory has encouraged similar campaigns to be set up in other London colleges.
“We believe that his suspension is groundless.”
A SOAS spokesperson said: “We regret that the School’s unions have chosen to breach confidentiality by airing this issue in public in a biased and inflammatory way, which can only be intended to intimidate the other member of staff involved in the case and the School managers charged with taking this matter forward.
“This is a confidential staff matter and it would be wholly inappropriate to discuss it whilst the School’s formal processes continue. UNISON HQ staff have been fully involved in this process and have formally disassociated themselves with the SOAS branch campaign.
The disciplinary concerns a complaint made against Stalin by a colleague. SOAS UNISON says that despite previous problems between the pair, management failed “to either reconcile the two employees or separate them in their duties.”
They further question the handling of the complaints, saying that a cleaner who witnessed events was questioned in front of his cleaning firm’s supervisor and, despite his imperfect English, was read a long quote allegedly made by Stalin and asked to agree to it. Although he initially agreed, when he was able to read the words himself he withdrew his comments.
The SOAS spokesperson added: “Suggestions that the School is victimising the member of staff in question because he is a UNISON member and because he was involved in the Justice for Cleaners Campaign are preposterous.
"The School was fully supportive of the Justice for Cleaners Campaign and School management worked with UCU, UNISON and the Students’ Union to secure a new cleaning contract which sees SOAS as one of the few HEIs in London which pays all its cleaning staff the GLA London Living Wage. This has resulted in significant improvements to cleaning staff morale.”
As of 3rd March, Stalin has been sacked from his job. There will be a protest on the steps of SOAS on 4th March 2009 at 9.30am.
A SOAS trade union activist was waiting to hear the outcome of a disciplinary hearing as London Student went to press.
Supporters say Jose Stalin Bermudez could face losing his job after he took part in the campaign for a living wage for cleaners at the School. SOAS management have angrily refuted the claim.
Students and staff stood outside SOAS last Tuesday February 24th in a show of solidarity, as Joseph Stalin Bermudez went in to the hearing.
In a statement they said: “Stalin, an Ecuadorian immigrant and himself a former cleaner, helped launch a campaign for the London Living Wage after Latin American SOAS cleaners approached him for support, as some of them had not been paid for 3 months by SOAS’s cleaning contractor.
“Stalin, along with other staff and students, organised a series of protests which would see cleaners raise their wages from £5.52 to £7.45 per hour and gain trade-union recognition! This important victory has encouraged similar campaigns to be set up in other London colleges.
“We believe that his suspension is groundless.”
A SOAS spokesperson said: “We regret that the School’s unions have chosen to breach confidentiality by airing this issue in public in a biased and inflammatory way, which can only be intended to intimidate the other member of staff involved in the case and the School managers charged with taking this matter forward.
“This is a confidential staff matter and it would be wholly inappropriate to discuss it whilst the School’s formal processes continue. UNISON HQ staff have been fully involved in this process and have formally disassociated themselves with the SOAS branch campaign.
The disciplinary concerns a complaint made against Stalin by a colleague. SOAS UNISON says that despite previous problems between the pair, management failed “to either reconcile the two employees or separate them in their duties.”
They further question the handling of the complaints, saying that a cleaner who witnessed events was questioned in front of his cleaning firm’s supervisor and, despite his imperfect English, was read a long quote allegedly made by Stalin and asked to agree to it. Although he initially agreed, when he was able to read the words himself he withdrew his comments.
The SOAS spokesperson added: “Suggestions that the School is victimising the member of staff in question because he is a UNISON member and because he was involved in the Justice for Cleaners Campaign are preposterous.
"The School was fully supportive of the Justice for Cleaners Campaign and School management worked with UCU, UNISON and the Students’ Union to secure a new cleaning contract which sees SOAS as one of the few HEIs in London which pays all its cleaning staff the GLA London Living Wage. This has resulted in significant improvements to cleaning staff morale.”
As of 3rd March, Stalin has been sacked from his job. There will be a protest on the steps of SOAS on 4th March 2009 at 9.30am.
Monday, 2 March 2009
Lenin in 1905
"It horrifies me - I give you my word - it horrifies me to find that there has been talk about bombs for over six months, yet not one has been made! Go to the youth! Form fighting squads at once everywhere, among students, and especially among the workers... Let groups be at once organised of three, ten, thirty, etc., persons. Let them arm themselves at once as best they can, be it with a revolver, a knife, a rag soaked in kerosene for starting fires etc. ... The evil today is... our senile fear of initiative. Let every group learn, if it is only by beating up policemen..."
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