Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

CWU Hosts Anti-Racism Conference

Workwer Independence | 09.06.2004 00:05 | Anti-racism

More than 50 trade union delegates from across Europe descended on CWU headquarters in Wimbledon today (June 7) to discuss the best ways to tackle a rising tide of racism and xenophobia across the continent.


07 June 2004



The international conference, organised by the trade union international UNI and funded by the European Union, included a series of high profile speakers.
Thought-provoking contributions were made by various academic experts, the leaders of several pan-European bodies involved in the monitoring of social and workplace trends, and the chair of the UK's own Commission for Racial Equality, Trevor Phillips.
The highly-respected former TV journalist, himself a member of the CWU, cited the tragic loss of 19 Chinese migrant workers collecting cockles in Morecambe Bay in February as evidence of the vulnerability of a section of the workforce which is discriminated again by society and typically exploited by their employers.
Opening the event, CWU general secretary Billy Hayes pointed out that even in ethnically-diverse London the problem of racism and xenophobia  urgently needs addressing.
"This is the 10th anniversary year of the infamous murder of Stephen Lawrence in South London by a group of racists," said Billy.
"His killers have never been brought to justice because racism was an institutional problem in the police force.
"For our part, the CWU, in honour of the Lawrence Inquiry, commission a report to guide us how we as a trade union could eradicate discrimination in our structures.
"It is because of our union's commitment to this work that I'm particularly proud to see the CWU host your seminar."
------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPEECH TO THE OPENING SESSIONOF THE UNI SEMINAR ON THE FIGHT AGAINST RACISM & XENOPHOBIA HELD AT CWU HQON 7 JUNE 2004.
"It is my pleasure and privilege to welcome this UNI Seminar to CWU Headquarters in London.
In London we have one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the World.  Over three hundred languages are spoken here.
London is a community of communities.  But the problems of racism and xenophobia exist here as elsewhere.
This is the 10th anniversary year of the infamous murder of Stephen Lawrence in South London.  Stephen was an 18 year old black student murdered by a group of racists.  His killers have never been brought to justice because racism was an institutional problem in the police force.
His parents, Doreen and Neville Lawrence, launched an inspirational campaign to achieve justice.  They did not achieve justice, but they did force an inquiry which directed all institutions in British society to eradicate racism in their daily work.  This is a struggle which must be pursued.
For our part, the CWU, in honour of the Lawrence Inquiry, commissioned a report to guide us how we as a Trade Union could eradicate discrimination in our structures. 
We are still carrying on this line.  This year, we have begun compulsory training for our representatives in equality and diversity issues.  If reps refuse this training, they will lose their representative position.
For us an anti-racist, and anti-sexist, policy is not a luxury.  It is not an optional extra.  A policy for equal opportunities is a central part of Trade Unionism.
The workforce today, and in the future, is more female and more ethically diverse. 
In Britain 9% of the population are from ethnic minorities.  In London 25% of the population are from ethnic minorities.  The unions must demonstrate their relevance to a new generation of workers.  We can only do this if we have anti-racist and anti-sexist policies.
In Royal Mail today, 12% of the workforce are from ethnic minorities.  In British Telecom today, 8.6% of the workforce are from ethnic minorities.
So from a very practical point of view, as a Union we must have a policy which addresses the inequalities that Black workers face in society and in the workplace.
To this effect, we have secured agreements with all our major employers on such questions as equal opportunities in promotion and staffing, against harassment and bullying in the workplace, rights for workers from religious minorities such as Muslims to carry out religious observance, and so on.
There is still much to do. We have pressed the Government to ensure laws are made which outlaw discrimination, whether this be by race, gender, sexual orientation or religion.
But we have our disappointments and problems with the Labour Government.  In particular, we are very unhappy at the treatment of asylum seekers and migrant labour by this Government.  In our view, the Government has adopted policies more appropriate to right-wing Conservative Governments.  They have prevented asylum seekers from gaining employment, denied asylum seekers access to legal assistance, and there is even a threat to take away the children of asylum seekers.
We are campaigning on these things, but the Government's policies have encouraged the growth of racism and fascist organisations.
In particular, the last three years has seen a growth of the British National Party.  This is a fascist organisation, similar to the French National Front, the Vlaams Blok in Belgium and the Freedom Party in Austria.
The CWU is involved in a national political campaign called Unite Against Fascism.  This Campaign involves organisations from the Black, Muslim and Jewish communities.  It involves the British Trade Union Congress.  It involves parliamentarians from most parties.  It involves many young people.
At the moment Unite Against Fascism is campaigning to prevent the BNP gaining an MEP's seat, or a seat in the Greater London Assembly election on June 10th.
 
The BNP has reacted angrily to our Union's work.  They have circulated material in Postal Sorting Offices attacking myself and three other key leaders of the Union.  They have threatened to sue the Union on a range of issues.
For our part, we have negotiated an agreement with the employer which allows our delivery workers, if they wish, to excuse themselves from delivering fascist election material.  There are legal limits for us, but we are testing these in our campaign against the fascists.
This then is a brief overview of the CWU's work.  It is because of our Unions commitment to this work that I am particularly proud to see the CWU host your Seminar today.
My best wishes for the success of your Seminar.
No Pasaran!


Workwer Independence

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech