What we need to learn from the Grangemouth Dispute.

What we need to learn from the Grangemouth Dispute.

 

The Trade Unions representing the workers at Grangemouth have made massive concessions and agreed to drastic cuts to living standards, pensions and bonus payments.  Concessions have been made not just for one year but for 3 years but the reductions in pension entitlement will be never ending.

The choice that was given was give in to blackmail or fight.

It is the same choice given to the Labour council in Hull and other councils across the country.

The Trade union leaders chose to give in.

Jim Radcliffe is a ruthless businessman but he is no different from the executives of the electricity companies pushing prices up or the tax-dodging executives at Google or Starbucks.

Businesses exist for one reason only:  to make money.  The Siemens factory will only locate to Hull if the company thinks it is where they will make the most profit, any other reason or incentive is completely false.

What is happening in reality is the richest 1% are engaged in class warfare.  A war being fought by one side only.

The working class need to realise what is happening and start to fight back.

The ruling class wont give concessions without a huge effort from the Trade Unions and the workers.

We have seen the industrial situation change dramatically, with the financial crisis, anti workers laws and reduced wages and conditions.

As the sign on the factory floor says, “ The beatings will continue until morale improves”, or as we should be saying until the working class takes the stick away.

Trade union leaders need to offer real leadership to the members and to the wider working class.

Living standards will continue to be reduced until we do something about it.

The bosses at Grangemouth have been able to reduce pensions, wages, bonus payments and secure a no strike deal.  These reductions in living standards must be fought; the work force at Grangemouth has enormous industrial power.  A plant closure would have paralysed much of Scotland and northern England.

The trade union leadership needed to call for the nationalisation of the plant, to organise an occupation of the plant if necessary and picket other facilities to win support.

The deal that has been done will not be the end of the matter, the bosses will never be satisfied, they will be back for more cuts to wages and conditions.

This is because the whole economic situation has changed.  There is no middle way; a war is being waged on working people.

What we need are Trade Union and Labour leaders who will explain what is happening and why it is happening.

Capitalism, the financial system is in chaos and attempting to put the whole burden on the workers.

There can be no return to “normal” times; capitalism can no longer afford pensions, the NHS, decent housing or a living wage.

We must fight back, we must overthrow the banksters.  We need to put the working class on a war footing with the trade unions and the Labour Party adopting a clear socialist programme.

 

 

Response to Karl Turner MP.

I am writing in response to the recent first person article from MP Karl Turner.

There is a real sense of anger felt by many people in the city to the current situation.

Anger about falling living standards, anger about the bedroom tax, anger about the need for food banks and anger at the corporate greed, which means many profitable businesses, pay no tax.

It seems politicians don’t understand the real world. Whilst chancellor George Osborne says austerity will last until 2020 Karl Turner defended the use of First Class rail travel by MP’s.

The living standards of ordinary people are continuing to fall as the political parties draw battle lines for the next general election.  With the Conservative Party moving to the right Labour has yet failed to clearly put forward a socialist alternative to the City of London obsessed Tories.

I welcome the pledges from Ed Miliband to scrap the Bedroom Tax and freeze energy prices but we need to do far more than that.

With 2,500 people in Hull are reliant on local food banks, thousands are on zero hours contracts and many more face the prospect of job losses and wage freezes.

We need a lot more from our local Labour MPs about what a future Labour Government will do for people facing the brunt of the government’s austerity policy.

I want to see a Labour government.  I support every gain which is made to improve the lives working people, but Labour need to go much further to tackle the real problems in society.

There is no point trying to patch up capitalism.  Ed Ball’s plan to accept Tory-spending plans for the first year of a Labour government is not acceptable.

An incoming Labour government need to be much more radical, taking the big monopoly industries like railways, water, gas and electric back into public ownership.

A temporay freeze on prices is not enough; you can’t plan what you don’t control.

 

 

Reply to Hull MPs re Ennerdale Leisure Centre.

Diana Johnson MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA

COUNCILLOR GARY WAREING Drypool Ward   The Guildhall Alfred Gelder Street HULL HU1 2AA   Tel No  01482 613583 Fax No 01482 613046   Our Ref: GW/   13th September 2013

Dear Diana

 

 

I am in response to your letter to Steve Brady copied to Labour Councillors regarding the leisure facilities at Ennerdale.

 

In your letter you state

 

We write to express our opposition to the proposal, currently being consulted on, to close the swimming pool at Ennerdale Leisure Centre.

 

I fully agree with you opposition to the proposed closure but who is supporting the closure.

 

We fully acknowledge that this option is only being forced on Labour councillors by the unfair and disproportionately heavy funding cuts being imposed on Hull City Council by the Lib Dem-backed Coalition Government.

 

What are you going to do about it is the question; mere support doesn’t answer the question.  What will a Labour Government do, will a Labour government restore the funding?

 

 

As you know, each person in Hull, the country’s tenth most deprived area, will lose £228.36 between 2010 and 2015 in funding to Hull – equating to £90m coming out of the Council’s budget. Meanwhile, Surrey Heath, the 324^th most deprived area, loses only £24.54 per head over the same period.

 

 

 

This is why we launched the Fair Deal for Hull campaign earlier this year on the issue of the distribution of local government funding from Whitehall. This campaign is opposed by Lib Dem Opposition Group in Hull. This is not surprising, given that without Lib Dem support for the Tories in the Coalition such unjust treatment of Hull would not have been possible in the first place.

 

Whilst I fully the support the sentiment behind the Fair Deal for Hull petition, there is little evidence of a campaign.  And again the real question is what will the next Labour government do?  If £90 Million is taken from Hull will an incoming Labour government return the money to Hull City Council?

 

For our part, we voted against these cuts to Hull in Parliament and we will continue to promote the Fair Deal for Hull at every opportunity. As part of this campaign we also support the campaign by users of Ennerdale to save their swimming pool.

 

“For our part we voted against these cuts to Hull in Parliament” well excuse me but BIG DEAL.  It’s very easy to be against cuts when you are in opposition when quite frankly your vote didn’t account for much.  That is exactly what the Lib Dems are doing now in Hull in opposition.

 

The cost savings by Hull City Council including Ennerdale are the result of the council budget passed in February, a budget you supported as for my part I did vote against the cuts to Hull in February.

 

We hope that you will also work with users of Ennerdale to explore every possible idea and option that would keep this pool open for Hull residents.

 

Sounds remarkably like David Cameron’s big society; you can have services as long as you provide them yourself.

 

There are a series of reasons why Ennerdale should be the last pool that should be considered for closure in Hull – not the first.

 

Well quite frankly I don’t want to see any of the facilities in the city close.  But what you are actually saying here is “not in my backyard”.  It’s not ok for other facilities to close so that this one can stay open.

 

For our part, we will do everything possible to get a Fair Deal for Hull. Part of this means working imaginatively to secure a future for important facilities serving the whole city, such as Ennerdale.

 

Austerity simply means “make the people pay”, make the people pay with lost jobs, lower wages, zero hours contracts, reduced rights at work, reduced benefits, later pensions, lower living standards and cuts to services like Ennerdale.  The Labour Party and its representatives should not be part of implementing the Coalition government’s austerity plans.

 

Labour councillors are being put on the spot.  If we “ do the Tories job for them” as one Labour councillor put it, it will Labour councillors who take the blame.  We were not elected to implement austerity. We were not elected to be the local agents of the coalition.  Many of us campaign against the cuts imposed by Minns and the Liberal Democrat administration. We should not give in to the blackmail of Eric Pickles and the threats of taking over the council.

 

Labour Councillors face a real dilemma. 

 

What is required from Labour leaders in the city is a real campaign for a fair deal for Hull.  A joint campaign of the Labour MPs, Councillors, party members, Trade Unions and most importantly the residents of the city and users of the services like the swimming pools.

 

In the best traditions of the Labour movement a united campaigns to defend all services and all facilities.

 

We should not be discussing the order that services or facilities close.

 

What is required is a Peoples Assembly type event in Hull bringing together the labour movement, councillors, ward parties, trade unions and the community groups in the city.

 

This forum could then decided the best way forward for a Labour Council in opposing the Coalition governments Austerity.

 

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

COUNCILLOR GARY WAREING

DRYPOOL WARD

 

 

 

 

Ennerdale Leisure Centre. Letter from Hull MPs

 

Re: Ennerdale Swimming Pool

 

We write to express our opposition to the proposal, currently being consulted on, to close the swimming pool at Ennerdale Leisure Centre.

 

We fully acknowledge that this option is only being forced on Labour councillors by the unfair and disproportionately heavy funding cuts being imposed on Hull City Council by the Lib Dem-backed Coalition Government.

 

As you know, each person in Hull, the country’s tenth most deprived area, will lose £228.36 between 2010 and 2015 in funding to Hull – equating to £90m coming out of the Council’s budget. Meanwhile, Surrey Heath, the 324^th most deprived area, loses only £24.54 per head over the same period.

 

This is why we launched the Fair Deal for Hull campaign earlier this year on the issue of the distribution of local government funding from Whitehall. This campaign is opposed by Lib Dem Opposition Group in Hull. This is not surprising, given that without Lib Dem support for the Tories in the Coalition such unjust treatment of Hull would not have been possible in the first place.

 

For our part, we voted against these cuts to Hull in Parliament and we will continue to promote the Fair Deal for Hull at every opportunity. As part of this campaign we also support the campaign by users of Ennerdale to save their swimming pool.

 

We hope that you will also work with users of Ennerdale to explore every possible idea and option that would keep this pool open for Hull residents.

 

There are a series of reasons why Ennerdale should be the last pool that should be considered for closure in Hull – not the first.

 

·         Ennerdale is the only pool in Hull capable of holding competitive galas, having both a 25m pool and spectator area. Ennerdale also has the best training facilities. Because of these assets, Ennerdale is the only swimming facility in Hull that is accredited by the Amateur Swimming Association to be of competition standard. As such Ennerdale serves the whole of the City in a way that no other leisure pool in Hull does or could.

 

·         Both East Hull Baths and Beverley Road Baths are Victorian-era amenities that require investment. Although listed status of certain buildings shows the need for preserving the fabric of the buildings, their actual long-term function should not be dictated by these considerations - not over and above the needs of providing the best possible sports and leisure facilities for Hull’s modern needs within the available resources.

 

·         All Hull’s swimming pools require investment in maintenance and have had rising heating costs. However, Ennerdale Leisure Centre has the lowest subsidy of any leisure facility in Hull and the highest percentage of its costs covered by income.

 

·         Kingston upon Hull Swimming Club has around 230 swimming members and the club broke even for the first time this year. Without Ennerdale it is likely that the club will cease to exist, and the extra revenue brought into the local area from visiting competitive swimmers and spectators will be lost. What good will ‘arms-length’ arrangements for running Hull leisure amenities be if we see sports clubs disappearing?

 

·         It has been suggested that alternative pool facilities exist near to Ennerdale at the Winifred Holtby Academy. This is not an option as Winifred Holtby does not have competition facilities, and is not a local authority amenity available openly to the public.

 

·         The current distribution of swimming facilities in the city is broadly even, but the closure of Ennerdale will mean that residents of the large estates of Orchard Park, Bransholme and Kingswood will have much further to travel to access a swimming pool. Kingswood has been rapidly expanding, and facilities such as local swimming pools are important in attracting new residents to the area.

 

·         Finally, Hull is meant to be a proud sporting city, seeking an Olympic 2012 legacy and competing for City of Culture 2017, with a wish to attract visitors from outside Hull. We are all aware of the public health challenge presented locally by obesity. Under Labour, Hull previously pursued some pioneering initiatives on this – such as on free healthy school meals. How does closing Ennerdale fit with any of these policy objectives?

 

Hull City Council has supported Ennerdale for 30 years. We know that the only thing that has changed is the unfair treatment on funding under this Coalition Government.

 

For our part, we will do everything possible to get a Fair Deal for Hull. Part of this means working imaginatively to secure a future for important facilities serving the whole city, such as Ennerdale.

 

In this, I hope that your Labour administration can play a part by keeping Ennerdale swimming pool for the people of Hull.

 

Yours sincerely,

                                              

                                                 

 

Diana Johnson MP                  Alan Johnson MP                     Karl Turner MP      

Hull North                                Hull West and Hessle             Hull East

 

 

cc All Hull Labour councillors

No to air strikes in Syria

No to air strikes in Syria

Within days the USA and Britain are planning an attack on Syria. The recall of Parliament is expected to back the military action at an emergency meeting convened for Thursday 29th August. 

The situation in Syria has changed so much since the initial promise of the Arab Spring.

Minority groups of Christians and Alawites have felt threatened by the growing Islamic Sunni reaction to the potential of the Arab Spring.

The rebels in Syria are not a mass movement for change but an attempt by one armed group supported by foreign mercenaries to simply replace Assad with a fundamentalist regime.

Worried by the rise of Jihadists in the opposition forces the US has been supplying arms and by training the Free Syrian Army.

The Assad regime is clearly winning the war which has pushed the US to direct intervention in order to prevent Assad’s military advance.

The chemical weapons attack on August 21^st killed hundreds of civilians including many children this is now being used as justification for American military action.

We don't know what circumstances are surrounding the use of chemical weapons in Syria but the Americans and opposition groups have no interest in establishing the truth.

 United Nations could play a role in preventing the conflict but we don’t want another dodgy dossier of false evidence.

What are the real aims of military intervention in Syria.

After more than 100,000 deaths in this bloody civil war in Syria over the last two years, the US government is now suddenly becoming extremely concerned by the killing of women and children and innocent civilians. How many have been killed before by weapons supplied by western  powers to one or the other sides of this bloody proxy war.

Conventional weapons have been used to kill thousands of civilians but that wasn’t enough to cross of red line for America and Britain.

Cruise missiles do not discriminate between military personnel and civilians when they strike Syria.   It is the ordinary Syrian people who will be the victims of the destruction of energy and water supplies. 

What are the real aims of American intervention?

The declared aim to destroy the deposits of chemical weapons is laughable, the Assad regime will have used the past months to protect their stocks of weapons and defend against air strikes.

From the Americans point of view a long stalemate in hostilities is preferable to one side getting the upper hand.

So airstrikes are being used to restrict the Syrians army’s ability to mount an offensive against the opposition.

The most plausible aim of US intervention seems to us to be that of seriously affecting the Syrian army's ability of taking advantage of the momentum gained in their offensive against the opposition armies. 

We will then see a so called peace conference leaving the monster Assad in power an allowed to attack opponents at will.

There is also a danger that Syria could be used as a proxy for a phoney war between America and its allies and Russia.

The Russian military has already delivered advanced surface-to-air missile batteries for Assad.  The US Navy has deployed in the area in recent days. And has the option to strike Syria from air force bases in several Mediterranean countries.

Russia has also established of a permanent presence in the Mediterranean and has moved several large landing ships to the area.

Over the coming days we will see the media propaganda aimed at building public opinion to support military action in Syria.

Military action should be opposed.  The Syrian people are being used as cannon fodder for the games played by the USA and Russian politicians.

What is required in Syria are decent living standards, jobs, cheap plentiful food supplies and an end to corrupt and brutal regimes.

For the mass of people in Syria the military action of the USA nor the Assad regime offer a way out, what is required is the overthrow of the Assad regime by the mass of working people and the organisation of society not based on religion but on the need of the population.