Our young people face a generation of life with no employment and no hope”

Last weekend around 270 delegates and visitors gathered at Congress House for the 20th TUC Black Workers' Conference. The theme for this year’s conference was ‘Putting Race back on the Agenda’ and reflects the view of the TUC Race Relations Committee that the governments promotion of a politics of austerity has lead to a deliberate  silencing of discussion about racism and the widespread injustice that has resulted to black and other communities as a result of severe public spending cuts

       

Black workers believe the government’s austerity measures represent a concerted attack on black communities. Measures such as the erosion of key public services including crisis services in such areas as mental health, a concerted campaign to strip jobs from the public sector, the demonisation of benefit recipients and cuts to essential welfare benefits threaten to undo many of the gains that black communities have made over recent decades.

Motions submitted to the conference for covered a range of issues including the effects of austerity on black workers, youth unemployment in the black community, education and social division, the far right and the European elections and fighting the points based immigration systems effects in further and higher education.

 

Key debates centred on how to respond to unemployment, underemployment and youth unemployment as a combination of the continuing recession and the economic effects of cuts in public spending are having a devastating effect in our already impoverished black communities.

 

Last October the TUC published a report highlighting the effect that the recession was having on black youth employment. The report showed that among 16-24 yr olds, white young people have the lowest unemployment rates (20%), while black groups have a rate that is more than twice as high (45%).

 

In January, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Race and Community published a report on black women and employment revealing that the unemployment rate of ethnic minority women is 14.3% compared to 6.8% of white women. The report showed that Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are particularly affected, with 20.5% being unemployed and 17.7% of black women also being unemployed.

 

Delegates knew that such figures have not been seen since the early 1980s and that once again black communities face a situation where a generation of our young people are likely to face life without employment, where rates of poverty in black communities will sharply increase and where the government welfare reform and workfare programmes are likely to leave young people with no hope.

 

Speakers at the conference will included  TUC general Secretary Frances O'Grady,  TUC President Lesley Mercer, writer Owen Jones, Professor Elizabeth Anionwu from the Mary Seacole Memorial statue appeal, and Rafeef Ziadah, a Palestinian Human right activist.

TUC Black Workers' Conference 2013

A unique contribution to the debate on deaths in custody from NUJ member and calypsonian Alexander D Great.

Justice for South African Gold miners

Under apartheid gold mining was South Africa's biggest industry. Production levels were high and major multinationals made a fortune at the expense of black workers, with little or no consideration for their safety.

Most miners were migrant workers from rural areas. They were seen as an expendable commodity, forced to work underground in appalling conditions for a meagre pay and housed in poor and overcrowded single sex hostels. When they weren’t working long hours in the mines, they lived, cooked and slept in the same room. They were lucky if they saw their families once a year, most of who lived in a small area of South Africa designated by the government as ‘Homelands’.

Black miners undertook the dustiest jobs and were given little or no protection. The mine owners had known the risks of the high levels of silica dust for over a century, but took none of the simple steps to protect their workers. Now it is estimated that tens of thousands of ex gold miners are suffering from silicosis, a terrible lung disease caused by prolonged exposure to silica dust. It decreases lung capacity, making it difficult to breathe and massively increases the risk of TB, which can be fatal. Silicosis can take 10 – 20 years to develop, so was unlikely to affect workers whilst they were employed by the mines. Respirators and onsite showers would have saved many lives, but profits were prioritised over the lives of black workers.

There is no cure or specific treatment for silicosis, but medical care is essential for diagnosis and to treat associated diseases such as TB, particularly as South Africa has proportionally the highest number of TB cases in the world. However, in rural areas where most ex-mineworkers live access to screening and medical facilities is very limited or non-existent. Without diagnosis, they cannot even access the limited and inadequate compensation scheme which exists. Under the current scheme compensation does not cover pain and suffering. It is based on pay, so black ex miners get next to nothing, as they were paid the lowest wages.

The National Union of Mineworkers South Africa is calling for decent compensation, treatment, screening and support for silicosis sufferers. They say it should be paid for by the mining companies that profited from South Africa’s gold and ACTSA supports those calls.

Anglo American South Africa (AASA) was the largest gold miner in South Africa throughout the 20th century making millions in profits from apartheid gold. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo American plc which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Anglo American claims that “we do not accept that it is necessary for people to be made ill whilst working for us.”

Currently there are over 1,200 ex gold miners from South Africa taking legal action against Anglo American South Africa (AASA) in the UK and 18 in South Africa for compensation and access to health care. They are suffering from silicosis and silico-tuberculosis from exposure to dangerous levels of dust from the South African gold mines.

ACTSA wants Anglo American to live up to its Corporate Social Responsibility statements and take urgent steps to provide decent compensation and improve medical services for the thousands of ex gold miners who are now suffering from silicosis. We are urging Anglo American to provide leadership and do what is right.

You can find out more about the campaign and how you can support our calls for justice for South Africa miners at www.actsa.org

 

A Future That Works - Demo - 20 October 2012

On Saturday 20th October the Trades Union Congress is organising a national demonstration to demand a change to the current government’s economic policies.

• They told us that there is no alternative to austerity as we have to pay off the deficit, yet the policy of cuts has resulted in the longest economic downturn since the 1930’s.
• They told us that we are all in it together, yet every day we see the leaders of big business pay themselves enormous annual bonuses which an ordinary person could live on for a lifetime.
• They told us it wasn’t down to the greed of the bankers, yet every month new scandals of fraud and corruption emerge from our financial industry.
• They led us to believe that these austerity measures were only temporary, but essential public services including the health service and policing are being handed over to unaccountable corporations.

AUSTERITY ISN’T WORKING
Our country faces long-term economic problems. But our political leaders have failed to face up to them. In our communities we see rising unemployment, closing businesses and disappearing public services every day.  Unless policies change the economy will not grow, incomes will not rise, and there will be almost no new jobs. If the government keeps on with big spending cuts and austerity we face a lost decade. Even on their own terms government policies are failing. To close the deficit we need a healthy growing economy that generates tax income. But austerity has led to a vicious circle of decline.

A FUTURE THAT WORKS FOR ALL

Instead of just letting the banks go back to business and bonuses as usual, we need policies that promote new and old industries.

We need an alternative that will

• Force companies to pay decent wages, penalise big bonuses and invest in training and new industries.
• Crack down on tax evasion by big companies and the super-rich.
• Tackle the growing inequality between the super-rich and everyone else.

Rather than deep, rapid spending cuts, we need to reverse our decline and build an economy that works for ordinary people.

Join the demonstration and demand a better future

Austerity and Race in Europe

On Sat 28th Jun Wilf Sullivan and I will run the CBTU's first educational event with themes focusing on community organising and leadership. A key sub-text to this is some of the recent work Wilf has undertaken on the impact of the Coalition's attack on the public sector and welfare on black workers, their families and communities.

There is much coverage of this issue both economically and politically, with this blog piece on the UKREN site providing a EU-wide snapshot: http://www.ukren.org/2012/05/Austerity-in-Europe-what-impact-on-race-equality.html



The response of Greek workers to austerity must be supported by
workers across Europe and internationally

The picture it presents however is nothing new, as most accounts of eras of economic depression show clear links between one of the most basic manifestations of key issue for black workers: the rise of unemployment and the consequent racism from white 'indigenous' workers.

This depressing historical cycle has been confirmed by the European Commission's standing organisation to monitor racism and xenophibia when it reports the following on the period Jan-Dec 2011:

The ongoing economic crisis has created a vicious cycle inwhich many of the groups of concern to ECRI (vulnerable groups) are trapped. Diminished economic opportunities and welfare cuts push them into poverty, which breeds negative feelings on both sides of the social divide. Immigrants and some historical

minorities are perceived as a burden to society. Old myths about yielding influence in the financial world are revived. The “multiculturalism model” is questioned. Discrimination in employment is rife. Racism and intolerance are on the rise in Europe today and the resulting tension sometimes leads to racist
violence.
The full report is here: http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/activities/Annual_Reports/Annual%20report%202011.pdf

This is not a reason for pessimism or negativity however, as previous economic depressions have wtinessed the growth of movements to resist nascent racism and intolerance, and the OCCUPY movement is indeed a perfect embodiment of this, alebit within the context of a broader economic and political objectives.

Similarly, it is important to acknowledge the  role of the left in Greece - truly a crucible in which maistream, vulnerable and migrant workers are being made to pay the price for a crisis not of their making - in providing the formative, combative line of defence against a resurgent, fascist movement, the Golden Dawn.

As ever it is important for black trade unionists to be part of this resistance wherever it springs up and to understand its implications directly for black workers and the communities they are drawn from. Exactly what Wilf and I hope to do on Saturday 28th.

Please join us if you can.

In Solidarity

Ian

PS Email for more details about the 28th June event: imanborde@ruskin.ac.uk

TUC Stephen lawrence Fundraising Appeal

At this year’s TUC Black Workers’ Conference,  General Secretary Brendan Barber  launched the TUC Stephen Lawrence fund raising appeal. The TUC have consistently supported the Lawrence families campaign and Stephens legacy through the fight to tackle institutional racism in the workplace, and in wider society.

A vital part of that legacy is the work of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust which was set up to be a lasting legacy for Stephen who had dreams of becoming an architect. Through the work of The Stephen Lawrence Centre the Trust supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds enter the professional world by offering mentoring and bursaries. The centre also runs employment and education programmers and is soon to provide space for young entrepreneurs trying to set up new businesses.

The work of the Trust is threatened by the lack of funds for voluntary organisations that has resulted from public spending cuts and the recession. Now more than ever, the Stephen Lawrence Trust that does support young people and to combat social injustice, by promoting equality of opportunity must not be allowed to fail for lack of funding.

The TUC is encouraging its affiliate, union branches and trade union members to support the appeal. Donations can be made through the

TUC website https://www.justgiving.com/TUCslct or

Text TUCS99 followed by the £ symbol, then the amount to 70070. 

What Price Justice?

Bizarrely, the Conservative/Liberal Coalition believe that doing away with regulation will result in more employment opportunities for ordinary people, or that’s what they say. This was the driving force behind the Red tape challenge which was designed to draw people into the process of deciding which rules and regulations should be scrapped.

However the reality is that the government are not committed to t doing away with all regulation, but just those rules protect workers. They are of course happy to introduce regulations that advantage employers. As David Cameron stated in his introduction to the Red tape challenge “these regulations cost businesses time and money”.

What such initiatives as the Red Tape challenge expose is the ideological basis on which this Government is operating. The belief that the market can solve all problems and that rules to make employers behave decently are unnecessary because, as pro free market theorists espouse, treating workers badly is not a rational way to build a successful business. They also believe that workers do not need to be protected from employers and if they do suffer injustice at work then it is their responsibility as individuals to solve the problem. Of course there is no recognition that some employers can be exploitative, discriminatory and just plan nasty. It is therefore no surprise that the system that gives workers access to seek legal redress is now under assault.

Employment Tribunals and Employment Appeals Tribunals were originally established as a semi formal system where workers could get access to justice easily and quickly without having to resort to the expensive route of civil litigation through the magistrates and high courts. Unfortunately over the last thirty years, driven by market philosophies, successive Governments made the system increasingly formal and more difficult to access in a drive to save money and keep employers happy. With the extension of the free market into all areas of our lives justice increasingly has a price tag.

Under the guise of austerity the latest assault on workers ability to seek justice through the tribunal system has come in the form of proposals from the Government to introduce fees in order to access industrial tribunals. The Government has come up with two charging options.

In option one; a claimant will pay an initial fee of £150-£250 to begin a claim, with an additional fee of £250-£1,250 if the claim goes to a hearing, with no limit to the maximum award. The second option requires claimants to pay a single fee of £200-£600, with the maximum award limited to £30,000. Claimants seeking a higher award will pay an additional fee of £1,750, paying up to £2,350 in total.

In proposing these changes the government is relying on contradictory arguments that are not backed up by evidence. Jonathan Djanogly MP – the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Justice opened his justification for these proposals in the governments consultation document by arguing that they are confronting the structural barriers that impede competitiveness, employer confidence and hinder the creation of jobs. He went on to identify cost and employer attitudes as major influences for proposing these reforms.

In putting forward arguments about cost the government has conveniently forgotten that the role of Industrial tribunals was expanded from their original remit of dealing with training levy disputes to other areas of worker/employer dispute as a way to provide an alternative route for workers to deal with grievances at work. With civil litigation being too costly for ordinary workers the only alternative was industrial action and with the number of working days lost through strikes reaching an all time high of 12.9 million in the 1970’s it was seen as prudent to provide a less costly way of settling employer/worker disputes.

What is worse is the government’s reliance on the nonsensical views of employers, many of which have no basis in the reality of what takes place in the Employment Tribunal system. The government has accepted the employer’s favorite argument that Employment Tribunals are hostile to them and likely to find in favour of workers complaints without challenge. In reality in 2010/11 only 8% of unfair dismissal cases were successful and when it comes to equality the likelihood of success is even more marginal with the number of successful cases dropping from 7% in 2009/10 to 3% in 2010/11. Alongside this employer assertions that workers submit tribunal claims in claims to at the drop of a hat are treated seriously but, according to the Governments’ own figures only 218,100 claims were registered in 2010/11 which is less that 0.8% of workers given that the UK workforce numbers 29 millions.

For Black workers, these proposals will further undermine their chances of obtaining justice through the Employment Tribunal system. Firstly, because in the proposals for option 1 the government is arguing that equality cases should attract a higher fee because they take more time and are therefore more expensive. This in effect will have a directly disproportionate effect on black workers and other minority groups as claiming discrimination will be more expensive. Secondly, because option 2 proposes the introduction of a £30,000 threshold and cap for compensation and a proposal that Employment Tribunals are prevented from making an award of £30,000 or more if the claimant does not pay the higher level fee. In practice this will this be the equivalent of a cap for compensation in higher value discrimination cases.

The government is seeking to present this as a fair system by using the cover of proposals for a remission system. Applicants would be entitled to claim back some or all of the fees depending on their level of household income. However in proposing a remission system the government have fail to take into account that the time limits for filing claims with an Employment Tribunal are shorter than for many other legal proceedings and that it will be difficult to operate the complex fees and remission scheme in time. There would therefore be significant risks that claimants will be unjustifiably barred from an Employment Tribunal.

Governments claim that a remissions policy will ensure claimants on low incomes will be able access to justice are misplaced and do not bear scrutiny. Many workers will not want to give detailed financial information about their household to their trade union or anybody else in order to claim remission. Also in reality many will have to initially pay the fees in order to access the tribunal because there will not be time to complete the remission procedures before the tribunal claim has to be submitted. Research commissioned by the TUC also suggests that a significant proportion of claimants who are paid at NMW and living wage rates will still be required to pay fees. Even the governments own figure suggest that 36% people who are part of households where the national minimum wage is paid will not be entitled to remission.

The government’s initial equality impact assessment does not deny that this is likely to have an impact on disadvantage groups but argues that it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, i.e. saving money and that the remissions system will protect access to justice for those on low means and argument that the TUC rejects.

For Black workers, the effect of the introduction of fees along with the government’s recent decision to lengthen the qualifying period before unfair dismissal can be claimed will make the prospect of dealing with racial discrimination in the workplace through claims to an Employment Tribunal even more difficult. Currently 18.7% of black workers miss out unfair dismissal rights because they have less than 12 months service. This will rise to 32% of all Black workers have less than 2 years service with their current employer compared to 25% white from 6 April 2012 when the Government lengthens the qualifying period for making a claim of unfair dismissal to the employment tribunal from one to two years.

The introduction of market mechanisms to regulate the ability of workers to access justice is after all no surprise when considering that governments attitude to the unemployed is that they are feckless and lazy and who believe that the low paid should be grateful for having a job. Black workers should not be surprised by the fact that the government are in effect erecting barriers to protect employers and that they are not concerned by the disproportionate impact that this will have on dealing with race discrimination in the workplace. Eric Pickles recently published race equality strategy quaintly entitled “Creating the Conditions for Integration” spoke volumes about the Government’s view of black communities when it omitted tackling discrimination as one of the five key factors on which their integration strategy is based.

These changes are part of a concerted attack on the individual and collective rights of workers. They are a clear indication that black workers cannot look to government or rely on the law to deal with the problems they face. More than ever black workers need to collectively organise within the trade union movement to deal with the systemic discrimination meted out by employers as the price for justice and equality through the courts is becoming out of reach.

Support Bullied Workers in Swindon

Colleagues,

The majority of outsourced workers working for private contractor Carillion at Swindon Hospital (part of Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) have voted for strike action in a move to signal their frustration at managment's intransigence on complaints of bullying.

Full news of the campaign, with links to earlier stories, can be seen at: http://union-news.co.uk/2012/01/goan-somewhere-swindon-indians-ballot-for-strike-action-over-bullying/

What makes this strike of note for the Race Matters blog is that the majority of workers are first-generation migrants from Goa.

GMB members and Carillion employees vote for strike action

Interestingly, it doesn't take long for the long-standing grievances of workers to be based on discriminatory grounds around, for example, annual leave. Lifting a quote from the Union News stroy:

One GMB member, who did not want to be named for fear of recrimination, told UnionNews: “This is terrible because two weeks to go to India is not enough. It takes us two days to get there and two days to get back, so we don’t have much time with our families. Also, many of us are Christians and we want to go home during the Christmas period but we are told this is not allowed. This is not fair. This is discrimination.”

This campaign is well worth following.

In Solidarity

Ian

Reading the Riots

Colleagues,

I have been following the on-going research-based analysis of the causes and effects of the riots over the summer, which is a joint operation between The Guardian and the LSE.

I've got some doubts about the approach, but these are largely issues of methodology, but overall the project seeks to achieve much more than the essential knee-jeekery that we've had from the government.

Two of the latest pieces published centre on the issue of race and they throw up many points of significance for those of us interested in the future stability and cohesion of large, black communities in the UK.

Overall the evidence to-date, the joint project asserts, indicates that race was not a significant factor in the riots, particularly of a causal nature.

The first piece (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/08/muslim-rioters-police-discrimination-motivated) does suggest however, that the legacy of poor relations between black communities and the police were critical factors in drawing in people to engage with the riots.

The second recent article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/08/were-the-riots-about-race) provides an outline picture where race features as part of the riot, but in a nuanced, complex manner. For example, the racial profile of those jailed following the riots tells us as much about social deprivation in the UK, than it does whether young black men have a greater propensitty to engage in riotous behaviour. The article states, for example, "Race played its part – that much is clear from our conversations with many of those involved in the riots. But its role in terms of who took part and why is difficult to categorise in a manner simplistic enough to give anybody certainty."

Please have a look at these articles and post a reply.

There is a dedicated area of the Guardian's web-site where research evidence and articles (and other allied elements) can be seen: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/series/reading-the-riots

In Solidarity

Ian

Black History Month – A Trade Union Necessity

Black History Month (BHM) in the UK originated in 1987 from an initiative Akyaaba Addai Sebbo a special adviser at the Greater London Council (GLC). Addai organised the first event know to have taken black that years and subsequently drew up a plan to recognise the contributions of African, Asian and Caribbean people to the economic, cultural and political life in London. Over the years other school, libraries local Councils and other institution began to recognise October as Black History Month in the UK and started to organise BHM events.

From the early 1990’s TUC regions and trade unions started to organise Black History Month events and within ten years they had become an important part of the calendar for black members groups within the trade union movement. However, for much of the trade union movement participation in these events is mainly by black workers and all too often the events are seen by the wider movement as a cultural celebration and an affirmation of the black workers groups within unions.

Black History Month is not without its critics who are uncomfortable with the increasing commercialisation of the event epitomised by this year’s Black History month Live at Wembley in London and because it is seen as ghettoising black history into one month of the year. After much debate the South East Region of the TUC (SERTUC) who used to do an annual black history month event decided that they would hold events that had relevance to black history throughout the years. This led to the development of the SERTUC film which is popular both with trade unionists and working people who are not particularly involved in the movement. The club mainly show’s films that are about history and lives the black working clash communities in the UK.

Whatever the controversy surrounding black history month it still has an important role to play in the trade union movement. Many initiatives have been developed within the last 30 years in employment practice and by trade unions to address discriminatory attitudes, structures and practices. Understanding black history is an important part of this process and helps to counter the tendency to view black people as victims rather than as conscious agents for social change. The contribution of black workers to the labour movement, although significant, is largely undocumented. Yet black workers have led struggles for equality, for trade union recognition, for equal pay, dignity and respect at work. It is important that trade unions not only commemorate these struggle and the sacrifices of Black, Asian and other minority ethnic workers but make sure that the whole of the movement is educated about them. Only through doing this can we make hope to maintain and develop the solidarity that is necessary for both black and white working people to fight the oppression and exploitation that we face today.

APPRENTICESHIPS FOR ALL ?????........

A major outcome of Thatcher’ introduction of neo-liberalism into the British economy in the early 1980’s was the sharp rise in unemployment especially among young people.  In areas that saw the collapse of old industries such as mining, textiles, steel, car manufacture and ship building, the young people of the time saw their futures consigned to the dole. They represented a whole generation of young people that were never to work and who make up the core of today’s long term unemployed. In Black communities where gaining employment had always been a problem the unemployment rates for young people spiralled to over 50% and arguably laid the foundations for the uprisings across every major city in 1981.

The Government response at the time was to come up with training programmes to prepare young people to work.  The most famous of these was the Youth opportunities programme (YOPS) which was run by the Manpower Service Commission Schemes. It was designed to offer 12 months training and aimed at school leavers, but was notorious as a cheap labour scheme where participants got little useful training and no chance of a permanent job at the end unless they were part of a trade union negotiated scheme.

Thirty years on the 2008-09 recessions saw unemployment rise to 2.5million, with far higher numbers finding themselves out of work.  This exacerbated the situation in black communities where high levels of worklessness already existed and where for young people, gaining access to work was already a problem.  A report published by the institute of Public Policy Research in January 2010 showed that almost half (48%) of Black people aged between16–24 were unemployed – compared to the rate of unemployment among white young people which stood at 20%.

In February 2011 the Coalition Government Minister John Hayes announced that the Government would “increase the budget for Apprenticeships to over £1,400 million in 2011-12, helping to create a new generation of skilled workers to drive economic growth”. This increase is an extension to current Government apprenticeship schemes that are coordinated by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) and the money is aimed at creating 100,000 extra apprenticeships by 2014.

However, the TUC have had a long standing concern about the difficulties young black workers face gaining access to both employment and decent quality government training schemes.  As far back as 1984 in its report ‘Moving On’, the TUC highlighted concerns that the welfare to work New Deal Programme had poorer outcomes for young black workers. In 2005, through its “Workplace Training - a Race for Opportunity” the TUC called on the Government to use public procurement as a lever to improve the employment of black workers and to boost training, apprenticeships and skills levels.

The previous government acknowledged the lack of involvement of young black workers in apprenticeships and put in place plans to commission a number of diversity pilots that would run over a period of four years designed to improve participation in apprenticeships. The current Government has put in place the diversity pilots but has only funded the programme for a year so far with the possibility of a further 12 months funding.

The TUC, in highlighting the need for urgent action to ensure that black workers do not disproportionately continue to miss out on the benefits that apprenticeships can offer, are working to highlight three main issues which are:

• The need for comprehensive monitoring systems to enable the National Apprenticeship Service and the Government to assess how their strategy on increasing diversity in apprenticeships is working;
• The need to ensure that black workers gain access to good quality apprenticeships and that mechanisms are put in place to ensure that discrimination by employers is tackled so that they are able to obtain workplace placements;
• The need to ensure that young black women are able to access the full range of apprenticeships and do not suffer labour market segmentation in relation to access to training on the basis of their gender; and
• The need to focus on outcomes as well as apprenticeship starts to ensure that black apprentices graduate to full time jobs or higher learning.

In order to highlight these issues the TUC is holding a joint half day conference at Congress House on 6 September called ‘Apprenticeships for All’,  which is being be organised as a joint event between the TUC, Versa, Unionlearn and SERTUC.  It is aimed at union activists and negotiators, learning reps, equality reps, black activists and employers.

Without strong union intervention at workplace and public policy level it is likely that young black workers will not only miss out on the expansion in apprenticeships, but that where they do, find themselves just as many in their parents generation, engaged with the schemes that are at short term, low quality, and that do not lead to training progression or to a decent job.

UK Government Dumps on Domestic Workers

The re-emergence of domestic work as a growing area of employment in Europe over the last few years reflects a general growth in the use of workers in a domestic setting and the blurring of the line between state provided social care in domestic settings and the private social care market.  The consequence of this has been a growth in the amount of domestic workers, many of whom are women, recruited predominately from the Philippines, Africa and South America.

Many of these women work in conditions that can be described as a contemporary form of slavery where:

• Domestic work is not recognised as proper work,
• There is inadequate legal protection for workers in private households, which is aggravated by the fact that private households as well as domestic workers are not easily accessible to trade unions; and
• Domestic work is not recognised as an immigration category although large numbers of domestic workers are migrants.

The isolated, dependant and unregulated nature of working in private households, combined with gender-based and racial discrimination means that domestic workers are vulnerable to exploitative practices. They can face physical, psychological and sexual abuse, discrimination, low pay and long hours. Employers often use passport retention as a means of control.

In the UK Domestic workers have organised themselves through Kalayaan, a registered charity established in 1987 to provide advice, advocacy and support services in the UK for migrant domestic workers. Domestic workers have active in Kalayann have created a campaign called Justice 4 Domestic Workers which is supported by Unite to campaign for rights for domestic workers. They successfully campaigned for the introduction of protections in the migrant worker visa including crucially the right to change employer which as a result allowed domestic workers to leave abusive employers and not find themselves classed as undocumented workers.

In the last two years Justice 4 Domestic Workers (J4DW) has run a vigorous campaign against domestic slavery among diplomatic overseas staff.  The campaign has been backed up by a report produced by Kalayaan which showed that based on its case studies, 64% of diplomatic domestic staff work a seven day week, 57% receives £50 per week or less, and 50% work 16 hour days. In addition, 65% have their passports taken away from them and held by their employer. 58% reported they had been bullied or psychologically abused. The campaign is calling on the Government to extend the protections of the migrant domestic worker visa, most vitally the right to change employer, to cover migrant domestic workers brought to the UK by diplomats The previous immigration minister Phil Woolas made an ‘in principle’ agreement to change the system and admitted that “there is no question that we are putting those diplomatic relations above the interest of victims’. 

The current Coalition Government however has shown a callous disregard for the vulnerability and lack of right and access to justice of domestic workers.  In their headlong flight to reduce immigration by banning non EU migrants from Britain they are attempting to roll back the progress that has been made by domestic workers.  On 9 June 2011 Damian Green, Immigration Minister announced a new three month consultation on employment-related settlement. In this consultation are proposals to remove fundamental safeguards designed to protect migrant domestic workers. If implemented these proposals would lead to a return to forced labour and slavery by abolishing the route for overseas domestic workers in private households altogether or for a maximum of 6 months as a visitor only, or 12 months where accompanying a Tier 1 or Tier 2 migrant, with no possibility of extension, no right to change employer, no ability to sponsor dependants, no rights for dependants to work in the UK, and no right to settlement.  These changes if implemented would amount to a return to bonded labour.  Abolishing or time limiting the domestic workers visa would not stop migrant domestic workers from being brought to Britain and encourage an increase in trafficking via illegal routes and unlawful working.

Shamefully moves by the coalition Government to roll back rights for domestic workers are not confined to the UK. J4DW and domestic Workers worldwide have been fighting for an International labour Organisation Convention to establish basic rights for domestic workers.  The proposed convention was finally discussed and adopted at the International labour Congress annual conference in June 2011.  The ILO’s 183 member states need to ratify and implement it. But it was a triumph nonetheless that governments, employers and unions from around the world managed over a fortnight last year and a further fortnight this year, plus all the discussions in between, to agree a text, voted for by 396 delegates, with only 16 against and 63 abstentions. Disgracefully delegates had to listen to two contrary voices - the representatives of the British government and of the Confederation of British Industry calling for abstention and opposition respectively. Such action exposes the hypocrisy of a government who claims they are committed to reaching the Millennium Development Goals, not it appears if it involves giving rights non-white women workers.  Brendan Barber the TUC General Secretary said “I am appalled that the CBI voted against the convention and that the British government abstained. The votes show that employers and governments around the world disagreed with their lack of compassion - they are thoroughly isolated and should be ashamed of their position”.
UK ratification of the ILO treaty on Domestic Work also starts now. The TUC is now setting up a campaign for ratification, in alliance with Justice 4 Domestic Workers, Anti-Slavery International, Christian Aid and Oxfam, and more will be welcome.
The campaign for these workers continues and needs our help ACT NOW! Write to your MP and express your concerns or visit the Kalayaan website at   http://www.kalayaan.org.uk/ where there will be a template letter and consultation response that you can use.  The campaign for

Maid in a Union

One of the most striking aspects of the recent show of force by hotel maids in New York (voicing their frustration and anger at the privileged treatment of Dominic Strauss-Kahn even in the face of an allegation of rape) is that firstly, the majority of workers degraded daily with similarly agressive, violent behaviour, are in the main black and Latino and second, it is only their union which is providing the essential voice to a collective grievance.

Where are the hotel chains in demanding that their customers behave more appropriately towards their staff? Any comments from the Mayor's office or New York's tourism board? The silence, they say, is deafening.

Local 6 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union (HEREIU) (http://www.heardny.org/Local%206%20Info.htm) is working closely with its members across the vast network of hotels in New York to articulate a wide range of closely related issues that have been underlined by the severity of the Strauss-Kahn case.

The coverage of the dignified assembly of women (it is mainly women) workers affected by daily abuse from largely rich, male hotel 'guests' has been effective, albeit limited: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/new-york-maids-reveal-dirt

It is shame that it took the disgraced head of the IMF to help articulate a live, tangible crisis in the lives fof these hard working women, but so be it. The hard work now it seems is to convince hotel chains to defend their staff from the form of harassment and intimidation that senior hotel employees would not accept.

It will be very interesting to watch the coverage of the trial unfold but once the carnival is ended to see what in practice changes for these workers on the front line of misogny coupled with intimidation and violence.

Ian Manborde (Ruskin College, Oxford)

Tackling Racism - A Trade Union Challenge for the 21st century

The 2001 TUC Stephen Lawrence Taskforce set clear objectives for trade unions to follow when dealing with issues of race discrimination.  It acknowledged the need for trade unions to tackle institutional racism with employers and within its own structures. The outcomes of the taskforce resulted in the TUC changing its rules to make the promotion of equality for all and to eliminate all forms of harassment, prejudice and unfair discrimination, both within its own structures and through all its activities, including its employment practices a key objective for affiliates. Although the nature of the debate about race discrimination in society has changed, developing and implementing a strategy for the achievement of these objectives must remain an important part of the work of the trade union movement.

David Cameron’s declaration in February 2011 at the Munich Security Conference signalled a new chapter in the discourse on race relations in the UK.  His declaration that “under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives” was a continuation of the myths and political and policy discourse that we have seen on state multiculturalism since the Paris uprising of March 2005 and the comments by Trevor Phillips in September 2005 that in the UK we were sleepwalking into segregation. 

What was new was the switch from seeing Britain in racial terms as a tolerant society and his view that “we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and a much more active, muscular liberalism”, a comment that implied a break from the liberal integrationists policies that were heralded by former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins in 1968.  The change in emphasis from Roy Jenkins definition of integration being “equal opportunity accompanied by cultural diversity, in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance”, to Cameron’s strident call for robust assimilation policies reflecting a myth of collective identity and British values is part of a political and policy dialogue that has most recently been constructed in the context of the debate on national security that has taken place since 9/11 and the declaration of the war on terror.

The assumptions behind this change are that we live in a meritocracy and post racial world where discrimination on the basis of colour is no longer a problem. In this new world increased migration, make the old group identities irrelevant, black and minority ethnic communities are reduced to individuals locked into religious and cultural identities and the problems of ethnic minorities relate to individual disadvantage and the need to remove barriers to advancement for certain sections of the community.  The ultimate goal in the context of the labour market is the creation of diverse workforces.  The solutions become those of creating policy solutions so that individuals from disadvantage groups have a pathway to overcome these barriers that are seen as being a consequence of educational underachievement and poverty resulting in a lack of human and social capital.

None of these debates and assumptions takes account history, especially the role that black workers and communities have played in fighting racial discrimination in the workplace and society. Neither do they take into account the changing nature of the modern labour market, the political and economic consequences of European enlargement, or the increasing levels of exploitation resulting from the deregulation of the labour market and the consequences of this for migrant workers from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean  and South America.

Much of the change in rhetoric mirrors the advancement of neo-liberal economic policies and globalisation which has resulted in an increased emphasis on the individual and attacks on group and community formations.  Along with the increase in consumerism, debates about the nature of our society have been reduced to market terms.  In the context of the labour market this has served to mask the nature of the power relationships between groups of workers and management and resulted in the issue of race changing from dealing with discrimination to encouraging diversity. At the same time diversity management as an idea has become more prevalent, equality has increasingly been appropriated by management as a policy issue which is not subject to collective bargaining and rarely to consultation with trade unions.

While there may have been big changes in the political and policy debates around race equality and equality issues generally, the reality of working lives for black workers from established black communities has not dramatically changed over the last 30 years and the issues of concern resulting from race discrimination in the workplace have remained the same.

There are still major problems about access to employment  with the employment gap between people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds and the general population at 13.8% and 13% of ethnic minority people being unemployed compared with only 8% of the general population. Black workers still suffer from occupation segregation with only 9.91% of black workers in management positions compared to 15.32% white. This continues to be reflected in the issue of pay parity with male black workers earning 11% less than their white counterparts and occupational segmentation is still a huge problem with 85% of black workers being employed in public administration, education and health; distribution, hotels and restaurants; manufacturing; banking, finance and insurance.

The Conservative/Liberal democrat coalition government’s programme of public expenditure cuts, privatisation and withdrawal of welfare will only exacerbate these issues and result in increased unemployment, greater difficulties in achieving advancement in the workplace and a squeeze on the availability of jobs in sectors where Black workers are traditionally employed..

For black workers the change in the way that racism is perceived has had profound effects in the way that institutions – including trade unions - deal with problems of discrimination in the workplace.  The status of race discrimination has been relegated to that of individualised legal problems arising from conflicts between individuals in the workplace.  It is as a consequence externalised from the workplace and only discussed in relation to pursuing legal solutions for acts of discrimination that occur.  This approach has led to the issue of race discrimination as with most areas of equality as being seen as a separate and specific area of expertise that can only be dealt with by specialists and that is different from the normal industrial relations concerns that trade unions negotiate on with employers.

This as a strategy is extremely problematic for future trade union development and the relevance of trade unions for black members especially in the context of debate about the need for a move towards organising strategies which embrace both workplace and community.  Analysis of the Employment Tribunal cases in 2009/10 reveals that of 4,500 cases submitted to the tribunal:

• 100 reached Tribunal Hearing stage
• 38% (330) were stuck out
• 15% (700) were lost at hearing
• 3% (130) successful at hearing

The level of success for all discrimination claims was 3% compared to a 13% success rate on all claims.  Proposed changes to the employment tribunal system are likely to lessen the chances of access to and success of tribunal claims.

The increasing legalisation of the tribunal system over the past decade and the more extensive grounds for awarding costs against applicants has led many unions to not only instruct legal firms to undertake tribunal representation, but also led to a more cautious approach to taking cases with many applying a 50:50 success criteria to the taking of cases.  This in the absence of a workplace strategy for dealing with race discrimination has led to increasing number of black members in unions seeing the employment tribunals as the main solution for dealing with race discrimination problems and increasing conflict between black members and unions about the availability of legal representation.

The 3% Employment Tribunal success rate on race discrimination claims clearly shows that the over reliance by black workers and trade unions on legal strategies will not tackle the endemic problems of race discrimination in the workplace.  As a strategy it reinforces the idea that race discrimination is an individual issue and does not tackle the problems of institutional racism so clearly identified in the Sir William Macpherson’s Inquiry report into the death of Stephen Lawrence. More worryingly as a strategy it limits trade union action to dealing with race discrimination problem after the event, in effect attempting to obtain justice after the injustice has happened.  In this context the only possible outcome is obtaining compensation often at the expense of the workers job and with, as part of the settlement, a gagging clause prohibiting the parties talking about the case.

If the trade union movement is to take forward the commitments of the TUC Stephen Lawrence Inquiry its future ambition must change to finding ways to stop discrimination happening in the workplace in the first place and to promoting worker participation to ensure a fair deal for everyone.  The implications of this are that there needs to be a shift from legal solutions for dealing with individual instances of race discrimination and a return to a collective approach grounded in industrial relations and pursued through negotiating intiaitves.

The advantages of this approach are that the issue of race discrimination is collectivised making it easier to both organise black workers in the workplace and to involve, educate and gain support from the wider trade union movement about the experiences, injustice and race discrimination issues that need to be tackled by unions. It further puts pressure on management to address the fundamental issues that are giving race to discrimination in the workplace.

Racism is first and foremost based on historical and current unequal relationships between social groups and reinforced by the patterns of public discourse, power ownership and privilege within the economic, social and political institutions of our society.  In this context there are two main challenges for trade unions in the 21^st century to address.

Firstly to devise strategies that not only deal with the individual symptoms of race discrimination in the workplace but achieve systemic change in the way that employers and workplaces operate with an objective that goes beyond the idea of creating a level playing field and that addresses the historic and current economic and social disadvantages that black workers face.

Secondly to recognise that black workers are a major component in the quest for trade union growth and renewal as the numbers of young black workers from settled and migrant communities in the labour market dramatically increases and could play a key role in helping to organise and unionise a deregulated and fragmented private service sector where racism and extreme exploitation are rife.

The TUC in responding to these challenges has published to a negotiators guides on ‘Tackling Racism in the Workplace’ and ‘Immigration Document Checks and Workplace Raid’ to assist workplace representatives and trade union negotiators. It is hoped that these guide will be used by unions as a first step to reappraising their approach to tacking race discrimination in the workplace.

CBTU launched in the UK

Ruskin College, Oxford, provided the venue on 21st May for the inauguration of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists UK (CBTU). Inspired and supported by the CBTU in the United States, CBTU has been launched in the UK to encourage black workers to recruit, organise and participate in the trade unions in order to meet the social and economic challenges ahead.

Chair of the newly launched CBTU-UK Roger Mckenzie (Assistant General Secretary of UNISON) said “this new organisation will work to fulfil the dream of those Black trade unionists, both living and deceased, who have courageously and unremittingly struggled to achieve economic, political and social justice for all’.

The inaugural meeting adopted a constitution and elected the following officers (in a personal capacity) to ensure the strategic development of the role and function of CBTU(UK):

• Chair: Roger McKenzie (Assistant General Secretary, UNISON)
• Deputy Chair: Gargi Bhattacharia (UCU activist) Secretary:
• Wilf Sullivan (Race Equality Officer, TUC)
• Treasurer: Harish Patel ( Regional Official, UNITE) .

CBTU(UK) is a membership-based organisation and will disseminate news of activities and promote events via the Race Matters blog http://cbtuuk.blogspot.com/ Membership is open to any black trade unionist (including NUS members) on a subscription basis. Funds raised will be used to support educational, promotional and campaigning activity. CBTU(UK)  looks forward to a period of significant growth and will be undertaking promotional and educational activity during 2011-12 to achieve this. Anyone interested in joining the CBTU(UK) should e-mail ukcbtu@gmail.com

Convention 2010: Tribute to Bill Lucy

Bill Lucy's Speech to AFSCME Council 5: Highlights

mv4nhs HEALTH CONFERENCE

Recession

The recent banking collapse and subsequent economic downtown has revealed that we are not living in the brave new world that we were told. Where boom and bust no longer existed and social justice flourished, where getting supper rich was a virtue and entrepreneurship the ultimate aspiration. The credit crunch has put pay to the illusion that we are living in a wealthy society where most people are relatively well off and only the lazy and those without aspirations are living on the dole.

Of course the reality for black communities was far from the illusion pushed by newspapers, magazines and black media. The constant promotion of black singers, TV celebrities and entrepreneurs presenting the illusion that the black community was benefiting from this wealth and that if we set our sights high enough anything was possible. Racism was no longer an issue only our ability to negotiate the bureaucracy and exploit the new diversity policies was necessary, after all diversity was good for business. Sadly, the reality was very different. The place of black workers in the labour market did not fundamentally change. The majority of black workers in employment remained in low paid jobs and levels of unemployment were still to two to three times that of the white community a state of permanent recession and poverty.

Child poverty is a good indicator of what is happening to the poorest in our society. The increasing gap between the rich and the poor is reflected in the proportion of children living in poverty which grew from 1 in 10 in 1979 to 1 in 3 in 1998. Today, 30 per cent of children in Britain are living in poverty. The recent focus on child poverty that resulted from the Keep the Promise March last October when supporters from trade unions and community groups came together from across the UK came together, for the ‘Keep the Promise’ rally demanding that the government deliver on its commitment to halve child poverty by 2010 and end it by 2020 highlighted a problem that is not often talked about in the black community.

The situation in the black community is even worse. The TUC in its 2006 report ‘Black Workers, Jobs and Poverty’ highlighted that poverty rates ran at 20% for the white community while they were 38% for the black (African and Caribbean Communities), 32% for the Chinese community and 45% for the Asian community. Some communities are particularly hard hit with the African community suffering poverty rates of 45% and with poverty rates in the Pakistani and Bangladeshi running at 69%. Politicians and academics have often argued that these poverty levels are related to the lack of skills in black communities or cultural factors resulting in high levels of worklessness among women in some communities. However the reality has more to do with the difficulty that black workers have in accessing jobs in all parts of the labour market which results in different groups occupying different segments of the labour market. When as in the case of the Pakistani and Bangladeshi Community the textile industry which they worked in collapse they found it impossible to get work in other parts of the labour market (partly because there was little or no other work in the area) and have been confined to working in restaurants or driving taxis.

The Government has worked to close the ethnic minority employment gap but getting people into work will not alone solve the problem of poverty in black communities. Research carried out by the New Policy Institute indicated that more than half of all the children in low-income households have someone in their family doing paid work. The TUC has consistently argued that if the Government wants to tackle issues such as child poverty than it needs to tackle race discrimination in the labour market both in terms of improving access to work but just as importantly dealing with race discrimination in the workplace as black communities are at the core of deprivation in the UK. The danger now is that tackling race discrimination in the labour market will fall off the policy agenda in the face of such a severe recession

In a recent report on black workers and the recession the TUC highlighted the tendency for black workers to suffer disproportionately in a recession. So far the evidence is that this has not happened. However it is also noticeable that the industries showing the strongest growth include those dominated by the public sector – health, social work, public administration and education areas where there is a high proportion of black workers. But this picture is changing rapidly – a recent survey by the Daily Telegraph found that local authorities are cutting their budgets by up to 10 per cent, with large job losses likely over the next three years. If public sector cuts accelerate, the fall in the employment and unemployment gaps could end and we would see the picture of employment for black workers return to the pattern of previous recessions.

Unfortunately the problems of a recession are not confined to unemployment the recession will undoubtedly make it harder for black workers to get promotion, access to on the job training and is likely exacerbate the pay gap between black and white workers. This is why we must ensure that race equality issues are at the heart of the collective bargaining agendas of our unions