Get Real - make the Super Rich Pay their Fair Share

Laughing all the way to the bank - Lakshi Mittal

The Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (STUSC) today condemned as obscene the revelations in the Sunday Times that the richest people in the UK have seen their wealth rise by a colossal 30% in the last year. 

The myth that public sector cuts are the only way that Britain can pay the price for bailing out the banks has been exposed as the Sunday Times published its annual “Rich List.” At  time when all the main political parties are united around the idea that cutting services, jobs and wages is the only way that the bank bailout can be funded, the “List” exposes that the super rich in the UK have seen their earning rise by 29.9% to £335.5 billion.

Aamer Anwar reads a statement outside court

Five Palestine campaigners who contested the relevancy of a “racially aggravated conduct” charge in relation to their protest against Israel’s blockade of Gaza had all charges against them dropped today. 

The campaigners, all members of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC), had interrupted the August 2008 Edinburgh Festival concert by the Jerusalem Quartet. Tours by the classical musicians are regularly sponsored by the Israeli Government, which the campaign group claims makes them a legitimate target for protest. 

The campaigners had been accused of making “comments about Jews, Israelis, and the State of Israel”, but during a three-day legal debate at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, a BBC audio recording of the event revealed that there had been no reference made to “Jews”. Comments included “They are Israeli Army musicians”, “End the Siege of Gaza”, “Genocide in Gaza”, and “Boycott Israel”.

Sheriff James Scott ruled that “the comments were clearly directed at the State of Israel, the Israeli Army, and Israeli Army musicians”, and not targeted at “citizens of Israel” per se. “The procurator fiscal’s attempts to squeeze malice and ill will out of the agreed facts were rather strained”, he said. 

Read the SPSC website here or click on the link on the Solidarity homepage.

For Solidarity website reports on previous court appearances click here and here

For a report of speeches by 2 of the SPSC5 at Solidarity Conference click here  

Solidarity, Scotland’s Socialist Movement offers our sincere condolences to the families, colleagues and friends of the two Southampton based firefighters James Shears and Alan Bannon who were tragically killed whilst undertaking their duties. 

The deaths of James and Alan are yet another reminder of the dangers faced by fire service personnel day and daily. 

In the last 6 years, 16 firefighters have died attending fires. The FBU have published a report called, “In the Line of Duty” arguing that the lessons of previous tragedies must be learned, if they are not to be repeated.

The report can be accessed here

A new coalition of socialists and trade unionists will contest the General Election on May 6th. The (Scottish) Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (STUSC) will be contesting 10 seats across Scotland. 

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) was set up at a UK level in January and involves many prominent trade union figures. These include Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT railworkers union, Janice Godrich, national president of the PCS civil service union and Brian Caton, general secretary of the Prison Officers Union.

Bob Crow

Also included in the coalition are Tommy Sheridan’s Solidarity, the International Socialists, the Socialist Workers’ Party, and the Lanarksire Socialist Alliance among others.  

Railway workers leader Bob Crow said of TUSC; 

“Labour, Tory and the Liberal Democrats are all the same under their suits. They all support privatisation and anti-trade union laws. The political debate now is all about who is going to cut more from public spending. Brown and Blair just masqueraded as Labour and then put the knife into the unions. That is why I am pleased to be part of TUSC.”
 

A full list of sponsors and policies can be found at www.tusc.org.uk

Tommy Sheridan, who will be a candidate for STUSC said:  

Tommy Sheridan

STUSC candidates later joined Tommy at a packed launch rally in the Langside Halls in Glasgow.

British Airways is attempting a contrick Paul Daniels would be proud of, say Unite the union.
 
With cabin crew on their latest stoppage in their fight against BA's attacks on services and jobs, Unite says that the company is going to extraordinary and expensive lengths to pretend it is business as usual at the airline.
 
The union says the reality is, however, that BA will lose millions each day as it hands its passengers and revenue - and customers' possible future loyalty - to its competitors. Analysts have estimated that lost passenger revenue alone works out at around GBP4m every day, while the wet lease plane bill has already passed GBP7m for last week's strike.

Solidarity, Scotland’s Socialist Movement today welcomed the news that trade unionists across the world are preparing to show solidarity with striking BA cabin crew workers.

Whilst New Labour and Gordon Brown have shamefully attacked a union and its members that funds his own party to the tune of millions of pounds a year, workers in the USA, France and Germany will take action to support the UNITE members. Brown and his unelected Transport Secretary Lord Adonis have called the action of the workers “deplorable” and “unjustified” but Solidarity Co-Convenor Tommy Sheridan has said that it is the bosses who are “cruel” and “callous.” 

Tommy Sheridan said; “I congratulate those workers in the Teamsters Union in the USA, the Ver Di Service Union in Germany and the numerous French trade unionists who are planning to stand shoulder to shoulder with BA cabin crew.” 

“It is shameful that a New Labour Government, funded by millions of pounds of UNITE member’s money, should attack workers taking industrial action to defend pay and conditions.“

"The management of BA want to bring in a new set of workers, on worse pay and conditions, with current crew members working with reduced crew numbers, shorter rest times, fewer holidays and cuts in pay.” 

“Management have tried to portray BA staff as greedy and claim they are the best paid in the business. What they don’t tell you is that 70% of cabin crew earn less than £20,000 a year and many rely on tax credits or second jobs to survive." 

Walsh jets off with £62k per month

“If these crews are the best paid then it shows the scandalous levels of low pay that exist in the airline industry. It used to be the Labour Party that would argue for other workers to be brought up to the levels of the best paid in the industry but those days are long gone. Come the General Election however, the same Government Ministers lining up to attack the union and its members will go back to them with begging bowl in hand asking for donations to fight their election campaign.” 

“We in Solidarity stand shoulder to shoulder with the striking cabin crew members and their brothers and sisters in the trade union movement throughout the world.”

March 18th marks the 21st anniversary of the first mass protest against the Poll Tax. Thousands of people marched through Glasgow at the beginning of a movement that led that to a mass non-payment campaign and ended in the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. 

Solidarity’s Co-Convenor Tommy Sheridan played a key role in the campaign against the hated tax and he wishes to see the anniversary marked by calling for Scotland to adopt a Statute of Limitations that would prevent councils from perusing people with poll tax debts. “I’m proud of the role that myself and thousands of other ordinary working class people played in defeating both the Poll Tax and Margaret Thatcher herself.” 

“At the time we called it an ‘unfair, unjust and immoral’ tax. The Tories ignored petitions, protest marches and rallies and the ballot box. All we had left was the right to defy. Civil disobedience through mass non-payment. “ 

“Twenty one years on, we in Solidarity think that it is time for a Statute of Limitations that would give Scotland parity with England and Wales meaning that outstanding poll tax debt would be scrapped.” 

“People across Scotland face continued harassment for poll tax bills going back 20 years. Many couldn’t afford to pay then and they can’t afford to pay now.” 

“A much better use of the money and resources allocated to perusing decades old debt owed by ordinary people would be instead to chase those millionaire and billionaire business people who avoid paying tax by claiming non-domiciled tax status or setting up companies in offshore tax havens.” 

“Whilst pensioners, the poor and low paid are chased for measly poll tax bills by local councils, members of the tax avoiding super rich are rewarded with knighthoods and seats in the House of Lords. We consigned the poll tax to history, now it's time to do the same thing with poll tax debt."

Tommy Sheridan was Secretary of Pollok Anti-Poll Tax Union, Chair of Scottish and All Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation. He was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment for defying a court order to help prevent a warrant sale in October 1991. Tommy served 4 months in Saughton Prison between March and July 1992 were he was elected as a Scottish Militant Labour councillor for Glasgow Pollok in the May elections of that year and secured 20% of the vote and came 2nd in the Westminster election of April 1992. Tommy is now co-convenor of Solidarity, Scotland’s Socialist Movement.  

pic by Duncan Brown

11 AM SATURDAY 13 MARCH 2010

STARTING AT RED ROAD FLATS, 63 PETERSHILL DRIVE, SPRINGBURN GLASGOW 

PLEASE BRING BANNERS AND FLOWERS

ALL WELCOME

(For more photographs by Duncan Brown of the Red Road vigil please click here) 

Please join residents of the Red Road flats, Charities, churches, faith groups, Quaker groups and trade unions at 11 am on Saturday 13th March from the Red Road flats in Springburn, Glasgow to a rally in George Square.

The march, organised by Red road Residents, the Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees and the Unity Centre, will begin at the exact spot of upturned grass where a family of three asylum seekers, the Serykh family, fell to their deaths on Sunday 7 March.

The purpose of the march and rally is to:

a)      Remember the Serykh family and call for an immediate end to any further enforced removals of refugee families in the Red road area by the UK Borders Agency (UKBA) ;

and b)      Call for the immediate return of Stephanie Ovranah and her twin six year old sons, Joshua and Joel, to their friends, neighbours and local church in Glasgow’s Cranhill where they have lived for past five five years. (The family were detained at Brand Street reporting centre without warning last Friday with the children still in their school uniforms. They are currently in Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre and the children are understood to be terrified of being returned to Africa which they do not know or remember). 

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