Thread: Lord Mandelson warns strikers against xenophobia

From The Times
February 3, 2009

Lord Mandelson warns strikers against xenophobia



Hundreds of workers gather in a raw Cumbrian wind at Sellafield yesterday to vote for a 24-hour strike in protest at the use of foreign workers

Sam Coates, Chief Political Correspondent
Lord Mandelson suggested yesterday that striking workers were displaying the “politics of xenophobiaâ€

Mandy's tough talk makes matters worse

Instead of condemning wildcat strikers, Peter Mandelson should examine exactly what lies behind their anger

Comments (72)
Mark Seddon guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday 3 February 2009 11.41 GMT

Labour's unofficial deputy leader, Lord Mandelson, is talking tough. His no-nonsense message to workers involved in the rash of wildcat strikes outside refineries and power stations across the country maybe having an effect – but not the desired one.

If some commentators evoke the spirit of the 1970s – a grim, grey period of rising unemployment, strikers rubbing their hands around braziers and three-day weeks – Lord Mandelson is beginning to remind me of that 1980s figure Lord Tebbit, who famously called upon unemployed workers to "get on their bikes" and go find work. For his part Mandelson suggests that out of work construction workers could go find jobs in Europe – in other words "get in their Ford Focus cars" and get across the Channel.

Given that many of the workers now involved in wildcat action form part of Labour's natural constituency, albeit an increasingly shaky one, it might make sense to examine, for a moment, what lies behind this eruption of anger, an eruption that has occurred independently of the trade unions, and one that has the potential of turning very nasty unless handled in a more delicate and understanding way than has been the case so far.

While the BNP, the UK Independence party and some excitable journalists have billed the strikes as "aimed at foreign workers", the beginnings of this dispute against casualisation and undercutting existing agreements between employers and workers, began back in mid-November at the Lindsey oil refinery. Local construction workers were informed by their shop stewards that an Italian company, IREM, had been awarded a contract at the plant, that the company would be bringing in its own workforce and bussing them in from floating barges in Grimsby Docks. The National Agreement for the Engineering and Construction Industry covers UK workers at Lindsey – and other sites. While IREM has claimed that its imported workforce is paid at the same rate as the laid-off UK workers, the Portuguese and Italian workers are, according to the GMB union, working longer hours.

No dispute of this magnitude happens without very good reason and without a very real sense of grievance. Once the Lindsey workers heard that another company, Alstom were also refusing to hire local labour, instead bringing in Spanish and Portuguese workers at Staythorpe Power Station, the blue touch paper was lit. Striking workers and their unions claim that it is the employers who are "playing nationality off against nationality" in a bid to break the national agreement. For good measure, the GMB has tried to warn off far right groups hoping to milk the dispute for their own ends, saying: "The BNP should take heed, UK construction workers will not tolerate another racist attempt to sever fraternal relations with workers from other nations."

Some ministers and many MPs do understand what is at stake, and appreciate the real sense of injustice felt by many of the strikers, and would like to block off the loophole being exploited by some of the more notorious construction and engineering companies.

They had better move fast. For comparisons between the strike-bound Britain of the 1970s and today's wildcat action are wildly misplaced. Back then, the trade unions were organised and powerful, and while the National Front was able to capitalise on anti-immigrant feeling in some cities, there was a discipline and a political framework to what was happening on the picket lines. Today's strikers appear to be acting out of desperation, largely independent of the unions. Their target could be the casualisation caused by globalisation. Today, the Labour party and the trade unions are far weaker on the ground, and the far right is exploiting a political vacuum.

Lord Mandelson's condemnation of the strikers is a doubly bitter pill for many of them to swallow, as they watch the bankers, the brokers, the offshore tax avoiders and the super-rich, handled with kid gloves. No stern lectures from government ministers for those who have brought the world economy to its knees, let alone sanctions or jobs forfeited.

This crazy, upside-down world, where those who have taken wealth without creating it, are feather bedded, while those who do create wealth, but have little to show for it, face the full force of the law, is now truly explosive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... at-strikes

[quote]Lord Mandelson drew criticism yesterday when he suggested that he felt that the striking workers could be playing into the hands of extremists. “We should keep our sights set firmly not on the politics of xenophobia but on the economics of this recession,â€

Global Speak

W

Yes, Global Speak is right. All these Globalists are working together to destroy any individual cultues.

Strikers reject compromise offer over foreign workers but talks continue over new 50-50 deal
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:37 AM on 04th February 2009
Comments (7)
Wildcat strikers at the centre of the foreign workers row today rejected a proposed deal - but an offer to give half of the jobs to British workers remains on the table.

Strikers have been told that the deal on the table would actually only mean 21 per cent of the jobs going to local workers.
But a proposed deal which would see up to half the 200 jobs at the heart of the disputes go to British workers is still on the table, according to union officials.

Speaking to the crowds through a loudspeaker, Keith Gibson said Unite had asked Acas -the conciliation service - for 50% of engineering construction workers on the project to be made up of UK workers.
Deal: Strikers at the Lindsey Oil Refinery in Lincolnshire have rejected a deal that would see only 21% of jobs going to British workers

He said Acas had offered to give them 40 skilled workers and 20 ancillary workers from the UK - making up just 21per cent of the workforce on the project.

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But the GMB union said another offer was made late last night which would see 101 of the 198 jobs offered to UK workers.
A GMB spokesman said: "The offer put to the mass meeting this morning represented an earlier offer which was rejected by the unions yesterday afternoon.
"However, a further offer was made late last night. We are awaiting details of this offer in writing from the employers. Acas has confirmed that the offer entails 101 of the 198 construction engineering jobs being offered to UK workers.
"We hope that this offer can be put in writing as soon as possible and put before the shop stewards."
The earlier suggested deal - the one relayed to the mass meeting today - involved offering 40 skilled workers and 20 ancillary jobs to UK workers, making up 21% of the workforce on the project.
A striker gives a hopeful sign ahead of talks to end the deadlock
Mr Gibson said they were told by Acas that Total could not move on these figures because it was a fixed-term contract.

The union official said Acas had accepted some of their demands, including that staff would not be victimised for taking part in the demonstration.

But he added that the company had rejected other demands.

To laughter from the crowd, Mr Gibson said Acas had said no to their proposal that all staff taking part in the protest would be fully reimbursed.

He described the other protests around the country as a "fantastic response".

The union officials then answered questions from the crowd and said they would be continuing negotiations today.

Some protesters suggested marching on Downing Street and were told the union was trying to organise this.

Mr Gibson ended the meeting to huge cheers and applause as he said: "Working people are going to be made to pay for the bosses' mismanagement of this system, you're going to pay and if we don't get organised, if we don't send a message to these people who control your life and put you in poverty, we're going to be defeated. But we are not."

Derek Simpson, joint leader of the Unite union, said he understood that the proposed deal would see some of the disputed jobs go to British workers.
But speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, he denied that the plan would see Italian or Portuguese workers being sacked.

'It will be jobs that are not yet filled,' he said.

"I don't think there is any question of an Italian worker being sent home in favour of a UK worker."

He stressed, however, that the proposal had to be discussed by the individuals involved in the dispute and he was still waiting to hear "the full details".

The conciliation service Acas chaired yesterday’s meeting between union officials, representatives of Total, which owns the refinery at the centre of the dispute, and the Italian sub-contractor which has hired its own workforce.
Unions claimed that British workers had been excluded from the contract with Irem, which has brought around 200 Italian and Portuguese workers to the UK.
Acas said last night: ‘Conclusions are to be discussed with a large group of local trade union officials first thing tomorrow morning.
‘This will be followed by a mass meeting of the workforce.’
National union leaders were waiting to see details of the formula, which is likely to be put to today’s mass meeting.
The development came after another day of copycat strikes at power stations and other sites across the country in the increasingly bitter dispute.
Hundreds of strikers held another protest at the Lindsey refinery and they are expected to return today.
Unofficial strike action at the plant sparked solidarity protests, with around 500 workers at Shell’s Stanlow Oil Refinery in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, and 250 at Hartlepool engineering company Heerema joining the national walkout for the first time yesterday.
Labour MP John Mann tabled a Commons early day motion ‘deploring’ the use of foreign workers at the Lindsey refinery, and congratulating unions for ‘exposing this exploitation and the absence of equal opportunities to apply for all jobs’.

Total has been urging workers to end the unofficial action at the refinery in North Killingholme as soon as possible, stressing that it had never discriminated against British companies or British workers.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -deal.html