Unrepresentative Unions
I'd never heard of Left Futures before James Bloodworth drew it to my attention via a recent opinion piece in The Independent, but I can see four myself now that it's one of these idiot 'leftist' publications which here describes the disgraced former Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, as "more Labour than many in Labour".
And to add insult to injury the boss of Unite, Len McCluskey, is on hand offering his hand while doling out large sums of his members' money to support a man who has been found guilty of playing the 'Islamophobia' card in order to silence his many critics.
Forward thinking for the democratic left
Len McCluskey & Lutfur Rahman uniting the community of East End battleground
There are two stories here. The first is that Unite the Union’s strategy of taking trade unions into the community was launched yesterday in a particularly tangible way with the opening of the first Unite Community Centre. The second is that it represents a collaborative enterprise between Len McCluskey and Lutfur Rahman, independent Mayor of Tower Hamlets, both of whom have been vilified by many on Labour’s right.
The scene, appropriately enough was Cable Street, where in 1936 up to 250,000 people gathered to defend London’s East End from Mosley’s blackshirts. The battle that ensued (commemorated in the mural on the side of the building that houses the centre) drew an alliance of the Left and the immigrant communities that then lived in one of London’s poorest neighbourhoods, the Jews mainly but with many Irish too. The political leadership then came from those to the Left of the Labour leadership, and for many years that is where large numbers of the Jews of the East End returned their loyalty, electing Phil Pratin as a Communist MP in 1945. There may of course be a lesson there for someone.
Some things do change – the battle of Cable Street was not part-funded by Barclays Bank. Unite has opened this centre, however, with support from Tower Hamlets Council and a capital grant from Barclays to fund a state of the art ICT learning suite. The total project will cost £254,000 over two years, made up of £140,000 from Unite, £64,000 from Tower Hamlets Council and £50,000 from Barclays.
For Unite, this is about taking the union into the community, participating in campaigning on local issues and helping young people to find work. In that way, it seeks to take trade unionism to people who would otherwise not be reached by it. As Len said:
We are near what were once the great London docks, which until the late sixties, employed tens of thousands of dockers. But times have changed. Tower Hamlets has changed. The dockers have been replaced by finance workers in Canary Wharf. But alongside the wealth of this global finance centre is great poverty. That is why this centre is needed and that is why our partnership with the mayor of Tower Hamlets and Barclays Bank will provide a vital resource to the local communities.”
For Lutfur Rahman, the centre delivers an important service, as he says: “job creation is one of my top priorities and this centre is going to play an important role in helping people find work.” However, for him it also a matter of trade union rights:
"I am particularly pleased to be working in partnership with Unite. As the recent terrible tragedies in the garment industry in Bangladesh have shown, and as the struggle of workers to be organised in the old sweatshops here in the East End have also demonstrated, trade unions play a critical role in ensuring people enjoy safety, security and fulfilment at work.”
And, of course, it is important to Lutfur, politically. This is an opportunity to show that he is more Labour than many in Labour. Next year, he faces an election contest with recently selected John Biggs, Labour’s prospective mayoral candidate as well as the local member of the London Assembly. And Len certainly rewarded Lutfur when he observed that he didn’t deal with many politicians who were so keen to do something positive about trade union rights.
And as for Barclays… £50,000 is a small price to pay for a little bit of goodwill amongst the unemployed who live a stones throw away from its 31-storey global headquarters.
Len McCluskey & Lutfur Rahman uniting the community of East End battleground
There are two stories here. The first is that Unite the Union’s strategy of taking trade unions into the community was launched yesterday in a particularly tangible way with the opening of the first Unite Community Centre. The second is that it represents a collaborative enterprise between Len McCluskey and Lutfur Rahman, independent Mayor of Tower Hamlets, both of whom have been vilified by many on Labour’s right.
The scene, appropriately enough was Cable Street, where in 1936 up to 250,000 people gathered to defend London’s East End from Mosley’s blackshirts. The battle that ensued (commemorated in the mural on the side of the building that houses the centre) drew an alliance of the Left and the immigrant communities that then lived in one of London’s poorest neighbourhoods, the Jews mainly but with many Irish too. The political leadership then came from those to the Left of the Labour leadership, and for many years that is where large numbers of the Jews of the East End returned their loyalty, electing Phil Pratin as a Communist MP in 1945. There may of course be a lesson there for someone.
Some things do change – the battle of Cable Street was not part-funded by Barclays Bank. Unite has opened this centre, however, with support from Tower Hamlets Council and a capital grant from Barclays to fund a state of the art ICT learning suite. The total project will cost £254,000 over two years, made up of £140,000 from Unite, £64,000 from Tower Hamlets Council and £50,000 from Barclays.
For Unite, this is about taking the union into the community, participating in campaigning on local issues and helping young people to find work. In that way, it seeks to take trade unionism to people who would otherwise not be reached by it. As Len said:
We are near what were once the great London docks, which until the late sixties, employed tens of thousands of dockers. But times have changed. Tower Hamlets has changed. The dockers have been replaced by finance workers in Canary Wharf. But alongside the wealth of this global finance centre is great poverty. That is why this centre is needed and that is why our partnership with the mayor of Tower Hamlets and Barclays Bank will provide a vital resource to the local communities.”
For Lutfur Rahman, the centre delivers an important service, as he says: “job creation is one of my top priorities and this centre is going to play an important role in helping people find work.” However, for him it also a matter of trade union rights:
"I am particularly pleased to be working in partnership with Unite. As the recent terrible tragedies in the garment industry in Bangladesh have shown, and as the struggle of workers to be organised in the old sweatshops here in the East End have also demonstrated, trade unions play a critical role in ensuring people enjoy safety, security and fulfilment at work.”
And, of course, it is important to Lutfur, politically. This is an opportunity to show that he is more Labour than many in Labour. Next year, he faces an election contest with recently selected John Biggs, Labour’s prospective mayoral candidate as well as the local member of the London Assembly. And Len certainly rewarded Lutfur when he observed that he didn’t deal with many politicians who were so keen to do something positive about trade union rights.
And as for Barclays… £50,000 is a small price to pay for a little bit of goodwill amongst the unemployed who live a stones throw away from its 31-storey global headquarters.
