MAKING HISTORY AGAINST POVERTY

july/august 2005 :: RMTnews 35 This was a very visible display of the opposition to international policies that bring sickness, starvation and death to thousands of people each day. The demands of the Make Poverty History campaign focus on Aid, Trade, and Justice, and Edinburgh was full of banners and placards conveying clear messages to the leaders of the G8 countries. Windows and lampposts were decked out with the message ‘Make Poverty History’, as was Edinburgh Castle. The turnout in Edinburgh was double that predicted by the organisers, with coaches arriving from all over Britain, and as a result marchers were still taking to the streets six hours after the midday starting time. Organisers had asked that marchers wear white, forming a human white band that weaved its way through the city centre. Whilst trade union and labour movement banners may not have been there in huge numbers, there is no doubt that many trade union members were in Edinburgh that day with their families. The RMT London Regional Council banner made the long trip, and members of a number of Scottish RMT branches participated in the march too. ALTERNATIVE G8 The G8 Alternatives Summit took over a number of Edinburgh city centre venues the next day. Over 5,000 people registered to hear speakers on a wide range of topics, including on war and imperialism, civil liberties, Africa, Climate change and globalisation. RMT General Secretary Bob Crow joined the platform to discuss asylum and immigration policies. The audience welcomed the RMT’s condemnation of racism, and the General Secretary outlined the union’s opposition to the BNP and its policies. Bob Crow also made clear that the union fully supported the G8 Alternatives right to demonstrate at Gleneagles on July 6, outside the meeting of the G8 leaders. Earlier in June the RMT Scottish Regional Council had called for support for of both the Make Poverty History demonstration and the G8 Alternatives demonstration at Gleneagles, encouraging members to participate. In Edinburgh in the evening of July 3, a ‘Naming the Dead’ march and ceremony took place. The Stop the War Coalition and CND were able to highlight the amount of money spent on militarism whilst a third of the world is starving. RMT members also joined this event. NO TO NUKES The RMT AGM decision to reaffirm a policy of total opposition to nuclear weapons is timely as decisions on the future of a Trident replacement programme are taken by the government, and the weekend in Edinburgh brought together thousands of people who share the union’s view that the priorities for our world are all wrong. On Wednesday July 6, over 7,000 people made their way from across Scotland to Gleneagles for the demonstration and, despite a small number of confrontations with the police, were able to make their voice heard by the G8 leaders. With other demonstrations taking place at the Faslane nuclear base, and at Dungavel Immigration and detention centre, Scotland in the first week in July was a focus for trade unionists and campaigners from all over the UK and Europe. Whilst the G8 leaders will never deliver a world in which the interests of working people are put first, the campaigning on poverty that has taken place internationally will go from strength to strength. For many people in Britain this has been a first experience of collective political action, and it will not be the last. ‘Fight Poverty, not War’ is the message that came from Edinburgh loud and clear in July 2005. Ann Henderson RMT Scottish Parliamentary officer Making history against poverty RMT members from across the country joined over 250,000 people who were on the streets of Edinburgh on Saturday July 2, supporting the Make Poverty History campaign PRESENCE: RMT on the march in Edinburgh PROTEST: Make Poverty History demonstration in Edinburgh. Scotland. © Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk