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RMTnews :: march 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 26 Edwards Duthie Solicitors has a special affinity with trade unions, their members and officials. We have advised union members and their families for some 22 years, to the point where we now serve some 40,000 members across 230 branches nationwide. We have a dedicated team which serves RMT members, their families and friends. Unlike our competitors, we offer a full range of legal services, many of which are free or heavily discounted for union members : ●PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS ●SPECIALIST CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE TEAM ●EXPERT ADVICE ON ALL ASPECTS OF EMPLOYMENT LAW ●24 HOUR CRIMINAL ADVICE AND REPRESENTATION ●FREE WILLS SERVICE FOR MEMBERS ●10% DISCOUNT ON RESIDENTIAL CONVEYANCING ●LAW SOCIETY SPECIALISTS IN FAMILY AND MATRIMONIAL ADVICE ●FREE HALF HOUR INTERVIEW IN ALL AREAS OF LAW Our approach is both proactive and hands on. Our lawyers go to see members and officials at the workplace, at home, at union premises or wherever discussion can best be accommodated nationwide. We are here to provide a service and, unlike our competitors, we do not consider that we can do that from a remote standpoint. RING NOW FOR ADVICE & ASSISTANCE ON 0208 514 9000 email: allinfo@edwardsduthie.com In partnership with the R emember ‘corporate social responsibility’? It was once a favourite phrase in the New Labour lexicon of spin. You don’t hear it much anymore. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, ‘the Blair apparent’, used to liberally sprinkle the phrase over every speech they made following announcements of massive job losses. Little notice was taken of it by ‘the business community’ but it was supposed to conjure up the notion that global capitalism would be forced by New Labour to worship at altars other than greed. The contempt for the idea shown by the corporate world then is replicated now as it rakes in utterly outrageous profits. Last month Shell Oil posted the biggest annual profits the world has ever seen. Their £30billion surplus of income over expenditure came from, among other places, the exploitation of the oil reserves in the Nigerian delta. The company has long been at the centre of protest over its treatment of people and environment of that African country. The world’s richest banks have also joined in this global hedonism, this extravaganza of profit taking amidst charges of exploitation. But it is surely at the door of the energy companies where the charge is laid most appropriately. No sooner had the energy giant Scottish Power posted a 95 per cent rise in profits compared with the previous quarter than they announced a 25 per cent increase in fuel prices. The outcry forced UK Trade and Industry secretary Allan Johnson – the former General Secretary of the Communications Workers Union now charged with overseeing the privatisation of the postal service- to admit that as many as 3 million people in Britain could face immediate difficulty and fuel poverty. But that didn’t stop Centrica, the other major gas supplier joining in. They announced annual profits of £1.5billion and demanded a 22% increase in gas prices from customers. Both companies appear oblivious to the anger. The increase in charges is, they say, due to the spiralling cost of gas on the world market. Yet both companies admit the most profitable part of their businesses is the income they get from offshore oil and gas sites. Many will ask why therefore the cost is passed on at all. I asked the Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell if he thought the price increases were justified. He said no but when I asked if he would order a price freeze or accept the case for abolishing standing charges for senior citizens he refused saying that was a commercial interference in the running of the company /industry. So apparently corporations can charge us what they like and make what profits they like and this government will not defend us from it after all. I believe there is a compelling need to intercede in these types of situations. If companies shirk their ‘corporate socials responsibilities’, forcing 3 million people to risk dying of cold related diseases and the NHS and social services to pick up the pieces then it is not the responsibilities which are pushed aside but rather the blatant profiteering and the greed of shareholders. Colin Fox SSP convenor EXPLOITATION AND BLATANT PROFITEERING