RMT PROTEST AGAINST ANTI-GAY LAWS IN KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2015 :: RMTnews 29 Dear editor, I disagree with our president Peter Pinkney’s comments (Nov/Dec RMT News) advocating that the union supports the Green Party in the next election in May. There is nothing socialist about the Green Party leadership. There are a few token ‘green socialists’ but they are largely emasculated by a mass of confused, wishy- washy, middle class liberals. For a start, the Greens support the European Union even after the EU’s criminal attacks on workers in Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and elsewhere. The European Central Bank has totally destroyed the social fabric of these countries. None of the founding principles of the EU have anything to do with our union’s aims of socialism, in fact quite the opposite. The Brighton Green council has moved against organised workers, particularly council workers, whom our union has supported in their disputes. My council in Lancaster, a Green-Labour coalition, has implemented cuts at many levels and supported ‘Rail North’-a collaboration with the Con Dems, TPE and Northern Rail designed to implement job cuts we have just lobbied against on November 4! Lancaster Green councillors have not once attended a Tebay rally since the disaster in 2004. Wherever they have been in power the Greens have completely let down working class people and their unions, why can’t Brother Pinkney see this plain fact? The Greens 2010 manifesto pledges to stop unions, as well as the CBI, from giving money to parties of their choice. RMT has just voted by over 96 per cent for a political fund. We have also backed TUCS at the last three AGM’s running. Notwithstanding Bro Pinkney’s admiration for Caroline Lucas MP, he is on completely unstable ground and his views on aligning with the Green Party are off beam from the majority of the membership. Until the Greens stop opposing HS2 and HS3, which RMT supports, we cannot support them. Until they support full EU withdrawal on a socialist programme the same must apply. Opposing TTIP is not enough. Until they oppose all cuts on a socialist basis the same must apply. I am surprised and a bit angry at Bro Pinkney’s ill-considered article and I hope he will enlightened as to the extent of his error as he is a good and sincere president with integrity. Yours fraternally R MT activists handed in a letter of protest to the Kyrgyz Republic embassy in London recently after lawmakers voted to adopt a so-called “gay propaganda” law. The law mandates jail terms for gay- rights activists and others, including journalists, who create “a positive attitude toward non-traditional sexual relations”. The letter, signed by RMT general secretary Mick Cash, said that the proposed law would violate fundamental human rights, including the rights to liberty, security and physical integrity, freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly and association. “We note a Human Rights Watch report that described how Kyrgyz police routinely subject gay and bisexual men to “physical, sexual, and psychological violence; arbitrary detention; extortion under the threat of violence”. According to the report, this violence “rose to the level of torture” on occasions. “It is of great concern that the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry refuses to acknowledge any problem. “We also note that the country’s top cleric issued a fatwa against same sex relations, saying the government should be wary of “public organizations that disseminate social discord”. The union called on Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev to reject plans to introduce this oppressive and discriminatory legislation and stop the attacks against the Kyrgyz LGBT community. Dear editor, For me and my colleagues at City Link, Christmas is a time to relax after many weeks of hard work, leading up to the big day. Weeks of forced overtime, working 10 hour shifts, sometimes more delivering and collecting parcels for customers all over the UK. Christmas is time when we might spend a little more money than we intended, but safe in the knowledge that the mandatory overtime we worked would be paid into our banks, to help pay those dreaded bills that come our way in January. This year, however, was very different for over 2,700 employees of City Link. There were only tears of despair - all thanks to a certain Mr Jon Moulton. The venture capitalist, who's gambled with the lives of so many, for the financial gain of so few, but he's not all bad. He didn't intend the bad news to come out on Christmas Day after all, he was saving that little surprise for Boxing Day. It was only through RMT that members learned the truth that, after all the denials and reassurances from the senior management, the company was in trouble. Since the announcement the union has worked tirelessly for its members, even though many of the full time officials were on leave. They helped to organise demonstrations and put pressure on MPs of all political parties, to get answers as to why Better Capital can treat its workers with such contempt, leaving them with no redundancy payments. This bill will now have to be picked up by the tax payer. It seems the profits are privatised, and losses are nationalised. On NYE, we thought we'd been thrown a lifeline, in the shape of a consortium that was prepared to run the business as a going concern, but hopes were dashed at the last moment. On a personal note, this leaves me and my two adult children, who are also employees, heading for the dole queue. I've been too busy helping to organise demonstrations and trying to keep the press and politicians involved with our plight, but soon I, along with many others, will have to face reality and accept that we have been thrown on the scrapheap. It’s with great sadness, an a lump in my throat, that I now have to say, that I am now an ex-RMT City Link rep at Motherwell City Link depot. Yours, Mick Ward RMT PROTEST AGAINST ANTI- GAY LAWS IN KYRGYZ REPUBLIC THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS CITY LINK: City Link members protest at Motherwell depot DON’T GO GREEN