The Postal Strike

The last few months have seen the dispute between Royal Mail bosses and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) intensify as both sides have become locked in a struggle. Yet despite this, many of Britain’s public still don’t understand why the strike is happening and neither have they considered the wider implications if the postal workers were to lose. In my belief there are a number of misconceptions surrounding the strike, such as the idea that strike action is counter-productive, enables other competitors to grow. Hence, I shall seek to address these points, and also explain why the action is important and necessary.

According to Royal Mail, the dispute centres on plans to ‘modernise’ the business. To support this, they argue that people are not sending as much mail as they used to, and that the business is struggling in the modern era. In doing so, it presents the action taken by the CWU as outdated and ‘anti-modernisation’. Yet I feel this cloaks the truth of the dispute into terms favorable to Royal Mail bosses. The term ‘modernisation’ is not a neutral one. In reality this means a huge reduction in workers’ wages, pensions and working conditions by employing people on a casual

Ammarah Mir – Bradford Respect Press Officer

basis, with less job security and no long term prospects. Therefore far from being modern, the move by Royal Mail is in fact Victorian and an anathema against all workers, and should be resisted through whatever means possible

Questions are being asked as to whether strike action is an effective method in the modern day. Once more, I feel the media is trying to portray workers struggle in a negative light, with the CWU presented as a ‘dinosaur’. I feel this once more is a clear notion of bias against one of the few unions left today which is able to take effective measures in order to protect its members. If the Royal Mail plans were to succeed, there would be no CWU, and all the gains made in previous struggles will have proved worthless.

It is also argued that the strike action is only helping Royal Mail’s competitors to win a greater market share. Companies such as Amazon have withdrawn from using Royal Mail, and our media has been filled with examples of how other businesses are stepping in to fill the breach. Despite this however, Royal Mail still deals with over 95% of all mail deliveries. Hence if Royal Mail were to fold tomorrow as a business, other businesses simply wouldn’t have the logistical capability to deal with the volume of post. Royal Mail and the Government is well aware of this, which is why their efforts to destroy the service will be more prolonged in order to make privatisation feasible.

Privatisation would mean that local deliveries and services would either not be made, or would be massively expensive for everyone to use. In so doing, we would lose a service which is trusted and dependable within communities that rely on it so as not to be isolated. This is why I reject the

argument that strike action will only lose public support in the long run. Again, public opinion is presented as being firmly against the strike, yet with some sympathy. However I feel that those who truly understand the strike action are aware of what will be lost if the postal workers didn’t take the action. Whilst it is highly regrettable about those who are hit by loss of services, it still remains the CWU’s best method to resist a rampant privatisation agenda of a trusted public service.

At the crux of the issue is the wider implications of the strike, we have to understand that the action being taken is vital not just for the postal workers but also everyone else. During this recession, the bosses want to make the working class pay, with cuts in jobs, pay, services and living conditions. In so doing, they need to break any resistance to their agenda; therefore the CWU stands as a particular target. Behind all the arguments put forward against the strike, I feel the clear message is one where the bosses are trying to break some of the only groups still capable of resisting. If we lose strong unions, then it means that attacks of other workers becomes much easier, as they believe no-one will dare to stand up to defend their rights. It will give renewed confidence for the neo-liberal agenda on issues such as raising tuition fees, and will no doubt lead to further workers being told to take pay cuts, pension cuts and cuts in living conditions without so much as a frown.

Tribal Culture and Mentality by Zaffar Amin

Global mayhem for the past two decades and the way our governments have supported crusades such as the misguided war in Iraq, the fruitless carnage in Afghanistan and destabilisation of the whole region is a crime in itself. Yet time and time again we vote in the same old henchmen who in turn send out their cronies to come knocking on your door to try and play down their barbarism, how easily they sell themselves out and try and lead us down the garden path. But for many it seems that there is such a pledge of allegiance that they see what was good for them ten years ago is good for them now and will be good for them for all time to come, such mentality will never grasp reality, all we say is if you like what you see then prepare yourselves for a very 'ROUGH RIDE' as your best friends of America and your Labour friends of Israel have much more up their sleeves, or better said "you ain't seen nothing yet"  just as they are now hounding Iran, a country that has been cleared time and time again by the UN's Nuclear Watchdog the IAEA of any diversion of its nuclear program from peaceful energy production to military use... get the picture? It has never been more important to educate ourselves

Lets bring Respect Back to Bradford - Mohammad Abu-bakr

With our democracy now dead and all the mainstream parties out of touch with reality, it is the smaller parties that will flourish and we will all have to choose which way to vote. Some will continue to say, smaller parties will not win seats and therefore have no power – this now is incorrect, with the BNP recently winning seats in the MEP elections there is every possibility that the entire make-up of British Politics will change this coming May Day!

Failure to act against racist thugs – Mohammad Abu-bakr

We stand for a fairer NHS for All

NO to Privatisation

We will fight for a fairer inclusive democracy

United Nations – Human Rights Council – Goldstone report into Operation Cast Lead by Israel against Gaza

Judge Goldstones report highlights deliberate crimes against the Palestinians, it was an independent study carried out by a team put together by the top Judge under instructions from the UN-HRC and chose its own cases to look at, it found many cases where there was obvious foul play. These cases have eye witness reports, physical evidence and can be investigated further. The Zionist regime that claims to have a moral high-ground, refuses to even investigate these alleged incidents.

The Full report can be obtained on our website: www.bradfordrespect.org , It has nearly been a year since the war by Israel against Gaza, Palestine and the Zionist war-machine has not been held to account for incidents such as the grouping of women and children into a house and then bombing the house, grouping people into a mosque and firing in a rocket propelled grenade through the front door!

The Respect Party will push for UK acceptance of the Goldstone report and its recommendations.

Why I chose Respect - Zaffar Amin
 
For many years I have campaigned alongside various organisations devoted to justice for the oppressed and conveying truth and factual related matters in order to educate the general masses. It became increasingly frustrating especially when lobbying MPs who just didn't show an interest and weren't prepared to do much about my concerns. It came to the stage that I seriously did consider  packing it all in because it didn't matter how hard you bray the "donkeys" (mainstream party MPs) they just wouldn't budge, or would just place your file away and save it for a rainy day.
 
When the Respect party came into being just before the Iraq war, I saw that their concerns and policies and all that I had worked for went together hand in hand. It became a process of natural selection that I became part of this movement. I felt that the party was in need of me more than I was in need of it as I could now effectively utilise the skills and knowledge I had gained.
 
I was delighted to learn when the Respect Party was being formed here in Bradford and didn't give joining it a second thought. I am now one of the Press Officers for the party and now feel much grateful that I have now been given the opportunity to do what I have been longing to do in the past which is to serve my local community.
 
I was amongst the lucky ones to be chosen to visit George Galloway who had been eager to meet some of his supporters from Bradford and went to see the main man himself in The Houses Of Parliament, it was an opportunity not to be missed so we set off along with two of our Respect Councillor candidates on our memorable visit to the Houses of Parliament

Westfield Development on Broadway/Hall Ings, Bradford – by Mohammad Abu-bakr

The 'currently' Westfield Development down on Broadway/Hall Ings, Bradford (opposite T&A) which has been turned into a quarry & with the builders having got bored and gone home to Australia, is the cancer of Bradford's City Centre and is slowly killing it - This is not acceptable as it is having a very adverse affect on the whole city and it affects each of us somewhere down the line.

Due to the way the contract was formed, the council has such little power that we have to simply sit and wait for the developer to carry on with the project when they feel good and ready!

Recently a city Councillor David Ward wrote to the Group Chairman of Westfield Frank Lowy in Australia and 'urged' him to come and see the devastating affect the barren development is having on our city. The Mr Lowy replied and began by pointing out the incorrect spelling of his name and proceeded to tell Councillor David Ward  in effect that his shareholders were more important than the development or indeed This City's inhabitants!

The attitude of Westfield is a slap in the face to the complainant and the whole of Bradford. 

I propose retrospective clauses and redrawing of contracts, for example the Westfield group should be forced to make a decision with a certain amount of time and then act on that decision within say 6 months and if either of these two deadlines are broken then the land is forcibly put up for auction with clauses this time that favour the city for whatever price and any loss is sustained by the current owner. I understand this may sound drastic to some since it could be argued that Westfield are doing nothing that is against their contract & that we are in this situation because of the failure of Bradford Council to properly manage the whole process from the start however it is not the council that is suffering because of their mismanagement it is the whole City and it simply cannot be allowed to carry on - it is time for action!