Tea Break for oil refinery strikes?
Jan 31 2009 22:00
Just thought it might be worth pulling together things which could be used in a Tea Break on the oil refinery strikes. Things that I think could go in it were:
1) That thing from the AF guy who works in a refinery
2) What recession means for us by Joseph Kay
3) Some kind of cut down version of the article on the libcom newswire
Anything else? Does this sound like a decent idea?
Feb 1 2009 13:15
#2
Mm with Scotland the wobs are most numerous, but heavily concentrated in a couple of other areas so might need persuading to travel a bit. Praxis'd love it though, their industrial strategy has a heavy focus on oil workers anyway 
Feb 1 2009 13:46
#3
Django wrote:
How well are we placed to distribute this to affected areas though? Organise! are well placed for any repeats of the N.I. walkout, but organised groups are thin on the ground in Wales and the North East. Theres an active IWW group in Newcastle that would be in a good position to get in touch with the Teeside strikers, who would be worth contacting. Maybe South Wales Anarchists too?
Yeah I'd assume that if we had notice we'd try and get up there; Kilroot is a bit out of the way but do-able provided we know when it's happening.
Feb 1 2009 13:50
#4
Definitely worth doing. I've felt a bit funny around the whole thing, but reckon there's definitely a place where we can strike a good balance between the SWPs denouncing the strikers as racist scum and the 'my class right or wrong' crap we'll probably get from some quarters.
Might be worth seeing if we can get something from Aufheben T?
Feb 1 2009 15:31
#5
OK, if we're going to do this we should aim to get it together as soon as possible so its available for those who can distro it this week and to give out at this demonstration, should it take place.
I'm happy to rewrite the news article to make it aimed at those involved and jargon-free. I can do this tonight.
Feb 1 2009 20:01
#6
Do people reckon this is still too long for a Tea Break special? Its 900 words.
Quote:
The recent wave of unofficial walkouts by energy workers have seen huge levels of media coverage, being described as 2009’s “winter of discontent”. The strikes followed Total’s decision to put a new project at its Lindsey refinery out to open tender, which was won by the Italian firm IREM, a company which brought its own workforce and refused to employ locals. Similar cases have led to solidarity actions by workers around the country.Skilled workers in the engineering and building trades are being hit hard by the recession. The economy can’t provide the work we need to get by on, and plenty of workers are looking at serious unemployment for the first time. The open tenders make a bad situation worse. Employers aren’t interested in keeping the workers who live in the area in employment. No matter what they might say about "valuing their workforce", at the end of the day they look out for their profits, and don’t have a choice about this. They will do what is in their interests – to make more money. Here they have used a foreign company with its own workforce. They claim that IREM’s workers are being paid the same as locals, but the terms are secret and we won’t find out. We do know that they would pick the option which is most cost-effective from their perspective.
This is down to the way the economy works, and not down to the people who have to follow the work. This isn’t lost on plenty of protesters, as many in the trades have worked abroad themselves, in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The Guardian quoted a protester from Cardiff, John Cummins, 44, as saying: "I was laid off as a stevedore two weeks ago. I've worked in Cardiff and Barry Docks for 11 years and I've come here today hoping that we can shake the government up. I think the whole country should go on strike as we're losing all British industry. But I've got nothing against foreign workers. I can't blame them for going where the work is." The Star quoted another as saying “we need to make a stand now. This is not a racist protest. I’m happy to work hand-in-hand with foreign workers, but we are not getting a look in. There are guys at this site who had been banking on that work and then it gets handed to an Italian firm. It’s about fairness.”
It’s the fact that people who need work aren’t getting it which is behind the protests. The economy can’t provide the work. It isn’t there for that. It’s there for money to make more money. The demand for work is perfectly reasonable and deserves support. We have to stand together and make demands together to get what we need from those with power – the bosses.
We shouldn’t let that demand turn into animosity towards other workers doing what British workers do all the time – taking up work abroad to support themselves and their families. Bosses use divisions to divide up the workforce and undercut pay and conditions. They often use agency staff and temps to do this in large sectors like the Post Office, or in other parts of the public sector by privatising some jobs and not others. In this case they use national divisions. Plenty of other divisions turn us against each other, rather than the bosses who create this situation, such as differences between permanent staff and subcontractors, and between different trades.
Making this about nationalism doesn’t help us. If we do the bosses’ work of dividing ourselves up and turning against foreign workers then we won’t get anywhere. They face the same situation as we do, and the same problems. The official union strategy, which is to quote Gordon Brown’s words from the Labour Party conference back at him is to demand “British jobs for British workers.” This is dangerous, as it turns animosity which should be directed at the way the economy doesn’t work for us at others who are in the same boat as us. They are doing it because it fits with the nationalism we see in the media, which usually condemns or ignores strikes.
We should be wary of the way the media reports such disputes. When workers at a nuclear power station in Plymouth walked out on a wildcat strike last year after a round of layoffs, the media immediately reported that they were walking out against “foreign workers”, and that it was a protest against jobs going to cheaper Poles. This contradicted statements from strikers, and the fact that Polish workers were amongst those who walked out in solidarity. In that case it was again the unions which were spinning the “British jobs for British workers” line.
Bosses try to keep their profits up by slashing spending on wages, and thanks to layoffs individual workers are faced with increasing insecurity. Arguing our problems through nationalism doesn’t help, as the problem is international. We shouldn’t be trying to defend the national interest, but ourselves. The nation isn’t there for us, its there to keep the bosses profits safe. That’s why you’ll see the state throwing money at banks but slashing the NHS budget and the wages of public sector workers. Nationalism doesn’t offer us any solutions, only scapegoats – other workers. Our demand should be “give us jobs”, not “British jobs for British workers”. And if we want them to give us what we need we have to fight together.
Feb 1 2009 20:05
#7
Yeah, wicked mate, if you can do the news article I think that'd make an ace front page.
Do we reckon we could fit Joseph's article and the AF guy's statement on the back? Maybe we could add a little blurb saying what Tea Break is..
Feb 1 2009 20:35
#8
really good mate.
Django wrote:
If we do the bosses’ work of dividing ourselves up and turning against foreign workers then we won’t get anywhere. They face the same situation as we do, and the same problems.
the 'they' is ambiguous - perhaps 'these workers'?
Django wrote:
The official union strategy, which is to quote Gordon Brown’s words from the Labour Party conference back at him is to demand “British jobs for British workers.”
reads weird. maybe 'The official union strategy - which is to quote Gordon Brown’s words from the Labour Party conference back at him - is to demand “British jobs for British workers”' or 'The official union strategy, has been to quote Gordon Brown’s words from the Labour Party conference back at him and demand “British jobs for British workers”'?
Feb 1 2009 20:46
#9
Django wrote:
Do people reckon this is still too long for a Tea Break special? Its 900 words.
Nah, i reckon that's about right.. Rob Ray said he'd lay it out so he'd have a better idea.. Joseph K's article is 1,400 words, that might need shaving down. I might have a go at this if it's thought necessary.. unless, Joseph wants to do it himself..
Feb 1 2009 20:50
#10
as a guide, aufheben-dense text is 1,000 words a page. not sure what our last tea break was, i'd imagine less than that.
Feb 1 2009 21:36
#11
Here's a cut down version of Joseph's article. Got it down to 686 words, but could probably still cut out bits out if necessary.. there's one bit I've bolded, about child benefit cuts, coz I'm not sure if that's true. I thought they were cutting it for parents with kids over seven (though couldn't find a source). Anyway, can anyone confirm it one way or the other?
Quote:
What recession means for usThe recession is here. We're told to tighten our belts and brace ourselves for redundancies, wage and service cuts. Politicians and business leaders are united in saying we should pay for a crisis not of our making. A recession is simply when the economy shrinks for 6 months in a row. What this means for individual firms is a squeeze on profits, and unless we do anything about it, it means a squeeze on us, as our employers try to protect those profits.
So behind the headlines the plan is clear; they want to make us pay for their crisis. So how is the recession going to affect us?
Redundancies
Unemployment is predicted to increase to as much as 3.4m in the next couple of years. This means over a million people will lose their jobs. Already the news is full of layoffs, and it’s set to get worse.Benefits
Just when the economy is proving incapable of keeping people in work, the government is planning to cut benefits for the unemployed. A recent report recommended that unemployed workers should be made to either look for work or do community service “from 9 to 5” in order to earn their £60 dole money. That works out at £1.50 an hour! Other attacks are planned, such as forcing single parents with children over the age of one and many people currently signed off sick to look for work or have their benefits stopped.Wage cuts
Those of us who keep our jobs can’t expect to escape the punishment. Wages will be attacked directly; workers at JCB factories recently voted to take a £50 a week pay cut to avoid redundancies. The company then made some more redundancies anyway. But wages can be cut in less visible ways too, such as iIf workers can be made to work harder and faster, or longer days or through their breaks. This will often be making up for the work of colleagues made redundant, saving the boss cash.Public service cuts
£35bn of government clawbacks are scheduled to come from public sector spending cuts. This will mean cuts to public services and further attacks on public sector workers pay and conditions. The health service is expected to be hit particularly hard alongside cutbacks to schools, social housing, energy efficiency programmes and flood defences.Repossessions and evictions
Another way the recession will hit us is through a rise in home repossessions and evictions as people fall behind on mortgage repayments and rent. Repossessions are already at record levels, and set to rise further.So is it all doom and gloom?
It doesn’t have to be! There are various things we can do:Talk to your workmates. We’re all in the same boat, just realising this is a step towards doing something about it. Beware bosses claiming they’re in the same boat too; who do you think they’d throw overboard first?
Network with other workers. Do you have friends or friends-of-friends working locally in the same sector as you? Consider going for a pint to swap experiences and find out if there’s anything you can help each other.
Consider collective action. Collective action covers a whole range of things but the principle is that on our own we are weak, but together we can stand up for ourselves. Going into the manager's office together to support colleagues being pressured into working longer hours or ‘working-to-contract’: taking breaks, leaving on time etc. There’s safety in numbers.
More dramatically, things like strikes and occupations can win major concessions. When workers were laid off at a factory in Northern Ireland recently they occupied the plant for 48 hours demanding improved redundancy terms. They won. By acting together they turned the tables on the bosses, who expected them to go home alone and ‘think things over.’ Instead they showed the inevitable wasn’t so inevitable. It starts from realising what we have in common with other workers, across divisions of trade and nationality, and what we don’t have in common with the politicians and bosses trying to shift the costs of the crisis onto us. We can’t fight back on our own, but together we have a chance.
Feb 1 2009 21:49
#12
Also, just checked the AF guy's statement and that's about 372 words which puts us at just under 2,000 words in total.. Django, would you be opposed to someone having a chop at it? Reckon I'll only be able to do it tomorrow when I get back from work tomorrow (5:30pm) but if anyone else (Joseph? 
) wants to have a go at it before then that'd be ace. Maybe 300 off that and I reckon we'll be able to stick in the AF guy's statement in full (Suggested title, "A view from a South Wales refinery"?) and have a workable word count..
Feb 1 2009 21:49
#13
Ed wrote:
there's one bit I've bolded, about child benefit cuts, coz I'm not sure if that's true. I thought they were cutting it for parents with kids over seven (though couldn't find a source). Anyway, can anyone confirm it one way or the other?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7759905.stm
BBC wrote:
Lone parents with children aged one to seven should sign an action plan to help them return to work, under plans drawn up by welfare expert Paul Gregg. And there would be punishments for all those who do not cooperate, from losing benefits to unpaid community work.
although tbf they were the recommendations of that dude's report, not draft legislation
Feb 1 2009 21:51
#14
Ah right, fair enough..
Feb 1 2009 21:57
#15
should probably add in something in the 'what you can do' collective action bit about 'across divisions of trade and nationality'?
Feb 1 2009 22:00
#16
Joseph K. wrote:
should probably add in something in the 'what you can do' collective action bit about 'across divisions of trade and nationality'?
Added it in above..
Feb 1 2009 23:12
#17
As far as the dispute goes isn;t it worth commenting on the legal aspect of it?. There is some grounds for the contracts being discriminatory since local workers couldn't apply.
Afterall thats the immediate demand to be made, that contracts should be drawn up so that all workers can apply and that therefore wages should be displayed openly due to the freedom of information act. Which would create an environment in which workers would start from a stronger position since right now they're just fighting about the jobs not the wages.
Might be worth mentioning the contradictory bureaucratic tangle that EU laws ahve created aswell http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/01/eu-law
In the long term I think its also worth putting in a bit about the nature of a waged based system pitting workers against workers as capricorn said on the oil workers thread in news, and i think its fair to use some emotive language about it aswell as long as the point is made shortly and the way in which a recession makes us into so much scrap.
Can write some shizzle if tis needed.
Feb 2 2009 00:13
#18
Total words for a two-page sheet of A4, particularly aimed at a wide market, should be pretty short, probably about 700-800 words per side (that's being generous, as a guide from the newspaper industry, you'd expect a page lead on an A3 newspaper page to be about 450 words, with a picture story of about half that as the downpage and maybe some nibs, total wordcount of maybe 900).
Feb 2 2009 02:25
#19
Have done a basic version to give people an idea of text and space, I could get a bit more from dropping the leading (space between lines) down or reducing the text size (which is 9 point), but tbh the text should probably be a bit bigger than that if anything. Anyways it's a working version as well so if people are in a hurry to print/put something online it'll do the job.
Download link here.
Feb 2 2009 08:56
#20
Ed - not at all opposed to a chop down, and with JK 's rewordings.
Feb 2 2009 09:56
#21
Wahey! It's snowing so I've got the day off.. Made a snowman with a pipe.. Anyway, the point is that I should be able to do some chopping after all.. 900 words total could be tough, might have to be absolutely ruthless with JK's article..
Rob Ray: Couldn't download the file.. what do I need to do?
Feb 2 2009 10:12
#22
Well have a look at the PDF and see what you think, should give you an idea of how much you might want to lose. If you want the text bigger, or more space in it/around the edge it'll need cuts but depends on how much text you want to trade off for that.
Ed: There's a three letter code on the top left of the page you need to input, then hit enter, and it'll take you to a waiting screen. Wait 45 seconds, and hit 'free download' button.
Feb 2 2009 10:33
#23
Can you send me the code? Here's a new edit of JK's article, down to 407 words (412 inc. the title).. gonna have a go at Django's now.
Quote:
What recession means for usSo behind the headlines the plan is clear; they want to make us pay for their crisis. So how is the recession going to affect us?
Redundancies
Unemployment is predicted to increase to as much as 3m by next year. Already the news is full of layoffs, and it’s set to get worse.Benefits
As more people are made redundant, the government plans to cut benefits, expecting the unemployed to look for work ‘from 9 to 5’ for their dole. Other attacks are planned on single parents and long-term sick leave.Wage cuts
Workers at JCB factories recently voted to take a £50 a week pay cut to avoid redundancies. The company then made redundancies anyway. Wages can also be cut in less visible ways by making us work harder, faster and longer.Public service cuts
£35bn of government clawbacks are scheduled from public sector spending cuts. This will mean cuts to the health service, schools, social housing, energy efficiency programmes and flood defences as well as cuts in workers’ pay.Repossessions and evictions
The recession will hit us through a rise in home repossessions and evictions as people fall behind on mortgage repayments and rent.So is it all doom and gloom?
It doesn’t have to be! There are various things we can do:Talk to your workmates. We’re all in the same boat, just realising this is a step towards doing something about it. Beware bosses claiming they’re in the same boat too; who do you think they’d throw overboard first?
Network with other workers. Do you have friends or friends-of-friends working locally, in the same sector? Consider going for a pint to see if you can help each other.
Consider collective action. Collective action covers a whole range of things but the principle is that alone we are weak, but together we can stand up for ourselves. Get everyone to ignore the boss and take their breaks or leave on time. There’s safety in numbers.
Strikes and occupations can also get results. When workers were laid off in Northern Ireland recently they occupied the plant for 48 hours demanding improved redundancy terms and won. By acting together they turned the tables on the bosses. It starts from realising what we have in common with other workers and what we don’t with the politicians and bosses shifting the costs of the crisis onto us. We can’t fight back alone, but together we have a chance.
Feb 2 2009 10:39
#24
It's a randomly generated one, top of the page next to the megaupload logo.
Feb 2 2009 11:32
#25
TBH, I'm not so sure I'd be happy handing that out to strikers, the tone of the lead article is a little too preachy and overemphasises the nationalist stuff. Can't that just be left to the statement from the AFer in South Wales, who's at least coming at it from an angle of being involved?
Edit: Sorry, that comes across as much more negative than I intended it to. The lead article is good, I just think it repeats the same point (that we shouldn't allow ourselves to be divided by nationalism) quite a lot in the last few paragraphs unnecessarily and that could come across as preachy and put any striker who read it on the defensive.
Feb 2 2009 11:42
#26
I think it's pretty good. Maybe it'd be good to have a line on it somewhere saying what it is and where it has come from?
Ed - to download it, follow the link, then to the right of the Megaupload logo there is a box where you have to enter the three letters it says in the box like a spam protector thing. Then click download and it's obvious from there.
Feb 2 2009 11:48
#27
I originally put the libcom logo on and then thought it might be better to leave it out so anyone can distro it. Will probably end up doing a couple of versions once it's been sorted, one without, one with a list of groups in agreement or something.
Also, quick suggestion for a factfile thing once the text has been stripped down, phone numbers for shop stewards at the various facilities? Some of them at least should be scoutable online and on press releases and such, and would be useful for people to have to foster more links between the various workplaces.
Feb 2 2009 11:49
#28
Right, here's my super-chopped down versions.. I'll do them one post at a time. The total word count so far for all three is 1,012 words.. if anyone doesn't like some of the cuts then just say.. I also chopped the AFers statement a bit (100 words or so..).. hope that's okay..
Also, I hear what madashell is saying, maybe have a look at how this version reads and see what we can take out...
Here's Django's article again, but this time cut to 399 words..
Quote:
The recent unofficial walkouts by energy workers followed Total’s offer of a new project at its Lindsey refinery to the Italian firm IREM, which brought its own workforce and refused to employ locals.Skilled workers in the engineering and building trades are being hit hard by recession. The economy can’t provide the work we need, and many are facing unemployment. Employers aren’t interested in keeping us in work; they’re interested in profits. Here they’ve used a foreign company with its own workforce.
This is down to the way the economy works, not the people who have to follow the work. This isn’t lost on plenty of protesters, as many have worked abroad themselves, in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The Guardian quoted John Cummins saying: "I was laid off as a stevedore two weeks ago. I've worked in Cardiff and Barry Docks for 11 years […] I think the whole country should go on strike as we're losing all British industry. But I've got nothing against foreign workers. I can't blame them for going where the work is." The Star quoted another worker: “This is not a racist protest. I’m happy to work hand-in-hand with foreign workers, but we are not getting a look in.”
The protests are about people who need work not getting it. But we shouldn’t let that anger turn on other workers doing what British workers do all the time – take work abroad to support themselves and their families.
Bosses use divisions to divide the workforce and attack pay and conditions, like agency staff in the Post Office or privatising parts of the public sector and not others. In this case they’ve used national divisions. Making this about nationalism doesn’t help us; it does the bosses’ work of dividing us up. Foreign workers face the same problems we do. Demanding “British Jobs for British Workers” is dangerous, as it turns anger at the way the economy doesn’t work for us at other workers.
Bosses try to keep profits up by slashing wages and making redundancies. But arguing our problems through nationalism doesn’t help, as the problem is international. The nation isn’t there for us, its there for the boss’ profits. That’s why the state throws money at banks but slashes the NHS budget. Our demand should be “give us jobs”, not “British jobs for British workers”. Nationalism doesn’t offer us any solutions, only scapegoats.
Feb 2 2009 11:51
#29
Joseph Kay's article, 390 words
Quote:
So behind the headlines the plan is clear; they want us to pay for their crisis. So how will recession affect us?Unemployment
Unemployment is predicted to increase to as much as 3m by next year. Already the news is full of redundancies, and it’s set to get worse. As more people are made redundant, the government plan to cut unemployment benefit. Attacks are also planned on single parents’ benefit and long-term sick leave.Wage cuts
Workers at JCB factories recently voted to take a £50 a week pay cut to avoid redundancies. The company then made redundancies anyway. Wages can also be cut in less visible ways by making us work harder, faster and longer.Public service cuts
£35bn of government clawbacks are scheduled from public sector spending cuts. This will mean cuts to the health service, schools, social housing, energy efficiency programmes and flood defences as well as cuts in workers’ pay.Repossessions and evictions
The recession will hit us through a rise in home repossessions and evictions as people fall behind on mortgage repayments and rent.So is it all doom and gloom?
It doesn’t have to be! There are various things we can do:Talk to your workmates. We’re all in the same boat, just realising this is a step towards doing something about it. Beware bosses claiming they’re in the same boat too; who do you think they’d throw overboard first?
Network with other workers. Do you have friends or friends-of-friends working locally, in the same sector? Consider going for a pint to see if you can help each other. Some oil refinery workers have also been using the bearfacts.co.uk to communicate with other workers during the wildcats.
Consider collective action. Collective action covers a whole range of things but the principle is that alone we are weak, but together we can stand up for ourselves. Get everyone to ignore the boss and take their breaks or leave on time. There’s safety in numbers.
Strikes and occupations can also get results. When workers were laid off in Northern Ireland recently they occupied the plant for 48 hours demanding improved redundancy terms and won. By acting together they turned the tables on the bosses. It starts from realising what we have in common with other workers and what we don’t with the politicians and bosses shifting the costs of the crisis onto us. We can’t fight back alone, but together we have a chance.
Feb 2 2009 11:52
#30
AF statement, 223 words:
Quote:
I work for a contracted company in charge of maintenance at an oil refinery in South Wales. There are two oil refineries where I work and two LNG terminals plus an oil storage facility. Due to the economic crisis workers at all of these sites have been made redundant, as across the UK and even the world.With the prospect of work coming in from new building projects like nuclear and gas-fired power stations, there was hope for workers out of work. However due to recession the fat cats want to cut costs and use the company charges least. This is where the problem began; workers recently made redundant were horrified when local jobs went to an Italian company using Italian and Portuguese labour.
A lot of my colleagues regularly work overseas in places like Kazakhstan, Dubai etc. When this work is offered people jump at the chance. Don’t blame foreign workers - it's not their fault. It’s the system: capitalism. These redundancies have nothing to do with overseas workers “taking our jobs”. It’s the whole greedy system that’s to blame. In the engineering industry, especially in oil and gas, the job takes you worldwide. Who can blame foreign workers, who also face threats of redundancy and unemployment, who just want to work and support their family? What happened to international worker solidarity?
Yeah I think its a good idea. We put together a leaflet very quickly for an open meeting yesterday which had the statement from the comrade in a refinery and an edited version of the newswire article. They got taken very quickly.
How well are we placed to distribute this to affected areas though? Organise! are well placed for any repeats of the N.I. walkout, but organised groups are thin on the ground in Wales and the North East. Theres an active IWW group in Newcastle that would be in a good position to get in touch with the Teeside strikers, who would be worth contacting. Maybe South Wales Anarchists too?
The demonstration in London, should it go ahead, is an obvious target. There should be a proper effort to reach out to it, and given the number of libcommers/Afers/Solfeders etc in London this should be very easy. Beyond that, I reckon it would be worth distroing more widely, as it affects important issues we should be addressing clearly and accessibly. So any Tea Break produced for this would have to be jargon-free and easy to read - the last one did a good job of this I reckon.