WCA bulletin for Copenhagen

Several Workers’ Climate Action supporters are currently in Denmark, making trouble for capitalist politicians and bosses (including Vestas bosses) through actions like this.

Read on for the text of a bulletin distributed at the actions in Copenhagen, and throughout Denmark, by WCA supporters.

Job Cuts in the Arms Industry – Workers organise for socially useful production!

As we were preparing for today’s eviction of our campaign centre for green job creation, we heard about BAE’s announcement that it intends to lay off another 642 workers across the country, including 125 from the 385 at Cowes: that’s 2,300 announced job losses this year. And, of course, a further unacceptable cull to the numbers of skilled, unionised, and relatively well-paid jobs on the island. It has been leaked to us that this number will rise to 250.

Where next for Climate Camp? A contribution

Read a new contribution to the debate ‘Where next for Climate Camp?’ here.

WCA Conference

ON 10-11 OCTOBER activists gathered at University College London to discuss the politics and direction of Workers’ Climate Action. Some had been involved in the network since the beginning, but many were new to WCA.

WCA @ The Great Climate Swoop

On October 17, Climate Campers will rally at Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station (which is owned by e.on) near Nottingham for “the Great Climate Swoop”. As part of the action, WCA supporters are approaching Ratcliffe workers to discuss ways of linking the struggle against e.on’s exploitation of the planet to the struggle against e.on’s exploitation of workers.

WCA conference: 10-11 October, 2009

WCA Conference 2009

A space for discussion and planning open to climate activists, trade unionists, and all those interested in workers’ politics and climate change.

Saturday 10 October, 11am-6pm @ Wilkins Old Refectory, UCL, Gower Street (nr. Euston Station)
Sunday 11 October, 11am-4pm @ East London, venue TBA.
Facebook event here.

Supported by the London Transport Region of the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT).

Activists occupy crane and boats to blockade Vestas

Activists from Workers’ Climate Action (among others) and workers have occupied a crane and at least one boat at Southampton docks to prevent Vestas from moving wind turbine blades out of its factory on the Isle of Wight. These blades belong to the workers that made them, and to society as a whole, not to a profit-seeking business. Vestas must be forced to either continue production in the UK, or allow someone else (ideally the workers) to continue production at its two sites in the Isle of Wight.

Blockade the blades, fight for ecological production under workers’ control.

Check out the Vestas campaign blog for more information.

Also, see this article at ‘This is Hamshire’ for mention of WCA.

Solidarity.

The two souls of (eco)socialism? A report from “Climate and Capitalism”

On 12 September, Workers’ Climate Action activists from the group Workers’ Liberty attended the first half of the Socialist Resistance/Green Left “Climate and Capitalism” conference.

(Socialist Resistance was previously the International Socialist Group, the British section of the Fourth International. Green Left is a caucus within the Green Party.)

They formulated a critique of the politics and organisation of the conference, and posted it here:

The two souls of (eco)socialism? A report from “Climate and Capitalism”

Communication Workers need an ecological plan for the Postal Industry

The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) today congratulated Royal Mail in signing up to the Guardian’s 10:10 campaign (Guardian Letters), but Royal Mail intends to use 24,000 more motor vehicles next year (in place of bikes and posties on foot), and stopped moving post by rail six years ago. What could possibly force Royal Mail to forget about cutting costs, and start thinking about cutting carbon emissions?

The deputy general secretary of the CWU called on Royal Mail to support the union initiative ‘Climate Solidarity’, which aims ‘to achieve reductions in carbon emissions through collective workplace action that will establish a model for climate change engagement that can be replicated across the union movement.’ (Climate Solidarity – supported by PCS, CWU and others) – this turns out to mean persuading union branches to reduce waste in their workplaces and their personal lives. Climate Solidarity has been given £700,000 by Defra, now the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

Though initiatives like Climate Solidarity could be seen as a good start, we can’t expect a government-funded initiative, calling on the kindness of bosses, to make even a small fraction of the social and industrial changes needed to tackle climate change.

The CWU are currently balloting for a strike over threats to job security – they need to make demands that go above and beyond redundancy threats – they need to oppose the whole logic of cost-cutting in the name of maximising profit. They need to propose an alternative plan which will provide jobs in the labour-intensive task of cutting carbon emissions – and pursue it using their industrial power, and the knowledge of the industry that they possess.

Model Motion in support of the WCA conference

Below is a model motion in support of Workers’ Climate Action, and the conference on October 10th, at UCL in London.

This branch notes:

1. The IPCC report that argues we need at least an 80% global reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 if we are to avoid irreversible climate change.

2. The recent factory occupation at Vestas Blades UK, the only wind turbine factory in the UK, where 625 jobs are at risk.

3. The ongoing campaign at Vestas, including a 24hr picket demanding that the government nationalises the factory.

4. The role of the Workers’ Climate Action network in organising and supporting the occupation and promoting the ideas of “worker-led just transition” in the labour and environmental movements.

This branch believes:

1. That climate change is a class issue. Working class people and the poor will be most affected by climate change.
2. That working class people have the power to stop climate change, by stopping production in environmentally destructive industries and using our skills in socially-useful, ecological production i.e. a “worker-led just transition”
3. That victory for the Vestas workers is vital for both the trade union campaign to defend jobs in the crisis, and for building a working-class ecological movement that can push forward this “just transition”
4. That solidarity is the only way to break through the short-term sectionalism of trade unionists in environmentally destructive industries, e.g. Unite’s official support for the third runway at Heathrow.

This branch resolves:

1. To donate £___ to the Save Vestas Campaign (details on www.savevestas.wordpress.com)
2. To donate £___ to Workers Climate Action and to send delegates to their conference on 10th October (www.workersclimateaction.wordpress.com)
3. To set up a “Green Working Group” that can establish ways to green the workplace.