Celebrate the life of Alf Filer
Celebrate the life of Alf Filer: Saturday 10 September, 7-11 p.m
The Tin Tabernacle, 12-16 Cambridge Avenue, NW6 5BA
very near Kilburn Park tube (Bakerloo line) and Kilburn High Rd overground stations
and 6, 16, 31, 32, 98, 206, 316, 328, 332, 632 bus stops
You are invited to celebrate the life of Alf Filer together with friends, family and comrades.
Alf was tragically killed on June 24 – this is an opportunity to remember him and share those memories with others that knew him and miss him.
The evening will commence at 7pm and hot food from the excellent local Indian restaurant Shamrat will be served at 8pm at a cost of £7 per person. There will also be a bar run by the people who run the Tin Tabernacle (which hasn’t been a religious building for many years) at below pub prices.
Following the food there will be a series of tributes from people who knew Alf well – and space for those who decide they want to add something on the night.
There will be entertainment from Ian Saville and music to end the evening.
There will also be a memorial book available for people who want to write their tributes (in addition to or as well as speaking them) which will be given to Alf’s sons, Lawrence and Leon, afterwards.
We will be decorating the hall with photos of Alf and also appropriate banners. If you have photos you want us to enlarge please email to terryconway@tiscali.co uk by the end of Wednesday 7th – otherwise bring what you have along with you
There is no admission charge for the event but we are asking those who can to make a donation with the money going to Leon and Lawrence to defray any outstanding funeral costs and to donate to whatever cause(s) they think would be closest to Alf’s heart.
Because we are ordering food, we are asking people to RSVP if they can to petefirmin@btinternet.com by Thursday 8th
If you are not able to join us on the night but would like a tribute to be read out or entered in the memorial book please send it to: petefirmin@btinternet.com
Please circulate this email to anyone who knew Alf
Brent Campaign Against Climate Change Press Release
Climate Change Children’s Author Reads “Carbon Diaries” at Willesden Green Library
Author Saci Lloyd will visit the Willesden Green Library Centre on Saturday 9th April to read from her acclaimed teenage novels “The Carbon Diaries 2015” and “The Carbon Diaries 2017”. Following the readings there will be discussion with a teenage audience about the prospect of carbon rationing in the UK and feelings about the threat of Climate Change.
This event is the first in a series of “Green Writers” at the Willesden Green Library Centre, where authors will read from their books about an environmental aspect and discuss them with the audience. The series is organised by the Brent Campaign against Climate Change in liaison with the Willesden Green Library.
Saci Lloyd’s first novel “The Carbon Diaries 2015” was shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards in 2008. Its heroine is Laura Brown, a teenager who struggles to cope with her family, dreams of a breakthrough with her punk band and fancies the boy next door. When on 1st January 2015, the UK is the first nation to introduce carbon dioxide rationing, Laura chronicles the events of this drastic bid to combat climate change and illustrates how carbon rationing is threatening to turn her family, her local environment and the whole country out of control. Praising reviews include:
“This is a charming tale full of laughs and angst, with a message both accessible and relevant to today’s teenagers.’ -Bookseller’s Choice, New Publishing
‘An uproarious, scathing and pathos-filled romp – Adrian Mole does the apocalypse.’
– Financial Times
In the sequel “The Carbon Diaries 2017” Laura tours Europe with her punk band and becomes involved with an increasingly dramatic sequence of climate change-related events that include drought in Europe and Africa, a tidal-wave of desperate immigrants, a water war in the Middle East and clashes between Londoners and the army in the town centre.
Ken Montague, Secretary of the Brent Campaign against Climate Change says, “After the failure of the Copenhagen Climate Summit and the limited outcome of the recent climate talks it is easy to forget that if we don’t act now climate change will be a far worse threat to our future than the economic crisis. It will be the generation of Laura Brown’s children who will see the fight over natural resources. ”
The reading and discussion is from 2- 4pm on Saturday, 9th April 2011 at the Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, Willesden, NW10 2SF. All are welcome. Please bring your copy of the “Carbon Diaries” along if you would like it to be signed by the author.
Ends.
Notes for Editors
1. Two photos of the author and book covers, attached.
2. See author’s website www.sacilloyd.com and publisher’s website with summary of content www.hodderchildrens.co.uk
3. The organiser of the “Green Writer” series is the Brent Campaign against Climate Change, the local group of the national Campaign against Climate Change . It is a non-profit making network and information exchange for participating environmental groups, trade union organisations, tenants’ and residents’ associations, and individual climate activists within the London Borough of Brent. For more information see http://www.brentcacc.com/
Contact: Brent Campaign against Climate Change – Stefanie Gray 07882 175240
BRENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE Meeting 10/2/2011: Trade Unionists and Climate Change
Introduction by Pete Firmin (CWU,Brent TUC) & John Stewart (Campaign Against Climate Change)
Nick Grant (NUT)
Questions and discussion (1)
Sarah Pearce (TUC Green Workplaces Project)(1)
Sarah Pearce (TUC Green Workplaces Project)(2)
Questions and discussion (2)
Speakers’ closing remarks
Coalition of Resistance events 12-19 Feb
To build for the March 26th protest CoR has called a Week of Resistance.
The following events are planned:
• Saturday 12th February Right to Work People’s Conference
• Sunday 13th February Capitalism: A love story by Michael Moore. London Socialist Film Co-op 10.30 am the Renoir with discussion led by Tony Benn
• Monday 14th February Stop the Valentines Day Massacre of our Public Services. Downing Street 5pm-7pm with Jeremy Corbyn MP, John McDonnell MP, Steve Hart Unite – sponsored by SERTUC and Unite [ London and Eastern Region]. Download flyer
• Tuesday 15th February Mass Lobby of Parliament Tell MPs: Hands off our homes, our benefits and our rights. Rally in Central Hall Westminster and mass lobby of Parliament. 12-4pm. Called by Defend Council Housing.
• Wednesday 16th February COR Public Meeting Goldsmiths College with Caroline Lucas MP, Tariq Ali and Clare Solomon
• Wednesday 16th February COR Public Meeting with Keep Our NHS Public Conway Hall WC1 with Dr Jacky Davis, Wendy Savage and John Lister. More info.
• Saturday 19th February Mass leafleting for March 26th demonstration – stalls throughout the country.
• Saturday 19th February Visit George Osborne at home – a cross between ‘a place in the sun’ and ‘location, location, location’.
BRENT FIGHTBACK – WHERE NEXT FOR THE CAMPAIGN?
At the Brent Fightback meeting on Tuesday, following our demonstration and lobby on Friday January 28th, we decided on our priorities for the near future:
1) We would urge as many people as possible to sign up for the People’s Convention on Saturday February 12th. This is a whole day event at Friends Meeting House in Euston Rd which is jointly organised by Right to Work, Disabled People Against the Cuts and Labour Representation Committee. It will bring together people from a wide variety of Trades Unions, anti-cuts campaigns, students and others battling against the cuts. As well as plenary sessions which include MPs, an eyewitness from Egypt and a debate between councillors about how (whether) they can resist the cuts, there will be numerous workshops run by participating organisations. For full details and to register go to www.righttowork .org.uk
2) The next big day for us locally is Monday February 28th when Brent Council will be setting the budget. Lobby outside Brent Town Hall from 6.00 pm. We hope that every single local campaign against cuts, closures and increased charges will be represented as well as hundreds of local citizens.
In order to build this lobby, we plan to have a day of action on Saturday February 19th where we will travel the borough setting up stalls and asking local campaigners to come and support them. Details will be finalised at the next Brent Fightback meeting on Tuesday February 15th 7.30 pm at Brent Trades Hall (see attached map etc)
3) Saturday March 26th is the day of the national demonstration called by the TUC but involving everybody affected by the ConDems’ cuts. The TUC is hoping for half a million on the streets, but if we all work to build this demo it could be far, far bigger. There is a leaflet attached. We want to visit workplaces and community organisations, leaflet in the streets – we will be planning another day of action for that possibly with a motorcade, open back lorry &/or battle bus touring the borough so that everyone knows it will be happening and that they can join it to let the ConDems and the Councils that are implementing the cuts that WE WILL NOT PAY FOR THEIR CRISIS. A leaflet for the demonstration is attached, thanks to Brent UNISON for sending it.
REPORTS AND OTHER INFORMATION
Brent Fightback demo and lobby January 28th
Thank you to everyone who joined the Brent Fightback demonstration and lobby on Friday January 28th. the most impressive thing about the demonstration was the wide range of campaigns involved. Apologies for the hitches in timing which meant that one march passed the Stonebridge Hub and the other Brent MENCAP earlier than advertised, leaving people behind.
Green candidate for Kenton by-election Alan Mathison hits out at cuts
A CANDIDATE in a Kenton by-election says his party is the only one not tainted by a record of making cuts.
Alan Mathison accused the Labour administration of failing to protect the most vulnerable from Brent Council’s spending axe but hit out at the “colossal cheek” of the Lib Dems and Tories.
He said the two parties had no right to campaign against local cuts “when it is their government that has demanded them”.
He hit out at a project to replace Brent Town Hall with a new civic centre.
He said: “All three parties voted for the £100m over-the-top Civic Centre vanity project which is a slap in the face for local people when they see their services being slashed and charges raised.”
The by-election will be held on February 17 and was organised following the death of Councillor Arthur Steel on New Year’s Day.
Mr Mathison said the area had been neglected by the council and said he wanted to see more done to tackle flooding problems, as well as relocating the John Billam children’s playground to a safer and more accessible site.
He also wants to tackle traffic issues in Drayton Avenue and stop speeding in Woodcock Hill.
In addition to Labour, Lib Dem and Tory candidates, he will also face independent Robert Dunwell.
Brent Fightback:BRENT COUNCIL LIBRARIES TRANSFORMATION PROJECT
Brent Fightback:BRENT COUNCIL LIBRARIES TRANSFORMATION PROJECT
Attached and pasted below is a list of the remaining meetings in Brent Council’s consultation process on their proposals for closing half of the Borough’s libraries. this evening’s public meeting is especially important. There will be people there from the individual library campaigns. We have contact details for Cricklewood: Eric Pollock (Chairman of the Friends of Cricklewood Library) either by email on eric.pollock@tiscali.co.uk or by telephone on 020 8452 4072 and Kensal Rise: Phil O’Shea philoshea10@hotmail.com
The Save Kensal Rise Library facebook group is at:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_132980853422017&ap=1
There is a national campaign to defend libraries, the Campaign for the Book, supported by a number of authors, teachers, librarians and people who love books and appreciate libraries. It spreads news about campaigns and attached is a document suggesting co-ordinated action on February 5th.
Brent Fightback supports keeping ALL our libraries open. Once closed, they are gone for ever. We hope that, while pursuing their local campaigns, the libraries campaigners will unite and will become part of our broader campaign to defend jobs, services, pensions, benefits and the environment.
BRENT COUNCIL LIBRARIES TRANSFORMATION PROJECT
Consultation on proposals to close six of Brent’s twelve libraries and transform the remainder into “community hubs”
Dates of forthcoming meetings & open days
Thursday 6th January 6.30 pm PUBLIC MEETING BRENT TOWN HALL
Wednesday 12th January OPEN DAY 10.30 am – 1.00 pm & 2.30 – 5.00 pm WILLESDEN GREEN LIBRARY CENTRE
LOCAL AREA FORUMS
Tuesday January 11th 7.00 pm HARLESDEN ALL SOULS CHURCH
Wednesday 12th January 7.00 pm KILBURN & KENSAL RISE QUEENS PARK COMMUNITY SCHOOL
Tuesday 18th January 7.00 pm WEMBLEY AREA PATIDAR HOUSE
Wednesday 19th January 7.00 pm WILLESDEN AREA COLLEGE OF NW LONDON, DUDDEN HILL LANE
Wednesday 9th February 7.00 pm KINGSBURY & KENTON AREA KINGSBURY HIGH SCHOOL
Consultation documents and a questionnaire are available on the website www.brent.gov.uk/consultation
Cllr Ann John, the Labour leader of Brent Council has announced that she and Cllr Mohammed Butt, the deputy leader will be attending the local area forums listed above to “discuss” the cuts in general as well as the proposals for the libaries. It is important that Brent Fightback has a good presence at these meetings and that we
Environmental Writers Project – Amended in Consultation with Brent Library Service. Speakers have agreed but dates need to be confirmed
This project involves a series of monthly readers’ meetings with environmental writers talking about their books, presented as a joint project by Brent Campaign against Climate Change and Brent Library Service. We would also hope to involve the Willesden Bookshop (not yet contacted).
The meetings will consist of a single writer giving a presentation of their book, possibly reading extracts, followed by Q&A and discussion. Anticipated numbers –
15 – 20. We would hope to give enough notice to enable readers to read the books before the meeting. The Library Service will publicise the series in advance.
“Books” may include pamphlets, reports or other documents, be fiction or non-fiction, and represent a range of political views and cultural backgrounds. Writers proposed for the first series of meetings from April 2011:
SATURDAY 9 APRIL 2.00pm – “FAMILY DAY” LAUNCH – Saci Lloyd – Carbon Diaries 2017 (confirmed)
MONDAY 9 MAY 7.30pm – Andrew Simms – Ecological Debt: Global Warming and the Wealth of Nations (date to be confirmed)
MONDAY 6 JUNE 7.30pm – Jonathan Neale – Stop Global Warming: Change the World (date to be confirmed)
MONDAY 4 JULY 7.30pm – Derek Wall – No Nonsense Guide to Green Politics
(date be confirmed)
MONDAY 1 AUGUST 7.30pm – Alexis Rowell – Communities, Councils and a Low Carbon Future (date to be confirmed).
Brent Libraries have agreed to jointly promote the meetings, hold them free of charge in the lending area of Willesden Green Library, make copies of the books available and arrange publicity in the Brent Magazine and other Brent channels.
If the first series is successful we would hope to organise further meetings.
Ken Montague
Secretary BCACC
kenmontague@msn.com
Jayaben Desai
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Jayaben Desai, whose refusal to obey a management instruction to stay on and work overtime after another worker had been sacked for not fulfilling his quota, started the famous Grunwick strike, died just before Christmas. She was 77.
I have written elsewhere on this blog LINK how this strike in Dollis Hill, in the heart of Brent, was a significant milestone in the history of trade union struggle in the UK – and one that should feature when local schools devise their programmes for Black History Month
As someone who attended the pickets I well remember her inspiring presence in front of the Grunwick gates. This was a fight against exploitation based on race, class and gender and challenged the trade union movement’s neglect of immigrant and women workers.
Here is Jayaben’s own account of the working conditions at Grunwick:
“On two sides there are glass cabins for the management so that they can watch you as well. He is English. He moves around and keeps an eye. You have to put up your hand and ask even to go to the toilet. If someone is sick, say a woman has a period or something, they wouldn’t allow her home without a doctor’s certificate, and if someone’s child was sick and they had to take it to the clinic or hospital they would say “Why are you going, ask someone else from your family to go”…
Even pregnant women who wanted to go to the clinic were told “you must arrange to go at the weekend.” On the rare occasions when a woman did go during working hours she would be warned that that was the last time. Everyone would be paid a different wage so no one knew what anyone else was getting. And to force people to work they would make them fill in a job sheet saying how many films they had booked in. If someone did a large number they would bring the job sheet around and show the others and say “She has done so many, you also must.”
And here is a quote about George Ward, the boss, that sums up her strength:
He would come to the picket line and try to mock us and insult us. One day he said “Mrs Desai, you can’t win in a sari, I want to see you in a mini.” I said “Mrs Gandhi, she wears a sari and she is ruling a vast country.”… On my second encounter with Ward he said “Mrs Desai, I’ll tell the whole Patel community that you are a loose woman.” I said “I am here with this placard! Look! I am showing all England that you are a bad man. You are going to tell only the Patel community but I am going to tell all of England.”
Quotes from Amrit Wilson, Finding A Voice: Asian Women in Britain
Jayaben’s funeral will be at Golders Green Crematorium at 11am on December 31st. Her husband would like people to attend if they are able.
Posted by Martin Francis http://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/death-of-valiant-fighter-for-justice.html at 3:27 PM
Brent CCC Meeting 23/11/2010 “GET REAL ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE”
Introduction from Steffi Gray (Brent FoE) and Derek Wall (GPEW)
Nick Grant, National Executive, National Union of Teachers (pc)
Ann Hunter, Brent Lib-Dem Councillor
Love Food Hate Waste
Questions & discussion part 1
Questions & discussion part 2
