Ted's "big hand to the Olympic volunteers"

Hat tip to Bow Resident (and fellow Gog), Ted Jeory, and his post on the "brilliant Olympic volunteers" who are the unsung heros of the games. It shows there is good in everyone (even in a Sunday Express reporter :)

"This is the first of two posts this morning that are slightly off the Tower Hamlets beat. I’m on Olympics duty for the Sunday Express over the next fortnight (like Mayor Lutfur Rahman, I was at the opening ceremony on Friday and we both agree–again!–it was a wonderful atmosphere).
Here’s the first piece, on the brilliant Olympic volunteers, many of whom, such as my lovely neighbour, Ray Gipson (he’s a steward at the Aquatics Centre), come from Tower Hamlets...(click for link to post".

Will Crooks: A celebration

Will Crooks: A celebration.  Tuesday 29th May, 6:30pm - 8:30pm at St. Matthias Community Centre,

This event will celebrate the 160th anniversary of the birth of Will Crooks:-  Trade Unionist, the fourth Labour Member of Parliament and first Labour Mayor of Poplar.

Speakers will include Nick Raynsford, Member of Parliament for Greenwich and Woolwich and David Edgar, councillor for Limehouse.

RSVP to: ramona.iosip@canarywharf.com or 020 7418 2462.

 

Check out Will Crooks and Pathe News (above) of his funeral in 1921.

Quote about Will Crooks "I once heard him say that a non-Union workman who tried to gain personal advancement at the expense of his mates was like a man who stole a wreath from his neighbour's grave and won a prize with it at a flower show!"

Kids stabbing Kids

Two weeks ago I was in a traditional cafe in Tower Hamlets, East London meeting one of my trade union members who is off sick from work. While we were discussing his situation I was vaguely aware that some sort of disturbance had broken out in the street outside the cafe. Youths on push bikes seemed to be having some sort of a row. There was about 3 or 4 of them involved with some more hovering around.

I wasn't really paying attention until I heard some women I knew shouting at them to stop and to break it up. Then I saw one youth carrying what looked like a scaffolding pipe who also tore off his tee shirt and threw it on the floor then ran off. I went outside and found out that  one of the youths had been stabbed. On a street rubbish bin there was a blue tee shirt covered in blood with a small cut in its side.  I rang the Police who were quickly on the scene and sealed off the area. I left them my details if they needed to take a statement from me. I saw the victim being treated by a paramedic further up the Street. I understand that his injuries were serious but not life threatening.

What is wrong with our society? Why are our kids going around armed with knives in the middle of the day?  When I was young there were plenty of such stupid and pointless fights but the premeditated use of weapons amongst the young just by and large did not happen. 

This was not in any way a "golden age".  There was far more unreported horrific domestic and child abuse in those days. I also as a young man growing up in the relative backwater of North Wales actually saw more senseless violence and knife crime than I have ever seen socialising in East London, but this was largely immature males in pub and nightclub drink and drug fuelled stupidity.

The idea of 16-17 year olds on push bikes stabbing each other in the street in broad daylight over teenage petty macho nonsense just leaves me speechless. 

It was ironically not all doom and gloom. The local women who went out and challenged the youths and broke up the initial fight, the passerby who gave mouth to mouth resuscitation to the youth who had been stabbed, the number of people willing to speak to the Police and tell them what they saw. Don't get me wrong, this type of public violence is still very rare and exceptional and the evident shock that local people felt did show this.

But what is the answer? The picture above is of "Get a life and bin a Knife" bins but surely there needs to be more than that?

UNISON phone bank: 500 calls for Ken!

Picture is from last night's phone bank on the 5th floor of the UNISON HQ in Euston.  After some previous teething problems this high tech system really worked. The software enables you to go from call to call to call entering information via clicks on a mouse.

We made over 500 calls to UNISON members in Tower Hamlets. Far more than if we had to use the traditional pen and paper system.

At home recently I have been tele-canvassing my ward and it is so slow and cumbersome. Then you have to get the information manually inputted into Contact Creator (the Labour Party Election computer programme).  

This is exactly the sort of "hands on" political organising that trade unions need to do. Instead of just writing cheques and making supportive statements we need to be out there engaging with our members.

Interestingly members on the whole were pleased to be contacted by their union and I had some decent conversations with them about a number of issues not just elections. So I think its good for the Union to have this contact with our members as well.

Soggy canvassing in Tower Hamlets Spitalfields By-election 2012

This evening I helped out the Labour Party campaign in Tower Hamlets where there is a council by-election in Spitalfields ward. This by-election was caused by the jailing of the former "Independent" Councillor (and supporter of the "independent" Mayor Lutfur Rachman) for housing benefit fraud.

Our Labour Labour Party candidate is Ala Uddin (who BTW sits on the Board of two Housing Associations). The campaign hub is in 68 Brick Lane above the office "Gram Bangla" only 5-10 minutes from the Aldgate tubes.

The weather tonight was pretty awful. Mostly rain, rain or more rain. Firstly I went out leafleting and got a little wet. Then I went out canvassing and got very, very wet. I knew most of the team and they were very welcoming and pleased to see a supporter from their sister borough of Newham help out but I did wonder a little if we were all playing an East End version of "chicken" in the rain. If I had not been there would this Tower Hamlets team have said "lets go and take shelter until it stops raining" but they couldn't say this in front of me? While at the same time I was thinking in Newham I would have said to the team "lets keep out of the rain until it slows down". But of course I couldn't possible let Newham down by being the first to suggest it to these Tower Hamlets bods!

The soggy canvassing for Labour actually went well. But turnout in this election is going to be key. I did have a honest conversation with one resident who told me that he and his family were Labour supporters but felt obliged by family connections to vote for the independent "mayor's candidate". They were postal voters who had already voted so I have my suspicions (but cannot prove) how this family had to prove their "loyalty".

Labour I think can win this seat if it can get out our vote. So if you can help tomorrow then please do, you will be made most welcome. Just turn up to the Brick Lane office. I am sure as well that the weather tomorrow will be absolutely marvellous (but take an umbrella).

(I have problems downloading pictures at the moment. Once I get this fixed I will upload a collage from tonight.  Now done)

Tower Hamlets Ethical School Uniforms Campaign

This pdf (front page) was circulated amongst UNISON London regional International committee members via our Chair Ruby Cox.

(double click to bring up detail).

This campaign encourages schools to check their their uniforms are not made by child labour makes perfect sense.

"Ethical products can be surprisingly competitive. As clothing workers only get a tiny 1-3% share of sale prices, their wages can be increased with little or no rise in cost to parents. Increased volumes reduce prices".

We also need to make sure that our pension fund investments do not exploit child labour.

You can download a full copy of the pdf here.

A letter to Bradford West from Tower Hamlets

"I felt sick to my stomach when I saw the news from Bradford. George Galloway was an appalling MP for Bethnal Green and Bow which is why the people of Tower Hamlets rejected Respect so decisively in May 2010. I hope you can stop the rot quickly and avoid losing council seats in May.

I don’t pretend we’ve got all the answers for you as you work out how to tackle Galloway, but we’ve had nearly ten years to learn some lessons. You’re the experts on your area, so make use of this as you will as you rebuild the Labour party in Bradford West.

Whilst Galloway’s core supporters are rallying and celebrating, many local people will be feeling uncomfortable with what’s been done, or nervous of the consequences. Oona was amazing in the period after her defeat, attending meetings and talking to people, acting as a focus for worries and uncertainty – still trying to do casework! The Labour Party was visibly still there for people even when we had lost. That was a basis for rebuilding. Jim Fitzpatrick MP was then stalwart in dividing his time attending campaign sessions in his own seat in Poplar and Bethnal Green and Bow until we selected our new candidate.

You’ve seen the politics of division at work. “Real” Muslims vs “thirsty” Muslims. Vicious lies have become key campaign tools for some in Tower Hamlets, from claims that Oona wanted to ban halal meat to lies about mayoral candidate Helal Abbas being a wife beater. In my council election in 2010 many people in the ward received a letter telling them not to vote for me because I was a Jew. (I’m a Christian, but facts are beside the point). By that evening our ward activists had written, stuffed and distributed a letter to those thousands of voters setting out our opposition to that politics of hatred. Our support from local Bangladeshi Muslims strengthened. The lies and hatred must be challenged.

It’s too easy sometimes for Labour Party officers or staff to enforce the use of an old campaign formula because it worked before, or it’s what they know. Our best election campaigns have been formed through having a strategic campaign lead and leaving space for people’s good ideas. Everyone has to be able to make a contribution and it has to be valued. Fighting these people is tough, and investing in relationships to build the Labour Party’s resilience is important.

Get your own house in order, but always have a hand out to those who truly want to come home and help Labour win again. Some of your members will have asked people to vote for Galloway. They can’t be Labour Party members any more – we have rules, and we can’t let the party rot from within. At the same time, Labour won’t win again without the support of some of the people who voted Respect. Tough judgement calls to be made.

Never retreat into campaigning comfort zones. If we believe in communities where people from different backgrounds live alongside one another, we have to model that and learn from one another. Mono ethnic canvassing teams send the wrong message. If there’s a big Iftar party take someone who’s never been inside a mosque to share the food. It’s not only bright young graduates or long term campaign experts who enjoy voter ID number crunching – every activist should be briefed and engaged.

There’s no such thing as a “community leader” who can single handedly deliver huge blocks of votes. In my ward there are a number of women’s circles who come together for Islamic prayer and to talk about their children, family budgets…exactly like the mother’s coffee mornings in the church hall in the village in Wiltshire where I grew up. We win when we are where people are.

In any election, we have to appeal to people’s heads and people’s hearts. Respect feeds on anger and alienation. Labour can remind people of our achievements and set out a strong policy programme for the future. We only win when we also have a strong message of hope that people can believe in. Working out clever policies and presenting ourselves as competent bureaucrats won’t be enough.

Good luck. Let us know if we can help".
Rachel Saunders

Why we all hate George Galloway (unless you do community politics)

It just goes to show that you just can't keep a bad man down! Poor old Bradford West. They will soon learn - as did the people of Tower Hamlets. First posted here November 2007. Hat-tip Col Roi.

Rita Ash

The Chair of Tower Hamlets UNISON Local Government branch, Rita Ash,  died on March 3 after a long struggle against cancer. Her funeral begins at St Pauls, Bow Common, corner Burdett Road and St Paul's Way, E3 4AR at 2pm on Wednesday 21 March then 3.30pm in the City of London Cemetery and Crematoria in Aldersbrook, E12.

Rita and I use to work together as UNISON assistant branch secretaries at Tower Hamlets Council. She was a school head cook and represented manual workers while I represented APT&C grades. Despite this largely artificial division, we worked together really well.

Rita was by nature cheerful, kind and supportive. She was a rock you could go to discuss all sort of problems and difficulties. She was very special in many ways, not least because of her natural decency but also her absolute honesty.

She had what we would say in Wales "no side", she was straight as a die and what you saw, is what you got.

I took this picture of Rita after the 2007 special UNISON conference on pensions in Ally Pally (Alexander Palace).

While my thoughts are with her family who she adored and will be devastated. I think there are so many people that Rita has helped and protected over the years who will also miss her.

Her family has asked for donations to St Jospeh's Hospice. Check out this Justgiving site.

14th Floor: The History of Social Housing in Tower Hamlets

Last week I finally saw the film "14th floor: The History of Social Housing in Tower Hamlets". I've worked as a housing management officer in Tower Hamlets for the last 24 years so as you can imagine I am just a little interested in this subject.

Columbia Buildings (1872) is mentioned which I use to manage in 1992 just before the estate action bid which transformed it into one of the most attractive buildings in the borough.

Good to see Mike Tyrrell and many other Tower Hamlets housing characters talking about their experiences. Mike is now the CEO of Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH) and in the film he talks about how his newly appointed staff find it impossible to believe that as a child in the 1960s he and his family lived in a 2 bedroom flat without its own toilet or bath.

I must admit that I disagree with the romanticism of the 27 storey Balfron Towers in Poplar designed by Eron Goldfinger.  While I personally like living in high rise tower blocks I cannot see how how people ever thought that such monstrosities were ever suitable for young families with children.

There should also been more about the truly radical history of social housing in Tower Hamlets. Such as the role of the suffragettes, rents strikes, defeating the fascists at Cable Street and "Red Stepney". 

I also think that the film was rather spoilt at the end by being too uncritical of modern developments. I have no doubt that there is lots of examples of good decent sustainable social housing developments currently taking place. But for a "history" programme it is just far too soon to judge. Many of the historic estate developments judged now to have been disastrous and knocked down (before even the loans to build them had been paid off) had at the time been thought "wonderful" and won lots of prize's and awards.

The intro video clip is a good taster to the film. I am surprised it is not on YouTube?

UPDATE: Mike Tyrrell corrected me on FaceBook to say it was "not a two bed flat we lived in but a two roomed flat. One room as a bedroom and the other as a living room and kitchen, let alone sharing the toilet on the landing with neighbours!!!!!!!!!!". Retired housing worker Bob Sheldrick also posted "I spent the first 21 years of my life in BG , living on the Horwood Estate- Pott Street. Unlike Mike we did have our own bathroom and toilet but central heating- no chance! We all lived in walk-up blocks back then and I saw mothers with their prams and babies literally climbing 8 flights of stairs". ..and people call those times "the good all days".

Chartered Institute Housing Election 2012

I've just taken part in the first ever election for the Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). You get a email with a unique security code and you cast your vote on-line at the independent Electoral Reform
Services website.

The Vice President will become the President of the CIH next year. It's a bit suspect that this is the first ever openly contested election at the CIO but better late than never I suppose. I posted here that I know one of the candidates, Jan Taranczuk, quite well (his wife Kathy use to be my Tower Hamlets Local Housing office boss for many years). I don't know his opponent, Paul Tennant, who is the CEO of Orbit Housing Association.

If you are a member of the CIH you have until 30 January to vote. You can see their election statements here. There is an online husting tomorrow 12pm on the Guardian Housing Network blog. This afternoon on the Inside Housing site here there is a online poll (see picture right: double click to bring up detail) and both Jan and Paul were running neck and neck at 50%.

Roman Road: Bad and Good

The Bad: Off message but on Friday I was walking along Roman Road, E3 when a woman came out of one of the "shops" and threw two large white takeaway polystyrene cups into the gutter. She then turned around and

went back into the shop again. I was astonished.

I opened the door of the shop and asked the women (who was behind the counter) if she is going to clear the cups? She replied no, she pays plenty of money for street cleaners to clean up and that is what they are there for. I told her that I had taken a picture of the rubbish on my phone and that if she did not clear it up I would report her for littering to Tower Hamlets Council.

To which she urged me to go forth and pass water (or something like that). I said it was her choice and walked away. Not that it made any difference but there was no road sweepers anywhere insight. About 30 minutes later I walked past the shop and it appeared that the cups had been cleared away. 

The Good: By coincidence that night I had a very pleasant crimbo drink and meal with 3 old friends (we all use to be UNISON housing stewards in Tower Hamlets Council) in Roman Road . We had drinks in the Angel and Crown where the pub staff and regulars couldn't have been more friendly followed by an excellent meal at Meze & Barbeque restaurant (see photo).

Tower Hamlets Local History Newsletter

I've signed up to receive a regular free newsletter from the Local History Library and Archive team.  The picture is from a painting of Hessell Street by the Artist Noel Gibson.

I was surprised to find out that there has been a DVD made called "14th Floor: the history of social housing in Tower Hamlets". Which you can buy for £5.  There will be a showing of the DVD in the new year. I wonder if it will cover the areas that I have worked in as a housing officer?

You can download the newsletter and sign up for future ones here.

Writeidea: East End literature and history event

Next Weekend is the start of the Writeidea free Reading festival taking place in Tower Hamlets (11-16 November). Check out details here. I was interested to read that the "match girls" threatened "Jack the Ripper"!

The Gilda O' Neill Memorial Lecture. Striking a Light: Looking for the Real Matchwomen - Friday 11 November 2011, 7pmThe story of the unexpectedly successful strike of 'matchgirls' against a powerful employer continues to exert a strong hold on the public...
David Rosenberg: Battle for the East End - Saturday 12 November 2011, 2pm75 anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street Throughout the 1930s, Oswald Mosley's blackshirts increased their campaign against the Jewish...
Matthew Parker: The Sugar Barons - Sunday 13 November 2011, 2pmFamily, Corruption, Empire and War in the West Indies 'The Sugar Barons' tells how the West Indies became by far the most valuable and important...
Is Class an Issue in Fiction? - Monday 14 November 2011, 7pmAlex Wheatle and William Nicholson in conversation. Alex Wheatle Alex Wheatle is an award winning British novelist, playwright and DJ who has...
Dreda Say Mitchell: Geezer Girls and Hit Girls - Tuesday 15 November 2011, 7pmWomen in crime fiction. Dreda Say Mitchell is an award winning crime novelist and all-round media personality. With her 'Geezer, Gangster and Hit...
I & I The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh and Wailer with Colin Grant - Wednesday 16 November 2011, 7pmStir it up! The Wailers are the undisputed kings of reggae and their music still has a massive influence across the world today. Bob Marley, Peter...
Total Sin: What Makes London Interesting? - Thursday 17 November, 7pmPanel discussion with Catharine Arnold, Paul Willetts and Jonathan Kemp. Paul Willetts Paul Willetts is the author of 'Members Only: The Life and...
33 Revolutions per Minute with Dorian Lynskey - Friday 18 November, 7pmA conversation with Dorian Lynskey on his book about protest songs in the twentieth century followed by live music from Tower of Dad. Dorian...
Michael Rosen's Storytime - Saturday 19 November, 2pmA workshop for children aged between 6 and 11 years. Michael Rosen Michael Rosen is a poet, scriptwriter, broadcaster and performer and has been...
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Exhibition - Saturday 12 - Saturday 19 November 2011An exhibition of letters and posters from the Robert Tressell family archives. Robert Tressell's 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists' is one of...

Hat Chris Weavers and the Tower Hamlets Labour Party e-newsletter.

London Labour Housing Group at Tower Hamlets Federal Branch meeting

This evening I was at the Tower Hamlets Labour Party Federal branch meeting of Bethnal Green North, Mile End and Globe Town and Weaver wards. On  behalf of the new London Labour Housing Group to talk about the LHG and its new London branch.  I use to work as a housing officer in Weavers and Globe Town.

I was a little late (apologies) because a City and East GLA 2012 campaign meeting beforehand took longer than expected.

It took place in St Margaret's House, Bethnal Green and was well attended (and chaired by Jemima Olchawski). There was a bit of a mix up about what I was to say, since the branch were expecting me to speak on their Housing and Affordable Rents debate while I was expecting to speak about the London Labour Housing Group.  However, I think it went okay.  Housing is a huge issue in Tower Hamlets, even more than the rest of the London.

I explained how progressives need to win the "Battle of Ideas" in Housing and that if you are interested in fighting this battle you ought to consider joining the LHG.  I had to rush off after 30 minutes to go to my West Ham ward meeting to give my Councillor report.  Speakers are available from the branch to attend Labour Party meetings and explain more about the Labour Housing Group.  You can join here.

At my ward meeting we discussed the future ballot of public service workers over possible strike action to save decent pension schemes. We hope to get the West Ham Labour Party banner to the planned March and Rally on November 30th. (picture of Tower Hamlets LP banner at 75th Cable Street rally last Sunday)