Solidarity with the Bangladeshi garment workers

Collections will be made across council sites on Friday, May 17 for those affected by the deaths of over 900 workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

These deaths, caused by the collapse of a building which housed garment factories making clothes for Primark, Matalan, Mango and other major brands, has caused shock and anger across the world.

Tower Hamlets Joint Trade Unions and the Mayor have joined forces in partnership with War on Want, to establish a fund to show solidarity with the garment workers.

War on Want have been working for many years with the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) in Bangladesh to campaign for improved safety standards in clothing factories there.

Please show your support by donating generously and by supporting the petition launched by Amirul Haque Amin, President National Garment Workers Federation NGWF and co-ordinated in Britain by War on Want to demand that UK high street brands take responsibility for this tragedy by paying full compensation to the workers and their families and commit to action to ensure disasters like this become a thing of the past. The petition can be downloaded here .

 

 

Statement on Bangladesh
From Office of the Mayor of Tower Hamlets 

For immediate release – 25 April 2013

Mayor Lutfur Rahman urges urgent action to protect garment workers in Bangladesh

Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, has issued the following statement on the Bangladesh factory collapse tragedy.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman said:

“My thoughts, prayers and deep condolences are with the victims and their families who were killed or injured by the collapse of the garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

This tragic incident once again highlighted the serious concerns about the conditions and poor safety standards that many garment factories operate in Bangladesh.

Over 300 garment workers have been killed with hundreds more injured or missing. The figures are likely to rise as the full scale of the tragedy unfolds. This is a human tragedy that was entirely avoidable.

Multi-national firms operating in countries like Bangladesh, have a corporate social and moral responsibility, to ensure that they work with factory owners and the authorities to improve working conditions and prevent further tragedies.

I call on the authorities in Bangladesh to work more closely with workers, trade unions, factory owners and multi-nationals operating in Bangladesh, to do everything possible to improve safety standards and protect the safety of factory workers in the country.

I also urge the authorities in Bangladesh to investigate the circumstances surrounding this tragedy; find ways to compensate the victims and their families; and ensure that those found responsible for any negligent for these deaths, face full force of the law.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

For information about this statement contact Numan Hussain, Political Advisor to the Mayor, on 07508 352 023 or email numan.hussain@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Remembering Thomas Rainsborough

On Sunday 12^th May at St John’s Churchyard, Wapping a commemorative plaque was unveiled to Thomas Rainsborough (1610 – 1648) a prominent figure in the English Civil War, a colonel in the New Model Army and the leading spokesman for the Levellers in the Putney Debates in which he spoke up for universal male suffrage.

Over a hundred people saw the plaque unveiled by Tony Benn who spoke of the inspiration he had gained from the work of the Levellers, he movingly spoke of the need for every generation to stand up for our rights lest we lose them.

Cllr Rania Khan, Cabinet Member for Culture was there for the occasion and also spoke along with Jeremy Corbyn MP (Islington North), John Rees and Brian Nicholson of the Stepney Historical Society.

The event was also attended by a small Leveller contingent of the Sealed Knot who paraded the churchyard and fired a musket volley in Rainsborough’s honour. The Sealed Knot is a British historical association and charity, dedicated to costumed re-enactment of battles and events surrounding the English Civil War.

I think that the poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he; and therefore truly. Sir, I think it’s clear that every man that is to live under a Government ought first by his own consent to put himself under that Government; and I do think that the poorest man in England is not at all bound in a strict sense to that Government that he hath not had a voice to put himself under.” Thomas Rainsborough at the Putney Debates, 1647.

Latest Guardian interview

What made you want to work in local government? Tower Hamlets has been part of my life for a long time; I went to secondary school here, and grew up here with kids from all backgrounds. I have received so much from the area: I am what I am because of Tower Hamlets and what public services contributed to me and my family. My father came here in the 50s and my mother in the late 60s. I am really grateful for the services I have received and I want to give back to a community that has given so much to me.

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New partnership brings new community centre

A new community centre in Tower Hamlets – to help people in one of the most deprived areas of the UK with employment and welfare issues – was opened on Monday in a unique partnership bringing together the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Unite, the country’s largest union, and Barclay’s Bank.

The centre is based at the iconic St Georges Town Hall, Cable Street E1 OBL.

The centre, which will be open five days-a-week between 10.00 -18.00, will provide new training and job seeking skills, welfare advice, cultural activities and has a state of the art learning suite.

The centre will offer various educational courses, such as IT skills and offer assistance to find employment, from creating a CV to interview preparation. Centre staff will also advise on the growing number of welfare and benefit issues in London’s second most deprived borough.

Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman; Unite General Secretary, Len McCluskey; and Group Employment Director for Barclays, Dominic Johnson spoke at the opening ceremony.

Len McCluskey said: “We are near what were once the great London docks, which until the late sixties, employed tens of thousands of dockers.

“But times have changed. Tower Hamlets has changed. The dockers have been replaced by finance workers in Canary Wharf. But alongside the wealth of this global finance centre is great poverty.

“That is why this centre is needed and that is why our partnership with the mayor of Tower Hamlets and Barclays Bank will provide a vital resource to the local communities.”

Lutfur Rahman said: “I am delighted to be working closely with Len McCluskey, Unite and Barclays Bank in making this community centre a reality.

Job creation is one of my top priorities and this centre is going to play an important role in helping people find work.

I am particularly pleased to be working in partnership with Unite. As the recent terrible tragedies in the garment industry in Bangladesh have shown, and as the struggle of workers to be organised in the old sweatshops here in the East End have also demonstrated, trade unions play a critical role in ensuring people enjoy safety, security and fulfilment at work’.

Dominic Johnson said: “Barclays is pleased to be supporting the creation of this valuable new centre, which we hope will help people across the borough find pathways into work through new learning opportunities.

“It is important that Barclays plays a broader role in the communities in which we live and work, beyond what we deliver through our core business activities, such as supporting projects like this and our existing educational and employment support programmes such as LifeSkills and Barclays Spaces for Sports.”

ENDS

Photo (l-r) Liane Groves, chairperson of the community centre steering group; Dominic Johnson, group employment director from Barclays; Unite general secretary Len McCluskey and the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman deliver speeches at the opening ceremony.
For further Information please contact Numan Hussain DL: 020 7364 7108 / Mob: 07508 352 023

UKIP gains cannot be ignored

Although there were no local elections in London last week, there is no doubt that the political map in England has been changed by the surge in support for the UK Independence Party. It would be foolish to dismiss the anger many ordinary voters feel for the established political parties. All too many people feel powerless as their jobs disappear, and as bankers award themselves ever larger bonuses.

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Boris praises healthy Tower Hamlets schools

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has praised Tower Hamlets schools for leading the way in encouraging children to live healthily. This news comes hot on the heels of the news announced by Ofsted that Tower Hamlets is among 9, out of 150 council’s in the country, whose secondary schools are all rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.

Five schools in the borough were presented with awards as part of the launch of Healthy Schools London. The initiative – aimed at improving children’s health and achievement – was rolled out following a successful pilot scheme, which Tower Hamlets took part in.

Mr Johnson said: “Congratulations to the schools that have achieved bronze status in Tower Hamlets. I am delighted to support Healthy Schools London, which builds on the excellent efforts many of our schools are already making to tackle obesity and get our young people more active.’’

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, was proud of the borough’s success.

He said: “I’m pleased that the Mayor of London has recognised the tremendous efforts being made here in Tower Hamlets to ensure our children are living healthy lives. We have continued to invest in our commitment to the Healthy Schools initiative, where other local authorities have cut theirs. As a result we know we have schools which are leading the way in healthy living. Our children are not only leaving school with an excellent education, as we saw from last week’s Ofsted report, but also vital life skills and the important habit of leading active, healthy lives.”

New scheme brings 1,600 homes, improved community facilities and new school

Bringing nearly 1,600 new homes to Poplar – of which up to 698 will be affordable – the Blackwall Reach Regeneration Programme will transform the local area and have a lasting, positive impact on the lives of thousands of residents and people living in neighbouring areas. It has also just been listed as the 50th largest regeneration scheme in the country, in a ‘Top 100’ list compiled annually by Planning magazine. In addition to delivering much needed new homes, the scheme will transform public areas on the existing Robin Hood Gardens estate, create better transport links, improve community facilities by funding an expanded primary school, and deliver employment and training benefits for local people.

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