Louise Nousratpour
Friday April 15, 2011
The Morning Star
Women academics and campaigners gathered in London on Thursday for the launch of an inspiring book highlighting working-class women's role in the labour movement throughout history.
They said the aim was to "reclaim" labour history for working-class women, who had been "airbrushed" out of standard history books.
The launch at the Women's Library in London's East End brought together some of Britain's brightest women labour historians who had contributed to the book, titled Class and Gender in British Labour History - Renewing the Debate (or starting it?).
Veteran communist and feminist Mary Davis, who edited the book, said that the aim was to tackle women's issues in the context of class struggle.
"We wanted to write history from a feminist perspective, where women are active participants of history rather than as victims," she said.
"We saw the need for reclaiming labour history for working-class women and, in doing so, we will reclaim it for Britain's working-class as a whole. That is relevant to today when half the trade union membership is women."
The 200-page anthology of essays covers women's impact on society as workers, trade unionists and political activists, going back to the early 19th century.
Katrina Honeyman's chapter focuses on women labourers in the Leeds tailoring industry.
She said that, although they made up 80 per cent of union members at the factory, the union was led by men and that women's heroic show of solidarity with their male workers often went unrewarded and unnoticed.
"The women always joined in the strikes and supported the male workers," Ms Honeyman said.
Gerry Holloway said histories of women's struggle had always focused on the middle class, who often felt they needed to help their "weaker" sisters and tried to impose their feminist ideas on working-class women without paying attention to their actual needs.
And Louise Raw, who presents a novel interpretation of the Bryant & May matchgirls' dispute in her chapter, demolished standard history claims that the famous strike in 1888 was led by socialist icon Annie Besant - a middle-class woman.
"I discovered that these women had always walked out because they had so little to lose and no rights - strike was their only weapon."
DWP under fire for discriminatory cap
Louise Nousratpour
Tuesday March 15 March 2011
The Morning Star
Government ministers came under fire today after they admitted that three in 10 families from ethnic minority backgrounds will be hit by the coalition's benefit cap.
The coalition plans to limit the amount of available household benefits to about £26,000 a year, with a single universal credit replacing the various benefits that families can claim.
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said that 30 per cent of households affected by the cap will have at least one family member from an ethnic minority, which make up 20 per cent of the country's population as a whole.
The figures were obtained following an equality impact assessment (EIA), which also accepted that the changes would lead to some families facing homelessness.
Equality Minister Chris Grayling attempted to excuse the greater impact of the benefit cap on ethnic minority families by claiming that it was "because they tended to have more children."
He was answering a written parliamentary question from Labour's Kate Green who accused coalition ministers of presiding over "punitive" policies.
The Stretford and Urmston MP, who had asked the question back in January, said: "The EIA result is not very encouraging. It clearly shows that the Welfare Reform Bill has a disproportionate impact on large families - 80 per cent of those hit will be families with three or more children.
"They will be losing £93 a week, which is a huge amount for people who rely on benefits. Ethnic minority families will be hit at a greater extent than their composition of the population."
Ms Green, who is backing several amendments to mitigate the worst impacts of the Bill as it goes through Parliament, said: "The government must rethink its punitive policy."
Zacchaeus 2000 Trust chairman Paul Nicolson said that everyone who was poor would be hit hard by the welfare changes.
"The caps on benefits will be a big squeeze on big families, disabled people and the unemployed, whose numbers are on the rise.
"Their income support is already on a downward trend because of rise in food and fuel costs as well as plans to switch the uprating of benefits from retail price index to the lower consumer price index."
Mr Nicolson also questioned government claims that working families will be better off because of the changes.
Tuesday March 15 March 2011
The Morning Star
Government ministers came under fire today after they admitted that three in 10 families from ethnic minority backgrounds will be hit by the coalition's benefit cap.
The coalition plans to limit the amount of available household benefits to about £26,000 a year, with a single universal credit replacing the various benefits that families can claim.
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said that 30 per cent of households affected by the cap will have at least one family member from an ethnic minority, which make up 20 per cent of the country's population as a whole.
The figures were obtained following an equality impact assessment (EIA), which also accepted that the changes would lead to some families facing homelessness.
Equality Minister Chris Grayling attempted to excuse the greater impact of the benefit cap on ethnic minority families by claiming that it was "because they tended to have more children."
He was answering a written parliamentary question from Labour's Kate Green who accused coalition ministers of presiding over "punitive" policies.
The Stretford and Urmston MP, who had asked the question back in January, said: "The EIA result is not very encouraging. It clearly shows that the Welfare Reform Bill has a disproportionate impact on large families - 80 per cent of those hit will be families with three or more children.
"They will be losing £93 a week, which is a huge amount for people who rely on benefits. Ethnic minority families will be hit at a greater extent than their composition of the population."
Ms Green, who is backing several amendments to mitigate the worst impacts of the Bill as it goes through Parliament, said: "The government must rethink its punitive policy."
Zacchaeus 2000 Trust chairman Paul Nicolson said that everyone who was poor would be hit hard by the welfare changes.
"The caps on benefits will be a big squeeze on big families, disabled people and the unemployed, whose numbers are on the rise.
"Their income support is already on a downward trend because of rise in food and fuel costs as well as plans to switch the uprating of benefits from retail price index to the lower consumer price index."
Mr Nicolson also questioned government claims that working families will be better off because of the changes.
'Shameful' BA back in the spotlight
Louise Nousratpour
Tuesday March 15, 2011
The Morning Star
The Unite union is seeking legal advice on whether British Airways is breaching sex discrimination laws after the airline forced a pregnant cabin crew to take unpaid leave.
The union revealed on Monday that BA bosses had put one of its members on unpaid leave because she lived too far to travel to London's Heathrow or Gatwick airports to perform ground duties.
It claimed that management had scrapped a long-standing agreement which offered some protection to pregnant women employees who had to be grounded from flying duties to reduce the risk of miscarriage and complications.
Cabin crew members are banned from flying as soon as they fall pregnant. Those living within 50 miles of Heathrow or Gatwick are expected to work at check-in desks or as admin staff.
Unite national officer Brendan Gold explained that over the years BA had recruited staff from all parts of Britain and Europe while closing its regional bases, forcing workers to travel hundreds of miles to their place of work.
"Yet it now intends to stop payment to pregnant crew staff members who are unable to commute to BA's last two hubs, Heathrow and Gatwick," he said.
"This is a shameful attack on pregnant women and a further example of a macho-management culture which is out of date and now seriously out of line."
The majority of BA cabin crew are women and will receive around £25,000 per year.
The loss of pay throughout a pregnancy will make having a child at BA prohibitively expensive for many women.
"Unite is taking legal advice on whether BA is breaking sex discrimination laws," Mr Gold added.
A BA spokesman insisted: "The company's policy for pregnant cabin crew fully complies with UK law."
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