Plight of the Terror Raid Victims Page 15 Convicted
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\ehèh[]kbWhèd[miè kfZWj[iBèh[l_[miè WdZèYecc[djèl_i_jP WWW.THEMULE.INFO WWW.THEMULE.INFO ISSUE 6 SUMMER 2009 FREE CONVICTED: PLIGHT OF COAL TRAIN THE TERROR PROTESTERS RAID VICTIMS PAGE 13 PAGE 15 RUSHOLME WAGE SHAME BY PATRICK SMITH struggling to feed their families. No, not Yacoub (not his real name) knows many of “The owners are getting rich, while we sweatshop workers in the Far East or Victorian the people who work in Rusholme. He says struggle to even survive. It is because the A MULE investigation has found that England, but immigrant labour right here, right between 200-300 people work for just £2 or government refuses us the right to work tha t exploitation of vulnerable migrants has now in Manchester. £3 per hour in restaurants in the area. we are forced into this situation,” he says. h it epidemic levels in Manchester. Many Rusholme in South Manchester, the site of “Nearly everyone working there is doing Many workers have escaped conflict or workers are being paid as little as £2 per the famous Curry Mile, is a hotspot of labour so illegally and they can’t challenge their persecution in their own countries and hour, way below the minimum wage and exploitation. Migrants, who often don’t have conditions because of their immigration are awaiting asylum decisions, some expected to work barbaric hours. the right papers, are an easy target for callous status,” he explains. have over-stayed visas and a significant Working inhumanely long hours for a business people looking to make easy money A worker employed in a large restaurant in proportion have taken huge risks to get here. pittance, with no employment rights, off their backs. Curry Mile corroborates. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Håuuu~{ckb[D| FROM FRONT PAGE the kitchen to some customers,” he childcare due to our immigration status.” ISSUE 6 SUMMER ‘09 “I know many people who have been says. Many employees are highly qualified trafficked or who have done dangerous “When they burst in he walked up to but because the government stops them things like clinging to the bottom of the table, put the customers’ food down from working in this country they are lorries for hours just to try and get a and started eating it in front of them. You forced into menial, poorly-paid work. Sometimes here in Manchester it can feel as though better life over here, and this is what can imagine how shocked they were.” Doctors and lawyers, whose skills could we’re in a bubble. We exist outside the world of Middle they find when they get here,” Yacoub But it is not just restaurants that are be put to good use, have to resort to England. Communities from all over the world live says. involved in this kind of exploitation. waiting on tables. together in comparative harmony. Our very act of living The businesses are sometimes caught Security guards, hairdressers and Workers believe the situation is challenges the myths about immigration and the failure and fined by immigration authorities, but factory workers are often employed worsening and the competition among of multiculturalism. But all too often this bubble is burst are used to dodging sanctions. Legal under similar conditions. In January this workers has been increased by the by outside forces. We are brought back to reality. Attacks workers with papers are often ‘shared’ year it was revealed that a Manchester scarcity of jobs at the moment due to on our civil liberties and continuing economic collapse by restaurants, a practice that puts sweatshop producing clothing for the economic crisis. have over recent months made this clear once again. them on the books of several different Primark was paying workers £3 per hour While it is hard for illegal workers to The terror raids in the North West in April were a prime businesses so it looks like they have and subjecting workers to 12 hour days, fight for their rights, there have been example of how those in authority sabotage the cohesion enough lawful staff to cover shifts. Often seven days per week. cases all over the world of people we enjoy and fuel petty prejudices. A media frenzy their names are down to be working at A lot of workers have families and winning improvements despite their surrounded the arrests and then little was heard when it was several places at any one time. struggle to provide properly for them. status. There are examples from Israel revealed as a total shambles. None of the men arrested will Yacoub describes how workers One worker says, “Because I work to Canada, Sweden to London where face prosecution for terrorist offences. Sadly the actions of also have to be skilled at avoiding the such long hours for so little, it puts a against the odds immigrants have taken the police will only stir up fear and resentment on all sides authorities. lot of pressure on my family. I have on their bosses and won. Maybe there is (see page 15). It is likely that the police will never be held to “One time when they came to arrest three children so my wife has to stay hope for change in Manchester? account for these actions, as has been the case too many people, my friend was taking food from at home and look after them all of the times before (see our spotlight on the IPCC- page 7). time because we can’t get access to In a further attack on our liberty the Home Office announced that Manchester residents would be the guinea pigs for the ID cards scheme, with a trial starting this autumn. In this issue NO2ID give us their take on the situation, William Henry looks at why New Labour P3 P8 P15 have been so wedded to the scheme, while the people of – Beetham Tower scandal – Future for ice save charities – No Justice for terror raid victims Manchester give their views via Vox Pops (see page 12) – Parents fight school closure – Mark Thomas interview – Terror culture As miserable as it may sound, these challenges take place against the backdrop of the continuing economic crisis. In – Human cost of repossesion Manchester, as throughout the UK and much of the world, P9 P16 companies have gone bankrupt, jobs have been lost and P4 – Who saw the economic – The decline of local media homes repossessed. Despite all this, there are plenty of crisis coming? inspiring stories to cover. We look at attempts to breathe – Closed doors at the council new life into spaces left empty by failing businesses, review P17 a novel new card game which explores the issues and keeps P5 P10-12 – The Madness of CityCo us laughing in these trying times and explore the local gem – BNP blunders – ID cards explained – Stop the rot that is Manchester’s Working Class Movement Library. Those who have instigated these attacks or failed to P13 protect us from them, our elected leaders, have in recent P6 P18 months been shown to be corrupt. With all eyes fixed on – Manchester MPs votes, – Coal train protesters – Culture Westminster MULE thought it was time to look closer to views and expenses home and at what our local representatives are up to at the P14 council and in parliament. P19 P7 – No Land’s Men – Football and Big business The anger towards all mainstream parties showed itself humanitarian crisis most starkly in June when the terrible turnout at the Euro – Prison profits – Intermancunia elections gave the BNP a leg up to power and a seat in – Who polices the police? the North West. Their victory shows just how desperate ordinary people are getting, turning to a racist, blundering party with an appalling record in office. ~{ckb[D| uuuI Beetham’s timber supplier Atkinson and Kirby claimed that the wood was ‘certified’ but no BEETHAM forestry operations in Papua were ‘certified’ in 2006 and 2007 when Beetham Tower was TOWER constructed. Incredible as it may seem there are still no effective laws in place to stop illegal timber SCANDAL being imported into the EU despite years of lobbying by NGOs and calls from successive forestry ministers in Indonesia. BY JAMES ALDEN Organisations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have been campaigning to encourage The Beetham Tower is the jewel developers to avoid illegal timber by getting in the crown of Manchester’s glitzy companies to sign up to voluntary corporate regeneration programme. But the building responsibility agreements such as the WWF was constructed using illegal tropical Forest Trade Network accreditation scheme hardwoods, according to an Environment (FTN). Carillion were signed up to WWF’s Investigation Agency (EIA) Report. FTN at the time of using thousands of square Vast amounts of energy and resources were metres of uncertified Merbau. WWF privately used up in the construction boom of recent admitted that Carillion fail to check up on their years. According to the Stockholm Environment subcontractors timber procurement. Institute, between 15-20 percent of all UK It’s a shocking example of corporate carbon emissions come from the construction irresponsibility, but unsustainable construction of our new buildings. practices are encouraged by British tax laws. A compelling testament to the building If you’re a construction company it seems a trade’s raw materials gluttony is Manchester’s no-brainer. Pay out a whacking 17.5 percent pioneering Beetham Tower. Despite the claims VAT for re-furbishing an existing building, or of Carillion, the tower’s constructor, to have put up new flats and claim an enticing VAT an “unrivalled” track record in sustainability, rebate on all your materials? it’s decked out with 7,000 square meters of Most empty properties need lots of repair tropical hardwood flooring sourced from an work before they can be lived in, and the high illegal logging hotspot in South East Asia, rate of VAT makes this option unattractive for according to the EIA report.