From: New Worker Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [New-Worker-News] New Worker Online Digest - 12/1/2001
New Worker Online Digest
Week commencing 12th January, 2001.
1) Editorial - Britain's shame.
2) Lead story - NATO's DU lies exposed.
3) Feature article - Low pay at root of teacher crisis.
4) International story - Mandelson threatens to derail Irish peace.
5) British news item - Building site death toll still rising.
1) Editorial
Britain's shame.
THANKFULLY not all Nato governments are as craven as the British and
concerns about Depleted Uranium (DU) weapons and their effects, which have
been expressed by Balkan War veterans from Italy and elsewhere in Europe,
have at last made it onto the front Pages of the British press.
Even then, most of the media are focusing on the long-term health problems
facing western troops sent to the Gulf and the Balkans. Very little is
being said about the millions of civilians in those areas who have no
choice but to live with the debris from these dirty wars day in and day out.
In Iraq and Kuwait It is estimated that some 600,000lbs of DU dust and
fragments still litter the ground and during that war around 100,000 rounds
of DU weapons were fired by the western coalition forces. Since then
Yugoslavia has been subjected to the use of DU weapons and is also
contaminated.
Today, official Nato spokespersons are at pains to play-down the dangers
of DU weapons, claiming that the radioactive emissions are low and
therefore safe -- or so they assert.
Yet, quite apart from the fact that DU weapons pose other dangers besides
that of radiation -- DU is also a heavy, and therefore dangerous, metal --
the Nato claims take no account of the high levels of disease long reported
from Iraq.
Since the Gulf War the incidence of cancer in Iraq has rocketed. In
particular there has been an enormous increase in the rate of cancer and
leukaemia among the children.
There is also little being said about United States Army reports produced
in 1990, just before the Gulf War, which warned against DU dust.
Nothing about this disgusting horror story is surprising. When we consider
that Nato also used fragmentation bombs in Yugoslavia it is clear that the
targets were not, as Nato claimed, purely military and strategic -- the
shards of metal bursting From these anti-personnel weapons could only have
been intended for "soft" targets like human bodies.
It is obvious that the British and US ruling classes don't give a monkeys
about civilian casualties. While they pretend these casualties are
unintended accidents (what they euphemistically call collateral damage),
they also make clear that the purpose of imperialist wars like those
against Iraq and Yugoslavia is to try and force the local populations to
rise up against their governments in order to end the misery of the war.
In effect this is the dominant capitalist states trying to impose pussy
cat governments upon other countries by using the civilian populations as
hostages -- it's a case of get rid of Saddam or Milosevich or the people
get it!
They don't care much about their own troops either, though they are
slightly more concerned about the bad publicity the suffering of veterans
might arouse. This is shown by the years of foot-dragging by the MoD and
the reluctance to recognise "Gulf War Syndrome" and give proper care and
compensation for the victims.
If anything exposes the anti-human nature of capitalism it is imperialist
war-making.
The loss of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact has been greeted by the
leading capitalist powers as a licence to kill the weak and the poor.
No longer do these powers bother to declare war, they just launch their
bombers when the moon is not too bright. No longer do they formally end
their wars with proper peace treaties -- the door for renewed attacks has
to be permanently open. And these supposed champions of "democracy" never
ask their own citizens if they agree with these bullying and murderous
policies -- we are obliged to make our protests on the streets.
The most sickening thing of all is that the lackey politicians of Nato try
to justify these crimes with a load of pompous hypocrisy about their
"ethical foreign policies".
They shed crocodile tears about Kosovan refugees one minute and then
abandon those same people to the vilifications of racists when the refugees
turn up in the Western heartlands. They paint Saddam Hussein as some kind
of monster while imposing sanctions on the victims of imperialism's bombing
raids.
Of course DU weapons must go. But most important of all is to get rid of
the beast that designed them the capitalist class and its money-driven wars!
*********************
2) Lead story
NATO's DU lies exposed.
by Daphne Liddle
THE MINISTRY of Defence last week was forced into an embarrassing U-turn as
Armed Forces Minister John Spellar told the House of Commons that soldiers
who have served in the Balkans, who believe they have been made ill by
depleted uranium (DU) weapons, could, if supported by their doctors, apply
to be screened for uranium contamination.
This follows mounting alarm from other Nato forces that have served in the
Balkans and found a significant number of their soldiers and other
personnel subsequently contracting cancers and other radiation-related
illnesses.
Only Britain and the United States have been holding out, trying to claim
that these illnesses and Gulf War syndrome have nothing to do with DU.
In Portugal, the government has started screening 10,000 personnel who
have served in the Balkans.
In Germany, the defence ministry is to review all cases of leukaemia in
the military and Chancellor Gerhard Schroder is calling for a full
investigation.
In Russia, foreign minister Igor Ivanov has called for a full inquiry.
Norway is checking the health of 20,000 soldiers. Belgium has sent a health
questionnaire to 12,000 troops.
Meanwhile the United Nations has made an urgent appeal to its subsidiary,
the World Health Organisation, to monitor the possible risk to civilians.
Already Portuguese and Italian scientists have been wandering around
affected sites in Yugoslavia in full protective clothing to assess the
dangers in areas where civilians, including children, have no protection at
all.
Most of the Nato governments seem pre-occupied with the risks to their
troops and the prospects: that they may have to settle expensive
compensation claims.
Few are showing any concern for the civilians of Yugoslavia and fewer
still for the civilians in Iraq where the deadly effects of the radioactive
weapons have resulted in soaring cancer rates, especially among children,
and the birth of hundreds of severely deformed babies.
Like the victims of agent Orange in Vietnam, these people have little
prospect of suing those who have poisoned them and so the imperialists
believe they can ignore them.
The Ministry of Defence cannot pretend it does not know of the danger. In
the 1990-91 Gulf War, when DU weapons were first used in anger, the MoD
issued a bulletin setting out safety procedures.
Explosive ordnance disposal personnel were issued with detailed
instructions to protect their health and so were the Ordnance Corps
personnel involved in handling, transportation and storage of these weapons.
Yet the safety instructions were never passed on to the tank crews who
used them.
Another MoD health and safety bulletin was issued in 1997 -- but not
passed on to front-line forces.
Nato armies use DU weapons because DU is a widely available by-product of
the nuclear power industry and is so dense that weapons containing it will
penetrate armour such as tanks.
Until now the MoD and Nato, have claimed the level of radioactivity is
harmless. It is what is known as alpha-particle radiation -- comparatively
large particles which travel relatively slowly and have little penetration
power.
Alpha radiation can be blocked by something as thin as brown wrapping
paper. This is why during the Cold War, people were advised to stick brown
paper over their windows if there was a threat of nuclear war. It might
have stopped this one kind of radiation if it was not immediately burned or
vaporised. Butwhen a DU weapon strikes, the DU coating is vaporised by the
impact forming a radio-active uranium oxide gas which is spread far and
wide.
Particles spread everywhere and they can be inhaled or ingested -- from
dirt on the hands and face to vegetables grown in affected soil.
Once inside the body, alpha radiation can do immense harm causing cancers
and interfering with reproductive systems.
And apart from the radiation, uranium oxide, like any heavy metal salt, is
very poisonous in its own right as a chemical. It particularly affects the
liver and kidneys and once inside the body it is very hard to get it out.
The oxide dust, being heavy, will tend to sink within disturbed soil or in
sea and river sediment. It will affect root crops more than parts of plants
that are above ground. And in the sea it will affect bottom feeding fish
and organisms.
Concern is growing also for people living near the Solway Firth and in
Cumbria where the MoD has been test firing DU weapons for years before they
were used in anger. It failed to keep proper records of how many rounds
have been fired into the Solway Firth.
Now it emerges the weapons have also been tested at Lulworth in Dorset.
There has been so much secrecy and denial that now people living near any
MoD test firing range are beginning to wonder if they are safe.
The weapons have also been tested extensively in the US and currently
there are stockpiles of DU being kept in remote areas in slowly rusting tan
ker containers.
The imperialists are still trying to bluster and pretend that the
screening they have agreed to is "just in case" but not really neccessary.
Even the United Nations is still resisting calls to protect children and
other civilians in Yugoslavia -- in contravention of the findings of its
own scientists.
Last autumn a panel of experts from the UN's own environment programme
recommended that all possible DU sites should be sealed off.
During Nato's war against Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosovich's government
said the use of DU shells "adds a new dimension to the crime Nato
perpetrated against the Yugoslav people". The new government of Vojislav
Kostunica has not withdrawn this accusation.
We must support the growing international call for the complete outlawing
of DU weapons and expose imperialism's crimes against civilian populations
-- and its own hapless troops.
**********************
3) Feature article
Low pay at root of teacher crisis.
by Caroline Colebrook
SCHOOLTEACHERS in a London Comprehensive last week voted to stop papering
over the cracks of the teacher shortage crisis in the capital and take
action in an effort to force the Government to address the crisis and raise
teachers' pay.
Christ Church School in North Finchley is currently short of eight
permanent staff and the remaining 42 teachers say they cannot provide cover
unless long term replacements are found.
This will force the local authority, the London Borough of Barnet, to
either find supply teachers or put the school on a four day basis.
Teachers at another school in Guildford are balloting for similar action.
Nigel de Gruchy, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, compared
the effects of this action on pupils with an operation -- a little pain now
to produce a long term benefit for teachers and pupils.
The National Union of Teachers is also putting pressure on schools to opt
for a four day week rather than stretch teachers too far and expect them to
teach too large classes.
NUT general secretary Doug McAvoy is also supporting "protective action"
where there are chronic staff shortages. He said schools should move to a
four day week rather than force teachcrs into the "invidious position" of
having to cover for classes for which they were not qualified.
"Where it is pushing hardest, we are simply not going to be in a position
of expecting schools to cover up," he added.
Figures released last week show the supply of new teachers is still in
steep decline. Applications for post-graduate teaching courses were down by
2,289 -- that is 16.1 per cent -- compared to the same time last year.
This is in spite of the £6,000 training salaries and the £4,000 "golden
hellos" in certain shortage subjects.
These shortage subjects are faring worse than ever now. Applications for
maths teaching have fallen by almost 30 per cent and for French teaching by
21 per cent.
The general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, John Dunford,
said: "These figures represent a worrying picture for the future of teacher
recruitment and suggest that the crisis is likely to get worse before it
gets better."
NUT assistant general secretary John Bangs said: "The Government still has
not recognised the depth of the crisis."
Since then it has emerged that this year's rise for teachers is expected
to be between 3.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent.
Teaching unions have described this as pathetic and it will in no way do
anything to end the crisis.
Nigle de Gruchy said: "Teachers expected pretty rough treatment from the
Conservatives, particularly under Mrs Thatcher.
"They expected better under New Labour. Unfortunately the gap between
expectation and reality is much wider than it was under the Tories.
"The Government has become a victim of its own propaganda. It courted the
right-wing media but lost the teachers in the process.
He called on Tony Blair to "pay less attention to all these specialist
advisers and to try to pay far more attention to the voice of the teacher
from the classroom.
He also criticised the "enormous increase" in bureaucracy and the increase
in violence and indiscipline in the classroom.
"If the Government believes that 3.5 to 3.7 per cent is an adequate
response to the crisis we are in, I can only say that is pathetic," he said.
And Doung McAvoy said: "An overall 3.5 per cent pay deal will not do
anything to close the gap between salaries available to teachers and other
professionals, which have been rising faster for several years."
Teachers in London are expecting a bigger cost of living rise of around 10
per cent. Even this will bring the starting salary of new teachers in the
capital to just £17,500 a year -- nowhere near enough to have a chance of
buying a house.
The NUT is campaigning for a £4,000 allowance for teachers in London.
*************************
4) International story
Mandelson threatens to derail Irish peace.
by Steve Lawton
THE Patten Policing reforms, unrecognisably deformed by the British
government, are receiving mounting flak from Irish nationalists who warn
that unless the Policing Act is amended to reflect the original proposals,
the delicate yet definite progress so far achieved will be in jeopardy.
Sinn Fein had long ago lodged strong and detailed protests itemising
virtually all the key provisions of the Patten Commission report which were
required to be put back in -- and even that report fell short of republican
demands. Both Sinn Fein and the SDLP have refused to accept the British
government's gutting of Patten.
But Peter Mandelson, northern Ireland secretary, said last Monday that
unless they participate in the new Policing Board there would be no new
police service and the core of the Good Friday Agreement would be put at
risk. That's nothing short of barefaced blackmail.
The Board should consist of 10 members drawn from parties in the
power-sharing Executive together with nine independents. It was expected to
gear up in 'shadow' form early this month. The danger exists that a general
halt to genuine reform ofthe RUC will play into hardline Unionist hands as
Britain's general election focus grows, while loyalist feuding continues to
fester amid the deadlock.
Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), said
Tuesday evening that the only solution is to amend the Police Act: "The
British government must, therefore, introduce changes quickly." He said
with political will this could be done in a week.
When talks between Sinn Fein and the British government adjourned
inconclusively just before Christmas, Gerry Kelly was adamant that the
British government had created the crisis. "Unfortunately," he said, "the
militarists continue to dictate the British government's political agenda."
Alban Maginness, SDLP MLA, warned that his party could not be pressured
into endorsing the reforms since "this is an issue for the whole of
society." He pointed out that they were working for "a credible basis for a
new beginning to policing in northern Ireland and that is not party
political."
More to the point, hinting at splitting tactics, Alex Attwood, SDLP
Assembly Member, said that if his Party enters the Policing Board while the
nationalist and republican community does not, "this would have a much
worse outcome than many others. So the real issue is let's get the
outstanding issues right now so that people have what they want which is
proper policing."
Talks between Sinn Fein and the British government are expected to resume
soon. Contact between them, the Irish government and Washington had also
been maintained over the Christmas period, Sinn Fein vice chairperson Pat
Doherty said.
But he warned that if anything constructive, is to result, then there has
to be more flexibility on demilitarisation and RUC reform. "We have a
renewed opportunity and we hope that the British respond to that," he said.
And he pointed out that Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader David Trimble is
in breach of the Good Friday Agreement with its ban on Sinn Fein ministers
participating in north-south ministerial council meetings.
Mandelson, having steered the deforming of Patten into the Police Act,
persists in pressuring the IRA to handover its weapons in the
decommissioning process because the north is "awash with weapons". He
should know. The greatest amount of war materiel in the north, despite some
troop reductions, is, of course, British controlled.
Sinn Fein have argued that a particularly tense area of the British Army's
heavy presence in south Armagh must be scaled down if there is to be real
movement on demilitarisation across the board. In this respect, the
policing service becomes more significant as part of the 'normalising'
shift from foreign military occupation.
The Patten Commission incorporated a substantial amount of public
consultation in its final proposals. The communities that participated did
not explain their needs and why change was necessary in order to be shafted
by the British government in Parliament.
Failing to heed the safeguards in recruitment, mechanisms of
accountability. procedures of handling cross-community policing, how the
force presents itself in name, and much else besides, will lead to greater
tension, resentment and distrust. Over 70 per cent, across the communities,
voted for the Good Friday Agreement. They own that mandate.
The British government plays the selective game of 'democracy' with a
loaded dice. The process of resolving the conflict in the north of Ireland
requires that the British state begins dismantling its domination. The
Agreement only has meaning if this takes real shape.
Only then can the transitional institutions begin to realise their
cross-community and north-south potential. Any attempt at killing off
Patten's reforms amounts to sabotage in the knowledge that the past could
return with a vengeance.
*********************
5) British news item
Building site death toll still rising.
AT LEAST 120 workers died in accidents on building sites last year
according to a report issued last week. This is the highest annual total
since 1991.
The rise in accidents coincides with a building boom, as house prices
rise, especially in the south-east of England.
This has led to a shortage of skilled builders -- ironically the builders
cannot necessarily afford to live in the homes they are building and like
other working class groups are having to quit the south-east to find
affordable homes.
So building companies are taking on cheap casual workers, many of them
from eastern Europe who have not had the necessary training.
Three workers died last year on a demolition site in Hull as the building
they were working on collapsed around them.
It Look 24 hours to recover the bodies of Shaughan Walsh, Tony Laughton
and Dave Jowett from beneath tons of rubble.
The collapsed building had been a burnt-out warehouse which had been
declared unsafe by building inspectors two months previously.
A local official of the building workers' union Ucatt said: "They should
not have been working on that site at all. They should have just demolished
it with machines."
The site foreman was a Kosovo Albanian who disappeared after the incident.
Kevin Walsh, brother of one of the victims, said: "People call it an
incident or an accident but it is not like that for me.
"As long as I live it will be the day somebody murdered my brother, his
best mate and another close friend."
Bob Blackman of the TGWU general union said: "The problem with
construction is that the deaths come in ones, twos and occasionally threes
and so don't make big waves.
"But you are six times more likely to die working in construction than in
any other industry."
The industry also suffers from a dire shortage of Government inspectors --
just 115 officials for an industry that employs 1.5 million.
From 1996 to 1998 there were 8,724 serious injuries yet only 1,184 of
these were investigated. Only a handful resulted in prosecution. Even then,
fines averaged only £15,000 and many were under £1,000.
*********************
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