The Big Parade: A Small Peek through the Great Wall

Good to see misleading posters are a cross cultural Phenomenon

I'm in the process of moving house which means most of my books and DVD's have been boxed up and are out of reach. As such I've been reacquiting myself with the few I have left, one of them happens to be The Big Parade a film made in the People's Republic of China in 1987 by Director Chaige Ken who in China has reputation for being a pain for the Censorship board as most of his work often contains something they'll find objectionable. With comments like "It is a country that has no past. Political regimes systematically robbed us of history and it's only now that we are beginning to get it back." its not hard to see why.

Though interestingly Western critics would sometimes write off Chaige's films as Chinese propaganda films, so he took fire from both sides. On the surface Big Parade was easy to dismiss as a propaganda film since it is shows the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in a very positive light and vindicates its structure and Authoritarianism (but there are countless films the world over that do the same for their armed forces). Its basically the new recruits hate their Sergeant but as time goes on they learn to appreciate his methods story. and the Censors took out most of its more critical scenes, in fact they completely changed the ending and its very obvious. But it does show a lot of criticism and awareness even after the cuts.

Oh and like Pulgasari Big Parade is obscure but available as a DVD (though as a sort of legal import with hard subs) or via a torrent or download somewhere. Its also a shame because I think its a very interesting film that tells us a lot about the society in which it was created and not just because of its heavy handed treatment by the censors.

Essentially the film is about a PLA unit formed and put through an extensive training program for participation in a parade in Beijing during National Day. This means that their drill must absolutely perfect both timings and paces are practised and measured constantly. And the main source of suspense is who will make the final cut and can the men pull themselves together. Again that isn't really anything new but the setting is quite interesting as is the quite brutal depiction of life at the training ground.

 Now because I don't speak Mandarin and have to rely on the subtitle's I can't really comment too much on the dialogue. I will say though the subtitling on my copy seemed pretty good, no cases of weird jargon or nonsense conversations. It also seemed to match the emoting of the actors too. But you'd have to ask an actual Chinese person to make sure if you're really curious.

One thing I noticed when looking for a copy was that all the limited reviews and online stubs kept going on about how beautiful the photography and visuals were, having watched the film several times I can add my agreement to that. The whole film looks in a word real. The barracks looks like a barracks the outdoor scenes look very warm, the choreography has the appropriate military precision. And if the rumours about some of the cut content are to be believed Chaige is very skilled at using shadow imagery.

And despite its rather dull (on the surface) plot of training for a parade, essentially making this a war film without any exciting war, Big Parade holds interest very easily for its 95 minute run time.Because the focus is on the men in the unit and how they cope with the PLA and by extension Chinese society and the expectations and stresses it puts on them. While the film does end up supporting the system by showing the "merits" of collectivism guided by benevolent superiors it doesn't change the fact that for most of those 90 minutes the official way of things gets heavily criticised for the demands it makes of its own people. For example a brief few scenes are about several veterans experiences in Vietnam. That's when China invaded Vietnam to protect the regime of Pol Pot from an invasion by the Vietnamese. Instead of glorifying the war or justifying it the film focuses on the trauma of experiencing death and injury.

The closest the film gets to an action set piece

And despite the attention of the censors you get a clear impression that the Parade and its ridiculously severe training regime are the product of meaningless aggrandisement by the party and military heads. The training resembles torture, and despite the absence of combat training puts the recruits through hell. One of the soldiers is bow-legged which screws up his pace lengths so he tries binding his legs to straighten them out.The film goes on piling on the pain, at one point the entire unit must stand to attention for two whole in the baking sun with no shade. If you've never been fortunate enough to do something like this (I have, but an hour was my maximum) that doesn't sound too bad. But believe me its rough, in fact in most armies that practice is a form of punishment, and several men collapse and or throw up during the two hour wait.They do all of this and more for a mere four minute long drill routine, that's how long their unit will be visible in the parade, just four minutes and yet many young and not so young men will severely injure themselves for a month for those four minutes of marching through Chang'an avenue (which in 1989 would see PLA tanks and soldiers slaughter the students and workers of Beijing) past the Great Hall of the People and other governmental buildings.

Not in the film but an example of just how big these things can be

With that said its not really surprising the patience of the censors was worn out by the time the film was completed. As I've said most of the really notable re edits concern  the ending of the film so I won't say to much, but it was clearly an attempt to protect the image of the PLA as an institution which becomes obvious when you see the films conclusion. The original ending was to use silhouettes against a sunset. I have no idea why that was so shocking but it must have been since the ending was completely altered and there is no subtlety at all to be found in the last few minutes before the credits role.

An explanation of the films somewhat schizophrenic message is found in the political realities of 1980's China. This was the era of Deng Xiaoping and his push to open up the Chinese economy to the world market. Part of the process of encouraging foreign capitalists to invest was detoxifying the reputation of "Red China" this meant gradual weakening of the restrictions on artists and intellectuals so long as they continued to practice self restraint, especially in there criticism. As a result there was a brief blossoming of the arts and commentary in China. But as the old saying goes "Give and inch and they'll take a mile" apparently the artistic types couldn't help themselves and started pushing into territory the authorities weren't comfortable with and once again the censorship bodies became more active in response.

HARSHLY, AND WITH a dramatic suddenness, the climate of free expression that blossomed last summer and developed throughout the fall in China has chilled. Nearly all intellectual and creative life has been stifled by a renewed compulsory obeisance to Marxist and Maoist dogma. Young intellectuals and artists who just six months ago captivated foreign scholars and journalists with their refreshing candor now refuse to meet with them for fear of being singled out for criticism, or even banished to some remote province.
China's senior leadership continues to reiterate its commitment to strengthening contacts with the outside world. Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping's regime is desperately intent on presenting a facade of civility and openness to the rest of the world. But the continuing dilemma confronting China is whether it can absorb technical accomplishments without embracing the ideas that gave rise to those achievements. The fear, simply put, is that somehow Chinese culture will be undermined and destroyed if Western culture intrudes.

The Big Parade was a victim of this new wave of ideological control, it spent two years after completion being re edited and scrutinised by the censors before its release and was removed without explanation form international film festivals to limit its impact. This is quite a shame, I quite like the censored version and can only assume the original free of interference would of been much better. Though as it stands the film, both what it shows and the struggle it had getting to the screen make a very fascinating look at the PRC its official culture and how it operates.  Well worth a watch for Asian cinemaphiles and "Red" sociologists.

Thatcher on Thatcherism: Using her own Words to Evaluate her Decade

You know I feel a problem with trying to get objective history when dealing with overtly political figures and events is that ultimately the validity of the argument is dependent upon the political views and preconceived notions already held by the audience.

So in an attempt at fairness I'll try to overcome my own personal baggage and analyse Mrs T based on her own stated goals. I am old enough to remember the Thatcher years and that it was promoted and defended on the promise of three main goals, lower unemployment, an end to dependence upon the state and a freer society for all. So lets see how well she did shall we?

Unemployment


Margaret Thacther came to power in May 1979 and left in November 1990. Thats just over 11 years more then enough time to improve the unemployment rate. In fact so concerned with the unemployment was she that it became the defining policy of her election campaign.

Quite hard to misinterpret

Apparently not, in 1979 the unemployment rate was 1.1 million but rose to over 3 million in 1982 but started falling towards the end of year rule but was still higher then when she left it. So we can see that's strike one for Thactherism.


An end to State Dependency

Another frequent message in speeches and Party Election adverts was the idea that "freeing" the Market (even if in practice we replaced a State monopoly with a private one) would free the people. In short this would mean an end to dependency upon the state. How did she do? Well not very well I'm afraid, as we've already established unemployment jumped and remained very high during her rule. In Capitalist society the only way for a person to be functionally independent is to be financially independent, and you can't be financially independent if you don't have a job.

In addition Maggie passed a lot of legislation that increased the power of the state and undermined the independence of civil society and local government.

The Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 introduced a new 'block grant' and compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) for direct labour organisations. The block grant allowed the government to impose grant penalties on councils which exceeded expenditure targets

Powers were taken away from local government in London Docklands and Merseyside and, instead, development corporations were imposed. Enterprise zones, with tax breaks, were also introduced. Michael Heseltine, as Thatcher's environment secretary, oversaw an interventionist style of urban regeneration which has proved influential ever since.

 Rate-capping, which restricted the spending of councils, on the other hand utterly divided local and central government. Even Conservative councils and leaders were opposed, though it was a number of radical urban Labour leaders who decided to adopt a policy of not setting a rate. Councils such as Sheffield, Liverpool, Islington, Lambeth and Haringey set out towards illegality as part of a rebellious strategy to confront the Thatcher government and generate mass opposition.

Her famous Trade Union legislation made it much harder for workers to organise and then effectively apply pressure to their bosses. Secondary picketing was outlawed, so your buggered if your workplace has more then one Union operating or more then one facility. And breaches of these laws run the risk of confiscation of Union funds and resources. This means that working class people had one of their most effective means of demonstrating independence significantly reduced.
 
Speaking of working people her taxation policies in particular the infamous Poll Tax took disproportionately affected those on lower incomes. This meant that for those not making six figure incomes had to pay a much higher share of the tax burden further limiting their financial independence.

The present rating system is based on property owners, both domestic and commercial, with the largest burden for local government expenditure falling on industry, commerce, middle and upper classes and grants from central government. The present government is totally opposed to this system and the implementation of the Poll Tax is the final part of a strategy to shift the burden of local government expenditure onto the local population, i.e. the working class. Through the reduction of central government grants, as seen in Scotland, where over the last 10 years grants have dropped from 75% of local government expenditure in 1975/6 to 55% inn 1987/8. By using the threat of "rate capping",4 a system where local authorities had their grants further cut on the excuse of over expenditure, the burden was even further shifted onto local ratepayers.

Then there were the morality and censorship Acts or sections of Acts, her government was fond of putting tangential requirements in broader legislation. A good example of this is Section 28 of the Local Government Act of 1988. Section 28 stated that a local council and its affiliated services will not "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". Because of this addition Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual support groups in many areas that worked with Council services had to wind down their activities or break their links with local government. This style of arbitrary authoritarianism was pretty standard procedure for the self proclaimed champion of the individual.

And then there was her best friends internationally, after Reagans America the two nations Thatcher was closest to were Chile and Apartheid South Africa, hardly bastions of small government. Now Thatcher's remarks about Mandela calling him a terrorist is one of the few areas where even her apologists will acknowledge to be a mistake. But for some reason far more important economic and political links between London and Pretoria have been swept under the rug.

Under Thatcher’s eleven-year term as Prime Minister, Britain remained the main political and economic backer of apartheid South Africa. In its 1985 pamphlet on South Africa, the Revolutionary Communist Group, which helped to found City Group, described how Britain benefited from investments in South Africa.
‘British companies’ stake in apartheid gives an average rate of profit of some 21 per cent. This is extremely high compared to a 6-7 per cent average return on investment in Britain. So it is no surprise that 500 British companies invest in South Africa…British banks and companies earned £1bn last year from their investments in apartheid…Shell and BP control 40 per cent of oil sales in South Africa…British banks had claims of $5.562bn (£4.7bn) on South Africa (end June 1984), a rise of $1.02bn (£0.92bn) or 22.5 per cent on the previous year. Britain’s stake in apartheid is enormous. And precisely because investment in apartheid is so profitable, British collaboration with apartheid will not be easily broken.’

I could go on but  I think its save to say this is strike two for Thatcherism.









  Greater Civil Liberties

In addition to her attacks on the ability of people to express their independence from her government and world view in general this "Champion of freedom" attacked civil liberties throughout the country. The powers of the police were increased to such an extent that they were given the nickname "Thatchers army" since they operated like an invasion force.

According to the MI5 whistleblower Cathy Massiter, some 300 anti-nuclear, union and civil liberties activists were the targets of government surveillance. Thatcher’s spies justified surveillance of domestic political opponents by saying there were Soviet sympathizers trying to infiltrate those groups. That may, or may not, have been true. But those arguments were also used by Thatcher’s friend in Chile, the brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet. They were used by her friends in the apartheid government of South Africa.

 
There was also increased censorship in the media, a rather strange policy of Thatchers relating to Northern Ireland has been called the "Oxygen of Publicity" initiative, after a speech she gave in 1985. Basically this was an attempt to censor extremist groups without actually censoring them. That sounds daft because it is, what this actually entailed was if a member of a group deemed to be connected to terrorism in Northern Ireland the media could still report their statements but not with their own voices. A way around this ban was to either subtitle them or get someone to dub over them.

The broadcasting ban, or 'Restrictions' as they were officially known, extended to 11 republican and loyalist organisations believed to support terrorism, but many believed that Sinn Féin and the IRA were the main targets.
At best, it could be said that it was a half-hearted censorship.
Newspapers would be permitted to carry statements from those organisations, and television news programmes would be permitted to show images of spokesmen at press conferences, but their voices would have to be removed.
With 20 years' worth of hindsight, Douglas Hurd now says he accepts that the ban soon became enormously counter-productive.
Not least because broadcasters quickly found a way to subvert the terms of the new law by having actors re-voice the words spoken by Sinn Féin spokesmen.

In effect this weird censorship policy failed but it did succeed in frustrating those groups and make negotiations and dialogue with the public more difficult.

So that's strike three.

Addendum

There's also a qoute by Mrs T that her supporters just love to copy and paste to prove her freedom loving nature.

"Socialists cry “Power to the people”, and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean—power over people, power to the State."

Yeah she really hated the power of the state I'm sure.

Glenn Beck Ruins my Childhood One Film at a Time

I'm a subscriber to the youtube channel of Right Wing Watch (RWW) an American pressure group that publishes interviews, speeches and sound bites from America's extreme right, so its mostly religious fundamentalists and incredibly partisan Republican careerists. As an aside while much of the content the group uploads is funny its actually quite surprising and just a little scary just how prominent some of the regular characters are. You could make a similar channel with much the same content in Britain and I suspect most nations, however I like to think (feel free to call me naive) that in Britain all the features would be small name big ego's attached to a tiny political party with a membership of three and an internet radio show listened to by no one.

Sadly RWW often has state and federal Congressmen and Congresswomen and even a few former Presidential Candidates. Fortunately those candidates only played well with a few parts of the Republican party base but its worrying to know that the most powerful military state in the world could of been won by a man who thinks God is directly telling him what to do, or that the world is about to end, and that's a good thing.

Unsurprisingly arguably RWW's most common "guest" is the globally infamous Glenn Beck. Yes that's right America, the world knows your secret shame that you let clear mental patients dance around on television.  I first encountered Mr Beck wacthing Charlie Brooker's Newswipe and my was I in for a treat. Incidentally the same program also introduced me to Bill "We'll do it live" O'Reilly and I honestly thought he was the worst of the bunch. That thought lasted about ten seconds, guess who popped up next?


At around 6:30

You know who else liked to gesture while making speeches? That's right Hitler!

This has been going on for years, but now Beckie seems to be making it personal by taking films from my childhood putting them on his vast chalkboard conspiracy.

First we have him comparing himself to Back to the Future III


Now I know most consider III to be the worst one, but I still like it, or at least I used to like it. Now I'm afraid that if I watch it again my mind will be focussed of acquiring Gold and irrelevant quotations by the Founding Fathers. Oh and for me this is the final piece of evidence in the Glenn Beck is an actor/con artist, the way he says he believes III happened so casually means he's either completely insane (in which case he should of had a very public meltdown) or just playing a part.

But it gets worse, next up we have Beck's rip off... I mean "homage" to the Untouchables.  And probably the strangest video I've seen outside of an art film.



Yes I saw Untouchables as a child what of it?though I do find it amusing how even he's aware of how much he prattles on about the "Founding Fathers" in fact he obsesses over absentee fathers more then any child of divorce I ever met. But I have to wonder what's next? Please, please, please don't let it be Blade Runner (yes I saw that as a child too) or Ghost Busters.... Well maybe the sequel.

You know who else loved Foxes? Thats right, Hitler!

Anti Fascist Action (AFA)

When we think of Fascism the image that usually comes to mind a bunch of thugs in matching shirts pushing around an elderly Rabbi. That or a bunch of middle aged wasters hanging around WWII re-enactments.

Sadly both stereotypes the historical artefact or the dregs of society are in danger of becoming obsolete. In Europe racial populist parties whose members and leaders have a lengthy history of rubbing shoulders with explicit Neo-Nazi's have managed to get a boost in poll numbers by focusing on Immigrants and since 2001 Muslims. Now we add Austerity to the mix and the appeal to national brotherhood has become more appealing to some of those left idle by the economic stagnation.

In Greece as I'm sure you're aware the overtly Fascist Golden Dawn is currently the third largest party and becoming more active. But its not just a Greek problem, throughout the whole of Europe there are worrying pockets of Fascists and not quite fascist movements bubbling up to the surface.

Italy has a long history of large coalitions of far right groups gaining influence in many electoral coalitions. Such as the Italian Social Movement the successors to Mussolini's Fascist party. ISM merged into the National Alliance which was then merged with a number of other parties including Berlusconi's Forza Italia into the "People for Freedom Party". To put that in British terms, imagine the BNP and the other Far Right splinters merge into a new Nationalist Front, and then merges with the Conservative Party giving some of its members access to state institutions and a say in national policy.

For example take this golden boy, he is Manfredi Alemanno the son of the Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno a current member of the People for Freedom and former member of the Italian Social Movement. Now not only has this coalition let a lot of Fascists in through the back door but it appears the Alemanno's haven't renounced their past and are still up to dirty tricks.

The story goes back to 2009. It’s June 2nd, the day on which Italy celebrates the anniversary of the 1946 referendum that brought an end to the monarchy and the beginning of the Republic. Manfredi Alemanno, who is then 14 years old, goes to a party with some friends in a posh area of Rome. Once there, they start singing fascist songs and doing the fascist salute. This is not surprising: Manfredi Alemanno, who was later photographed on a holiday in Greece in 2012 in the same pose, comes from an all-fascist family (more on this below).
One of the teenagers who had organised the party confronted them and told them to leave. At this stage the situation quickly escalates: one of Manfredi’s friends threatens the organisers and declares his membership of Blocco Studentesco – Casapound‘s youth wing (of which, by the way, Manfredi Alemanno became representative in his college in 2011). The same guy then starts making calls to dozens of people. Their girlfriends are told to get away because “something is about to happen”. Within a few minutes a group of 4 or 5 young men enter the scene – nobody sees how they get in, but they are probably let in by their friends – who then start beating up, even using a motorbike helmet, the teenager who had stopped the fascist singing.

And calling from Deutschland we have worrying news of a plethora Neo-Nazi splinters flaring up from Wessen to Ost. The most well known of these is probably the National Democratic Party of Germany (NDP) which in addition to being around since the 60's (in West Germany) has managed to gain a few seats in regional parliaments, and has survived several banning attempts.

But its not all doom and gloom, Fascist groups have had surges in support before, and were often put into severe decline. In Britain the height of openly Fascist support was in 1977 with the National Front, but by the 80's the NF had fractured and overall the Far Right started losing members and support. You saw less and less paper sellers and fewer marches and rallies, which where the main activites for the British Far right from Moseley's crew upto the early nineties. It wasn't until the "Defence League's" got started that Far Right Nazi Fetishists started to come back onto the streets
 and we can all see how well that turned out.

Today the NF numbers at best 200 and most of those are paper/keyboard members. And in France a similar phenomenon occurred, Fascistic groups to the right of the Front Nacionale (FN) were a common sight on the streets of Paris. In fact racist attacks of black and Asian citizens got so bad in some areas that it became impossible for "foreign looking" people to take certain trains through several Metro stations.

But again much like in Britain that changed, street by street France's far right gangs disappeared with only the FN which had a very rocky relationship with them is still around causing trouble. So what happened in Britain and France, did the skin heads just get bored and go home? Not quite, they went home all right but not because they wanted to. In both nations a large and diverse coalition of groups clubbed together to then club (often literally) the Fascists in the streets.

In Britain the group was called Anti Fascist Action (AFA) and it was a coalition of Red Action a Communist group formed from a split with the Socialist Workers Party (whom ran the Anti Nazi League) and are now known as the "Independent Working Class Association" and have some local council representation. The Anarchist Direct Action Movement (DAM) and to a lesser degree Workers Power, Class War and a few other groups, as well as a large group of independents i.e. people who didn't belong to any other group.

AFA was originally set up in 1985 as a broad front anti-fascist organisation. The main fascist organisation at this time, following the demise of the National Front after Thatcher took power in 1979, was the British National Party (BNP), a more extreme split from the NF. Militant physical force anti-fascism has a long tradition in Britain - going back to the 1930's, the 'Battle of Cable Street' and the 43 Group in London's East End, and it was in this tradition that AFA was formed.

Fighting Talk

Writing these words I am acutely aware of my small contribution to the history of anti-fascism. I’m sure I have forgotten many incidents, but even so this little booklet of anti-fascist activity must look very slim compared to the volumes certain people I know could fill with their experiences. Nevertheless, I think it can be useful for the ‘small fish’ such as myself to chronicle these events, warts and all, in case nobody does it and then the history would be lost, or distorted by right-wingers or liberals.
By crushing the fascists at an early stage I think it is reasonable to assume that Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) has prevented numerous racist attacks and even saved lives. For if the fascists were given the chance to freely march, sell their papers, and appear as a respectable political force they would just grow and grow. Fascists’ number one aim while they are growing is to appear to be respectable and rational, but, to quote Matty Blagg ‘fascism does not start with gas chambers, but it ends with them’.

Now some Liberals have been hard at work downplaying the importance of the AFA, and obviously AFA members have an interest in presenting themselves and their actions in the best light possible. But I find it rather telling that while the AFA were around the Far Right including the BNP eventually dropped street mobilisations all together to focus on contesting local councils. And it wasn't until after the AFA wound up its operations in 2001 that we started seeing Far Right clowns making a nuisance of themselves on the high street.

An immediate focus for the new organisation was the annual NF Remembrance Day parade. The NF at the time were the main fascist party and Remembrance Day was the highlight in the fascist calendar. An estimated 2,000 fascists took part in 1986 and in successive years AFA led similar numbers of anti-fascists into the area. This focus led the BNP to withdraw entirely from the event, complaining that the area was ‘full of reds’. And by 1990 the NF itself had been whittled down to 200.

By now, BNP activities were being confronted by AFA the length and breadth of the country. In Scotland where, prior to 1990, the BNP had been allowed a free run, the AFA launch saw the tables turned figuratively and literally. On one notable occasion, BNP leader John Tyndall was forced to escape an AFA siege through a sewer. This was swiftly followed by a series of devastating setbacks for the BNP both in Manchester and the satellite towns surrounding it. A method of operation soon taken up by the AFA Midlands region. By 1994 the BNP were now losing ‘the battle for control of the streets’ not just in London but nationally. A fact they publicly acknowledged in April that year when announcing that there would be “no more marches, meetings, punch-ups”. It was a decisive moment.

Since 1985 AFA has diligently and successfully repulsed a whole series of initiatives by the far-right. Demonstrating in that process not only how, but as importantly why, fascism must be ruthlessly confronted at the earliest possible stage. An obvious result being that despite having one of the highest race attack rates in Europe (a figure that has quadrupled in a decade) the British far-right, unlike their political counterparts in mainland Europe (the far-right recently topping the poll in Austria) have thus far been firmly confined to the margins. That said, it is a situation the BNP, by standing in all regions and distributing over 10 million recruitment leaflets for the European elections in June, are clearly determined to change. As they openly admit if AFA can be outflanked: ‘if AFA can be stopped, that is all we need to win’.

And in France a similar mobilisation took place to oppose and eventually stop and reverse the growth of jack booted thugs in the streets harassing elderly immigrants.

 ANTIFA Chasseurs de skins


Documentary about the rise of neo-nazi skinhead culture in 1980s Paris and how they were countered by a militant, multicultural underground movement. Contains interviews with participants recounting the subcultures and the street fights which made up their lives at the time.

In conclusion, the growth of extreme right wing movements shouldn't be taken lightly, but it also shouldn't be the cause of despair. History has shown clearly that it is possible and quite likely to break them up.

"Only one thing could have stopped our movement, if our adversaries had understood its principle and from the first day has smashed with the utmost brutality the nucleus of our new movement" Adolph Hitler

Downloads
Anti Fascist Archive
Bash the Fash
A Brief History of Anti Fascist Action

Fighting Talk
ANTIFA Chasseurs de skins

May Day 2013

Forgive the lateness but I had to gather the materials. May 1st is of course May Day, or to give it its proper name International Labour Day, around the world the day is used by many groups within or attached to the Labour Movement to celebrate victories, and regroup and continue to fight to reverse defeats. We do this because we want to build a better world for all of us.

Unsurprisingly many events held on this Day are often attacked and undermined by governments and companies. In fact in some countries like America (where it was founded) the day itself was under attack with the "official" Labor Day being moved to September in an attempt to break its links with the Haymarket meeting and its Martyrs.

Fortunately as you can see they haven't succeeded, a group assembled at the statue to the Haymarket Martyrs in Haymarket Square in Chicago on May Day.

The main group are RAD (Radicals Against Discrimination)

And elsewhere in America there were demonstrations, though mainly by the Labour Movements "Radical Reds" as the mainstream unions back the official day in September. In particular the Industrial Workers of the World

Viva Las Vegas!

In New York

Protests and demonstrations took place across the country and the world today for International Workers Day. In Bangladesh, thousands filled the streets of Dhaka to demand labor protections after last week's deadly garment factory building collapse which killed more than 400 people. Garment workers also rallied in Cambodia's Phnom Penh. Tens of thousands of workers in Jakarta, Indonesia demanded better wages and conditions, including transgender activists who held signs calling for labor and LGBT rights. In a moment, we'll go to Seattle, Washington, then hear a report from Istanbul, but first we go to New York, where activists are calling attention to rights for immigrants. We're joined by Mariano Muñoz-Elías. He's one of the organizers of the Immigrant Worker Tour and one of the founders of Occupy Wall Street's Immigrant Worker Justice Group. Earlier today, he joined us from Bryant Park where actions were getting under way.

In Seattle

 Protesters in Seattle are also marking May Day today with several marches and an anti-capitalist rally this evening. One of the closely watched issues in Seattle is how authorities respond to the actions. Last year on May Day, the mayor authorized an emergency proclamation after clashes erupted during the protests. An independent review of the police response found a lack of proper training and direction and police use of plainclothes officers to infiltrate protesters. It also came to light that the FBI had tracked and tailed activists from Portland who came to Seattle for the rally, according to statements from FBI agents filed at the US District Court in Seattle. For more on today's events we're joined by reporter Mark Taylor-Canfield in Seattle.

Elsewhere around the globe there were large mobilisations on May Day. In Bangladesh anger over the recent tragedy ensured a big push for workers rights, unionisation and a commitment to tougher safety regulation.

 And in Jakarta in addition to usual Labour groups May Day was noted for the active participation of LGBT groups campaigning for rights and recognition.

And in Istanbul workers were not happy with the governments attempts to shut down the day and deny access to Taksim square the main site for Labour events ever since 1977 when a number of protesters were gunned down there by unknown gunmen



Istanbul

 In Turkey, officials banned an annual May Day gathering in downtown Istanbul. But labor unions and workers defied the order, and were met by riot police who fired tear gas and used water cannons in an attempt to disperse thousands of demonstrators. FSRN's Jacob Resneck reports.

And due the governing AK parties Islamic Conservatism women's groups have more active resisting laws and practices that are restrictive of women's liberties. As such a number of feminist groups were in attendance on the march to Taksim square. And female activists(not necessarily part of those feminist groups) were in the thick of the fighting with the riot police.

And in neighbouring Greece there was a mass march through Athens and a 24 hour General Strike.

 
In Britain our official May Day is the first Monday in May which this year will be the 6th so most of the big Trade Union demonstrations will be then. Sadly in Britain the actual day is dominated by the Morris Dancers prancing around a pole in a field. We should really look into changing that.

Happy May Day

 

 Tis always a fine day on the 1st of May
For it is and shall always be International Labour Day
From mechanics to pen pushers
To farmhands and court ushers
We march and sing and cheer
Loud and proud for our time draws near

 

 

Dhaka: the High Price of Low Costs

 In addition to remembrance of our local deceased, a number of speeches at the Workers Memorial Day paid tribute to those killed in that tragic factory collapse in Dhaka Bangladesh. They also warned us that this tragedy was the result of deliberate neglect and flouting of proper safety regulation.

 From FSRN

The owner of the building that collapsed in Bangladesh appeared in court today wearing a bulletproof jacket and helmet. Mohammad Sohel Rana was arrested yesterday as authorities said he attempted to flee across the border to India.
Rescue efforts continued today at the site near Dhaka, where the eight-story building housing garment factories collapsed last week, though government officials said hope was fading of finding more survivors, according to the Daily Star.
The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, which has an office in Dhaka, said more than 400 were killed and about 1,000 remain missing.
For more, we’re joined by Liana Foxvog, organizing director International Labor Rights Forum.
For more on the campaign from the International Labor Rights Forum:

 http://action.laborrights.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6280#signpetition

 Western companies find Bangladesh so palatable because it has few regulations and many obstacles to workers organising and acting collectively. They keep there costs low by keeping wages low and putting off luxuries like safe equipment and basic maintenance. We see now that such policies have a very high price in deed.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — As Bangladesh reels from the deaths of hundreds of garment workers in a building collapse, the refusal of global retailers to pay for strict nationwide factory inspections is bringing renewed scrutiny to an industry that has profited from a country notorious for its hazardous workplaces and subsistence-level wages.

After a factory fire killed 112 garment workers in November, clothing brands and retailers continued to reject a union-sponsored proposal to improve safety throughout Bangladesh's $20 billion garment industry. Instead, companies expanded a patchwork system of private audits and training that labor groups say improves very little in a country where official inspections are lax and factory owners have close relations with the government.

 Though make no mistake this isn't an isolated incident, factory fires and building collapses are not uncommon in Bangladesh, though they usually killed fewer people in more remote areas and so were easier to cover up internationally.

As someone whose bought and worn clothing from some of the companies now scrambling their PR teams I'm not going to get on my high horse and demand you do anything. Though I will ask you to be mindful that the real cost of an item goes beyond the price tag, and can often be very expensive to someone else.

Workers Memorial Day 2013

Today (28/04/2013) was Workers Memorial Day an important though sadly neglected event that gives us all a chance to remember those who were quite literally killed by their jobs. And highlight the importance of Health and Safety despite it being the favourite punchline to jokes.

The attendence was very good just a little below that which turns out for Remembrance Sunday. Sadly though that's probably due to the fact that since North East Lincolnshire is unlike rural Lincolnshire proper heavily industrialised, with Lindsey Oil Refinery and Connoco Phillips being just next door in Killingholme, and surrounded by many smaller chemical plants like Millennium Crystal. Thats in addition to having two very large and active dockyards very close to each other. Which means we have a high work related fatality rate. Though it does reinforce the importance of the day.

"Nobby" Styles UNITE Rep and main organiser of the Memorial

In attendence were the relatives of those whom lost their lives at work, most of the local Labour Party, a small number of Liberal Democrats, representatives from the local Unions (mostly UNITE and ASLEF) Thompson's solicitors and several companies. The service was facilitated by the Merchant Navy Association and Vickers one of our local Priests. It was religous but in a vague way and used the most worker friendly passages from the Bible.

Neil Castle Immingham Town Mayor (Labour)

North East Lincolnshire Mayor Mike Burton (Labour)

There were quite a few reefs laid by the Plaque, and the weather remained clear throughout. Over all despite still being neglected the service is growing in the region, Grimsby and Cleethorpes also have services and the number of companies agreeing to take part has increased. Also in attendence was local MP Martin Vickers (Conservative) he gave a luke warm speech and looked very uncomfortable when other reef layers criticised the cuts to the Health and Safety Executive, and the reforms  to Industrial Tribunals that make it harder to prosecute negligent employers, but he did show up so credit there. The fact he did attend and present a reef is an example of the growing acceptance and support of the day.

Scunthorpe a town in Northern Lincolnshire not too far away (they're are main footie rivals) held its first ever Memorial event this year which means the day is spreading nationally. Most of the credit for North East Lincolnshire's Memorial Day growth goes to Nobby Styles a UNITE rep who really worked hard to get everyone to lend their support. If you get local news you'll have seen him on the telly this past week promoting as much as possible.