International Workers’ Day – 1 May – is an occasion for working people in Reading, the United Kingdom and throughout the world to reflect on our struggles in the workplace, the community and through the ballot box.
Reading has a strong tradition of marking the day through the efforts of the Reading Trades Union Council (RTUC) and Reading International Brigade Memorial Group (RIBMG) and 2020 was no different - this year supported by Reading & District Labour Party (RDLP) and the Reading Socialist Club (RSC).
Given the strictures of social distancing - imposed upon much of the global population due to the COVID-19 pandemic - the May Day commemoration took the form of an online event, run through ZOOM software, with Chris Reilly (RMT) as President of RTUC occupying the chair and ably managing the technology. Commencing just after 3pm, Chris welcomed the twenty-eight viewer-attendees before introducing Keith Jerrome (Unite/RTUC/RIBMG) to open proceedings.
Keith reminded us of Reading's honourable contribution to the Spanish Civil War with volunteers joining the fight against fascism on the battlefield, in the medical facilities and as administrators and fundraisers. He explained that, following the formation of the Popular Front government in Spain, General Francisco Franco launched a rebellion from North Africa to overthrow it in 1936 and by 1939, aided by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (the Soviet Union being the only nation to support the democratic government), Franco's fascist regime was established. While Britain, the USA and most other countries backed the League of Nations' policy of non-intervention in the conflict, committed anti-fascists and democrats broke with neutrality and formed the International Brigades, volunteers who defied their governments in the first war against fascism (the Second World War would emerge as the second anti-fascist conflict), several of whom travelled from Reading.
Linking smoothly to Keith's opening considerations, Marlene Siddaway (President, International Brigades Memorial Trust) followed, expressing her honour in succeeding a number of great Presidents, including the 'great Jack Jones', founding President of the Trust and leading trade unionist, and himself a veteran of the Spanish war. Marlene reflected on the intellectual loss to their home countries of the volunteers who died on Spanish battlefields.
The Trust was established as an organisation for veterans of the International Brigades and over time has expanded to include advocates of the memory of the volunteers. Marlene also spoke of the medical volunteers who went to Spain, including Thora 'Red' Silverthorne. As Secretary of the Socialist Medical Association, Thora was critical in making the case for an NHS in the delegation to Clement Atlee, Labour's postwar prime minister, in 1945.
Marlene finished by observing: 'We say fascism was at last defeated in 1945 but it's never really gone away. It's lain dormant until the circumstances to divide people are apparent and then it raises its ugly head'. It is for this reason we must remember the International Brigades, volunteers who went to Spain to defend democracy, equality and justice for all.
Tom Lake (RDLP) followed Marlene, speaking on Reading's medical volunteers for Spain. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the world, Tom prefaced his contribution by reflecting on the fact that, just a few months ago during the 2019 general election campaign, Labour's advocacy of free broadband for all and a National Care Service were ridiculed - but now broadband connectivity and social care facilities are at the heart of maintaining public wellbeing. 'Suddenly care workers are "key workers"'.
Tom spoke of Dr Somerville Hastings, Reading's first Labour MP, the first President of the Socialist Medical Association (SMA) and Vice-chair of the Spanish Medical Aid Committee (in which many SMA members were prominent). Supported by Ramsay MacDonald, Somerville Hastings campaigned for election in 1923 on the poor state of children's health in Reading. In 1934, he proposed the report, 'A State Medical Service', to conference and the Labour Party adopted it.
 |
| Dr Somerville Hastings |
 |
| Thora Silverthorne (middle) and Dr Reginald Saxton (right) |
Following the segment on Spain, Keith returned to the conference to reflect on the recent passing of prominent Reading trade unionists. Neatly bridging the sections, he opened with words of remembrance for Eric Stanford, the sculptor of our town's monument to Reading volunteers to Spain.
 |
| Eric Stanford, in front of his sculpture in Reading's Forbury Gardens |
Eric died on 15 February 2020 aged 88 though the COVID-19 virus has thus far prevented a fitting memorial service being held for him. He completed a fine arts degree at the University of Reading and was taught sculpting by a Basque refugee from Franco's Spain, becoming Keeper of Art with Reading Borough Council.
Eric was a workplace representative for the National and Local Government Officers' Association (NALGO), seeing membership density of the trade union rise to over 90% under his stewardship. In local politics, Eric was elected for Labour to the Berkshire County Council in Abbey Ward.
In the late 1980s, Eric was invited to sculpt the Reading memorial to the International Brigades for which he took a year's leave of absence from work; he later declared that 'it was the most exciting thing he'd ever been asked to do'. The statue was produced at Bulmershe College and unveiled on May Day 1990 outside Reading Civic Centre. Once back at work, Eric curated a history of Reading Trades Union Council in 1991 entitled 'Fight for Life and Liberty'.
Keith also mentioned Brian Revell, a Transport & General Workers' Union official who led the Windsor Safari Park dispute; Ron Knowles, District Officer at NALGO who died on 30 March 2020, remaining active in his branch up until 2018; Mike Hoare, a technician at the Royal Berkshire Hospital and member of the GMB who leafleted for Labour all year round; and on 30 March 2020, Henry McSoley, a NALGO Officer, also passed away.
John Partington (TSSA/RTUC) followed Keith, presenting details of the six fallen railway workers of the past year: three struck by trains ('Gaz' Delbridge and 'Spike' Lewis; Aden Ashurst); one killed while maintaining a London Underground travelator (Christian Tuvi) and two named victims of COVID-19 (Andy King & Delford Willoughby) among many more yet to be named. Why did they die? 'Inadequate planning, inadequate supervision, antiquated systems of working, insufficient regulator independence, business reorganisations, outsourced activities - and, once investigations into COVID19 deaths have been concluded, we will no doubt add insufficient personal protective equipment - all suggest themselves. And these are all preventable!'
 |
| Christian Tuvi |
John was followed by Dawn Butler (Labour MP, Brent Central) who thanked the organisers for the invitation and expressed the honour of sharing the histories of activists and workers who had given so much to the labour movement and who have sadly died in the past year. She emphasised the importance of telling these stories of our movement and of bringing young people in with a solid grounding in the past to prepare them for the struggles of the future. Dawn pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as evidence of the continued need for solidarity and community - these are not merely referents; they resonate today in this time of crisis and will continue to do so as long as division and inequality exist. The pandemic sees us rebuilding a safety net and community support out of necessity - but we need to maintain these beyond the period of crisis. We also need to remember the workers dying from COVID-19 while sustaining the social necessities for the rest of us day in, day out. Dawn finished by addressing the others, saying: 'Thank you, quite frankly, for the education'.
Helen Caney (GMB/RDLP) highlighted the re-emerging threats of the far right across the world, with Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil overseeing 'the creation of a truly fascist state', who targets minorities, LGBTQ+ and women in his weekly press conferences; Donald Trump in the USA continuing to attack human and civil rights, removing fair pay and safe working laws; and Viktor Orbán in Hungary introducing laws which criminalise homelessness.
In Britain, with BREXIT, the Tories will withdraw the country from the EU Charter of Fundamental Human Rights, allowing them to weaken employment laws and other protections, and are likely to reform or repeal the Human Rights Act. During the COVID-19 crisis, cleaners, nurses, porters and other healthcare workers have put themselves at risk of death due to the governments slowness to act in procuring personal protective equipment before and during the pandemic. Government priorities are summed up by the £600 million bailout provided to EasyJet in March - no strings attached - while the public sector, bowing under the strain of managing the COVID-19 crisis, are forced to manage austerity, adversely affecting the poor, the working class and the maginalised. And with police powers enhanced due to COVID-19, banning assemblies, 'I'm not confident this government will revoke them'. Such measures criminalise protests, marches - the sorts of actions the Tories would be happy to prevent. To counter this we have to be prepared to fight, support our communities and work through our trade unions.
Helen was followed by Oluwarotimi Ajayi (RMT) who spoke about the institutional racism which has been brought to light by the COVID-19 crisis, causing disproportionate number of deaths among black, Asian and minority groups. Minority ethnic populations are more likely to live in densely populated areas due to racial zoning or work through agencies or on zero-hour contracts or as bank workers.
Billie Reynolds (Unison/RDLP) offered context, stating that Margaret Thatcher's National Health Service and Community Care Act of 1990 'put in place the foundations for the privatisation and outsourcing of all of our public services in local authorities and the NHS'. The Health and Social Care Act of 2014 further facilitated outsourcing and privatisation. Tory policies have led to the fragmentation of services that used to operate together - they are now operate in siloes, parcelled for private delivery at unsustainable costs and substandard quality.
The final speaker, Fran Hathcote (President, PCS), noted the spike in interest in trade unionism during the present challenging time. Fran reflected on International Workers' Day's origin in struggle - the Chicago workers' demand for the 8-hour day in the 1880s. The government's response to the COVID-19 crisis will be to claim austerity is a necessity - but we know it is a political choice. The Labour Party needs to be challenged to oppose austerity and offer a social model of publically owned health and social care.
Chris thanked the speakers and invited attendees to applaud the presentations. Tanya Wills (Unite/RTUC) closed the proceedings by playing two verses of the Internationale, with listeners invited to sing along.
