Workers of the World, Wide Web!
A podcast about tech workers and the tech they work on, from United Tech & Allied Workers, the UK’s first trade union for tech.
Workers of the World, Wide Web!
Salinated Dick Wind
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The committee is back, after an unfortunate hiatus resulting from an attempted (FAILED) insurrection. Find out where we’ve been, why we’ve been there, why we’re sorry about it and how we’re going to make amends.
This episode: Affairs of the Olympiad, New comrades in Ireland, Protests at Google, a union ballot at Apple, Shireen goes Green, Wes’ Revenge, The Mandelson Files and a very happy birthday to Andrew.
Further reading:
- Fast ice skating where they go round: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRPxjCHs/
- Vice: Everything We Know About the Olympic Curling Cheating Scandal: https://www.vice.com/en/article/even-curling-isnt-immune-to-olympic-cheating-scandals/
- DATA-CWU - the union for tech workers in Ireland: https://www.datacwu.ie
- Including guidance on children who are questioning their gender in 'Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE)’: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/including-guidance-on-children-who-are-questioning-their-gender-in-kcsie/including-guidance-on-children-who-are-questioning-their-gender-in-keeping-children-safe-in-education-kcsie
- Times New Resistance: https://www.abbyhaddican.com/times-new-resistance
- Green Shireen: https://www.instagram.com/shireen_asaw
The Motion:
“WWWW believes that unions should engage in political struggle.”
Submit your motions to the committee to wwww@utaw.tech, or on Instagram @utaw_uk.
Affairs of the Olympiad
SPEAKER_05I took money out of my savings to buy this like 60 pound Pokemon game. So I it's downloading as we're on, as we're speaking. If I go silent, I've just started playing it.
SPEAKER_02If it gets if this gets too boring, it's because you're playing Pokemon.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. No, I'm saving it for after. I can see it's very almost downloaded.
SPEAKER_02If my eyes suddenly go dead, it's because I'm playing Pokemon. I'm looking through you.
SPEAKER_06Stop fucking recording so early in the podcast. This is an outrageous time for you to have started recording. I'm gonna say that now.
SPEAKER_05But we're not, we haven't started the podcast, have we? This is the thing. Edwin needs to not be recording because I feel like I can't even chat shit to you too.
SPEAKER_02You can chat shit, just um put your own edit breaks in. What you need to do is when when when when you're saying something that you don't want to be broadcast, you just have to like say something that you know can't be broadcast at the end of it.
SPEAKER_06What is the line of what goes on?
SPEAKER_02Like something really something something really cancellable.
SPEAKER_06Oh, like that time that LNL said the M-word loads.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_06I was gonna say gay people shouldn't be allowed to vote.
SPEAKER_02Well, you have to integrate it into your story, otherwise I can just edit around it.
SPEAKER_05Okay. Oh.
SPEAKER_02So that bit I'll have to leave in. Preliminary matters. Welcome. Uh preliminary matters. My god, this is so out of date. Um the first section I've got on here is that we need to talk about the uh highly important affairs of the Olympiad, which at this point are several weeks ago. Let's do them anyway though, because they're there.
SPEAKER_06Um sounds relevant.
SPEAKER_02So there was an Olympics while we were away, and um obviously we all paid loads of attention to it because we're really interested in in sport. Um so what happened? Uh there was um there was the quad god. Uh Eleanor, what what's that all about?
SPEAKER_05It's my my my favourite Olympian until we saw someone else we'll talk about in a minute. So Iliam Alanin is the quad god. That's his Instagram handle because he's really good at quads. He when I was on holiday in Tenerife, that's not the reason that we were away so long, but I was on holiday in Tenerife, and one day I we had like an early night because we went out too much other days, turned on the television. Who else, who did I see, but Iliam Allen then doing like a really amazing figure skating, is that what you call it? Figure skating track to this like really yeah, dancing on ice, but like pro. Um and he looked amazing, and I was like, whoa, to my boyfriend, look at this guy, get off your phone, look at this guy. He had this like amazing music. He's he he's America he's for America, right? Team USA Amazing music, very dramatic, and then suddenly in the middle of it, there was like spoken word bits, and I was like, I didn't think it could get any better, it definitely did. It then went on to get even better because at the end of it, the commentator said that was actually Ilya Malin, his own contribution. So he was doing the spoken word, so he's now my new favourite athlete. Yeah, um, well, actually, he's been overtaken by Alyssa Alyssa He has been overtaken by Alyssa Liu, but if I hadn't seen her, Ilyam Alanin would be my new favourite athlete.
SPEAKER_02His what was it, Embrace Storm was the was the um was the tagline. Like it it had yeah, it had all the self-seriousness of a sort of Chanel advert from the 90s. Like it it incredible.
SPEAKER_05Um And he did Prince of he did a one-to-princess prince of Persia as well. Princess Persia The Princess of Persia.
SPEAKER_02Can we find the clip of the Embrace the Storm but the only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing?
SPEAKER_03The Lost is in the unknown.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, no, but I I saw a head I I saw a headline that was like it's a sad day for the world of curling. Oh, like curling's really gone downhill, it's a sad day for the sport. And I was like, what has happened in these Olympics?
SPEAKER_02Oh, is this the Canadian guy who touched the stone? Oh, was that what happened? Right. No, explain it. Go on, Alan, you're the you're the sports correspondent.
SPEAKER_05Well, I didn't actually see this one live, but I did see the final live. So the Canada team, the Canada curling team, everyone's like new favourite ice sport. Um, I think it was like the semi-finals or the quarterfinals, not sure, but it was some important match. In curling, they like brush the ice, right? And the the stone goes along, and then they can't touch the ice with the brush or their hand after a certain point, and he did like a hand of god or finger of God and like booped it a little bit, and then they won. And then he was accused of cheating by um the I think it was it Sweden, yeah, Sweden, and then there's a big argument, and he tells Sweden to fuck off, even though he like he he definitely did touch it. Although I am a lay p I'm a lay curler, I don't know anything about curling. Maybe you are allowed to touch it, maybe you aren't. Um but he's my least favourite athlete. And then they went on to win, they won the gold medal, Canada.
SPEAKER_01I haven't done it once. You haven't done it once? I haven't done it once. Okay.
SPEAKER_00They were standing here and they didn't call it.
SPEAKER_02We didn't put on the list, but I really like the um the uh the dancing on ice um sport. The the the coach who was like the same coach for like 18 of the different athletes, because they all train in the same place in Montreal. Um and there was a really good clip of him like changing coat because um like he has to coach all of the different countries. So he'd like he'd he'd be on the he'd be like up against the fence with like you know, the Canada coat on. And then there'd be a clip of him like running away and putting his other coat on for the other country, and he literally did it for 18 countries.
SPEAKER_05He had someone that looked after his luggage, which was just the uniform of all the different countries. Very cool.
SPEAKER_02Okay, other highlight. Uh so there was uh okay, there's the there's the dancing on ice, and then there's also the uh like ice skating quickly on ice. Yeah um and in ice skating quickly on ice, um, I've prepared a I've prepared a TikTok. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_09And a very slow and steady start, Dyna Veggy. Oh, we're seeing an early one here. One of the Chinese skaters, I think that's Yang has decided let's go. So basically what's the case? Let's go!
SPEAKER_02Throw that Gordon down and she's a Chinese ice skater. Okay, let me pause for a second. Right. So it's it's the marathon, they go very quickly, right? Nobody's gonna uh there's lots of laps. Now then so because it's the marathon one and not the fussing ice skating one, they will go like really slowly. Um and this one ice skater um from China invents a new technology, which is rather than going really slowly, she just fucking bums it round um and laps everyone. Um like she does a full lap and and then like parks herself at the back of the pack. And basically, like it's it's just so weird that no one really notices or cares. At the back and then she just spends the rest of the marathon like just chilling at the back of the pack. She's literally a whole lap ahead of everyone at this point. Then what happens is like on the last lap, they like, you know, they there's like a a gun or whatever to say like okay, you're all on the last lap. But it's the gun for her, not for everyone else, because she's first. So on the last lap, on the last lap, or what everyone thinks is the last lap, they cross the line and they all just like stop because they've crossed the finish line. Not realizing that they've got she's already won, and that they've all got another lap to go. And like basically what happens then is all of the other Chinese skaters in the pack just like vomit round and take second place. Um so that was incredible. I can't remember the skater's name now. Um I thought there was gonna be sound, but it's not.
SPEAKER_06Um That doesn't see her going in front of them.
SPEAKER_02I just think it was so weird that they didn't care, like they didn't re it just didn't make sense.
SPEAKER_05It's like if the rabbit of rabbit of tortoise and hair like just won and everyone expected the tortoise, they're all the tortoise, they're still there thinking we just keep going. But actually the rabbit won and like managed to do it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So very good Olympics.
SPEAKER_05Um if you ha if you haven't been on on the internet or watched any TV, but you're really interested in the Olympics, you've just like been caught up. You're welcome.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh, there was one more story from the Olympics, which uh I've just written in here um salinated dick wind, which is um just because I couldn't really remember how to explain it properly. So you know the one where they ski down the hill and then jump, right? Yeah. Um so um the way that works is that they've got like really specific regulations for how much slack they're allowed to have in the in the like spandex that they wear, right?
SPEAKER_08No.
SPEAKER_02Um because like every every like surplus centimetre of slack anywhere in the suit, like it acts as a big sale. So like it was something like one centimetre of extra crotch space in their in their suit acts as a sale and like launches them another five meters. So what all of the athletes were doing is that in the in the suit measuring, they do like a weigh-in suit measuring before the competition, and they were all basically like um injecting like saline for for uh flight dick inflation. So that essentially they were filling out more of their costume than than it thought, so that when it came to the actual thing, they would have like an extra five meters of lift.
SPEAKER_05I heard about this. When you put said salinated, I thought you got mixed up between salinated and like make something like a sale.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Actually, you really did mean salinated.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. But also works on both levels. Um I they should make me the poet laureate. Welcome back, everyone.
4dub_infil.wav
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the problems of sound are examined in order that audio equipment should function satisfactorily, and that the noises made by electrical appliances should not be too disturbing. It spends the globe like a superhighway. It is cold.
SPEAKER_00Because if you want the monetist, then you're into revolutionary and into bringing down capitalism.
SPEAKER_06So everyone, and welcome to workers
Self Crit
SPEAKER_06of the world wide web. Um with you today, you have me, your usual chair, and in our presence, we also have our treasurer, Eleanor. Say hi. Hi. Um we also have the um podcast patriarch.
SPEAKER_02Edwin. Can we come up with a title at some point? Hi.
SPEAKER_06I like the um alliteration of podcast patriot. And I'd like to apologize for no no no no no no no no. We don't apologise for anything here. Now, on to our apology. So we have been missing for a few weeks, and a statement has been prepared for me to read. I have not read this in advance. I can't say that I'm gonna agree with it yet, but what I will say is that I'm going to say it all. Okay, right. So, for you our fans, as we all know, this podcast is governed by a dictatorship of the podcast, answerable only to our revolutionary comrade listeners. This committee has to unfortunately explain its absence for the last couple of weeks, and ultimately we must commit to realign ourselves with the masses and their listening schedule. The failure to broadcast in recent weeks is largely due to a failed coup against a podcast patriarchy, an attempt to record without mask intervention, an illegal act of intervention, which uh intending to install an illegitimate and woke system of governance, which predictably failed. This committee recognizes the irreparable damage it has done by failing to uphold the values of the revolutionary podcast movement and will today present a report to explain itself in full as part of a broad package of investment in restorative measures. So there we go, folks. That's thank you, comrade.
SPEAKER_02I couldn't have said it better myself. I think you really said what the people needed to hear.
SPEAKER_06Thank you, Patriarch, or Daddy, as we call you. Um we're glad to have you back, and we are sorry about that failed coup. So where have we been? Yep.
SPEAKER_05So
Eleanor: where have you been?
SPEAKER_05I'll go I'll go backwards forwards and then like come back to the future. So most recently, uh I was in Dublin. I was in Dublin the last weekend um to meet our Irish comrades, our Irish siblings in the Communication Workers Union of Ireland.
SPEAKER_02So they're also Communications Workers Union.
SPEAKER_05Oh, they're they're communications with the other.
SPEAKER_02They have an extra S. Yeah. Okay, cool. And an apostrophe after the S. Which is fine, it's correct.
SPEAKER_05It's fine, it makes sense.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I hadn't noticed that because I just called them the CWU. But I called them the Irish CWU, which is not to other them, but they are our siblings in the Irish CWU. Um, and we I went there with our international officer, one of our international officers, um, as in Utah international officers, to see their first ever tech branch, AGM. So they have been organizing tech workers in in Ireland for like, I mean, a couple of years, I think, but they haven't actually set up as uh like an independent branch or as a as a branch of the CWU, which they did on Saturday. Um and it was really cool. They elected their first ever committee. Um we had like different speakers, so they had some of their TDs, um, like politicians um in Ireland, speak about tech workers' issues, and then like obviously most importantly, lots of tech workers from different companies. So like TikTok, Kovalin, which is a meta contractor, they do like uh moderation and AI annotation, speaking about like what they're fighting against. Kovalin also, I think we've previously mentioned it, like they've been on strike. Um and I think they're yeah, they think they're probably gearing up for more strikes too, which is really, really cool. Um, so we were there and we were we also went with um our German, German comrades from from Verdi who also work for tech, uh work on tech and organise tech quicker, so it was really, really, really, really, really cool.
SPEAKER_06Um you got too excited when you said German. It was suspicious. What's going on here?
SPEAKER_05I feel like I haven't been at the house for for days and then so I'm just I I'm like remembering cool stuff I did on the weekend and I'm getting excited. Um so yeah, it was really, really good and like Yeah, it was just really nice to see. I think they're like at a different although they've had they've been on strike now, right? We've never been on strike, we're obviously at a different um, we're like a bigger branch at the moment. Um, but we can learn like loads from them and hopefully they can learn from us too. So it'll be like the first of many, many meetings and and things where we can work together. It's also like from a selfish perspective, because I'm organizing TikTok was really good because what TikTok are doing are trying to offshore or like kind of consolidate jobs in Ireland. So if we can encourage or like support them to unionize in Ireland, not that they need support, but we we you know they can definitely do it without us, but it's always back together. Then we we are creating this place where like companies can't send workers abroad to avoid unionizing. The unions are everywhere, so it was really good to be there. What else? Um, we it wasn't just me that was there, um outside Google and King's Cross um to protest against Google Deep Minds links to with um Google Deep Minds Project Nimbus, which is a project where Google are providing basically like war tech that is used in wars and genocides around the world. So um Google workers are asking for changes to their terms and conditions. They want their they want an ethics clause, right? That's what they're calling it. So they want to be able to like refuse to work on things that go towards war and genocide without obviously putting their job in in risk, which is a very I think most people would agree with that, like conscientious object objecting. But at work, it was really cool. It was like we had people from UCL, um, we had a speaker who had done a lot of organizing around like a South African apartheid, um, and there was lots of people that was really cool. We were there like pretty much all day. It was from like I wasn't there right at the start, but I think it was from like eight till four, so really good turnout.
SPEAKER_06Corbyn came and you didn't mention it.
SPEAKER_05Jeremy Corbyn came in. Jeremy Corbyn came in. He did he also did a really cool speech and he he recorded something for tech for us um as tech workers and it was really really good obviously to just get that kind of support from a statured politician.
SPEAKER_02Friend of the pod.
SPEAKER_05And friend of the pod. Oh my god, we should I should have got him to like record something next time.
SPEAKER_02Anyway, next time we'll just get him on, he's our mate.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we'll just get him on. Um but it was yeah, it was it's just like cool because I think like most politicians are they're just like often uncritically welcoming big tech um without thinking about workers and like what it's doing to workers and users of tech. Um but it was good to see it was good to see yeah, like Jeremy Corbyn like kind of actually engaging with with what the issues that that people at Google are having. And not just Google, but like also Microsoft, etc.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, um yeah Jeremy Corbyn is a very big um he's a very big friend of trade unions and I will give it to him when he when we do have work going on in Utah, if he can he will come and support, he supported us with the work that we were doing with the um miners, with cobalt mining. Um so it was great that he was able to come and support the Google workers as well. Um it seems like it's something that's on his mind, and now he's the leader of your party, probably. Will be on their minds as well, so we have that to look forward to. But Eleanor's not done yet. She's had a damn bad time.
SPEAKER_05This is the jumping together. We're also um trying to well not trying, we're successfully organizing people to go to a march in March. March.
unknownMarch.
SPEAKER_05So this month is March actually now. On March the 28th. Oh my gosh, people are emailing me, left, right, and centre. Um, on March the 28th, we uh there is a march being arranged by a group called the Together Alliance. Um and we're trying to get like as many people as possible to come down. It it's a march against the far right. Um, we've had lots of discussions about this group, the Together Alliance. I I can go over them a little bit if you want.
SPEAKER_02Basically, we we we I kind of like, yeah, who what is the Together Alliance? What's what's what's up with that?
SPEAKER_05Um Yeah, well, this is I don't want to call it a controversy because the most important thing, in my opinion, is that we go and like show our faces and and like fight back against the far right. But I think we're pretty confident that the Together Alliance is an S SWP front, so Socialist Workers Party front. And like if you're not aware of why that's a bad thing, just Google SWP crisis. Um we will we don't need to go into it too much here because either you know about it and you're sick of hearing about it, or you don't know about it and you probably don't need to be like bombarded with why it's really bad right now.
SPEAKER_02I don't know about it. Good for you, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um, but basically we we did come to we like we had lots of conversations like as members about what it means to like kind of support this and come to the conclusion that yes, we like obviously don't support the SWP. Yeah um but we do want to go to this hopefully huge march and show up and like fight anti and fight fascism. No, we don't want to fight anti fascism, we want to be anti-fascist.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Um I want to fight anti fascism.
SPEAKER_02I'm down. You're down for fighting the anti fascism.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um no further questions?
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Not gonna follow that one up, we're just gonna sit with it.
SPEAKER_06Okay, so what are what what are the key aims? Again, Eleanor, of course, reliance?
SPEAKER_05I mean, this is another thing that we also this does make us sound like all we do is like theorize, but we did discuss this because this is actually really important for like any march or any movement. The aim is so wide, but it's still really important. The aim is just to to show togetherness against the far right. So in the wake of like lots of like horrible, like racist, fascist marches and rallies and like periods of violence from from the far right and from reform and even worse groups than reform, um, it's just to show kind of a united front and be the kickoff point for like real like community organizing um against fascism. So we've got people coming like from the Utah branch and other CWU branches from all over the UK. Um and if you do want to come and you're not already based in London, there's a really good basically if you're a member of UTOR, you can just get in touch and we'll find you um someone to go with if you want to come on your own or just bring your friends. But if you're not a member of Utah, um there is if you Google Together Alliance Transport, they've helpfully put like a map of all already arranged coaches where you can either some of them are free, some of them it's like tenner for a ticket, and they'll bring you down for the march and then take you back home to wherever the nearest city is for you.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Um that's awesome. That's really well organized.
SPEAKER_02If listeners are coming along, they can come and say hi and we'll be in the trade union block under the um we don't have a we don't have a podcast specific flag at the unfortunately we'll just be with our own trade union.
SPEAKER_05And there is also a feeder march which is um for Palestine. So there's like a feed a Palestine feeder march that's being arranged by like lots of different Palestine organizations. Yeah um but it starts at the same time, so it's a feeder march, but technically, I guess you'd be joining the main march slightly later. And then there are there'll be loads of um like talks and stuff. Hopefully it'll be like a nice, wholesome day as well as like doing something important.
SPEAKER_02We're overcoming our factionalism in the left to uh all show up to the same thing and uh and and and be civil, as much as as much as we have many, many disagreements.
SPEAKER_05We may have some like uh F the SWP banners or whatever, but we we like the most important thing is like fuck the anti-fascists more than yeah. And we although we do sorry fuck the fascists. But yeah. But we also I think the main point is that we believe, like, at least I believe that the SWP are also fascists, so yeah. Um yeah. But there are enough groups involved that I think, in my opinion, anyway, like I wouldn't ever like look down on someone for having a different opinion on this specifically. Like there are enough groups involved in it that it it's not too tied to the SWP.
SPEAKER_06That's awesome. Well, thanks so much for sharing that with us. When's the March again? March the 28th. Awesome.
SPEAKER_05Middle of the day. Lunchtime, 12. So it's a Saturday. So hopefully if you're not working, it'd be where's the meeting point?
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_06What are the key details again?
SPEAKER_02At the end, just explain it to us. March the 28th, London, England.
SPEAKER_05That's a good question because they only just released the um the meeting point, and it's starting on Park Lane, going towards Piccadilly, like towards Green Park, and then it goes on to uh Palmall and then finishes at Whitehall. So it is best to Google it because like things can change, but the information that we have now is that it we're gathering on Park Lane. Um and if if you are a member of Utah or you just like want to come along on the Utah or CWU branch, I think we're gonna try and have like a bit of a meeting before where we can just like meet each other so it's not quite stressful because there's gonna be lots of people. Um yeah, but the the like main March assembly is 12 pm on Park Lane in London, obviously.
SPEAKER_02So see you there, and if you're not there, you are a fascist.
SPEAKER_05Or you've got anxiety, which is close enough.
SPEAKER_02Or you don't live in London. Or there's no excuse. You're there or or you're not there.
SPEAKER_05One one place that we haven't found any transport form is is the North of Ireland. So maybe that's another excuse. Maybe you live in the North of Ireland.
SPEAKER_06Maybe you're a you're a Northern Irish uh anxiety-ridden fascist, and you've chosen not to come.
SPEAKER_02A Northern Irish anxiety-ridden fascist, and you you've chosen not to attend.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Um so um thank you so much for catching us up. That's so busy in Jampett. I think hopefully our one listener, John, will understand why we haven't been able to do the podcast. Um for Eleanor, anyways. We we are about to catch up with Edwin, but I just want to interrupt this section of where have we been for some quick breaking news. So pew pew pew pew pew. Breaking news. Um, for anyone who doesn't know, Comrade Javier is our tech support worker. Um, Comrade Javier is kind of um essential to Utah and to our growth. He's been instrumental in creating all of uh Utah's infrastructure. He's so helpful with any tech issues that we have. Um, we wouldn't be where we are without him. We have so much love for him. Um, we did just want to say a massive congratulations to Conrad and his partner on um bringing beautiful Selma into the world today. We're so happy to hear that and we're wishing you all the best. We're hopeful that you all have good health and you manage to get some sleep in the first few weeks. All right, so lucky.
SPEAKER_05This is why they can't stop trade unions because we keep reading. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Yes. I would love this. I I think Selma should be like our first baby member of Utah. Yeah, we should honor a member. Um, yeah, but we're looking we're we're looking forward to meeting Selma. We're looking forward to seeing you, and we're wishing you very well happy. Um congratulations.
SPEAKER_05I've heard she's coming to the march, by the way.
SPEAKER_06Is she?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, no, uh, I'm joking. That was just to get people to come, they get to meet a baby. But I'm not sure if she is. She's probably not. She's got she's growing, she's got growing to do. Edwin,
Edwin: where have you been?
SPEAKER_05where have you been?
SPEAKER_02Me. I like how like you you've all got like ten ten items. And I've all just I've just got the same one item that I always is big. Yours is the same one item that's always on my agenda, taking up all of my time that I can I can't talk about. Uh so I've been in Cambridge. The the town of my birth, um my my my my homeland, um the the seat of um Stephen Hawking? I don't know. I'm trying to think of other famous people from Cambridge.
SPEAKER_05He's cancelled now, by the way. You can't he's on the he's on the Epstein list.
SPEAKER_02So he is. There was the picture of Stephen Hawking like covered in bitches. Covered in bitches.
SPEAKER_06Um And you know what?
SPEAKER_02I looked at that and I thought it's Stephen Hawking though, isn't it?
SPEAKER_05Like Okay, cancelled twice Cancelled like cancelled twice in one sentence. Anyway, what have you been doing in Cambridge?
SPEAKER_02Hi, um edit all that out. Um so basically, um we uh we're organizing the Apple Shops um and the Cambridge Apple Shop is uh balloting for union recognition. Woo!
SPEAKER_07Um my gosh, congratulations!
SPEAKER_02So the union recognition ballot is uh tomorrow as we record, goes runs all weekends, and then there'll be like postal votes coming in after that. So we might have a result by the time we next do an episode, depending on how um how um punctilineous is that the word I'm looking for? Um but yeah, it's been like uh it's been two years of work. We've been we've been the the the members in that shop have been trying to get union recognition for a really, really long time. Um and they've worked really, really hard at it. They fought a really like incredible campaign, a really like proper grassroots campaign. It's like that you know, it's been completely organised by workers on the ground, um you know, organizing calls and events and having um conversations with each other. Um so it's a yeah, really incredible piece of work for the workers there. Um so I'm really hopeful that they're gonna um pull this one over the line and hopefully we'll know by the next episode. They've been up against quite a lot of resistance, like the union busting has been off the charts. Um not that we weren't expecting that to be the case, um but you know, they it they've been in in sort of constant um, you know, mandatory meetings where they've been scared off the union. There's been these kind of like lines that they keep reiterating, the union being sort of constantly third-partied and spoken about like there's there's this whole thing that they keep bringing up about that like the like the union being this sort of like third party corporation with its own final financial interests. We we had like one one union buster kept talking about um uh like uh the union's profitability and our like uh details on company's house, which is ridiculous because we're not we're we're a trade union, we're not even like a limited company, we're not on company's house, so I don't know what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_05Um I can go in and do a presentation about our finances if you want.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like it's all open. I don't know, it's crazy. Like the information's there, and then they still decide to make it up. Um like was talking about like the the the like uh the the union CEO um and like CEO Yeah That's prospect, not CWU, come on. Crazy, like yeah. I mean we don't have a CEO, we've got an elected general secretary. Um like so yeah, crazy like attempts at union busting. But like you know, union busting is really powerful, and when an employer has a captive audience every day, um it it it can be super effective. So the craziest bit of union busting happened this week, so like two, maybe three days before the ballot, they just gave them all a pay rise. And then like while giving them the pay rise, they put a a note on the on the on the announcement saying uh oh, for any staff in a collective bargaining unit, this pay rise might not might yeah, it might not affect you, or it might be delayed because of your collective bargaining agreement. You should speak to your union about that, about that delay.
SPEAKER_06I know that it's on the line.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I it it's been like pretty horrible. They've got a like a they've got a really consistent union playbook, they've you know they've done the same um all over the world, the same in the US. So it's it's you know, and obviously we work closely with all our um all the other unions um all over the world doing the same thing. So we yeah, we we've we've known what to expect, um, and we've known we're up against like you know, a very big, expensive um anti-union organization um have done everything they can to prevent this from happening. Um and yeah, they've it's it's kind of just been hilarious seeing them like actually pull out all of these like totally ridiculous, old-fashioned sort of like Pinkerton expressions. Um and and yeah, so hopefully we're going to um d uh destroy them this week.
SPEAKER_05I was thinking about this and I have a question. So like I think to us we know why off like giving a one pound pay raise, you know, a few days before a recognition ballot is union busting.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_05But it puts you it puts like organizers and the workers who are organizing for recognition in a bit of a like difficult position because if they're trying to get members who are on the fence and they go, Oh, this is union busting, like you just be like, wait a second, that's a really good thing. So why is it such a bad thing?
SPEAKER_02Well, it's not a bad thing, because the thing we're trying to get out of it is uh payroll among amongst many things. So like effectively, like you we're kind of already winning, like we don't even have to get to the ballot to win something from it, because we we know that when a company is like under scrutiny, um you know, the that things get better because they have to. So and that's happened time and time again. Um and because it's like a global organization with um union activities going on in lots of different countries, what's been a repeat pattern is that basically every time um every time there's union pressure from one of the global trade unions against this organization, um you know, something something gets better in the company, some they they get some more money or or they get some more whatever else it is. Um so it works, it's really effective. We're you know, um even without having a collective bargaining agreement in this place, we're already um we're already winning. So it's it's yeah, it is it is really good and it's exactly what you know what the end goal is. So what what but what it's not is collective bargaining. It's not um it we're not w what we want is to be able to negotiate um over you know pay and hours and terms that our members want to negotiate and they want to have a voice in that and they want to be able to ultimately um vote on whether to accept or reject these things. Yeah. Um and and this isn't that. So um yeah, it it it it's obviously it's it's not the end goal and and and it's clear that they're doing it to um try and make it look like people don't need a union because they're gonna get the money. But it's like it it it it's so obvious, like it's it's really blatant, and everyone I've spoken to there in the in the last um this week has is like it's you know it's it's it's obvious what's going on, no it but uh you know the company will never say it, so um yeah, that that's what it's like. But yeah, it's um they they can afford to do things like that. Like we we ran the math like there's there's five thousand employees, so giving everyone a pound an hour um raise um you know six months before earlier than they were planning on doing you know regular pay reviews, that's like several million pounds that they've they've they've they've dropped.
SPEAKER_05Um so um yeah, that's how much they don't want a union, right?
SPEAKER_02That's how much they don't want a union, several million pounds, plus probably hundreds of thousands of pounds in um lawyers at this point. Um They could just give that money to the staff, like the money that they've spent on lawyers alone, if they just shared that out amongst the staff, they'd be paying less. They're giving everyone a raise.
SPEAKER_05So And if that's what you've like what the workers have managed to get without actually really forcing Apple's hand, like imagine what they can get when when they've got recognition and they they can force Apple's hand to give them a proper pay rise or whatever other terms and conditions.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Woo, good job. Apple Cambridge workers.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, congratulations. I hope all guys were.
SPEAKER_02I do I do I do real union organizing. I don't just do the podcast, I don't just make the t-shirts. Well I do have new stickers coming this week, and I'm really excited for them.
SPEAKER_06Yay! What are they gonna look like?
SPEAKER_02Similar to the previous ones.
SPEAKER_07But cool. Version two.
SPEAKER_02Look. We needed more, we needed more shiny ones, we needed more, we needed more of the pride flags, we needed um we we needed uh the we needed the by flag and the lesbian flag, you know, we need all the variations um of of um of sticker. Um so and look, they ever every week there's another war, and that's another sticker that we need to make. Solidarity solidarity is built on the stickers that we can make. Um so we'll be doing Iran stickers, we'll be doing Venezuela stickers. Um who's next? We'll be doing stake we'll be doing we'll be doing Dubai stickers to show solidarity with fellow countrymans landed in Dubai.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and there is a lot. Okay. Thanks for wishing on more war.
SPEAKER_02This episode is sponsored by war.
SPEAKER_06I would usually laugh at that. Um and maybe I will later. So um anyway, thank you. Where have you been? Where have you been, Shareen? Where have I been? I've been
Shireen: where have you been?
SPEAKER_06quite busy recently. Um not too busy for the podcast. Um, listener John, if you're out there, I actually feel like I I've been here for every podcast session, and um my my comrades are to blame. Um fire me.
SPEAKER_05Really?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm crossing the picket. A coup was the agreed statement.
SPEAKER_02A coup.
SPEAKER_06Okay, well, there was that one time that we did do that coup.
SPEAKER_05But aside from it, it was unsuccessful, but it's fine. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_05We had a lot of learnings from it.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_05And we're all so much closer now.
SPEAKER_02There were trainings, they were learnings.
SPEAKER_06Exactly. Um, we've learned that it's a bad idea to take on the podcast patriarchy or any patriarchy for that matter. And yeah, again, you know, I feel so close to the podcast patron.
SPEAKER_02And I'm sound your whole sound just cut out there for a yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_05Shereen, you were overruled there. Some nefarious. But where where have you been, Shereen? I've heard you've been everywhere. Where have you been?
SPEAKER_06I've been out. I've been out on the roads, I've been canvassing. I've been so busy canvassing. Talking to the room, she just won't tell us.
SPEAKER_02It's the same thing.
SPEAKER_07Canvassing? For what? Did you not hear me? For what?
SPEAKER_06No, but you didn't Did you not hear what I said? I was canvassing.
SPEAKER_05What have you been canvassing for?
SPEAKER_06Oh, okay. I've been canvassing for the Green Party. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And for who in the Green Party?
SPEAKER_06For my for myself. I've been canvassing for myself. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_02Councilwoman Assal running for your local councillor.
SPEAKER_05Come into a local council near you if you live in Lewisham.
SPEAKER_02If you live in Lewisham, vote. If you don't live in Lewisham, get fucked.
SPEAKER_05Think about moving.
SPEAKER_06Oh.
SPEAKER_02Think about moving.
SPEAKER_06We were going to encourage them not to vote, but we're we as a as a podcast support democracy, so please do get out and vote. Um no, I have been running for the Green Party in Lewisham. I'm standing in Lady Well, which is one of the target seats for the area. Um it's been really amazing, especially since um Hannah Spencer won in Gorton and Denton. Um I'm sure you're all aware of the by-election results. So in Lady Well, actually, even before that, I think a lot of things had gone wrong nationally with the Labour Party. Um, and I think people were just kind of looking for some accountability and some change. So it has been always very positive in Lady Well. But definitely, like after Hannah Spencer got in and were able to prove that, like, yeah, the Greens can win, and you know, the country doesn't necessarily have to fall towards the far right. Um people have been a lot more excited. You know, we have a fundraiser right now, which we are using for like some of the campaigns that are specifically going to target like reform. Um so that massively like boosted, like we had loads of donations since Hannah One. We had like a bump in membership, of course, in Lewisham, which is like brilliant. We've had so many people just been like, Yeah, I want to canvas, I want to do this. And it's just been all altogether very pleasant, yeah.
SPEAKER_05I was gonna ask a bit about that, like I guess, yeah. So that there was that that big bump in membership. Like, do you when you have you canvassed much since Hannah Spencer won? Like, what's the has there been any change or is it too early to to see that?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I mean, we've been out canvassing since Hannah won, but I think like even just walking around Lady Well, like the change was so noticeable. I had people literally stopping me on the road and being like, Congratulations! Looks like you're gonna get in. And I was just like, oh, I didn't realize, you know, like people were like actually recognizing me and being like, Yeah, you've got this, like, keep going. It's brilliant what you are doing, and I'm so happy Hannah won. So that was a really like massive change.
SPEAKER_07Cool.
SPEAKER_02I saw you doing a speech on um on Instagram the other day.
SPEAKER_07Um what speech?
SPEAKER_02Oh my god. It was really good. And you spoke about you spoke about the union like twice in it.
SPEAKER_05Did you? I did I always.
SPEAKER_02Well I just scrolled past it. I threw a like on there.
SPEAKER_05If I see you on Instagram, Sharine, I like every time.
SPEAKER_02Every time.
SPEAKER_05Well, I mean, obviously I do, but I do of I do often see you on Instagram and I I often Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I'm the opposite. I don't I don't like easy. I very I very I very rarely hand out my likes. A like for me means like a hundred likes.
SPEAKER_05Oh yeah. That I I like too much.
SPEAKER_06I'm a big liker, that's the how many times did I mention to be honest, in any speech that I do, I always mention the union. I'm not gonna lie, like it's genuine, I have so much love for this union. If you don't know, I was um an organizer in my workplace before. And um sometimes when you're organizing in your workplace, it can be extremely stressful. Um I do feel like Utah, the branch, really got me through a lot of like the stressful and hard times. Um and yeah, I genuinely feel like I've made so many friends here and like I I don't want to get choked up, but I I genuinely do love Utah. So anytime I do in speech, I'll always be like, yeah, big up. Big up, Utah, the Utah Mandem. Big up.
SPEAKER_02Didn't mention the podcast though, did you? Oh my gosh. I'm sorry. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Can't understand why someone standing for public office would not mention this podcast.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_05It's that is a mystery to me.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_05Shrewn.
SPEAKER_06I I didn't realize that you two, the patriarch and the treasurer, were liking my social media posts.
SPEAKER_02We're watching you. Wherever you are, we're watching.
SPEAKER_05We're also the PR department for the podcast.
SPEAKER_06So now I'm aware, I'll definitely shout you out. Like by name.
SPEAKER_05Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_06No. No, by name, I'm gonna be like, yeah. There's some people, they're listening. They're always listening.
SPEAKER_02Their names are they're always listening, they're always watching.
SPEAKER_05What else has been what else have you been doing? If the stats not enough, canvassing's not enough.
SPEAKER_06That's true, canvassing is not enough, and doing speeches at Rellies is not enough. Um Gorton and Denton is not enough.
SPEAKER_02Um so Do you want to talk about Gorton and Denton in more? Like what what is that interesting? I don't know. I know it's not you.
SPEAKER_06You didn't do that, but but oh yeah, but I think like it was a massive like all hands on on deck operation. So if you're not a Green member, you might not be aware, but um all over the country, Green members were phone banking members, they were like calling people up and saying, like, get register to vote, get out, blah blah blah. This was going on like weeks ahead. Um the Green Party organized for people to travel as well. So lots of people traveled down, or um, if they could, they went by themselves, which was like great. So we had lots of people from Leutium, like um our mayor candidate Liam went down to Gordon and Denton the day before on the day of to go and help with like canvassing, getting people out, like encouraging people to stand up and use their democratic rights. Um, yeah, it was beautiful. It was a massive team effort though. Um, this is what this is kind of like what we're trying to emulate all over the country. I feel like yeah, people do need to get up and get involved in their local parties, whether that's like the Green Party or whether that's your party. It's really really important that you're an active member and that you are participating and you're helping. Otherwise, you know, reform may possibly get in. But yeah, reform has billionaires in the Green Party and your party only has us. It only has the members, um, they're the only people you can support. So yeah, we're we're really relying on each other to save ourselves, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um on your party, and your party had their leadership elections in our uh in our gap as well. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, so these leadership elections, boy, oh boy. I don't know. Um, were you paying attention to them?
SPEAKER_05Because I I was like I'm a member, so I I voted.
SPEAKER_06I was glued to to the my seat. I genuinely did not think it was gonna go this way.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_06I was um yeah.
SPEAKER_05And wait, which what was the surprising bit? Like Jeremy Corbyn becoming the parliamentary leader?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, so basically, if you're unaware, I guess Eleanor's just explained. Jeremy won, like Germany is the outright leader of your party. And um yeah, I think that did surprise me, honestly, because it kind of seemed like Zara's team had like the better like PR of this whole thing. I was surprised as well about that. It seemed like she was gonna like sweep it. I genuinely thought that Jeremy was gonna get in, but I didn't think that he would be the outright leader because I I feel like maybe I'm just in too many SWP circles because I feel like on the floor, on the ground floor of like these trade union group chats that I'm in and stuff, all everyone was saying was like anti-Jeremy Corbyn. And I was just like, what is going on? Because I still love Corbin, like he's he's my um He's your he's I I I I couldn't think of an appropriate word. But she's actually muted herself, so I don't know what she said, but I'm sure it was disgusting.
SPEAKER_05I have microphone issues where I touch my microphone a lot, and there's like a silent button on it. I said ride or die, though.
SPEAKER_06Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's way more appropriate. Okay, sorry. Yeah. I really care about. I I think I have like a nostalgia for him. Like there's there's a special place in my heart and for that time in politics where he was the leader of the Labour Party, where yeah, things really seemed like they could change. Um that doesn't mean he's perfect though. He's done a lot of stuff wrong, and he's done a lot of stuff wrong with your party as well. And I think he does need to be like held accountable for that. We can't just be like, oh, Jessel, we love you. But like at the same time, like I can't like forget like the stuff that he did to move us in like a better direction when he was in charge and like the valiant efforts that he'd he undertook and obviously the smear campaigns against him. Um so yeah, but outside of that though, it wasn't just that Jeremy Corbyn won, it was also that Jeremy Corbyn's people won, like overall power.
SPEAKER_05It's for for them, that's like was called for the many, right? Which again is like obviously that's probably they're riding that nostalgia of like what happened with Labour when he was leader and before he was leader.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um one of the things I I I put in the I put in the uh all-important Google Doc was like, okay, so um I I I basically in every general election in my lifetime, I've pretty much like always voted for the sort of like um unknown random like trot on the menu because there's not been any choice.
SPEAKER_04Like Me too! I'm glad you said that because I felt bad about that.
SPEAKER_02I'm just like you know, I'm I I'm I've not been voting Labour, I've not been voting green, and I've been a member of the Labour Party. I was so I was a member of the Labour Party in in in in the Corbinista years. Um and but like not really outside of that. Um so I I've I've always I've I like there's never been a candidate for me on on the ballot. Um so I've always I've always I've always voted for like uh yeah, the the the strange like black and white photo um of an old man who has no information about them and doesn't have a Twitter handle. Um looks suspiciously like Karl Marx. Um so he always gets my vote. And here's the thing I know you're standing for the Greens, and I know a lot of people who are um going green at the moment, and I've always been sceptical of the Green Party. I've always thought that their political platform was um you know um Me too. More socially and economically conservative than something that I would vote for before. Yeah, I don't know what what it is. I I I just don't like them and don't trust them. I feel like so vindicated. I know I'm misguided.
SPEAKER_05So no, I feel very, very vindicated because me too, but I like the way that it's going now, I support.
SPEAKER_02And the thing is, as soon as I heard about um Zap Polanski's um uh breast enlargement hypnosis um scheme, I thought, yeah, I actually I could get mine.
SPEAKER_05I was actually one of the first um customers under that.
SPEAKER_02So I'm I'm thinking of getting it.
SPEAKER_05Um So that that has really changed my view on the Green Party, to be honest.
SPEAKER_02So uh as a as a as a voting for the the random trot on the menu uh kind of voter. Why should I vote green? Should I vote green?
SPEAKER_06I do believe that you should vote green, yeah. I'm I'm gonna put it out here, like the Green Party is basically dictated by its membership.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Um with a lot of the stuff that happened with your party, I think a lot of socialists or people on the left who were ready to like get organized and start working and moving towards a positive future with your party, when when, especially after the membership thing happened with the two membership signs and stuff like this, a lot of people, a lot of the you know, 800,000 organizers or trade unionists or socialists, they jumped to the Green Party, and there's a reason why. The reason why they would have chosen the Green Party over, like, you know, trying to get back into Labour or something like that, or even starting a new party, is because of um the Green Party's internal democracy. Yeah, you know, the party is very much democratic in in some people could argue too democratic, but like you can't argue that there's no democracy there. The members can like write, any member can write a motion, any member can get like something up on the ballot on the spring conference or any conference that we do, so it's really dependent on who's in who's around. And I think that having all of these like experienced organizers come on board and having the membership jump so significantly and so significantly to the left is like it's been amazing, like being on the inside, seeing all the work that's going on on like figuring out like how to work with trade unions and improving their policies on employment rights, how much they've been on like working on anti-imperialism, or there's people who are working on like you know our NATO policy, and whether it's kind of like acceptable for us to have the policy that we do now. There's people working on our anti-Zionist policy, and whether the position that we have right now is strong enough. And I do think like it's a really cool place to get stuck in and where like you can do work. You like if you just want to do work, you can actually do work and you can actually have an impact. And most people in the party are just nice, like I think like a lot of the people are just kind of tired of the same left fighting left, like all of this like nonsense that's been going on, and they're just like, no, we just want to do work, we just want to get organized and we just want to win. And I think, like, yeah, on the inside, it's something that's very positive. I would say, you know, the way that um things go down the line is a bit different as well. So for me in Lewisham, we don't have like a whipping system, we don't get a whip. So, like our party leader, um, they can obviously advise us on what they want us to do, but like I can vote against something if I don't like it and I'm not gonna get fired, like in the Labour Party. Um, but this also means that there are like these differences between like national and local local levels as well. So sometimes you might have like an example of this, is like some of the Scottish Greens have voted for austerity measures. That's something that in Lewisham we would never vote for. Um, it's something that the party is like is figuring out how to like manage because we understand from Labour that like the kind of strict whipping system that they have in place is so toxic. So we don't want that. Um, we do want people in their local areas to feel empowered to make the changes that are necessary for their local areas. Um, yeah, so I do think that you have to you should join, you should get involved, and you should push the party in the way that you want it to be, because there is a room for you to do that. You have to look at the people who are running in your area and make us uh educated choice based on that, based on what are their principles, what have they been working on, blah blah blah. I wouldn't say like blanket support the Greens, you know. I I don't think that's feasible. I don't think that's how people should be doing politics. Look at the people, uh, but understand that if you don't like what they're doing, there is room for you to make that difference and for you to make it change, you know. Um, so that's where I'm advocating for for our party, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_05No, but I think that's interesting because like, yeah, if we'd had this conversation, like I guess I like don't want to say pre-Palansky, because I'm sure like people you showing you you you probably feel this like more than me, because I'm not I'm not a member of the Green Party at the moment. Like to tie something to one person the way that like happened with Jeremy Corbyn and Labour is dangerous. But if we'd had this conversation pre-Polanski, like I that I don't think there could have been really anything that would have made me think, oh, the Greens are like a workers' party or they're like a a you know a working class party or whatever. But it's it is obviously like very different now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and but also like the current good vibes from the green aren't like necessarily from him, it's from it's from people like you, Shereen. It's like it's from like local councillors and activists and just people I know. Like it is which you don't often get because even even even in the sort of like Corbin Labour, it was kind of still about MPs and um people that you're gonna vote for. And and I don't I I don't I have that feeling towards the Greens at all. Like I don't really know well, yourself now excluded. Like I don't really know who the candidates are, I don't know who the leaders are apart from apart from like apart from Zach. But what I do know is um you know people uh knocking on doors and getting involved. Um and that is yeah, that's that's a really good place for a political party to be and a ru um a really good thing.
SPEAKER_06Um I joined before Zach came in and um yeah there has been like a massive like public positive push and I'm happy for that. But really and truly the only reason that we're able to work is because we have like our members um who are coming out with us or like general people who have like goodwill for us. You know, I've had I've had people from your party in Lewisham saying, like, I'm backing you, Shreen, like I work in the council coming out on campusing. I've had like um Socialist Party and SWP, I've had like lots of genuine, like it's genuinely the community coming together and saying, like, we need to sort this out. Yeah, and that's what's great and that's what we love. And I think in Lewisham especially, that's what we're standing for. Like, we want the community to have a place in politics that's actually significant. We don't want decisions to just be happening to people anymore. Yeah, but um, I can like go on and on about this because obviously I'm running, but like that's not the that's not the um that's not the aim of this podcast. It's not to promote me running for Green Party. Although if you do want to follow me, my Instagram handle is Sharine underscore Asal. Uh if you can't spell that, I'm sure that someone would put it up uh in in at the end with with all of our thingies. Um you can see what we're getting up to in Looshum and the changes that we're trying to make. And yeah, if you want to get involved with your local Green Party, I really do suggest you you do. Because you can't complain if you're not involved. Then you could complain all you want. Yeah. Eleanor can. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I complain anyway.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah, no, you can. Eleanor has a free oh, should we ask Daddy first? Daddy.
SPEAKER_02When did I become daddy of the podcast?
SPEAKER_05When you became When we tried to do one on our own and it fell apart, man.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it's true. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05When we tried to coup and it didn't work.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we don't even have like proper microphones and shit, which we're just on Zoom. Excuse me. Actually, you do have a proper microphone, it's true.
SPEAKER_06Don't tell the people that. And also, when will you buy if I get elected, will you buy me a microphone?
SPEAKER_05Because this is no, this is related to the listeners that we get on the podcast.
SPEAKER_02We're investigating party finances. Um we have a massive influx of um uh union uh listeners to the podcast can buy merch um at uh utah.shop. That's utaw.shop where we have scarves and t-shirts and uh mugs and stickers. Um visit there to fund um Shereen organizing and also a microphone, yeah. And organising.
SPEAKER_05But number one.
SPEAKER_02Shereen, I I'd vote for you. Um but I won't. Because I don't live in your borough. Um but I would. But I won't.
SPEAKER_05There's one person, there's one more person that we haven't updated on, by the way.
SPEAKER_02Honorary fourth member of the podcast.
SPEAKER_06Um yeah, the final member of the podcast.
SPEAKER_02Where have you been, Wes?
SPEAKER_06So we do have some great updates
Wes: where have you been?
SPEAKER_06on Wes streaming.
SPEAKER_02Oh god, what's happened with Wes? Um he nearly ran for leader of the Labour Party, sort of. So there was the by-election, um, and uh Andy Burnham was trying to stand in that, and it was kind of looking like um God, we're so out of date. We're so we're like weeks behind. Um so actually I can't even remember now. So it looked like Keir might be in a bit of trouble because um because of the the Mandelson files coming out, um as they're known in the UK. Um and so yeah, Mandy put Keir on the fence, and then it looked like maybe we were gonna have a leadership election, and then like uh Andy was running for Andy not Mandy, uh running for um MP in Gore Gorton and Denton um and then wasn't allowed to do that because the Labour Party said no. Um and then he would have been up against Wes, but that didn't happen, um, and Wes can continue um being a dickhead. Um The other thing that oh god, there was the government published uh guidance for schools um for trans kids, so that it there's a paper called This is this is like a month old at this point, um, including guidance on children who are questioning their gender in keeping children safe in education. I think it basically means like they don't need toilets, they'll be fine. Um give them give them a fucking bucket to piss in. Um yeah, it's the the the guidance is just don't do anything, withdraw everything.
SPEAKER_05Um So there were I'm not sure about this specific thing, but I think basically the first um there've been two court cases um that are like the first tests of the uh trans like trans and non-binary rights legislation that came in last year, which basically took away like lots of rights that I think most people would expect that trans people are entitled to. And there were cases that came out as like to test them. Um and I think that's this comes out of that. So confusingly, both of them like didn't bring any more clarity. So Wes is Wes is interpreted interpreted it as the least charitable, which is basically yeah, that like um places of work and schools need to provide single sex toilets, and what he means by that is toilets where like if you so like if you're trans woman, you aren't entitled to use the single sex women's toilet, um, which is obviously like really not very nice. Um and I think the school's guidance is is related to that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's basically yeah, it's it's it's toilets, it's like participation in like PE, um and it's obviously like I mean the really big one here, like admissions to um single sex schools. Yeah, um which uh yeah, basically all falling in line with um the um the the the guidance after the um Supreme Court last year. So um yeah, total fucking mess. Fuck you, West Streeting uh sorry, West Streeting.
SPEAKER_06I have some more to say on West Streaming. Yay! Well, I think the thing that I love for West Streeling and the thing that I love I obviously we haven't been here for a little while, so we haven't had the chance to chat about the nonsense that West Streeling gets up to. Um I really enjoyed when he released those text messages and he was like slagging off Keir Starmer and he was making It look like oh, I'm gonna lose my seat because of KS Dharma's bad policies, and then he just goes and does this like next level of like far right shit of like taking away rights from trans people and stuff. Um, like these are all choices, Wes. These are choices, Wes, and you've made them and you're you make yourself look bad. I like Keir Starmer's obviously a piece of shit. We know this. No one has high expectations of him. But if you have these crazy high expectations of yourself, Wes Streaming, you need to be more ambitious, you need to be more radical, you need to be more fucking left-wing. And I think you know, Gorton and Denton prove that, right?
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_06The left is on the rise, we're not happy with how things are going, and we're not just gonna vote for you because you're not Keir Starmer, you're not offering anything better. So that's just a piece of political advice from one politician to another to our dear comrade Wes Streeling. Um, yeah, we should maybe have him on. We should, yeah.
SPEAKER_05He keeps trying to get on, but we've just like been a bit crazy to have him on. That's the but what someone else say, like about obviously we're we're we're a workers podcast, we're a tech workers podcast. Like that the West Streeting thing in regards to like schools, and then that the Supreme Court guidance from last year, and then like the different there was the Good Law project was one, um, and they lost basically, and then um there was another one too. Like what it means for workers and like trans non-binary workers and like all workers, whether you're you know, if you're like cis or whatever, it's like it's like a scary situation. And this is that's like yeah, the most important thing, like the uncertainty of and it someone said this the other day, right? Like, so comical that this battle is being fought over toilets. But this is like this is like how what like stupid, ridiculous, like British thing, but it is like really, really damaging. Um, and where Streeling is on on the forefront of it, and that's where he's been taking away the rights of where's your undisciplinary measures and he's not even here to apologize. We had to sit through Shereen's apology.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. One one one more go, and then you're getting kicked off Wes off the podcast.
SPEAKER_05Well, we and that's very charitable. We've given you another Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Your attendance, your your attendance record to this podcast has been awful. Great.
SPEAKER_05And I am keeping a spreadsheet every time he doesn't turn up.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Wes yours. Yeah, Wes, do do better. Just do better, Wes. So um yeah, that is a great catch-up on Wes. Obviously, you know, fuck you, do better. And moving on to our next section, I think.
SPEAKER_02Should we uh wrap up? No, I was gonna say, should we because we've gone for a bit, should we pause the slot up, move that to next week, and then go straight to the motion? Motion I do like Times New Resistance. We'll just do a mini slop-up.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02We'll do a mini slop-up. Uh for
A Mini Slop-Up
SPEAKER_02some reason I expected there was gonna be a song, but uh we don't have one.
SPEAKER_07Did you make that noise? Because that was disgusting.
SPEAKER_02That was I didn't. It was the slop up sound.
SPEAKER_07Is it?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_07Oh my god! What's happening?
SPEAKER_02It's the slop up. Hi, welcome to the slot up.
SPEAKER_05We're all just we're all just stimming that noise now.
SPEAKER_02Well, welcome to the slot up, the section where we slop up the slop um and talk about um things that are happening in the world of um usually we talk about AI shit. Actually, this isn't AI shit, this is actually a good one. Um I really like this. This is a font that um someone's made. So basically, yeah, in in the United States of America, and I'm spelling America with three K's there just for our listening audience, um basically like the government have um mandated a return to um conservative family values, as we know, um, in the form of returning to um Times New Roman as the official font for government use. Oh, fuck off.
SPEAKER_06Is that real? It's real.
SPEAKER_02Um good old times. Uh and a uh designer called um Abby Hadakan has uh designed um a font uh which is called Times New Resistance. Uh and basically when you install it on your government computer, um it like appears in the font list just as Times New Roman, but with like one extra space between Times and New. Um and basically what the font does is it does a bunch of like automatic spell corrections um on what you type in. So like if you type in border crisis, it corrects it to white hysteria. If you type in um DHS, it converts it to DHS's fascist. Um if you type in Stephen Miller, it converts it to Nosferatu. Some of these are great. Uh if you type in Gnome, it converts to uh Christy Gnome as uh Christy Christy Gnome killed a puppy. Um, did she?
SPEAKER_06She did. She shot it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um if you type in um I don't know, you get the idea. Uh it does lots of spell corrections. Um I'll put the link in it so people can um download it and try it out. But yeah, I I that's that's my slot up for the week. I I think that's really cool. I I really love it when people like design things and over-engineer things for the purposes of resistance, and I think it is ingenious. So five golden Comradely coins.
SPEAKER_05When did we start doing coins?
SPEAKER_02Oh my god, Shereen, the slot-up does coins now.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, did you not know that? It's legal tender as well in like most It's legal tender in the podcast. Most areas of the UK, no.
SPEAKER_06What about in the US? Where I'm hoping that our uh one listener will be participating in the case. If we can get just one of the things.
SPEAKER_02Only in California. We do have listen we we have international listening audience. I've looked at the stats. I'm I won't be sharing them right now.
SPEAKER_05Or is it people avoiding the online safety act?
SPEAKER_02You think people are just VPNing in and they accidentally end up with our shit? They're trying to listen to fucking Chapo.
SPEAKER_06Oh, God. No, but that's sick. Like I love that technology. I'm so excited to I wish I was a government worker so that I could use it. Um, we praise your your resistance, and yeah, there will be many gold gold podcast coins for you.
SPEAKER_02You will be a you will be a government worker soon. You're gonna be a state bureaucrat.
SPEAKER_06Oh fuck yeah. Oh no.
SPEAKER_02An agent of the king, you're gonna be sworn in.
SPEAKER_06Am I gonna be sworn in?
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I assume they do that in the council as well.
SPEAKER_05In the Green Party, they just swear at you instead of swallowing in.
SPEAKER_06So basically, yeah, we we we've really sped through this podcast this week. We have a lot to like catch you up on, and we're gonna aim to do that over the next few weeks. But before we leave you for today, we do need to go into our motion for the week.
SPEAKER_02The motion.
The Motion
SPEAKER_02We don't have a sound effect for that. What's the motion?
SPEAKER_06So for this week our motion is WW WW believes that unions should engage in political struggle.
SPEAKER_05It was sent this was sent in by a listener, by the way. Not not the listener that we always mention. That's how we know we've got more than one.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I'm a yes. I mean, unions are political struggle. Um, I don't see uh a division between the two. Um we should actively engage the thing is, right? The thing is that like working people in this country have uh very disenfranchised with politics and um have very little direct um you know, engagement in participation in our political system um and our members of parliament are a class in and of themselves. Um and trade unions uh basically are the uh access to um politics that we actually have um and that we have a like a d a a direct relationship with. Um and you know, uh our trade unions trade unions are inherently political, but also trade unions are involved in uh you know, they're involved in lobbying, they're involved in politics they're involved in creating um and campaigning for legislation, they've been r I I mean our union's been um really heavily involved in um pushing through the um Employment Rights Act, which has just gone through um like you know, we we we do have a political voice, um and you know sadly that's not always our members of parliament, but it is our trade unions. Um so uh yeah, I mean I think it I think it's incredibly important that our trade unions are actively engaged um in big P political struggle and um little P political struggle.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um So the reason that because we do actually have like a little list of motions that we're building up now. The reason that I chose this one to be done today, or well, it should have been weeks ago when we f when we were gonna do the podcast, but the reason we've kept it in is because um we relatively recently did that Google rally, right, that we were talking about at the beginning. And when it was posted on the CWU like Facebook and some like different social media platforms, there was some members um who not I don't think they were members of Utah, but like members of our wider union who were kind of like, oh, unions need to focus on you know the black and white like terms and conditions that unions should be fighting for better pay, like you know, less stressful, the the kind of very, very basic, not the very, very important, but like the bread and butter, I guess you could say, of unionism. So I was thinking a lot about it because for some for some union members, right, it turns them off, like talking about politics. Um but yeah, I am like massively for this, this, this motion because you can't separate them. Um and like the people at Google, right? You could say, oh, that's a political thing, it's talking about Palestine, it's a you know, what's happening in Palestine's a different country, but like this is their terms and conditions, and we we can't separate them because Thatcher wanted us to separate them, right? And that's why like trade unions are the way that they are. And something else I just thought, Edwin, while you were talking, a lot of um a lot of people who work in tech, as in many, many sectors, but like especially tech, are like migrant workers that and they can't actually vote in elections, although they could have lived here for like decades, like they're not eligible to vote. So they they live here, they pay tax, etc., but they have like no um say in our politics, which I don't agree with. And not to say that we're like trying to skirt like enfranchisement laws or whatever, but like for lots of people, it's their only way to engage with politics is through is through their union because they're they're not allowed, they aren't able to vote. And until recent until recently, if you were 16, 17, or 18, or 16 or 17, you could be working and not have any political voice as well.
SPEAKER_06I think for me, because this is something that actually comes up sometimes when I'm doing canvassing on the roads. I mean, a lot of signs in Lewisham people are very much for what's going on with the Green Party. Um, but people do ask, like, why do you care so much about stuff that's not happening here? And um I think the argument that I've always said, and which I said in my speech last night, if you um follow me on Instagram, Sharine underscore Asal, is um we when we're fighting for Palestine, we're not like fighting against you, we're also fighting for you. I mean, the way that the world is presented to us, it's all very like segmented, it's all very much like this is happening here in this place, and this is happening here in this place, but really and truly there is just one struggle, and that one struggle is the working class against the powers that be. And I think that like there are so few of them and so many of us, when we allow like these small differences to divide us or to to make us think that like our struggles are not like connected in a way that they really are, is it allows them to stop us from becoming like as powerful as we could be. Um an example of this, obviously, I live in Lewisham, um, that's where I was born and raised. So, an example of this is that like in my area, um, to develop our Lansec, which is like developing the shopping center into like these like outrageously unaffordable like flats that no one really wants. Um the chair of Lansec actually moved from Lansec to like BAE systems, which is then like developing like arms and stuff like this. And I think a good judge for you as like listeners or as union members or whatever, a good judge of someone's character and what they're like and what they're gonna do in this country is based on what they are doing elsewhere in the places where they think they can get away with it. Um if you are okay with bombing people in Palestine, then why wouldn't you be okay with like gentrification and like building up homes for rich people who can afford it while poor people have nothing? Why wouldn't you be okay with like cutting benefits to people who need it or like to people with disabilities? You know, that it's a it's a judge of your moral character. And and I think it shows, and remember, there are only so many people that are like qualified, and and I'm doing the the like hyper quotation marks with my hands because like those of these people are unqualified, but there are only a handful of people who are qualified to be these like CEOs, to be these big chairs, and they all just like swap around each other and hang out in the same like cocktail parties, they're all friends, it's one class, and it's not our class. Our class is the working class, our class stands with with the Palestinian people, like land theft in Palestine is the same as land theft here in Lewisham, where I am. Um, and yeah, I think that's why unions, I don't yeah, that is part of why unions have to be engaged in this political struggle. Um yeah. If your union wasn't um, be very serious, be for real for real people, then the only people who would be funding political parties or political activities would be people like Elon Musk.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. And it's already that's already happening, right? The Labour Party, the Labour Party for the first time ever got more money from corporations and trade unions, this in the last like reporting thing. So yeah. Yeah. And that's because we're engaging with political struggle in some ways, like against the Labour Party, right? Because they're not serving us.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, they're not serving us, and we are entitled to move our funds away from them. But like, yeah, this is something that you need to really like consider is like what would the country be like? What would your workers' rights be like, what would your life conditions be like if someone who genuinely thought that like poor people didn't deserve homes uh was funding labor and only them, like we wouldn't have this massive bill that CW has been able to like push through. Um so yeah, I do think that's that's my sound. But I guess like we do have to on behalf of our listeners play devil's advocate, and we someone has to has to be against the motion.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_05So what you're gonna flip I struggle, I'd struggle to argue, I'm not sure how to argue against it. I guess the only argument would be like that you could say, well, it takes time away from like negotiating and potentially striking against employers. But unions of unions, like yeah, unions of workers are big. There's always gonna be like you can what's that? You can walk and chew gum at the same time. That's like the only I'm sure there are other arguments, but none of them that are I can't think of any.
SPEAKER_06That's difficult. Well, Daddy can probably m make something up. Daddy's used to being the bad guy, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, daddy's be the bad guy. Um, alright. Uh yeah, I think um no, I can't do it.
SPEAKER_06I'm so sorry, listeners. I am I am so sorry on Daddy's behalf.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. Um I accept your apology.
SPEAKER_07Um, we accept your apology.
SPEAKER_02Um no, but I gave my apology formally um through the statement that Shereen read out at the beginning of the programme. Um That's so true.
SPEAKER_05You're right. Excuse.
SPEAKER_02Um So I think we I think we put it to a vote. Yes.
SPEAKER_05And for union should be. We need it we I want a motion where we like really weah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. This one this this one this this one's too uh clean and tidy. All right.
SPEAKER_05It was just an excuse for us to talk. That's no, it was good.
SPEAKER_02It was good. We'll come up, we'll come up with a more uh we'll come up with a difficult one.
SPEAKER_06Uh we need to get more like we have too many socialists on this podcast. We need to get someone more right wing, or it's or radicalise one of us.
SPEAKER_02Which one's it gonna be? We could get someone who's really right wing on. I just don't know any.
SPEAKER_05A racist granddad? Racist grand.
SPEAKER_06Is that what we're calling um the patriarch now? Racist.
SPEAKER_02Racist grandad. Yeah. Motion pass. That was funny. Ha ha um we've got AOB. Um the the the AOB is also incredibly out of date, which is to celebrate the life and birthday of um Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Um because the I think this was because the day we were last attempting to record was his birthday slash slash arrest day.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um so so that's fun.
SPEAKER_06Um was such a good day for us.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we really we really missed the timing on that breaking news.
SPEAKER_06It is concerning
AOB
SPEAKER_06to me as an individual to see the way that the UK um media is portraying the X Team Files, which has been like alarming, I think. Like the UK media has been like pretty awful about it, I would say. Like we've had like Emily Matis coming on and being like, oh, people shouldn't be mean to him. He's still a dad. It's like, girl, then why did you do that interview with him?
SPEAKER_05Her whole career like was like catapulted by her interviewing him, but now she's a news agent.
SPEAKER_02I think maybe she's trying to be more she's a news agent, that's a real thought from Grace. Like working in the corner shop.
SPEAKER_05You know what I mean, man.
SPEAKER_02Emily Maitless is boss man now, she's just selling vapes.
SPEAKER_05It's like two for a pound on on Lilt.