Billy Got Kettled - Report from Him

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Mapping the Future - article for Voice magazine

The kids are alright

‘Kettled’ was not a term I was familiar with on the morning of Wednesday November 24th 2010. By the time it approached midnight that day, however, it was something that would be hard to forget.

It was not a pleasant experience, having no access to food, water, toilets or shelter on a bitterly cold day - and being told by a policeman on horseback, via megaphone, at 5.15pm that we would be allowed out within 30 minutes.
It was 11pm before everyone was released.

Quite simply, there were lies on TV as to what was happening. No attempt was made by the police to intervene when a handful of malcontents endangered everyone.

The crowd was a mixture of school kids, students, and people who disagreed with the government decision to cut university teaching budgets by 80 per cent, scrap the education maintenance allowance, then treble tuition fees - making them the highest in the developed world.

It would be bad enough for any government to act in this manner, but with a cabinet stuffed with millionaires it’s sickening.

It could appear to some that such developments are of little importance, but every setback to the wider interests of the working class impacts on us all.

An injury to one is a injury to all - agitate, educate and learn from the young with some great old ideas.

Mapping The Future

The CWU is 16 years old in January, and like all organisations it has occasionally suffered from growing pains.

As a union we’ve grown up fighting for decent pay, benefits and pensions and by promoting equality and diversity.

We have promoted peace and dialogue over war and division and internationalism rather than xenophobia.

We consistently measure how well we deliver for our members in the 40 companies where we represent you, and recently extended our reach into Adecco.

Our new members at that company will now feel the solidarity of our union.

In five years we’ll be celebrating our 21st birthday, and we’re already considering what our union will look like then. The CWU’s executive recently considered a report called ‘Mapping The Future’.

This report has analysed both internal and external trends and has been sent to branches, where you can obtain a copy.

It’s also available on the union’s website - for CWU members only.

We’d like everyone to contribute to a national discussion. It’s your union - tell us what you want from it.

The CWU’s Voice magazine

[apple]

did he break out when he saw the greggs on the corner?
if he was on the demo, then should have shown some balls and got himself arrested, then with the publicity from that, could have mentioned what was happening, just a thought fat boy!

[smokerjim]

In five years we’ll be celebrating our 21st birthday, and we’re already considering what our union will look like then.

If you try an improve on this year's "Deal of the Century" it might look like this...

[apple]

is that one of them new shared vans?

[smokerjim]

is that one of them new shared vans?

Yep, delivering to the CWU ghost town

[fishtank]

I've read "Mapping the Future" and it's a horror story.
It makes any doom and gloom on this site seem optimistic.