THINK GLOBAL
Act locally with Global Justice Now
Daisy Bee
May 2015
Contents Action checklist; Inserts
2
Letter from the activism team
3
New engagement tool; Scotland update
4
Campaign update: food sovereignty
5
Campaign update: climate and energy
6
Campaign update: trade justice
8
AGM and activist conference
9
Changes to Think Global
10
Activism news
11
Current materials
12
Action checklist General
Organise one or more summer stall. There are a variety of options: • Use the ‘Corporate Monopoly’ game – upcoming next month • For energy justice, use the Monopoly themed materials • For trade justice, use the NoTTIP Times and the flyers for the ECI Discuss in your group if you are going to send someone to the Glasgow AGM to vote on behalf of the group.
Trade justice
Lobby your local council against to pass a motion against TTIP, using the local authorities briefing.
Food sovereignty
Discuss in your group if you are going to send anyone to the UK Food Sovereignty Gathering in October.
Inserts Climate/energy
Trade justice
• Leaflet: Give corporate controlled energy the boot
• #NoTTIP Times (third edition) • European Citizens Initiative petition sheet 2
Letter from the activism team I’m writing to you with the memories of the most recent international day of action against free trade agreements still fresh in my mind. It was a fantastic day for our campaigning, as the 30+ actions that took place across the UK to challenge TTIP were part of a much wider wave of protest across the globe, with over 700 actions taking place taking aim at the entire gamut of threatening trade deals we currently face, including TISA, CETA and the TPP. Meanwhile, the general election draws nearer and the contours for global justice activism are bound to change in significant ways.
can be posted also) to be sent in the months when there is no Think Global. See more detail on page 10. Second, we have some staff changes in the activism team. We have sadly said goodbye to Ralph Allen, who was has been the activism assistant for the last two years, who has left Global Justice Now to focus more on making music. Ralph will be missed for his dry wit, his no-nonsense attitude and his concern to strengthen connections between music and the arts with social justice activism. He is replaced by Alice Hooker-Stroud, whose background is in science policy but who now wants to get more involved in activism and organising. We are excited to welcome Alice and looking forward to learning from her experiences. You can contact her on alice.hooker-stroud@globaljustice.org.uk and you should feel free to contact her for materials request, group admin and all basic enquiries.
On the subject of new campaigning directions, we have recently engaged in two issues beyond the scope of our three main campaigns. We have published a new report, ‘Profiting from poverty, again’, on how DFID is promoting privatisation of education and health in the global south. In mid-April we joined teachers and campaigners from trade unions in a protest against Pearson, the largest education corporation in the world, for its central role in this process.
We are also very pleased to announce that Sakina Sheikh will be working two days a week for three months as an organiser for Students Against TTIP, a new activist network that we have been supporting. If you know of any students or young people who may be interested in learning more or getting active on TTIP or related issues then contact her on sakina.sheikh@globaljustice.org.uk
Meanwhile, in response to the most recent tragedies of migrants dying in the Mediterranean and the increasingly inhumane political response from Britain and the EU, we helped to organise a ‘Migrant Lives Matter’ demonstration in London on 25 April. This links to the consultation document on immigration we produced in the last Think Global. A number of groups have fed back their views, as part of an ongoing discussion on this question; if your group has yet to do so, please email your group’s thoughts to activism@globaljustice.org.uk
Happy campaigning! Ed Lewis Groups officer
There are two other important developments that I’d like to mention here. First, for a range of reasons outlined below, and following the most recent groups survey and discussions with area reps, we will be changing Think Global. Instead of ten copies a year we will be moving to six, with an activism email (that 3
New engagement tool Building on the Monopoly themed work of the energy campaign, we have decided to develop a more ambitious material – our very own game, ‘Corporate Monopoly’. This will be broader than one campaign and be a participatory way of talking about the politics at the heart of Global Justice Now. The materials we are producing should be ready in June.
easy to use on stalls. We’re hoping this will be a great way of allowing groups to talk about all three campaigns and to attract people off the street.
Corporate Monopoly will centre on two Monopoly characters – the hat and the boot, representing the 1% and the 99% respectively. As each character proceeds along the board they have different experiences, taking them through various issues in our campaigns. For example, instead of Park Lane, we have Nigeria’s energy system. When the hat lands on this space they will benefit from the privatisation and gain government subsidies, bailouts and £150 reward. However, when the boot lands on this space they will pay half of their monopoly money in higher bills.
We are also developing a small number of life size versions of the board. They will be 2 meters by 2 meters. This is to make it even more eye catching. We are planning on printing a few to stay in the office so that they can be borrowed by groups and sent back. The designs are still under production but we are planning to this ready for distribution at the end of May. Email Alice via the activism email (activism@globaljustice.org.uk) to pre-order a pack. If you are interested in the larger version please say and we will factor this into our plans.
The game will be the same size as a regular monopoly board and will be foldable and
Scotland update As Think Global goes to press, we are preparing for a debate on TTIP in the Scottish Parliament. We’ll be outside the parliament before the debate demonstrating the strength of public concern, and Global Justice Now supporters have been emailing MSPs urging them to take part in the debate and to speak out against this corporate power grab.
local food organisations; independence campaigners and anti-poverty activists. Across Scotland there are now many local groups actively campaigning to stop TTIP. Many groups organised local stunts, demonstrations and stalls on the global day of action on 18 April (see page 11 for more details). Our TTIP fringe meeting at the SNP spring conference attracted a packed room of party members. A motion condemning many aspects of TTIP was passed by the conference, and we expect to work closely with the new group of SNP MPs after the general election.
The ‘Scotland Against TTIP’ coalition is now up and running, after a successful launch event in Glasgow on 11 April. The coalition currently has fourteen organisations as members, including seven trades union bodies; social justice, environment and 4
Food sovereignty Agroecology updates
The venue they’ve found, The Birchcliffe Centre (www.pennineheritage.org.uk/ Birchcliffe/Upstairs-at-Birchcliffe), will hopefully be welcoming for all the different constituencies of the movement.
After the launch of our report on how agroecology can feed Africa we have been working on the best way of putting pressure on decision makers. We want a strategy that will put suggest the right policies to the right people through the best political process. However, this has meant a bit of a delay in terms of producing campaign materials. So sorry to those who have been enquiring about agroecology action cards, we will update you on a more realistic date on when these will be produced soon.
It would be amazing to have a good showing from Global Justice Now groups at this gathering. The gathering is a key part of our strategy to build a strong food sovereignty movement in the UK. We believe if there is a strong food sovereignty movement here then we are better placed to offer our solidarity to food sovereignty movements in the global south. So please put this date in your diaries and discuss sending delegates along to the gathering from your group. There will be funds available to subsidise anyone with financial difficulties.
In the last Think Global we said that we would upload the agroecology powerpoint and notes onto the website. We have, however, decided that as they are somewhat internal documents that we will not post them on the website; instead, they can be downloaded from our dropbox account by following this link: http://gju.st/1QiTgHM
Details of the programme and other arrangement will develop in the coming months. In the meantime if you would like to fill in a survey to inform the core group of your ideas for the gathering please follow this link: http://goo.gl/forms/ZDPCQp796T
Alternatively you can email Dan for them: dan.iles@globaljustice.org.uk
National food sovereignty gathering The UK food sovereignty network, in which Global Justice Now is involved, has called a national gathering for the 23–26 October this year. This is a change from the originally proposed date at the beginning of October. The venue for the food sovereignty gathering will be in Hebden Bridge. With its proximity to the urban centres of Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester, and some great growing projects including Incredible Edible in Todmorden (www.incredible-edibletodmorden.co.uk), its central location in the UK and its closeness to transport networks, it was thought this will be an ideal location to bring everyone together. 5
Climate and energy justice Campaign success!
Workers’ perspectives on energy justice
This month we had a mini victory with the announcement that Barclays were to turn their back on destructive mountain top removal (MTR) coal mining. Last year Paul Corbit Brown visited from the West Virginia organisation Keeper of the Mountains in the US to attend the Barclays AGM to address the board over the devastating impacts of MTR on Appalachian communities and ecosystems. We protested outside Barclay’s April 2014 AGM in blue masked Barclays ‘eagles’ on Barclays bikes, carrying coal in their bike baskets. It looks like our efforts made an impression on Barclays as in April they released a policy position statement on Mountain Top Removal (MTR) coal mining in which they commit to “not directly finance MTR projects or developments.”
In April, together with London Mining Network, Colombian Solidarity Campaign, Justice for Colombia, global union IndustriALL and War on Want, we hosted Jairo Quiroz and Igor Diaz from Sintracarbon - the union that represents workers at the Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia. As well as organising for better conditions for workers, they work with other community members who are struggling against displacement by the mine. We held meetings with UK trade unions to discuss how a just transition to a democratic energy system could be brought about in practice; and with other groups about where demands for divestment and workers rights may be in conflict. The delegates from Sintracarbon explained how the Cerrejon coal mine provides much needed jobs in the province. Rather than cutting investment and closing the mine, the union would like to see renationalisation, with the proceeds from the mine being used to help Colombia develop in a more sustainable way.
Materials for summer stalls
See the separate section on the crosscampaign ‘Corporate Monopoly’ game which we are developing and which can be used as a cross-campaign material. We are also continuing to promote the Monopoly-themed materials that focus specifically on energy privatisation; as well as the privatisation action card and briefing, we have some Monopoly-themed leaflets left over from the last appeal which may be useful for stalls. They are titled ‘give corporate monopoly the boot’ and outline in brief some of the reasons why energy privatisation fails. They are similar to the ‘10 reasons why energy privatisation fails’ briefing but are smaller and have more images on.
World Social Forum update
Sam recently returned from Tunis, where the World Social Forum (WSF) was held this year. The forum brings together social movements and grassroots organisations from all over the world creating an opportunity for people working on social and environmental justice issues to meet and organise together. We held a workshop on energy democracy run with Platform, the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice, and Fuel Poverty Action. The workshop included speakers from the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (Germany), Asian Pacific Environmental Network (US), Fuel Poverty Action (UK), Bharat Jan Vigyan Jathain (India), and Jubilee South (Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development).
Please contact Sam at on 020 7820 4900 or sam.lund-harket@globaljustice.org.uk if you would like us to send you any materials.
6
The WSF was a demonstration of how communities across the world are having similar experiences their lives and livelihoods being eroded by multinational corporations and also of how these communities are resisting in different ways. Struggles for alternative energy are very much part of this effort.
Riseup email list for groups The activism team primarily contacts group members through the groups contacts and the Think Global mailing. However, we wanted to remind you about the riseup email list which any group member can join and which was set up to encourage group-to-group communication. The activism team also ocassionally uses it to contact group members more widely, especially with urgent matters or opportunities.
Planning for Paris
While at the WSF, Sam and James from the activism team also attended a meeting of organisations organising for the COP21 climate negotiations which will be held in Paris in December. There was a lot of discussion about the new global climate deal which is due to be made there and well-founded concerns about how much to expect from them. Some are still hopeful that the negotiations may bring an agreement which will avert catastrophic climate change. Others are weary of a repeat of past negotiations like those in Copenhagen when the negotiators came away with nothing more than ‘recognition’ of the fact that temperatures need to be stopped from rising, with no commitments to emissions reduction.
It is a low traffic list – you won’t be bombarded! – but we would encourage more people to sign up to it as we think it’s useful. To be added to the list email activism@globaljustice.org.uk
The Global Justice Now climate team believes that the fact that corporations and rich countries have too much control over the negotiations means that there is no chance of a fair and sufficient deal, but that Paris provides an occasion to help build a strong and diverse movement for real climate and energy justice, so we are starting to plan to be involved in these mobilisations and others in the run-up.
Despite concerns, those at the WSF decided that COP21 is too important an opportunity to ignore and have given us some dates for the diary:
Reclaim the Power mass action camp, 29 May–2 June
28 and 29 November (the weekend before the negotiations start) will be for decentralised mobilisations in capital cities around the world.
In a response to a call for action from the international climate movement and Coalition Climat 21, the grassroots direct action network Reclaim the Power is holding an action camp close to Didcot power station between 29 May and 2 June to demand fossil fuels are kicked out of the UK energy mix. Global Justice Now staff will be there to take part in workshops on energy and climate justice. Everyone is welcome for all or part of the camp. See reclaimthepower.org.uk for more information.
5 and 6 December will see various events in Paris, including probably a counterconference of some kind and a ‘village of alternatives’ put on by French organisation Alternatiba. 12 December will have a centralised mass mobilisation in Paris at the end of the negotiations.
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Trade justice TTIP update
Local authority briefing
The day of action on 18 April was a success, with about 80,000 on the streets across the EU. It was particularly strong in Germany, but good in the UK as well. Highlights were the London and Manchester actions - in both places big shopping centres were used to demonstrate the corporate interests of TTIP. The next international day of action will be on 10 October this year, which also marks the close of the European Citizens’ Initiative.
Great news from Hastings that the borough council have passed a motion declaring themselves concerned about TTIP, especially the ISDS clauses included in it. This is the latest in a succession of councils the length and breadth of the country to take a similar stance. Last month we circulated a briefing which is essentially a guide to the issues you need to be familiar with to convince your council to join the list of opposition. If you need any advice or help on how to set about this in your area, please phone Guy on 020 7820 4900.
#NoTTIP Times
The new, completely redesigned edition of #NoTTIP Times is now out. There is a copy enclosed. Where we’ve tried it, they prove extremely easy to hand out. The paper was designed by students at the University of Bedfordshire in Luton. You may like to target a younger audience – at a local college or university, maybe. Contact the office if you would like a bulk delivery of the papers. Some cafes and libraries may be willing to take a stack for people to pick up from when they visit.
European Citizens’ Initiative
The great news here is that the total number of signatures is now past the 1.7 million mark. The Initiative will close on 6 October regardless of the number of signatures collected. In the UK, the figure stands at 226,584. It’s not unreasonable to think that 250,000 or even 300,000 signatures are possible if we really push the boat out this summer. Either of these totals would constitute a fantastic achievement given the non-coverage of the issue outside of the business pages of the UK’s media. Enclosed is a petition sheet for the ECI with our logo on it which means we can collect the data of signatories. There are also plenty of postcard sized flyers promoting the ECI which again you can order from the office.
Students Against TTIP
We continue to forge Students Against TTIP, which is attracting some brilliant activists! There will be a SATTIP weekend event from 17-19 July - see page 11. We now have groups in Leeds, Manchester, London and Warwick. If you are or you are in touch with anyone who’d like to play a part in starting a group in their college (or getting involved in an existing group), please let us know by emailing sakina.sheikh@globaljustice.org.uk 8
AGM and activist conference
Saturday 13 June The Renfield Centre, 260 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4JP Global Justice Now annual general meeting
Shifting Ground: the fightback against corporate power in Scotland and the world
11am-approx12.30pm
1.30pm-6.30pm
Our annual general meeting is open to all national members to attend and vote. In addition, each local group may send someone to vote on the groups’ behalf (each local group has five votes). Registration is from 10.30am, and tea and coffee will be provided. We will also provide lunch for those attending both the AGM and afternoon conference, with a small donation sought to cover costs. If you intend to come to the AGM, please let us know using the form at globaljustice.org.uk/agm-2015 or by phone on 020 7820 4900 so that we can plan for the right amount of food. Also on the AGM webpage, you’ll find a strategy resolution being proposed by council, and the annual accounts will be available here from 22 May globaljustice.org.uk/agm-2015
In the last year Scotland has experienced a political earthquake, with the space for radical, progressive politics opening up significantly. Join us to discuss internationalism and global solidarity and their place in the new Scottish landscape - plus what those in the rest of the UK can learn from Scotland.
If your group would like to appoint a proxy to vote on it’s behalf at the AGM, you can do so using the form available from the AGM webpage too.
Practicalities and subsidies
Speakers will include: • Ken Henshaw, a campaigner from Social Action in Nigeria • Pippa Whitford from Common Weal • Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now.
Anyone intending to come to Glasgow for these events should book trains and accommodation as early as possible. A travel subsidy is also available for group members who need it. The amount available per member is £50, although the activism team can consider slightly more on a caseby-case basis. In all cases contact activism@globaljustice.org.uk
Sessions on food sovereignty and energy democracy, plus a TTIP organising assembly and skills sessions including social media for local activism. More info at globaljustice.org.uk/shifting-ground 9
Changes to Think Global As mentioned in the letter from the activism team, we are going to trial a new approach to Think Global. Following discussions with staff, a process of consultation with groups via the groups survey and discussions with the area reps we have decided to reduce the number of issues of Think Global from ten to six issues per year, so that it will be sent every other month. However, we will also be improving Think Global to make it a more effective publication for activism.
(alice.hooker-stroud@globaljustice.org.uk) to let us know. We will also send campaign materials in these months if there are any to send out, but otherwise we will not.
What about the concerns we raised in the groups survey? The primary objection to this proposal in the groups survey was that some groups prefer printed materials to merely receiving emails. For these groups, we can send paper copies of the email update. As above, email Alice if your group would prefer this.
Why are we reducing the number of Think Global issues? First, the activism team has been taking on increasing range of work. We have been putting energy into a variety of efforts to get new people into our network. We have been reaching out to young people, through Students Against TTIP and other means, supporting the Scotland office in developing a network of TTIP-focused groups, and engaging in our diversity strategy. These are exciting developments but which obviously limit the amount of work we can do.
We will also ensure that the email update is very clearly labelled so that isn’t lost in people’s inbox (which was the other concern).
What else will be changing about Think Global?
We are proposing to include some new items on an occasional basis, such as a column on strategy and political readings which groups may wish to discuss. We will also be reviewing the layout and presentation of the newsletter to make it as readable and effective as possible.
Second, we have found that Think Global can be somewhat repetitive from one issue to the next, as our campaigns do not always have significant developments in the space of one month.
When will these changes take effect?
This will be the last print edition of Think Global in this format. The June Think Global will be replaced with an email update (Think Global extra) and the July Think Global will be designed and printed, but with a slightly different layout.
Third, when we surveyed groups and spoke to area reps we found that there was broad support for the change, although some concerns were raised – but we think these can be addressed within the proposed framework (see below).
After this, Think Global will alternate between full print edition and email update each month. Groups who meet on a bi-monthly basis may want to align their meetings so they are in January, March, May, July, September and November to fit with this schedule.
What will happen in the months where there’s no Think Global?
In the months where there is no Think Global we will send an email update with key information – especially campaign updates and a new action checklist. The default is that this will be by email but a paper copy can be sent. If groups wish to receive the paper copy please email Alice
Any queries, email Ed Lewis on ed.lewis@globaljustice.org.uk 10
Activism news Free trade day of action
questions about our different campaigns using the election postcard.
A number of groups were active on the 18 April international day of action against free trade agreements. Here is a selection of some of the actions:
General election feedback
Prior to the general election we produced two materials for groups – a briefing and a postcard. It would be very useful to know how groups found these materials. Were they effective? Would anything else have been better? If you could feed back responses to these questions to ed.lewis@globaljustice. org.uk by the end of May that would be much appreciated.
• Global Justice Glasgow mobilised around 35 people to join their theatre-based action and spread the word about TTIP to people in Glasgow. On the day they reached over 600 people and another 140 signed the ECI. • Global Justice Manchester activists joined other No TTIP activists, including members of Students Against TTIP, from Greater Manchester and beyond for a flashmob against TTIP. Around 70 people participated, wearing blindfolds with TTIP on them and filling the shopping centre they were occupying with the chant of ‘Stop TTIP’. See the video of their fantastic action here: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3XHN-468FuQ • Global Justice Bristol were on the streets for the day of action and followed it the next Saturday with a banner drop, using an enormous banner made by the activists. • Global Justice Bexhill and Hastings had a well attended stall which was covered in the local press. • Global Justice Brighton and Hove organised a carrot-and-stick themed stall and mass leafleting. • In London, group members from the different Global Justice Now groups joined ‘Democracy vs TTIP’, an action coordinated by several different organisations and in which Global Justice Now played a leading role. Over 300 people attended the event, which featured a participatory assembly followed by a series of creative actions against corporate backers of TTIP.
Global justice youth festival: Tapley Park, Devon, 17-19 July With Students Against TTIP we will be organising a festival on global justice at Tapley Park in north Devon. We hope to bring together between 50-100 for a weekend of workshops, discussions and entertainment. We are aiming the festival primarily at young people and students though we hope that some of our activists will also come, especially those in the south west. We will have more detailed information about this soon but in the meantime if you know any young people who might be interested please let us know.
Social media workshop available for groups Social media – including Facebook and Twitter, but also other sites and applications – are an increasingly important aspect of activism. So our comms team is offering a workshop for groups to help develop their skills. Whether your group currently doesn’t use social media at all, or if it does but would like to do so more effectively, then this workshop will be useful. To book a workshop, email corin.pearce@globaljustice.org.uk
A number of groups – including in Leicester, South Lakes and Manchester – have also participated in local hustings events, raising 11
Current materials Exploring alternatives booklets
• BOOKLET: Another Economy is Possible - economic democracy • BOOKLET: Seeds of Change - food sovereignty • BOOKLET: Rays of Hope - energy justice
Food campaign materials • • • • • • • •
BOOKLET: Stop the corporate takeover of African food BRIEFING: Questions and Answers ACTION CARD: Stop corporations from slicing up Africa BRIEFING: MP talking points POSTER: Colonial infographic poster BRIEFING: Problems with corporate controlled seeds BOOKLET: On Solid Ground REPORT: From The Roots Up
Food sovereignty
• BRIEFING: Collective solutions to changing food prices • BRIEFING: Food sovereignty • BRIEFING: Food sovereignty tricky questions
Download this new report from the campaign resources section of our website. Alternatively the activism team can print a copy off for your group.
Energy justice • • • • • • • • • •
**New LEAFLET: Give corporate controlled energy the boot BRIEFING: Energy privatisation in Nigeria BRIEFING: Towards a justice energy system (campaign overview) LEAFLET: Energy justice ‘campaign in a nutshell’ (individual and group versions) SIGN-ON STATEMENT: Energy Bill of Rights (Fuel Poverty Action) ACTION CARD: Energy justice in Nigeria BRIEFING: 10 reasons why energy privatisation fails FILM GUIDE: List of films relating to the campaign CARBON CAPITAL: Materials still available
Trade
• **New NEWSPAPER: The #NoTTIP Times, third edition • BRIEFING: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) • BRIEFING: Profiting from people and the planet: How new trade deals threaten democracy, development, public services and the environment • FLYER (A6): Stop the corporate power grab (promoting the European Citizens’ Initiative) • BRIEFING: Campaiging on TTIP in local authorities
General materials
• LEAFLET: Join a local group leaflet (can be overprinted with groups’ contact details) • SIGN-UP SHEET: Double-sided, Global Justice Now branded
General election materials
• BRIEFING: General election • POSTCARD: General election