Young Greens launch campaign to get young people organised

The Young Greens today launched their latest campaign 'Get Organised! Getting a new generation organised and unionised!' at a joint workshop with the Green Party Trade Union Group.

Speakers from the RMT, NUS, the Students' Assembly and the Green Party discussed the benefits of trade union membership and the need to convey these benefits to young people.

The RMT Young Members' group were keen to get into schools to talk to pupils about this as a part of citizenship education but had found schools resistant. I suggested that theatre in education, based on actual events such as the Grunwicks strike, could be a stimulating way of doing this.

There was also a discussion on reviving  the idea of  a School Students' Union  (something similar existed in the 70s)  that could give  school students experience of collective organisation and negotiation.

Greens strengthening links with trade unions

The NUT, RMT and PCS trade unions all have stalls at the Green Party conference this weekend. Max Hyde, President of the NUT , spoke at a fringe meeting organised by  the Union today, with Natalie Bennett  and Richard Hatcher guest speakers.

With the NUT's manifesto for  children's education 'Stand Up for Education' distributed, hot off the presses to a packed room, it soon became clear that the NUT and Green Party have much in common on education policies.

Both want an end to 'sausage factory' schooling and the dominance of testing, every teacher to be qualified,  restoration of LA powers to build new schools, an end to the fragmenting of the education system, halt to privatisation of education  and are opposed to performance related pay.

Tomorrow there will be a PCS speaker at a fringe on fuel poverty, the Big SIx power companies, and fracking.

There is an active Green Party Trade Union Group and a Trade Union Liaison Officer post was created last year. Both are busy building  links not just with national leaders of the unions but with  rank and file members.

The  policies of the Labour Party increasingly appear insipid in contrast to the strong anti-austerity social justice stance of the Greens.

I hope that our links and solidarity with trade unions will continue to strengthen ahead of the General election. As Max Hyde and Natalie Bennett both said, we won't agree on everything, but we are allies in the struggle.

Palestine: Greens support BDS and call for halt to military co-operation with Israel

This is the emergency motion passed with an overwhelming majority at the Green  Party Conference yesterday.

Conference condemns Israel's ground invasion, ariel and marine bombing of Gaza, and calls on Green Party members and Green Party elected representatives to take what steps they can to put existing Green Party policy into action and to ensure that the underlying causes are addressed, acknowledging there can be no lasting peace without justice.

Such steps include:

-  Reiterating our calls on the UN, the EU and the US government to ensure that Israel complies with international law

-  Supporting these calls by active participation in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. This campaign aims to put pressure on the government of Israel to end the Occupation and to give equal rights to Palestinians. The campaign asks individuals, organisations, councils and governments to refuse to deal with companies and institutions identified as facilitating Israel's military capacity, human rights abuses or illegal settlement activity

- In particular to demand the UK government halts all joint Israeli/UK military co-operation and approval for all arms sales to Israel.

Greens show why they are different on the first day of conference

The Green Party Conference assembled in confident mood yesterday with membership growing, especially amongst young people and the party polling at its highest in recent times.

Natalie Bennett made a speech extolling the Green Party's vision of a socially,economically and environmentally just society and contrasted this with the neoliberalism  of the other parties. She was particularly scathing about the Labour Party and set out policies far too the left of that party.

Her speech can be read in full here: http://greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/09/05/natalie-bennetts-green-party-autumn-conference-speech-%28full-text%29/

In true Green Party fashion a particularly tricky debate, with lots of procedural motions, on issues of local party autonomy, was skillfully handled by a chair who while dealing with points of order was suckling her contented baby.

An emergency motion on Gaza was overwhelmingly carried. It called on the membership to get active supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns and opposing arms sales to Israel.

Although it was clear that an amendment to today's Energy motion, which would commit the party to supporting nuclear power, had very little support, Conference rejected attempts to have the amendment ruled out of order. It was seen as a victory for democracy rather than for the pro-nuclear position.