Government backs long-term oil production in legal challenge

Drill or drop

The UK government is in court today to defend long-term oil production in the Surrey greenbelt – just three days after the end of international climate talks in Glasgow.

Horse Hill site in Surrey. Photo: Weald Action Group

A legal challenge, brought by environmental campaigner Sarah Finch, seeks to overturn consent for expansion at the Horse Hill site in Surrey and 20 years of oil extraction .

Her case, at the Court of Appeal in London, centres on whether all the climate impacts of a proposal should be taken into account when planning permission is considered.

The government has backed Surrey County Council,

See post

COP26: Fossil fuel industry has biggest delegation at climate talks – study

Drill or drop

More than 500 lobbyists from some of the largest oil and gas companies have been given access to the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, new analysis has found.

COP26 venue. Photo: DrillOrDrop.

Researchers counted the number of individuals either affiliated with fossil fuel corporations, such as Shell, Gazprom or Exxon, or attending as members of delegations acting for the fossil fuel industry.

The study, by Corporate Accountability, Corporate Europe Observatory, Glasgow Calls Out Polluters and Global Witness, found

• If the fossil fuel lobby were a country delegation at COP26 it would be the largest, with 503 delegates
• This would be double the size of the UK delegation and more than twenty individuals bigger than Brazil, the largest country delegation
• More than 100 fossil fuel companies are represented at COP26
• 30 fossil fuel trade associations and membership organisations are also present
• Fossil fuel lobbyists are about double the official number from the indigenous constituency at COP26

The researchers also found that the fossil fuel lobby was larger than the combined total of the eight delegations from countries worst affected by climate change in the last two decades: Puerto Rico, Myanmar, Haiti, Philippines, Mozambique, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Pakistan.

The analysis also showed that 27 official country delegations, including Canada, Kuwait, Russia and Brazil, registered fossil fuel lobbyists.

Yesterday the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 9UNFCCC), the COP26 organisers was accused of violating its charter because it had “forged an intimate partnership with corporations”.

COP26 has been criticised in the past week as the most excluding of the climate talks. People from countries in the climate front line have complained about lack of access because of issues such as travel restrictions and lack of Covid-19 vaccines.

Murray Worthy, Gas Campaign Leader at Global Witness, said:

View post

Scotland: SNP COUNCIL IN STRIKEBREAKING THREATS

Anarchist Communist Group.

We are sickened but not entirely surprised to learn that the SNP[Scottish National Party]-run Glasgow City Council has threatened to bring in scabs against the striking cleansing workers and is bullying the GMB union with threats of billing them with the scabbing costs.

The SNP has a reputation for talking left and acting right, but this is beyond the pale. Any party that claims to be on the side of the ordinary worker does not use scabbing tactics.

This comes after an unsavoury scramble by many online nationalists to denounce the striking workers as “talking Scotland down” or being “dupes of the Labour Party”. Such simplistic anti-worker bile is to be expected of these keyboard clowns, devoid as they are of any class solidarity, but it was hoped that the SNP itself might have been more tuned in to the reality. It is abhorrent that instead they have gone with these capitalist, anti-worker divide-and-rule tactics.

We in the ACG [Anarchist Communist Group UK] believe in working class solidarity. We support the cleansing workers in their time of need because we know that when our time of need comes, they will support us. That’s how class struggle works.

Uber drivers to strike on September 28th and October 6th

libcom

Two separately-organised strikes of Uber drivers are coming up over the next few weeks

The App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) has called for a national Uber strike on Tuesday September 28th. The strike is expected to be observed in at least eight cities, with demonstrations planned to start at 1pm on the day in each of the following locations:

BIRMINGHAM
Aston Cross Business Park, Ground Floor, Fazeley House, 50 Rocky Ln, Birmingham B6 5RQ

BRISTOL
The Coach house, Uber, Upper York St, Bristol BS2 8QN

GLASGOW
The Pentagon Centre, BizSpace, 36 Washington St, Glasgow G3 8AZ

LEEDS
Unit 58, Flexspace, Burley Road, Leeds LS4 2PU

LONDON
Uber Greenlight Hub London, Beaufort House, 15 St Botolph St, London EC3A 7DT

MANCHESTER
Building 4, Devonshire St North, Manchester M12 6JH

NOTTINGHAM
Unit C, King Edward Court, Nottingham NG1 1EL

SHEFFIELD
Spaces Acero, 1 Concourse Way, Sheffield S1 2BJ

Explaining the issues and demands behind the strike, the ADCU write: “There are three key points of dispute which has now led this to latest strike action:

· Uber’s failure to implement the Supreme Court ruling and pay waiting time which makes up around 40% of an Uber driver’s working time.

· The introduction of fixed price fares and the abandonment of variable fares which were based on actual time and distance travelled. This has led to reduced driver incomes and greater financial risk.

· Unfair dismissals without recourse. Uber’s introduction of a flawed real time identification and surveillance system in particular has led to many drivers being wrongly dismissed without right of appeal.

The union is making three key demands of Uber to immediately remedy the situation:

· Uber to pay all working time including waiting time and respect the Supreme Court ruling.

· An end to up front pricing, an increase of fares from £1.25 per mile to £2.00 per mile and for Uber to reduce its commission take from 25% to 15%.

· An end to unfair dismissals without right of appeal. Uber must also withdraw the use of the so-called Real Time ID surveillance and facial recognition system.”

The ADCU is a new union which was formed after a recent split in the IWGB union. The United Private Hire Drivers, the IWGB branch covering drivers, does not seem to be endorsing the September 28th strike call, and are instead asking Uber drivers to strike on Wednesday October 6th. Their demands for that strike are:

• Better rate per mile
• 15% max commission
• Transparency of charges on customers
• No fixed rate trips
• 50% surcharge on out of area trips
• No more unfair deactivations
• Reinstatement of unfairly deactivated drivers

The IWGB/UPHD are also planning a public protest in London to coincide with their strike, asking supporters to:

“Bring your car & join us to strike & protest together on 6 October at 10am. Meeting point: 10am at ASDA Car Park, Stepney Green, 123 Mile End Road, E1 4UJ Then drive to protest location at: Uber HQ, Aldgate Tower, London E1 8QN for 11am.”

They have also set up a strike WhatsApp group, which can be accessed via a QR code which can be found here.