It is impossible to leaflet, picket, protest or march in this citadel of high finance if the Canary Wharf estate owners withhold permission, despite the fact that in almost every usual way, Canary Wharf is just another public space, open to all. The publicly funded buses run, double yellow lines prohibit parking, The Evening Standard is on sale at the publicly owned Tube and Docklands Light Railway stations, freesheets are handed out, shoppers congregate, the public drives and walks through uninvited, and the Metropolitan Police patrol.Read the whole thing for yourself.
Yet, when trade unions have sought to protest at working conditions at Canary Wharf workplaces, the real police have massed in force to assist the Canary Wharf security staff in chasing them out of this financial “Green Zone”, backed up by the courts. It is quite remarkable that a TV news team cannot even turn up to film at this little Singapore-on-Thames without prior permission and vetting by a private company.
Thanks to Another Green World.
I think the second half of this letter merits more attention. ie the activities of employers in restricting the activities of staff. Consent needed to become a director of your flat management company, to become a governor of your childs school. Requirements to report all your investments and to obtain details of the same from your partner. Requirements to sell such investments at the whim of your employer. Teams of "compliance" officers prying and interfering in personal lives.
ReplyDeleteCity workers may not readily expect sympathy but this is an issue someone needs to run with.
Sorry. No contact details. That's the climate of fear. comment would get me the sack.