Saturday October 7th - Book your places now
Birmingham Council House, 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Sponsors already include:
PCS Midlands Region, Dudley NUT, Sandwell NUT, NASUWT AMICUS Staff Branch, AMICUS 541 Branch, Sandwell UNISON General Branch, Midlands Region Musicians Union, Birmingham TUC, North Staffs TUC, Wolverhampton TUC, Birmingham Area NUT
This conference is open to all organisations and individuals that wish to oppose the rise of the BNP and other far right organisations in Britain.
West Midlands Regional Trade Union organisations, Student Unions, Community and Ethnic Minority Organisations, Faith Groups,
local anti-fascist and anti- racist organisations, LGBT groups and all individuals and organisations that support the struggle against the fascists are invited to the UAF West Midlands Conference on Saturday October 7th.
Across Europe, extreme right wing and fascist organisations are riding on a wave of racism and, particularly, Islamophobia. In Britain, the BNP are hoping to further spread their message of racial hatred using next year's elections as a platform. The upward trend in the electoral gains of the fascist BNP accelerated at the May 2006 local elections. They won 32 council seats, and with the defection of a Lincolnshire Tory councillor to the BNP, they now hold 49 seats.
In the West Midlands they increased their council seats in Stoke on Trent to 5, in Sandwell to 4 and gained one in each of Redditch and Solihull. Across other parts of the Midlands, they built substantial votes.
The BNP tide can be turned, however, as has already been done, for instance in Oldham. This conference gives anti-fascists across the West Midlands the chance to discuss why the BNP has made gains and how they can be reversed.
Speakers include
· Paul Oppenheimer - Holocaust Survivor
· Cllr Salma Yaqoob - Birmingham
· Mohammed Azam - North West UAF
· Jerry Bartlett - Deputy Gen. Secretary NASUWT
· Steve Beardsmore - Regional Chair of UNISON
· Weyman Bennett - Joint National Secretary UAF
· Richard Burden MP
· Sabby Dhalu - Joint National Secretary UAF
· Cllr Joy Garner - Stoke on Trent
· Tony Kearns - Deputy Gen. Secretary CWU
· Jackie Ranger - Former President Birmingham Area NUT
· Wilf Sullivan - TUC National Race Equality Officer
The two plenary sessions will be chaired by
· Cllr Syeda Khatun - Sandwell
· Ian Stevenson - Regional Organiser NASUWT
There will be workshops on:
. Immigration & Asylum
- countering the myths that feed fascism
. Dealing with BNP Councillors
Neutralising BNP councillors - led by councillors, trade unionists and campaigners from Stoke and Sandwell
. Islamophobia
the cutting edge of racism - why now, and how to stop it
. Defending Multiculturalism
why multiculturalism is under attack and why we should defend it.
. Music to Stop the Fascists
- Love Music Hate Racism workshop
creating an anti-fascist culture
Sponsors already include:
PCS Midlands Region, Dudley NUT, Sandwell NUT, NASUWT AMICUS Staff Branch, AMICUS 541 Branch, Sandwell UNISON General Branch, Midlands Region Musicians Union, Birmingham TUC, North Staffs TUC, Wolverhampton TUC, Birmingham Area NUT
This conference is open to all organisations and individuals that wish to oppose the rise of the BNP and other far right organisations in Britain.
To secure a place, contact 07837 244 518 or BirminghamUAF@hotmail.com or reply using the form which you can download here.
For local information contact:
Black Country UAF
07941 834125 or info@blackcountryunity.net
Birmingham UAF
07837 244 518 or BirminghamUAF@hotmail.com
North Staffs Campaign Against Racism & Fascism
07778 913 528 NORSCARF@burslem.demon.co.uk
Coventry UAF
07799 671328 dkcov2003@yahoo.co.uk