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Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/24116
Posted on 15 December 2016 at 16:27 GMT
Protest outside the AGM of Global Coal Management Resources on 15 December, London, photo by P Mason (Click to enlarge)
Picket of bosses of exploitative coal project in Bangladesh
Socialist Party members joined a picket protest outside the annual general meeting (AGM) of Global Coal Management Resources (GCM), on 15 December near Hyde Park Corner in central London.
For the last ten years the Phulbari Solidarity Group and the Committee to Protect Oil, Gas and Natural Resources in Bangladesh has organised protests in central London outside the AGM of the coal mining conglomerate
Also very vocal on the protest were activists from Foil Vedanta, Plane Stupid, the Coal Action Network, Reclaim the Power and the London Mining Network.
15 December, London, photo by P Mason (Click to enlarge)
Protesters chanted "CGM, blood on your hands", referring to 2006, when a 80,000-strong demonstration against GCM's plans to develop open-cast mining in Phulbari, in Bangladesh's Dinajpur district, was attacked by paramilitary forces. Three protesters died and 200 were injured.
The Bangladesh government withdrew the mining licence in the wake of this atrocity but GCM appears to be continuing its attempts to raise funds for this operation. CGM is selling shares in the name of the Phulbari project in London.
15 December, London, photo by P Mason (Click to enlarge)
The mining operation would displace hundreds of thousands of farming families, pollute water sources and destroy the local environment - all in the name of profit.
The Socialist Party campaigns for the nationalisation of big energy firms like GCM under democratic workers' control and management, ending the profit motive which drives these voracious companies to exploit the neo-colonial world at the expense of the local populations.
Scott Jones, East London Socialist Party
Phulbari Solidarity Group report on the event
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
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