As the xenophobic howling of our ruling class and their brainless moronic minions on the streets grows ever louder, the chanting is that migrant workers are the root of all our problems. Of course we should all realise that the ruling class will always pull a scapegoat out of their hat to take the focus off their greed and inadequacies, today it is those “nasty, lazy, greedy foreigners” stealing all your jobs, and living off your tax money. Now, because of this propaganda of delusion, fear and anxiety visit the daily lives of migrant workers in our country. However, migrant workers, like all workers have power, they have to organise, and as a body, select their day and don’t turn up for for work. Our high streets would change dramatically, all those nice “foreign” restaurants closed, that convenience store at the corner, closed, operations in hospitals cancelled, A&E departments stop functioning all together, crops in fields start to rot, and more mayhem. Of course migrant workers should not be expected to take this action on their own, they should have the support of all workers, for that is what we are, workers trying to survive in an unjust exploitative system, we are one.
To that end, mark this day in your calendar, spread the word, organise.
20 February 2017 at 8:00 to 21 February 2017 at 8:00
One Day Without Us
There are moments when silence in
the face of discrimination and injustice becomes complicity. In the
last two decades, immigration has become a festering toxic obsession
in British politics. Year after year, men and women whose only
'crime' is to live, work and study in the UK have been vilified and
stigmatised as parasites, intruders, invaders and outsiders.
Now,
as a consequence of the June referendum result, xenophobic and racist
attitudes previously lurking on the political fringes have erupted
into the mainstream. We live in frightening times indeed, when
government ministers can describe immigrants as 'negotiating chips',
and threaten to 'name and shame’ businesses that employ foreign
workers, as if these workers were something shameful.
It
is now clear that our government has chosen to pander to fear and
hate in order to manage the UK's exit from the European Union. These
developments not only pose a direct threat to the millions of
immigrants who have made the UK their home - they have also unleashed
forces that may do incalculable harm to British society itself.
We
cannot accept this.
Who are we?
We are British and
non-British citizens; EU citizens and immigrants from beyond the EU;
the descendants of immigrants, and non-immigrants. We come from many
different political backgrounds. We include Leavers and Remainers.
All of us share the same opposition to the dangerous social forces
that now cast a shadow over our collective future. That is why we are
calling on all those who share our vision to make 20 February, 2017
'A Day Without Us.'
What Are We Going To Do
We
believe that now, more than ever, it is essential to remind the
British public of the contribution that immigrants have made to this
country, and what the country might look like if they were not here.
Liam Fox has said that migrants who ‘consume’ the
country’s wealth and don't 'create anything' should not be allowed
here. We reject these assumptions.
Inspired by the two
historic immigrant days of action in the US and Italy, we are calling
for all immigrants and all British citizens who support them to join
in a national boycott on February 20 next year which marks the UN
World Day of Social Justice.
How are we going to do
it
For one day, we are inviting immigrants and their
British supporters to absent themselves from the activities they
normally do. To close their restaurants and businesses, leave
classes, universities, and workplaces, and demonstrate by their
absence what they have created, what they have given to British
society and how essential and valuable they are.
Strike
or take the day off work. Let your absence also remind the country of
your presence.. And if you can't do that, then join us in other ways.
March, hold parties and meetings.
Do it in your town,
your community, your workplace, your school, college, or university.
We recognize this may be an unprecedented step for many
people, and we don't expect immigrants to do this alone. We call on
all British citizens who share our vision to support this event,
because we believe it should be a day of solidarity and celebration -
and a rejection of the dire politics that threaten our common future.
Visit ann arky's home at
www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
