ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

Hands off my Workmate Conference

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Saturday 17th October 2009

10am to 5.30pm

On the 12th June this year, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) was raided by UK Border Agency officers, resulting in the arrest, detention and deportation of 9 members of the SOAS cleaning staff. The SOAS campus trade unions believe that ISS (the cleaning contractor) was involved in organising this immigration raid, which followed a vigorous and successful campaign led by SOAS cleaners to win union representation and the London Living Wage.

The use of immigration checks against migrant workers who organise trade unions is becoming more frequent, with similar raids on the London Underground and at a number of City firms. Attacks on migrants are gathering pace, with trade unionists in hospitals, colleges and local services also increasingly asked to take on the functions of immigration officers.

SOAS UNISON, SOAS UCU and SOAS Students’ Union have called a conference to take place on the 17th October 2009 at SOAS based on the theme ‘Hands of my Workmate’.

It is hoped that this conference will highlight the precarious working conditions of migrant workers in Britain today and be a campaigning base to build the broadest based unity in defence of migrant workers and in opposition to immigration controls in workplaces, colleges, schools, hospitals, etc.

It is intended that the conference will take the form of a series of seminars and practical workshops followed by a general plenary, at which we will formally launch the ‘Hands off my Workmate’ initiative (and ‘hands off my student’, ‘hands off my patient’), what is hoped will be a broad based tool kit designed to build opposition to immigration controls in workplaces, colleges, schools and hospitals.