CBI (Confederation of British Industry) in Brum, Nov 16-18
Steven Kelk | 23.10.2003 10:29 | Globalisation | Social Struggles
The CBI (Confederation of British Industry) are having their national 2003 conference
in Birmingham from November 16th to 18th. There will be a focus on "international
competitiveness" - you know, the economic dogma that pits people against each other and
keeps conditions sweet for profit maximisation. They have an "all-star" cast of
people from various dark worlds such as the WTO (Supachai), lobby groups (Strube, head
of UNICE) and industry (Fitzgerald, top dog at Unilever), as well as a crop of
UK ministers such as Hewitt.
in Birmingham from November 16th to 18th. There will be a focus on "international
competitiveness" - you know, the economic dogma that pits people against each other and
keeps conditions sweet for profit maximisation. They have an "all-star" cast of
people from various dark worlds such as the WTO (Supachai), lobby groups (Strube, head
of UNICE) and industry (Fitzgerald, top dog at Unilever), as well as a crop of
UK ministers such as Hewitt.
CBI's conference logo
Friends!
Between November 16th and 18th (2003) the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
are holding their annual national conference in Birmingham. (At the ICC) See:-
http://www.cbi.org.uk/conference2003/default.htm
According to the CBI homepage,
"The UK's international competitiveness will be the central theme of the CBI National Conference when it begins in four weeks time. From 16-18 November, delegates from across the country will be gathering to hear the big names in business and politics. Speakers include Chancellor Gordon Brown, US Treasury Secretary John Snow and Alan Greenspan."
They truly have a wide array of big-name speakers from the world of business,
international trade, corporate lobbying, government and industry. In addition to the
people above, other dubious speakers currently include:-
Panitchpakdi Supachai (Director General of WTO)
Patricia Hewitt (UK. Sec. of State for Trade & Industry)
Jurgen Strube (head of powerhouse EU business lobby group UNICE)
Niall Fitzgerald (head of Unilever)
Peter Hain
Air Chief Marshal Brian Burridge CBE (UK's National Contingent Commander for operations against Iraq)
Alec Erwin (South Africa's ministry for trade and industry)
Various big-name industrialists
The focus on "international competitiveness" is particularly annoying. It is this
obsession with trade/investment competition between nations, for so many people
a defining feature of economic globalisation, that pits workers and citizens against
each other and facilitates profit maximisation for corporations.
We all know the damage the WTO does to global society, so the crimes of trade characters
like Supachai, Hewitt and Erwin need no introduction. The influence of groups like
UNICE has been instrumental in advancing and maintaining the EU's neoliberal
economic strategies. Heads of large corporations (such as Fitzgerald) preside over
the huge, damaging concentrations of power and wealth represented by transnational
corproations. Air Chief Marshal Brian Burridge...well, that one speaks for itself
really.
What a collection!
Between November 16th and 18th (2003) the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
are holding their annual national conference in Birmingham. (At the ICC) See:-
http://www.cbi.org.uk/conference2003/default.htm According to the CBI homepage,
"The UK's international competitiveness will be the central theme of the CBI National Conference when it begins in four weeks time. From 16-18 November, delegates from across the country will be gathering to hear the big names in business and politics. Speakers include Chancellor Gordon Brown, US Treasury Secretary John Snow and Alan Greenspan."
They truly have a wide array of big-name speakers from the world of business,
international trade, corporate lobbying, government and industry. In addition to the
people above, other dubious speakers currently include:-
Panitchpakdi Supachai (Director General of WTO)
Patricia Hewitt (UK. Sec. of State for Trade & Industry)
Jurgen Strube (head of powerhouse EU business lobby group UNICE)
Niall Fitzgerald (head of Unilever)
Peter Hain
Air Chief Marshal Brian Burridge CBE (UK's National Contingent Commander for operations against Iraq)
Alec Erwin (South Africa's ministry for trade and industry)
Various big-name industrialists
The focus on "international competitiveness" is particularly annoying. It is this
obsession with trade/investment competition between nations, for so many people
a defining feature of economic globalisation, that pits workers and citizens against
each other and facilitates profit maximisation for corporations.
We all know the damage the WTO does to global society, so the crimes of trade characters
like Supachai, Hewitt and Erwin need no introduction. The influence of groups like
UNICE has been instrumental in advancing and maintaining the EU's neoliberal
economic strategies. Heads of large corporations (such as Fitzgerald) preside over
the huge, damaging concentrations of power and wealth represented by transnational
corproations. Air Chief Marshal Brian Burridge...well, that one speaks for itself
really.
What a collection!
Steven Kelk
e-mail:
skelk@dcs.warwick.ac.uk
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ACTION PLANNED
23.10.2003 15:23
GATECRASH THE CBI CONFERENCE!
An invitation from the West Midlands Anarchists
What? The Confederation of British Industries’
National Conference.
When? The opening cocktail reception that we are
targeting is at 6pm on Sunday the 16th of November
2003
Where? The ICC, Birmingham
Why? Because the CBI is essentially a bosses’ union
which calls itself “the voice of British business”. It
lobbies for a “competitive atmosphere” for business,
which obviously translates into attacks on workers,
the environment, and pretty much everything that we as
activists oppose. This event is even billed as “the
most high profile business event in Europe outside
Davos”, so it seems a worthy target to us. Just have a
look at their own website at
www.cbi.org.uk/conference2003/.
How? However you like! In recent years the police seem
to have cottoned on to our tactics and have become
irritatingly effective at stopping some of them. You
have only to look at the recent DSEi protests: the
tactics which worked were those carried out
unannounced by small affinity groups, whereas the
announced street party was an abysmal failure with
people walking straight into a police cordon.
To avoid a repeat of this and recent May Days, the
West Midlands Anarchists are encouraging you and your
group to come up with your own way of disrupting the
CBI’s dinner. We have provided a map of the area (and
a plan of the building?), and nearer to the date we
will provide anyone interested with any other
information that we have. We would ask any groups who
are likely to come to Birmingham for this to let us
know if you will require accommodation, and to contact
us to help co-ordinate actions etc., although you
should obviously use your own judgement as to how much
information you share with us. If there is sufficient
interest then we will hold a meeting to plan and
co-ordinate protest before the event.
In recent years Birmingham and the West Midlands has
seen very little activism, so we really do not know
how the police will react to this demonstration. We
would like to use it as an opportunity to break away
from always tagging along to boring left
demonstrations and spread our ideas as a separate
movement, as well as if possible developing more
effective tactics.
To contact us: website - www.wmanarchists.org
email:
peace