Nottinghamshire Globalisation Feature Archive

On Saturday, a lively and well attended demonstration and die in in the centre of Nottingham brought two successful local campaigns together. Shut Down H&K, campaigners against Nottingham's arms dealers joined hands with No Borders Nottingham, who fight for migrant rights, to come 'full circle'. The demonstration emphasised the links between guns sold in the UK, armed conflicts abroad and the refugees that flee these wars to come to Britain looking for asylum.

The demonstrators gave out 2000 fliers to Christmas shoppers making them aware of the whereabouts of Heckler & Koch's premises in Lenton and the death and destruction their merchandise causes. Refugees and asylum seekers from many countries ravaged by the effects of small arms were there to support the demo. Protesters held a die in on the cold pavements, undeterred by the over the top police surveillance. Many members of the public were shocked to hear about the arms dealers in their neighbourhood.

Newswire: Full Circle Demo: From weapons to wars to refugees. Market Sq. Nottingham | Next Small Word Cinema @ Sumac 10th December | FULL CIRCLE - from weapons to wars to refugees | Demos continue at Heckler & Koch weapons HQ in Nottingham

Previous Features: The Arms Trade: From Nottingham to Georgia | Protests in Nottingham as Zimbabwe Goes to the Polls | Protesters Return to Nottingham Weapons Manufacturer | Campaign Victories As Hich And Amdani Are Released On Bail

Links: Notts Antimilitarism: Heckler & Koch | No Borders Nottingham

It has emerged that Nottingham City Council had £42 million invested in the Icelandic banks which last week collapsed as a result of the "credit crunch," putting this money at risk. While Nottingham was not the only council to invested in these banks, Nottingham's investments are notable when the city's population is taken into account. One commentator estimated that "the possible loss in Nottingham could be £150.69 for every woman, man and child in the city." (By comparison, the per capita figure in Kent which had around £50 million invested, is £35.85.)

There are concerns that the city council may respond to the loss through job cuts, cutting services and/or increasing council tax. Nottingham and Mansfield Trades Council organised a demo in Market Square on Monday 13th October, demanding that Gordon Brown bail the council out, rather than leaving city residents to pay the cost of their rulers' poor investments.

Newswire: Lending to Icelandic Banks | £42 million missing in Iceland | Addressing the Financial Crisis is not a distraction from Peak Oil/Climate Change

Previous Features: Local Government Workers in Notts Join National Strike | Nottingham City Council: Mired in Corruption

Nottingham university students have been campaigning tirelessly over the last few weeks to get their University to get Starbucks off campus, and stop them selling their unethical beverages in the Hallward Library. Students were shocked when, a few weeks ago, their café in the main library on campus suddenly started serving Starbucks coffee. In a move that has upset a large part of the student body the university decided to change coffee supplier without any sort of student consultation and now the students are up in arms.

For the last two weeks students have manned an ‘anti-Starbucks’ stall outside the Hallward Library where the Starbucks coffee is being served (at nearly double its pre-Starbucks price). The movement against the corporatisation of our educational facilities has been swift; nearly 700 people have joined the Facebook group against Starbucks, hundreds of people have signed the petition and loads of cups of tea and coffee have been sold from a makehift stall outside the library to students who don’t want to pay £1.45 for a coffee.

Notts: Telling Starbucks to 'Buck Off' at Nottingham Uni. | Amnesty Protest in Nottingham City Centre - Close Guantanamo Bay [Please] | Starbucks national day of action, 18th August

UK: Whitechapel Knees Up against Starbucks | Sheffield IWW - Starbucks skanked to death | Anti-Starbucks picket in Cardiff | Chiapas Solidarity picket of Starbuck, Edinburgh

Links: IWW Starbucks Workers Union | Boycott Starbucks | Starbucks continues to Greenwash with Weak Environmental Policy | Starbucks Social Responsibility Newsletter

From June 6th to 8th the "representatives" of eight of the most powerful states from the global north are planning to meet in Heiligendamm near Rostock in Germany. Without any legitimacy to decide about global politics they will coordinate their decisions and therefore stand for the continuation of the state the world which for the majority means hunger, misery, war, and exclusion. Despite police repression and political propaganda, the summit will face one of the biggest mobilisations ever to shut down the G8.

People from Nottingham report:
Nottingham folk report from G8 in Germany #1
Nottingham folk report from G8 in Germany #2
Nottingham folk report from G8 in Germany #3

Recent news: Reports of over 10,000 people involved in blockades of the summit yesterday. Pics 1, 2, 3, 4

Indymedia: IMC Timeline of Events (eng) | Indymedia Germany in English | UK Indymedia feature

Links: Dissent! (Germany, in English) | Dissent! (UK) | G8-TV | Anti-G8 Action Faction

Euripides Jance has worked for Coca-Cola in Colombia for 21 years in Barranquilla, a major city on the Caribbean coast. He also works for Colombia's food and drink union Sinaltrainal and is coming to Nottingham on the 1st of December to do a talk on the Boycott Coke Campaign.

Barranquilla is a city under paramilitary control. In 2002, a Coke worker and Sinaltrainal member was assassinated there, and in July 2005, 4 students who were involved in a protest outside the Coke plant were kidnapped and tortured by paramilitaries. Like all Sinaltrainal activists in the city, Euripides works in the constant shadow of violence. Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists. In 2001 at least 160 trade union leaders and activists were murdered, including two key colleagues from UNISON’s sister union - the municipal worker’s union SINTRAEMCALI. Many other trade unionists were abducted, ‘disappeared’ or received death threats.

PUBLIC MEETING: Thursday 1st Dec, 7.30pm, The Mechanics, 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham

Links: Boycott Coke Campaign | Colombia Solidarity Campaign | Map to The Mechanics | Previous Indymedia feature article on Coca Cola and the situation in Colombia | Colombia Indymedia