Support Fords Visteon Occupiers at the High Court Monday 6th April 2009

Monday 9.30am at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. High Court injunction hearing at 10.30am.

WE will also need people at Enfield as a possibility of people turning up to take away equipment in factory. People will be needed to prevent this, but no idea of time at the moment.

Support The Ford Visteon Workers Occupation

Come to the factory anytime!
Especially around 12 noon

Morson Road EN3 4TN
near Ponders End train station, Enfield

The plant is 5min walk, cross the foot-bridge, walk down main road towards Central London, the next street to the left is Morson Road, the factory situated at the end

Statement (below) from some Ford Visteon workers and supporters (from inside the occupied factory)


We have occupied our factory Ford Visteon workers have occupied our factory since Wednesday 1st April. The previous day in a meeting lasting just 6 minutes we were told that the European company, with plants in Belfast, Basildon and Ponders End, Enfield, was going into administration and that we were to leave - without our wages being paid. Personal possessions could be collected the next day, but at 10 o'clock the factory was locked closed. Workers had already occupied the Belfast factory.
We demand what is due to us The 200 workers who are part of the Ford subsidiary want the same conditions they have always had via "mirror contracts" with the parent company. Up to now they don't know when they will get wages due, and their pensions are to be controlled by the government Pensions Protection Fund. This means a maximum of £9,000 payout, and much reduced conditions! Some of the women and men have 40 yrs service!

The whole situation has been created for news management - announce it during the G20 and it will get buried in the media. And this is largely what's happened. The move is to save Visteon USA money at our expense.

But unexpectedly Unite union members have taken determined action that bosses thought they had eliminated years ago.

The workers want their existing terms respected. Ford Visteon can't be allowed to avoid their responsibility. So far they have tried legal intimidation but have even managed to mess this up.

As well as proper redundancy payments, some are suggesting that the skills of the workers who can make anything in plastic, should be used to make increasingly needed parts for green products - bike and trailer parts, solar panels, turbines, etc. Government investment in this rather than throwing money at bankers could be profitable & save jobs in the long term.

All support welcome Ford Visteon workers have been pleased at the support received from other Ford plants as well, such as Southampton, who are blacking Visteon products. 100s attended our rally on Saturday..

Please come to the factory at any time (especially 12 noon) to show us your support. Get your Union branch or organisation to pass a resolution in support. Help raise money by doing workplace and community collections, and drop in...

Messages of support to those inside: visteonoccupation@googlemail.com

This is a fight we can win. We're off our knees and fighting fit!

Janice

Hi everyone...

Hope all of you are well, i would just like to say a quick thank you to those that do still read this blog, and to the new people that have stumbled across it lately... thoughts go through your head that people may have slipped away as i have not been posting much... so again thank you for looking in, and also thank you for taking the time to read Mikes blog too... it has let a few more of you in to some of the tension and emotional turmoil and upset that has been around while we have been trying to keep the ship afloat...

Sadly some more bad news came through earlier this week that a good friend, and another founder member of Spectrum Haringey and Spectrum London, Janice Baker passed away last Saturday, the 28th of March... and i felt very strongly that i needed to put an entry in the blog here, to make the passing of someone who was a good friend to Mike and I and a true inspiration on many levels... one thing with a blog is you can capture time, memories, like one big diary... all our memories fade a little, sometimes we do forget the odd thing, so it is more important to have a record, so that we can look back, and so this entry is for Janice... where i can share a little more about her that you may not have known if you had met her... and for those that didn't know her to get a feeling of someone who was all round a lovely person...

I had known Janice on various online forums, and news groups for some years... but we didn't really get to work closely together until early 2007, when the Metropolitan Police asked several of us if we could look at starting a transgender support group in Haringey, they felt it was of importance to do one, not just because of the borough of Haringey, but because of the lack of support groups full stop...

Janice, myself and Mike, Gill and Erasmo became the 5 people, along with the local Met police LGBT Liasion officer at that time, Fiona, got together anc talked it through, within a couple of hours we had the plan, i went away, we draw the website together and Spectrum Haringey was born... later to become Spectrum London to cover the whole of London, and Janice has been a pivotal person in the running of the group...

Janice was 84... and when i say that to people who i have met up with this past week they just couldnt believe it, she had the enthusiasm and energy for someone a heck of a lot younger... her sense of humour and attention to detail was so good... she had wisdom by the bucketloads and allowed me the time to chat things through, to get a perspective that i will so much miss... so simply was an example of someone who had loyalty, committment and a sense of decency about her... in the last few days while poking around some forums while getting the message out of Janice passing away i have seen people that could have learned a bit more from Janice too... i certainly hope that if i can make it to 84 i can be somewhere near the same calibre...

The last time Janice was at a Spectrum meeting in January someone had been taken ill at the meeting, even though Janice was not too well herself she took the young lass to the local hospital to be looked at... yet another example of how she put herself on the line to help others... in particular in the last year Janice had been fighting cancer, with painful chemo, had had several heart attacks and still would not give up... i remember one evening while we were in the car on the way to a meeting when Janice said she had just come out of hospital after another attack, and there she was, off to a meeting, she also was a full time carer to her wife too... and at 84.... she put so many people to shame and in awe...

The last time Mike and I saw Janice is when we popped into hospital to see her... she still had a spark in her eye, a smile on her face and we gave her a hug... i had felt something was wrong in the last week or so... i popped to the hospital last monday but she wasnt there, and then i was given the sad news the day after...

I know Mike and I will miss her greatly, her wisdom, knowledge, empathy and understanding, her input to Spectrum, and her input as a friend... we have placed a memorial page for her on the site... and we will always remember someone who touched our hearts very much... she spurs me on to do more... and we will...

Thank you Janice...

Denise

Change...

Heya...

Ok... i said i wouldn't do a blog every few months thing, and that i would be more regular (perish the thought) and i failed... and i'm sorry for that... but there has been so so much going on over the last few months or even a year really that i have been drained sometimes that although i had things to say i just couldn't do it here... i've developed the Maggie Thatcher 4 hours of sleep thing, the only problem with that is it means i lie in bed thinking too much... and sometimes by the time i've got up saying it's time to change the world the thought is there but the action isn't... another thing i need to change... :)

The last few months/year have not been the best... mikes been ill, been in hospital a few times... both my parents went in to hospital, at the same time... my father for a long time and now unfortunately he is in a nursing home...

You know when you are young and feeling your way your parents are usually the ones there, sometimes they may not be the best... sometimes for some they go away and a step dad or mum replaces them... for me i was lucky that that didn't happen... i had my mum and dad around... i guess for my childhood i was the best behaved and the youngest of the kids... i was also the quiet one more... i grew up with them around, they were there, the strong ones in my eyes, the ones that looked after me... and they are still around... although maybe in their last years... and i say that with honesty and sadness and it haunts me a bit... i've seen them grow old... i've seen them put up with us youngsters and hey it's not been dull with me has it over the last few years yet they've carried on... i seen my dad in a bed, not able to walk anymore, a shadow of who he was... my mum coping and my brother and I doing our best to help... it's been a stressful time, it's been a horridly stressful time... i've seen them go through it... i worry constantly about mike... i try my best to do what i can for anyone... and everyone... cos thats me... thats who i am... and i really try to do my best...

I also think about me getting older, the aches and pains are about... the need to get down the gym and try and delay any more aches and pains are huge... im not spring chicken anymore... im not even a middle aged cat hehe, well ok i'm probably middle aged but time is ticking and i'm aware that with every minute gone things can't be got back... change is inevitable... but it's what you do with change thats important...

My best asset, my best toolkit at my disposal is me... to effect change you have to do just that... and my passion for issues to be changed is as strong as ever... but that encompasses everything, from work to family, to friends and others that i can try and help...

Spectrum London gets stronger... we are helping more, my campaigning and activism is well and trully there, countless meetings and more meetings and letters and emails and websites and and... well lots of stuff just keeps going on and i want that... i need that... i need to... want to help change... because i don't want to be in a bed in forty years time, not be able to walk and think what have i done... i don't want to fail me... or Mike, or my friends, family or anyone... i just don't

I owe it to everyone, to Mike and others that have been there for me to be the best i can... and in the last few months things have slid... i've done well in trans isues and campaigns... with Spectrum but have not done enough for me... thats not a me me me thing, it's just the hard truth of it... to reach a potential i need to concentrate on making my asset work... and thats what i am doing... i can't let time slip away anymore... theres lots to do... but thats lots to do thats gonna be fun, we have to smile and have a good giggle... i havent really done that with a passion of late... too much stress, too much serious stuff... too much pain and anguish... it's time for that break to come for Mike, me and others... we've worked enough for one :)

2009 is the year of change... i think i say that every year but this year it has to...

Theres more to write, and honestly i will be back very soon to type it... i need to share thoughts, ideas and opinion with you all, and just a little bit more of my life... i open up the pandora box, theres no way i can keep the lid on it... :)

Take Care

Denise
xxx

I'm back....

Hello.....

Yes... please do not adjust your screens... there are no malfunctions... it is me... back from the darkness of blog separation...

I apologise to those that used to read my ramblings... and some of those that missed them... but this year has been quite eventful... but i am going to try and make the time to do some blogs... because i have a lot to say... and it's my space to do that... here i can say how i feel... and not be lost in battles on online forums... and here i can share my thoughts, maybe exorcise some demons that have come to hang around these past few months... and well express whats going on inside my head... sharing my thoughts on the way forward in the current situation of trans madness thats about at the moment... I will do that in the next blog... and thats likely to be a long one, so as always when it appears... have a lot of coffee ready, and maybe some nice biscuits... or cake... make it choccy cake... :)

This year has been a busy one and a very stressful one... for a lot of the year mike has been quite unwell... and has had several visits to hospital and a couple of ops... for a long time he couldnt go to work either so being able to keep focused on stuff was very difficult at times... there was one time when i was away in Wales when mike was rushed into hospital again, he kept that quiet so i wouldnt cancel although i made sure as soon as i had finished what i was doing i got the first train back...

A couple of months ago my mother was taken badly ill and rushed to hospital, several days later my father went in, and just after mike had come out of hospital... in the midst of rushing down and back from keeping an eye on the parents, i still keep on doing the usual, running Spectrum London with the help of Mike and Janice... doing voluntary work, attending loads of meetings and fitting in supporting people as well... it means i never have a dull moment thats for sure and i've been pushed to my limit many times... and close in dispair to considering just leaving the planet... no not suicidal as such, but thinking of it... things have been that hectic and sometimes black... so thats my excuse for not really typing these last 7 months... and i dont believe in excuses so sorry for not being around with the blogs of ramblings... but i am back... honest... and i have a real humdinger of a blog coming, where im gonna share my thoughts on the current situation in terms of trans in the uk... where we are, and where we could be if we act now...

I also still miss Sooty very much, he pops into my thoughts... maybe he is looking over me from time to time... :)

So i hope there is someone still out there that i know and have read my posts in the past... i promise some continuing long sessions of coffee drinking reading for the foreseeable future :)

Take Care

Denise
xx

You can only show them the way to water...

Heya...

How ya all doing... now what did i say the last time about snow... down it came the other day... i got the pics of sparky jumping about in the snow... he wasnt happy.... but the pics were good hehe...

Mikes a lot better, he's asleep at the mo, another ickle nap... but alls looking a lot better....

You know i just wanted to write a few words about advice and support... people sometimes dont listen to advice... i know i didnt sometimes... there are times that you get focused and so i think you are looking for someone to give you the answer that you crave... to say yes... you are so right... when in fact that hardly ever happens and so you just switch off... it's one of the things i come across when giving advice and support... im not the encyclopaedia Brittanica... but i have been about a bit and learnt a lot over the years, and have been working with some good friends, colleagues and professional people in this world of trans thing... so all i can do is offer what i hope is an objective view, spattered with the odd fact or 2 and info to go along with it... whatever people hear might not be what they want to hear... but thats all i can do...

You can help show a camel the way to find water... what they do with that water once they find it... is up to them... :)

Take Care and i'll catch ya soon... :)

Denise
xxx

2 Today...

2 years old today... seems like yesterday, memories are as vivid as then... also was the best 8 hours sleep i've ever had... don't remember much of that of course... as i was asleep at the time... wish i was back out there now...

Denise
xxx

Snow! It's bleeding Spring!

Now come on... it's coming up towards the end of March, the clocks changing to summertime and theres the chance of a load of snow in a couple of days time... OK i mean a load of snow in the size of UK south size, so probably about an inch... enough to stop half of the UK but this means Sparky and Junior our resident squirrels will be jumping about in the white stuff... and quite frankly... they aren't that keen to do it... not surprising when you're about a foot in size...

Anyway... how are you all... doing well i hope... Mike and i are fine, chilling, mikes not too well but has pecked up a bit for the weekend which is good... it's nice to actually have a relaxed time for a change... there be a few niggles to worry about, hey we all get those but i tend to not have to write a blog entry or produce a list in a post in a forum telling everyone what a rotten life i've had... true my list wouldn't be as long as many others... but i chose to lose the male attitude of mines bigger then yours a long time ago... it is frightening to see so many post op girls acting like testosterone driven nerds sometimes... i thought the i've got a bigger BMW attitude went with post op... it seems to change from whose got the longest to who's got the deepest... crikey i didn't know it was lets find a pot holer with a big lamp to test the theory competitions... ;)

I've been traveling a bit lately, the other week i was in Captain Jack territory... Cardiff... i didnt see a great deal of it as it was out the train, into the hotel, attend the meeting next day and back home but i can safely confirm that it is as expensive as London, same with Manchester a few weeks ago... things were just as expensive to buy up north as down south... really the only difference still at the moment is the cost of property, you took that out of the equation and there would be little difference... more jobs are down south in order for people to try and pay to keep a roof over their heads... there is no chance now for first timers at all... that went a long time ago... affordable housing... isn't affordable...

I continue to come across sad stories and situations in my volunteering work... i feel the trans community just is too blinkered sometimes, too sheltered, in forums they discuss things and are so detached with what really is happening... hate crime, domestic violence, trans people homeless... trans people fighting PCTs for anything... trans people in wales going through hell, the same in Oxford... i know it's quite natural for trans people like any other human being to be insular and go "well I'm OK, i have no problems"... but being like a broken record i just come back and say... in order to raise awareness, support, empowerment and much more we need to work at helping each other more... and thats supporting local groups, charities and other people wherever we can... because of we don't no-one else will...

The problem though is that it is very difficult to get people to help with things, people willing to get involved in projects are a rare breed, humanity seems to be full of people that take and very little give... thats the way it is... would be nice to even up the balance occasionally...

The other night Mike and I managed to make it to a local public consultation about crime and how our local police in the borough hope to improve things... it was quite interesting, a real mix of people there, including someone bringing to the polices attention the use of magnetic pulse laser type guns zapping people... yes... aliens seem to have landed ok in Haringey... and elsewhere... i could have told him that a long time ago...

Before i go and have a cup of tea i wanna touch briefly again on the concept of hierarchy... you hear this mentioned so many times in forums... yes there are some people that believe there are, at both ends of the spectrum... but im not one of them... people are always involving... and i'm in full agreement with the psychs that people can start off being a Dual role TV and end up a TS, so wheres the hierarchy there then... to me it's just progression, unfortunately some people as they transition along get ants in their pants and start to waggle the figure of authority, it comes back to people with long lists of whats happened in their life... i think we could all compile some sort of list... i fell over last week, hit the ground, collar bone popped out... popped in... and it hurt quite a bit... that must mean life for me is very bad... well sometimes life can be a real shit... sitting in A&E nearly all day watching your partner in real pain sort of brings things into perspective really... that you cant keep dwelling on what happened the previous day, you learn from it... you dust yourself off and get on with it... because shouting about it makes no difference... and if you need someone in some stupid online forum to pat you on the back every time you grazed your knee... or had a bad case of the runs after a nasty curry... then we'd all be sitting on our arses all day.... oooops.... that kinda links... didn't mean to do that.... honest...

Have a good easter, stay warm and stay happy... :)

Hugs

Denise
xxx