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UVW: march alongside us — not in front of us
The United Voices of the World grew out of the organic struggles of super-exploited low-paid migrant cleaners like myself, to become one of the most successful small unions in years — we must not lose sight of our original mission, writes SUSANA BENAVIDES
Susana Benavides was attracted to the UVW which fought for low-paid migrant cleaners like her, but now feels that the cornerstone of the union's success, organising workers to use their collective strength to challenge exploitative bosses, is competing with a new set of demands from members with different backgrounds and priorities
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
Born on this day in 1931, the heroic revolutionary faces a dangerous new wave of White House aggression. We must treat his birthday as a rallying cry to resist the illegal siege of Cuba, writes ROGER McKENZIE
RAMZY BAROUD decries the rats of Gaza, the rodent and human type. Both abound as profiteering from tragedy reaches obscene levels
MY NAME is Susana Benavides and I currently work with United Voices of the World (UVW), a small trade union that was initially founded to represent low-paid migrant workers in London.
Originally from Ecuador, I came to Britain via Spain and began working as a cleaner. Eventually I found myself working in Top Shop in central London — experiencing bullying and a poverty wage for long hours spent working on behalf of a huge clothing chain owned by a multimillionaire.
In any organisation, the cleaner is always at the bottom of the pile; ignored, forgotten, working silently after everyone else has gone home. However, I came to hear of a union that specifically spoke to people like me, which sought to give cleaners and migrant workers a voice and that would shine a light on a side of work in London that’s often neglected. My colleagues and I joined UVW and launched a campaign for a living wage, one that eventually led to my unfair dismissal for which my employer was later fined in court.
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