Nooman and “Socialist Unity”: a malignant cult

December 22, 2012 at 5:01 pm (apologists and collaborators, Asshole, AWL, blogging, capitulation, class collaboration, comedy, conspiracy theories, cults, grovelling, Jim D, sectarianism, stalinism, trotskyism)

In his increasingly undignified rightward belly-crawl from the SWP, via Respect, into a sort of incoherent Labourite Stalinism whilst playing the role of tame anti-Trot witch-hunter for unspecified audiences, Andy Nooman at least provides some entertainment this festive season. I was about to say “harmless” entertainment, but his latest ranting on his ”Socialist Unity” blog, about the revolutionary left (in this case, the AWL/ Alliance for Workers Liberty) is, by his own  account “a redacted version of something I wrote for another audience.” I wonder who that “other audience” might be?

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 My first meme !

Above: Stroppybird’s cat

Nooman’s sub-political tirade is avowedly based upon John  Sullivan’s ‘When This Pub Closes’ which is poor stuff  but at least evinces some political grasp of its subject(s). In fact, Nooman, whether he knows it or not, is more in the tradition of the rank Stalinist ignoramous Denver Walker’s student union-level, scummy little tome ‘Quite Right Mr Trotsky.’

Anyway, there is much to be enjoyed in Nooman’s bile against the revolutionary left and his grovelling to the Labour/TU bureaucracy, but sadly he doesn’t let us link to “Socialist Unity,” so you’ll have to use Google, or copy/paste socialistunity.com/the-alliance-for-workers-liberty-the-dynamics-of-a-malignant-cult/

The comments are most entertaining as well, including:

* 23.  How inept do you have to be in order to pen a hatchet job that embarrasses yourself more than anybody else? - Patrick Smith

* 123. EDUCATION? DEMOCRACY? ACTIVITY? What a DISGRACE to the left. A disgrace to socialist countries/union leaders/students.

I’m really glad you’ve outed them about all that sexual impropriety.m Who needs facts when you’ve got pure conjecture? I bet they’re all a bunch of filthy deviants. Oh and yes, I heard that Sheffield was particularly bad too. Need castrating, the lot of them – RHuzzah

* 142. Until this article was posted I’d never heard of the AWL, and from reading all the heated posts about occult meetings sexual impropriety and filthy deviants I only have one question.

Where do I sign up? – CJB

* 161. Ok. John [John Wight, Nooman's antisemitic sidekick - JD] couldn’t care less about someone writing for this blog or its standing among people who used to advocate for it. Andy completely agrees with him. Egal.

A narrowing of vision accompanied by a growing climate of intolerance, abuse and bullying — I for one have seen this movie a couple of times before And know well the last reel.

So no song and dance, just ciao — bella – Kevin Ovenden [former Socialist Unity contributor - JD]

P.S: Check out the attacks on Yours Truly: Nooman can’t even get this attempt at “humour” right, and work out whether I’m Father Ted or Father Jack…

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Cuddly Bob Crow – the gaffers’ friend

December 2, 2012 at 6:30 pm (Champagne Charlie, class collaboration, comedy, grovelling, unions, workers)

From People Management, (magazine of the The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development):

HR’s new best friend

Bob Crow, general secretary of the of the RMT union which has rejected latest Olympics pay offer

Union leader Bob Crow insists he wants a progressive relationship
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His outspoken antics make him feared in boardrooms across the land, but union leader Bob Crow showed delegates at the CIPD’s annual conference a softer side as he insisted he wanted to work constructively with HR.
The RMT general secretary made a video address to the conference in Manchester, explaining that HR and trade unions could successfully work together to meet their common objectives, after being invited to speak by Darren Hockaday, London Overground’s HR director.
Crow advocated an “open agenda” and praised London Overground for the way its HR team, led by Hockaday, negotiated working patterns with RMT members for the London Olympics.
Speaking to People Management after the conference, Crow added: “We certainly don’t want our members to join the union to go on strike; we want them to join to get the best possible pay and conditions.”
He maintained that both trust and compromise were important elements in progressive negotiations. “We want good industrial relations, and a good relationship with the employer. And if we have have a dispute, it’s over a big principle – not a minor issue that should be resolved at local level.”
Though Crow was keen to emphasise the benfits of cooperation, the entende cordiale wasn’t all-consuming. He joked that “when you go out with an HR director you know of they’re successful because you go home with no trousers…they’ve ripped you off”.
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* watch Bob Crows’s video address here

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