June 1998

Traffic Cameras used for illicit surveillance (4 June)

Portuguese homeworkers show the way (June 19)

12th Bradford Festival kicks off (June 26)

12th Bradford Festival kicks off

The 12th annual Bradford Festival kicked off in Centenary Square today with a Guinness sponsored Celtic music weekend. For the remaining fortnight the Square becomes "Cafe Bradford" with a full program of free music, dance and performance.

This years festival nearly didn't happen, when the Council threatened to pull the plug on it's funding. The council grant of £250,000 makes up a half of the annual costs, with the rest coming from various sponsorship deals. The long term future of the festival remains uncertain.

The festival has proven to be a popular public event and a lucrative tourist attraction. This year the Mela - the highlight of the Festival fortnight, is moving to Peel Park and takes place on the weekend of July 4th and 5th. The park is also venue for the fireworks spectacular on July 11th which round off events.

Full program

Portuguese homeworkers show the way

What would a visiting delegation of Portuguese homeworkers make of a talk on the history of Chartism in Bradford?

If that was the question in the minds of Bradford Trades Council on Thursday night they needn't have worried. The representatives of the Portuguese Syndicate of Homeworkers are all too familiar with the struggle to make an unheeding government recognise the rights of working people.

They are in Bradford to share their success in winning basic employment rights such as sick pay and unemployment benefit for people who work at home.

Here in the UK many thousands of people continue to take on outwork without the benefit of rights or representation.

The UK National Group on Homeworking, along with local homeworkers support groups has been campaigning to make sure that homeworkers are included in the forthcoming Minimum Wage legislation. Not before time with many Bradford women still earning less than £1 an hour packing cards, rolling Christmas crackers or peeling onions.

The Portuguese successes are, as always, a direct result of workers joining together. The syndicate represents thousands of workers in the textile and basketry trades who for centuries have worked in isolated family groups.

"At first we had to go from door to door asking people to join the syndicate" said Maria Gananca "but now everyone wants to belong".

Traffic Cameras used for illicit surveillance

. Bradford Police have been illicitly using Urban Traffic Control cameras in the city centre to monitor political and social gatherings.

Members of the 1 in 12 Club have formally complained to the police and the council after their May Day celebrations were filmed.

Pete Chapman of the Club's May Day Collective said: "On Friday may 1st the 1 in 12 Club and Bradford Trades Council held an afternoon of free entertainment in Centenary Square, as part of this years May Day celebrations. The event was relaxed, well organised and stewarded, with no prospect of trouble. However, we noted that throughout the afternoon "traffic" cameras at Thornton Rd./Godwin St. and Sunbridge Rd./Tyrel St. were filming all those in Centenary Square.

"We take strong exception to the deliberately intrusive, provocative and illicit surveillance undertaken on this occasion by the police."

KDIS has established that these cameras are regularly used for general surveillance by the police, contrary to the local authority's published rules.

Full story

Where the cameras are - interactive map

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