BFAWU leader condemns far right extremist groups for taking advantage of Woolwich killing
Ronnie Draper – General Secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union made the comments as union activists urged mobilisation against UKIP, to expose their “racist policies” and that electing them was an “an attack on the fundamental basic principles of the trade union movement and all working class people.”
Speaking prior to the unanimous motion passed, Mr Draper said: “"UKIP and its leader Nigel Farage are feeding on voter apathy and are getting a massive platform in the media."
He slammed the “lies” being spread about migrant workers being a drain on the British economy, pointing out that without such workers the NHS would collapse.
“Is it ignorance or downright xenophobic rhetoric? Farage is a wolf and potentially very dangerous if not opposed by the trade union movement.”
Following highly controversial comments by the EDL leader Tommy Robinson on the Radio 4 programme this morning, who said that if the EDL were in charge, Halal meat would be banned and new mosques would not allowed to be built, Mr Draper said: “The EDL, BNP and UKIP are brothers in arms. They are not just anti-immigrant. They are all anti trade union and anti-working class.”
“The murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich was not done in the name of God. It was a dreadful criminal act and is being used by UKIP, EDL and BNP for political gain.”
– For further enquiries or an interview with Ronnie Draper, please contact John Millington on 07931316547 // jmillingtonjournalist@gmail.com
Notes to editors:
· The BFAWU represents over 20,000 workers in food, baking and allied services industries across the UK and Northern Ireland.
· It is an affiliate to the UK Labour Party.
The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union (BFAWU) is a trade union of workers in the food industry. It was founded in 1847, in Manchester, by a group of Journeymen Bakers.
The next year, the organisation began to operate on a national level, and became the Amalgamated Union of Operative Bakers. In 1861 it played a key role in campaigning to secure the Bakehouse Regulations Act, which was eventually passed in 1863.
In 1964, the union was renamed the Bakers' Union, which then evolved to the Bakers, Food, and Allied Workers' Union.
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