Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.
Stuff about the city where I (used to) live and (still occasionally) work!
Three months on from the previous instalment, here comes an afternoon of information and entertainment from radical mental health campaign Soteria, featuring poetry from Janine, music from Dadford and Sons, and an open mic for others to contribute their experiences, thoughts, poetry or music.
You can’t say that on the 333 Believe you me The inspector will check and kick you off the upper deck I heard some dude once said it and he had his card well marked for all to see He … Read More
A fortnight back, complaining about having to wait behind two others to use the cashpoint Now, happy to stand all day and night to file past a box with a crown and a cushion on top and inside, the body … Read More
… and why it matters today By Janine Booth, published in RMT News. The two biggest employers in the east London borough of Poplar one hundred years were the railways and the docks. Our forerunner unions had plenty of members … Read More
At this year’s TUC Women’s Conference, one of the motions we debated was about working shifts, particularly women’s safety on late shifts. This was my contribution to the debate. You can watch the video of this speech here. I’m Janine … Read More
In 2011, Janine spoke at an event hosted (and filmed) by Reel News, about the Poplar Rates Rebellion.
Published in Solidarity 610, 20 October 2021. The Night Tube in London will resume on two lines from 27 November, in a move promoted as ensuring safety for women. However, the reality is more complex, and women’s safety … Read More
At Labour party conference, I spoke in the debate about local government, shortly after London Mayor Sadiq Khan had spoken. This is the second part of what I said. “I’ve worked on London Underground stations for nearly 25 years, and … Read More
This information panel (picture), written by Janine, has been posted by Tower Hamlets Council to accompany the newly-renovated Hale Street mural, which pays tribute to the Poplar councillors. The text is below. After the ‘Great War’, London’s East Enders lived … Read More
One hundred years ago, a big movement grew in the east London borough of Poplar, headed by thirty councillors who went to prison rather than levy extortionate rates or cut services to the working-class population that elected them. ‘Poplarism’ won. … Read More
One hundred years ago, a big movement grew in the east London borough of Poplar, headed by thirty councillors who went to prison rather than levy extortionate rates or cut services to the working-class population that elected them. ‘Poplarism’ won. … Read More
– a discussion and comparison of and commentary on tactics then and now – 1921 and 2021 One hundred years ago, the Labour council of the east London Borough of Poplar went to prison rather than inflict cuts or rate … Read More
How did Labour win big in the local elections after the First World War, and why did this lead to the rates crisis in Poplar in 1921? About this Event Before 1919 Labour had but a toe-hold in local government … Read More
Published by Women’s Fightback 25, Winter/Spring 2021 Our story is set just after the first world war in Poplar, an east London borough with a population of 160,000 people crammed into the docklands in the bend of the River Thames … Read More
Janine gave this illustrated online talk about the Poplar Rates Rebellion for the TUC Tolpuddle Radical History School on 12 January 2021.
Janine Booth tells the story of a working-class borough’s fightback against austerity and thirty councillors who went to prison for refusing to levy rates that their citizens could not afford to pay. Celebrate the centenary of an inspiring struggle which … Read More
A version of this was published in Solidarity 568: This story of colour bars in the UK railway and bus industries begins after the Second World War, when Britain had a labour shortage and people moved to Britain in increasing numbers … Read More
Thomas McColl and Janine Booth on London Live on 16 April 2018, promoting the anthology, Poems for Grenfell Tower. Includes a video extract of Janine’s poem, Bring it Home.
One last time before we split let’s go and sit in the grassy bit in the churchyard astride the log throw sticks for the dog and look at the playground and the place where the nursery stood Before we’re gone … Read More
Today at TUC Women’s conference, PCS moved a motion congratulating their members at BEIS for successful strike action, and drawing attention to the appalling conditions that outsouced workers, many of them women, face. I made the following contribution to the … Read More