TMP Online

TMP regular, Yue Ting Cheng, explores the mentality of the “gang”. 

Funny how everybody wants to be seen in the right “group”. Divisions exist in society at all levels. They begin at school, from those who wish to define themselves as being into a certain type of music/culture (mods, rockers, punks, soul boys etc), to people who support different football teams and, on a street level, gangs who operate in different “patches”.

In workplaces and organisations there are often dividing lines between factions - you’re either in, or not, and if you’re not, the writing may well be on the wall. I remember at school there were the “tough” and “cool” kids who smoked cigarettes around the oak tree at lunchtime and breaks. When we played football, after ability people would pick their mates. On day trips to the local theme park, the kids with no friends would probably be left behind and laughed and humiliated at whilst others indulged.

I have rarely felt the need to pick sides; as far as I’m concerned the “team” will often pick itself. I am weary of any group that resorts to threatening people verbally or physically for not being “compliant” with their views or wishes as it perpetuates both the gang mentality, and often shows a complete inability to build alliances or work with others.

Within party politics people give themselves or others various labels - “Lefty”, “Loyalist” “Moderate” “Right winger”. Whilst I would clearly define myself as “left”, I have come to that conclusion through rationalising and interpreting the world we live in, rather than by proximity to people who are of the “left”.

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A personal view on the Bernard Manning school of humour from TMP regular and GMB officer, Yue Ting Cheng.

I turned on the TV the other day to hear the death of controversial comedian Bernard Manning, at the age of seventy-six. Manning was a comedian who made his career popping jokes at ethnic minorities, and many people regarded him as racist, although he himself strenuously denied this.

Manning was a product of the times and, at his peak in the 1970’s, the kind of jokes and views he projected were seen as “acceptable” to audiences at the time. How times have changed. There are still those that regard him as “misunderstood” or perhaps, in his own words, “some people don’t have a sense of humour”.

My immediate thought upon his death was, what is the general public’s image of him inside their heads? To a lot of white working class people, they may well have laughed (and continue to laugh) at the kind of humour he uses. The unfortunate truth is that I can truly say, hand on heart, that I have met far more racist people in society than those who are prepared to challenge the stereotypes and myths - much of the time its plain ignorance, fear of the unknown, or not knowing what’s around the corner, and not understanding how a changing world produces large influxes of different people. Other times its pure prejudice.

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On the day Gordon Brown addresses the GMB trade union’s annual conference, GMB and Labour Party activist, Yue Ting Cheng writes about the need to engage the young in the labour movement.

There has never been a greater opportunity than there is now, for the trade union movement to rebuild and grow beyond its traditional workplaces and boundaries, and to influence Labour party policy.

With membership in the UK around the 7 million mark at present, membership has stabilised after significant decline during the Thatcher years, when union membership was approximately 13 million (one in four workers).

The New Labour Government has all too often seen the trade unions as being “slightly embarrassing older relatives”, a view seemingly reinforced by the rhetoric of ultra Blairites like Hazel Blears MP, who constantly warns us not to “lurch back to the left”. The Government has rarely, if ever, overtly advertised the role of trade unions in society as a force for good, and encouraged more trade union activism and renewal.

But nearly all the candidates in the deputy leadership contest are either rooted in (or claim to be rooted in) the trade union movement and whoever wins must make it a priority that the movement is given a leading role in rebuilding society, and tackling inequality and unfairness at work.

However, the trade union movement itself must do more to reorganise internally, rebuild and develop activism, particularly amongst younger people. Recently I was involved in a project looking at the structures and mechanisms of the GMB trade union, how they relate to young people, and how a youth structure can be rebuilt.

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