Three groups were involved in setting up the Unemployed Centre in 1981. Brighton & Hove Trades Union Council, the Workers Education Association (which then had something to do with workers!) and unemployed activists. Foremost amongst our founders was an old trade union militant Dudley Edwards, after whom one of our rooms is named, Ed Barker, Richard Woolven, Frank Elvy and Tony Greenstein. Dudley died a few years later and we have named one of our rooms after him. Frank was only 40 when he died, like Dudley a life-long Marxist. We have named the Centre after him.
When Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister unemployment rapidly increased from a million to over 3 million. It was called monetarism. Letting industries that didn't make a profit go to the wall. Unemployment was used as a way of breaking the strength of organised labour and attacking the Trade Unions. If 100 people were clamouring for each vacancy, workers would be less inclined to go on strike for higher wages. Anti-trade union laws were brought in just in case.
In 1980 a group called Brighton Campaign Against Youth Unemployment was set up to campaign for an Unemployed Centre. We occupied a Council building in the center of town and lots of Labour Councillors came down and posed outside in support of us. People like Dave Leppar, now MP for Brighton Pavilion, Andy Durr (the current Mayor who became Chair of the Grants Committee when our grant was frozen) and Steve Bassam, now his Noble Lordship and a Home Office Minister.
The then Conservative Council agreed in 1981 to give us a small building in Coalbrook Road on an outlying industrial estate. This was shortly after the TUC's People's March for Jobs. Unemployed Centres were formed round the country. From the start we refused to take money from State organisations. Our slogan was 'Fighting Poverty Amidst Plenty'.
We fought for the self-organisation of the unemployed and waged a successful campaign to get the unemployed concessions for Council facilities. We formed a union of the unemployed, as they did in the 1930s. We leafletted, picketed and marched and collected 10 000 signatures on a petition calling for an Unemployed Centre. When fascist groups started becoming active in Brighton, we were in the forefront of opposing them. We fought for unity between working class people and the unemployed - racism divides us and helps the bosses. On one occasion the NF attacked the Centre and with bricks and planks, but we beat them off and refused to be intimidated.
In 1985 we moved to new, larger premises near the Centre of Town, Tilbury Place. When Labour gained control of the Council in 1987 we got a large grant to pay for workers and set up a creche. One of the worst things about unemployment was its effects on children and we were determined to ensure that they didn't lose out because their parents didn't have a job. In 1981 we organised our first free Xmas Party for Children of the Unemployed and Xmas 2000 we held the 20th such Party , Every year we mount a major fundraising drive as we are determined to ensure that every child that attends has at least one decent Xmas present. The Trade Unions in particular, but also local businesses, have always contributed magnificently to our Xmas Appeal. For the last 3 years we have also taken about 200 children to a Pantomime as the prices are so high that unemployed people can't afford to take their kids. Since 1998 we have also organised summer outings to the Bluebell Railway and last year the Bentley Wildfowl Park for about 200 kids, as many children whose parents are unemployed can't afford a holiday.In 1992/3 the Labour Council began its first serious attack on the independence of the Centre. A Centre Newsletter was published attacking the then Child Support Act. We said it would make women dependent on violent and abusive men and would simply benefit the State, as whatever men were forced to pay would be deducted from the woman's social security. We had already been active in the anti-Poll Tax movement and the Council reacted to this by first freezing and then cutting our grant by three-quarters. All our workers (apart from the creche) were made redundant and we once again became dependent on volunteers. However we still had our independence. We continued to support campaigns such as Brighton Against the JSA, the Shoreham Docks Protestors, Do-or-Die, the Liverpool Dockers and so on.
In 1994, under pressure from the Council, we formed a charity, BUC Families Project but we retained our campaigning and political wing, BUC Ltd. We had always been explicit about the fact that the Unemployed Centre should both provide services for the unemployed AND campaign on issues that affected them. However the Council had other ideas. In 1993, before the charity was formed, we set up a Centre bank account which was only known to a handful of individuals. It was meant to be an emergency savings account. The Council, who were now extremely hostile to us, were not informed, as they would have cut what remained of our grant. In 1996 we obtained a Lottery Grant. We employed 3 new workers, one of whom was the Treasurer and Director of BUC Ltd, Tony Greenstein.
Certain trustees of the Charity decided that with the new Lottery money, the Centre should become just a charity. They, and this included most of the workers bar Tony, decided to try and eliminate the political and campaigning wing. They first decided to demand that Tony, as an employee, should not be a Director of the company, BUC Ltd. When that failed a worker who was later sacked, and who'd been a signatory of the 'secret' [Friends of Brighton Unemployed Centre] account decided to accuse Tony of corruption. Tony had already made a complaint about one of the charity trustees who had informed Tony one evening that he didn't trust Jews with the funds! The same person then compiled a Report accusing Tony of theft and corruption and in December 1976, after having just returned from sick leave, on the basis of this report, Tony was suspended after the intervention of the Charity Commission and Council Officers.
Months later, under legal pressure, a Council audit cleared him of any wrongdoing. But the result of this was that Lord Bassam and his cronies threatened to cut off funding for the Centre if BUC Ltd, the campaigning wing was not expelled. Trades Council representatives on the Management Committee were cut from 4 to 1. Tony was suspended after the intervention of the Charity Commission who took the side of the Right at the Centre. Later, after a formal complaint was made to the Local Government Ombudsman, we obtained internal Council documents that showed that the Council and the Charity had been working hand in glove to smash the political wing of the Centre.
The Charity Commission froze the funds of BUC Ltd. for 3 months until the threat of legal action forced them to back off. Other funds held in a non-charitable account were also frozen and the trustees of this account were divided amongst themselves. However when one of the instigators of the corruption allegations was paid 'compensation' from charity funds, the trustees of the political account, the Friends of Brighton Unemployed Centre, came over to us and with this money - in total over £20 000 - was used to set up a new Centre.
We have been based at our present site in Hollingdean since May 1st 1999. Over our time there we have helped many people with welfare rights advice and taken over 500 children from unemployed and low waged families on summer outings over the past four years. We have also run a children's Christmas party for the past 20 years for children of low waged and unemployed families.
Further information about what we do is available from the news or directly from the BHUWC.