Unions honour London bomb victims
Hundreds of BECTU members helped with coverage of the atrocity.
Trade unionists across London are being urged to observe a two-minute silence today in memory of the London bombings.
The mark of respect, at noon on Thursday July 14, will be accompanied by a suspension of London buses, and workers are asked to leave their workplaces where possible and show their respect on the streets.
Organisers, who include the Trades Union Congress and the Mayor of London, say that the silence will allow Londoners to express their sympathy, as well as their defiance to the terrorists.
It will also allow a moment of reflection on the contribution made by emergency services and transport workers in the aftermath of the four bomb attacks on July 7.
Later today, at 6pm, there will be a major gathering in the capital's Trafalgar Square under the title "London united", where TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, joined by London trades unionists, will hear a series of readings from representatives of the workers directly caught up in the terrorist atrocity.
Many BECTU members were involved in providing broadcast coverage of the emergency in London on July 7, feeding pictures and sound to TV and radio stations across the world, as well as contributing to online news websites.
The union has received many messages of solidarity from around the world, and trade unions in the media sector have universally condemned the arbitrary violence of the London bombings.
One of the first support messages came from BECTU's North American counterpart, IATSE, which organises film, theatre, and broadcasting workers in the US and Canada.
Members of IATSE played a direct role, mostly as volunteers, in rescue operations following the attacks on the World Trade Centre in September 2001, in which a number of its members sadly perished.