First of May 2012: Against Capitalist Austerity Measures, Exploitation and Oppression - for Workers Self- Emancipation!

This year’s May Day has special significance as it marks the 125 Anniversary of the murder of the Haymarket Martyrs by the government of the United States in 1887. In 1886 an international campaign was launched in support of the 8 hour day. As part of that campaign a strike was called in Chicago on May 1st 1886.  On May 4th during a demonstration called in support of the strike, a provocateur bomb exploded. The state sought to blame the anarchist who had been at the forefront of the campaign.

The government arrested 8 Anarchists, Parsons, Fischer, Engel, Spies, Lingg, Schwab, Neebe and Fielden. Though clearly innocent, Parsons, Fischer, Engel and Spies were hanged November 11 1887 and Lingg died in prison. The murder of the four men, who become known as the Haymarket Martyrs, sparked a massive international protest and lead to May 1st being declared International Workers Day. A day born out of the brutality of the state and the heroic struggle of the workers and one that belongs to the international proletariat.

On this May Day we are yet again seeing capitalism and the forces of the state attacking the working class. The world is in the grip of an economic crisis resulting from the inherent instability of capitalism. Globalization has set capitalism free from the constraints of national boarders and the oppression of the state is increasing and is being used by governments to attack working class resistance in the interest of international capitalism.

But though today we face remarkably similar conditions to those faced by workers at the time of the first May Day, thus so far there has been a different response by the international working class. The early workers movement turned its back of reformism and sought to build revolutionary unions and launched a powerful fight back against capitalism. Today workers are mainly organized in reformist trade unions that are unable and incapable of coming to terms and resisting the changing nature of globalised capitalism.

To succeed workers must reject reformism and electoral politics and once again turn to internationalism, solidarity and direct action as a means of organizing as a class to directly confront the capitalist economic dictatorship. A dictatorship that is now being clearly revealed across Europe and especially in Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain where vicious austerity measures are being imposed on workers.

That these Southern European economies are under attack is not surprising. A powerful group of Anglo-American financiers agreed in November 2009 that a diversionary attack on the euro, centered on the weaker Mediterranean economies, would be an ideal means of relieving pressure on the battered US dollar, then at a record low. This was followed by media attacks and coordinated financial speculation targeting the so-called PIGS countries: Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain.

These attacks have been met with growing workers resistance which the IWA has fully supported. There was lately a General Strike on March 22 in Portugal as reported by AIT –Portugal and the USI-AIT is active in the protests against the hard austerity measures in Italy. The protests have been, and are going on in Greece, and the workers at the Kilkis hospital showed the path by occupying the hospital. It was a General Strike on March 29 in Spain, and further mobilizations are initiated by the very active CNT-AIT against the government massive onslaught on workers conditions and rights!

Over the last year the IWA has also been involved in countless, international campaigns and solidarity actions in support of workers worldwide.  On March 29, 30 and 31 the IWA also organized a successful Action Days against Capitalist Austerity Measures, Exploitation and Oppression. It is through such campaigns and solidarity actions rather than just words that the IWA is expanding.

The IWA consist of older and newer Sections which the commemorations this year show: The USI-AIT is 100 years, the NSF-IWA is 95 years, the young and vital IWA Section, ZSP-IWA is 5 years. Besides this, in the end of this year, it is 90 years commemoration of the IWA and it`s (re)founding in Berlin!

On this May Day 2012 our message to the workers of the world remains the same as at the time of the Haymarket Martyrs: Capitalism has and always will remain a system based on exploitation and oppression. It is a barbaric system that results in human misery, ecological disaster, unemployment, fascism and wars. 

As such capitalism cannot be reformed. Reformism is used by capitalism to undermine and weaken workers self-organization, struggle and emancipation. The only path to emancipation for us as workers is to take control of our own struggle: A struggle that is directed against and outside of class collaborationist structures and that through Direct Action and Solidarity confronts and defeats the Capitalism and establishes Libertarian Communism!

For Workers Self -Emancipation!
Long live the IWA and Anarchosyndicalism!

Oslo, April 28 2012
IWA- Secretariat

London May Day 2012 - Against Workfare

MEET: 12:00pm @ Clerkenwell Green.
RE-CONVERGE: 16:00pm @ West One Shopping Centre (by Bond Street tube)

MAP OF LOCATIONS: http://g.co/maps/wx93f
On May Day we are calling on all those fighting back against the government's austerity plans to join us in taking direct action against companies participating in the workfare schemes. Instead of standing around and listening to speeches at the end of the TUC march we will be heading straight into the West end to regroup and start taking action.

Workfare is a range of government schemes that make people on benefits work for their dole. The government and some in the media present it as a way of encouraging people back into work by gaining experience. This ignores two things – first, there are not enough jobs available for those who want them; and second, workfare placements themselves are taking jobs away from paid workers.

The companies using workfare all make large profits. The work being done would need to be done anyway. By getting forced labour to do it for free, the companies' profits will grow. Their regular workers are often on low pay themselves and find their overtime cut and pay held back because of the forced labour schemes.

Bosses prefer not having to pay for workers. Instead, we are all paying to subsidise their profits. Protests have already forced some to pull out of the scheme. Let's make it all of them.

May Day became International Workers Day because of the anarchists killed by the US state during the struggle for the eight-hour working day. Now we are struggling to ensure that workers get paid and those out of work or unable to work are not forced to work for their benefits.

When the march has finished, instead of standing around to listen to the likes of Tony Benn bore on, head into the West end and start to target the companies benefiting from forced labour!

South London Solidarity Federation
North London Solidarity Federation
http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/actions/865
http://www.facebook.com/events/406395462721503/

National Conference: how do we break Workfare?

Organised by our friends at the Brighton Benefits Campaign, Saturday May 26th 11am-5pm at the The Railway Club, 4 Belmont, Brighton BN1 3TF.
Under the guise of ‘helping the unemployed back into work’ the government is rolling out various workfare schemes that will provide free labour for their rich corporate friends.  Many charities and even trade unions – who should know better – have been hoodwinked into supporting these schemes.

However, in March we saw the government forced on the back foot following revelations of widespread fraud at one of the main Work Programme providers and actions against high street companies involved in the Work Experience Programme. The fact that many companies quickly responded by either withdrawing from the scheme or announcing that they were reviewing their participation shows how vulnerable the government’s workfare programme is at the moment.


Brighton Benefits Campaign has been fighting workfare since our first campaign against the Flexible New Deal in 2010.  We have proved that acting against workfare gets results.

We believe that it is necessary to build on this success and break workfare before it becomes established. We have therefore organised a conference to bring together campaigners, voluntary groups, trade unions & others opposed to workfare, to share experiences and information and to co-ordinate a sustained national campaign.

All workfare, whether ‘voluntary’ or mandatory:

• is part of a concerted assault on welfare & public services
• is an attack on the right to proper paid work and an attack on real volunteering
• destroys paid jobs, & undermines the pay and conditions of those already in work
• is yet another generous government hand out for big business

www.solfed.org.uk

Protests against Roche

On April 19, Roche corporation held an international meeting in Warsaw to announce „restructuring plans” which will mean mass firings and outsourcing of about 200 IT jobs in Warsaw and Madrid.

Representatives of the corporation from different countries came to the Hilton Hotel conference center. One member of ZSP went into the conference hall with leaflets denouncing these actions and calling on workers to take mass action against the company. Some IT workers who would be affected were also present. Outside was a picket in a place right below the windows of the conference and, with excellent acustics, this was heard very well.

ZSP is advising the workers about to be fired about how to claim benefits that they were denied when they were falsely employed as „entrepeneurs”.

We thank the comrades of KRAS who on April 17 made a picket in Moscow at Roche. They report that there was a lot of interest and many workers took their leaflets.

Second Day of Picketing Holland & Barrett in Brighton

On Saturday members of Brighton SolFed and Brighton Benefits Campaign picketed the North Street branch of Holland & Barrett. This was the second action in an on-going national campaign against the retailer’s continued use of unpaid workfare placements to reduce staff costs. The picket successfully turned away a large number of potential customers and we engaged many members of the public in discussion of the issues, the majority of whom were sympathetic to our message.


One passer-by, who was put on a workfare placement at a London branch of Holland & Barrett, told us that his Jobcentre Plus advisor made no reference to the fact that he could withdraw from the scheme within 7 days of the interview. He was also expected to work overtime at the branch, which left him no time to carry out the job searches required of him. After complaining about this he was taken off the scheme having only completed three weeks of the eight week placement, which goes to show that Jobcentres are taking an uncoordinated approach to the scheme.

We also talked to one passer-by who expressed the view – unfortunately not uncommon – that people should be required to work for their benefits. We reject this idea which attacks even the basic principle that under capitalism workers are entitled to a wage in return for their labour; this sets a dangerous precedent for eroding even further the living conditions of working class people.

Half way into the picket the store manager placed hastily written signs in the window saying that the store was open for business as usual and proclaiming that the staff worked there voluntarily and were not forced into it. This ignores the fact that for businesses workfare is about cutting costs and undermining the conditions and job-security of their existing staff; Holland and Barrett intend to take over 1000 workfare staff this year, a number equal to more than quarter of their workforce. The fact that he felt compelled to display these signs testifies to the effectiveness and growing momentum of the campaign, we responded by raising banners and flags in a show of solidarity.

SolFed and other groups across the country intend to keep up the pressure on Holland and Barrett and other companies who are taking advantage of workfare, to expose their attempts to undermine the conditions of workers and their role worsening the pressures of unemployment. The campaign will only stop when the company publicly withdraws from the scheme.

In addition to pickets we’re also calling on people to join us in expressing their demand for an end to workfare to Holland and Barrett directly by taking part in a phone and email blockade of their head office and HR department. …details to follow

Solidarity with the Workers of Huta Batory! Action at Alchemia Shareholders Meeting

On April 13, Alchemia company, which last week fired striking workers from Huta Batory ironworks in Chorzow, held an extraordinary shareholders meeting at its headquarters in Warsaw. ZSP went to protest the firing of the workers, the use of temp agencies to replace permanent jobs in the ironworks and Alchemia's plans to do this in other workplaces and to protest Alchemia's plans to liquidate the ironworks.

The workers in Huta Batory started a wildcat strike on April 2, which the owners of the ironworks, Alchemia, tried to violently repress. This attempt to break the strike did not work thanks to the solidarity of many local people. The company then decided to fire about 120 workers, lockout the rest and announce that they would liquidate the ironworks.


Members of the ZSP in Silesia participated in the local defense and support of the strikers and subsequent protests at the offices of the ironworks. In Warsaw there was also an earlier protest at Alchemia, the company that owns Huta Batory.

Arriving early to the shareholders meeting, the comrades held a banner reading "Strikes are our best weapon". Slogans were written on the flipchart and protests were handed out. The comrades explained that we support the workers in their struggle and vehemently condemn the actions of Alchemia.
While this succeeded in stopping the commencement of the meeting, it was clear that the decision was already made and this was just going to be a meeting of power of attorneys putting signatures for formal reasons. The only topic on the agenda was to repeal an earlier decision concerning Huta Batory, probably with a view to liquidating its assets. The Director of the company published information on the value of the assets later in the day.

We later made an informational action in the street in front of the headquarters.

The fate of the ironworks may be taken up by the TriPartite Commission of the government. Workers and unions at the ironworks claim that the company had been breaking many agreements and did many things to provoke the strike. The unions are claiming that the company actually wanted the strike to happen because they wanted to fire workers anyway and this way they could fire them for disciplinary reasons (illegal strike) and thus avoid the more expensive group redunancy procedures.

See also: http://www.zsp.net.pl/repression-ironworkers-strike-and-solidarity-actio...

CNT Achieves the Reinstatement of Dismissed Members and Fulfillment of Demands in Pizza Jardin

The CNT union of SOV Madrid has seen a satisfactory conclusion to a conflict it had maintained for several months with PIZZA JARDÍN.


At the end of December last year, members of the SOV Madrid union formed a union section of the CNT in the restaurant PIZZA JARDÍN. It started to carry out intense union activity from the beginning, (presenting a list of demands, making denunciations to the work inspectorate) with the goal of improving some work conditions which were like those in the 19^th century: no possibility to have sick leave, the obligation to make up vacation days by working extra, etc....


The company did not wait to react and fired three comrades from the union, including the delegate. It also tried to avoid paying the proper severance pay.

The union and SOV began an intense campaign of pickets against the company which culminated in the reinstatement of the comrades who wanted to work there and a satisfactory compensation for those who didn't want to go back. What's more, the company promised to fulfill the list of demands and, according to the union at the restaurant, has done so.

We would like to highlight the fact that the comrades, who did not belong to the union before this conflict, not only continue in the union after the satisfactory resolution of the conflict, but also have become very involved in the organizational life of the CNT, participating in pickets in support of other conflicts and in the 24 hour strike on March 29. The CNT not only maintains its presence in the company, but has also grown in membership and earned the respect and sympathy of a large part of the staff.

Examples like this reaffirm the conviction that anarchosyndicalism, free from subsidies and union elections, is a model that continues to show its effectiveness and efficiency today.
We would also like to thank the other unions from the CNT for support in this conflict.

IWA Days of Action in the UK

In support of the IWA Days of action in the UK, the Solidarity Federation called for campaign of direct action against workfare. The idea was to use the IWA 3 Days of action to launch a concerted campaign to put an end to unpaid work. This is in support of the ongoing Boycot Workfare campaign, that  is being organised in conjunction with numerous other groups and organisations.
At a time of unprecedented youth unemployment in the UK , which now stands at over 22%, the government is subsidising businesses by sending the unemployed to work for them without pay and with the new Youth Contract it intends to expand these schemes even further.

The decision on which company to target was left to just before the Days of action to ensure that the company chosen were not alerted to the planned demos and pickets. After discussion within the Solidarity Federation it was decided to target the company Holland and Barratt a major high street chain of shops selling health products. The SolFed decided to target Holland and Barratt because the company intends to take over 1000 people on work experience this year and with a workforce of around 4000, unpaid workers will comprise a significant portion of their staff.
On the 29thn & 30th March SF groups and supporters around the country distributed information to Holland & Barrett staff explaining basic workplace rights. A leaflet was also distributed to customers and passers by. A copy of the leaflet can be down loaded at : http://www.solfed.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/workfarehb.pdf
On the 31st March Holland & Barrett shops in over 20 cities and towns across the UK were picketed. In some places several Holland & Barrett shops were picketed on the same day.  For example in Brighton SF members came together with Brighton Benefits Campaign and others to form two pickets at the North Street and London Road branches of Holland and Barratt. With the North Street picket attended to by around 20 people and the smaller branch at London Road picketed by about a dozen, both were well attended and succeeded in turning away a considerable number of potential customers and raising the profile of the anti-workfare campaign.
The Pickets in generally were well received with thousands of anti-workfare leaflets distributed. For example in Kilburn one member of the public stopped by for half and hour to help us do some leafleting. Others took the opportunity to go into the store and express their dissatisfaction directly to the Holland and Barrett manager on duty at the time. Similar stories of public support were recived from numerous pickets.
In a couple of places the pickets managed to close down stores. In London one local Holland & Barrett store closed as 20+ SLSF and comrades chanted, sang and dished out leaflets. In various places Holland & Barrett made feeble attempts aimed at trying to counter the effectiveness of the pickets. In Halifax Holland & Barrett had a member of staff on the door to "welcome shoppers." These pathetic counter measures only served to show just how worried Holland and Barrett were about the impact the pickets.
The Solidarity Federation hopes to build on the success of the Holland & Barrett pickets and aims to join with other campaigning and anarchist groups to step up the pickets on the companies using the workfare scheme.   On Monday April 2nd a picket of the headquarters of the reformist Communication Workers Union was held to protest over their support for workfare. The first of many more pickets we are determined to mount until the government is forced to withdraw the whole of the workfare scheme.
Further accounts of some other pickets are available on the Workfare pages of the SolFed website: http://www.solfed.org.uk/?q=campaigns/workfare

Berlin: Labour Dispute at Gambling Machine Manufacturer Bally Wulff Ends Successfully

The labour dispute between a worker and gambling machine manufacturer Bally Wulff in Berlin, which started in September 2011, ended in March 2012 with a court settlement. After a proceeding case against FAU Berlin about statements made by the FAU building and technical section in Berlin, which the gambling machine manufacturer had already lost, it now agreed on a settlement. Information about it will be spread soon. The section evaluates this as a successful end to protect the interests of its member.

www.fau.org

London Mayday 2012 - Against Workfare

On Mayday we are calling on all those fighting back against the government's austerity plans to join us in taking direct action against companies participating in the workfare schemes. Instead of standing around and listening to speeches at the end of the TUC march we will be heading straight into the West end to regroup and start taking action.

Workfare is a range of government schemes that make people on benefits work for their dole. The government and some in the media present it as a way of encouraging people back into work by gaining experience. This ignores two things – first, there are not enough jobs available for those who want them; and second, workfare placements themselves are taking jobs away from paid workers.


The companies using workfare all make large profits. The work being done would need to be done anyway. By getting forced labour to do it for free, the companies' profits will grow. Their regular workers are often on low pay themselves and find their overtime cut and pay held back because of the forced labour schemes.

Bosses prefer not having to pay for workers. Instead, we are all paying to subsidise their profits. Protests have already forced some to pull out of the scheme. Let's make it all of them.

Mayday became International Workers Day because of the anarchists killed by the US state during the struggle for the eight-hour working day. Now we are struggling to ensure that workers get paid and those out of work or unable to work are not forced to work for their benefits.

We will be releasing a map of companies participating in the scheme over the next few weeks. So when the march has finished, instead of standing around to listen to the likes of Tony Benn bore on, head into the West end and start to target the companies benefiting from forced labour!

South London Solidarity Federation, North London Solidarity Federation

https://london.indymedia.org/events/12040
http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/actions/865
http://www.facebook.com/events/406395462721503/

Report on the March 22nd General Strike in Portugal

A new general strike was held in Portugal on the March 22nd, the second in four months, this time convened only by the major union CGTP. The strike had a lower adhesion than the previous one but was marked by an intensification and radicalization of protests.

The Portuguese Section of the IWA (AIT-SP) has marked its presence in Lisbon and Porto, before and during the strike, with a campaign for workers’ self-organization and direct action and participating in the demonstrations that took place in both cities.

This general strike was held two months after the last congress of the CGTP, where a new general secretary, Arménio Carlos, was elected. Unsurprisingly, Arménio Carlos is also a member of the Central Committee of the Portuguese Communist Party.


The socialist run UGT did not join the strike this time, after having signed the agreement on social peace with the Government and employers, accepting historic attacks on workers' rights, imposed by a neoliberal government following the austerity plan of the IMF and EU.

The strike came at a time when the effects of the austerity policies are taking their toll on workers. Unemployment continues to rise sharply, standing now at 15% according to official figures (35% among young workers) and emigration reached values ​​similar or even superior to those of the 1960s.

The call for general strike found the vast majority of workers disoriented or paralyzed by fear. Predictably, the adhesion to the strike was lower than on 24th November last year.

There was strong policing throughout the country, controlling the pickets and demonstrations that took place in several cities. In some pickets there were confrontations with the police.

In Porto there were arrests at a demonstration that expected a visit of the Prime Minister to the University.

In Lisbon, the control paranoia of the CGTP reached a new peak when its security service tried to prevent a movement of precarious workers, influenced by another leftist party, from joining the demonstration in front of the parliament.  Another demonstration organized by an “indignados” movement also made its way to the parliament, but this time a few hours later. This demonstration was also joined by an autonomous march, with the motto “for the blockade and occupation of the streets”, which had previously traversed the streets of Lisbon, throwing eggs at financial institutions, including the Bank of Portugal, and chanting anti-capitalist slogans. The demonstrators were successful for several times at preventing the detention of protestors by the police, but on the central and touristic neighbourhood of Chiado, the arrest of a demonstrator caused clashes with police, resulting in several injured.

Although the strike was obviously weaker than the last one, the Government, for the first time we can remember, didn’t advance any estimates of the adhesion, refusing to claim a victory. Instead, it commended the peaceful and orderly nature of the initiatives of the CGTP, whose new general secretary made a statement on national television on the night of the strike condemning "all acts of vandalism".

Join us in Worthing for the Carnival for Choice!

Next Sunday (15th April) Brighton Solidarity Federation will be supporting the Carnival for Choice! in Worthing.

Carnival for Choice! is part of Brighton Pro Choice’s ongoing campaign against the anti-choice group Abort67. The group, based around a right-wing Christian church in Worthing, often protest outside the Brighton BPAS clinic. They are known for using US-style anti-choice tactics including photographing people entering the clinic and banners featuring graphic images of aborted foetuses to try and dissuade women from exercising their right to choose. Their aim is to have abortion outlawed, no matter the circumstances.

The Solidarity Federation sees attacks on women’s rights as an attack on all workers everywhere. Despite the limitations of abortion law as it stands, we will defend it against all attacks from the right and fight for the real right to choose.
We will be there on Sunday with our banner and our band, please join the Carnival and show Abort67 that their bullying tactics are not acceptable here or anywhere.

Brighton Pro Choice Carnival for Choice! facebook event

Strike at EULEN/ABB Comes to an End

The Labour Court Nr. 1 of Córdoba has recently ruled against the claim of infringement of the right to strike filed by the workers in the labour dispute against ABB, ADECCO and EULEN, thus putting an end to the strike held since November 28th, 2011.

The workers' aim was to extend the strike against ABB as they understood that -by engaging the services of ADECCO to perform the strikers' tasks- ABB was only trying to break the strike and ignore the workers' demands.


However, the Court did not share this view. Instead it trusted the testimony of the managers, without considering the strong arguments of the striking workers and the fact that the company's long history of labour disputes was the reason why ADECCO's services were hired . The Court also disregarded the company's clear actions which constitute a violation of the right to strike, such as forbidding the Strike Committee members to access its premises, limiting their activities and hiring strikebreakers, all this being documented by the Labour Inspectorate.

Even though this verdict will be appealed, it nevertheless puts an end to the strike carried out during almost 100 days by the workers of EULEN for ABB.

Despite all odds and relying on the solidarity and mutual support of many unions around the world, the workers will continue their struggle against these three multinationals. At the moment, they await the next trial, where they call for the nullification of the layoffs and the recognition of illegal assignment of workers between EULEN and ABB, and a subrogation between EULEN and ADECCO EUROCEN. The hearing will take place on May 8th.

The workers wish to thank for all the solidarity actions carried out in Spain and around the world and for the money donated to the strike fund.

Solent Solfed Members Join Two Pickets Last Week

Here are two members write ups of the pickets Solent SF were involved with last week!

Protest picket of the Communication Workers Union.

On the 2nd of April 2012 members of the CWU union and with SolFed members including a Solent SolFed member, IWW and boycott workfare members descended on to the Communication Workers Unions Headquarters in Wimbledon London to protest about the use of the DWP work experience scheme at Royal Mail offices throughout the UK, because the CWU have decided to support this “Government” scheme instead of supporting unemployed workers get proper paid contracted work. We duly set up our protest picket outside the front entrance, unfurled our banners and flags and started handing out four hundred leaflets warning people about what was happening and how the Communication Workers Union was working with Royal Mail to exploit workers.
                                                                                                                                                       
The CWU claimed in a communication to it`s members that there would be NO sanctions used to coerce unemployed workers but did not get confirmation from DWP that this was true and in fact only spoke to Royal Mail about the details of this scheme despite Boycott Workfare and their own members asking CWU Headquarters for written confirmation from the DWP and then warning the CWU that this was not the case and that the Royal Mail work experience scheme did indeed have sanctions attached that could be used to coerce unemployed workers into taking a four week placement.                                                                                                                                                            
This of course was and is totally unacceptable to the majority of CWU members as well as SolFed, the IWW and Boycott Workfare.

An interesting thing of note was the use of a private security company to guard the entrances of the Union building at vast expense when all they had to do was check the details of the scheme and pull out as soon as it became clear that workers would suffer because of their actions in agreeing to it.                                                                                                                                                            
 A worthwhile day and I am sure we will be back
Holland & Barrett Bournemouth pickets 31st March

Members of Solent Solfed together with IWW, Portsmouth Anarchists, Wessex Solidarity, Bournemouth Uncut and Surrey/Hants Afed assembled at the Triangle and picketed the bogus medicine show. 10 in all coming from as far afield as Bridport, Weymouth, Southampton and Fareham; later we were joined by a couple of SWP. A letter was handed to staff explaining the action along with a copy of Solfed’s Workfare Pamphlet.

The manager showed up: “are you allowed to be here?” What? On a pavement in a shopping precinct on a Saturday! He claimed to be ‘creating jobs’ then bemoaned the fact that we were going to cost him his £59 bonus; in desperation he threatened to sue us for copyright as we’d given out some of the Johnny Void flyers. We were all set to move on to the next one when we found out he’d called the plod, falsely accusing us of blocking the doorway and swearing on the megaphone, so we had to hang around on principle. “Who’s in charge?” – Where do they get it from? Our letter now in the hands of Babylon we can all expect some extra traffic on our web sites.

As time was cracking on the group then split, a second H&B was picketed while Bournemouth uncut occupied Vodafone. Having run out of fliers we reunited in top shop on our way to the pub; we brightened up when the guvnor announced security were going to “remove us using force” but they evidently didn’t fancy it and called plod again. I think it was the same copper; they all look the same to me.

We had the usual mixed reaction but got rid of hundreds of flyers and had some interesting conversations. There’s still room for raising awareness as some folk know nothing about it.

Catford Holland and Barrett picket

As part of the national day of action against workfare and the IWA days of action, SLSF picketed Holland and Barrett along with 20 other SF locals and others around the country.


A heavy security presence in Lewisham Shopping Centre was outwitted when protesters moved down the road to Catford where a noisy demonstration began outside the local Holland & Barrett.  The store closed as 20+ SLSF and comrades chanted, sang and dished out leaflets.  Many people passing supported the need to take action against forced labour, particularly in a borough which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
After an hour the store was partially opened but few customers entered. Protesters vowed to keep coming back until Holland &  Barrett reject workfare in all it’s insidious forms and pay their staff a proper wage.

Communication Workers Union HQ picketed in protest against workfare at Royal Mail

On Monday April 2nd members of London SF, Solent SF and the IWW joined Boycott Workfare activists to picket the headquarters of the Communication Workers Union over their support for workfare.


CWU officials have signed an agreement with the Royal Mail to allow DWP "Work Experience". People on the scheme face the threat of sanctions for refusal and if they do not take part they are likely to be sent on a number of other compulsory schemes.

The CWU leadership insists that their agreement with Royal Mail is for "voluntary" work experience only. Unless there is a guarantee that people leaving the scheme will not face sanctions the scheme is not voluntary. No such guarantee is in place.

Until CWU and the Royal Mail withdraw from workfare schemes our fight against it will continue.

The picket took place as part of the Solidarity Federation's campaign against all types of the government's workfare schemes.  Two days prior to the CWU picket, SF locals and supporters around the country picketed over 20 Holland and Barrett stores as part of an effort to pressure the company to pull out of the program. To read more about SF's anti-workfare campaign see http://www.solfed.org.uk/?q=campaigns/workfare

If you want to get involved, please contact us at solfed (at) solfed.org.uk

Report on 31 March workfare pickets in Brighton and Hastings

On Saturday Brighton SolFed held three separate pickets of Holland and Barratt stores in Brighton and in Hastings in response to their continued use of unpaid workfare placements to reduce staff costs. Across the country SolFed locals and other groups took part in a day of action to highlight the use of workfare by high street companies.

The national day of action was called by SolFed to coincide with the International Workers’ Association (of which SolFed is the British section) days of action which included the general strike in Spain called by our Spanish section, the CNT.

BRIGHTON

In Brighton we came together with Brighton Benefits Campaign and others – one person coming from as far as Chichester – to form two pickets at the North Street and London Road branches of Holland and Barratt. With the North Street picket attended to by around 20 people and the smaller branch at London Road picketed by about a dozen, both were well attended and succeeded in turning away a considerable number of potential customers and raising the profile of the anti-workfare campaign.
Before the picket we produced a letter that we gave to staff to explain our intentions and outside we distributed a leaflet to customers and passers-by which is available here: http://www.solfed.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/workfarehb.pdf

Saturday’s pickets saw the first performances of the Brighton SolFed’s new Industrial Grievance Band, playing traditional songs of the labour movement including Solidarity Forever, There is Power in the Union and the Spanish anti-fascist song A Las Barricadas. The atmosphere on the day was lively, attracting the attention of passers-by who stopped to talk and even join in with a song or two.
The manager at the North road took particular exception to our picket and called the ‘city centre ambassadors’ (another name for retail security) to intimidate us into leaving; when they failed he produced a sign pushing the government and the businesses’ line that workfare is voluntary. Even if this were true, the work experience scheme is just the thin end of the wedge and remains a threat to all workers’ jobs, pay and conditions.

HASTINGS

In Hastings members of Brighton Solfed and Hastings Anarchists picketed the Holland and Barrett store on Queens Road. The store is fairly small with a narrow pavement and bus stops outside. The manager of the shop called the police as members distributed the letters aimed at the store’s staff, having been instructed to do so by management as soon as pickets turned up. We stayed there for an hour and gave out 300 leaflets. We then went and did the same outside Macdonalds, another company that has used workfare staff in its stores.

At the Hastings picket the response from the public was mixed which raised a couple of issues that we need to consider in order to make the campaign work in Hastings and other areas of high unemployment: people who were critical of our picket tended only to understand our action in terms of us defending the rights of 'lazy, unemployable' people and in terms of us seeking to deny young unemployable adults the opportunity to get some experience in work.

In areas of high unemployment and deep social problems, divisions between workers can create a responsive audience for the government's scape-goating. We realise that it is important to talk about why the government has created long term widespread benefit dependency and what the result has been for our class, as well as why the government has brought in these workfare schemes to exercise greater control over their lives while subsidising private companies.

At a time of unprecedented youth unemployment, which now stands at over 22%, the government is subsidising businesses by sending the unemployed to work for them without pay and with the new Youth Contract it intends to expand these schemes even further. Holland and Barratt intend to take over 1000 people on work experience this year and with a workforce of around 4000, unpaid workers will comprise a significant portion of their staff.

In the build-up to the campaign members of the Brighton local and the SolFed unwaged network helped to produce a range of resources that attempt explain the extent and nature of the attack on workers’ that the workfare policies represents, and they have been edited into a pdf. This is just the beginning of the fight against workfare.

Accounts of some other pickets are available on the Workfare pages of the SolFed website: http://bit.ly/SFworkfare

Protests in support of ZSP-IWA by ASF

The comrades in Brisbane wrote an open protest letter and in Melbourne they visited Roche offices.

Protest Action in support of ZSP-IWA (Polish Section) by ASF Melbourne

IWA Day of Action in Melbourne, a protest action in solidarity with dismissed ZSP (Polish Section) comrade from ROCHE Polska by ASF Melbourne took place in Victoria Sales Office of Roche Pharmaceuticals.

The manager was confronted and a letter of protest was handed to the manager directly.
Long live the IWA and anarchosyndicalism!

 ASF Brisbane has delivered an open letter to Roche Pharmaceuticals in West End, Brisbane in support of our comrades struggle in Poland.

Open Letter delivered in support of ZSP-IWA (Polish Section) by ASF Brisbane

OPEN LETTER TO ROCHE PHARMACEUTICALS

We, the Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation (ASF) protest against the labour relations practises of Roche Pharmaceuticals where workers currently employed at Roche in Poland are being forced onto short-term contracts and workers attempting organise their fellow workers at Roche are being sacked.
In particular we refer to our comrade Jakub of the Zwiazek Syndykalistow Polski (ZSP) the Polish section of the International Workers Association (IWA). We demand the reinstatement of our comrade on a regular contract and payment of benefits to all the fake independent contractors.

Roche is using various forms of external contracting to get workers to whom they do not have to pay benefits to. They are not provided by temporary agencies (which, although offering precarious work are at least regulated by the law) but by private “firms” or fake businesses which just bill Roche so that these employees are not on their books. By doing this, Roche does not have to give them the same notice of termination or severance pay, does not offer paid holidays or sick leave, maternity or paternity payments and does not even pay their social security contributions.

We demand the immediate reinstatement of workers at Roche in Poland who having been sacked for union activity.

The ASF retains the right to further protests directed at Roche Pharmaceuticals including boycott campaigns.


Secretary, Brisbane affiliate of the ASF.
 

 

M31: Prelude in Frankfurt to Joint and European Wide Anti-Capitalist Protests

Withina commonday ofaction againstcapitalism onMarch 31,there havebeen ralliesanddemonstrations inmore than40 Europeancities. Theseactions arethe beginningof aninternationalnetworking bytheanti-authoritarianmovement againstthe EuropeanUnion's rulingcrisis policy.The commongoal isa freesociety inwhich everybodycan participate.The foundationfor thatcan onlybe aneconomy inwhich everybodyis providedwith agood lifeinstead ofwealth fora smallnumber ofpeople andpoverty,existential fearand workbaiting formany. OnMarch 31,tens ofthousands ofpeople inmore than40 Europeancities, setin motionfor that.

InFrankfurt/Mainalone, around6000 peopleparticipated ina demonstrationthemed"Capitalismis theCrisis".Speeches atthe thedemonstration'sbeginningstressed thefact thatcrisis andcapitalism areinseparable. “Itis aglobal andsystemic crisis”,said ThorstenBewernitz (FAU).He alsosaid thata connectionbetweenindustrialactions,struggles onthe streetsand infront ofadministrativeoffices willbe crucialin theupcoming time.

As theEU governmentsand tradeorganisationstry toshift thecosts ofthe crisison wageworkers' backs,the resistanceagainst itneeds tobecome apopular anda dailyexercise sowe maysuccessfullyoppose thematter. Thisis howwe understandthedemonstration'smotto:“Solidarity.Strike.Upheaval”.

Thedemonstrationbegan atthe centralstation. Itwas aloud, colourfuland openrally, headingtowards theconstruction siteof theEuropean CentralBank (ECB),which wewanted toreach together.Besides groupsand organisationsinvolved inplanning andmobilisation, awide spectrumof peoplefrom manycities gatheredat thedemonstration.

Therewere groupsfrom theradical leftwing, butalso streettheatre withstilts andcostumes,criticalcolleagues fromver.di andIGM, olderpeople fromthe leftwing, whohave notbeen ondemonstration foryears andlots ofpeople workingfor companiesin Frankfurt,who wereall attractedby thecall andperspectives ofthis event.Many ofthem wereimpressed bythe steadilygrowingdemonstration.Finally itgrew to6000 people.

Aftersome speechesin betweenand greetingsto theOccupy campin frontof thepresent ECBbuilding, somepaint bombswere thrownand someglass wasbroken atthe ECB,several banks,the luxuryhotel FrankfurterHof, acouple oftemporary workagencies andother buildings.

Justafter anotherstop atthe Paulsplatz,when thedemonstrationstarted tocontinue, policeunits attackedthe rearpart ofthe demonstrationand beganto kettlepeople in.Around 250people werekettled foraround 9hours withtemperatures justslightly abovethe freezingpoint andwere randomlyattacking policethugs. Thoseones kettledin weresupported bythedemonstration'sown ambulances,with protectionagainst thecold. Still,two ofthe victimshad tobe hospitalized,one ofthem becauseof hypothermia.The ambulancereported130 woundeddemonstrators.

Beforethat, themajor partof thedemonstrationtried toreach thekettle forabout twohours toopen it.When thedemonstrationfinally decidedto walkinto thecity centre,the policedecided tobreak itup.

Therefore,the plannedactions atthe ECB'sconstruction sitebecameimpossible. Theyprobably triedto preventstrong picturesof aECB fortressbristling withweapons.

Despitethedisproportionalpolice actions,March 31was adistinctive signagainstcapitalism andnationalism andfor asociety inwhich productionis orientedon people'sneeds. Wejudge thefact thatthere weredemonstrationsand ralliesfrom Ufaat theUralto Portoat theAtlantic, fromInverness onthe BritishIsles toUtrecht andMilan toAthens, fromMoscow, Kievand Warsawto Badajozat theExtremedura, aswillingness fora commonperspective ofresistanceagainst the repression ofthe stateand capitalistexploitation.These rudimentaryefforts needto becultivated,strenghtened andexpanded. Andthey needto beconnected toothermobilisationslike thegeneral strikein Spain.

Fromour perspective,this Europeanwide dayof actionwas asuccessfulbeginning. Themassiveparticipation ina demonstrationin Germany,whichsignificantlyrefused torepaircapitalism, givesus hopethat therewill besubsequentactions. Asananarcho-syndicalistunion westress thatdemonstrationsare nothingmore thana shorttime expressionof growingresistance.Effectiveresistance beginswith theorganisation atthe placeof exploitation:factory,offices andmany otherplaces whichare responsibleto makethe capitalistgalley run.Until wecollectivelyrefuse rowingto thebeat ofthe drumand startto setthe sailsby ourselves,we won'tbe galleyslaves nomore andset thecourse byourselves.

FAUFrankfurt