what’s going on? social movements and the current crisis – a discussion

An explosion of occupations against education cuts… A growing anger about austerity… The toppling of governments…

An open discussion: Tuesday, February 22 · 7:30pm – 10:30pm at The Really Free School, The Black Horse Public House , 6 Rathbone Place, off Oxford Street. Facebook event

From Millbank to Cairo, the world is changing fast. Yet many of the strategies, tactics, and methods of organisation of the last decade were developed under very different conditions. It’s time for a critical reflection on what can be achieved, and who we can imagine doing it. What has changed over the last 3 months, and why? Is what we’ve done in the past still useful today? And what can be done now that couldn’t have been done last year?

This is one of a number of discussions organised around the country on this topic.

“where are the st thomas’ disappeared? where are our workmates?”

Last month 72 workers disappeared from Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals. They were part of the hospitals’ ancillary staff. They are migrants. Where did they disappear to? The economic crisis means their cheap labour is not as useful anymore – at least for the moment. So the UK Border Agency was called in to get rid of them. The NHS trust complied. The workers were either arrested or deported.

The workers who clean the hospital and feed the patients earn around the minimum wage. And due to the UKBA the workers are not even always paid for their hard work. Isn’t this slavery?

As hospital users, as workers, as trade unionists, as migrants’ rights activists we cannot stay silent in the face of this brutality. Exactly when cuts and privatisation are threatening our public health service the exploitation of migrant labour increases. This is an attack on all workers.

We call for solidarity with the disappeared, with all migrants, with all workers, on Friday 18^th February 5pm to 7pm outside St Thomas main entrance (Westminster Bridge Road London SE1 7EH). Called by the Cleaners Defence Committee, No One Is Illegal, Hands off my Workmate, Latin American Workers’ Association.

E-mail cdclondon@gmail.com or call 07971 719797 for details

on egypt, and revolution

still huging in Tahrir SQ Cairo in Free Egypt Srounded by joy,tear,dignity+ proudnes.pple of Egypt have freed themselves made their own history+ours,freedom is our any ideas for party. we don’t know what to do now.
– comrade Osama Q, Tahrir Square, Cairo, 9pm, 11 February, 2011

by Joe Thorne

Revolutions are actually quite common. It’s only February and there have been two already this year :in Tunisia and Egypt. Other recent revolutions include Serbia (2000), Georgia (2003), Kryrgyzstan (2005) and Ukraine (2005). Recent failed endeavours include Thailand (2009), Burma (2007), and Iran (2009).

local anti-cuts bulletins: some examples

A number of local anti-cuts campaigns in London have produced local bulletins – reproduced here for reference and to encourage debate and the sharing of information amongst anti-cuts activists.  See below for PDF files and a few comments. Let us know if there are examples from other areas which we can also upload.



atos don’t give a tos: protests against welfare cuts

Sharon Borthwick reports on protests against welfare cuts

Yesterday, 24^th January  2011 a second day of Protest was called against punitive benefit cuts. Actions took place all over the country including Scotland, Yorkshire, Tyneside and Birmingham.

“we want to inspire other people to take a stand”: interview with a college student activist

Joe Thorne spoke to a student at Leeds City College who has been involved in the protests around education cuts and in the new Really Open Student Union.  The interview is followed by statements from a number of other young people, some of which are featured in this bulletin which you can print off and distribute to support students walking out on Wednesday.

How are the cuts going to affect you?

I’m worrying about my future.  I don’t know if I can stay in college.  This has cancelled out my hope of going to uni.  I’m living with my parents.  They’re both disabled and we’re living off disability allowance.  I don’t know how we’re going to get through the next few years, and bills are going up, especially electricity and gas.

bulletin to build colleges walkout on 26 jan – print off and distribute

On 26th January, college students around the country will walk out.  The student movement which made such an impact in November and December will begin again.  A number of students and supporters around the country have worked together to produce a bulletin, which can be printed out and distributed in order to build the walk-outs.  Click here to download and print!

Introductory text follows

leaflet for network x gathering: movement beyond ‘actions’

Some members of The Commune will be going to the Network X gathering on Saturday and Sunday.  We have produced this leaflet to distribute.  We are currently discussing a formal proposal for the gathering, along the lines suggested in our leaflet.  You can download it as a printable PDF here.

The cuts we're facing are slightly different... so a different approach is needed

Movement beyond ‘actions’: what we have been, what we can become

As the UK moves into times of potential mass unrest, how does our movement find a way of connecting with the people around us? What is the best use of our political time, energy and experience in this new, and maybe very exciting phase? We all know that deep social change is going to take a mass movement, not just a bunch of activists – but how can we best be part of and agitate for such a movement?

the truth about julian assange and wikileaks

by Adam Ford

Okay, beyond the provocative title, I’m as much in the dark as you are on this one. But I would like to start the article by listing the only things I hold to be self-evident in regards to the Julian Assange story.

One: WikiLeaks is a great thing, providing us with documentary proof of government collusion against the interests of the general public, in favour of the super-rich. Two: we cannot be sure that Julian Assange did not sexually assault either or both of the women at the centre of the allegations against him, because we were not there. Three: the criminal action against Assange is politically motivated, whether he assaulted the women or not. Four: WikiLeaks must be defended from those in positions of power who wish to shut it down and intimidate would-be whistleblowers.

confidential occupations document – april 2009

The following leaked document had disappeared from the public domain due to the website which it was previously hosted on going down.  It is a briefing for heads of university administrations on dealing with student occupations.  It may assist activists in gaining some idea of the perspective of senior university officials on occupations – although some of the material is more specifically about occupations around Palestinian issue.

Sign at the occupied Middlesex Philosophy Department, 2010

Original introductory note by an ‘Education Not for Sale’ activist

What follows is a briefing published by university administrators concerning student occupations . It outlines some of the tactics used by university authorities to deal with student protest, specifically occupations. It is not clear exactly who wrote the briefing, or who received it, but since it is addressed to members of the Association for Heads of University Administration (AHUA), we can reasonably assume that it has been received by a number of vice chancellors and others in positions of authority around the country.

the right-wing offensive in france: sarkozy’s record so far

by Noé le Blanc

Ten years ago, Nicolas Sarkozy seemed to have lost much of his political credit and clout. Indeed, in the late nineties two major political defeats interrupted his previously steady rise among the ranks of French right-wing politicians. First, Sarkozy made the mistake of supporting Edouard Balladur in the 1995 French presidential race. Balladur was running as a right-wing challenger to the more “traditional” candidate of the right, Jacques Chirac, and he failed to make it to the second round of the election, which Chirac ultimately won.

Second, as leader of the RPR (the dominant right-wing party at the time), Sarkozy suffered a humiliating defeat in the 1999 European elections, his party reaping a mere 12% of the votes, less than the right-wing dissident “sovereignist” coalition, a group of (non-Front National) anti-EU politicians. Resigning from his position as head of the RPR, Sarkozy in fact disappeared entirely from the national political scene after this setback.

an image of the ‘big society’? a report from woodberry down community library

by ‘Lady Stardust’

The Tories are talking about the Big Society; anti-capitalists are talking about self-organisation and the commons; and the anti-cuts campaigns are demanding the preservation or re-instatement of state run and controlled services. Amongst this finding a radical critique of the state whilst defending those state services; finding a critique of self-exploitation whilst acknowledging the great things communities and small groups are doing to change lives and empower people – is not always easy. To take a concrete example we did a couple of interviews with some people running a community library in Hackney, North London.

The history

Woodberry Down is a huge run-down estate in Hackney with a population of 280,000. It has had a long planned and long delayed regeneration programme, resulting in repairs not done and empty flats; along side a huge building site for a flashy new development of ‘mixed housing’.

notes from an fbu picket line

by Joe Thorne

The FBU has held two eight hour strikes in the past fortnight.  The cause?  The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) has threatened to unilaterally impose new terms and conditions, specifically a new shift pattern, and has said that any of the 5,500 London fire fighters not willing to sign up to them will be sacked.

The 90 day consultation period, which they are entitled to under law, expires on 26 November.  The LFEPA board meets for the last time before this on 18 November, and will decide whether to press ahead.  The FBU is therefore seeking to put the pressure on before this date.  If the changes are forced through regardless, it does not necessarily mean the fight is over – but it’s clear that the coming weeks are important. A 47 hour strike will therefore be held beginning on Friday, 5 November, at 10am.  Bonfire night.

coca-cola: it’s the real sting…

From Practical Solidarity (info@practical-solidarity.org.uk)

Workers at Coca-Cola bottling plant in Edmonton, London N18 came out on strike on 15 & 16 Sept. They have been offered an absurd, below-inflation 2 per cent pay rise, while conditions have generally been eroded in the factory. The pension scheme has also become a lot worse – despite the fact the company made £620m last year! Workers are bitter about the non negotiating management, saying this is a dictatorship.

Coca Cola workers on strike last month in Bremerton, Washington State

On both days there has been a noisy picket with around 35 workers present, one half outside the factory, the other under the flyover opposite. There were flags aplenty and placards too – also saying “Fair play, not foul play for Coca Cola workers”. Chants and shouts echo the site. Section reps and senior stewards were on the picket, with most workers coming off shift onto the line. It’s always a full picket.