STATEMENT OF ANARCHIST FEDERATION (LONDON) ON MARCH 28th
The strike actions called by the trade unions on March 28th in a supposed response to the attacks on pensions have moved from a “day of action” to a complete farce. The leaderships of UNISON and the GMB had already decided on 12th January to start negotiating with the government over pensions and soon other smaller unions like Prospect, ATL and NAHT swung in behind them. The union leaders are trying to make us believe that this is somehow different to the deal that the government was already pushing, when it was exactly the same thing.
Days of action in the last few months involved hundreds of thousands striking and marching. The proposed action on March 28th is now involving fewer and fewer unions and in the case of the National Union of Teachers will only be on a London rather than a national level. Likewise the University and College Union will not only be striking at a London level rather than the national level as previously decided but will only involve post-1992 universities (former polytechnics etc) and further education colleges. The Public and Commercial Services Union will not be striking at all, as its executive called off strike action despite 90.5% voting to reject the government’s offer and 72.1% voting to support a programme of further action with other unions – the highest vote for action the union has ever had. Similarly the Scottish teachers union EIS also called off strike action despite a 73.5 yes vote for action.
The action by the unions in Britain is echoed in the worthless days of actions called by union centrals throughout Europe which in fact demobilise and defuse the anger of workers against the bosses’ austerity programmes.
Increasingly we as workers have to look to our own grass roots organisation, controlled by ourselves and not involving those who would sabotage our struggles. The grassroots self-organisation of electricians, organising in spite of the UNITE leadership, delivered a victory. We have to find new ways of organising against the increasingly savage attacks by the boss class. We have to do that as a priority and as a matter of urgency. We cannot rely on the union leaderships to do this, we have to rely on ourselves.
Anarchist Federation (London)
london@afed.org.uk
Pizza Hut protest in support of workers in Sheffield
Over twenty London members of the radical industrial union the Industrial Workers of the World and sympathisers braved the cold on Saturday 4th February at a very successful picket targeting one of Pizza Hut’s larger London restaurants at the Strand. The picket was organised by the London IWW General Membership Branch in solidarity with the Sheffield IWW Pizza Hut Union call out for a national day of action against the Pizza chain. The London picket was one of a string of solidarity actions held worldwide in addition to the main Sheffield Pizza Hut picket. Solidarity demonstrations took place in Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Glasgow, Calais, Portland, Vancouver, and Berlin.
Keeping up a vibrant and spirited atmosphere despite the frosty temperatures, the picketers distributed hundreds of flyers over the course of the afternoon to customers, staff and passers-by.
The London IWW General Members Branch were joined by a significant number of sympathisers, including members of the Anarchist Federation in London and North and South London Solidarity Federation.
125th Anniversary of Founding of Anti-Authoritarian International
In August 2012 anarchists from all over the world will be gathering in St Imier, Switzerland for a week of events to mark the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Anarchist International- a major split with the authoritarian international of Karl Marx. This split represents a fundamental divide between those who believe that communism can be imposed from above, and those who believe that we can only have true communism if we have freedom as well. How we get where we want to go is as important as where we want to go.
As part of the process of building up to the summer event, the AF is hosting a series of meetings around the country. The theme of the meetings is the struggle against authoritarianism- from St Imier to today. The following issues will be discussed:
- The background to St Imier and what was involved in the split
- How the struggle against authoritarianism continued in key revolutions such as Russia and Spain
- The debate about human ‘nature’ and why humans do not need authority to flourish
- The role of authoritarian tendencies in struggles today eg the cuts movement, the strikes in the public sector, the student movement and within the anarchist movement itself
- Examples of organising without authority
Solidarity Protest – Greek Embassy 18/02/2012
Up to 300 people attended a protest outside the Greek Embassy, in west London, on Saturday 18 February, as part of the international day of solidarity with the Greek people. Speakers from the lecturers’ union, UCU, from the NUS, from the Jubilee campaign, from Occupy UK, and from the Anarchist Federation offered their solidarity, alongside speakers from Greece, who talked of the resistance to the austerity measures.
‘There are a lot of myths about Greece,’ one speaker said, ‘and we need to expose them.’Another Greek speaker talked about the need to cancel the debt, nationalise the banks under workers’ control and break with the IMF and the EU. A representative of the Turkish community organisation, the Refugee Workers’ Cultural Association, also brought solidarity greetings.
The protest turned into a spontaneous demonstration and march, which blocked the main road nearby. A favourite slogan was ‘Athens, Cairo, London and Berlin, We shall fight and we shall win!’
THE CUTS: THEIR LIES, OUR RESISTANCE
The student protests hit the headlines before Christmas with the media focusing on the ‘violence’ and the ‘terrible shock’ given to members of the Royal family. Attention was taken away from the real issues that face both students and the rest of us. The facts are being hidden behind a smokescreen of lies. It is important to see the difference between what the government and media would like us to believe and what the facts are.
Lies : Causes
- too much spent over the years on public services
- wasteful bureaucracy
- large public sector pensions
- welfare scroungers
Facts: Causes
- The main drain on resources is not public services but the fact that:
- the government bailed out the banks with billions of pounds of public money
- the government has been waging costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for decades
- There is a large bureaucracy, largely made up of supporters of various political parties, who have managed to get ‘jobs for the boys and girls’ in various quangos at both national and local government level, but this is not going to be the main targets of the cuts.
- A few of the top civil servants may get large pensions but most public sector workers do not. The pension they do get is some compensation for the generally low wages that public sector workers earn.
- The Daily Mail devotes a lot of energy to ferreting out the odd example of someone managing to get huge amount of benefits which they in no way deserve. The point is that the vast majority of people on benefits are desperately in need. In terms of ‘scroungers’, the Royal Family costs the taxpayer much more than people on benefits, not to mention all the corporations who don’t pay the taxes that they are supposed to.
Lies: The Solutions
The solutions are presented as the only way.
- Cut public services, in particular education
- Cut jobs in both local and national government
- Reduce pension benefits and make people pay more for their pension
- Drastically reduce welfare benefits
- Raise taxes on people’s spending
- Massively increase the amount students pay for university and reduce benefits for 16-19 year olds
Facts
- The cuts will cause big reductions in people’s income; they will spend less and make an economic recovery even more difficult.
- By cutting back on education, and youth services in general at a local level, the government is in the process of creating a massive problem for the future. After decades of telling young people from working class backgrounds how important education is, they are now giving the message that it is only for those who can afford it. Universities are preserving their research status at the expense of students and their education. The top universities will still get the students because they tend to take students who can afford to pay, but other universities will be in crisis. How many young people will flood on to the job market at 16 rather than going on to do A levels and then to university?
- The amount of savings to be made are very small compared to savings that could be made by stopping the war.
- Those who were the cause of the crisis in the first place, and who can most afford to pay, are being let off the hook. Banks are now making huge profits again and their directors as well as other company directors continue to award themselves large pay increases and pensions and make sure their companies avoid paying taxes.
The Way Forward
Lies
The main message given out by local councils and employers is that there is nothing that can be done. It is a bitter medicine that has to be swallowed in order to get Britain through the crisis.
Facts
As shown above, this is complete rubbish and this is the message that the students have brought to our attention. They are not about to ‘bite the bullet’, but are fighting back. We know perfectly well that there are other alternatives- there is plenty of money around- just not in our hands. And the government is making sure that soon we will have even less. So whether it is in your community or at work, no matter what the political party in charge, the message has to be NO! We won’t pay for your crisis!
Anarchist Federation (London) London@afed.org.uk BM Anarfed, London, WC1N 3XX
RESISTANCE SPARKS SPECIAL
The last eight weeks of actions have shown that unofficial action works. The road blockings and occupations of sites have made MJN Colston, one of the eight employers who planned to get out of the Joint Industry Board national agreement, lose their nerve and go running back to the JIB.
The employers plan:
- Pay cuts of up to 35%
- Travel time and fares to be scrapped
- End of right to claim unfair dismissal from beginning of job
- End of JIB pension
- End of right of hearing under JIN disputes process
- Downgrading of apprenticeships
- Downgrading by the bosses of electricians when they see fit
The walkouts at Grangemouth and Immingham were the start. These were followed up by the actions at the Olympic site, Farringdon and Oxford Street in London, the Tyne tunnel, MediaCity UK in Manchester, Edinburgh city chambers, Glasgow Velodrome and SPIE Matthew Hall in Liverpool. The actions have included direct action, blocking roads at the Olympic site, King’s Cross and Oxford Street and moving on to sites to occupy.
And yet what have the Unite leadership done to support the cause of the electricians? Len McLuskey, General Secretary of Unite, has sent out a letter stating “If you fail to work normally you will be taking part in unofficial action.”
For his part, Len McAulay, Unite’s National Officer for Construction in a leaked email was to state that: “My colleagues will not throw away this wonderful opportunity the employers have given us to re-engage with the workers in the industry as opposed to this poisonous campaign by these mindless individuals”.
McAulay means the rank and file committee. The “wonderful opportunity” he talks about is the decision by the eight employers to pull out of the JIB! Gail Cartmail, Unite Assistant General Secretary promised a ballot for strike action at the rally in Farringdon. This is a long time coming! In the meantime the seven employers who have opted to pull out of the JIB are becoming more aggressive. Five of these employers- Balfour Beatty, Crown House Technologies, Spie Matthew Hall, Shepherd Engineering Services, and NG Bailey- have announced their intention to start sacking and to re-employ under worse conditions and pay on December 7th.
There is no time for delay waiting for a ballot that might not materialise at any time in the near future. Unofficial strikes need to spread across sites with the setting up of unofficial committees and mass meetings.
Where unofficial strikes are not yet possible we need to strengthen the numbers on the days of action. That means calling on other workers, students, pensioners, the unemployed to join the morning actions.
- Defend the JIB
- Don’t let the bosses attack pay, conditions and pensions
- Make the actions as large as possible- call on other workers to support the actions
- Spread the unofficial actions through the building industry
- Don’t let McCluskey and McAulay sabotage the unofficial actions
Anarchist Federation (London) BM ANARFED LONDON WC1N 3XX
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STATEMENT OF ANARCHIST FEDERATION (LONDON) on N30
Perhaps as many as 3 million workers will be striking on November 30th in the biggest round of industrial action since 1926, with members of 24 unions represented. Alongside this will be various actions including occupations and demonstrations.
We think it is vital that the pickets be reinforced in the morning as soon as they start. This means not just those striking going down to the pickets but also pensioners, the unemployed and unwaged workers, students from schools, further education and universities. If you are a private sector worker then why not take the day off by phoning in sick and joining the actions? It is vital that the strike action is generalised, that is that as many people as possible are involved and support it. In addition unity has to be created with the electricians taking action on the same day and with the Occupy movement.
The TUC and the union leaderships are using N30 as a safety valve to head off the growing anger of workers. As such, N30 should be seen as merely a start with the need for further united and determined action. This means workplace assemblies and meetings uniting workers from different unions and from none to consider joint action. It means increasing coordination between workers in both the public and private sectors. It means wildcat strikes outside the control of the union leaderships. It means increasing coordination between those in work, the unemployed, pensioners and unwaged workers and school students, FE and sixth form students and university students. It means the setting up of coordinations of all these groups, linking action in the workplace with action in the neighbourhood and on the estates and at the job centres.
The government and its friends in the media will intensify their campaign to destroy this struggle through mockery, disinformation and downright lies, the threat of violence and finally the use of violence through the police. The student mobilisation on November 9th was an example of this. First of all threatening letters issued by the police to participants in previous actions and for which they had not even been prosecuted let alone sentenced, the threat by the police to use rubber bullets, the plainclothes snatch squads operating within the demonstration, the police kittling of the electrician, stopping them uniting their march with that of the students, and finally the demonstration as one huge moving kettle with a massive show of police force.
Increasing mass actions on a decentralised basis and increasing unity can thwart these threats. Remember, on N9 taxi drivers were able to blockade central London causing a traffic grid-lock. We must remember our own power. As workers we can stop the trains, the buses, the tube, the workplaces. We can block the streets and squares. We can halt their shows of police force, we can halt their plans to cut services, wages and pensions. We have the power to finish with this corrupt society and create another based on equality, solidarity and human dignity. Let’s step lively in that direction!
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