Public

Report from the first SF Tech & Digital Workers' network meeting

Below is a brief account of the first meeting of the Solidarity Federation's Tech & Digital Workers' network, held in Oct 2012. The Tech & Digital network is made up of those SF members who work in the industry and is aiming to help get workers in the industry organising together.

This October saw the Tech & Digital Workers' network of the Solidarity Federation hold it's first meeting at the Freedom offices in London.

There was a very good attendance, including both SF members and interested non-members. There was a good number of different fields represented at the meeting including; I.T. Support, web development, solid state electronics, games and research among others.

Self-Education

No such thing as a decent quality free lunch? Probably not, but A History of Anarcho-syndicalism is both free and (we hope) decent quality. It has been produced by the SelfEd Collective, labour free and at minimal costs. If you have no Internet access and require printed materials, these will be supplied at cost.

Objectives

A History of Anarcho-syndicalism is designed to;

Topic:

Workfare sanctions extended from today

The governement has today significantly increased the sanctions for non-compliance with the benefits regime, including the controversial unpaid, forced work 'workfare' schemes. Under a 'three strikes' policy, benefits will be stopped for three months, six months, and then three years for failing to meet a series of conditions, many of which relate to workfare. According to a notiification letter given to all JSA claimants, this includes:

Oct 20: The View from Embankment

On the day some of us met up at Charing Cross station, in every corner you could see union branches and anti-cuts groups from up and down the country meeting up in the concourse.

We arrived at the Embankment to a sea of banner and as wemarched we met both people we knew from round London and people from all across the UK. We met Welsh comrades who'd come over night or on the 5am coach which made us feel pretty lazy.

EWN Workplace Organiser Training Day - 17. November

 

SolFed's Education Workers’ Network will host our first workplace organiser training on Saturday, 17th November 2012, 10am-6pm; at SOAS, London (1st floor, Brunei Gallery building, opposite the main SOAS building entrance).

This will be a day of training sessions & discussions on workplace issues for workers in educational organisations regardless of job, role and whether unionised or not. It is addressed at anyone who wants to:

build a network with fellow education workers;
learn to take on management and organise workplace struggle;
share ideas & experiences on building solidarity and confidence in the workplace.

Programme includes basic workplace organiser training & workshops on:

10 years of ASI: it's not a time for celebration, but for struggle

Reflections by ASI-IWA, our Serbian sister section, at the occasion of their tenth anniversary.

In previous ten years ASI has intensively supported the organizing of revolutionary libertarian workers' movement. Apart from direct participation in workers' and student strikes and protests, we are regularly publishing our weekly bulletin “Direktna akcija” (Direct Action) and sustain active publishing activities. This year, as it has for the past eight years, our publishing-research body — Center for Libertarian Studies (CLS) will be participating in The Belgrade Bookfare with the intention to make the theory and history of the workers' movement accessible to people, as well as to confront commercialization of culture, and support spreading and strengthening of progressive thought and radical social critique.

October 20: The view from Oxford Circus

It has to be said today went well. An anarchist contingent several hundred strong gathered at Harmsworth for the big march into central London, with more red and black flags than ever and plans to totally ignore Hyde Park's selection of crusty bureaucrats telling us that we (ie. they) are "being heard" to ask nicely for slightly less austerity, please? Oh go on, pretty please?  

No forced academies- Connaught school on strike in Leyton

On Tuesday morning (16th Oct) strike action by National Union of Teachers (NUT) members closed Connaught School for Girls in Leytonstone. Several NLSF members who live locally to the school, as well as local parents and students joined the picket.
The teachers took strike action in protest at plans to turn the secondary school into an academy. Across the borough, primary and secondary schools are being academised/privatised and plans are underway for a freeschool to be set up in Walthamstow.
The teachers at Connaught are preparing for further strike action and may be out again next week on Wednesday.