It is now a near certainty that we will see coordinated public sector strike action within the next couple of months. Solidarity Federation - which has members in the public sector unions which will be striking - stands in support of all workers acting to defend their jobs and the services those jobs provide to working class people.

UCU have already balloted. PCS is putting an emergency motion to its conference in May. The NUT sought permission to ballot at its recent conference. Even the moderate ATL already has a mandate to ask members for strike action. The only question now is how events unfold once the ball gets rolling.

If there's anyone out there in the Chester or wider area (so Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Warrington, Crewe etc) who is interested in anarcho-syndicalism and setting up a new Local of the Solidarity Federation, please get in touch by emailing: chestersf[at]solfed.org.uk

Short, generic double-sided A5 leaflet meant to be given out on picket lines or in the run-up to a strike.

Since March the Solidarity Federation (SF) has been involved in supporting a victimised former Office Angels temporary worker. Dan worked for Office Angels for three days in December of last year. He was assured by the company that the lack of a time-sheet would 'not be a problem'. However, Office Angels are refusing to pay him the wages he is owed - falsely claiming he only worked for one day, despite them having called him at work on his third day.

So far we have held pickets in London and across the country, as Office Angels have still not paid Dan the wages he is owed we are now calling for a national week of action against Office Angels branches from Monday 9 May till Sunday 15 May. We are also asking for people to make solidarity calls and emails to the branch he had been working for on Wednesday 11 May. Office Angels is a subsidiary of Adecco so we are asking for Adecco branches to be targeted as well.

Alright, so after trying to decipher Joh's handwriting (not that I have any right to speak), I've added some extra action points on this.  There's also info about subs and finance, so please read that section closely...

M, can we add W to the list (email address cc-d)?  W, email J in SLSF to get an online account.

Also, both our treasurer and sec are looking to step down.

Current Nominations:

Sec: K, T (declined, but willing to job share)
Tres: G

If you would like to step up or decline a nomination, please post it to the list as we've provisionally agree to pick new officers at the next NL meeting.

----------------
 

Present: Not recorded, but we were in double digits including W, our newest member

Apologies: K, S, I, G

Minutes: John, transcribed by T

Chair: Joa

Personal Reports

This series is published to both document interesting accounts from workers in struggle, as well as attempts to draw the theoretical lessons from them. Both original and republished texts are included. Most, but not all, are from the anarcho-syndicalist tradition. All are selected for their relevance for workers looking to organise today. The first two titles cover the Workmates collective on the London Underground, and an expanded reprint of the (now out of print) 1995 SolFed pamphlet on the shipyard struggles in Puerto Real.

We picketed the Brighton branch of Office Angels for the second time in 24 hours this morning to keep the pressure up in the dispute over unpaid wages. After running out of leaflets yesterday we printed another batch overnight to inform passers by and potential Office Angels workers of the details of the dispute, and to encourage them to get in touch if they've also been mistreated by Office Angels.

Until Dan gets paid, we will keep on increasing the pressure we are putting on the company. We want to hear from any current or previous Office Angels employees that have come into conflict with this company and its culture of disrespect. We know that this is not an isolated incident and the more people get involved, the more pressure we can put on the company to start treating its workers properly.

Brighton SolFed today answered the call for solidarity from South London SolFed, who have been organising pickets against employment agency Office Angels over a non-payment dispute at their Wimbledon branch. Dan worked for Office Angels for three days in December of last year. He was assured by the company that the lack of a time-sheet would 'not be a problem'. However, Office Angels are refusing to pay him the wages he is owed - falsely claiming he only worked for one day, despite them having called him at work on his third day. After completely ripping him off, they had the nerve to harass him for seeking advice on an internet discussion forum.

This past weekend saw much of North London Solidarity Federation take to the streets of London in celebration of May Day. Six others of us, however, took the opportunity to hop the train to Brighton to attend SolFed's national conference. Reflecting the fact that SolFed is an active and growing organisation we were joined at conference by approximately a third of the national organisation. We were also lucky to have two observers from the Swedish Syndicalist Youth Organisation, the SUF, who brought not only greetings from our Swedish comrades but were keen to participate and exchange ideas and experiences.

 Office Angels
- Dan still not paid! South London calling for pickets next week and communications blockade probably on the Wednesday but not yet confirmed.
- Mons to set up doodle for when, next week, we can do it. After 3 days Mons to set up facebook event
- j or C to bring camera for it. C, Auto, Mons to bring flags. Mons to ask others how many leaflets we'll need
roughly. C and P can print some at work and Mons will ask O, oxford anarchist printer, if need be.