With all the world-wide Pride events taking place, it's easy to forget where and how it all began. The Stonewall Riot in NYC occurred during the year 1969, when continued police harassment at The Stonewall gay bar in Greenwich Village prompted the community to fight back. In the days that followed, thousands of people came out to protest police brutality and inequality for gay people.

SolFed responded to a call for international action after the sacking of a CNT member in Spain. Ana, a worker with Red Cross in Alicante, had suffered prolonged bullying by her works coordinator culminating in her wrongful sacking. Ana is a well respected substance abuse worker with years of experience. As a member of our sister union, the CNT, her sacking has initiated a campaign to see her reinstated. The sacking has thrown light on Red Cross and their vicious internal practices toward their workforce, high-lighting the fact that they are no different to any other cut-throat capitalist company.

SolFed locals responded with a communication blockade and pickets of Red Cross shops in Newcastle and Brighton.

Brighton's picket was part of a week of SolFed action, here's their report:

The ‘living wage’ is an annual estimation of the average wage needed to cover in a realistic way the expenses of a person living in the UK. It is also a demand made by different unions and civil organizations in the UK and sets the ‘subsistence salary’ at £7.85 per hour (except for London, where the ‘living wage’ is £9.15 per hour).

Members of Newcastle Local once again headed for the hills for a day out in Northumberland, this time celebrating the July 19th victory over Franco's fascists in Barcelona.

July 19th 1936 saw our sister union in Spain, the CNT, in vicious street fighting around the Barcelona barracks. Successfully crushing the fascist uprising, the CNT went on to take control of the city and beyond, placing the running of all services, production and distribution firmly in the hands of the workers. The bravery of the actions of the CNT on July 19th 1936 has provided inspiration throughout generations since, showing another world is possible - one in which society can be run by the workers, for the workers, free from politicians and the State.

On 19. July 1936, the Spanish state collapsed, after the fascist militar coup. The  revolutionary working class expelled the military from many areas of the country and made the most developed experience of self-management that eever happened. Eventually the Spanish Revolution failed both due to its enemies and its own mistakes.
Today, almost 80 years later, our intention is not to create a myth, beautiful but harmless. We want to recover this part of the history of the Spanish revolutionaires which is the history of all freedom lovers and, of course, give tribute to those who gave their lives for the emancipation of humanity.

Newcastle SolFed have launched their Building Workers campaign with a lightening quick win. Faced with a site agent who repeatedly refused to provide adequate welfare facilities for a large building site in North Tyneside, SolFed contacted the company with a demand to repair and clean up the toilet block.

Within hours, the toilet block was repaired and cleaned up, and as an onsite SolFed member stated, were being used for the first time in months for what they were intended for.

Newcastle SolFed Building Workers want to speak with anyone who works in construction, building maintenance and engineering. Within these industries more and more workers are increasingly struggling with management abuses, pay freezes, zero hours contracts and especially prone to being stung for their wages from cowboy bosses.

Healthcare should be available to all. The need for care outweighs any excuse to restrict access to healthcare, for example whether they have the ability to pay or where they have come from. Yet the Immigration Act of 2014 is trying to reverse this. It affects many areas of life such as housing and health. The aim of it is to punish those who are vulnerable. It is part of an ideology that is racist, and aims to divert attention away from those who benefit from capitalism, stigmatising other areas of society.

This pamphlet, written by members of Brighton SolFed’s Health and Social Care Network, with support from Brighton Migrant Solidarity and Docs Not Cops, looks at how it is affecting the NHS and how it aims to make health workers do the dirty work of the government by policing the people they treat. This is through administrative oppression creating gatekeepers to health.

A cracking day was had by members of Newcastle SolFed today in wildest Northumberland. We've collected a few names for the next walk (July) but there's always space (we hope!) for new people. if you are interested in getting to meet members of Newcastle SolFed in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere - give us a shout!

The Brighton SolFed Health & Social Care network holds drop-in surgeries on the last Monday of each month. The next one will be on Monday 27th July, 7 - 9 pm at the Saint Georges Tavern, near Sussex County Hospital (33 Upper Sudeley Street, Kemp Town, BN2 1HE).

We recently launched our new pamphlet on the implications of the Immigration Act for NHS workers, including ways to collectively sabotage the attempt to make frontline health workers gatekeepers to the state's anti-migrant agenda.

We welcome all workers in the sector, whether NHS, private, or voluntary / charity.

For fourteen days a diverse and relatively big group of people faced managing the space, without leaders or public or private funds. Issues such as cleaning and maintenance, legality, security, activities, communication and conviviality were discussed in open meetings and tackled collectively.