On Saturday a group of us formed a protest outside Poundland in Priory Meadow shopping centre Hastings against their continued use of the government's workfare scheme. Although few in number we made a very big impact. The first action was to send someone in store to put anti workfare leaflets on the store's shelves. At lot of customers pick these up and read them. We then stood outside the shop front with our banner and handed more leaflets and talked to members of the public. We got a good response and at least 15 people would not shop there after talking to us.

The store supervisor came out and told us we would have to move as it was private property - we refused as it is a public area. The centre security staff turned up and told us the same and asked for our names we refused on both points, so they called the police. The manager of the store then came out and said they were not using workfare then changed her story to they did use it but it gave people jobs?????

As the Spanish government announced a two year halt on evictions in “the most urgent cases” today, following two suicides by people evicted from their homes, more than a hundred people have demonstrated this evening outside the headquarters of the PP.  Rejecting a “whitewash” and calling for a stop on all evictions they occupied various banks, including the Banco de España. Inside the banks people shouted “how many more will you kill?” and “these are not suicides, they are murders”. The government made the announcement following mass anger when a woman in Barakaldo threw herself from her window just before eviction, and a man in Granada was found hanged in his flat when the police came to evict him.  Evictions are running at 500 a day in Spain. 

Where: Entrance to St. Pancras Station
When: Monday 19th November, 12:00 – 2:00
Contact: pret.staff.union (at) gmail.com or northlondonsf (at) solfed.org.uk

Since being formed earlier this year, the Pret a Manger Staff Union has faced harassment and victimisation.  In an all too familiar scenario, activists from the union have faced a series of trumped-up disciplinary charges.

Join North London SolFed in standing up to union-busting by helping us picket the Pret shop where the union was formed and where two members are in the process of fighting victimisation.

Solidarity is going to be key to fighting fast food exploitation, so spread the word.

A woman committed suicide today in Spain when she was about to be evicted by La Caixa bank. The woman, in Barakaldo, near Bilbao, threw herself from the window just before the eviction. There were protests in many places including Barakaldo and Madrid, and banks across the country are tonight wearing slogans such as "murderers" and "guilty". This is the forth suicide linked to evictions in two weeks. 

There are more than 500 evictions a day in Spain and there is a growing anti eviction movement, which mobilises people to blockade houses and physically prevent the evictions from taking place. 

Teachers at Connaught School started a two day strike today (Wed 7th) against plans to force the school to become an academy. There were more than thirty people on the picket line, and all NUT members at the school were out on strike. NASUWT are balloting for strike action.

The teachers said they had received welcome support from the teachers at Stratford School, also striking  at the moment against attempts by the head to dock their pay by 15% for carrying out the ongoing NUT work to rule.

The picket will start at 7:15 am tomorrow and pickets welcome support from the community.

The following talk was recorded at this year's big anarchist bash and features comments on the controversial government "Workfare" scheme by reps from Boycott Workfare, Solidarity Federation, Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty and others, explaining how people are treated and looking at some of the techniques which are being used to push companies out of the programme.

Critics of the scheme say that using job centres to provide free labour for unskilled or low-skilled jobs actively discourages companies from paying living wages for such jobs - why would they, when they can get the same thing done for free?

Url link

As part of the Solidarity Federation's ongoing campaign targeting employers who use workfare, members of North London SF today converged on Kilburn High Road.

Members of North London Solidarity Federation today joined with other activists, trade unionists, and members of the public to demand reinstatement of a victimized Pret a Manger worker.

The Solidarity Federation will be at the London Anarchist Bookfair again this year. It will be the first place you can get your hands on our new pamphlet 'Fighting for ourselves: anarcho-syndicalism and the class struggle'. Our other publications will also be available alongside books, posters and tshirts. 

This year the Solidarity Federation will be presenting the following talks:

Nobody Expects The Solidarity Federation! - Room 318, 11-12

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.