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:

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.

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:

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.

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?  

Despite a large escort of police and a helicopter assigned specially for us (we had a chopper above us from about 11am to 5pm) we weren't deemed a major target for the most part, and made it to Trafalgar Square with little incident and a lot of happy folks taking papers, leaflets etc. At the square we made a sudden breakaway to head up and join Boycott Workfare as part of our ongoing campaign to bring down a piece of legislation which sees companies and charities using free labour from the unemployed to undercut low-paid workers' conditions.

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.
NLSF members are involved in the struggle against academies in WalthamForest and Solfeds Education Workers Network have previously produced an academies special edition of the Education Worker which highlights the many reasons why academies are bad for education workers, children and our communities.

Ray Woolford is hard to avoid in local politics in Lewisham. He’s a political activist, four-time local election candidate, editor of the Lewisham Campaigner, bankroller of the local self-styled ‘revolutionary socialist’ Lewisham People Before Profit party, owner of Housemartins estate agents and former owner of the now closed Come the Revolution cafe.  We want to highlight the risks involved in working with him (and indeed, anyone associated with him), and advise everyone to give him a very wide berth. 

As the owner of Come the Revolution he
• Fired workers who joined Unite, the union
• Used threats of closing the business to get his way
• Accused workers of theft to cover up his own mismanagement
• Used the government’s workfare schemes for free labour

Over last year Newcastle SolFed members have been shifting thousands of the SolFeds national paper, Catalyst at metros, bus and train stations, as people head to or from work. Our regular street presence has been well received by passing commuters, with regulars stopping to chat. Newcastle will continue to build on their their high profile street pitches for 2013.

Liverpool SolFed have agreed to publish the following solidarity appeal from Sociedad Obrera Apoyo Mutuo de Sevilla (Mutual Aid Workers Society of Seville). At a recent local meeting, we agreed to make a solidarity donation to the organisation.
 

As part of the ongoing national campaign against Workfare, Poundland on Abington Street is bracing itself for the 3rd picket in as many weeks this weekend. Please get involved and help us intensify the pressure. If you can't make the pickets there are other ways you can get involved. Contact us via the website.

We've let them know that we aren't giving up until they withdraw from the Governments forced labour scheme, and start paying ALL the workers. It seems that the staff at Pondland in Northampton are confused as to why unpaid workers are at Poundland. Its because your managers signed up for it.

Link for more information about Workfare.