anarchism

Don't forget next Saturday, December 2nd the Manchester & Salford Anarchist Bookfair will be taking place. As well as book stalls there will be number of talks taking place on a wide range of subjects. In the evening there will be social with several bands appearing.

Manchester SF will be doing a talk on 21st Century Anarcho-Syndicalism

We all know the old saying ‘if you don't vote, you can't complain’. A better one would be ‘ if all you do is vote, you can't complain’.

Dig a little deeper into the history books and what you find at the heart of change is direct action and organisation at a grassroots level. Everything from workers rights, women's rights, decent wages and even the right to vote itself have been gained this way, rulers typically resist change until they know they have no choice but to throw a few more crumbs to the people below.

Although Liverpool-SolFed is still a small a very recent group, we were present in the May Day demonstration in Liverpool. A few comrades join the parade from Toxteth Library to St. Georges Hall alongside with different unions and groups active in the area. 

During a September Saturday Brighton SolFed held a network and skills day covering; the immigration act and healthcare, the attack on benefits, fighting wage theft and anarchists on austerity. This full day, including a mighty lunch prepared by members, maintained a constant level of debate and information, concluding in practical action points to continue agitating around Brighton and beyond.

A dozen people attended, with a few new faces introduced. Though the intention was to have a broader participation, the level of contributions and emphasis on what can be done rather than purely information, made for a quality day.

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.

Sun 19 Apr 7pm, Edinburgh benefit gig & films in solidarity with Anarchists against repression in Spain. Banshee Labyrinth EH1 1LG - event

also join us Fri 17 April 12noon - Edinburgh solidarity picket against 'Ley Mordaza' and to demand all 'Operación Pandora' charges in Spain are dropped - event

Newcastle SolFed are holding their annual May Day Bash on Saturday 2nd May at The Telegraph pub, Orchard Street, Newcastle - doors open 7-30pm. This year we will be raising awareness and hopefully a few quid in support of anarchists arrested in Operation Pandora, a Spanish State anti-terrorist initiative that has been used as a represive measure against those opposed to the State and Capital, with dozens of anarchists arrested. Spain has a long and strong tradition of anarchist organising and this abuse of civil liberties supported throughout mainstream Spanish media is a potent reminder of the origins of May Day in 1886, where anarchists in Chicago were framed in the famous Haymarket massacre. The media fuelled the witch hunt against those anarchists, demanding the death sentence which saw 4 of the accused hung, only to be pardoned 7 years later. Its the same old story, anarchists are still being framed in 2015 for the crimes they have not committed.

The Manchester & Salford Anarchist Bookfair takes place on December 1st at the People's History Museum. Members of Manchester SolFed and Liverpool SolFed, as well as comrades from other northern locals, will be there to represent and promote the anarcho-syndicalist tendency. Stop by for a chat if you're planning to attend! Click here for more info on the stalls and talks confirmed so far.

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

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