demonstrations, pickets and protests

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. 

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.

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.

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 Saturday, the Lib Dems' party conference was in Brighton. Following a protest march, there were simultaneous mass pickets of firms using workfare across Brighton. Rather than simply 'having our say' and being ignored by politicians, the idea was to disrupt a high profile coalition policy - the forced, unpaid work schemes known as workfare.

Workfare means unemployed people being forced to do unpaid work for their benefits. Workfare is a state subsidy to private businesses, providing free labour and undercutting the minimum wage. The government’s own research found that in countries that introduced workfare it could actually lower a jobseeker’s chances of finding a job. Where previously these roles would have been filled by paid staff, employers get to take advantage of a growing pool of jobseekers they won’t have to pay.

Members of Solent local of the Solidarity Federation picketed Domino’s pizza in Bitterne Southampton as part of the International Day of Action in support of Australian delivery drivers of  the General Transport Workers Association. Some interesting conversations were had with staff and public (hello Eddie!)

A communications blockade will follow on Monday 17th.

Report from our comrades in Caen, France

Earlier today, North London SolFed targeted Poundland as part of our national campaign against workfare. Despite it being a Sunday, the High Road was fairly busy. We arrived early to set up our Stuff Your Boss stall opposite Poundland at the market and received some interest from passers by who were offered informational leaflets about their rights at work (Stuff Your Boss) and their rights as tenants (Stuff Your Landlord) as well as others.

At noon several of us entered the store to talk to the employees, to explain the reasons for our picket and the conversations we had were quite positive. Afterwards we set up our picket and began handing out leaflets to shoppers and passing members of the public. Soon we were also joined by members of other local groups and residents who happened upon our stall in the market.

On Tuesday the 28th of august members of Hull Solfed were joined by disabled activists in staging a protest outside the local office of official Paralympics sponsor Atos. Like similar demonstrations happening simultaneously around the country we wanted to shine a spotlight on Atos and its practices. Employed by the DWP to carry out work capability assessments declaring sick and disabled people 'fit for work', Atos uses an inhuman computer programme to do the testing, and trains its staff to push people off benefits. They profit from destroying the rights and lives of disabled people.