events and reports

Solfed has been busy for the London Anarchist Bookfair, which is on at Queen Mary University this Saturday. Alongside launching a new range of posters and pamphlets, we will be running a large stall with books, mugs and even shopping bags (oh yes, we went to a great deal of trouble in the irony stakes), alongside hosting two key talks for the day.

The first talk, starting at noon (Room 3.23), will play off our popular workplace organiser training sessions, looking at the nuts and bolts of how to turn your workplace from a soul-crushing bore into a hive of lively rebellious activity.

Public Meeting: Saturday July 16th, 1:00pm at Friends Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester

The aim of this meeting is bring together activists fighting the government’s cuts to discuss views of ‘direct action’ and how to apply it to the current struggle. There will be a number of speakers, including one from SF who will present an anarcho-syndicalist viewpoint:

There has been a lot of talk in the anti-cuts movement about the importance of ‘winning the argument’. This strategy holds that the best way to go about fighting attacks on wages, living conditions and services is to point out the flaws in the pro-cuts arguments and suggest alternative policies which would avoid the need for cuts.

Some even seem to think that if the argument is won, the government will see the error of its ways, stop the planned cuts and everyone can go home happy.

After the last UCU pensions strike in March, several rank & file union members, upset at the lack of inter-union unity, set up the Manchester University Staff Against the Cuts group (MUSAC). The group has been meeting regularly and consists of members of Unite, Unison and UCU. Members of Manchester EWN are also involved.

It has been good to meet with people whose criticisms of the existing unions match our own in many ways. The group has held a weekly stall in the University, giving out leaflets in support of various anti-cut campaigns.

Teachers at Shorefields College in the Dingle have once again taken strike action against the possibility of the school becoming an academy. The latest day of action has seen the fight grow, with support staff in the GMB walking out alongside teachers from the NUT and NASUWT.

The picket line was well supported. Parents, teachers and support staff were joined by several pupils from the school - whilst members of the Merseyside Network Against Fees and Cuts, Liverpool Trades Council and Liverpool Solidarity Federation were amongst those who turned up in support. The Liverpool Socialist Choir also added a bit of noise to the event, providing lively renditions of workers and trade union songs, old and new.

During the picket, members of Liverpool Solfed handed out the latest edition of our free newsletter, Wildcat, and the Education Workers' Network leaflet, All Out For June 30th, about next week's national strikes.

After having our profile pulled off Facebook along with around 50 other political and anti-cuts groups on the social networking site around the time of the Royal Wedding (suspicious timing we're sure you'll agree), NLSF is back on Facebook, this time as a 'Page'. So if you're on Facebook, just search North London Solidarity Federation, go to our Page, click the 'Like' button, and help spread the word!

A list of all the groups that had their accounts disabled can be seen here.

On Friday 13th May Thames Valley (Reading) SolFed returned to the local Office Angels in support of Dan’s wage claim. By now people had begun to recognise us and in general the public were taking our leaflets quite happily. At 5-45 some of the staff from Office Angels came down and in contrast to the previous night's scuffle the mood was light-hearted. The man from the office who had sought to grab our leaflets came to apologise and tell us how much he respected our actions in support of Dan.

This series is published to both document interesting accounts from workers in struggle, as well as attempts to draw the theoretical lessons from them. Both original and republished texts are included. Most, but not all, are from the anarcho-syndicalist tradition. All are selected for their relevance for workers looking to organise today. The first two titles cover the Workmates collective on the London Underground, and an expanded reprint of the (now out of print) 1995 SolFed pamphlet on the shipyard struggles in Puerto Real.

In the face of the media storm over the protest on March 26, it’s important for all of us involved in fighting austerity to take a step back, whether we think the occupations and property destruction were useful or not. Ultimately, whatever their worth, it’s not through riots or occupations that we can defeat austerity. Only by causing economic disruption, and making it more expensive to carry through with the cuts than to make us concessions, will we win. And where we have the most power over the economy is in the workplace. It’s our work that makes up society and if we withdraw it by striking, or take other forms of direct action such as go-slows or work-to-rule’s, we – the working class – can call the shots and stop this attack on our class!

The latest issue of Education Worker, the newsheet of the Education Worker Network is available online now.  (See attachment below)

Read about student demos, academy schools, pensions and actions in the education sector.

If you want copies to hand out get in touch with us at ewn@ewn.org.uk.

North London members tapped in to their inner-artist today to create a truly beautiful new banner!

Long after the mysterious dissapperance of our old one, it was time for NLSF to create a new banner for all those marches and demos.