library

MEANS OF SURVIVAL

The majority of people are reliant on a web of different organisations and infrastructure in order to live full and happy lives. We need access to hospitals, transport, waste disposal, water, electricity, and many other municipal services in order to live.

CHANGE IS POSSIBLE

We face many problems today. From economic stagnation and poverty, to state violence and oppression, to crumbling infrastructure and services, to discrimination and hatred based on any number of characteristics, to the possibility of complete environmental collapse. Many of these problems have been with us for hundreds of years, or have flared up again after progress was seemingly made against them. Many of those in power are unwilling to address these problems, and they often benefit directly from them. Worse still, popular movements to solve these problems have only won temporary relief and have often acted as a stepping stone to power for their leaders instead of creating lasting change.

• New Leaders Same Old Problems 
• Education Not Marketisation, by higher education members of SFEU 
• Inequality in the UK 
• Black Women in History 
• Wellness Schemes At Work Don't Work 
• About Direct Action and Solidarity Federation 

• A General Strike, Will It Happen?
• Domestic Violence is a Workplace Issue
• How To Support Victims And Survivors Of Domestic Violence At Work
• Solidarity Federation workplace organiser training
• Revitalising Our Collectives: Muddling Through
• Bosses claw back minimum wage increase from workers
• War, poverty, crisis & disease: The true face of the capitalist system
• About Direct Action and Solidarity Federation

You are not alone!

Sexism is a constant presence in many workplaces where it can take many forms. From lower pay, to expectations of unpaid work, to sexual harassment by bosses, other workers or customers, sexism means women and workers seen as women are treated unequally on the basis of sex or gender.

This pamphlet looks at the reality of sexism in the workplace and what we can do about it. As anarcho-syndicalists we favour direct, collective strategies that build and maintain a culture of resistance in the workplace. We consider how workers can directly confront sexism or cope when confrontation is not possible, building a culture of solidarity and support at work, which ultimately means you and others experiencing sexism are less isolated and more likely to win.

The Law and its Limits | Your legal situation | Problems with the legal approach

Sexism at work | You are not alone | What does sexism look like? | Unequal treatment | Objectification | Sexual harassment | Structural disadvantage | Microagressions

What to do about it | Strategies, tactics, solidarity | Coping strategies | Tactics of resistance

Solidarity and Support | Mutual aid | Acts of Solidarity | Building Wider Support

Cleaners have a vital role in society, yet their job is poorly paid and routinely dismissed as a job carried out mainly by women to earn a bit of extra cash. Cleaning is also not generally seen as a particularly physically hard or dangerous job. Most people see cleaning as involving a bit of dusting, mopping and hoovering.

Written by a cleaner, this pamphlet draws on research from across the world to show the reality of cleaning and the impact the job has on the health and wellbeing of cleaners. The pamphlet not only examines the more obvious aspects of the job that affect cleaners’ health, such as the physical demands of the job and the effects of cleaning chemicals, but also takes into account the detrimental impact of factors such as low pay, ever- increasing workloads, low status, sexual harassment and family commitments on the everyday lives of cleaners. In doing so, the pamphlet exposes the true cost being paid by cleaners and their families for job that is central to the wellbeing of society as a whole.

As such, this pamphlet is not only essential reading for cleaners but for all those interested in seeing greater justice for one of the most exploited and marginalised groups of workers.

Starting a new life in the UK can be intimidating. Many things are different to how they were at home. Most things are expensive, and some things are just plain difficult. There might be a new language or a new culture to contend with. Dealing with all this whilst struggling to find a job or accommodation can feel impossible. With this in mind, Manchester Solidarity Federation have put together a short guide to the city. We've tried to cover all the basics about living and working here, and where to go for help and what resources are available.

The guide is available at manchestermigrantsguide.org.uk. We hope to have translations into languages other than English in the near future. We must emphasise the guide is a work in progress and if you have any suggestions, corrections or comments please do not hesitate to contact us.

We are so used to landlords - and the power they have - that they can seem unchallengeable. They make profit from our need for a home, and using the courts and the police, can make us homeless.

Brighton Solfed's Newsletter - Issue 3 - 2015 - brightonsolfed.org.uk

• Bankrupt excuses from a bankrupted business!
• The Radical Bank evicted - a brief history of self-management to be continued
• Notice pay: the facts
• Repression through jail is still on in Spain
• An experience: Hospitality horrendously hurts...
• This is solidarity, not charity - An injury to one is an injury to all!

From the first murmurs of 1894, to the Great Unrest of 1911 and the punchy Direct Action Movement of the ’80s and ’90s, this in-brief pamphlet follows the thread of libertarian union organising in Britain.