Oxford

   On Saturday the 7th of July Thames Valley Solidarity Federation joined a host of other groups in a day of action against workfare in Oxford to mark the start of the Week of Action.

   Like many other groups on the day, we began with the dilemma of who to target. Holland & Barrett had surrendered the previous week and there were so many exploiters to choose from. Still, all were in agreement that it was a fine dilemma to have!

Introducing the new Thames Valley SolFed banner!

Designed and manufactured by a local artist and banner maker on behalf of the local, the new banner will be seen out and about at SF events and actions in the Thames Valley area. It will also be joining us, along with the banners of our fellow locals, on the Radical Workers' Bloc at the Tolpuddle March on the 15th.

Hopefully the banner will be a great asset in terms of representing Thames Valley Solfed, and will hopefully add to our presence in Thames Valley!

On the 19th of May Thames Valley SolFed coordinated a day of action against Holland & Barrett as part of the national SF anti-workfare campaign. Pickets were held in both Reading & Oxford.

On Tuesday 23 August, youth workers in Oxfordshire went on strike over the County Council's plans to off-load its 26 youth centres in favour of “community hubs”, putting 80 professional youth worker jobs at risk and devastating services.

In Oxford a free coach had been put on by Unite. I joined a group of 20 or so supporters and striking youth workers and set off to the pickets in Banbury.

We arrived in Banbury at around 11am to join the already large and colourful picket at Banbury Youth Centre. This was the second picket of the day after a line at the council office from 8am. The atmosphere was good, considering the situation and the miserable weather, thanks to the large amount of support from passing traffic and pedestrians.

Friday the 17th of June saw the first Oxford 'Strike Assembly', meeting in advance of the strikes on June 30th to discuss, plan and organise.

We had public and private sector workers, unemployed, self-employed, students and NGO workers attending.

We are holding a morning rally which will go from picket to picket on the 30th: Meet at Gloucester Green at 7.30 am! Pickets are confirmed at Gloucester Green outside the Job Centre and at the Oxford and Cherwell and Valley College on Oxpens, so will be visiting there and other as yet unconfirmed pickets.

On Thursday 12th, Thames Valley Solfed leafleted outside Office Angels in Oxford, in addition to the pickets that we undertook in Reading.

We had about 10 people over the course of the picket, including friends of SolFed members who were passing & wanted to help out, a member of The Commune up for the day, and other Oxford locals. The office looked deserted at first but a member of staff came out & accepted our leaflet, but produced one of their own which deplored “the need for direct action”.

This short article was written by a member of the Thames Valley Solidarity Federation for inclusion in the upcoming fourth issue of 'The Ox-Fly', Oxford's radical newsletter, asking whether government is really the common foundation of our day-to-day lives...

‘Anarchy’ is a word that has a very bad reputation these days. The mere mention of it causes most people to imagine nothing but rows of burning cars, roaming gangs of looters and senseless violence in the streets. Anarchy, we are told, means nothing but the very breakdown of social order itself. Yet is it the truth? Is government really the vital foundation of our society?

This article was written by a Thames Valley Solidarity Federation member for Issue 3 of The Oxfly, a local anarchist newsletter produced and distributed in Oxford. It argues that winning the argument is all very well but society "is not a debating chamber but a power struggle between different groups with competing interests" - and we should fightback accordingly.

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.

This article was written by a Thames Valley Solidarity Federation member for Issue 3 of The Oxfly, a local anarchist newsletter produced and distributed in Oxford. It argues that winning the argument is all very well but society "is not a debating chamber but a power struggle between different groups with competing interests" - and we should fightback accordingly.

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.

We are very pleased to announce the formation of a new Local - Oxford and Reading!

Founded by a group of class struggle Anarchists and Anarcho-Syndicalists, the new Local will look to jointly cover both cities as a constituent part of the larger Federation. We will be looking to promote the messages of direct democracy, direct action and worker self-organisation in Oxford, Reading and the surrounding area.

We are due to have our inaugural meeting in the coming weeks, and shall be looking to complete our official afilliation with the Solidarity Federation very soon. If you are interested in Anarcho-Syndicalism and live or work nearby, get in touch with us! We can be contacted through the contact form here on the website.

In Solidarity,

Oxford & Reading SolFed