Report back from IWA conference in León, Spain

Three delegates from Brighton Solidarity Federation attended the conference mainly dealing with ‘precarity’, self-management and co-operatives. The conference was hosted at the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo’s IX anarchist camp near León in northern Spain.

Catalyst #24 out now!

The Summer 2010 edition of our national newspaper is now available. Download as a pdf here. Featuring articles on the emergency budget cuts, analysis of the welfare reforms, know your rights: beating the bailiffs, international news, academy schools, killer cops and much more.

Newsletter: emergency budget special

A special edition of ‘Brighton & Hove Solidarity’ – the bulletin of Brighton Solidarity Federation is now available to download, to coincide with the announcement of the emergency austerity budget today. You can download a pdf here. Contents includes: Class war budget, strikes off and redundancies on at Sussex Uni, a local teacher’s view on academy schools, local council cuts and an article on the hidden side of the World Cup – workers’ exploitation and resistance.

National day of action against the Flexible New Deal

Wednesday June 16th marks the first National Day of Action against the Flexible New Deal called by the No to Welfare Abolition network. All over the country groups who are campaigning against recent welfare reforms will be taking action against the companies who are involved in running welfare-to-work. Here in Brighton we will meet at the Clocktower, outside Boots, at 11am on Wedneday 16th June.

Berlin: ban of FAU grassroots union overturned

News from our comrades in Berlin, who had been dragged into the courts by the bosses of the Cinema Babylon.

About 50 people gathered in the biggest hall of Berlin’s Higher Court on the morning of June 10th. They were waiting for the decision on the FAU Berlin’s appeal on whether they could call themselves a union. Only 15 minutes into the trial, the judge delivered the verdict. The injunction is overturned; the ban is repealed; the crowd goes wild.

The court emphasized how weak the plaintiff’s arguments were. The Babylon Mitte cinema management, where the employees and the FAU have been waging an effective labor struggle since last year, insisted on their point of view: The FAU Berlin is only aloud to call itself a union, if it has proven it has the capacity to conclude collective agreements. This refers to Berlin’s Labor Court decision to grant an injunction to Babylon’s management banning a boycott call made by the FAU Berlin. That judge justified his decision by saying the FAU Berlin isn’t what case law traditionally considers a union with the capacity to conclude collective agreements. Only such union are legally allowed to take job action, i.e. call for boycotts.

(the) Stuff Your Boss (doesn’t want you to know)

A guide to your basic rights at work – by workers, for workers. The Solidarity Federation’s basic rights pamphlet has been updated and is now available to download here. Remember the most effective way of defending our rights is by organising ourselves and taking collective direct action. By forming our own groups where everyone is equal, we can resist exploitation and enforce our rights at work effectively. Defending our rights is just the start. Once we achieve this, we can start to take the initiative. An injury to one is an injury to all!

Emergency protest against attack on Gaza aid ship

An emergency protest has been called for Monday 31. May, 6pm near the War Memorial at the Old Steine.

Conference: defeating cuts in education

THIS Saturday (29th May), 12pm – 6pm in Brighton. Join the Facebook event. Venue to be confirmed very soon here and on Facebook.

As a new government is getting ready to attack the living conditions of ordinary people, students and education workers have already had experiences with cuts – and how we can stop them. We will try to draw the lessons from the strikes, occupations and other forms of direct action taken in HE and FE over the last months. How can we build effective alliances between students and workers? How can we act in solidarity across education establishments? How can we organise from below to defend education?

We don’t need a party

After the failure at the polls, much attention from socialists and trade unionists has fallen upon the possibilities of working class political representation. While some talk of ‘reclaiming’ the Labour Party for the workers movement, others feel this party has had it’s day, and a replacement is needed. The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) can in many ways be seen as the springboard for the latest such attempt  – coming on the heels of past attempts, such as Arthur Scargil’s Socialist Labour Party.

Labour themselves resorted to ‘class war’ rhetoric in a supposed ‘core vote’ strategy during the election campaign. This is not of course a new idea. The Labour Party was founded in the early 20^th century, and subsequently set about supporting imperialist wars and breaking strikes. So why after a century of failure is the idea of a workers’ party stubbornly refusing to die?

Film screening: The Free Voice of Labor

The Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists (Paul Avrich, 1980, Duration 58 mins)

UK: Brighton, 21st June 2010, 7.30pm, The Cowley Club, 12 London Road, Brighton, BN1 4JA Free/Donation

Blending participant’s interviews with stills, newsreel footage and selections from old motion pictures, this documentary gives a fascinating and penetrating insight into the lives and struggles of Jewish anarchists in the USA. The movement reached its greatest influence between 1880 and World War I but continued through libertarian schools, gatherings, workplace struggles and friendship – publishing a Yiddish anarchist paper until 1980.

Organised by the Cowley Club Library Collective. For more info on The Cowley Club (Brightons collectively run libertarian social centre) see: www.cowleyclub.org.uk