North London Solidarity Federation hereby expresses its solidarity with Bloomsbury Fightback and the activists involved in the Bloomsbury Social Centre initiative in their resistance against the imminent threat of violent eviction by SOAS management.
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Anti-Atos Leafleting plus giving claimants advice on appeals and what to do during benefits medical assessments.
Friday, 16 December 2011.
13:30 until 14:30.
Atos Medical Assessment Centre, Corunna House, 29 Cadogan Street, Glasgow G2 7AB.
Our regular workers' rights stall hits London Road, Brighton. Drop by if you're having trouble at work, or just to chat!
Solfed members were on the pickets in London for the biggest wildcat strike of 2011 and one of the biggest electricians' walkouts of recent years. Below we summarise some of the events around Blackfriars as thousands of electricians downed tools against the breaking of national working agreements which will mean pay cuts of up to 35% and defied an injunction against official strike action brought by Balfour's legal team just days before. Below that we've collated summaries from elsewhere.
On November 30th, South London Solfed set out to support the strike in Lewisham. Members and friends got together with food, drink and positive energy for the pickets. We started at the town hall at 7am and moved north through the borough stopping at Kaleidoscope (NHS), Job Centre Plus, Lewisham Hospital, Wearside refuse centre and Goldsmiths college.
As well as bringing supplies, we helped leaflet and tried convincing workers not to cross picket lines. We found few union members willing to challenge their colleagues in a meaningful way. Having a group of 30 supporting picket lines boosted visibility and confidence, but workers will have to become more active in their workplaces to make the real difference. We hope that as this struggle goes on the social stigma attached to scabbing returns and we see stronger picket lines.
While David Cameron and his cabinet of millionaires live it up in their multiple luxurious mansions, they propose to hit those who have only one roof over their heads with an all-out assault on housing benefits and social housing.
The Government’s proposals include:
Yesterday, Liverpool Solidarity Federation members joined picket lines in Liverpool and Bootle to offer support to strikers and attended a 20,000-strong march through the City Centre. Below are several personal reports from members' blogs.
See reflections from striking Solfed members at Truth, Reason & Liberty and Working Class Self-Organisation.
A choice: race to the bottom or fight and win - blog by a Solfed member in the private sector who supported the strike.
An eyewitness account by a Hackney picket:
I went from my picket line to the CLR James library picket at about 10. On the bus up there I was a bit disturbed to see a police helicopter hovering above Dalston Junction. When I got to the library there were a huge number of TSG kettling about 35 people with a mobile sound system. I managed to speak to people in the kettle and they told me that two people had been beaten up and arrested earlier when people had tried to block the road.
I called people on my picket line and asked them to come quickly to the library. A small group of us stood around for ages occasionally having short conversations with the kettled protesters or telling the police that they were disgusting. I phoned my picket again and was dismayed to find out that they had all gone to another picket line that was nearer.