Direct Action Against The Cuts
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.
Letter: Scab Labour is nothing new
This is a letter written by Liverpool SolFed and printed in the Liverpool Echo newspaper yesterday (6th July 2011).
Pro-strike/anti-scabbing posters
Three generic posters for supporting strike action, available as a pdf.
Brighton J30 strikes report
The June 30th strikes were well observed in Brighton, with the vast majority of schools shut, five picket lines across the city and a huge march and rally through the town centre.
Jobcentre picket: PCS and supporters set up banners & stall at 7am. BBC radio interviewed PCS organiser & interviewer disclosed that he was going to London after to plan future NUJ action. 2 pickets formed, at entrance to Jobcentre and at staff entrance. Approx 10-15 non-union staff arrived early and entered building. A solid picket of 30-40 formed by 8.15, ready for 8.30 opening. Much beeping of car horns and public goodwill. 2 supporters handing out claimants' leaflets were told forecourt is private property and were physically removed by security.
Hull Vodafone leaflet
This included one person asking about groups in Nottingham, who was refered to the National Website.
Hacia a la Huelga General
Las organizaciones sindicales Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), Solidaridad Obrera (SO) y Coordinadora Sindical de Clase (CSC) nos reunimos el pasado 24 de junio en Madrid para valorar las respuestas que, ante el ataque sin precedentes que trabajadores y trabajadoras estamos sufriendo por la política de recortes y pérdida de derechos impulsada por el gobierno y las instituciones europeas, a instancias de la patronal y los mercados, debemos oponer en un proceso de lucha coordinada desde la unidad de acción y de clase.
Las distintas organizaciones sindicales participantes compartimos el rechazo frontal a unas políticas que, con las sucesivas reformas laborales, los recortes en el sistema de pensiones, la reforma de la negociación colectiva y los recortes sociales y en los servicios públicos, pretenden, una vez más, que sean los trabajadores y trabajadoras, y los sectores más débiles de la sociedad, quienes paguen la crisis capitalista.
Spain: Towards a General Strike
A joint statement released by our Spanish sister section, the CNT, along with several other Spanish unions (leer en español).
The unions Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), Solidaridad Obrera (SO) and Coordinadora Sindical de Clase (CSC) met on June 24 in Madrid to discuss how we can respond to the attack we the workers are under, an attack without precedents, one that bushwhacks our acquired rights, one made a reality by the government and European institutions, the bosses and the markets. How we can coordinate a struggle, and a response, based on class unity and action.
Manchester Education Workers’ Network Report, June 30th Strike
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.
Marxism vs Anarchism
Location
Merseyside Workers' Liberty debates Liverpool Solidarity Federation (SolFed)
The fight against the cuts has brought a whole new generation of activists into political activity. Many people are coming to the conclusion that capitalism – the system by which a tiny minority of bosses dominate society, needs to be replaced if we are to end the horrors of the world we see around us; poverty, exploitation, war and ecological destruction.







