Members of Northampton Solfed spent some of their Saturday morning handing out copies of Catalyst at the Weston Favel Shopping Centre, until security staff moved them on. (Yet again we find that 'public' places are no such thing.)
More distribution is planned for next Saturday. Any one interested in helping out, or who would like some copies to distribute in their own area should contact us.
On Sunday 9th Solidarity Federation members joined the march in Witney, Oxfordshire, constituency of Prime Minister David Cameron. The march, against postal privatisation and austerity cuts, was organised by the CWU (Communication Worker's Union) Eastern Branch. Solidarity Federation members from the new Thames Valley local as well as from Liverpool and London handed out leaflets arguing for anarcho-syndicalist methods in struggle and introductory leaflets about the Solidarity Federation which were well received by marchers.
A brief look at last year’s developments with regards to Intern pay, a story that the BBC News website is has just updated under its Education section.
Last year, the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) argued for a 'training wage' of £2.50 for those on internships of three months or more as a means to 'boost UK productivity'.[1] Unpaid intern work is of inherently unequal access, because those people with good connections and from wealthier backgrounds are much more likely and capable of finding and staying on an unpaid internship.
SF members who are unwaged will group together under the Unwaged Workers Network. As we move towards forming this network, we first need to find out which members fall into this cateogry, and what are the primary issues we face.
We encourage all unwaged members to contribute to the discussion on our forum if you have online access. This includes unemployed, non-working students, retired, living on benefits, volunteeers and those on work experience placements.
First, we will look towards the production of material along the lines of the Know Your Rights series, and an eventual industrial bulletin. Members should also contribute to online articles that will appear on this section of the SF website.
Any industrial network is only as strong as its members are active, so get stuck in and help the network grow and gain influence!
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
Statement by German anarcho-syndicalist group FAU on the situation of temporary employment in Germany and recent developments between unions and employers' organisations.
During the late 1950s and 60s the Situationist International (SI) developed arguably the most profound and far reaching critique of modern society for many decades. Although it now seems the height of hipness for arty intellectuals to make passing reference to situationism, few genuinely appreciate the distinctly revolutionary overtones of the SI’s ideas. Often criticised for specialised language and abstract concepts (with some justification), these ideas nevertheless hold tremendous relevance today, perhaps more so than ever.
The turn of the year saw the 85th anniversary of the IWA’s founding in Berlin in December 1922 and January 1923. Here, we look at the struggle to establish an (anarcho-)syndicalist International in the 50 years between the demise of the 1st International and the events in Berlin
Many basic tenets of anarcho-syndicalism developed within the 1st International. After the split between anarchists and Marxists in 1872 the anarchist wing of the International, with a membership of 150,000, still had influence beyond its numbers. Throughout the 1870s, it assisted the development of anarcho-syndicalism.
In his 1992 book, What Uncle Sam Really Wants, Noam Chomsky attributed the role of the US administration in its interventions in places like El Salvador, Chile and Nicaragua in part to the desire to negate the ‘threat of a good example’.
