Recently I have received some very sad news. Our friend Peggy has passed away in Zaragoza (Spain) after a month in the hospital. Peggy was living in Brighton for nearly two years. She inherited from her family a passion for classical music, and she took part in the Brighton Choir. One of her favourite pieces was Mozart´s Requiem.
The Brighton Solfed Health and Social Care network holds monthly drop in surgeries, on the last Monday of each month. The next one will be on Monday 25th May, 7 - 9 pm at Saint Georges Inn, (33 Upper Sudeley Street, Kemp Town, BN2 1HE).
If you have any workplace issues that you would like to talk about with Solfed members working in health or in social care, then come along this Bank Holiday Monday.
In the hospitality sector in Brighton it is very common to find employers who do not pay the minimum wage or pay the holidays owed to their workers. This problem is more common for migrants who do not necessarily have a great command of language or a thorough knowledge of labor laws.
This was the case for an employee of a restaurant in The Lanes. His situation in the workplace was made more complicated by the fact the rest of the kitchen staff, like him, were migrants, so communication was very difficult. He was paid minimum wage, 6.5 pounds per hour, and last minute changes to the rota were quite common, sometimes reaching up to 50 hours per week.
En el sector de la hostelería en Brighton es muy habitual encontrarse con empresarios que no pagan el salario mínimo o que intentan no pagar las vacaciones a sus trabajadores. Esta problemática es más común en los trabajadores migrantes que no tienen un gran dominio del idioma ni un conocimiento profundo de la legislación laboral.
Este el caso de un trabajador de un restaurante en The Lanes. El entorno en que se desarrollaba su trabajo era bastante complejo, el resto del personal de la cocina, como él, eran inmigrantes, por lo que la comunicación se hacía muy complicada. Su trabajo se abonaba con el mínimo posible, 6,5 libras por hora, y los cambios de horarios a última hora eran bastante habituales, alcanzando en algunos casos jornadas semanales de más de 50 horas.
29 Wednesday - Syndicalism and Education Sussex Uni Fulton building 113 = 6−8pm
01 Friday - MayDay
02 Saturday - Syndicalism in Brighton at the Cowley Club = 4−6 pm
03 Sunday - Roast + Film and Discussion after at the Cowley Club = 1−6 pm
04 Monday - Demonstration 12 0’Clock from Old Steine + picnic
The Caffe Bar Italia conflict is finally resolved after over 4 months of actions as the former worker has accepted an offer from the boss. This follows weekly pickets and a social media campaign during which we received increasing support & interest from locals & contacts, many of whom boycotted the cafe. The boss' behaviour became increasingly irrational & desperate and he recently admitted to the damage we were causing to his business, despite calling cops every time we picketed and trying to incite us. Brighton SolFed Hospitality Workers proved to bosses that we're in it for the long run & are capable of maintaining an extended high profile dispute. We would like to thank all supporters for their dedication and fighting spirit, and extend solidarity to the worker, who was strong throughout!
Bristol Solidarity Federation will be at the 2015 Anarchist Bookfair. The cities largest and best attended political event. With nearly 60 stalls, a wide range of talks, discussions, and soap-box, it no surprise that over 1,000 people participate each year.
Bristol are hosting a talk: "Fuck the Labour Party – we’re anarcho-syndicalists"
Recently, Richard Siggs, a Police Sergeant from Brighton, has been communicating with several charity agencies. In the text, he explains his concern about the “intolerable level” the numbers of “very visible members of the Street Community” have reached in the streets of Brighton, and he asks the agencies to reinforce these three ideas while dealing with their clients:
"Brighton & Hove do not accept rough sleeping to be a valid life choice, it is dangerous and based on chaotic life style"
"There is nowhere in Brighton & Hove to street drink, would you like us to refer you to support for your addiction?"
"Any property left laying around on the streets will be removed by the local authority and may be destroyed"
On Tuesday March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, a group of around 10 people accompanied a former worker of the pub. The aim was to ask if the management had an answer to the demands that he, in conjunction with Brighton Solidarity Federation, had made the previous week.
The pub is located in the Western Road area and the worker was a kitchen porter for about a year before he was sacked without any notice. As usual, he was on minimum wage and a zero-hours contract, the worst conditions the law allows.
However, the company decided this wasn't enough and didn't pay him for holiday leave not taken and the one week notice period.
Last Monday the 30th of April there was a new repressive strike against the anarchist movement in Spain. Thirty eight people were arrested in a police operation under the name ”Operación Piñata”. Fifteen of them are facing charges of terrorism and five are in preventive imprisonment. Private homes, social centers and squatted spaces were registered in Madrid, Barcelona, Palencia and Granada.
Raids were carried out in a very open way, trying to create social alarm. The media is publishing names of people and groups and presenting as facts fake accusations. They talk about “anarchist terrorism” and organisations with leaders, hierarchical infrastructures and varied recruitment methods.