Newcastle SolFed local forming!
Members of SolFed in the North East are forming a local based in Newcastle. We are widespread across the region and stretch as far as Teeside - so if you live in anywhere in the North East and want to get involved, please give us a shout!
Liverpool SolFed join annual Pride march
SolFed members were among the thousands of people who gathered for this year's annual Pride event in Liverpool. Member's of the Liverpool local joined other anarchists and radical workers for the march through the city centre and, despite occasional downpours of heavy rain and a small group of miserable Christian counter-demonstrators, the atmosphere was upbeat and vibrant. We were also there to show solidarity with LGBT comrades facing state repression in Russia, particularly in Moscow where Pride has been banned for the next 100 years by the authorities.
View more of our photos from Pride here.
Education round up 27 July 2012
(Un)Qualified teachers wanted.
While the eyes of most people, both critical and uncritical, are drawn to the Olympics, secretary of state for Education, Michael Gove, has introduced possibly his most significant and destructive piece of reform.
Academies no longer need to employ qualified teachers to teach lessons. Gove heralds this as 'freedom' for academies to employ 'the best for the job'. So while trying to raise the profile of teaching, he's doing the exact opposite. But this is a smokescreen. This is nothing to do with profile, or improving education, or getting 'the best for the job'. It has everything to do with driving down pay and conditions.
From a Syrian anarchist
I am Mazen ******, a Syrian anarchist . I want to inform you about the difficult humanitarian situation in my country, Syria ; due to the brutal oppression of the regime against the revolting masses. A group of young Syrian anarchists and anti – authoritarians from Aleppo – Syria, contacted me asking for urgent help. Their community is in urgent need for everything : medical drugs , tents , children milk , etc; almost everything. We hope that you can help them to alleviate the sufferings of Syrians in these difficult days.
Visiting the Freie ArbeiterInnen Union (FAU) in Berlin
During time spent in Berlin visiting friends and relatives, I decided to contact the Freie ArbeiterInnen Union (FAU) – the German section of the International Workers Association (IWA), of which I am a member of its British section; the Solidarity Federation.
Victorstone pay up after scores call to complain
Ruth, Jess and Charlotte recently took up a rented property in Bethnal Green through the Shoreditch branch of Victorstone Property Consultants, paying £3,451 as rent and deposit. After they had only just moved into the house, Victorstone fell out with the landlords over the fees they would take, the landlords decided they wanted to get out of the letting, and changed the locks.
Ruth, Jess and Charlotte managed to get some money back from the landlady, but the landlady had never been transferred the full amount, because Victorstone had subtracted their fee. Victorstone initially tried to mislead Ruth, Jess and Charlotte, implying that all the money had been transferred to the landlady. In fact they intended to keep c.£1200 of their money for a completely failed deal.
Seconds away, Round 5....
First we had the pay freeze, then came the pension cuts and re-banding of jobs. All the while we have also seen the privatisation aka ‘outsourcing’ of healthcare services and this continues abound. Now we have proposals for regional pay and changes to terms and conditions. Here in the South West, 20 NHS trusts have banded together to form a consortium designed to stitch us up further. Critics of the plans have described this consortium as a cartel. Their sinisterly named Project Initiation Document (PID) outlines the plans cooked up by senior health bureaucrats.
It would be a mistake to think that the Consortium’s proposals are out of step with pressure on existing national pay agreements. Under the Agenda for Change (AfC) national agreement that currently governs pay and conditions for NHS staff, proposals have already been mooted by employers in the following areas:
Liverpool SolFed remembers the Spanish revolution
Liverpool SolFed held a social night to commemorate the anniversary of the Spanish revolution in 1936. Performers, including local musician Dominic Dunn, entertained those who were gathered, while films from the civil war and the current miners' struggle in the Asturias were shown on the projector.
London Anarchist bookfair
start:
Sat, 27/10/2012 - 10:00 to 19:00
Location
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End Road
E1 4NS
London
See map: Google Maps
iconimage:
The bookfair is one of a number of spaces for anarchists around the UK and the world to come together. But, as the Anarchist Bookfair is one of the bigger public events we put on as a movement, we want it to also be a place where those interested in anarchism can find out what we are about. So, we need help publicising the event (and anarchism generally) outside our normal scenes & movements.
It can also be a space where we counter the rubbish talked about anarchism by sections of the media and our opponents. We want to continue to make anarchism a threat again.
local, network, collective:
Access Layer:
URL:
https://www.facebook.com/events/315791458486570/