As part of the international week of action against Ryanair, on Friday 16 March Liverpool Solidarity Federation members joined John Foley of the Ryanair Don't Care Campaign for pickets in the City Centre. The targets of our action were a bank and a solicitors who are complicit in the budget airline's recruitment scamming.

The Allied Irish Bank formerly provided 3500€ loans to probationary cabin crew for their training with Ryanair, though they stopped this practice in 2010 under pressure from the Ryanair Don't Care campaign. More recently, however, it has come to light that they are still sending threatening letters to terminated staff, warning them to pay up outstanding fees (for training they did not finish!) or face bankruptcy.

Members of Northampton Solidarity Federation went to Birmingham International Airport this afternoon (16th March) to picket Ryan Air passengers as they checked in. This was an attempt to get the passengers to complain about the exploitative nature of the company's recruitment procedure. The leaflet labelled it a SCAM, for that is essentially what it is.

This was in part of the International Week of Action called by the International Workers Association, who have thrown their support behind the RyanAir Don't Care Campaign. This week was identified to coincide with a RyanAir sponsored race at the Cheltenham Festival.

Mandatory Work Activity (MWA) is one of the Government’s five unpaid labour schemes in which unemployed people may be required to participate or lose their benefits. According to Chris Grayling Mandatory Work Activity “is something where people have no choice but to participate, otherwise their benefits will stop until they do”

MWA is not voluntary and people of any age can be mandated to take part, even if they have been claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for a short time (source). Job seekers are referred to the scheme at the discretion of a Jobcentre Plus advisor and placements are organised through private companies who arrange for the participant to work 30 hours per week for four weeks for no wage.

The International Workers Association has called days of action against austerity, exploitation, and oppression on 29, 30 and 31 March. As part of this, on Saturday 31 March, Solidarity Federation locals will be taking action against workfare.

Following on from the succesful day of action initiated by Liverpool Uncut on 3 March, our aim is to spread the action beyond the City Centre and get claimants and local communities more involved.

Our action will take place in Wavertree, at a target to be announced on the day. There, as last time, we intend to engage staff directly and encourage them to organise against their employer's use of workfare as well as encouraging the public not to give their business to the target.

This morning electricians and supporters gathered outside the entrance of the Shard site. The Rank and File Committee deciding to try and keep the momentum of previous months and take the fight to the agencies, (targeting big companies like Mace in particular) who rob workers pay packets week in week out. Agency workers on sites are often ununionised, work far longer shifts and have far less access to proper training than those in direct employment.

The Ryanair Don’t Care Campaign, supported by the Solidarity Federation in the UK and the IWA internationally, is calling for a Week of International Action against exploitation and recruitment scamming by Ryanair, starting on March 12.

Ryanair Don’t Care was started by John Foley after his daughter was sacked as a flight attendant mid-flight and abandoned abroad without any money. This led to the exposure of a cynical and highly exploitative recruitment scam by Ryanair.

Our Spanish sister section decided to call a 24-hour general strike for March 29, against the Labor Reform, the cuts, and the assaults on the working class. The CNT rejects any kind of negotiation over the rights conquered by the working class and demands the repeal of the Labor Reform. The strike call extends the call that has already been made for Galicia and the Basque Country. This call will be formalized in the coming days.

As part of Boycott Workfare's National day of action against the government,s divisive workfare program, members of NLSF met up In Islington to show their opposition. McDonalds on Chaple Market was our first port of call. Loads of leaflet were handed and some good conversations were struck up, mostly in support of our presence outside these exploitative and unscrupulous shops. Although couple of the market stallholders gave us a bit of verbal and the McDonald's manager couldn't understand why his shop was being targeted as "they had nothing to do with the program", Chaple Market was undeniably supportive. Moving on to Upper St, the manager at Holland & Barrett just didn't want us there at all. We didn't plan staying there too long as some wanted to go to the main event in central London.

Solent Solfed answered the call from Boycott Workfare on Saturday morning (3rd March) and joined a picket outside Primark in Portsmouth’s Commercial Road. A small group of anarchists from Solfed, Surrey and Hants Afed, and Portsmouth Anarchists turned out alongside the local SWP group. Although the anarchists and socialists had their own specific leaflets it was good to see political differences put to the side to unite against workfare. Our leaflets were drawn up and printed by Surrey and hants Afed, (thanks guys!).

Saturday March 3rd was a national day of action against workfare, called by Boycott Workfare. In Brighton, members of Solidarity Federation headed down to Jubilee Street to support the Brighton Benefits Campaign picket of Tesco.

Turnout was encouraging, with over 50 people in attendance. A sizeable socialist contingent marched from Tesco in St James Street to Jubilee Street, before moving on to McDonalds. As numbers were still high outside Tesco, we were able to take another group to picket the Tesco store on Queens Rd. This was quite successful in turning people away, with only one person manning the checkouts inside the store.