If there's anyone out there in the Chester or wider area (so Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Warrington, Crewe etc) who is interested in anarcho-syndicalism and setting up a new Local of the Solidarity Federation, please get in touch by emailing: chestersf[at]solfed.org.uk 

This series is published to both document interesting accounts from workers in struggle, as well as attempts to draw the theoretical lessons from them. Both original and republished texts are included. Most, but not all, are from the anarcho-syndicalist tradition. All are selected for their relevance for workers looking to organise today. The first two titles cover the Workmates collective on the London Underground, and an expanded reprint of the (now out of print) 1995 SolFed pamphlet on the shipyard struggles in Puerto Real.

We picketed the Brighton branch of Office Angels for the second time in 24 hours this morning to keep the pressure up in the dispute over unpaid wages. After running out of leaflets yesterday we printed another batch overnight to inform passers by and potential Office Angels workers of the details of the dispute, and to encourage them to get in touch if they've also been mistreated by Office Angels.

Brighton SolFed today answered the call for solidarity from South London SolFed, who have been organising pickets against employment agency Office Angels over a non-payment dispute at their Wimbledon branch. Dan worked for Office Angels for three days in December of last year. He was assured by the company that the lack of a time-sheet would 'not be a problem'. However, Office Angels are refusing to pay him the wages he is owed - falsely claiming he only worked for one day, despite them having called him at work on his third day. After completely ripping him off, they had the nerve to harass him for seeking advice on an internet discussion forum.

In the late 1990s, plans to outsource track maintenance on the London Underground were being pushed through by the government. Workers at one depot responded by forming a new workplace group, both inside and outside the existing union, the RMT. This pamphlet charts the highs and lows of the Workmates collective, highlighting their successes and failures, their radically democratic organising method and their creative forms of direct action. We hope it can provide an inspiration to other workers frustrated with the limits of the existing workplace organisations.

A copy of the pamphlet costs £2 including postage and packaging (to UK, please get in touch for international or bulk orders).

This past weekend saw much of North London Solidarity Federation take to the streets of London in celebration of May Day. Six others of us, however, took the opportunity to hop the train to Brighton to attend SolFed's national conference. Reflecting the fact that SolFed is an active and growing organisation we were joined at conference by approximately a third of the national organisation. We were also lucky to have two observers from the Swedish Syndicalist Youth Organisation, the SUF, who brought not only greetings from our Swedish comrades but were keen to participate and exchange ideas and experiences.

Mayday weekend saw the Solidarity Federation's National Conference come to Brighton. The annual conference is the most important decision-making event in the SolFed calendar, serving to make federation-wide decisions, mandate and hear reports from national officers and commissions and to share ideas and tactics. Delegates from Brighton, Liverpool, Manchester, Northampton, North London, South London, Thames Valley and West Yorkshire locals attended, with only Bristol not represented due to their delegate being ill. This year saw an unprecedented number of motions, reflecting increased activity and membership over the past 12-18 months.

Members of SolFed who live and work in Waltham Forest attended the Workers Memorial Day rally at Walthamstow Town Hall, the council's administration centre of a borough that saw two deaths last year.

Workers Memorial Day is a day of global action held every April 28th to remember those killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work. Waltham Forest Trades Council and Unison Waltham Forest organised two events to mark Workers Memorial Day this year.

Police raids on anarchist and progressive social centres in Brighton and London ahead of the royal wedding amount to little more than the force giving the media a good yarn while attacking political activists, according to anarchist union group the north London Solidarity Federation. 

"The Met is well enough informed and funded to be fully aware of what anarchists have planned for tomorrow - which mostly amounts to taking a nice day off and avoiding the telly. Even people who think of anarchists as just thugs must surely realise that no-one's going to be stupid enough to seriously kick off in the middle of a crowd of tens of thousands of monarchists supported by thousands of police?