Last night, the Solidarity Federation held a National Delegate Council, during which delegates from our existing local formally voted to accept our new Hull local's request to affiliate. We are pleased to welcome our new local into the national federation.

The affiliation of the Hull local is just the latest development in the expanding of the organisation. We are also in the process of actively forming locals in Glasgow, Chester, Hastings, Portsmouth/Southampton, Dorset, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Cambridge.

If you agree with Solidarity Federation's aims and principles and wish to join us, get in touch.

There was a great turnout for the short-notice picket of employment agency Adecco in Brighton today. Around 20 people stopped by, with picket numbers averaging 10-15 for the two hour picket. A division of Adecco has been hiring strike-breakers for the multinational corporation ABB and their contractor EULEN in Cordoba, Spain, where workers have been on indefiniate strike since November 28th. Around 400 copies of this leaflet were handed out. There were also pickets in Glasgow and London.

Today saw two members of the North London Solidarity Federation join striking gallery assistants and members of the public at a picket line rally at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. The strike, over budget cuts and staffing levels, was scheduled to last only two hours and was planned to cause disruption during the Gallery's busiest time.

SolFed members in particular made an effort to flier potential patrons, explain the issues behind the strike, and request they refrain from entering the museum for the duration of the strike. After spending some time at the Gallery itself, the strikers led a short march to the to the Da Vinci exhibition which was taking place next door.

ADECCO is the largest employment agency in the world. Beside profiting on precarity and casualisation, ADECCO and other employment agencies are fast becoming the go-to source for scabs and strikebreakers. Case in point: At the Asea Brown Boveri factory in Cordoba, Spain workers have struck over pay and conditions.

Besides sacking nine of the twelve members of the strike committee, ABB has now begun hiring scab labour from ADECCO. This disgusting behaviour must stop. Employment agencies have exploited us long enough. It's time for us to fight back. A win for workers at ABB, a giant multinational that operates in over 100 countries, will not only improve working conditions for Spanish workers, it will let employment agencies like ADECCO know that workers are willing to fight back against their unscrupulous practices.

Merseyside police have brought a protest against City Council cuts, at the Town Hall, to a violent end by physically assaulting and arresting innocent protesters.

On December 19, the pharmaceuticals company Roche Poland dismissed an activist of the anarcho-syndicalist ZSP without any reason. The orders came directly from corporate headquarters and he was asked to leave immediately. The company refused to give any reason in writing or any other documents.

The dismissal came one day after a large article with the comrade appeared in the main newspaper. Although no real reason was given, it is largely felt that this decision was related to his work in the union.

Today, PCS members in HM Revenue & Customs took strike action over the threat of privatisation. In Bootle, a member of Liverpool Solidarity Federation and PCS activist put the following statement - calling for a national week of action against privatisation - to an assembly of striking workers, where it was approved unanimously.

HM Revenue & Customs are engaging in a 12 month pilot with two private contractors, Sitel and Teleperformance, to handle calls alongside existing staff at contact centres in Bathgate and Lilyhall. The department claims that this is merely to look at ways they can address call backlogs during peak times. However, this is a transparent attack on the jobs, terms and conditions of PCS members.

SOLIDARITY WITH THE LA SENZA SIT-IN

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UPDATE - From the La Senza Sit-In Facebook page:

"Victory!!!!! Thank you to everyone for the support!!! We are going to donate all the money we were given to AWARE!"

Congratulations from North London SolFed

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Four women workers as the Dublin La Senza store have taken the bold step of occupying their workplace to ensure they get fair redundancies.  The protest has met with overwhelming support and the local community has come out to support these courageous workers.