SolFed's long-running workers rights leaflet has been updated, and is also now available in Polish. Due to requests, there are two different cover designs - the content is the same for both. Download here: Eng 1 | Eng 2 | Pol 1 | Pol 2

We are very pleased to announce the formation of a new Local - Oxford and Reading!

Founded by a group of class struggle Anarchists and Anarcho-Syndicalists, the new Local will look to jointly cover both cities as a constituent part of the larger Federation. We will be looking to promote the messages of direct democracy, direct action and worker self-organisation in Oxford, Reading and the surrounding area.

We are due to have our inaugural meeting in the coming weeks, and shall be looking to complete our official afilliation with the Solidarity Federation very soon. If you are interested in Anarcho-Syndicalism and live or work nearby, get in touch with us! We can be contacted through the contact form here on the website.

In Solidarity,

Oxford & Reading SolFed

Statement by German anarcho-syndicalist group FAU on the situation of temporary employment in Germany and recent developments between unions and employers' organisations.

A campaign to save Toxteth’s historic Welsh Streets from demolition has been dealt a blow after English Heritage refused to put a preservation order on 9 Madryn Street, the house where Ringo Starr was born.

The 11 streets of Victorian terraced houses were built by Welsh workers to house local dockers and their families. The area was also infamous for its radical political tradition.

Lack of central heating and persistent rising damp has driven the most recent residents out, but preservationists argue that modern restoration methods can make the homes habitable again. This is obviously an idea that the property developers don’t want to see gain traction, as simply restoring the houses would not justify massive asking prices.

The new Catalyst is out. In this issue:

Actions speaks louder: Did the trashing of Tory HQ at Millbank in November mark the start of a militant anti-cuts movment?
Direct Action: Centrefold poster to pull-out and keep - or decorate your local occupation with!
Housing benefit cuts spark poverty fears: We interview a claimant.
'All joined up': An interview with a French teacher who participated in the general strike and economic blockades there.
Pensions under threat: Divide and rule game looks set to undermine both public and private sector workers' pensions.
Know Your Rights: A brief guide to the law around Redundancy

Northampton Solidarity Federation joined the small protest in Northampton town centre today against the budget cuts.  The protest was centred on the uk uncut protest and focussed on the contradiction between cutting welfare and services on the one hand whilst allowing the rich, and large businesses to avoid, legally and illegally, billions in pounds of taxation.

This discrepancy lies at the very heart of our economic system and the politics which go with it.  When push comes to shove we see that all works for the benefit of the rich and the workers pay the cost.  Welfare is cut: are tax avoiders chased,  are tax loopholes closed?  Bankers crash the economy with their greed for bonuses, are they chased down and held to account?  Of course not: that's not how the capitalist system work:, run by the rich for the rich.

The following is a report by our Portuguese sister organisation on the one-day general strike that paralyzed Portugal on November 24, as Portuguese workers fight austerity measures being imposed by the Socialist Party government.

This is the first general strike in Portugal for the last 22 years and that alone should shed some light over the social situation in this country. In fact, class struggle in Portugal is quite low and the number of strikes has actually been falling for the past thirty years, despite the continuously worsening situation of the Portuguese working class. Unionisation rates tend to fall as well, as the two large Portuguese party-run Trade Unions serve more to appease and stall conflicts than to fight exploitation, and that hasn't gone unnoticed.

Below is the text of a letter sent by our local to the Liverpool Echo following the recent tragic deaths at the Sonae industrial plant. An edited version of the letter was printed in the newspaper on December 14th 2010.

I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of the two workers, Thomas Elmer and James Bibby, who died following an accident at the Sonae factory in Kirkby.
 
It is tragic that, in this day and age, workers still risk losing their lives while simply doing their jobs.
 
It's not the first time Sonae has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. In the past there have been fires, chemical leaks and environmental concerns expressed by local residents.