South London Solidarity Federation -

The Free Workers' Union (FAU) in Berlin have been banned, Solidarity with the FAU

Jason Cortez — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:30:46 +0000

As of yesterday, December 11, 2009, FAU Berlin (FAU-B) has essentially
been banned as a union. The decision was made by the Berlin Regional
Court (Landgericht Berlin) without a hearing. FAU-B was not even
informed that the Neue Babylon GmbH – which is involved in a labor
dispute with FAU-B – had started legal proceedings against them. The
court’s decision goes beyond merely taking away FAU-B’s rights as a
union within the Babylon cinema. From this point on they are no longer
allowed to call themselves a union!

Background

FAU-B and its group within the Babylon cinema have been fighting for
a labor contract since the beginning of June 2009. Although the Babylon
cinema is government funded, pay has been miserable and workers rights
have been ignored. A large portion of the cinema’s staff is organized
within FAU-B. This is the first significant labor dispute of the
relatively small FAU-B. It has caused an uproar not only in Berlin, but
in all of Germany. Anarcho-syndicalists in a labor dispute, an
effective boycott that was prominent in the media, extensive and
innovative demands, and the involvement of the workers themselves
(which is rare in Germany) have made an impression on the public. When
the pressure was at its height and the bosses could no longer avoid
entering negotiations, not only did politicians intervene but ver.di (a
big union in Germany, part of the umbrella organization of mainstream
unions, DGB) took up negotiations with the bosses even though they had
almost no members among the cinema’s staff and no mandate from them.
The workers, who were obviously flabbergasted, were excluded from
negotiations.

Apparently a deal was made between ver.di, politicians, and bosses
to get rid of FAU-B and calm things down at the cinema. But the staff
and FAU refused to be silenced. Neue Babylon GmBH reacted by flexing
some legal muscle and ver.di by attempting to damage FAU’s image.
Firstly, the boycott – one of FAU-B’s main forms of pressure – was
banned, and doubt was cast on FAU-B’s ability to negotiate contracts
(in Germany this is a prerequisite for being able to legally take
collective action). At the same time, other court cases were brought
against FAU-B relating to freedom of expression. But FAU-B did not back
down. This led to the latest court decision, which basically bans FAU
as a union.

The situation in Germany

FAU Berlin has long said that this labor dispute – as small as it
may be – is not only about better working conditions but also about the
freedom to organize. There has been little tradition of militant
unionism or syndicalism in Germany since 1933. The umbrella
organization DGB has a practical monopoly (corporatism), which is
backed up by case law. This makes it very hard for alternative unions
to grow. Self-organization and decentralization within unions in
Germany are not encouraged and do not enjoy legal protection.

FAU-B’s modest collective action has demonstrated that an
alternative union is possible in Germany. Big unions and politicians,
apparently afraid that this form of organization will spread like
wildfire, are displeased by this development. This is the context in
which FAU-B’s union work has been banned. The court’s decision implies
that it is not possible to establish a legally recognized union in
Germany because – paradoxically – you have to be a legally recognized
union in order to become one. A union taking collective action without
being an officially recognized union can expect stiff legal
consequences. On two occasions FAU-B has been threatened with fines of
250,000 euros or jail sentences. FAU-B is not allowed to work legally
as a union anywhere. German anarcho-syndicalists thus see themselves
banned once again after being prohibited in 1914 and 1933.

The court’s decision is especially scandalous because it was
rubber-stamped via summary proceedings without any hearing – FAU-B was
not allowed to state its case. This is possibly to do with the fact
that anyone in Germany can legally call themselves a union and that the
judicial authorities wanted to act unilaterally. Germany has passed
some ILO conventions, but they have little meaning here because big
unions cooperate closely with the bosses and dictate what a union has
to be like. Syndicalists enjoyed more rights under the Kaiser in the
19th century and in the 1920s. The situation in Germany is reminiscent
of Turkey, for example, where unions are often banned.

The court’s decision can possibly be overturned. But FAU-B remains
realistic: everything is possible. Political cronyism is rife and the
powers that be will make further attempts to block the growth of
alternative unions.

Consequences

The consequences of the court’s decision are wide-ranging and will
be catastrophic unless the decision is overturned. An outright ban of
FAU-B as a union would have had a similar effect. The decision
regarding FAU-B is essentially applicable to FAU in Germany as a whole.
As it sets precedence, it will automatically affect the entire union
movement and the rights of workers. Whatever form an alternative union
in Germany might have, this precedent will render it powerless in
future. This case is a novelty in the sphere of German union-busting.
This decision allows the bosses to negotiate with the union of their
choice and to define what a union is. Workers’ self-organization –
whether in the Babylon cinema or elsewhere – has been blocked, and the
institutionalized muzzling of the working class has been intensified.
The lack of solidarity shown by ver.di through their intervention is
partly to blame for this. The court decision may even be in their
direct interest since ver.di has already written that they see FAU-B as
competition that they have to take action against.

Solidarity!

The battle for union freedom in Germany has now begun. Every little
bit of solidarity is needed. Bring this scandal to light, protest in
front of German institutions, and demand that the decision be
overturned and that FAU be given full rights as a union!

Please help us if you can. Your own ideas are welcome, but here are some suggestions:
• protest in front of German diplomatic missions (embassies, consulates) or other institutions representing
the German state;
• send protest letters to German embassies in your country (and a copy to the management of the Babylon
Mitte cinema);
• send protest faxes to the Berlin court responsible.

You will find the relevant information at http://www.fau.org/verbot
as soon as we can put it online. It includes a list of German
diplomatic mission, pointers to other relevant institutions, templates
for protest letters, and the necessary contact data. More details also here http://libcom.org/forums/news/solidarity-fau-berlin-16122009

Free the Belgrade Six

Jason Cortez — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:27:12 +0000

Statement the Serbian Anarcho-syndicalist group ASI presented to the
International Workers Association Congress in 2009 on the states
attempts to fit up six anarchists.

Report on circumstances which led to arrest of Belgrade anarchists and International terrorism charges

In the night between 24th and 25th of August 2009, some time after
3am, two Molotov cocktails were thrown on Greek embassy in Belgrade.
Act ended with a damaged window and minor damage to façade, the fire
didn`t spread to the interior of the building and small fire that was
started was quickly extinguished. No one was hurt in this `attack`
because there were no people at the embassy at that time and on the
following morning all embassy services started working on schedule.
Greek embassy officials stated that the damage was insignificant –
`Embassy is working without any problems. We`re issuing visas and we`re
working with citizens as usual`. Serbian ministry of interior (MUP)
immediately contacted embassy officials to make sure that everything is
in order, and condemned the attack. During afternoon 25th of August,
until then unknown anarchist group `Black Ilja`(Crni Ilija) took over
the responsibility for the attack and sent the following announcement
to the media: "Our comrade Todoris Iliopulos, who was arrested during
the popular uprising in Greece during December 2008, is at hunger
strike for already 46 days demanding to be released. While trying to
set an example to anyone who will dare to fight for freedom, Greek
state is leading a fabricated process against comrade Todoris. Belgrade
anarchists have decided to join comrades in Greece, and the whole world
in actions of solidarity with Todoris, by demanding his release. That
is why the members of our group attacked the Greek embassy in Belgrade
with Molotov cocktails during the last night. We will continue with our
activities until comrade Iliopulus is released! Fredom for Todoris! "

Anarchist group "Black Ilija" (Crni Ilija)

Todoris Iliopulos was arrested on December 22nd 2008 during the
unrest in Athens, which started after a 15 year Alexandros
Grigoropoulos was shot and killed by a police officer in Excharheia
district on December 15th. He was held in Koridlao prison from the time
of arrest until August 28th, when he was let out on conditiona release.
He is accused of two criminal acts (attack on police with Molotov
cocktails) and few offences. All the time during his stay in prison,
Iliopulos claimed that the charges against him were based on statements
of police officers. He started his hunger strike on July the 10th this
year, when his health and life were in danger after more than 40 days
of hunger strike, a call was made on a number of anarchist webportals,
on “Action for liberation of Iliopulos” and other activities such as
propaganda, info-actions, meetings, discussions – with a goal of
immediate release of Todoris. These actions were scheduled to start on
August 24th at 8pm.

Media pressure – Preparation for a farce called “Terrorism”

The president of Serbia, Boris Tadi?, has condemned the incident and
in a conversation with Greek ambassador in Serbia, Dimostenis Stodis,
threatened that the state will take all necessary steps to find and
adequately punish the offenders, which announced the political process
which will e held against six Begrade anarchists. The leading media in
Serbia, have, by the order of state, started focusing their reporting
towards making ideal circumstances neutralization and elimination of
leftist groups as well as critical thinking in general. There were
speculations of internationally coordinated terrorist actions via
anarchist web-portals, after which the preparation meetig for Balkan
Anarchistic Book Fair, which was held at the beginning of July of this
year, was mentioned in the context of preparation for attack on Greek
embassy, and finally a `source close with the investigation` has stated
in the media that the case can be characterized as a terrorist attack,
but at the moment no one can say that with certainty. `Good informed
defense analysts` have also insinuated that the Serbian anarchists
committed this act in order to be noticed by (demonized by the media)
Greek anarchists ad by that get logistic and economic support from
them. Zoran Dragisic, Assistant Professor of Faculty of safety and one
of the founders of the new Social Democratic Party of Serbia,
considered how it was an organized attack and that certain ideological
and political intentions stand behind it: "Our security services should
seriously address this group. Another problem is that the Embassy of a
proven friendly country was attacked. All these left-wing and rightwing
groups that resort to violence must be neutralized. Security services
need to monitor all suspicious groups and then arrest those who
committed violence. If the state can not stop them, it would be a sign
that these groups are stronger than the state. We would then have to
pay them taxes, not the state. It cannot be a question of whether the
state can do this, it must! Anarchist as well as profascits groups are
a serious threat to public order. From the security point of view,
their ideological differences are irrelevant as long as they violate
the law. It is necessary to urgently implement the arrest, court
processing and impose harsh penalties, and the activities of the
organization, must be under constant supervision, which is the work of
BIA (safety and inteligence agency). "Dragiši? also pointed out that
such activities can evolve into terrorism, and shouldn`t be
underestimated. Božidar Spasi? (former head of UDBA) considers that the
aim of this action was a atraction of attention of Greek anarchists:
"Such an attack could not be done without a good preparation and
monitoring of the Embassy, where the security and the building itself
was monitored for at least ten days, where someone was sitting in the
surrounding cafes and all carefully recorded. It is a worrying factis
that there was no reaction from embassy security during the attack on
the building, but also a cooperation between Greek and Serbian police
in providing information about the anarchists in their countrie." He
adds that: "the anarchists in Greece have gotten so strong that in
addition to wing, they also have an economic one that deals with the
abductions of Greek tycoons, businessman and attacks banks, and thus
acquire a huge amounts money used to finance the attacks. Because of
that they are classified in rank with the most dangerous terrorist
organizations like ETA and IRA." Until `Black Ilija` case, anarchists
in Serbia haven`t been known to the public by the violent and radical
actions. Activities os Serbian anarchists were known to the general
public are sharing leaflets in front of faculties adn factorise,
spraying graffities, publishing, and organizing cultural events and
discussions, as well as participation in the workers' and student
protests.

Arrest, investigation, and international terrorism

Members anarchosyndicalist initiative (ASI) Sanja Dojki?, Ratibor
Trivunac, Tadej Kurepa and Ivan Vulovic, were on the 3rd of September
detained in the police station suspected of having committed a criminal
act of causing a general danger, where they remanded in custody for 48
hours. The police brutally carried out arrests, coming the in
apartments without a warrant and ill-treating family members of our
comrades. The next day, 4th of September, Nikola mItrovi? was also
arrested, who is not a member anarchosyndicalist intitative, and the
police announced wanted Ivan Savi?, who also isn’t a member of ASI, and
twas at the time on summer vacation. The investigating judge has, in a
request for an investigation, classified the foregoing offenses as
international terrorism (punishable by 3-15 years inprisonment) and a
custody for all the arrested for a period of a month. Detained comrades
were entitled to get in contact with lawyers and the right to a visit
from close family members once in fifteen days. All other visits,
communication with the public, and mutual communication among the
arrested comrades were banned. The decision of the prosecution to start
investigation with assumption the it is crime of international
terrorism, it grew, until then unknown anarchist, a group of "Black
Ilija" in the line of world-known terrorist organizations like
al-Qaida, the IRA or the ETA . Immediately after the release of
qualification, the media have published polic photos of the arresteded,
with the titles that pronounce them guilty in advance. Special
Prosecution spokesman Tomo Zori? said that "investigations is to show
whether it is terrorism or an act of causing a general danger. What is
not debatable is that they will certainly be accused of a crime. "
After the publication of qualifications, Zoran Dragisic spoke again who
said that "we should bear in mind that anarchists have a sort of its
own International. However, the extent to which there is a connection
between those who threw our Molotov cocktails at the Greek Embassy and
the Greek anarchists, they advertise in their statement that they did
that because of the situation in Greece, and this relationship is based
on it. However, the real question is whether this relationship really
exists and whether the attack on the embassy was inspired by the
international anarchist movement." Vladimir Todori? from legal revue
said that "throwing cocktails for political reasons at the Embassy of
Greece which was officially exteritorial, meet some of the conditions
for qualification of international terrorism", while in the other hand,
lawyer Dragoljub Todorovi?, counsel of one of the suspects, said that
in this case the consequences are missing, and that the embassy
remained whole, and that the work was done at night with the apparent
intention for no victims to be made. Lawyer dr Radonja Dubljevi? also
representative of one of the six suspects, said that in connection with
this case in there is some illogicality. "The first is that in the
pre-trial proceedings, which led by the police, treated crime as
causing general danger, which is designed for a prison sentence of up
to five years, to the proceedings before the court there was a big
turnaround, crime was treated as an international terrorism for which
the prison sentence of three to 15 years. One must ask the question
what happened in that short time interval, from the police to court. "
Dubijevi? added that the prosecutor failed to take into account that
the notion of terrorism has founded its own scientific definition and
as a political and legal institutions defined, and that as such can not
be made with a device such as a Molotov cocktail, or in this case,
device that was thrown at the embassy of Greece. It is interesting that
in the case of two Molotov cocktails thrown the Greek Embassy rated as
a more difficult crime than burning the American Embassy, February
2008. in Belgrade, when one person lost his life in a fire inside the
Embassy. In the burning of the American Embassy one person was accused
of a crime causing general danger, for which the Criminal Code
envisages punishment of one to six years imprisonment, while in the
case of international terrorism punishment is three to fifteen years.
This crime is one of the most difficult and is in the group with
genocide and war crimes. The definition of terrorism is the
premeditated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to
instillation of fear with the intention of coercion and intimidation of
government and society to achieve goals that are generally political
religious or ideological. Key elements of terrorism are a threat,
violence, force, fear, political effect and purpose; psychological
effect, a random selection of targets and victims, deliberately planned
and systematically organized actions, a way of fighting against the
legal act - from which it can be concluded that terrorism is an ilegal
act of violence directed against a specific country with the intent to
cause fear or collective damages, to achieve a political goal. The four
main elements of terrorism are:

1. The objectives of the activities are usually always political,
whether it is a regime shift, shift the person in power, secession of
certain territory or parts.
2. The use of violence or threat of use of violence
3. The victims are usually innocent citizens
4. Lack of direct links between terrorists and victims, ie. attack is
not directed towards the victim or victims individually, but the
terrorist act would send a message to wider community.

Reactions of the public and the introduction of repression

On Sunday, 6th of September a protest was organized in solidarity
with arrested comrades in front of the Philosophy Faculty in Belgrade.
The protest was attended by about 40 anarchists and friends of those
arrested, carrying a banner: IT WILL NOT PASS! Protesting against very
hard qualifications imposed by the prosecution, and abuse of laws by
the state to justify the use of repressive measures. In the
proclamation read at the protest it was pointed out that :

"at the moment when the rights and
freedoms in Serbia are seriously constrict by enactment amending the
Criminal Code and Law on Public Information, the initiation of
proceedings for an act of international terrorism against the six
arrested, indicates the intention of certain state structures that
increasing the degree of repression and abuse of legal provisions
gradually discourage any political criticism of its actions. Therefore,
we express solidarity with the arrested, demand that the meaningless
charges against them be raised and seek their release."

Calling from a special antiterrorist unit base in Batajnica,
Interior Minister Ivica Da?i? said this is protest as purposeless and
said that the police has evidence, but that the police is ready to
admit that a mistake has been made if it is proven otherwise. For 11th
September, a group of Belgrade University professors and public figures
concerned with the announcement that against the six suspects for
Molotov cocktail attack on the embassy of Greece in Serbia to be
indicted that are they charged for an act of international terrorism,
sent an open letter to the public. This group also said burning example
of the U.S. Embassy during a protest after the declaration of
independence, 21 February 2008, where the work with much greater
consequences than seen much milder case of the Embassy of Greece where
the effects were insignificant. The group alleges that the U.S. Embassy
in Serbia was burned and that is substantially damaged by fire, while
one of the attackers lost his life.

"The only participant in this
attack which is found on the accused bench was charged with serious
offenses against the enforcement of general safety. In contrast, the
authorities breaking a window at the empty building of the Embassy of
Greece, with two lighted bottles that have not led to a fire
characterized as an act of international terrorism, as the work of the
Serbian Criminal Code is in the list of the most serious crimes such as
genocide, war crimes and conducting an aggressive war."

The signatories pointed that hey’re afraid that the paradoxical
positioning of different law enforcement bodies under the two cases of
politically conditioned parts of the current government efforts to
improve the rating of the nationalist oriented part of the electorate.
"It has a stimulating effect on the strengthening of the right
extremist and chauvinist tendencies in our society, such as those that
largely without major legal consequences, in early 2008 participated in
the aforementioned burning of embassies in Belgrade" The international
reaction to the arrest and accusing the Belgrade anarchists of
International terrorism were more intense and frequent.

List of international solidarity actions in chronological order:

07.09 Poland, Warsaw - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
07.09 Slovakia, Bratislava - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
08.09Portugal, Lisbon - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
09.09Hrvatska, Zadar - Collecting donations on the street
09.09 Austria, Vienna - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
10:09 Slovenia, Ljubljana – graffiti sprayin the Embassy Serbia
11:09 Australia, Melbourne - a letter of protest Serbian Consulate
11:09 Austria Vienna - the second protest of solidarity
11:09 UK, London - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
14:09 Croatia, Zagreb - Protest of solidarity, protest letter to embassy
15:09 Russia, Moscow - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
15:09 Ukraine, Kiev - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
16:09 Greece, Athens / Thessaloniki - Protest in front of the embassy / consulate
Serbia
18:09 Netherlands, Hague - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
18:09 Bulgaria, Sofia - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
18:09 Germany, Berlin - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
19:09 Greece, Komotini - solidarity protest at the central square
25.09 Macedonia, Skopje - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
25/09 Germany, Frankfurt - Protest in front of the Consulate
28.09 United Kingdom, London - second protest
29/09 Hungary, Budapest - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia
01.10 Switzerland, Bern
02.10 and 03.10 of Spain, Madrid - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia and
protest in the town square
04.10 Russia, St Petersburg - Protest downtown
08.10 Italy, Trieste – graffiti spraying Serbian Consulate
17:10 France, Paris - protest on the square Bobur, occupation of the Serbian Cultural Center
19:10 Germany, Frankfurt - protest at Book Fair
22:10 Turkey, Ankara - Protest in front of the Embassy of Serbia

The desire of government to criminalize ASI as an organization and
prohibit it at the end, became apparent when, on September 15th, during
a wave of creating atmosphere of fear, in some media an obviously false
news appeared, how Anarcho-syndicalist Initiative will use "pride
parade" to attack the police in the streets of Belgrade and avenge the
arrested comrades.

Events that followed, the Serbian government will use to open the introduction of state repression.

Since the "Pride parade" was scheduled for September the 20th,
tensions in the Serbian public scene grew since the spring, but have
reached the culmination on18th of September evening, when a French
citizen Brice Taton was brutally beate. He was kept in hospital for
treatment, in critical condition, and the same night was, due to
severity of his injuries, subjected to a series of surgical procedures.
State Public Prosecutor's Office, "shocked" by violence, has condemned
attacks on French tourists and announced that he will seek the
strictest prison punishment. The "Pride parade" the following day, 19th
of September, however, is prohibited with the explanation that the
police and security services are unable to guarantee the safety of
parade participants, and officials have stated that the State
capitulated before the violence and profascist groups. The same day,
police banned the holding of meetings in downtown Belgrade, under the
pretext that it could lead to violent acts. Farce directed by the
state, called the struggle against violence, was continued by the
arrests of members of nationalist organizations "1389" and members of
the clericalfascist organization "Obraz", due to the occurrence of
unauthorized gathering. Interior Minister Ivica Da?i? said that "the
state will decisively deal with everyone who is threatening with
violence and that public meetings cannot be held in downtown Belgrade,
where there is a threat of endangering life and property. The police
will, as much as it is in its power, prevent all kinds of attacks, and
will be repressive to extremist groups that threaten the various
parties, organizations and movements. " Officials of the police are
once again emphasized that "and in the future" in the center of
Belgrade, for security reasons will not be allowed holding of public
meetings. "Police has on the 20th of September arrested 37 activists of
rightwing organizations for violating ban on gatherings in public
places, and four of them were detained in prison for up to 30 days.
Ministry of Justice on 22nd of September launched an initiative to ban
any organization whose members propagate violence and carry out
criminal acts. And then President of Serbia Boris Tadi? announces that
"all extremists, left or right, will be prosecuted before our courts."
In Article 55 Serbian the Constitution states that the Constitutional
Court may prohibit the association which is aimed at violent overthrow
of constitutional order, violation of guaranteed human or minority
rights, inciting racial, national or religious hatred.

Indictment for international terrorism

Investigation ended after two months, on 3rd of November, prosecutor
and the Belgrade District Court and the Trial Chamber by a unanimous
decision filed for international terrorism against six anarchists from
Belgrade, and extended their detention for another month on Article 42
paragraph 1 point 3 CPC (when punishable penalty for a crime is more
than 10 years, the accused has no right to defend himself with
freedom), while the indictment says that there is fear that the offense
will be repeated because the defendants are members, and supporters of
ASI.

More articles here http://libcom.org/tags/belgrade-6

Victory at IKEA

Jason Cortez — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:15:23 +0000

.The IKEA
store in the city of Brescia sacked 7 store employees in September
2008 refusing to renew their contract with them. The company believed
that employees should pay for the crisis. These people had worked at
IKEA for many years, working up to 200 hours per month for as little
as 1000 Euros. So the workers decided to protest against this
sacking and engaged in picketing at the IKEA store. They
have were an established group of workers Senzatemponedenaro
and were willing to fight a stubborn struggle. They also joined the
USI, the Italian section of the International Workers Association.
They conducted continous weekend pickets at IKEA with many people n
deciding to boycott the store.

On December 17, the labour
court ruled to reinstate Belmadani
Azzedine with all the other employees, back to work. He also
will receive compensation. Unionists from the USI are confident that
everyone who wants to get reinstated will be.

Background info here http://tinyurl.com/usi-v-ikea
(Solidarity with sacked IKEA workers)

Lewisham Bridge Occupation and Campaign

alexioss — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:50:28 +0100

Members of South London SF have been involved in the campaign to save Lewisham Bridge primary school from being demolished and rebuilt as a trust run by the Leathersellers group. Parents occupied the roof on April 23rd when the school began bussing the kids to a building a mile and half away. An attempt was made to evict the protestors on 24th june after we took the garden and opened it up to kids and parents. The bailiffs and police were unsuccesful but the immediate future of the occupation is uncertain and the campaign looks to take other directions over the summer.

For more details and updates check:

http://defendeducationlewisham.wordpress.com

http://libcom.org/news/lewisham-bridge-school-occupation-24042009

Or check the Facebook group read more »

No Sweat Conference

martinh — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:53:14 +0000

Start: 7 Dic 2008 - 10:30am

End: 7 Dic 2008 - 4:30pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT

No Sweat conference at Queen Marys College, Mile End Road E1 on Sunday 7th December.

SLSF will be doing a stall there, come and say hello!

Catalyst #18

bren — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:56:03 +0000

Catalyst #18 is out.

Demonstration for Sacked Colombian Cleaners

Jason Cortez — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:44:56 +0000

South London SolFed have involved with this campaign to reinstate five sacked Columbian cleaners.

More than forty people demonstrated outside the Institute of Engineering and Technology in Savoy Place on Wednesday 22nd, in support of Colombian cleaners unfairly dismissed by the cleaning company Amey. There was a simultaneous demonstration in Bristol outside Amey’s offices there.

One of the sacked cleaners and a former trade unionist in Colombia, Julio Mayor, said:

‘We were sacked for trying to communicate with the other staff at the National Physical Laboratory about Amey’s violation of the employment rights of cleaners there. We are protesting here to publicly request the National Physical Laboratory to take action against Amey to stop
victimising cleaners.’

The cleaners, who are members of the Prospect and Unite unions, had been working for the company since it took up the contract at the government’s National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, Middlesex. The protest is timed to coincide with the 25th Intelligent Sensing Programme, an international conference supported and advertised by the National Physical Laboratory.

They were suspended for criticising the company for putting an excessive workload onto ever fewer staff, for unilaterally changing working terms and conditions and for disrespecting grievance procedures. The five were sacked on 14th September 2008.

The cleaners were charged with bringing the company into disrepute after they sent a leaflet to other NPL staff explaining what was going on in the cleaning department and asking for their support, especially against victimisation and bullying they were facing from their manager.

Since Amey took over the contract in December 2006 the number of cleaners has been reduced from
thirty-six to ten as the company has looked to cut costs wherever possible, in the process virtually getting rid of the living wage won by the original workforce. Four of the current ten are temporary workers being paid the minimum wage.

In May 2007 two workers were deported to Brazil and one to Colombia after Amey called in the Home Office to check the immigration status of workers who were active in the cleaners’ union.

Amey, which posted a £75 million net annual profit, is a majority shareholder in Tubelines, which cleans parts of the Underground. Tube cleaners who went on strike for a living wage this summer were faced with paper checks, immigration raids and deportations to countries including Sierra Leone and the Congo.

The action was organised by several solidarity groups including the Trade Union and Community Campaign Against Immigration Controls ( http://caic.org.uk/) the Latin American Workers Association, London Coalition Against Poverty ( http://lcap.org.uk), Colombia Solidarity Campaign, Unite-Justice for Cleaners activists at Schroders investment bank and others.

It's very important to highlight the presence of the Latin American cleaners who work at Schroeders who attended the demo in support of the NPL/Amey five. Some of the sacked NPL/Amey workers attended the autonomous demo that the Schroeders activists organised the week before, and the Schroeders workers came yesterday to return that support.

If this struggle will continue and grow, it's because of the existence of these ties of mutual solidarity among migrant workers themselves.

Solidarity with sacked IKEA workers

bren — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:33:14 +0000

Solidarity with sacked IKEA workers in Brescia, Italy.

On 1st September, whilst workers were being transferred between one work agency to another, 7 workers were sacked, even though they had been assured they would be absorbed into the new agency.

These general service workers had been working at IKEA for several years, had been lowly paid at €5 per hour and working up to 200 hours per month and had been working in unsafe working conditions in the underground car park with no exhaust fans. Workers even had to purchase their own safety clothing.

It is obvious that IKEA had no respect for the workers health and preferred to ignore health and safety rules in order to maximise profit. With decreasing sales, IKEA chose to downsize their workforce and weaken the work conditions of the workers, with restaurant and bar staff within the complex now having to perform the duties of the sacked carpark workers.

The 7 sacked workers are now picketing the Brescia IKEA store every Saturday and Sunday until they are reinstated.

Sustain the struggle of the workers of Brescia’s IKEA

Sabotage IKEA who refuse their own responsibility
No more exploitation
Solidarity with the workers fired by IKEA

from the Unione Sindacale Italiana (USI) Commercial workers section.

Activists disrupt Mayor's Question Time to express anger at Boris' betrayal of tube cleaners

Jason Cortez — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:03:08 +0100

Mayor's Question Time had to be adjourned twice today as activists protested Boris Johnson's failure to follow up on his promise of a Living Wage for tube cleaners. The cleaners' demands were shouted from the public gallery while more than thirty people demonstrated outside City Hall for the demands to be met.

Today's action was the latest in a series that have been called to protest the conditions faced by cleaners on the tube. Anne-Marie O'Reilly, who took part in the action today said:

"Cleaners on the Underground are essential for a functioning public transport system in London. It is totally unacceptable that their demands for a Living Wage and decent conditions have been met with intimidation and victimisation on immigration status grounds. We need to expose the employment practices which capitalise on workers' insecure status to allow poverty wages and demeaning conditions to continue."

Two months after the Mayor's 1 August deadline, many cleaners are still waiting to see their wages increase to the Living Wage. On top of this immigration checks have been used to intimidate those who took part three days of legal strike action this summer. One rep has been suspended and three union members have been deported for not having official immigration status.

Andy Ansah, who was at the demonstration outside City Hall and who until recently worked as a cleaner on the tube said:

'Immediately after the strike this summer the companies that run the tube used immigration controls to get rid of people. We are here to protest against that. Cleaners should not be victimised or deported for demanding the living wage.'

Cleaners will continue to organise and solidarity activists have said actions will continue until the Living Wage is extended to all cleaners on the Underground, and intimidation stops. read more »

Supporting striking tube cleaners

Jason Cortez — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:19:11 +0100

South London Solidarity Federation Supports the Tube Cleaners.
An article about the Tube cleaners Strike and action reports.
July 4th, 2008 taken from LibCom.org

Tube cleaners’ union RMT has demanded an end to “appalling intimidation“ of members involved in a 48-hour strike for a living wage on, one on July 1st-3rd. Tube cleaners also engaged in a 24-hour strike on June 25th-26th.
The union is gathering evidence that cleaners have been bullied, harassed and threatened with the sack and with illegal punitive deductions from their wages if they take strike action.
“Reports coming in from picket lines over the last 36 hours indicate that the employers are so desperate that they are resorting to gangster-style intimidation and using the worst sort of fear tactics to stop more people joining the strike, “ RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
“That is testimony to the effectiveness of our 700 members’ solid action and the fact that RMT membership has grown since the strike began, but it also underlines the scale of the problems our members have to endure down there.
“Managers have been threatening people with the sack if they join the strike and telling them that they will have sums deducted from their wages that are way above what they could have earned during the strike.
“Others are being told blatant lies, such as they are not allowed to join the union after the strike ballot.
“At Stratford seasoned reps are telling us that they are appalled at the level of intimidation they have seen and at the squalid conditions ISS cleaners there have to endure, with men and women having to change for work together in a tiny store-room with no privacy.
“This is also where workers have to race each other to work in the morning because managers allow the number they require to book on and send the rest home without pay.
“That is disgusting wherever it happens, but on one of the world’s most prestigious metro systems it is inexcusable, and we hope Londoners will join us in demanding an end to the disgraceful exploitation that is taking place in their name, “ Bob Crow said.

The 48-hour strike by 700 tube cleaners working for cleaning subcontractors ISS, ITS, ICS and GBM on London Underground began at 18:50 on Tuesday evening and ended at 19:00 on Thursday evening. The cleaners' demands are a wage increase - to bring their wages up to the London Living Wage of £7.20 rather than the £5.50 many find themselves on now - as well as 28 days holiday, sick pay, decent pensions and travel facilities, and an end to the barbaric practice of ‘third-party sackings’ in which cleaners can be dismissed, with no disciplinary hearing or right of appeal, at the behest parties other than the employer - a device used to get rid of union activists.

South London SolFed have been invovled in supporting the strikers, below is a report on an action we were invovled in.

On Wed 13thAugust around 30 protestors turned up at the Greenwich offices of multinational cleaning comany ISS to protest against the letter sent out by the company to dozens of tube cleaners requesting they come in for a 'document check' that day.
It is clear to the cleaners' union RMT that this is part of the reprisals against the tube cleaners for the 3-day strike in support of a Living Wage which they held in late July. Activists and reps among the cleaners have been targetted, with a view to break union organization.
A lively picket of the 15 Park Vista office was held with people from a variety of groups and unions brought together under the the banner of the Campaign against Immigration Controls. At the same time a number of concerned citizens entered the foyer of the premises in case the ISS managers were unable to hear the message properly. However the managers lost their cool and called the police, while refusing to allow in union reps, who had arrived separately. They argued that the picket was upsetting the neighbourghood peace and quiet, while demonstrators argued back that the detentions and deportations and union busting their paper checks cause is a bit more upsetting. One protestor was arrested and is currently out on bail.
Undeterred the cleaners will be on strike again from 21 August at 5.30 am till 23 August. This time support is expected from cleaners in Unite-T&G and coincidentally engineers on Tubelines will be on strike at the same time.
ISS will talk to the RMT at ACAS on Monday morning. This is the first time they have agreed to talk to the union since the dispute for the London Living Wage began. The RMT is calling a demonstration at 9.30am on Monday outside the ACAS offices, opposite Borough tube.
A public meeting on these and all current tube disputes is to be held by the RMT union at Friends House Euston Road on Tuesday 19 August at 6pm.
Also see these reports
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/08/407016.html
http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/07/feminist-fightback-women...
http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2008/08/23/justice-4-tube-cleaners-t...