A RETROSPECTIVE JOURNEY THROUGH TIME, WORKFARE-STYLE

LAST WEEK’S WEEK of Action against Workfare saw 11 demos around the country, and got off to a positively super start, as Superdrug announced their withdrawal from the scheme (get it? “Super”? As in “Super”drug? No? Ahh, forget it). Okay, it was on the Friday, not the beginning of the week, you pedant, but they pulled out all the same.

graphic criticising Poundland's breach of minimum wage

But as a reminder, what is Workfare? From the B.A.R.F. leaflet: “Unemployed people being forced to work for free for up to six months with no guarantee of a job afterwards, many of them for major high street companies, such as British Heart Foundation, Debenhams, Poundland, Superdrug, Tesco, W.H.S. Smiths, and more.” So, yeah, modern slavery, but without the obligation to keep the slaves healthy, because this time there’s more than enough of us.

At the beginning of the week, the Employment Related Services Association (E.R.S.A.) put out a ‘myth buster’ in defence of Workfare – conveniently made up of mythology itself. The E.R.S.A. is the trade body for welfare-to-work companies like A.4e and J.H.P. Employability. Though they claim that the scheme is only used in limited ways, 163,000 people were on “Government training and employment support programs” in February 2013 – over 10% of J.S.A claimants – most of which were Work Experience Placements. They think that Work Programme providers wouldn’t force people to do something that won’t help them get work, because they won’t get paid if they don’t help find someone a job; which is a logical perspective if you have no basis in reality. They also allege that mandation is used only in a minority of circumstances and must benefit to the local community, ignoring how claimants are pressured into placements, or not properly informed about their mandatory nature, and how the so-called “benefit to the local community” often includes cleaning private homes. And one of their most naïve claims: placements organised via the Work Programme and Mandatory Work Activity programme are unpaid precisely so they do not displace paid workers. But it is patently obvious that access to a ready supply of unpaid workers does replace paid jobs and undermine wages, and the companies know it too: Asda reduces overtime hours for staff; Argos replaced its Christmas temps with Workfare staff; J.H.P. Employability cuntishly even advertised workfare as “free temporary staff for up to four weeks” on their site. It’s uncertain to what extent this impact is, as the govermint refuses to actually carry out any trials. The E.R.S.A. also claim the public don’t object to workfare, in the face of growing opposition, and to prove it they hark back to a March 2011 poll done for thinktank Policy Exchange – long before workfare hit the headlines.

Another factoid to consider in all this: incidence and severity of assaults on JCP staff are apparently on the up, with frustration and confusion about sanctions are cited as the cause.

On Tuesday, attention was turned to the Salvation Army, whose U.K. H.Q. was paid a surprise visit. Nevertheless, the media-savvy Sally’s showed how they’re happy to act as Iain Duncan Smith’s Workfare foot soldiers, as their heavy-handed response to a peaceful protest left one person temporarily arrested after being falsely accused of assault, until police realised they’d been lied to. Never content to just stop there, when questioned about how they “can morally take sick and disabled people and force them to work?”, the charity replied that they believe in “emancipation through employment” – just like at Auschwitz. Should you wish to let them know exactly you think about their use of forced labour, ring them on 02073 674500 (or e-mail them at: info@salvationarmy.org.uk) – and please spare a thought for their witless P.R. officer who is probably even now just entering the dole queue. ‘Arbeit macht frei’, indeed.

But the real shit in ya slippers was Duncan Sith’s Workfare bill getting itself enacted in Parliament. Aside from a few votes against, Miliband’s goons put the ‘Slave’ back into Labour as their abstention slipped the law through with ease. Not only did politicians enable a retroactive law to be enacted, they also deprived 225,000 people of justice, effectively robbing £130 million in welfare payments people were lawfully due. Neo-nazi I.D.S. (who has grown fat off benefits via his unemployed albeit rich, wife, four child benefit-enriched children and his own periods of dole claims) had this particular wet dream extraordinarily rushed through, with the Second Reading, Committee Stage and Third Reading all being scheduled for the same day. Which is nice. This spate of legal time travel now means that the govermint has ‘always complied’ with the court ruling, even though for two years it did not. Slavery is Peace, Ignorance is Strength, and Orwellian fiction becomes fact.

But then again, if Babyface Smith didn’t get his way, “If the Department cannot make these retrospective changes, then further reductions in benefits might be required in order to find the money to repay the sanctions.” Otherwise known as: “Fuck you, plebs!”

Wednesday seemed a bit of a quiet one, but saw Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group leafleting outside the local Job Centre, in solidarity with the day’s strike by the P.C.S. union.

One highlight of the week, for what it’s worth, is on the Thursday when the govermint was forced to admit that jobcentres have been setting targets to sanction claimants, despite assurances by employment minister Mark Hoban in Parliament that this sort of thing doesn’t happen. According to a leaked e-mail, staff in Walthamstow were threatened with disciplinary action for being 95th out of 109 on the league tables, only punishing six of their 300 claimants a week, when they should be setting up 25 innocents for sanctions (the keywords staff were on the lookout for were: “Do not accept the same job search every week, do not accept ‘I dropped off C.V. to shops like Asda or Sainsbury’s’, listen for telltale phrases ‘I pick up the kids’, ‘I look after my neighbours children/my grandchildren’ or just ‘I am busy’”). Bearing in mind that such a league table could only have been compiled based on data supplied by senior management; makes you wonder what the top prize is? The D.W.P. is of course trying to blame this faux pas on a couple of middle management bad eggs, rather than admit a general culture of top-down institutional hatred for ordinary people; surprise surprise, but why be so naïve as to expect that honesty is the name of the game? So all we’ll get out of it is a bullshit inquiry distraction before they start screwing us harder, but at least they were caught lying.

On the Friday, seven activists from the Black And Red Federation held a modest afternoon demo to greet the new Poundland on Westgate Street. Despite the focus of the High Court judgement (where Cait Reilly – the Geology Graduate forced to give up voluntary work in a museum to work for nothing at Poundland – whose successful challenge led to the ruling declaring Workfare regulations unlawful), Poundland are still at it. Poundland have 30-hour ‘Work Experience’ placements across 71 of their stores, though allegedly not in Bath. 80% of placements do not even get offered any kind of job there; considering how Poundland’s profits rose by 27% to £40 million in the last financial year, they can probably afford to hand out a bit of wage. Though they claim that their scheme is completely voluntary, it does involve Job Centre Plus, so the threat of benefit cuts are still on the cards for those who refuse. The degree to which the scheme is genuinely voluntary is disputed though, as there are countless reports of lies and intimidation to force Jobseekers’ participation, and after one week the scheme becomes mandatory. Not only are placementees getting an effective £2 or so an hour (do we not have a minimum wage in this country anymore?), the scheme is also a direct attack on Poundland’s other workers – replacing paid jobs, holiday pay & ending temporary posts for students and others who rely on this type of work. Boycott Workfare have received various complaints from Poundland staff who have had their hours cut, because of the Workfare job destruction scheme.

The demo was met by overwhelming support from the passersby (at least those who have heard of Workfare, which is surprisingly few), with such classics as the posh elderly former Tory (“Well, the government are just a bunch of cunts aren’t they? Pardon my language”), the Tory-hating U.K.I.P.-enthusiast, and Red Army Faction tattoo guy coyly suggesting a much-needed bombing campaign – perhaps we’ve been aiming a bit low with our action? Well, maybe they will, once they work our way through the bag of donuts they got donated. Protests like these do add up; until Poundland gives in, help us in fighting this attack on all workers’ terms and conditions – Donut Shop At Poundland.

Feedback form: http://www.poundland.co.uk/enquiry/customer-enquiry/
Press centre: poundland@bottlepr.co.uk
Chief Executive (Warburg Pincus – their U.S.-based private equity fund owners): egustafson@warburgpincus.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Poundland
Twitter: https://twitter.com/poundland

Then on the Saturday, B.A.R.F.ers joined 50 or so Bristol Afed, Solfeders, Wobs and Socialist Partygoers and fiends for a rolling picket throughout Bristol centre, meeting at Castle Park at 2p.m., and chaosing its way through Cabot Circus for Dorothy Perkins, then Poundland (where a worker bizarrely knifed the banner and stole a demonstrator’s camera), then Debenhams, then McDonalds and then into the Galleries for Greggs, where protesters were handed another donation of donuts, from an amused competitor (notice a pattern?). The day finished up inside the Marriot Hotel, just before everyone froze to death. Saturday also saw action in Kirkgate, Scotland;

So, who has pulled out of the sinking ship we call ‘Workfare’? Well, we have Holland and Barrett, the Red Cross, Capability Scotland, Sue Ryder, Scope, Superdrug, P.D.S.A. and Cancer Research, just off the top of my head. The Children’s Society has also pledged not to use Workfare. Already before the latest withdrawals, the govermint complained how “The high profile withdrawal of placements from a number of larger charities meant a sharp reduction in placements.” British Heart Foundation, for its part, are also now “moving away”, whatever that means; recently they declared they had withdrawn from the Mandatory Work Activity scheme, but are still openly declaring on their website that they are participating in the Work Programme – despite the fact that, in December, the scheme was extended to give providers the power to force many sick and disabled claimants on Employment and Support Allowance to work for nothing, or face sanctions. Nah, bollocks, B.H.F.’re still fair game! Contact them via phone (retail H.Q. tel: 01372 477300; head office tel: 02075 540000; customer service centre – 03003 303322) or e-mail (customerservice@bhf.org.uk).

Also fair game is the Y.M.C.A., who recently made a statement defending their use of forced unpaid workers, ignoring the fact they are responsible for pushing people into destitution and possible homelessness, through sanctions which can last up to three years. Uselessly, their president Bishop John Sentamu has spoken out against workfare in the past. They can be rung on 02071 869500 or their shops’ hotline: 08456 010728, and e-mailed on shop@ymca.org.uk and enquiries@ymca.org.uk, tweeted at @ymcaint and then Facebooked at www.facebook.com/ymcas. But remember whilst it’s well worth trying to speak to a manager if possible, bear in mind most people taking calls/e-mails will be low paid retail or admin and could even be on Workfare themselves.

For the number-crunchers out there, one in five people sent on Mandatory Work Activity in charity shops face benefit stoppages of three or six months. Alongside B.H.F. and Y.M.C.A., charities like the R.S.P.C.A. (head office tel: 03001 230100), the Papworth Trust (e-mail: info@papworth.org.uk; utilising disabled labour) and T.C.V. (The Conservation ‘Volunteers’, formerly B.C.T.V.; head office tel: 01302 388883, e-mail: information@tcv.org.uk, www.btcv.org.uk/volunteer/index.html) are still involved – with the latter previously boasted of using 20,000 unpaid workers on various govermint schemes since the ’80s, and their current lucrative D.W.P. contracts have forced at least 589 people into unpaid work.

Miscellaneous Rogues Gallery

 

From Boycott Workfare:

  • Asda has been at the heart of workfare in the UK, helping the government relaunch its “Work Experience” scheme last year. We have had reports that one of their stores in Manchester uses disabled people on workfare on the night shift.
  • A.4e is one of the biggest beneficiaries of govermint welfare policy – in 2011 the company turnover was £180 million, 100% of which came from public coffers. Out of this the bosses shared out £11 million between them. A4e utterly fail to meet even the paltry minimum targets set by the D.W.P. for finding people jobs on the Work Programme. Not content with just this scam, aided and abetted by their friends in government, there are numerous accusations of fraud against them, where records are apparently falsified, so that they can claim even more public money for not doing their job. They are further subsidised by the public by their use of mandatory unpaid labour within the company as well.
    customer services: customerservices@a4e.co.uk; freephone tel: 0800 345666
    head of communications: kmccrory@a4e.co.uk
    media relations manager: jkerr@a4e.co.uk
    head office fax number: 0114 275 4632; send free faxes via: www.freepopfax.com; many classic books are available as free P.D.F.s online – perhaps A4e would like to read them?
    website complaints form: mya4e.com/contact-us/complaints-form
    Also, why not send a secure e-mail via: www.hushmail.com
  • Argos appears to be using six week placements from the Job Centre on a massive scale. Multiple reports of Argos using workfare placements so that paid staff hours are being reduced, and fewer Christmas temps employed have emerged.

    business e-mail: info@argos.co.uk
    corporate irresponsibility (H.R.G.): gordon.bentley@homeretailgroup.com, corporate.responsibility@homeretailgroup.com
    media relations (H.R.G.): media.relations@homeretailgroup.com
    managing director: john.walden@argos.co.uk
    head office tel: 01908 690333
    customer Services tel: 01785 710253

  • Debenhams has 165 stores across the U.K. and Ireland, and a turnover of £2.2 billion. They too have been taking advantage of wageless, rightless workers supplied by the D.W.P. at the taxpayers’ expense. They’re very keen to insist that the scheme they’re involved in is voluntary, but D.W.P. rules say if you don’t get take part you’re referred to a scheme which carries 3 year sanctions. So it’s only voluntary if you say ‘yes’.
    press office: press.office@debenhams.com
    customer services: customerrelations@debenhams.com
    company secretary (Paul Eardley): company.secretariat@debenhams.com
  • Tesco has committed to 3000 workfare placements, and so far 80% of the 1,500 people who have gone through their stores have not been given a job. Tesco’s profits last year were £1.7 billion. 1,500 eight- week, thirty hour placements would mean the company has so far profited from 360,000 hours of free labour on the schemes.
    head office e-mail: online@tesco.co.uk; tel: 08457 225533; Tesco Direct: 08456 004411
    customer service e-mail: customer.service@tesco.co.uk
    Phil Clarke, current C.E.O.: philip.clarke@uk.tesco.com

http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/03/five-things-the-government-wont-tell-you-about-workfare/

http://www.channel4.com/news/now-asda-is-accused-of-employing-youths-for-no-wage

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PERMANENT CULTURE NOW PRESENTS: ‘RESISTANCE IN AN AGE OF AUSTERITY’

THIS IS THE most recent video uploaded by Permanent Culture Now, filmed in December 2012. This film features a panel of Bristol-based political and activist organisations, who discuss and debate resistance during these harsh economic times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT5Hw5C3jQY&feature=player_embedded

What does resistance mean in an age of austerity, how can we change the world for the better when all around us we see the dismantling of our public services, watch this debate to get a range of views on this thorny issue.

What does resistance mean take in an age of austerity?

As we see the austerity agenda having massive consequences in Greece and Spain and the UK bracing itself for the real impact of the austerity agenda, we ask what should a resistance to austerity look like. In Greece we see outright violent resistance, combined with a development of bartering systems and many people returning back to the land to support themselves. Should we just resist or do we push for more radical change in society, if yes how can we do this. Are these the right ways to resist, could this occur in the UK, what can be done in this new age of the austerity agenda? We will look at short films about the impact of austerity, hear from Bristol groups attempting to effect change and highlight new ideas of resistance and social change. The night will feature speakers from a range of speakers from Bristol IWW, Afed, Solfed, Socialist Party Badaca plus many others talking about the issues they are coming into contact with, the resistance they have been involved in and the future of resistance in Bristol to these appalling cuts.

This is a link tot he film we showed at the start of the evening called Athens: Social Meltdown as it shows a range of responses to a much more intense austerity agenda.
https://vimeo.com/50028620

Bristol I.W.W.
Bristol Anarchist Federation
Bristol Solidarity Federation
Bristol Anti-Cuts Alliance
Bristol Socialist Party
Bristol Feminist Network

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SECOND CLASS BULLIES LEAD TO FIRST CLASS STRIKE

BRISTOL POSTIES HAVE voted for strike action over the Christmas period in response to a pattern of bullying delivered by their bosses. Issues started around a year ago, when managers introduced a new delivery system, making it nearly impossible for most posties to carry out their rounds in time. Despite the problems arising from management incompetence, the majority of posties in Bristol’s southeast delivery office have repeatedly found themselves facing harassment when they cannot complete deliveries within the new time frame. Bob Gibson, a C.W.U. official representing post workers, highlighted that the problem is not just a local one, saying “Some of what I’ve been hearing from several areas around the country seems quite sinister in its application and can only be described as bullying, harassment and downright intimidation. This is a situation we cannot allow to continue”. With the workers holding massive gate meetings in the run-up to and during the ballot, the 80% ‘yes’ vote for strike action didn’t come as much surprise. We know it’s always a pain in the arse to have mail delayed, especially when it’s yer X-mas edition of the Mutineer, but let’s remember to put the blame where it belongs – scummy bosses (let’s face it, we all know at least one) – and get behind our posties, who are not only fighting for their own right to be free of intimidation in the workplace, but for a postal service that works for us all.

And on Monday 10th, the strikers struck. It may have been freezing cold, but that did not deter the 40 posties who showed up outside the sorting office gates to show their anger at the bosses’ poor decision-making. As a result of the picket, 200 management staff from the across the country were brought in as scab labour, to do a job that 100 are expected to do (no need to point out the obvious hypocrisy there). Members from the local I.W.W. branch and other activist organisations came in support, and delivered refreshments in solidarity.

This is only the beginning of what could potentially be an ongoing strike with another strike being held for this coming Monday and possibly continuing onto the new year. There is also a chance of this dispute going beyond the city of Bristol into the other regions of the westcountry.

STRIKEWATCH

AS WELL AS our local posties’ pickets, this month on StrikeWatch, we look back on a couple of firsts in industrial action, last month:

For the first time in 50 years, 500 Walmart workers in the U.S. carried out a 24-hour strike on 23rd November – the so-called ‘Black Friday’ shopping frenzy. Over 1,000 protests in 100 cities across 46 states, 1,000’s of supporters, with some of the strongest demos seen in Paramount, California, and Hannover in Maryland. The employee group leading the strike – ‘OUR Walmart’ – was formed 18 months before, to fight the low wages, decaying work benefits and Walmart’s infamous anti-union retaliation practices, which borders on the illegal (for what that’s worth). Strikers leafleted, Christmas carolled, put on lightshows and mic-check flashmobs, and – in Paramount – blocked the odd road. Walmart C.E.O. ‘Dollar’ Bill Simon laughingly claimed that less than 50 ‘associates’ took part nationally, but fooled no one. The workers, for their part, chanted in a Arnie-esque fashion: “We’ll be back.”

Back in the U.K., workers were out three days earlier, but this time at Amnesty International. Hundreds of picketers were out for the second time in two months, supported by the union Unite, up in arms about the human rights charity’s shift away from research and meaningful casework, and towards marketing-themed branding and flashy stunts. Of course, the management’s intended changes will also involve £2.5m in cuts, and losses of up to 40 jobs. A.I.U.K.’s internal divide has been bitterly widening over the last 20 years, with one senior director quitting in disgust over the treatment of their own staff (who agreed to a voluntary pay freeze, despite a steady 2% annual growth in income), with the workforce calling for director Kate Allen’s resignation, and issuing a vote of no-confidence in the rest of the leaders. A senior leadership that isn’t opposed to a bit of corruption, by the way – compared to the seven people earning more than £60,000 in 2007, this has swollen to 36 people netting big cash last year, and two former execs got a £800,000 golden handshake to see them off, back in 2009. Meanwhile, Amnesty local groups and members are calling for an extraordinary general meeting to set it all straight.

http://news.yahoo.com/amnesty-international-workers-start-strike-105900938.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/animosity-international-staff-on-strike-in-amnesty-offices-across-the-globe-8317303.html

http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/acpr/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/22/us-economy-walmart-workers-black-friday-strike

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/23/walmart-strike-black-friday_n_2177784.html

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171435/biggest-strike-against-biggest-employer-walmart-workers-make-history-again

 

FREE FUN FOR ALL THE FAMILY!

ON 20TH OCTOBER 200,000 people filled the streets of London from Lambeth to Hyde Park, in protest against austerity. There were people from diverse social and racial backgrounds, babies and great grannies, black and white, poor and slightly less poor (rumour has it the rich of London were huddled in Blitz-style terror behind the reinforced shutters of the Ritz), all having a laugh, a sing-song, a good chat and a shout in the sun. There were nurses, physiotherapists, train and bus drivers, teachers, pensioners, students, anarchists, socialists, communists, and people with disabilities: all with one thing in common, being fucked over by the government and wanting their voices heard! Most knew marching alone wouldn’t be enough, and there was a definite mood to take things further, but what better way to boost your own morale than meeting others who want things to change?

The highlights of the day came at the end of the march, as a couple of thousand malcontents took action against companies involved in tax-dodging and the government’s Workfare/slave labour scheme. Targets included a posh Hilton hotel, stormed and occupied just like McDonalds, Starbucks and Boots. Wheelchair-users and pensioners blocked the road at Marble Arch in protest at cuts to services and benefits, and reports are still rolling in of small-scale occupations and shutdowns all over London. In a telling moment, thousands of trade unionists booed Ed ‘I’m just like you in my £1.4 million mansion’ Miliband at Hyde Park as he tried to convince the crowd that red cuts hurt less than blue ones. Despite the great atmosphere, numbers were way down on the 500,000 strong anti-cuts demo last March. Why? Because the T.U.C. have sold us the occasional demo as an alternative to actions that really could stop the cuts, such as mass strikes, occupations and direct action. While angry workers made the most of the day to network amongst themselves, for the T.U.C. leadership, it was nothing more than a ‘re-elect Labour’ stunt and a pacifier to the thousands desperate to get properly stuck into the Tory scum. It is now the job of ordinary people to keep fighting, with or without the T.U.C.: a one-day strike and the odd protest is not a recipe for success and if the union leadership can’t deliver the action we need to be taking, it’s time to start doing it for ourselves, in our communities and in our workplaces. You never know, we could even be talking revolution.

 

HEY, TEACHER, MAKE THOSE BOSSES GROAN!

TEACHERS ACROSS THE southwest joined colleagues across the country, last month, starting an indefinite campaign of industrial action against excessive stress and workload. The action, designed not to affect pupils, will involve teachers refusing excessive observations (which teachers in some schools in the west face daily), refusing to hand in their planning to be marked by senior leaders (yes, this happens) and dozens of similar boycotts. The average teacher’s day begins at 7.45a.m., and ends around 6p.m., and the long holidays mostly get consumed with marking and planning. This is something teachers have been willing to put up with for years, but with headteachers increasingly treating staff like naughty children – upping already heavy levels of scrutiny as well as expecting a rainforest-depleting ream of paperwork on a daily basis – teachers felt action was the only option. Their decision to fight back has been made easier by education secretary Michael ‘Pob’ Gove claiming that teachers frequently leave at 3p.m. and should have their pay docked for doing so – a sick joke for anyone who knows how deep into the evening an average teacher’s work runs. Clamouring to one-up his partner in crime, OFSTED boss and well-known scrote Sir Michael Wilshaw recently opened a speech to senior leaders with the line “If anyone says to you that ‘staff morale is at an all-time low’ you will know you are doing something right.” Wow! With bosses like these, who can blame the teachers for striking back?

In some schools, headteachers, scared of losing their iron grip over staff, have attempted to ban the action. In at least one school in Wiltshire, staff standing together have already beaten back this attack, and in another, staff in a religious school are preparing to escalate a campaign against their boss who has banned the action on the grounds that it doesn’t fit with their religious ethos (we’d argue that religion and freedom have never had much in common anyway)! Teachers at the school will be going loud with their campaign soon, so we’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, if you are a parent or pupil, you can support your teachers simply by telling them know that you appreciate what they do. Letting them know you think Gove is a bastard, or offering to deck him will also be guaranteed to raise morale amongst your local educators!

NOW THEY’VE GOAN AND DONE IT

Swindon Workers Get Stuck Into Bullying Bosses

FOR THE PAST half a year, cleaners at Swindon’s G.W.H. Hospital have been taking action against their employer, Carillion, who take on the maintenance, construction and management of hundreds of buildings across the U.K. The action comes in response to a culture of bullying and racism from Carillion bosses towards the mostly Goan cleaners. As well as routine racist abuse, Carillion managers frequently force workers to present them with ‘gifts’ in return for time off, overtime and other basic rights at work. The Goan workers were also denied the right to take enough of their holiday in one go to visit their families back home. Since the first strike back in February, the workers have given the rest of us a shining example in how to treat your boss, joining the G.M.B. union en masse, taking dozens of days of strike action (always involving nearly 100% of the workforce), blockading Carillion H.Q., holding well-attended meetings, a 400-strong demo through Swindon and numerous solidarity events and protests, alongside Swindon Anarchists and other union and activist groups.

The campaign has already seen one racist boss get kicked out, but instead of taking strikers’ demands seriously, Carillion have responded by sending in scabs to undermine strikes, lying, faking and fudging internal ‘investigations’ and further victimising the victims by launching disciplinary procedures against 10 of the strikers – they even had the gall to accuse the workers of “offering bribes!”. As a result, not only are Carillion losing their reputation in the industry, not to mention lucrative contracts, but they have also been caught playing a central role in a blacklisting scandal – where major companies have been denying work to ‘troublemaking’ workers for the ‘crimes’ of attending anti-fascist protests and being members of a union! With Carillion refusing to take the hint and clean themselves up, an ever-growing number of ordinary workers are getting drawn into the fight, voicing disgust against Carillion (and yet more stories of corporate intimidation). With more strike action on the horizon – as well as planned action from anarchist and activist supporters – you can be sure that we’ll all be hearing more from the brave Goan workers that refuse to be trampled by their arrogant employer, and you can be equally sure they’re not gonna quit until they’ve won the rights we all deserve at work. To send messages of support to the workers, drop us an e-mail at mutineerpress[at]riseup.net and we’ll pass them on.

IN FULL SWING

THROUGHOUT ENGLAND IN 1830, agricultural labourers, tradesmen and smallholders rose up in their thousands to fight back against the driving down of wages, lengthening of hours, enclosure of public land and the starvation of their families at the hands of wealthy landowners. Nowhere was the rioting more fierce than in Wiltshire.

Between 1770 and 1830, over six million acres of common land had been placed in the ownership of a few rich landowners, leaving farm workers with nowhere to graze their small herds or grow subsistence crops. This, combined with a steep decline in wages for farm workers and the introduction of new machinery robbing them of their livelihoods, meant that many rural people found themselves and their families starving and penniless. The wage for a labourer in Dorset and Wiltshire was far worse than the national average.

Within a week of workers burning a threshing machine in Kent, rioting had spread to Wiltshire, where bands went on the rampage, burning farm produce and equipment and threatening the local gentry with physical force and letters demanding higher wages and food (always signed by the mythical ‘Captain Swing’). Some of the most extreme events occurred in Pewsey and Oare, where local landowner James Self was pushed into the flames as he attempted to save his property! The damage in this spree was estimated at £400. In the same night, the crops of a Mr. Fowler were also burned, with the local aristos surprised that “…the labourers of Oare, instead of assisting to put out the fire, appeared to take pleasure from the situation, and… were lying about enjoying the scene”.

Hoses brought to the scene were immediately sabotaged. Rioting was not only limited to farm labourers either, as demonstrated when a mob of 500 in Wilton gathered to attack and loot the mill of John Bishop: including his employees! And so it was in tens of towns and villages across the county, with workers successfully ‘persuading’ employers and landowners to hand over substantial amounts of money, food and, of course, beer! But before long, the shocked employers retorted, swearing in a ‘yeomanry’ comprised mainly of the local well-to-do, responding to disturbances with violent relish. After four months of sustained unrest – and, predictably, repression from employers and courts – the rioting died down, leaving hundreds imprisoned, dozens deported and 19 hung.

Despite the bloody end to the Swing Riots in Wiltshire, the workers scored some important victories. They met their material needs by looting money and supplies from landowners who were previously happy to let them starve but, possibly more importantly, the rioters experimented with ways to organize themselves to answer their own needs collectively, setting a blueprint for future working class self-organization that would inspire future generations of rebels and society as a whole.