BRISTOL – The Westcountry Mutineer

MAYBE IT’S MAYDAY, MAYBE WE’RE BORN WITH IT

THE FOLLOWING FROM some of Bristol First of May Group:

May Day has been celebrated as International Workers’ Day since 1890, and is a time to remember our collective history, and to re-ignite our present day struggles for a better world. For May Day 2013, unions in our sister-shitty Bristol are calling for a March Against Austerity on 04/05. We are one of the ones calling for a Radical Block/Bloc (dictionary, anyone?) to march with them.

Come and join us on the streets if you are:

Mad – at the govermint which continues to attack society’s most vulnerable for the benefit of no one, other than themselves (and their rich mates)

Angry – that the costs of living are going up and your boss won’t pay you more

Frustrated – that your working conditions are being destroyed and the bureaucrats at the top of your union don’t seem up for the fight your fellow workers are ready for

Worried – that if we don’t do something soon, there will be no NHS or decent education left for your children

Bored – with the latest lies from the politicians and press you’re expected to believe

Inspired – by the courage of those that have gone before us, who have fought against exploitation, and won us all victories which last to this day

Optimistic – about creating a society that can meet all our needs and seek an end to: sexism, racism, transophobia, ableism, ageism, religious intolerance, homophobia, and the many other oppressive ways we are divided.

Grab your red flag, your black flag, your pirate flag, or no flag at all, and get together at 10.30am, Saturday the 4th of May on College Green to take to the streets of Bristol, and lets rekindle the spirit of resistance!

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.

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

BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME, COPPAHS!

SATURDAY MORNINGS TOOK a turn for the bizarre on the 9th February, when, as four morning volunteers preparing the weekly Saturday breakfast at Kebele Community Co-op cafe were met by a pair of plods and attendant member of the public, whose i-phone was apparently stolen the night before. The police claimed that they tracked the phone to the whereabouts of the social centre/the surrounding area/they can actually track the phone moving around inside – choose whichever one you wish to believe, and they demanded entry to search the building. The police’s various accounts differed when individually questioned. The key detail is that the cops had no warrant for entry, and so the volunteers politely refused; the police then threatened criminal damage to the property.

As 20-or-so Kebele supporters turned up over the next 10 minutes, they were preceded by a few police cars and a C.C.T.V. van’s worth, full of police, which only increased in number as the morning went on.

Whilst this was all happening, there were attempts made by the gathering crowd and volunteers to find a compromise, allowing the individual to come inside and search for his missing phone, without accompanying police – as their presence would breach the centre’s Safer Spaces policy. The police refused the offer, leading to an hour-and-a-half of strange standoff: instead, police stated that “We don’t talk to members of the community.” They refused to speak to anyone but the volunteers within, through the letterbox, and eventually all left to attend another call – apparently deciding there was no crime taking place after all?

Then the individual claiming the stolen i-phone came inside for a coffee, but decided not to bother looking for his phone, and refused any help to do so, as his phone ‘was on silent anyway’.

Whilst we here at the Mutineer disapprove of the role of the police as hired thugs of the rich and the powerful in the status quo, and look forward to a society of mutual aid and without oppression, it warms our heart to know that, should we ever lose any our property in a public building or shop, like McDonalds or Starbucks or what-have-you, we will be able to instantly call on a small private army to come help us kick down the door, no questions asked. The world is hence a safer place.

One benefit to all the melodrama though, was that a lot more people turned up for Kebele breakfast than normal, and much funds were raised!

So it was nothing too serious at the end of the day, but the golden question about the whole thing is: what was this really all about?

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

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.

HEALTHCARE HIJACK RECEIVES RESISTANCE!

AS PART OF the brutal government attack on our N.H.S., 20 health trust bosses across the southwest have met behind closed doors in an effort to slash spending. After shelling out £200,000 in taxpayers money to form a ‘consortium’, they have reached a decision. Will they be taking a hit from their pay? Will they be standing up to a bullying government hell-bent on destroying and flogging off our N.H.S. to the highest bidder? Nah, of course not! As usual, the savings will come straight out of the pockets of hard-working nurses and other healthcare workers. In a leaked document, the bosses’ consortium is suggesting a range of far- ranging attacks on pay and conditions , the worst of which include whopping 15% pay cuts, reduced pay for unsociable hours, reduced sick pay and slashed holiday time for frontline staff. Not in a mood to take this lying down, healthcare workers across the west have been holding huge workplace protest meetings, with one hospital in Bristol seeing 250 workers turn up. The meetings led to a huge protest in Bristol, which saw 1,500 healthcare workers and supporters hold a noisy, colourful and well-received march under the banner ‘unite the resistance’ – a great slogan to show that the fight for the N.H.S., and workers’ rights is all of our fight.

While rank and file workers on the demo were obviously up for a scrap, and pushing for action, it now remains to be seen if union bosses will get properly stuck in. While the unions have played an important role in protecting rights at work, T.U.C. bosses have shown themselves too willing to roll over and give up when confronted by a government determined to shaft us. Think back to the pensions debacle – with millions of workers champing at the bit to get properly stuck in to the Con-Dems, the T.U.C. managed one day of token strike action before calling workers back into work and urging them to accept the same deal that was on the table before the strike! The T.U.C. bosses want us to bide our time and wait for a Labour government – who, despite their rhetoric, are still pledged to massive spending cuts – to sort it all out for us. Well, even if Labour had the guts to stand up for ordinary people (unlikely), health workers can’t wait. The N.H.S. is being dismantled now, and to save it, workers, service users and the community who value the commitment and hard work of frontline staff will need to organise themselves, using tools that will beat back the bosses – wildcat strikes, direct action, protests and occupations – with the union chiefs when they’ll fight, without ‘em when they won’t! But, if the huge, determined crowd at the demo can carry that energy back into their workplaces, it looks likely that the N.H.S. bosses will have a serious fight on their hands, and one they’ll live to regret picking!

GETTING STARBUCKED

THE RECENT UPROAR surrounding Starbucks has once again pushed the issue of tax-dodging, and its relation to austerity, into the limelight. Starbucks is one of the largest coffee chains in the U.K., and the second largest café/restaurant chain in the world. Yet, in the last three years they’ve paid no corporation tax at all in the U.K., despite making sales of £3.1bn. And on Saturday December 8^th, despite their sudden agreement to pay back £20m of their £400m debt, U.K. Uncut and friends hit them with a wave of 40 protests and occupations around the country. And their execs’ new-found generosity to the tax man came with a hefty price tag – two days before they publicised the details of their ‘gift’, they also told over 7,000 staff how they’re cutting paid lunch breaks, sick pay, maternity leave and a string of other work benefits.

But the only reason that companies like Starbucks are able to employ a workforce with such scroogery at all, is due to state support, in the form of working tax credits and housing benefit (benefits now also under threat, thanks to George Osborne). And we’re not just talking Starbucks: other big names recently have been Vodafone, Amazon, and the Arcadia group. And Osborne knows this. That’s why you won’t see him raising corporation tax, or closing tax loopholes, or clamping down on offshore tax-havens.

With that in mind, up to 40 activists in Bristol shut down both the Broadmead Starbucks and Park Street one, meeting overwhelming approval from passers-by. And in Bath, a collection of 20 activists held a demo outside the High Street branch, alongside the monthly Bath FreeShop, handing out free fairtrade tea and coffee.

Outside of protests, though, one way that Starbucks workers can fight such attacks is to unionise, and take action. Starbucks, a company previously infamous for its union-busting, has now seen workers out on strike in Chile and New Zealand, and also unionising under the International Workers of the World (I.W.W.) in North America. Starbucks have clearly offered concessions in the hope of staving off disruption to their business, and the potential loss of profits that this represents. It also shows the power that protest groups can wield. Making big companies pay their tax won’t stop the cuts, but a sustained wave of pickets, occupations and blockades – alongside strike action – just might.

http://www.starbucksunion.org

http://www.iww.org.uk

http://www.bathanticutsalliance.blogspot.com

http://m.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/03/starbucks-slash-lunch-breaks

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9728630/Starbucks-20m-gift-makes-joke-of-tax-system.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/interactive/2012/dec/03/starbucks-uk-employees-new-contracts

SOLIDARITY APPEAL

IN ISSUE #2, we reported on the case of a young antifascist who – as a result of a biased legal system and false testimony from the cops – has been found guilty of several offences relating to July’s massive anti-E.D.L. protest in Bristol.

The demo was successful in marginalising the racist group who had openly threatened to attack various multicultural, political and social ‘targets’ in the city. The activist has avoided jail (previously hinted at by the judge), but has been landed with community service and a fine. Combining his fine with legal costs, he has been left footing a bill of over £1,000. It is vital that we all stand together against fascist thugs like the E.D.L. (and their wigged friends?) and help out those who’ve found themselves on the sharp end of the law for standing up for their communities. Various groups are organising a whip-round to pay off this fine. If you, your group, or your union branch could donate – no matter how much – please send a cheque made out to Anarchist Federation to Bristol Afed, c/o Kebele Community Co-op, 14 Robertson Road, Easton, Bristol, BS5 6JY.

ABORT 67 TARGET PRO-CHOICE UNIVERSITIES

ABORT 67 ARE an anti-choice group infamous for their tactic of using large images of aborted foetuses to upset and anger passers by, or as they put it ‘show the truth about abortion’. The group take these graphic images out of context in an attempt to turn people against abortion, and shame women who have had procedures. On the 9th November, Abort 67 came to the University of Bristol, armed with large banners and posters. The university was not a random target; it was targeted as the students’ union has a clear pro-choice policy. The university, along with others around the country, including Sussex and Nottingham, have been targeted as part of an anti-choice university tour. At Bristol we were not warned of Abort 67’s planned visit but managed to throw a quick counter-protest together in order to obscure most of the posters. We created make-shift banners to block Abort 67’s graphic images, including one that had previously been used to advertise student elections. Ninety independent complaints from students were lodged with the police so it is clear that the group are not welcome. Many staff members and students came over to thank us for showing opposition to Abort 67’s disgusting tactics. Distressingly, I saw many young women visibly upset by the images, clutching each other as they walked or shielding their eyes with folders. For Abort 67 this pain is seen as necessary to further their cause, but I was shocked to hear that their ultimate aim was not to make abortion illegal but ‘unthinkable’. The group wants to do this through shaming, intimidation and brainwashing both women and men.

Members of Abort 67 continually attempted to engage us in conversation, which inevitably went round in circles. I told one member that the images were taken out of their medical context; a heart operation would look disgusting if you blew up the image on a massive poster, but that doesn’t mean the operation is wrong. She said that this was different as it was not a ‘life’, when I replied that the image she was showing was not actually a human life yet she said if that was so I shouldn’t be upset by it! A male member of the group told one of our female union officers that having sex was a ‘sin’ and would result in catching S.T.I.s.

The group returned to the University on the 23rd November and claim that they want to make their visits a regular event. We must stop this from happening by continuing to obstruct their demonstrations. Students must not fear being confronted by this divisive and misogynistic group, that claim having an abortion is the most selfish thing a woman can do. Abortions are a legal right in this country and women have the right to have control over their own bodies without fear of intimidation.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/bristolfeminists

HARDEST HIT HIT BACK

THURSDAY 25TH OCTOBER saw over 30 disabled people and supporters march in Bristol, to draw attention to the massive impact the cuts are having on disabled people and their carers. This is especially clear in Bristol, where the Lib-Dem-led council has forced through policies shutting down eight care homes across the city, despite mass opposition from service users, workers and anyone who gives a shit about the most vulnerable in our society. To highlight the massive impact of these cuts, a report by the Children’s Society and Disability Rights U.K. claims 230,000 severely disabled people are set to get between £28 and £58 less in benefits every week, while 100,000 children stand to lose up to £28 a week, and up to 116,000 disabled people who work will be at risk of losing £40. Event organisers estimate that government cuts will directly hit more than 500,000 disabled people across the country.

After the march, tempers flared when local Lib-Dem scumbag, mayoral candidate and avid backer of care home closures Jon Rogers tried to address the crowd. Not wanting to listen to someone who has campaigned tirelessly to rob them of their facilities, the crowd responded with heckling, booing and even lobbing a few objects, including a lit cigarette, at Rogers – the least he deserved in our humble opinion. Speaking after the event, one of the demonstrators explained their actions, describing how Rogers “[doesn’t have] much of a place at a demonstration like this. He has closed operations for eight care homes in Bristol.” Quite right. Even if the care homes may be set to close, there is still more to fight for. In the meantime, the least we can do is give back a little bit of the discomfort and humiliation that politicians force on us – especially the most vulnerable of us – by making sure they can’t speak in public without having to dodge awkward questions, awkward heckles and as many flaming objects as we can throw!