End Unfair Terminations at Uber: Fight For Unfairly Fired Drivers and Couriers, Monday 26th July, 2pm

From the IWGB Couriers and Logistics Branch:

For app-based workers like UberEats riders and Uber drivers, the threat of being TERMINATED (being permanently blocked from the app and having your income source suddenly shut off) is always present. We can be terminated even if we’ve worked in the job for 10 years with 100% customer satisfaction. 

We can be terminated for reasons as insignificant as an app glitch or a few late deliveries, and may be given no notice at all. For many of us, this is our full time job. We are typically given no chance to present our own side of the story or to appeal the decision.

As key workers we have served you throughout the pandemic, delivering food to those who are self isolating or providing riders to those avoiding public transport. Now we’re calling on you to help us fight for our dignity and job security.

🚨END UNFAIR TERMINATIONS🚨

Abiodun was an UberEats rider with a 96% rating and almost 5000 deliveries.

He was fired without warning when a Uber’s racist Face ID system failed to recognise him as himself.

The disrespect apps like Uber have for their workers needs to end. pic.twitter.com/Jg5yu74DDd

— IWGB Couriers (@IWGB_CLB) July 23, 2021

We are calling for:

1. A fair dismissals process for all app-based workers!
2. That all unfairly terminated workers are re-instated immediately!

Bring your car, moped or bike and join UPHD and the IWGB Couriers on 26th July to demand an end to unfair terminations, and that all unfairly closed accounts be reopened NOW! We will be meeting at the ASDA Car Park in Stepney Green at 2pm and then driving together from there to the Uber Head Office at Aldgate Tower, please join us!

If you don’t have a car, moped or bike, and want to join directly at Uber Head Office, the address is Aldgate Tower, Aldgate East, E1 8QN.

That day will also see a demo in Street, Somerset, against “fire and rehire” plans at the shoe company Clarks.

A quick reminder of other upcoming events over the next week:

On Thursday 29th, there’s a “fight oppression globally, welcome refugees” protest at the Home Office, organised by the Uyghur Solidarity Campaign and supported by a number of other groups.

On Friday 30th, cleaners at Royal Parks will be striking over pay, conditions, and the reinstatement of a sacked colleague, in action co-ordinated between PCS and the grassroots union UVW. Rail Gourmet staff at Edinburgh have been taking strike action over bullying and harassment, with the next date scheduled for Saturday 31st, and that date also sees a call to occupy Peckham Green, where the local community are fighting to defend a park from being built over.

Mid-July roundup: cleaners’ and rail disputes, prisoner solidarity and more

A few notes on upcoming events and ongoing workplace disputes:

On Tuesday 20th, the RMT are holding a Justice for Cleaners demonstration outside Parliament, as part of their ongoing campaign against the privatisation of cleaning.

On Wednesday 21st, there’s another cleaners’ protest, this time organised by grassroots union CAIWU at Facebook’s London offices. They complain “Facebook cleaners have started getting sick – hardly surprising when they have twice as much work as before. Yet Churchill Group just blames [them] for not working ENOUGH.”

On Saturday 24th, a Reclaim Pride march will be held in London.

Sunday 25th is the international day of solidarity with antifascist prisoners, so you might want to do something to mark that date.

Conductors on East Midlands Railway are striking regularly every Sunday through July and into August in response to the company trying to issue inferior contracts to some guards. ScotRail staff have also been holding regular Sunday strikes over pay justice. 

On Thursday 29th, there’s a “fight oppression globally, welcome refugees” protest at the Home Office, organised by the Uyghur Solidarity Campaign and supported by a number of other groups.

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On Friday 30th, cleaners at Royal Parks will be striking over pay, conditions, and the reinstatement of a sacked colleague, in action co-ordinated between PCS and the grassroots union UVW. Rail Gourmet staff at Edinburgh have been taking strike action over bullying and harassment, with the next date scheduled for Saturday 31st, and that date also sees a call to occupy Peckham Green, where the local community are fighting to defend a park from being built over.

Tube drivers will be taking strike action starting on August 3rd, in response to London Underground scrapping the Night Tube Train Drivers’ grade.

Further ahead, there’s a few anarchist bookfairs and related events planned for September, with the Bradford bookfair on the 4th, the Antiuniversity running a festival from the 4th-10th, and a London bookfair planned for the 11th-12th. 

Another dispute is ongoing in Bexley, where outsourced refuse staff employed by Serco on behalf of the council are in the middle of a two-week strike over a 1.5 per cent pay offer, disparities in pay for workers doing the same jobs, the removal of industrial sickness benefits and Serco’s refusal to hand over years of back pay owed to nearly 50 staff. Outsourced security staff at Reading Hospital went out on strike on July 12th and are staying out till the end of the month, after balloting over the failure of the company to meaningfully negotiate a decent pay offer for 2020; failure to take health and safety concerns seriously; and the refusal to discuss on sick pay relating to health and safety and to address the disparity in sick pay between colleagues.

Outsourced support staff employed through ISS at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have delivered a 97.3% vote for strike action on an 82% turnout.

In prisoner support news, Bristol ABC are calling for people to support Ryan Roberts, who’s held awaiting trial on charges related to alleged participation in the Bristol Kill the Bill protests.

His address is:

Ryan Roberts
HMP Horfield
19 Cambridge Road
Bristol
BS7 8PS
Prison number A5155EM

As ever, please be careful with any writing addressed to a pre-trial prisoner.

Finally, a few recent victories: workers organised through UVW at the luxury housing development West End Quay have called off a strike after winning a whole set of demands. London Renters Union and others successfully prevented an eviction, a story which has been reported in the Mirror and Novara.

At the Royal London Hospital, strikes have been called off after Serco offered important concessions including moving and retraining a manager accused of bullying, and workers at the Southbank Centre have beaten an attempted pay cut.

Bow crane collapse one year on – June Harvey vigil, Thursday 8th July

The Hazards Campaign, Construction Safety Campaign, and Families Against Corporate Killers are supporting a vigil in memory of June Harvey, who was killed by a crane crashing through her house one year ago.

For more information, see this article in the local press, the Hazards Campaign or Families Against Corporate Killers.

Electricians win de-skilling dispute, and a few upcoming events for mid-June

The rank and file-led “no to ESO” dispute over de-skilling in construction has now ended in an important victory. As one electrician put it,

“Rank & File Sparks have once again fought back and defeated the attempted deskilling of the electrical trade. NG Bailey and Balfour Beatty, get back in your box and take your deskilling agenda with you. Direct action works.”

A few events upcoming over the next few days:

Friday 11th is the international day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners – I’m not aware of any formally organised events happening for the day here, but you can still find your own ways to mark the day.

On Saturday in London, there’s a rally in support of Osime Brown, a young autistic Black man threatened with deportation. Sisters Uncut and Kill the Bill are organising a contingent meeting up at 11:30 that morning. Over in Cornwall, there’s an internationalist day of action against the G7 that day.

On Sunday, there’s a protest happening against the gentrification of Brick Lane in London, and Kill the Bill Cornwall are promising a “seriously loud, seriously disruptive, seriously annoying” party/protest against the G7 at a location to be confirmed.

On Monday 14th, Greater Manchester Law Centre are holding an online meeting with speakers including Sheila Coleman from the Hillsborough campaign, Shrewsbury picket Terry Renshaw, Mike Jackson from Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and the Orgreave justice campaign, and Joe Delaney from the Grenfell Action Group. The annual Orgreave commemoration rally will be happening online again this year, on Saturday 19th.

Late May events listing: Palestine, free Siyanda, sparks and more

A quick listing of a few upcoming events:

Although there now seems to be some kind of a ceasefire, there’s still an impressive number of events organised for this weekend in solidarity with Palestine and against the latest round of bombings. There’s a map listing 60, which are also collected in a twitter thread. From Samidoun’s global calendar of resistance:

United Kingdom

• Ilford – Friday, 21 May, 6:30 pm, Redbridge Town Hall. Info: https://twitter.com/JazzBee23/status/1395490750306177026/photo/1
• Nottingham – Friday, 21 May, 7 pm, Old Market Square. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPDw_nuFP7O/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
• Portsmouth – Friday, 21 May, 5 pm, Guildhall, Portsmouth. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPEWfzhpk55/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
• Sheffield – Friday, 21 May, 5 pm, Sheffield Train Station. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPBxSRKpWeR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
• Warwick – Friday 21 May, 2 pm, Piazza, University of Warwick. Info: https://twitter.com/uwarsoc/status/1394707222974844928/photo/1w

• Bangor, Gwynedd – Saturday, 22 May, 11 am, Pontio by memorials, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/328890178605492/
• Birmingham – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, Victoria Square, Birmingham. Info: https://twitter.com/TINYCUPlD/status/1395490886532964353
• Bournemouth: Palestine Solidarity Demo – Saturday, 22 May, 12 pm, Glen Fern Car Park, march to Bournemouth Square. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/493603321888560/
• Bristol – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, March from Shah Jalal Mosque to College Green, Bristol, UK. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/311249393908827/
• Cardiff – Saturday, 22 May, 12 pm, BBC Cymru building, Cardiff, Wales. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPAxiIcA2Ix/
• Derby – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, The Spot, Derby city Centre, Derby, UK. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/539803320352695/
• Dundee – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, Dundee, City Square. Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/502988511048117/
• Glasgow – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, 30 Finnieston St, Glasgow, Scotland. Info: https://twitter.com/fauziaahmad07/status/1395514539320414214/photo/1
• Huddersfield – Saturday 22 May, 3 pm, St George’s Square, Huddersfield
• Hull – Saturday, 22 May, 12 pm, Victoria Square. Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/492148565429770/
• Inverness – Saturday, 22 May, 12 pm, Town House. Info: https://www.facebook.com/HighlandPalestine/posts/4458040374240039
• Leamington Spa  – Saturday, 22 May, 11 am, Leamington Spa, UK. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/3081528072066096/
• Leeds – Saturday, 22 May, 1 pm, Leeds Town Hall, Leeds. Info: https://twitter.com/chahrazedtft/status/1395526794716004352/photo/1
• Leeds – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, BBC Headquarters. Info: https://twitter.com/MIAxAlix/status/1395491926120570890
• Liverpool – Saturday, 22 May, 1 pm, Church St, Liverpool. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPEi2-XH61o/
• London: National Demo for Palestine – Saturday, 22 May, 12 pm, Speakers Corner (Marble Arch Tube), London, UK.
• Lowestoft – Saturday, 22 May, 1 pm, Outside Britten enter, Lowestoft, UK. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/851092055752578/
• Manchester: Speak Out for Palestinian Resistance – Saturday, 22 May, 12 PM, Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/950810015714728/
• Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Protest for Palestine! – Saturday, 22 May, 12 pm, Marks and Spencer, 77-87 Northumberland Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/196884705596392/
• Northampton: March 4 Palestine – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, BBC Radio Northampton, Abington St. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/320235456125245/
• Peterborough: Protest 4 Palestine – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, Peterborough Town Center, Peterborough. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/174750394539852/
• Plymouth: Stop Bombing Gaza – Saturday, 22 May, 11 am, New George St, Plymouth. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/465720878064565/
• Pontypridd – Saturday 22 May, 11 am, Mill Street near the bridge, Pontypridd, Wales. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/246215377292865 
• Sheffield – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPElXtmJOBa/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
• Swindon – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, Morrisons, Regents Circus, Swindon. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/830100164256504/
• Waterdale: Vigil for Palestine – Saturday, 22 May, 2 pm, Sir Nigel Gresley Square, Waterdale, UK. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/299139038487186/
• Wrexham: Support Palestine – Saturday, 22 May, 11:30 am, Queen Square, Wrexham, Wales. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1399877630380056/

• Aberdeen – Sunday, 23 May, 4 pm, Nelson St/Marischal Square, Aberdeen, Scotland.  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/266089264892559/
• Edinburgh – Sunday, 23 May, 2 pm, Foot of the Mound, Edinburgh, Scotland. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/479122976535232/
• Falmouth – Sunday, 23 May, 3 pm, The Moor, Falmouth, Cornwall, England. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/862014761017049
• Hitchin  – Sunday, 23 May, 11 am, Windmill Hill, Hitchin. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/144983220882950/
• Scunthorpe – Sunday, 23 May, 12 pm, Britannia Corner, Scunthorpe. Info: https://twitter.com/hasina47092933/status/1395495061106876421/photo/1

Also this weekend, there’s an online rally in support of Siyanda Mngaza, wrongfully convicted for defending herself against a racist attack, on Sunday afternoon. There’s also the Close the Camps day of solidarity with asylum seekers housed in the Napier Barracks on Saturday and an organiser training being run by Glasgow IWW on the Sunday.

On Tuesday 25th, there’s a protest at Goodlord referencing in London, demanding the reinstatement of sacked workers who’ve been unfairly dismissed while on strike.

On Wednesday 26th, the national construction rank and file are holding a demo at AWE Burghfield outside Reading as part of the ongoing No to ESO de-skilling dispute, the first publicly announced national demo in the campaign.

There’s also a group of people appearing in Highbury Magistrates’ Court that day charged with allegedly taking direct action against the Israeli arms company Elbit.

Workers at St Mungos housing services have been on all-out strike against bullying management since April. They’ve arranged the following events as part of the strike:

Wednesday 26th May

Meeting outside Hackney Town Hall, Mare St, Hackney, E8 1EA between 11:00 and 11:15 am

Walking to Mare Street, arriving 11:45.  Finish at 2pm

Thursday 27th May

Meeting Outside Mungo Offices at Thomas More Square, E1W 1YW  between 11:00 am and 11:30 am.  Finish at 2pm  

You can donate to their strike fund here.

Other upcoming events:

On Friday 28th there’s a call for mass action against Elbit’s London headquarters. Saturday 29th is the next Kill the Bill day of action, and will also see the online Edinburgh Anarchist Feminist Bookfair, which will also be running events on the Sunday.

On Saturday June 5th, there’s a protest at HMP Full Sutton, the site of a proposed new mega-prison which is also where Kevan Thakrar is being held. Transport is being arranged and can be booked through here.

Strike Map UK are starting up a virtual book club, and will be holding their first event on June 7th, a discussion of Robert Ovetz’s book on Workers’ Inquiry and Global Class Struggle.

On June 14th, Greater Manchester Law Centre are holding a meeting with speakers including Sheila Coleman from the Hillsborough campaign, Shrewsbury picket Terry Renshaw, Mike Jackson from Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and the Orgreave justice campaign, and Joe Delaney from the Grenfell Action Group. The annual Orgreave commemoration rally will be happening online again this year, on June 19th.

Other ongoing workplace disputes: the Thurrock bin strike now seems to have been resolved with a deal meaning that threatened pay cuts won’t be happening. Workers at Goodlord referencing services in London are still out on strike against fire and rehire in a dispute that started back in February, and has seen the targeting and victimisation of strikers. Ealing Council and Serco are trying to sack Patrice, a striking union rep, for “bringing the council into disrepute” by saying that the council would lose revenue from parking tickets during a strike by parking wardens.

General strike called across Palestine for May 18th

From Samidoun:

As Israel is continuing its massacres in Gaza, its attacks in Jerusalem and settler mob violence throughout occupied Palestine from the river to the sea, Palestinians have called for a general strike!

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins the call of Palestinians in Palestine and across the world for actions and mobilizations in support of the call for a general strike in Palestine on Tuesday, 18 May, and the escalation of organizing and resistance until liberation and return for Palestine.

This call has been supported by the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and popular movements, youth organizations, labor unions, political parties, and other mobilizations from the river to the sea inside occupied Palestine, and the call is expected to grow even further. As Palestinians are united with the #PalestineStrike, Samidoun calls on all labor movements, unions and syndicates around the world to support the Palestine Strike. Please share with us your endorsements, actions and solidarity statements so that we can publicize them widely.

Join in the call to action!

#PalestineStrike from the river to the sea!

Day of Action in solidarity with the Palestinian uprising & general strike From across Palestine, we call on you to join our general strike and day of action on Tuesday, May 18. Launched from Jerusalem and extending to every village, city, and refugee camp across Palestine and at our borders with Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, we call on your support in maintaining this moment of unprecedented popular resistance.The Israeli settler-colonial regime and military occupation has suffocated us and attempted to extinguish all possibility for the past 73 years. Now we demand our freedom — for the sake of the lives taken from us, for the countless injured, for those whose homes were destroyed, and for the thousands of our people arbitrarily imprisoned by the occupation.

As Jewish Israeli settler mobs and the Israeli state continue a campaign of violence against our people in Sheikh Jarrah and Gaza, we will continue our popular intifada until the liberation of our lands and people.

As Palestinian youth, we invite you across the international community to contribute to our general strike on May 18th by organizing actions in your cities and communities. We invite you to hold actions outside Israeli embassies and consulates in your region, but invite any gesture or action in solidarity with our continued struggle.We will continue to strike, organize, and protest for as long as the occupation exists. Liberation is within our reach.

TAKE ACTION: 

Protest at the Israeli Embassy or Consulate in Your Country!

Join the many protests taking place around the world — confront, isolate and besiege the Israeli embassy or consulate in your city or country of residence. Make it clear that the people are with Palestine! Send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net.

Take to the streets: Organize a protest in solidarity with Palestine!

Hundreds of thousands – millions of people – around the world have marched and protested with Palestine, its people and its liberation over the past week. Your protest and organizing is also key to supporting this strike!  Take to the streets and join the actions on our full list of events, which is constantly being updated as new actions are announced! Organize your own if there is none in your area, and send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net.

Palestine solidarity, anti-raids, and more: Mid-May events listing

General notes: the Anarchist Communist Group have a report from yesterday’s heroic resistance in Glasgow which is worth a read, and waste and recycling workers at Thurrock Council who’ve been out on strike against pay cuts since April 13 have announced their intention to stay out until at least June 18. You can watch a video about that dispute here. Meanwhile, the Manchester bus strike continues but seems like it might be nearing a resolution, as a solidarity protest planned for Thursday evening was called off. Rank-and-file sparks continue to hold regular protests against Balfour and Bailey’s de-skilling attempts across the country.

Upcoming events, mostly Palestine or anti-raids related:

On Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th May, there’ll be a lot of Palestine solidarity events happening:

SATURDAY 15th MAY 2021: List of Physical Protests

(Online Global Rally at 5pm, registration link here)

Abergavenny, Outside Waterstones, 1.30pm
Barnstaple, Guildhall, 11am
Bedford, Faces, Silver Street, 11am-1pm
Birmingham, Victoria Square, 2pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/299465741798072/ 
Brighton, Clocktower, 12pm
https://www.facebook.com/BrightonandHovePalestineSolidarityCampaign 
Bristol, Castle Park, 2pm                                                                           https://www.facebook.com/events/210502050657881/
Canterbury, HSBC Bank, Whitefriars, 9 Rose Lane, Canterbury CT1 2JP, 1pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/307828627519700
Cambridge, Market Square, 11.15am
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cambridgepalestineforum 
Cardiff, Aneurin Bevan Statue, 12pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/4560945557267377
Coventry, Broadgate, 12pm
Edinburgh, Princes Street (Corner of Castle St), 11am                               https://www.facebook.com/events/468782884198276
Exeter, Bedford Square, 12pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/306515077708621
Guildford, Debenhams, 2.30pm
Hastings, Near Debenhams, 12pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/1183922488708042/
Hebden Bridge, Corner of New Road (A646) with Holme Street, 2.30pm
Hereford, Cathedral, 11am
https://www.facebook.com/events/485680012637242
Hitchin, Windmill Hill, 11am
https://www.facebook.com/events/284046986748935/
Huddersfield, St George’s Square, 3pm
Hull, Victoria Square, 11am-1pm
Inverness, Town House, 12-1pm                                                                https://www.facebook.com/HighlandPalestine
Jersey, Royal Square, 11am
https://www.facebook.com/events/580129649570440/
Leeds, Leeds Trinity Briggate (Area outside Zara/Debenhams), 2pm
https://www.facebook.com/LeedsPSC.org.uk
Liverpool, Bombed-Out Church, 3pm                                                                                             https://www.facebook.com/events/2803407376636389/
London, March to the Israeli Embassy, Assemble Speaker’s Corner, Marble Arch Tube, 12pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/464271897978862
Machynlleth, The Clock Tower, 11am-12pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/208833754148964
Manchester, Platt’s Field Park, Rusholme, 12pm-4pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/373982893940589/
Newcastle, Grey’s Monument, 11.30am
https://www.facebook.com/events/463362151414611
Northampton, BBC Radio Northampton, Abington Street, 2pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/1185969485199708/
Nottingham Old Market Square, 12pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/833822114155903/
Orkney, Kirkwall, St Magnus Cathedral, 12pm-1pm
https://en-gb.facebook.com/OrkneyFriendsofPalestine/
Plymouth, New George Street, 11am-1pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/323519439242407/
Sheffield, Sheffield Town Hall, 12pm
https://www.facebook.com/sheffieldpalestine
Southampton, Bargate, 11am-12.30pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/237979378115605/
Woverhampton, Queen Square, 11am
https://www.facebook.com/groups/167943526632859

Sunday 16th May

Oxford, Manzil Way to Bonn Square, 2-5pm
Eastbourne,  Bankers’ Corner, Terminus Road, 12pm

This weekend will also see Edinburgh IWW running an online introduction to organiser training.

On Monday 17th, five people will be appearing at Stafford Crown Court over charges related to direct action against Elbit, an arms company that supplies brutal regimes including Israel and Burma/Myanmar.

On Thursday 20th, Haringey Anti-Raids are running an online workshop about how to resist immigration raids.

On Saturday 22nd, there’s the Close the Camps day of solidarity at Napier Barracks, where asylum seekers are being housed. Glasgow IWW will be running an in-person outdoors organiser training starting on Sunday 23rd.

On Wednesday 26th, another group of people accused of taking direct action against Elbit have a court date at Highbury Magistrates, and then on Friday 28th there’s a call for mass action against Elbit’s London headquarters.

Further ahead, Saturday 29th is the next Kill the Bill day of action, and will also see the online Edinburgh Anarchist Feminist Bookfair, which will also be running events on the Sunday. Strike Map UK are starting up a virtual book club, and will be holding their first event on June 7th, a discussion of Robert Ovetz’s book on Workers’ Inquiry and Global Class Struggle.

Early May round-up: Manchester bus strike, Napier Barracks, Kill the Bill and more

A quick round-up of a few upcoming dates:

As mentioned previously, on Tuesday 11th there’s a call for people in London to take action against Elbit, a company that makes surveillance technology for the Israeli state. That evening, there’s also an online event to celebrate 30 years of the Haringey Solidarity Group.

On Wednesday 12th, there’s an online meeting about pay for care workers and sleep-in shifts. On Thursday 13th, there’s a solidarity protest at Queen’s Road bus depot in Manchester, where bus drivers have now been out on strike for around 10 weeks and are expected to deliver a renewed strike notice that day. See here for a detailed analysis of that dispute.

Further ahead, on May 22nd there’s a day of solidarity at Napier Barracks in Kent, where asylum seekers are being detained in unsuitable accommodation, and May 29th is the next big national day of action to Kill the Bill.

In more general news, the Royal College of Nursing is currently talking a good talk about calling a strike ballot over NHS pay, and ACORN are asking people to use an emailing tool to contact landlords/letting agencies who’ve been leaving their members in mouldy housing and an unsafe flat with broken doors, a dodgy lift, and no oven.

Meanwhile, the construction rank and file continue to take regular actions in the ongoing de-skilling dispute, which tend to be announced very shortly beforehand and often aren’t fully public, so keep your ear to the ground or reach out to local trade unionists if that’s something you might be able to support.

Save Sheikh Jarrah: Shut Elbit Down – Tuesday 11th May, 1pm

A call from Palestine Action:

We have all seen the horrifying and disgusting images coming out of Jerusalem. The atrocious acts committed by settlers and Israeli forces are despicable: tear gassing worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the forceful appropriation of homes, the use of rubber bullets and physical assault causing hundreds of casualties – among them children and journalists.

But these acts are not simply horrifying crimes committed in isolation. This project of ethnic cleansing and the brutalisation of the civilian Palestinian population has been going on for decades – and it draws much of its strength from the complicity of western governments.

The UK government is completely acquiescent to this ethnic cleansing – and indeed has given millions of pounds to one of the chief architects of this brutality: Elbit Systems.

Elbit manufacture the surveillance technologies and “intrusion detection systems” which fortify Jerusalem’s illegal border walls, dividing the Palestinian population of Jerusalem into walled-in ghettos. Their drones are used to spy on and monitor the civilian population, while also enabling the IDF to drop tear gas over vast numbers of people.

Many in the UK are watching in horror at the war crimes being committed in Jerusalem, unaware of what they can do about it. 

Here is your opportunity to take a stand:
We are calling on all conscientious people in the UK to turn up at Elbit’s HQ, at 77 Kingsway, Holborn, London on Tuesday 11th May at 1PM. We will be taking direct action in solidarity with the Palestinian people of Jerusalem, demanding the UK government to end their complicity in ethnic cleansing, and fighting to #ShutElbitDown!

Spycops, union victimisation, and action against Kier’s prison profiteering

A few quick notes:

Tomorrow, Tuesday April 20th, Kate Wilson will be appearing in court in London as part of an ongoing case she’s bringing against the cops who spied on her:

“Kate Wilson was deceived into a long term intimate relationship by Mark Stone, who she now knows was undercover police officer Mark Kennedy.

A decade after Kate’s legal case against the police began, it concludes with a hearing at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal from 20th-28th April.

Among other issues, this case will examine sexist discrimination within the Metropolitan Police Service, and the systemic disregard for women’s fundamental human rights between 1998 and 2010.

Her case refers to the actions of at least 6 different undercover officers serving in the secret political spycops units, the Special Demonstration Squad and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit, during that time.

Kate has already received startling admissions that the police breached her human rights. Specifically, they are;

Article 3: Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
Article 8: Respect for your private and family life, home and correspondence
Article 10: Freedom of expression

She is, through these proceedings, the only person to have received significant disclosure of police ‘intelligence’ files held about her.

Join us to stand in solidarity with Kate on Tuesday 20th April at 9.00am. We will be outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London. If you can’t be there, show your solidarity online using the hashtag #WeStandWithKate

We will be outside of the RCJ from 9.00am, for roughly an hour, before the proceedings begin. Please bring banners and placards if you have them. We will observe social distancing guidelines by keeping a two metre distance between us. Please wear a mask if you’re able to.

Messages of support are a great way to show solidarity with Kate.
Please email messages to contact@policespiesoutoflives.org.uk

For more about Kate Wilson’s spycops case, see her page at Police Spies Out of Lives.”

Also going on this week, school staff at Leaways in Hackney will be striking against victimisation of union members on Wednesday 21st. You can support them by joining a picket of the school on Wednesday morning, or joining an online rally on Thursday evening:

There’s also an online event happening in support of another victimised NEU rep, Kirstie Paton:

“Kirstie Paton is facing disciplinary proceedings by United Learning, following a post she published in December 2020 on her NEU Inner London Executive Facebook page. This post raised concerns about the use of “Lateral Flow Tests” to replace self-isolation of close contacts. As a trade union elected representative, she is legally entitled to express concerns and criticisms of employers on matters of interest to union members without fear of formal disciplinary procedures.
Kirstie has been summoned to a hearing on the 29th April. This hearing could lead to Kirstie’s dismissal. Members at Kirstie’s school have voted to take strike action on that day to send a message to United Learning that they should stop this process. Please follow the below steps to show support for Kirstie: 1. Tweet/Facebook/Insta your support for Kirstie ahead of the strike using the hashtag #IAmKirstiePaton. Solidarity selfies welcome or just the #hashtag!
2. Please tweet the school (@TheJohnRoan) and send a letter to school managers Jon Coles, Cath Smith and Stephen Belk in support of Kirstie here, demanding that they drop all charges against her: https://actionnetwork.org/…/defend-neu-exec-member…
3. Invite your friends to this event and share the event!
4. Send messages of support for Kirstie and other members of staff at John Roan to Johnroannut@gmail.com”

Other ongoing disputes include the all-out strike against fire and rehire at Go Northwest buses in Manchester, and at Goodlord referencing in London:

In other news, there’s been a call for this week to be a week of action against Kier Construction, who are involved in both building a new mega-prison and the environmentally damaging HS2 project. The actions kicked off this morning with blockades at both the HMP Five Wells building site and a HS2 compound. See kierendshere on twitter, fb or insta for more.