Class struggle events listings for mid-June

A few quick notes and upcoming events:

Belarus Anarchist Black Cross are running an important fundraising campaign, appealing for donations so that they can continue to support defendants facing heavy repression from the Lukashenko regime. On a related note, the number of imprisoned Kill the Bill defendants who are requesting public support now stands at 12.

Grassroots cleaners’ union CAIWU has begun a series of Friday protests at the Royal Opera House, in support of cleaners and porters demanding rest breaks, sick leave, decent holidays and full pensions.

This Saturday, June 11th, will see the international day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners, which will be marked by events in a number of places including a solidarity cafe in Dalston, London. There’s also a Kurdistan solidarity demo happening in London that day.

On Sunday 12th, there’s a solidarity demo at Brook House against the proposed Rwanda deportation flight, which will be followed by a protest at the Home Office on Monday 13th, and there will be a week of action against the hostile environment across the country from the 13th-19th.

On Tuesday 14th, the Anarchist Communist Group are holding an online public meeting on the cost of living crisis, and Wednesday 15th sees an online meeting hosted by Strike Map on how to sustain strike action and win, a meeting in Manchester on learning from the New York tenants movement, and the App Drivers and Couriers Union have called a London strike against Bolt that day. Two defendants associated with Palestine Action will be appearing in court for a bail hearing in Bristol that day, so there’s a call for people to get down to the court and support them there as well. You can also donate to their support fund here.

On Thursday 16th, the IWGB union have called for a protest in support of workers at London Bridge Hospital demanding a pay rise, adequate sick pay and staffing levels.

On Saturday 18th, a call has been made for an anarchist bloc at the London TUC demo, and the Orgreave march and rally will be happening in Sheffield.

Further ahead, the RMT will be holding a national rail strike on the 21st, 23rd and 25th, and the ADCU are calling a strike at Uber on the 22nd.

On Saturday 25th, bar staff who’ve organised through the UVW union will be striking at Saint James Tavern in Brighton, with pickets running from 4pm-8pm. That day will also see a debate on anti-war positions on Ukraine in Bristol, with speakers from Operation Solidarity, Commons Journal, Angry Workers, Plan C and the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign.

Closing out the month, Wednesday 29th will see three GMB officials arrested on a picket line appearing at Hastings Magistrates Court, and the St James Tavern workers will be striking again on Saturday 2nd July. 

Quick events listing for mid-May

A very quick listing of a few events coming up in the next few weeks:

There’s a national day of action called for the ongoing JustEat strike on Tuesday 17th, with a demo called at the JustEat HQ in London, and possibly more events happening in local areas wherever couriers are on strike. On Friday 20th, grassroots cleaners’ union CAIWU are holding a protest at the Royal Opera House over the pay and working conditions of cleaners and porters there.

The weekend of the 21st-22nd will see the long-postponed first Newcastle anarchist bookfair on Saturday 21st, and an online meeting of the “permanent assembly against the war” on Sunday 22nd.

Further ahead, June will see “Beyond the End of the World”, a climate justice convergence in London over the long bank holiday at the start of the month, and the annual Orgreave march and rally returning to a real-life event.Some recent events of note include successful resistance to immigration raids in Hackney and Edinburgh, anarchist prisoner Toby Shone successfully beating the attempt to apply a “serious crime prevention order” to him in court, and the ongoing trials of Kill the Bill defendants in Bristol.

Trials, May Day, bookfairs and more: late April/early May round-up

There’s an awful lot going on, here’s a very quick round-up of a few upcoming events:

Saturday 23rd sees an antifascist callout against the “North East Frontline Patriots” in Newcastle, and a public meeting with Bristol Anarchist Black Cross, Bristol Defendant Solidarity and Bristol Anti-Repression Campaign about the continuing impact of the Kill the Bill cases there. 

On Monday 25th, five people from the Palestine Action campaign are appearing at Southwark Crown Court for alleged direct actions against the arms dealer Elbit, and the RMT are holding a mass meeting in Manchester as part of their national campaign over rail jobs, pay and conditions.

On Tuesday 26th, there’s an RMT meeting in Liverpool as part of the same campaign, and a call for people to turn up to court in Bristol as the next Kill the Bill defendant faces trial. 

International Workers’ Memorial Day is April 28th, and you can find details of your local event here.

On Friday 29th, Great Ormond Street Hospital security guards who’re organised through the UVW union, and have taken more than 50 days of strike action against outsourcing, are holding a strike rally, and on the 30th there’s a copwatch training happening in Leeds.

On May Day, there’ll probably be something happening near you. The May Day festival in Barnsley will be returning, the IWGB cleaners’ branch are holding a fundraising party in London,  and there’s an RMT meeting in Doncaster, but if you’re not in one of those places there’ll still probably be something on. 

Looking ahead into May, Birkbeck UCU are hosting an online rank and file meeting on the 3rd, and there are more RMT mass meetings coming up in London on the 3rd and Poole on the 4th.

On May 6th, anarchist prisoner Toby Shone will have a hearing at Bristol Crown Court against the attempt to impose a draconian monitoring order on him, and there’s a call for people to show up in solidarity. See this recent interview for more background.

There’s a few anarchist bookfairs and similar events coming up in May: one in Glasgow on the 7th, and then the 14th will see one in Liverpool, as well as a radical history festival in Bristol, and the With Banners Held High trade union festival in Wakefield. The first Newcastle Ewan Brown Anarchist Bookfair will be happening on the 21st.

Further ahead still, the Orgreave justice campaign have now confirmed that they will be holding their annual commemoration march and rally on June 18th.

Urgent appeal to support anarchist prisoner Eric King

From Eric’s support site:

Within days of winning a federal court case in Colorado against his treatment at the hands of the Federal Bureau of Prisons staff, Eric is in the process of being transferred to USP Lee, a high security prison across the country in Virginia.  Eric, who should be placed at a medium security facility, reasonably fears that this move is punitive and that at Lee he will lose access to reading materials and, more importantly, his ability to communicate with his loved ones. 

Eric King needs our help! 

Elements in the BOP have already shown their petty and desire for vengeance against Eric through multiple instances of him being moved across the country, pitted against racist prisoners, beaten by guards and suffering years of mail, phone, visitation and book bans. During the trial, Eric’s safety and health were disrupted and property for his case destroyed by BOP staff so blatantly that Judge Martinez noted that it would be far reaching to say the disruptiveness wasn’t intentional on the part of the BOP. The judge also noted that the BOP was setting itself up for a civil suit, which is currently underway by the CLDC. 

In the meantime, Eric needs our help. As Eric isn’t set for release until December of 2023, we need to keep the light on him to avoid EK being isolated and further harmed. Below you’ll find a script and contact information for public officials in the Federal system who must be pressed to check in Eic’s well being and demand to know: 

1. Why is Eric King, who is at a medium level according to the BOP, being moved to a high security facility across the country?;          
2. Why is this move coming so quickly after Eric successfully won a lawsuit showing that the BOP was closing ranks to set Eric up for 20 years of additional prison as he approaches his out time?;          
3. What will you, as a public official, do to challenge the impunity of the federal prisons to persecute prisoners and violate their human rights?; 

CONTACT INFORMATION 

DSCC Office 

Designation & Sentence Computation Center 

U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Complex 

346 Marine Forces Dr. 

Grand Prairie, TX 75051 

Email: GRA-DSC/PolicyCorrespondence@bop.gov 

Phone: 972-352-4400 

Fax: 972-352-4395 

Mid-Atlantic BOP Regional Office 

302 Sentinel Dr, 

Annapolis Junction, MD  20701 

Email: MXRO-ExecAssistant@bop.gov 

Phone: 301-317-3100 

Fax: 301-317-3119 

BOP National Office 

320 First Street, NW 

Washington, DC  20534 

Email: info@bop.gov 

Phone: 202-307-3198 

Virginia Senators to Contact 

Tim Kaine 

Email: https://www.kaine.senate.gov/contact/share-your-opinion 

Twitter: @TimKaine 

231 Russell Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

PHONE: (202) 224-4024 

Mark. R Warner 

Email: https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactPage 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRWarner 

Twitter: @MarkWarner 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/senatorwarner/ 

703 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Phone: 202-224-2023 

DRAFT MESSAGES / TEMPLATES 

Hello Senator _____, 

I am writing about my friend who is a prisoner in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. His name is Eric King, inmate number 27090-045. He was recently found not guilty on all counts at a trial in the U.S. District of Colorado. Eric was moved from FCI Englewood and is currently being held in a private facility, Grady County Jail in Oklahoma. He has been told he is en route to USP Lee, a maximum security prison in Virginia. 

I am writing because I believe Eric should not be sent to USP Lee, and would be in danger if he were sent there. He is scheduled to be released from prison in December 2023, and wants to avoid anything that would infringe on this release date. 

There is an active threat against his life. A few years ago, before being sent to Colorado, Eric was held in the Segregation Unit at USP Lee for approximately two weeks. Before that, at USP Atlanta, a white supremacist gang member told him he would be killed at USP Lee if he was released into general population. This was documented at USP Lee. 

It is imperative that Eric not be put in harm’s way. I am asking that you not send him into a situation that is so dangerous. The Bureau of Prisons knows this and there is established case law regarding the BOP sending someone into dangerous and life threatening scenarios. See Fitzharris v. Wolf, 702 F.2d 836, 839 (9th Cir. 1983); Gullatte v. Potts, 654 F.2d 1007, 1012-13 (5th Cir. 1981); Roba v. U.S., 604 F.2d 215, 218-19 (2d Cir. 1979). 

Additionally, Eric is in this situation because of a bogus maximum management variable on his security profile. This has him erroneously being sent to a facility beyond his actual security level. He has no pending charges and no incident reports. He intends to be released to Colorado to live with his wife and his two children in just over a year. I ask that this management variable be removed so that he can be sent to a medium- or low-custody prison close to home and begin preparing for release. 

I am afraid for my friend Eric’s life if he is sent to USP Lee and I am asking that you intervene with the Bureau of Prisons and ask them not to send Eric King into harm’s way by sending him to USP Lee. 

His lawyer is Lauren Regan and can be reached at 541-687-9180 or lregan@cldc.org. Please help my friend. 

Sincerely, 

How to sustain strike action and win: 15th June, 6pm

An important online meeting coming up in June, hosted by Strike Map and others:

How to sustain strike action and win

What if a few days or weeks of strike action do not work? What if your action goes on for months?

Join us for an important workshop and action planning meeting with union reps and stewards who have led long periods of strike action. This meeting will be practical and interactive, open to all trade union workplace reps and stewards, strike leaders and branch officers who organise at the workplace.

The meeting will be led and facilitated by:

• Jane Hardy, Author of Nothing to lose but our chains.
• Gary Walker, Unite shift rep at CHEP
• Khalil Lange, IWGB Sheffield branch rep
• Pat McGrath, Unite convenor at B&Q Wincanton

Last-minute demos for Friday 18th March: P&O sackings, cops out of schools, unpaid cleaners

A very last-minute plug for a few short-notice events happening on Friday 18th:

The RMT have called urgent demos in Dover, Liverpool and Hull against the mass sacking of workers on P&O ferries:

The UK has today seen one of the most vicious examples of despotic employer behaviour and one of the most shameful episodes in its recent industrial history.

800 workers were sacked immediately, with no notice so they can be replaced by cheaper labour.

There are reports of the use of security guards boarding ships with handcuffs to remove crew so they can be replaced.

If this happens at P&O it can happen anywhere and we are calling for mass trade union and wider public mobilisation and protest against the company and support these workers.

Please support the following demonstrations

Dover: 12.00 midday – meet Maritime House Snargate Street, Dover CT17 9BZ

Liverpool: 1.00pm Main Liverpool Port entrance Liverpool L21 1LA

Hull: 12. 00 midday– King George Dock, Hull HU9 5PR

For more background on the sackings, see here.

Cleaners organised through the IWGB at the University of London are reporting that their wages for February are two weeks overdue, and have called a protest for Friday 18th at noon:

The protest will take place at City University. Meet at Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB at 12:00.

Come join us to support these cleaners fighting for justice, dignity and respect ✊✊

— IWGB Universities of London (@IWGBUoL) March 16, 2022

After the news about a 15-year-old being strip-searched in Hackney, Hackney Cop Watch have called a “no police in schools” demo for 4pm at Stoke Newington police station:

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In solidarity with them, the Northern Police Monitoring Project have called one on the same theme for 5pm at St Peter’s Square in Manchester:

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Mid-March round-up: Bristol repression, strikes, Ukraine solidarity

A few very quick notes:

In repression news, there’s been more developments in the Bristol Kill the Bill trials, with two more defendants receiving prison sentences recently. Mariella Gedge-Rogers was given five and a half years for riot, while Jasmine York got nine months on an arson charge. This brings the total number of Kill the Bill prisoners currently requesting public support to twelve:

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Bristol ABC also have a recent letter from Ryan Roberts, the prisoner serving the longest sentence, and a call to action in support of Toby Shone, an anarchist prisoner from a separate case facing harsh repression and censorship at HMP Bristol. More on that situation here.

In industrial news, there’s a lot going on, but just to quickly mention that Bolton trades council are organising a “spring party” on Wednesday 16th at the Chep picket line in Manchester, where workers have been out picketing 24 hours a day on weekdays since December. Unite are pledging to increase the pressure in support of the Chep strikers with a series of protests targeting the pallet company’s customers.

Down in London, security guards at Great Ormond Street Hospital who’re organising through the United Voices of the World union are holding a strike rally on Thursday 17th March. The event will also be partly in celebration of their cleaner colleagues, who’ve just won full NHS contracts.

On international news, there’s obviously far more to say about Ukraine that I can cover in a brief post here, but just to mention that a UK crowdfunder has now been set up for the Ukrainian mutual aid project Operation Solidarity, and an online discussion will be held on the afternoon of Thursday 17th bringing together participants from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus against states and militarism.

Russia/Ukraine: some anti-war resources

A few quick links:

Freedom News has a round-up of anti-war protests within Russia, and People and Nature has a collection of translated anti-war statements from Russia and Ukraine.

The Autonomous Action statement, “Against Annexations and Imperial Aggression” is worth reading and sharing, and to support the legal defence of Russian anti-war protesters who’ll be facing heavy repression, you can donate to Moscow Anarchist Black Cross – their paypal is abc-msk@riseup.net.

Operation Solidarity is a new structure that’s just been created by the Ukrainian anti-authoritarian left, “in order to jointly help all healthy forces of society to counteract imperialist aggression against our country. We plan to collect humanitarian aid and fundraising in favor of territorial defense fighters and in support of all grassroots initiatives that unite people in confronting a common threat. We also plan to help refugees, host social events and spread the practices of equal decision-making and direct democracy.” Their donation options seem to be mostly crypto-currency based at the moment. 

Rev Dia is another Ukrainian anarchist group looking to resist the invasion, in a recent instagram post they write:

“Putin announced the start of a military operation and began attacking Ukrainian troops. And we as anarchists, those people who understand the importance of freedom more than anyone else, need to gather all their strength and organize to fight the dictator. Maybe now our movement is weak and not ready for military action. But he will be able to make a small contribution to tying the noose around the dictator’s neck. If you want to help in any way to fight the dictatorship – write to Telegram @anarho_support Bitcoin wallet for financial support: 1HfgH2a44qqNpto2JqDS8Ej26PN1FLiPXy”

Dresden Anarchist Black Cross are fundraising to support the anarchist community in Ukraine and help people escape, you can donate to them via paypal here.

Finally, closer to home and a bit more mainstream, the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign are a UK-based group, and they’re calling for an emergency demonstration in London this Saturday.

Mid-Feb round-up: rail, university and hospital strikes, and more

A few upcoming events and other notes:

To start off with, there’s a few ongoing strikes, including the all-out action at Chep in Manchester, where talks have just started after two solid months of the strike, the Pay the Rate strike by scaffolders at Actavo in Scunthorpe, the six-week strike by security guards organised through the United Voices of the World at Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Coventry bin strike – as sneered at by Sir Keir Starmer – and the ongoing strike by JustEat/Stuart Delivery couriers organised through the IWGB. 

As ever, the RMT have a number of disputes on the trains, including a strike on CrossCountry trains over the role of senior conductors and train managers, that’ll be going ahead on Saturday 19th Feb. TransPennine Express conductors are holding a series of regular weekly strikes on Sundays over pay.

Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd February will be the next days of action in the ongoing UCU university strikes, and strikers will be joined by non-academic staff organised through Unison who’ve managed to get over the 50% threshold at a few institutions. Tuesday 22nd will also see the striking Coventry bin workers march on the local council. Rail cleaners employed by Churchill will be striking on Wednesday 23rd, and also holding a demo at Parliament to raise the profile of their dispute, while West Coast train cleaners will be striking over pay from the evening of Thursday 24th-Saturday 26th.

At Great Ormond Street Hospital, the striking security guards are holding regular Friday rallies.

A national day of action in defence of the NHS has been called for Saturday 26th, with local events listed on the Unite and SOS NHS sites.

The university strikes will continue from Monday 28th February to Wednesday 2nd March, with that final date being marked by an official student strike called by the NUS. 

London Underground staff are due to strike against threatened cuts on Tuesday 1st and Thursday 3rd March.

On Saturday 5th March, the Angry Workers group are holding a meeting in Bristol, for people who are “interested in building some roots – with a bit of strategy behind it! We have to rediscover what it means to be a militant, a comrade, a collective…” CrossCountry train staff will also be striking again that day, and West Coast train cleaners will be out again from March 10th-12th.

On March 12th, Brighton Solidarity Federation are holding a workplace organiser training, and on Monday 14th, two people are facing trial at Manchester Crown Court for allegedly causing criminal damage to the Elbit Ferranti arms factory in Oldham. On Saturday March 19th, there’ll be a “Britain needs a pay rise” demo at the Conservative conference in Blackpool.

A few other general notes: it sounds as if another battle over de-skilling in construction is on the way, following last year’s successful struggle, with reports that construction contractors are once again trying to de-skill electrical work at Hinkley Point C. A planned national day of action in support of the Actavo scaffolders dispute is being postponed to allow talks.

In recent IWGB news, it sounds like Leicester has now joined the JustEat/Stuart couriers’ strike, a dispute that was recently covered here. You can email Stuart in support of the strike here, and donate to their strike fund here. Elsewhere, cleaners at a private hospital organised through the IWGB have launched a campaign over health and safety as well as pay and equal conditions.

At Great Ormond Street, the United Voices of the World union have been served with an injunction clamping down on their right to picket. See here for more analysis of this development.

Kill the Bill trials continue in Bristol, in what’s being described as one of the biggest uses of riot charges since the mid-1980s, and you can find a current listing of prisoners here. In anarchist movement news, Just Books in Belfast are raising money to publish The Idea, a new history of anarchist communism, and Southampton Solidarity Federation have a report from a recent successful dispute over a tenancy deposit.

JustEat and Actavo strikes: upcoming events for Jan 23rd-24th

Just a quick plug for two upcoming events:

On Sunday 23rd, there’s a rally for the ongoing JustEat/Stuart Delivery strike in Sheffield:

Monday 24th will see four simultaneous protests in support of the striking Actavo scaffolders, in Dublin, Brigg, Livingston and Chepstow:

Join the protests!
📢Monday 24th January 2022
📢11:30-13:30
📢Four sites across the UK and Ireland
Let's come together and tell @Actavo_HQ it's time to #PayTheRate pic.twitter.com/Cp9M4l3fqv

— United Scaffs (@UnitedScaffs) January 21, 2022

In other news, the dispute over the sacking of Tracey Scholes at Go North West has now been resolved with her reinstatement, and the security guards’ strike at Great Ormond Street Hospital has now been postponed in response to the hospital management promising an improved offer.