Today's Topics:
1. Aotearoa New Zealand, awsm.nz: Interview: Alex Pirie part 1
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Czech, afed: Against the Fear of Politics II -- Report from
a Saturday blockade of representatives of European fascist
parties in Prague. [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Collective Rupture (RC): Self-defense groups and residents
of Triboline in Peru arrest infiltrated police officers and gang
members (ca, it) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Collective Rupture (RC): Message of struggle and autonomous
organization for this 2018 by the Citizen Council Promoter of a
Good Government in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas (ca, it)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. [Greece] Anarchists attack Israeli embassy in Athens with
"ink bombs" By ANA (gr, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. France, Alternative Libertaire AL Décembre - Cameroon,
Togo: Deadly repression and French complicity (fr, it, pt)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Note: Below is part 1 of an extensive interview AWSM recently conducted with Alex Pirie, a
grassroots activist and social justice campaigner. It has been slightly edited for
clarity. Future installments will follow a similar principle. ---- AWSM: So can you start
by introducing yourself? ---- Alex: My name is Alex Pirie. I'm currently an English
Language Teacher and I've got a history of social justice campaigning. ---- AWSM: What was
the first major campaign you remember being involved in? ---- Alex: Well it was about the
end of 2005 beginning 2006. I had become a union member of my workplace at the time. I was
becoming more and more involved and I became associated with very active, activists. At
the time Unite was a very active union, punching above its weight. They were very keen to
get involved in social issues, not only those on worksites. That started to intrigue me.
Not coming from a union background or left-wing background but realising now, I had deeply
left-wing values.
AWSM: And was there a particular incident or thing happening for you personally at work
that caused you to become involved in the union?
Alex: In a nutshell...exploitation. There were ridiculous things going on at the time.
Like I heard from a colleague that in her case if you asked what the hourly rate was you
got $27 if you didn't ask and just signed the contract or signed an employment agreement
you got $26 so stuff like that was...why?! I was basically just a bit confused about that.
And the other thing that happened of course was wage exploitation which is common. But as
an English teacher at the time...
AWSM: You mean this was private sector English teaching?
Alex:...yeah, not the state sector, I know they had issues as well. What I came to realise
was, even though we were expected to be professional teachers...the title always gives
some level of respect in society...we were treated as casualised workers, so getting a
permanent contract was pretty hard and at the school I was working in at the time it was
very casual.
AWSM: So in terms of the particular school you were working in, was there any actual union
representation at all?
Alex: No, not when I started. So after working there for 6 months and hearing lots of
disgruntled comments from my colleagues, and...I'm the sort of person that won't just step
up immediately but if I see something wrong and no one's doing it I'll take a deep breath
and do it...that's not something that comes naturally to me, because I'm a
non-confrontational person by nature but injustice I think just gets under my skin and if
enough people are complaining about something I feel the need to do something about it..
AWSM: Like a slow burn?
Alex: Yeah, rather than I'm hacked off about something effecting me, I'm going to complain
about but if its effecting me but its effecting lots of other people as well, I find it
much easier to jump in, in those situations. So eventually we got the union on board,
which was Unite because my experience at the time was that there was a tertiary teachers
union and they weren't really interested in language school teachers and they had quite
hefty union fees. I'm not sure what had happened, maybe Unite had been in the news for
something but anyway, I got wind of them...had a meeting with my colleagues, we agreed to
meet with Unite to see if they would have us. We ended up meeting Mike Treen from Unite
union (http://www.unite.org.nz/about) off campus in a café and as it turned out he was a
former English Language Teacher so he understood where we were coming from and they
actually had a handful of contracts with other private language schools. So it was a good
fit for us and we talked about it afterwards and we decided to join up as a group. Which
of course gave us collective strength and confidence.
AWSM: So how many people are we talking about there?
Alex: At the time I think it was about 8 or 9 of us.
AWSM: And what proportion would they have been amongst the staff as a whole?
Alex: Of the actual long term teaching staff, probably about 80%. We were probably a
medium sized school at the time.
AWSM: So how did management react initially to learning that the staff had suddenly joined
this union?
Alex: Well of course I think they were quite shocked because they didn't see it coming, we
hadn't made it public obviously, because we were new to it, none of us were activists at
the time, we were just sick of not having a pay scale. Everyone was on the same rate,
which on one side sounds quite good, you're not penalising or promoting someone but there
was no movement, no recognition of people's skills, qualifications and they kept piling
workload and things on us. You're working in a tiny area, where our desks were partly
taken up with desktop computers, so we were working around desktop computers in a tiny
staffroom. So it was actually working conditions as well that got us into that situation.
AWSM: So it wasn't particularly difficult to bring people on board? They could instantly
relate to the conditions?
Alex: Yes and that's what inspired me, when everyone agreed to join the union it gave me
personally a lot of confidence. So I agreed to be the first workplace delegate and the
workplace was really really shocked. Because funnily enough when we were having this
meeting, I think it was in December 2005 they were busy with their lawyer drawing up a
generic contract which was basically sealing all those things which we were not happy
about...they'd printed off a template. Basically a shity contract. So we had our first
meeting, John Minto came on, because he had been seconded onto Unite union and Mike Treen
asked him to be our union rep. I'd been out of the country growing up so I didn't have
much idea who John was, but then a couple of colleagues of mine told me and it was "Oh my
gosh, were going to be screwed" because of course he has this reputation of being a
firebrand because of his days against apartheid. So I looked him up and "Wow, this is
awesome" so that actually intrigued and excited me
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Minto) We were being represented by somebody who is
well known in activist circles and I thought "this is the real deal" but we basically went
in as a bargaining team. We introduced who we were, I think it was a couple of us on the
teaching staff and John said "Well actually we have this contract to give you here" and we
had our demands here. So basically if we'd waited another week it might have been a
different story.
AWSM: So timing is everything!
Alex: Yeah
AWSM: So what was the outcome of that?
Alex: The outcome was we got our first contract. It wasn't a particularly long and drawn
out proceeding. I think we got a 27% pay rise and over the years I was at that workplace,
they increased it by the Consumer Price Index and a bit more. So by the time I left I was
earning something over $40 6 or 7 years later. So definite progress.
AWSM: Since the Employment Contracts Act in 1991 you've got an entire generation who have
grown up not knowing unionism, so you've got to overcome the inherent conservatism of the
general environment. You've got people asking questions like "What's in it for me? "What
does a union do?"
Alex: Yeah and people thinking that they've joined something that costs money and they
don't have much money anyway. So yes, there's all those kinds of questions. I guess
luckily for us we had some people who were a little bit older and had a bit more knowledge
about unions. There were also some people from other countries like the UK where there
were famous union movements even in the 80's so there was some general knowledge. We had a
German lady and even now the unions there are strong compared to New Zealand anyway. So it
was easier for us to bring others who weren't so experienced. But from what I know now of
the fast food industry, which is one of the more exploited industries and where Unite made
its name, none of the other established unions would touch it because of the turnover and
the attitude of some young people that it was too hard, but Unite has made their name from
it. What I like about Unite is they put their money where their mouth is and survive on
the sniff of an oily rag, certainly when I was involved. They might have a bit more
financial backing now. They achieved a lot so I'm very happy with my time with them.
AWSM: So you've mentioned the financial gains. What about conditions? Was there a
noticeable improvement there?
Alex: Yes. The first thing was apart from the workspace doubling in size, which I think we
got in our first contract, they basically knocked out a wall of a classroom and so there
was much more space. Which was just as well because as the school grew, they needed it. By
the time I left even that was cramped.
AWSM: That's quite a tangible thing. That must've given people confidence that they'd made
the right decision to join the union?
Alex: Yes.
AWSM: And what about the management's attitude? Did it improve? Did you gain more respect?
Were they somewhat weary about pushing their luck sometimes after that?
Alex: I have a mixed view on that. They would say it's a global company and on that level
they hated us for what we were doing. How much personal enmity there was with local
management, well they were pushing the agenda of the global business. In later years our
manager had come over from another country to assist in negotiations. So I think it did
have a little bit of a flow on effect. Without going into too much detail, things were
blown up against those who were seen as too actively involved. Work performance became a
tool. Whereas you'd been a teacher with good performance and reviews, then suddenly you're
seen as under-performing.
AWSM: So it was subtle?
Alex: It was subtle for a number of years. There wasn't much proof but the underlying
feeling among union members was that there was a bit of pushback.
AWSM: The New Zealand economy is structured so that about 90% of workplaces have 20
workers or less. Your boss is somebody you see and have to interact with every day. So
that makes things difficult.
Alex: Yes, it was quite intimidating. You were negotiating with a person who was your
manager. The chain of command in that structure was very small. There were 2 levels of
management, maybe 3 and you see them every day. But for me if I'm intimidated, it has the
opposite effect to what it does for some people.
AWSM: Where does that come from?
Alex: I'm not really sure. I have an inherent dislike, a hatred for injustice. From a very
young age that has resonated with me. It doesn't come from my family background. I come
from a family of conservative voters. Also maybe having a disability because you know, at
school kids are kids. You have to fight tooth and nail and if you have a disability it
makes you stand out. The system will force you to stand out so I might as well get
something from that. Basically it's about fairness and standing up for people. When people
are getting squished you have to find the courage to say "no" which is something I find
difficult in my personal life but when I see it with my peers or other people, I find that
little bit of distance means I can act.
AWSM: So those experiences you had at work at that time were ultimately positive?
Alex: Contractually.
AWSM: And it bolstered your sense of going in the right direction and that you were doing
the right thing?
Alex: Definitely. It helped with awareness as well, as a by-product of being around people
with an activist background.
http://www.awsm.nz/2017/12/06/interview-alex-pirie/
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Message: 2
Together with the other participants and participants of the Saturday blockade, we meet
about three hours in front of the National Archives building. The sun sinks slowly and can
not be said to be warm. ---- There are two vans, a samba band and a cheerful mood, we are
all curious about the course of today's action. ---- Most affiliates have already formed
an affinity group along with their friends and buddies (about what affinity group and how
to create it, we wrote HERE before the event
https://www.facebook.com/events/1400290696749356/permalink/1408670242578068/ ). The
success of the action depends on the blocking of three driveways to the hotel at the same
time, so we have divided into three groups of fingers: blue (this was part of the author
of this text), orange and pink.
We differ from each other not only by age, past experience and appearance, but also by
colorful scarves that someone hangs around their hand, others like a headband. According
to our estimates, about 250 people have met.
At about half past three, all three fingers form banners (the one behind our long green
banner "Let's waste, not people!" Who kindly lent Young Green), and they utterly "block
all fascism" (this song was composed especially for Saturday's event, its full text can be
found HERE ).
Our finger is a wide banner at the forefront, the Good Night White Pride flag in the
middle, the "Jurassic Park of Nation's We Do not Want" at the back, and about a hundred
participants and affiliates organized in affinity groups.
Instead of blocking, we move relatively swiftly, chanting different passwords and
escorting samba bandu. After the second junction, we stop by the plan and begin to block.
Although all three blockades were officially announced as a demonstration, no one knows
what to expect from the present police officers.
We respond collectively to all events by convening a "plenary of delegates of affinity
groups" (which, of course, is inexplicable, so we shorten it to a "delipeneum"). On the
one hand, it gives us time, and on the other, all participants can talk about the course
and course of action - one could say that a similar way of organizing events is purely
anarchist.
In the direction of the hotel and from there, we have several local residents, a public
bus or a journalist, so it is certainly not true how Hulan police spokesman said after the
action that we would "take residents of the settlement as hostages".
Several tens of minutes after we took the position, information comes from the other two
fingers: "All the way to the hotel is closed!" This brings a wave of joy to the present.
After a while, the participants of the right-wing populist conference begin to sneer.
Greatly dialed by our successful blockade. Their first attempt to pass through the crowd
of anti-fascists and anti-fascists ended with a fiasco (I really do not understand what
they were expecting) and although they would certainly deserve it, given that our actions
were previously announced as non-violent, we try not to break the conflict, and after a
short stumbling and exchange of views the rulers give it up.
A few tens of minutes later, they are rehearsing, this time a band of brave heavy boys
comes to their aid, and this time they get on the other side (I do not doubt that if it
were willing, it would be much more complicated, but given that our main goal is to block
the "big fish" heading to the congress, it is not the interest of the situation to
collapse). The police have earned the chanting of "Who Foresters Cover It, It's the
Police," but after a moment's confusion, the cops will pull back a few yards away and our
action will go on.
In addition to this smaller, rather smiley incident, nothing surpassed during the day
(surprisingly), and even the police were somewhat more likely to be calm and happy to
monitor the situation "from afar" (the helicopter supervised the smooth course of the
right-wing congress, of course our monitoring vehicle "Big brother").
During the evening, the liberal, pro-European demonstration "Towards a common Europe
without fear and hatred" is being shifted away from the hotel, which depicts our
impressions. Hopefully, we'll see you next time on a more radical event (like Saturday's).
During the blockade, among other things, the excellent member of the Limits initiative was
the one who introduced the platform, drew closer to the struggle it leads, put it in
context with the ongoing blockade and invited present to the second edition of Klimakempu.
After six o'clock we move to the hotel where we meet the other fingers, listening to the
final thanks and a summary of the day. We were told:
- The beginning of the Congress was delayed by a few tens of minutes and a bit of Fascist
angry
- the eight rightists who were pushing on a blue finger were in fact a group of MEPs
(exUKIP MEP Janice Atkinson) - we did so unprecedented:
- Marine Le Pen had to travel to the hotel over a bumpy cycle path.
Since it was a long and cold day, we move to the heat to share the impressions and
experience we have gained (a few hundred meters away we are still following the delivery
with the heavy-haired - what if we accidentally decided to loosen Agrofertu's
headquarters, which is nearby).
https://www.afed.cz/text/6772/proti-politice-strachu-ii
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Message: 3
SELF DEFENSE AND PEOPLE OF TRIBOLINE IN PERU DETAINED INFILTRATED POLICE AND CRIMINAL BAND
MEMBERS THROUGH ARMED ACTION ---- The population of Triboline in the town of Sivia and
armed self-defense groups of the community (Comité Autodefenza "CAD") captured 6
individuals, including three allegedly active police officers working in the Pichari
Police Station. At 1 am, a 4 × 4 truck cloned with $ 1,500 false, police vests and small
arms were seized . It is presumed to be a criminal gang that leads the entire Vraem
community; the residents warn that "at this time, be very careful when moving to their
places of origin since criminals will be on the lookout for citizens". ---- According to
witnesses, "these police officers allegedly stole a house in which the affected person
gave a call to the CAD in the center of TRIBOLINE to stop the 4 × 4 truck, in which the
CAD was strategically located at the height of the bridge. the entrance to the town, at
the time the vehicle appeared, it passed at an excessive speed without respecting the
shortcuts that the CADs put in which one of the self-defense committees shot the vehicle
and stopped (...) but one managed to escape through the I laughed as it was at night,
disappeared into the woods. "
http://rupturacolectiva.com/autodefensas-y-pobladores-de-triboline-en-peru-detienen-a-policias-infiltrados-e-integrantes-de-banda-delincuencial/
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Message: 4
1.- History repeats itself; Jesus-Christ was born in a colonized country, outraged and
robbed by a plundering empire of the wealth of the peoples controlled and submitted by
ambitious governments imposed to strip and, therefore, indifferent to the suffering and
the clamor of the people. ---- In 2016, the birth of Jesus Christ, this CHRISTMAS is an
opportunity to reflect on the meaning of birth, life, death and resurrection of the
exceptional being who, by his example, teaches us to live with humility, honesty and love
to serve our neighbor, building together justice, solidarity, peace and good living based
on truth and congruence. ---- 2.- The kingdom of God announced by religions and manifested
in security, tranquility, progress, happiness and peace for all, will not be a reality as
long as we do not realize appreciation, respect, friendship, equity, unity and support.
mutual between relatives, neighbors, co-workers, governors and governed.
Building the kingdom of God implies building an informed, truthful, responsible, just,
humane and solidary society in which we recognize ourselves as human beings and reach out
to honor universal values today supplanted by lies, selfishness, ambition, corruption ,
the abuse of power or betrayal that characterizes those who deprive people of their
natural resources and those who strip workers of their labor rights through approved
structural reforms to legalize dispossession.
3.- That this Christmas encourages us to build more human relationships; to rediscover
ourselves, with our loved ones, neighbors, colleagues and to whom we provide our services.
Otherwise, how to live the unity, fraternity, harmony and peace in our homes, our
workplaces, our neighborhoods and our colonies?.
4.- May the spirit of unity and peace against dispossession, ecocide and other forms of
violence encourage us to advance in 2017 in the construction of the Kingdom of God here on
Earth
a) Appreciating and taking advantage of our diversity to live solidarity , justice and
democracy with respect to our natural resources, public spaces and other assets of our
children and grandchildren.
b) Articulating and strengthening our effort to express and hear the word of citizens and
take into account all sectors of the population, solving common problems, improving living
and working conditions, building a better future for all.
c) Recovering responsibility for our destiny; recovering the hope of a dignified life and
a better future by practicing citizen alternatives of production, employment, health,
education and culture; carrying out community actions that benefit us all.
5.- Christmas in no way justifies the consumerism imposed by the transnational
corporations or justifies the alcoholism promoted by bad governments; Christmas renews
hope in the human being to restore respect, law, justice and peace in our family, in our
community and in our country.
6.- Thanks to the family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and people with whom we live,
interact or greet each other during this year; I wish you a very happy Christmas and a
year 2017 full of blessings.
http://rupturacolectiva.com/mensaje-de-lucha-y-organizacion-autonoma-para-este-2018-por-el-concejo-ciudadano-por-un-buen-gobierno-en-san-cristobal-de-las-casas/
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Message: 5
By anarchist group Rouvi konas [APO] threw "ink bombs" at the Israeli embassy in Athens on
Monday night in an action which they said was a show of solidarity with the Palestinian
people. ---- The group itself has posted a video in which they can be seen walking to the
embassy around 6am (local time, 3am in Brasília) and reddish the facade of the building.
---- In a statement posted on the Athens Indymedia , Rouvikonas justified the action by
saying that it sympathized with the Palestinians, a people whom they said "was a victim of
multiple oppression for decades." ---- Often, the Rouvikonas makes similar protests, with
symbolic occupations of ministries, party headquarters and mass media. ---- > Watch the
video here: https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a86_1514185868 ---- Related Content:
https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2017/12/14/grecia-grupo-anarquista-ataca-embaixada-da-arabia-saudita-en-atenas/
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Message: 6
In recent months, social movements have shaken Cameroon and Togo, two countries among the
friendly dictatorships of France. ---- In Cameroon, a predominantly French-speaking
country, the Anglophone minority, representing about 20% of the population, has long felt
marginalized by the power of dictator Paul Biya. To express their feelings of inadequacy,
they first demonstrated on September 22, bringing together " between 30,000 and 80,000
people in thirty or so English cities and localities.[...]Initially peaceful, the marches
became violent in some localities " [1]. The violent reaction of the defense and
security forces then left at least 4 dead and dozens wounded among the protesters. ----
Independence of Ambazonia ---- The second act, more bloody, took place on 1 st October to
the call Anglophone secessionist. In the face of the unexpected scale of the 22 September
demonstrations, " the governor deployed a new reinforcement of 1,000 soldiers and
imposed a state of emergency and a martial law de facto (arrest of civilians by the
military, judgment in the military courts) " [2]. In addition, at the request of the
authorities, the telephone operators (Orange and MTN) cut off access to the internet,
making it extremely difficult to know from a distance what was happening: tens of
thousands of people went out to walk peacefully, hoist flags and symbolically proclaim the
independence of an English-speaking state called Ambazonia. The crackdown was extremely
violent, claiming between 40 and 100 victims, according to sources, and more than 500
arrests according to Amnesty International.
In Togo, it is in the whole country that the people are fed up with a clannish and mafia
power. Following Gnassingbé Eyadema's 38 years of rule, power was seized in 2005 by his
son Faure Gnassingbé at the price of a " transition " in violence (500 dead and 40,000
refugees according to the UN). Since then, Faure has struggled to keep power under a
fragile democratic veneer, which has led him to want to change the constitution to escape
the limitation of the number of presidential terms (recipe already experienced by other
dictators of the francafrique) .
The Togolese people mobilized to chase the tyrant
Faced with this project, the popular mobilization was at the rendezvous, with several
deadlines of gatherings whose culminating point, on October 18 and 19, was in turn
violently repressed: " at least 16 people killed, dozens of people wounded and
arbitrarily arrested, sometimes tried without lawyers " [3], without forgetting the use
of militias tracking opponents into their homes.
In these two recent cases, the diplomatic voice of France expresses " concerns " and
condemns " the violence " ... Now, in Cameroon, Togo and many other countries "
friends ", dozens of French police and military cooperatives accompany and train the
armed forces through cooperation agreements (whose content is not currently transparent).
But to stop this cooperation at the heart of the repressive arsenal of criminal regimes
does not seem to cross the mind of the French government, which prefers to call all
parties modestly " to dialogue and restraint ".
Christmas Surge
[1] Note from the International Crisis Group (ICG) of 19 October 2017
[2] Idem
[3] Africa banknotes, Survival association monthly, October 2017
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Cameroun-Togo-Repression-meurtriere-et-complicite-francaise
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