Anarchic update news all over the world - Part 1 - 19.09.2019

Today's Topics:

    
1.  Britain, AFED, organise magazine: Interview With An Earth
      Strike Organiser | Interview (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  Greece, SOLIDARITY CONCENTRATION TO TRIED MEMBERS OF THE
      COOK WORKER'S ASSOCIATION MONDAY 16/9, 9:00 AM - 
     COURT OF JUSTICE
      by vogliamo tutto [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  Britain, AFED, organise magazine: Hongkongers Ain't Nothing
      To Fuck With | International (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  Britain, Bristol AFED: DORSET RADICAL BOOKFAIR - ANARCHY IN
      THE STICKS! (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  Czech, AFED, A3: To push the alternative into the ground
      [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  Poland, WORKERS' INITIATIVE: Global business service chains
      - Employee Initiative Committees at Accenture and Medtronic
      [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1






Sab is the organiser for Earth Strike UK in the South West. He's an active and well known
voice in Bristol's syndicalist and Environmental movements. He kindly took the time to
meet us down the pub for a chat about Earth Strike and the upcoming Global Climate Strike.
---- Organise: Could you start by giving us an introduction to Earth Strike? ---- So,
Earth Strike is a grass roots organisation, that is creating a worker led movement to
tackle climate change. We believe that the most effective way of doing that is to organise
both in unions and in autonomous groups, and build towards a global general strike to shut
down capitalism. Thus removing peoples participation in the system that is fundamentally
the cause of ecological crisis.
Why should people get involved?
I actually really like this question. I've come up with a way of putting it. I think
anyone, no matter what their background, whether they are a workplace activist, or
environmental activist, or totally new to organising, should take a moment to ask
themselves three questions.

Firstly, do you think we're in an ecological crisis? It doesn't take very long if you look
around to realise we are. Our air is polluted, it's estimated air pollution kills 300
people a year just in Bristol. The Amazon is on fire, Siberia is on fire. A heck of a lot
of shit is on fire. A worrying amount of shit is on fire. Species are disappearing at a
rate not seen since the last mass extinction, sea levels are rising. Even the United
Nations is freaking out a bit at this point. The science around it has been clear for a
long time now. So I think most people would say yes to this, if not well... they need to
take a long hard look around them.

The second question that people should ask themselves, is, if we are in an ecological
crisis, do you think the current capitalist industrial system is going to voluntarily
change itself enough to prevent this? I don't think you have to look at the world around
you for long to realise no. Those that run this system can spend plenty of time talking
about the issues, but even after declaring a climate emergency we've seen a continuation
of business as usual, with highly impactful industries continuing to damage the
environment. The governments and corporations have taken next to no action, and given us
no indication that this will change. The whole capitalist system is based on endless
growth, and can't meet the level of sustainability we need.

So you don't have any faith in the likes of the UN climate change conferences, and other
international political efforts?
We had the Paris Agreement, which, fell really far short of what needed to be done, and we
couldn't even hold countries to account for that. Now we're seeing figures like Trump and
Bolsonaro come to power, who are making things even worse for the planet. They didn't come
out of some vacuum, they aren't some anomaly, they came out of the current political
system. This is how it responds to crisis, protecting the needs of the ruling elite,
protecting the needs of capitalism. We've got to understand if we want a different future,
one that doesn't involve environmental destruction and millions of deaths as a result, we
need something more.

That leads us on to the third and final question. If we are in an ecological emergency,
and if the current system isn't going to change itself voluntarily, what the fuck are we
going to do about it?

Well, what the fuck ARE we going to do about it?
That is where Earth Strike comes in. At the moment, all of us, everyone, we're
contributing to a system that is inherently suicidal. We are working towards the
destruction of our own planet. The thing we have to do, if we are to have any chance of
changing this, is to organise the working class to take part in mass industrial action.

Do you think it's possible, if a global general strike is achieved, to force capitalism to
be ecological sustainable?
Hah, that is kind of a trick question. We're not really trying to force capitalism to
change, we're not interested in just lobbying MPs to make reforms. We are saying we can no
longer participate in this system, full stop. We are building a new system outside of the
existing structures. We have to build, what autonomous thinkers like Antonio Negri call a
counter-empire. We don't want to take over the existing structures, we're not seizing
control of the system, we're saying it has failed. We want to end the current system of
techno-industrial capitalism. To build up alternative systems, inspired by the likes of
the Zapatistas in Chiapas, the revolution in Rojava, by social ecology, by movements
rooted in mutual aid and direct democracy. As the Wobblies (Industrial Workers of the
World - IWW) say, we need to build a new world in the shell of the old. So when the old
system collapses, we have the foundations ready, systems of direct democracy, mutual aid
and solidarity.

That's the why folks should get involved, now how do they get involved?
Get in touch! The easiest way is probably our website, but there are also numerous local
and national pages on social media you can reach out to. We'll be able to get you in touch
with existing groups near you, or help advise you on setting one up.

There's not really a huge amount of requirements. We're not a membership organisation, so
there is no formal joining process or payment of dues. If you agree with Earth Strike and
believe to the basic principles of a worker led, horizontal, response to environmental
crisis, you can organise in your own space. Our groups are fairly autonomous, and we trust
people to find the tactics which will work best depending on who is involved and the
environment in which they are operating. They can cover a local area, a specific workplace
or school, or even be formed from an existing group, like a trade union branch or activist
group. Whilst we are international, we want as much planning and organising as possible to
happen at a local level.

How do the mostly autonomous Earth Strike groups organise with each other?
Most of our organising is done online, through platforms like discord and loomio, which
has presented a number of challenges, especially when trying to work on a large scale. To
help with this we have a co-ordinator for a region, that is responsible for ensuring the
various groups with in it are communicating and coordinating. This co-ordinator also acts
as a delegate bringing input from the region to other regions from around a country. This
input is how we develop specific demands within each country, we also do that at a local
level. For example, in Bristol we're demanding there is no airport expansion. On an
international level we organise similarly, with delegates from each country feeding in.

How are these coordinators chosen?
By local groups, where they exist already! The coordinators are always accountable to the
local groups, if at any point a group thinks they are acting in a way they disagree with
they can call for an election of a new coordinator(s).

You've become the coordinator for the South West, what led you to get involved in Earth
Strike?
I first became involved in January this year. I'd been involved in Extinction Rebellion
(XR) for a period of time before that, but felt dissatisfied with where the movement was
going. I wanted to do something that was more focused on working class organising, and on
more intersectional issues than XR was offering. So I started looking for alternatives,
and came across posts about Earth Strike on reddit. They were looking for new people to
get involved, so I dropped the UK organiser an email, and set up a Bristol group with
other members of the IWW. We held out first demo on January 15th, and had about 60 people
show for it.

In what ways do you feel XR failed to be intersectional or a movement that involved the
working class?
So, with respecting the St Paul Principles, I don't want to be too open in discussing my
criticisms of other movements, who I feel are doing good things, or have members who are
taking actions I support. However, I did feel that quite a lot was being asked of
individual members, things like getting arrested, giving up all their time, this felt like
it was coming from a very privileged place, where these things were easier and had less
risk attached. I'd been active up to that point, but I had felt that a lot of the
potential for the movement to really address working class concerns had been lost. Stuff
like reskilling workers, and calling for a "Just Transition". The chance for it to
highlight the gendered issues of climate change, and the racial issues of climate, had
been stifled, quite actively stifled. So that left me dissatisfied with things.

What is a "Just Transition"?
It's a way of moving to a sustainable society whilst still protecting workers rights, and
ensuring the continued well being of communities. A way of ensuring hardships don't just
fall on those at the bottom of society. Kind of the opposite of things like Marcon's
attempt to impose a fuel tax that would hit France's poorest hardest, and of schemes that
see waste ‘recycled' from wealthy countries only to be dumped in poorer ones.

In what ways do you feel it is important that ecological campaigns recognise these
intersecting oppressions and struggles?
Firstly I think it's important to point out that the people on the front lines of climate
crisis are almost entirely people in already precarious situations, or with the least
rights in society. So indigenous peoples threatened by fascists like Bolsonaro, people
forced to become refugees who are drowning in the Mediterranean and being put in
concentration camps by Trump. Really any strategy to counter climate change has to
genuinely engage with people on the sharp end of things. To put forward their concerns
more than, say, those of a middle class white activist. I was really impressed that Earth
Strike was a movement that seems to be doing this.

For example, one of the first things earth strike did as a movement, was to hold demos all
over the world in response to a call for solidarity from the Unist'ot'en. At the time the
Canadian government was trying to clear the way for a pipeline to be built across
Unist'ot'en land. The government had sent in police to violently evict the Unist'ot'en and
clear their barricades. These pipelines are of course damaging to the whole of the world,
but on the ground it was the Unist'ot'en who were suffering the most as a result of it.
Other actions have included Earth Strike groups in the US joining coalitions to shut down
ICE concentration camps. It's also important to recognise the impact of the arms trade and
of the huge amount of resources burned to maintain vast standing armies. We can't separate
out these overlapping struggles militarism, imperialism and climate change.

How long had Earth Strike been around at that point?
Not long, it started towards the end of 2018. It had actually started on the r/chomsky
forum on reddit. I can't remember the user name, but someone put a message up saying they
were feeling a real sense of grief about the climate crisis, and they wanted to do
something about it. They said that what we really needed was the whole Earth to go on
strike. A lot of people agreed, and decided to form an organisation. Being an online space
from the start there were people from all over the world, who could start talking with
others in their communities and build outwards from there. Initially in fact some of those
involved were calling for the strike day to be in January,

As if organising a general strike wasn't ambitious enough!
I know, but quite quickly those of us with experience in workplace organising, said we
can't have that kind of call out. It takes time to build up a base of support.

So that brings us to the days of strike action, I understand its Friday 20th of September
in the UK and the 27th in most other places?
Yes, the 20th in the UK, the 27h in the US. In the UK we thought we'd have the most impact
striking together with the youth strike in the UK on the 20th (there have been calls from
the movement known as ‘fridays for future' ‘school strike for climate' and
‘youthstrike4climate' for workers to join them - which matches up nicely with Earth
Strike's stratgey) . Some of our other European groups are organising for both days!

What is it you are hoping to achieve on those days?
There's multiple layers to that question. Obviously on the days themselves what we want to
achieve is a mass turn out of working class people, all withdrawing their labour. Of
course a strike isn't a goal, it's an action towards an end. The goal is to avoid the
dystopia we're heading towards if we don't derail the current course of history. I guess
that is quite a vague far off thing.

A bit! What is in between calling this action and saving the world?
The purpose of that day specifically, the day of our call for the first UK general strike
since 1926, is to really raise working class consciousness, especially in relation to
environmental issues. We want to say that, if we want our whole society to be sustainable,
we're going to have to start exerting our power. One day of strike actions won't change
the world, but it is the start of showing the sort of tactics that will in the long run.
Hopefully new people will see the strikes and be inspired by them. From there we need to
build on what we have so far, we need to escalate, more strikes, longer time periods. We
need to connect up the various people in struggle, connect up workplaces and working class
communities. We need to start doing, well, it's back to the Wobbly thing of building the
new world in the shell of the old again. What if we withdrew our labour from the
capitalist system, but continued to occupy our workplaces. How could we use them to
sustainably build things we really need?

How do we go about distributing these things? This is going to be a long process. It's not
just going to be one day and then done. This is just the first stage in building the kind
of militancy and the kind of organisation we will need to push for a real future.

What is your response to criticism that gets levelled at Earth Strike, and also previous
calls for general strike actions, such as those came from Occupy, on May Day, on the day
of Trumps Inauguration, and for a women's strike on international women's day? Namely that
they don't come out of unions or of organised workplaces so can never lead to meaningful
strike action?
First off, a lot of people shit on the women's strike, and wrongly so. Reproductive
labour, which was one of it's focuses, is incredibly important, and more strikes and more
union activists should realise the place it has to play. It's an important part of Earth
Strike as well.

I also think a lot of the people levelling these criticisms at us, haven't actually looked
at the organising that is happening within Earth Strike. We're not some force external to
working class organising. There are plenty of workers, in workplaces, really leading the
call for more action. Just recently we've had the Harland and Wolff workers in occupation
demanding a switch in production to renewable energy, and we've been in contact with them
via the IWW. That is the sort of thing we want to promote, this kind of ‘Lucas Plan' style
of changing workplaces. Earth Strike isn't divorced from the workers movement, it's come
from people inside the workers movement. Workers organisations are realising they have to
act on climate issues. These are things that do, or will, directly effect their members,
both at work and in the community. Earth Strike members haven't just been organising
online, we've been pushing for actions in our workplaces and our unions. We've grown as
part of the workers movement.

What is your relation to these workplace organisations, both the radical syndicalist ones,
and the more mainstream unions?
The IWW were one of the first groups to take an active role in earth strike, especially in
the UK. Like the IWW, we believe we must abolish the wage system and live in harmony with
the planet. Earth Strike sits at the intersection of ecological struggle and class
struggle, and we want to spread the idea of environmental unionism. We've been working
with and within the syndicalist unions to educate people about striking in general. Some
of the syndicalist groups are organising via strike notices, where workers sign up and
agree to strike if a certain percentage of the workers also agree. Whilst this doesn't
have a legal protection, if solidarity is maintained it is as much protection as is
possible outside of the legal protections offered.

This is one of the differences with the mainstream unions. Those unions, even when they
endorsed Earth Strike in principle, haven't been as forthcoming for calling for actual
strike action. These established organisations don't want to break the law of course, but,
under existing UK law, it is impossible to call for a strike ballot on broad issues like
climate change without breaking the law. We have had statements of support from PCS,
BFAWU, UCU, (three trade unions that between them have 400,000 members) and a number of
local branches. There have been calls from within UCU for all TUC (Trade Union Congress, a
federation of UK trade unions) unions to endorse the Global Climate Strike and to back a
limited action on the day. If the TUC do endorse this on Sept 8th it'd be the most radical
thing they've done in a long time. (Since the interview took place, the TUC have published
a message of support with the Global Climate Strike). Despite that, we are going to need
more, we're going to have to rely on wildcat action. That is why having one unified day is
important, it means that people aren't just acting as one work place, they are part of
something bigger, and there is more and power and more security in that.

We need to be far more disruptive than the constraints of legally protected trade union
action. It's one of the reasons that having a group like Earth Strike is important is that
we can call for things that the Trade Unions can't.

If the TUC unions are so constrained, what is the point in reaching out to them?
Well, we're based in the workers movement, and we have to start from where we are. We're
pushing the unions to do as much as they can. We recognise that we'll have to move beyond
the restrictions of union bureaucracy as well. It's also a practical thing, it is where we
can find other workers who are up for organising around these issues.

A while back you mentioned a ‘Just Transition', and you've also mentioned the Lucas Plan,
do these things tie in with what people have been calling the ‘Green New Deal'? Do you see
Earth Strike as linked to these calls that tend to come from within political parties,
such as Labour(UK) and the Democrats(US)?
Similar to the IWW we don't form any alliances with political parties. We believe that
labour organising has to come directly from workers, not from politicians. Things like the
Green New Deal, and I don't want to be too critical of it, seem to be a way of making
concessions within the capitalist system. So they'll push green industries, but still
within a system that requires perpetual growth. Rather than the de-growth of harmful
industries that is necessary to both mitigate climate change, and stop the continued
exploitation of the resources and people of the global south - who are the ones facing the
brunt of ecological disaster already. They'll fund more green jobs, but we'll still have
the inequality that is such a major driver of ecological damage. We won't be tackling the
root causes. So, the Green New Deal is a good starting point to talk about but it falls
short as an end goal, it is too focused on sustaining capitalism for as long as possible.

Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, any final thoughts?
Just that we've got a limited time to do a lot of shit.
So don't wait around, get involved! ?

Organise! has added links throughout the article for more information on the the ideas and
organisations mentioned. We hope this acts as a glossary, because not many people will
know what all of them are (if you do, you have an impressive memory for abbreviations!).

Organise! would also like to thank the JustSeeds cooperative who kindly allowed us to use
the artwork of its members. In order of use that would be Roger Peet, Josh Macphee and
Jesse Purcell.
You can find the entire set on their website justseeds.org

http://organisemagazine.org.uk/2019/09/12/interview-with-an-earth-strike-organiser-interview/

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Message: 2






CLASSIC RACE IS NOT A BLACKBAR ---- About five years ago, at the end of the interventions
and the claiming of accredited, stamped, and re-recruited colleagues in the Saladin
(Pottery) and Vegetable (Petralona, Mercury Square) stores , the PWA was informed that it
had already started threat of harm to the business and the ethics of the above attempt
against 7 of its members. The postings had been made by the bosses of Saladin and the
Vegetable Shop, and the case was then handled by the Department of State and Democratic
Protection! ---- A labor fight began in January 2014 at the Saladin Restaurant in
Kerameikos, when 3 members of the union retaliated and demanded their reinstatement,
accrual and real insurance coverage.The colleagues, after filing a complaint with the
Labor Inspectorate, the IKA, but also with the lawsuit in the civil courts, chose to move
publicly and collectively, in kinetic terms, in order to win their legal claims. The SSM,
in solidarity with its members, intervened outside the shop and distributed texts to
Kerameikos workers and residents. Within the framework of its institutional dimension and
following the decision of the general assembly of the association, 3 members of the Board
of Directors. contacted Saladin's owner after a scheduled appointment in order to defend
his colleagues' claims.

In April 2014, our colleague was fired from the Vegetable Shop in Petralona.The TSM
contacted the employer by phone to expose the employee's legal requirements, which relate
to the actual employment relationship, not to what the employer had falsely stated. As the
boss deliberately delayed responding, the colleague complained to IKA and initiated the
autopsy procedure for non-payment of the Easter Gift. The union at the same time called
for a protest outside this shop, demonstrating its solidarity and support for the
employee. The case, with regard to its accruals, was settled by an out-of-court settlement
between the employer and the employee, which took place the day before the scheduled
appointment at the Labor Inspectorate. As in the case of the Vegetable Store, the employer
acknowledged its debts and paid the debts owed to my colleague,

However, as the fight at the Vegetable Shop continued, the boss turned to Security to
declare that he was threatened. A few days later the GADA threshold and Saladin's
"alternative" employer passed, in order to say that he was blackmailed and threatened.
Instead of initiating a post-deposition process, going to the prosecutor's office and
informing the association, Security has undertaken for at least 2 months to collect
information on the PIC, its actions, its statutes, its offices and its publications.
online (case file). This cooperation, the judicial system and the police, does not impress
us, on the contrary, it is yet another example, among the many, that demonstrates the role
of justice in capitalism.

Catering chains, 'hard' night bosses and big business owners seem to understand their
class role better in these disputes, as in dozens of cases to date they have not attempted
to legalize the club. Paradoxically, it was the 'alternative' bosses - from the plots who
claim that 'sensitive' bosses and employees have common interests - who started the effort
to criminalize the SSM's action.
A leaflet is available on the criminalization of basic unionism, which details the case
above - as well as several others - and is available in electronic form on the basis of
the Labor Federation: https://ergova.wordpress.com/

It seems that our actions and our daily struggles bothers the industry's bosses and the
mechanisms of the state. On the one hand, the criminalization of the TSO, on the one hand,
will hopefully cripple us and discredit us in the eyes of society, and on the other, they
will think that we will be scared and rethinking our claim to action, in the context of
our current kinematic movement. They may hope that we will forget about black work, our
unpaid wages, the degrading conditions that prevail not only in our industry, but in all
workplaces. In the face of all of this, we frankly state even more convinced and
determined, collectively and organized, that we will step up our struggle until the
abolition of human exploitation by man.

LABOR RIGHTS GAMES ARE NOT SUPPORTED, NOT CRIMINALIZED

We are organized at Base Unions to resist the devaluation of our lives by their bosses,
the state and their repressive mechanisms.

We call for a rally in support of the case on Monday 16/9/19 at 9:00 am. c. 12 a. 1 in the
courts of Evelpidon.

Cook Waiters Association

http://somateioserbitoronmageiron.blogspot.com/

https://vogliamotutto.espivblogs.net/2019/09/15/ssm-votanopolio-salantin-16-9-2019/#more-2357

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Message: 3






In 2018 a man from Hong Kong murdered his girlfriend while on vacation in Taiwan. The
horrible crime would soon become the spark of resistance in Hong Kong to the authority of
the Chinese Mainland in protests that would confuse comrades the world over. ---- Let's
make the situation clearer. ---- Hong Kong is not a democracy. ---- It has no free
elections. ---- While "democracy" here in the UK maybe nothing more than a shallow mockery
of the concept, now more than ever, in Hong Kong it is seen as the last line of defence
from an ever encroaching empire. The Chinese Communist Party has no use for any system
which would threaten it's grasp, it is moving in to deliver the killing blow to freedom in
Hong Kong which is aims to bring into the fold. Hongkongers are being passed from one
empire to another and the world shrugs it's shoulders. China is an economic power house,
pissing them off would be bad for business.

When we talk about Hong Kong fighting for "democracy" we cannot frame it in our own
context. It is a colony population fighting for the rights to self determination and
autonomy. For older generations this means appealing to the former colonial masters for
help, for the younger it means revolutionary action. In 2012 the political drive for
democracy dried up and ground to a halt, It seemedd that Pre-Screening of electoral
candidates by Beijing would increase. Resistance to this grew into the Occupy Central with
Love and Peace camps and associated Umbrella Movement which saw tens of thousands holding
protests and living in camps on main intersections for months in a campaign to bring about
universal suffrage. During the attempts to clear out protestors the police would use tear
gas and when local television broadcasted a young man named Ken Tsang being assaulted by
police there was an massive escalation. Ken was carried off with his hands tied behind his
back; then, while one officer kept watch, a group of about six officers punched, kicked
and stamped on him for about four minutes.

The Chief Executive CY Leung would go on to defend Beijing's screening policy as open
elections would force Hong Kong into actually caring for it's citizens and providing
social welfare, he argued that "If it's entirely a numbers game, then obviously you'd be
talking to half the people in Hong Kong earning less than US$1,800 a month (the median
wage). You would end up with that kind of politics and policies."

The world gave Hong Kong silence.
Standing against China is bad for business.

It was indeed bad for business under the British who occasionally flirted with the idea
during their tenure of control over Hong Kong as China has always sought to "preserve the
colonial status of Hong Kong" even threatening to "liberate" the region in 1960 if
democratic elections and thus self governance ever granted. Tho some there were some small
developments in the 80''s and 90's, the Hongkongers remain citizens trapped in a system
they had very little voice in. The chief executive who would govern Hong Kong after the
hand over was elected by a 400 member selection committee. China began it's programme of
colonisation.

Let us speak clearly here,
China is not a communist country.

It is a brutal state authority where economic disparity is celebrated and used to throttle
it's working class into obedience. Since Deng Xiaopeng took over in 1978 the CCP as all
but abandoned it's aspirations of becoming a Marxist-Leninist workers state. In 2000 this
would become policy as Jiang Zemin brought in the "Three Represents" and took the nation
in pursuit of a ‘socialist market economy' with Chinese characteristics.". Now China has
476 of the world billionaires while the average monthly salary of the worker is around
£780 a month. The means of production are in the hands of private corporations and spills
out everywhere. Eduction and Healthcare are privileges of the elite. China #1 is the goal
and the workers best be willing to suffer for it or be considered enemies of the all
powerful state.

Under Xi Jinping this has meant a radical growth in Nationalism under the guise of a
"cultural revival", a broad sweeping facial recognition and a monitoring network» that
makes 1984's Ingsoc look like rank amateurs and has seen overt and hostile moves to
consolidate China and to bring about "Complete National Reunification ", something it was
made clear he approaches with teeth bared in his statements to Taiwan in January this
year; "We make no promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option of taking
all necessary means". Like all nation states, the authority demand obedience and
domination. This is something they maintain in Hong Kong through the Electoral Affairs
Commission which pre-screens candidates for the Legislative Council for their political
beliefs and by ensure that the The Chief Executive is selected by small body of (now) 1200
people.

This Chinese sock puppet government upon seeing the situation with the murder in Taiwan
and under the guise of stopping Hong Kong from becoming a safe haven from criminals moved
to install The Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters
Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019. This bill would allow China to extradite certain
criminals and run them through the radically different legal system in the mainland. One
which is controlled by the CCP. This doesn't come without precedent mind. In March 2017
the Chinese state kidnapped pro-democracy activist Lee Ming-Che saying he was under
investigation on "suspicion of harming national security.". He later plead guilty to
"subverting state power" which it's believed he was forced into.

So they begin to forward a bill many fear will be used to allow China to drag them away in
the night. Resistance started on the 31st of March when the Civil Human Rights Front, an
organisation composed of some 50 pro-democracy groups, launched it's first protest against
The Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation
(Amendment) Bill 2019. It was a civil march through the city of 12,000 people. The
following March on the 28th saw 500,000.

These were acts of civil disobedience but the tension was building and Ahead of the second
reading of the bill organisers called for a return to demonstration on the 9th June.

Four hours after the march began, people were still leaving the start point at Victoria
Park. Well over a million marched and a great many of them did not return home.
Autonomists, students and pro-independence campaigners began to camp out in front of the
Government headquarters. This was the moment where things changed, around midnight, the
police forces Special Tactical Squad (STS) moved in and clashes broke out and mass
protests took place through the night.

Come the 12th and the second reading, everyone was out. From the unions and opposition
groups, to student networks and Anarchist affinity groups. The variety of political
positions was vast but they came unified in opposition the the Bill and the Chinese state
undermining their political agency. By 4pm the police had began using pepper spray and
attacking people,and shooting tear gas on them. The Hong Kong protests as we see them on
the news had begun.

Over the next three weeks there would be numerous protests from strikes, sit in and even
the odd siege of police stations. The lawyers held a silent march, the legislature was
raided, there was a laser festival and the airport was sat in. Whether peaceful or
militant it was quite clear there was a strong sense of political unity, which over time
would develop into tactical unity. The protests were organised organically, without
leadership and without any singular faction taking control somewhat confusing the world
media. Around the world it seems people were confused, were they pro-capitalists?
Nationalist? Unions? Or even Anarchists?... The answer is yes.

Beyond all the "riot porn" and unexpected but enjoyable guides to "protesting like
Hongkongers" movements such as this are diverse. It doesn't matter if some groups waves
the Stars and stripes and the sinophobic right wing of America loose their shit or if the
budget is there for full page ads in newspapers around the world. The movement is diverse
and at it's core working class and grass roots.

This is the nature of a popular rebellion and like the Mouvement des gilets jaunes, they
have endeavoured to maintain this and keep it grass roots. There has been two forms of
protests; first there is the the civil marches full of the usual flags,placards, banners
and liberal calls for democracy, they do well bringing in thousands and keeping an
approachable voices to the movement. Secondly there is the direct protest actions such as
holding of barricades, blocking roads and it has seen the development of new a hit and run
methodology, a tactic commonly referred to as "be water".

It's worth noting as well that as a general rule of thumb during the more radical
protests, it has become the standard practice to take down any flags and hand them back to
their owner and disapprove of having their movement represented with either flags of
foreign powers or local organisations. The exception to this seems to be the Black
Bauhinia flag, which has come to symbolise the protests.

Along the way five demands began to present themselves.

Complete withdrawal of the extradition bill from the legislative process
Retraction of the "riot" characterisation
Release and exoneration of arrested protesters
Establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into police conduct and use of force
during the protests
Dissolve the Legislative Council and begin the implementation of universal suffrage
It is on these these demands that they have come to organise and identity their collective
action. It's on these demands they are beginning to see a response as Carrie Lam moved to
withdraw the bill on the 4th of September. She also requested that protestors end their
demonstrations and enter into dialogue with the government. This is code for "please allow
us time to re-group, hunt down leaders and remove your revolutionary agency".

The protestors would have none of it.

At the Citizens Press Conference the next night, the young protestors and armed with
helmets and masked up gave their reply in three languages. The spoke with passion and
dedication to their cause and made their position on Lam's offer of a truce clear.

"If Carrie Lam had withdrawn the bill two months ago, that may have been a quick fix, but
applying a band-aid months later on to rotting flesh will simply not cut it ... Liberate
Hong Kong, The revolution of our times, five demands not one less. Fight on and take care
fellow Hongkongers"

We cannot afford to be trapped in our anarchistic dogma as working class comrades around
the world suffer brutality at the hands of the state or as they are forced to live in
unjust societies with neither voice nor liberty. We must be overt and vocal in our
solidarity and where capable take action in support of their cause. Not as allies but as
accomplices and together we fight back against all the evil empires and hopefully sharing
our notions of Anarchism as we go providing a better option for this world we are
building. Heck, even if you are fundamentally hostile to the liberal protest for
democracy, know that our Anarchist comrades are out there on the streets, defending their
comrades regardless, defending their communities from the police and the government. Give
them your love and solidarity until they win this struggle.

http://organisemagazine.org.uk/2019/09/13/hongkongers-aint-nothing-to-fuck-with-international/

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Message: 4






Bristol AFed rarely miss a chance to get down to support our friends in Dorset, and this
year's Dorset Radical Bookfair was a great opportunity to do so again. It's Dorset's third
bookfair, and took place at a fantastic and friendly venue, the Corn Exchange, in central
Dorchester. But before going any further, it's probably worth asking ‘why a bookfair'?
---- Anarchist (and radical) bookfairs have been a staple of the anarchist movement since
the 1980s in Europe and beyond, and serve various roles. First and foremost, they are one
of the most coherent public faces of anarchism, giving us the opportunity to counter the
negative stereotypes and misconceptions around anarchism, in a (mostly) welcoming setting.
Secondly, they also give us a chance to raise much-needed funds for various projects.
Thirdly, we use the bookfairs as a chance to go over and advance our theories. And last
but not least, they're a great opportunity to create or re-kindle personal connections,
which bind the movements together. We sometimes call them ‘Anarchist X-mas' (and yeah,
they also can entail the odd row, just like actual X-mas!).

Some of the stalls on offer!
This was one of many book fairs that have made a clear statement against tolerating
transphobic literature or behaviours (much like the new London Anarchist Bookfair crew).
Always good to see folks siding with the oppressed and avoiding any fence sitting! The
event was a success and went off peacefully enough, aside from the odd troll going from
stall to stall and picking arguments over whatever they could manage. As well as
ourselves, there was a variety of campaign groups present, from the likes of Exeter
Anarchist Party, Black Skin Black Flag, Berkshire Antifascists, Bristol Radical History
Group (who have their own Radical History Festival in Bristol next month, on Saturday
12th), Dorset Parents Campaign Group for SEND Children, IWW Dorset, Freedom Press,
Prisonism, Radical Routes, Wessex Solidarity, and Weymouth Animal Rights.

We hosted a talk called ‘Strengthening Global Links: on International Anarchism', which
reported on the various lessons learned and shared during this summer's IFA/IAF
(International of Anarchist Federations) Congress in Ljubljana. The discussion also
explored ways to expand upon these global strategies of co-operation, and how to make
links with regions and groups outside of our current networks - as ever, one hour is
rarely enough time to get into these things, but we made a good start! There were of
course lots of other talks and workshops. They included; a climate crisis panel on
environmentalist strategy and tactics, the obscure details of land ownership in the UK,
egalitarian approaches to news distribution, wildcat strikes in the Royal Mail, Chav
Solidarity, putting radicalism back into the LGBTQ+ movement, surviving prison, and the
Romantic writers' relationship with the natural world.

The daytime stalls eventually segued into the evening and the after-party; another fine
part of the bookfair tradition. This one was mostly too deafeningly loud for our poor
ears, heavily featuring one flavour or another of punk or hardcore, with the Sporadics,
Blunders, Broken Dregs, and Jonny L. The more nuanced and sing-alongy anarcho-folk of Ash
Ludd and Dan Kemp were more our cup of tea. But still: five different acts for five quid -
you can't say fairer than that, and the tinnitus eventually fades.

Dorset Comrade's ensuring no one had to anarchism on an empty stomach!
Other highlights of the day, other than the various stall conversations on "Why does that
sticker say ‘Fuck Work'?" and the finer points of anarchist communism, was the open mic
impromptu performances on the day-long Busk Stop (including a great poem from an anarchist
sex worker), and the food. The cake. As you might be aware, anarchism in the British Isles
runs on vegan cake, and there was more tasty chocolate cake this year than you can shake
a... a hand at.

All in all, this bookfair wasn't overflowing with punters (still busier than the high
street, though), but there was definitely a good atmosphere. Of course, it would have been
better still if we'd been able to also get ourselves to Bradford Anarchist Bookfair, that
days DSEI anti-arms fair protests, and the anti-fascist counter-demo in London as well.
Bristol AFed did manage to have a couple of members over in Bridgewater spreading
anarchism amongst the city's vegans at a local fair on the same day. Being in two places
at once was pretty good, even if we didn't manage being in five!

See also:
A thanks to everyone involved from the The Dorset Radical Bookfair crew
Brief report from last years Dorset Radical Bookfair
Wessex Solidarity - South Coast Free Radicals

Come for the badges, stay for the pamphlets!

http://afed.org.uk/dorset-radical-bookfair-anarchy-in-the-sticks/

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Message: 5





With the political support of the Conservatives, the cops are killing self-governing
projects in the Exarchia district of Athens. But the desire for freedom and dignity does
not stop. Download, print and distribute the September issue of the A3 wall paper! ---- We
dream of a better world, without chains of hierarchy and oppression, where quality food,
clothing, housing and space for a full life are right, not commodity or privilege. Dreams
alone are not enough, it is necessary to work to fulfill them. We do not suck on visions
from our finger, we do not write them from the table and do not realize them using tables.
The proven method of anarchists around the world is direct action. He assumes that people
are able to manage their affairs themselves, and it certainly works better than
politicians preach, which they never had to calculate if they lasted until the end of the
month, using their feet only to move between the lift and the limousine. One such
laboratory of direct action and self-organization is the Exarchia district of Athens, full
of squats, house projects and social centers, including self-governing clinics and
community cooking facilities.

Squating is renowned for its struggle against real estate tycoons who buy real estate in
times of crisis and then wait and wait for the market boom. Meanwhile, buildings are
dilapidated and people of unproductive age, graduates, young families, single parents,
pensioners fall into a debt trap due to expensive rentals, or rot in hostels. Once again,
squating does not involve occupying winter garden huts, as written by the illiberal
Democrats on Facebook. Squating proved to be a viable alternative during the financial
crisis, when people lost their jobs and roof over their heads, and the state only cared
where they would take the money to clean up the banking sector. Squatters worked with
refugees before the Internet was flooded with alarms, anti-immigration bands did not
exist, and ultra-conservatives were afraid to stick their heels out of the salons. Before
the mafia began to chase people traumatized by war into olive groves to hunt for a few
cents, refugee squats were already operating in the Exarchy. Immediate help here and now,
wonder, without tendering, bureaucracy, corruption and taxpayer contributions, using only
surplus speculators and challenging the idol of private property! This practice is not
like business, nor do politicians who alternately sit in parliament and on boards of big
companies. Exarchia must clean up, clean up, there is something going on that is not
supposed to be under control, not subject to market principles, it is actually a no go
zone, the Conservative Party campaign sounded, an unfortunate coincidence contributing to
Greece's disruption and in opposition benches. refugee squats were already operating in
the Exarchy. Immediate help here and now, wonder, without tendering, bureaucracy,
corruption and taxpayer contributions, using only surplus speculators and challenging the
idol of private property! This practice is not like business, nor do politicians who
alternately sit in parliament and on boards of big companies. Exarchia has to clean up,
clean up, there is something going on that is not supposed to be under control, not
subject to market principles, it's actually a no go zone in opposition benches. refugee
squats were already operating in the Exarchy. Immediate help here and now, wonder, without
tendering, bureaucracy, corruption and taxpayer contributions, using only surplus
speculators and challenging the idol of private property! This practice is not like
business, nor do politicians who alternately sit in parliament and on boards of big
companies. Exarchia has to clean up, clean up, there is something going on that is not
supposed to be under control, not subject to market principles, it's actually a no go zone
in opposition benches. using only the excesses of speculators and questioning the idol of
private property! This practice is not like business, nor do politicians who alternately
sit in parliament and on boards of big companies. Exarchia has to clean up, clean up,
there is something going on that is not supposed to be under control, not subject to
market principles, it's actually a no go zone in opposition benches. using only the
excesses of speculators and questioning the idol of private property! This practice is not
like business, nor do politicians who alternately sit in parliament and on boards of big
companies. Exarchia has to clean up, clean up, there is something going on that is not
supposed to be under control, not subject to market principles, it's actually a no go zone
in opposition benches.

On Monday, August 26, 2019, before dawn, anti-terrorist troops broke into the Exarchy with
the assistance of drones and dragons on scooters. The Cops have cleared four harder to
defend squats with the help of violence against men, women and children. They smashed the
apartments so that no one could return to them. In the days that followed, the guardians
of the order beat up people on the street at random. On Friday evening, August 29, they
infested the Exarchy with tear gas, then attacked the K * VOX social center and smashed
it. K * VOX and the square were crowded with people, and police operations could not do
without serious injuries on the part of the residents. The people of the Exarchy began to
assemble and protest. On September 1, anarchists attacked a police station, serving as a
base for heavy-armored personnel. The flames severely damaged the station. The cops in
turn smashed the squat Tsamadou 19.

People whose homes and playgrounds have turned into battlefields, and those who have
escaped the unbearable climate caused by the spineless business have been herded into
camps where they will wait for deportation, subjected to rotten food, bedbugs, zero
medical care and guards' violence to regret its decision to step into the fortress of
Europe. Those who decided to defend themselves were locked up in cells.

Because the alternative threatens their troughs, they want to drown it into the ground.
However, the determination of those whose hearts burn for freedom and justice cannot be
broken. This fire cannot be extinguished, certainly not with the oil that represents the
elite units in the transporters. He will only be extinguished by the absence of injustice
and oppression, but for the time being no truce, no surrender is on the agenda.

A3 (September 2019) for download HERE . http://www.afed.cz/A3/A3-2019-09.pdf

Download, print, distribute!

The wall paper A3 is published every month by the Anarchist Federation. They are primarily
intended for dissemination through street signs or posting at workplaces and schools.

https://www.afed.cz/text/7032/a3-zadupat-alternativu-do-zeme

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Message: 6






Accenture office in the Czech Prague (source: Wikimedia Commons) ---- This year, two
employees' committees associating people working in the business services industry joined
the Employee Initiative - in the Polish branches of international Accenture and Medtronic
corporations located in Warsaw. To better understand the specifics of this industry and
the problems affecting the people employed there, we interviewed Michal and Dominik from
the Factory Committee at Accenture (KZA) and Mateusz from the Factory Committee at
Medtronic (KZM). ---- The interview was published in the 52 issue of the Employee
Initiative Bulletin. ---- Why did you set up employee initiative initiatives in your
companies?
KZA: In our case, it started with a change in the rules of remuneration for night work. We
have always worked in shifts - at first in a two-shift system, now, somewhere for a year
and a half, we work in a three-shift system. The third shift lasts from 23:00 to 7:00.
When it was introduced, we were promised that 5 "nights" in a month would entitle to a 25%
bonus. With earnings in our company is quite a lot and many people therefore want to work
"on the rocks." At the end of last year, Accenture's arrangements with the client probably
changed, or it was simply decided to save, because it turned out that some processes would
not be subject to three-shift work, and those who remained at night shifts were ordered to
work after 7 nights a month on the rocks. It caused dissatisfaction because, contrary to
appearances, these two days are crucial - you can't work in one week and then sleep in one
day, you only have to break it into two blocks. Work at night is generally burdensome,
people began to pay for it with health and physical and mental health, and on the other
hand they did not want to give up work at night completely, because it is often a
significant budget item for many people. And on the wave of outrage over this situation,
our committee was formed.

KZM: Our committee was created in response to an unfair, in our opinion, decision of the
employer to dismiss 270 people due to the process automation. People who hit the dismissal
tied their future to this company, which, moreover, promised development and stable jobs.
The Medtronic facility in Warsaw has been around for 5 years and we have always been
assured that the company will provide stable employment. However, it turned out that most
likely, due to the desire to reduce costs, these 270 people will be dismissed. According
to the company, the decision on this restructuring was made in order to "improve
processes" and standardize them, but we are not convinced that this is the main reason.

And what should this automation in Medtronic consist in?

KZM: It's about standardizing the process, i.e. putting it into a certain framework: from
now on orders will be electronic, all with the same layout, and on the other hand
segmentation of the customers is expected. Large customers who can afford large orders
using the electronic form - their Medtronic will accept with open arms; while the rest of
the clients will not be able to negotiate too much with Medtronik. Of course, part of this
automation is also the transfer of some tasks (processes) to outsourcing companies.

What do your companies do, what is your job?

KZA: Accenture operates in the business process outsourcing industry - that is, what our
colleague from Medtronic just talked about, our company will do for them. Accenture will
design these processes, design or subcontract the implementation of tools for this, and
then hire the people who will handle these processes.

And how do you talk about "processes" what exactly is it about?

KZA: Processes can be, for example, data analysis for clients in the IT industry, it can
be making orders and purchases on behalf of other entities, it can also be, for example,
accounting or auditing services.

So you could call it "business services", but very broadly understood?

KZA: Generally, Accenture, apart from business process outsourcing, has also an IT
department - programming and a business consulting department. And if a company has a
problem to solve and does not want to invest its own resources, it rents Accenture, which
creates a new project especially for this client, employs people and solves the problem or
advises.

KZM: Well, our company can be an example of how it works: Medtronic came to Accenture and
said: "I want to automate the process. Will you create a tool for me? "

KZA: It probably went a little different: Accenture probably came to Medtronic and said,
"Look, how much do you spend on doing this? We would do it cheaper, employing half the
people and creating a special application for activities that can be done automatically so
that fewer people will be needed to operate. And above all, you will be more flexible
because you will have a contract with an external company. "

And what does Medtronic do then?

KZM: Medtronic is a world leader in the medical industry, but it does not deal with drugs
and medications but with medical equipment: pacemakers or neurostimulators used to treat
Parkinson's disease. Medtronic Polska is an office dealing with sales on the Polish market
and a huge office dealing with the implementation of orders for clients - i.e. hospitals -
from all over Europe. People who are referred to as "multilingual customer service" are
most at risk of layoffs.

Both companies are global corporations, do you know in which countries they still operate
and what Polish offices look like against the background of branches in other countries?
What is your place in Accenture and Medtronic's "global service chains"?

KZA: This global service chain and the differences between the "Center" and the
"Periphery" or "Semi-periphery" are the sense of our business. If not for the differences
in pay, working conditions and globalization of the business services process, we would
not exist. The whole logic of this is that our client, let's say it from Great Britain or
the USA or another "Center", employs people in Poland whom he would have to employ at his
place. So, on the one hand, we take advantage of these differences - we do the work and
earn thanks to the fact that someone in these countries "Center" was dismissed and moved
his workplace here. On the other hand, we live in a constant threat that our jobs will be
moved elsewhere, where it is even cheaper. Poland is a good place to run this type of
business because the society is quite well educated, there are crowds of people who know
languages and are generally able to process information at a fairly high level. At the
same time, our earnings are much lower than in the West.

It is worth adding that during the last meeting with the employer's representatives, we
heard in connection with our pay demands, something like: "you know, if you stop paying
business here, we will transfer your jobs to Romania".

KZM: Medtronic operates globally and sells its products worldwide. The facility in Poland
has so far been a very important "artery" of the company for all of Europe - we have
provided services to all clients in Europe in cooperation with the so-called "Front
offices" (offices where employees have direct contact with clients). We mainly provided IT
services. The company's warehouses are located in the Netherlands and Germany.

Apart from the issues you mentioned at the beginning in your company, are there any other
problems affecting all employees?

KZA: It is very difficult to say because we have limited contact with employees from other
projects. And the details of employment in individual projects depend on the Accenture
agreement with specific clients - companies. And it is so that the client may wish that
people working in the project implemented for him have certain resources or working
conditions. But there are some solid patterns in the business of this business that occur
regardless of the client. In the case of Accenture, it is the use of fixed-term contracts,
which we feel are very harmful and the bane of this business. This is one of the topics we
would like to deal with as a committee.

Earnings are another issue, which is due to the very nature of this business. Our costs
must be lower than those that would be borne by customers if they had to carry out these
tasks themselves. Hence, very strong pressure to pay as little as possible or not to
increase wages.

And what are the earnings in your companies?

KZA: The earnings of most Accenture employees fluctuate within the national average, maybe
a little lower for new people.

KZM: In our case, discontent started only after the dismissal was announced. We had good
earnings and were treated well: paid (and good) overtime, wages above the national
average. The company also won 'Top employer 2019' awards (Best Employer of the Year 2019).

How did your employers react to the information about establishing the union and what are
your plans for the future?

KZA: At first they were surprised and did not know what to do with us, but later, how a
large corporation decided to do everything according to the law. Interestingly, when you
start working at Accenture, you get an information pack in which you can read that the
company does not discriminate on grounds of sex, orientation, nationality, disability ...
and trade union membership. We will check how it will look in practice.

On the one hand, it seems that we are a problem for management, and on the other, the
existence of a relationship saves them problems in such situations when they need to
consult with employees' representation on changes in work regulations or Employee Capital
Plans. We think that in the future they will probably want to reduce us to the role of
"tame employee representation", which will sign them what they will expect from us.

In the future, the key issue for us will be work at night - we would like to either return
to the standard 5 nights a month or a raise. The second issue is the level of wages, which
in our opinion is far too low compared to other companies in the industry. The third one
is fixed-term contracts, which, combined with constant pressure on productivity and
frequent work at night, create conditions that are extremely burdensome for employees -
both physically and mentally.

KZM: In our case, the reaction is, for now, ignoring us. The dismissals have been spread
over time so that they are not classified as collective dismissals and that consultation
with the trade union is not necessary. The company also prefers to talk to the previously
selected employee representation. Of course, our main goal is to reduce the severity of
dismissals - at least some people should stay in their positions, and those dismissed
should receive higher severance pay than those resulting from the Act. It is particularly
important for us to take into account seniority when determining the amount of severance pay.

Thank you very much for the conversation!

http://ozzip.pl/teksty/publicystyka/walki-pracownicze/item/2514-globalne-lancuchy-uslug-biznesowych-accenture-medtronic

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