#Worldwide #Information #Blogger #LucSchrijvers: #Update: #anarchist #news and #information from all over the world - 26.03.2020

Today's Topics:

   
1.  Czech, AFED, Report on events on the occasion of
      International Women's Day in Prague, Brno and Liberec [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire - UCL press release: La
      Poste calls on the public service to endanger the health of its
      staff (fr, it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL - press release: Net
      neutrality does not preclude political management of services
      (fr, it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  Britain, brighton solfed: Corona Virus, Sick Pay & Benefits
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
  
 5.  Union Communiste Libertaire Bruxelles - UCL Liège: Facing
      the Coronavius, a message of hope and a call for the creation of
      links of solidarity among the population. (fr, it, pt)[machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
  
 6.  Poland, ZSP: Crisis of junk employment - firm action needed
      [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
7.  Anarchist Communist Group (ACG): Class War Not On Pause
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
8.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL AL #303 -
      Transidentity and feminism: who divides ? (fr, it, pt)[machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1




Prague ---- On Sunday, March 8, a demonstration was held to celebrate International Women's Day in Prague under the auspices of
International Feminists United. Around two o'clock in the afternoon it began to fill the crowds of sympathizers and sympathizers with
feminist movement. The staff was really diverse and under the supervision of uniformed and uniformed police officers began at about quarter
to three speeches. The first was the AltPride initiative. After establishing the sad situation of feminism in the Czech Republic, it
recalled the historical roots of the feminist movement. Socialist solidarity was the next one, and in his speech he summed up the March 8
demonstration over the past three years highlighting contemporary social dramas. In the Libraries Initiative, participants were informed
about the salary situation of not only librarians (78% of the library staff in the Czech Republic are women), but also all other feminized
professions. In a speech by International Feminists United Prague, all women fighting for their rights were first reminded. This was
followed by a call to resist a system that denies women's rights, demands unpaid care or prevents them from participating in public life.
This was followed by criticism of the current government's budget cuts in the area of gender policy, which resulted in a reduction in
support for, for example, women's refuges, the need for ratification of the Istanbul Convention and the criticism of capitalism. After
hearing a part of the speech in the Czech language, about three hundred demonstrators with banners such as "Carnation End of Patriarchate",
"Our Body, Our Choice" or "I do not want a flower but equal opportunities" headed down the streets of Prague towards Klárov. The planned
route of the parade went along the waterfront, around the National Theater to Jan Palach Square, then across the Manes Bridge to Klárov.
Here, after a minor push with the order keepers of the English part of the speech. Followed by speeches from the team Beat Sexism or Left
and Asamblea. Then the participants started to divide slowly and the march ended after 5 pm.

Brno

The commemoration of International Women's Day in Brno was in the café style. There was no public event in the streets. On March 7th, the
people at the Three Tails cafeteria could meet to remind "all politically active women fighting for their rights, for better working
conditions and for equality in society" and where they had a very varied program. Unfortunately, the female folk band Cácory, who was the
main draw, did not perform. The tails thus hosted a debate, an author's reading, an exhibition, a screening or a mini table football
tournament. The day before, she organized a feminist event NESEHNUTÍ in Brno's Music Lab, offering spoken word and swing music. Bajkazyl
Brno joined on Sunday to discuss workshops on "MDŽ: Old school? True school! "And" How does a nonprofit today promote equal rights? ".

Liberec

The International Women's Day took place in Liberec's Asylum Club on the first Saturday in March. The organization was seized by a local
female team who conceived it in an unusual figure skating style. Participants began to arrive in Asylum in the early afternoon, many of them
in figure skating costumes. And it should be added that they were not really afraid to "let loose the imagination", as the organizers wanted
in the invitation.

In addition to figure skating styling, the event was accompanied by one actual topic - the feminization of poverty. As the organizers said
in their statement: "The reality is discrimination in the labor market based on deep-rooted stereotypes, such as the division of occupations
into male and female or the role of women in reproduction... Women are an absurdly marginalized social group . "The banner posted in front
of the club, which also invited to Saturday's party, made a clear statement about this unsatisfactory situation:" IWD - Stop the
feminization of poverty! "

The organizers also prepared a practical activity - a linorite workshop, where everyone could make thematic prints on their clothes. An
entertaining revival of the event was an experimental poetic performance of a male-female artistic duo. There was also great interest in the
evening feminist quiz of mixed teams, conceived as an educational but entertaining form. Each team has won a prize in the form of a stylish
"menstrual" DIY pendant, the winners of the award-winning beer for the IWM flying brewer Kosa Prairie called FEMINISTOUT and the book Fruit
of Knowledge by the Swedish author of irritating comics Liv Strömquist. menstrual myths ".

The quiz was followed by the necessary party because, as the organizers said: "IWD is a celebration of the fight for equality, we will have
fun and break down stereotypes!" In addition to the traditional party decoration TABU, "" I have overflowed patience, "or" Menstrual
activism is important for all! NOT JUST menstruators! "So it was an action" for all who are not afraid of hitting stereotypes! ", But
especially for women whose voice is not heard enough today -" the voice of social workers, nurses, shop assistants, workers, bartenders,
teachers, postmen and others in the interests of a just society ".

https://www.afed.cz/text/7140/3x-mdz

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Message: 2




Since Tuesday noon, the country is in total containment. This measure consists in preserving the interests of the bourgeoisie rather than in
protecting the population when we continue to send employees to work without thinking that they will, especially at the Post Office, rub
shoulders with others. people be co-workers. ---- Faced with this, an increasing number of postal workers are asserting their right of
withdrawal. More than 120 sites (and this figure is growing day by day) have therefore asserted this right in front of bosses who show a
total contempt for the rights of postal workers. ---- Right of withdrawal contested ---- This right of withdrawal is disputed by the
management threatening the staff to abolish the day's wages, even if for the moment nothing has been taken. Now is the time for corporate
repression. A real repression when it comes to threatening a site manager with serious misconduct when he wants to protect his agents.
Repression, when it comes to prohibiting staff representatives from visiting and supporting postal workers during this difficult period.

Company faults
Bottles of water filled with soap, temporary workers and subcontractors not equipped with hydroalcoholic gel, subcontractors coming to work
when the spouse is contaminated, the list is long of mistakes and faults of the company.

A practical "continuity of public service"
The Post office has only one speech: application of what is recommended by the health authorities and continuity of public service. Except
that when we dig a little, we are really far from it. Above all, it is a question of sending the " postalsoldiers" to the front.

Public service for La Poste rather consists of knowing how to save the company's profits or cynically exploit the situation. On the one
hand, some people are delighted with the probable explosion of parcels, having nothing to envy of Amazon whose employees have also asserted
their right of withdrawal, on the other hand it '' is to continue to charge bank fees or block cards or put in bank forbidden those who
rushed to make provisions.

Swiss Post should not decide
The speech on the essential role of La Poste in this crisis is tartufferie, especially when you think that the company has been privatized !
Staff are endangered and public service is just one more pretext. In a context where the lives of postal workers are threatened the only
solution: right of withdrawal.

Yes to a public postal service, but it is not La Poste that must decide, but the post office workers and the population.

Libertarian Communist Union, March 20, 2020

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?La-Poste-en-appelle-au-service-public-pour-mettre-en-danger-la-sante-de-ses

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Message: 3



Since the beginning of confinement in Europe, the question of a possible overload of internet traffic has arisen. Below, our libertarian
communist point of view on the question of the network. ---- As for services, saturation is felt. For example, at Skype and Whatsapp, the
central servers apparently do not take the load since the Italian containment. Charge that would have been collected before the purchase of
Skype by Microsoft: the software then operated in peer-to-peer (that is to say without central servers). ---- Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg
said at a press conference on March 18 that audio and video calls, notably on Whatsapp (owned by Facebook), would have doubled and that
Facebook engineers are already working to strengthen the infrastructure [1].
On another scale and ideologically closer to us, the librarian association of popular education Framasoft did indeed suffer an overload at
the start of confinement, when the ministries of National Education and Higher Education were - shamefully, without consultation, and
without requesting their own IT services and considerable financial resources - invited their staff to use the services of Framasoft (which
has neither the means nor the vocation to replace ministries) [2].

As for global traffic, contradictory information circulates: on the one hand, the 70% increase experienced by Italy following the closure of
schools would be absorbable [3]; on the other hand, on March 19, the European Commissioner responsible for the internal market Thierry
Breton publicly expressed concern about the pressure exerted on traffic [4]. Internal sources at Orange also inform us that the Orange board
of directors doubts the network's capacity to collect and that we will soon have to choose between 4G and telephony.

While it seems difficult to us to settle the question of the possibility of large-scale traffic overload in the short term, it is however
politically essential to anticipate the possibility.

Calls to "regulate" traffic are already heard. Hospitals or National Education have priority over pornography or Netflix streaming and
therefore one should be favored at the expense of the other. This regulation would be the responsibility of Internet service providers
(ISPs), the only technically capable of knowing who is doing what on the Internet and acting in real time, and therefore of censoring.
Thierry Breton notably invited ISPs to "take measures to prevent and mitigate the effects of imminent congestion on the networks".

We obviously do not question the priority of public hospital or educational services. We observe on the other hand that these calls emanate
from the mouths which, even out of times of crisis, claim again and always the abolition of the neutrality of the net, this principle which
wants that the ISPs are only factors of the Internet, submitted as postal workers in the physical world are prohibited from opening
envelopes, and therefore deliver all "mail" indifferently .

The end of net neutrality would be a boon for the capitalists, who would therefore be able to sell as basic offer a simple access to the
services of their choice - typically, the GAFAM partners - and to relegate the rest of the Internet - typically the political or media
voices that displease the government - to the rank of paid options. We also observe that the logic of scarcity-rationing at work behind
these discourses is the same as that which our political leaders reserve to us non-stop, to the point of disgust, for years, within the
framework of policies of budgetary austerity.

Whether we talk about the Internet or public money, we libertarian communists affirm that the existing resources must be:

exposed to all with transparency and pedagogy, in order to allow popular appropriation of the stakes of the problem ;
strengthened and developed, and not rationed, if they are really judged insufficient (the money exists, it is enough to go to seek it where
it is) ;
shared according to political decisions taken by the people and in their interest, and not by the State in the interest of the capitalists.
It is also up to the people to decide, in a self-managed framework, how to implement this sharing without calling into question the
neutrality of the net, the egalitarian principle that founds the Internet. In the current context, it is for example possible:

to set up a national planning of the courses given by videoconference, within the framework of "pedagogical continuity", allowing to better
distribute the load and at the same time to improve the living conditions of teachers confined, without ever dispossessing them of their
profession and without harboring illusions about the educational virtues of digital technology ;
force YouTube to remove the HD option from its videos ;
or to introduce a very strong tax on the cultural reproduction service of the patriarchy that is pornography, a tax allowing to
counterbalance the opportunistic gratuitousness implemented in recent days by the main platforms of the sector.
Libertarian Communist Union, March 21, 2020

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?La-neutralite-du-net-ne-s-oppose-pas-a-une-gestion-politique-des-services

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Message: 4



If you're unable to work due to illness or are self-isolating due to Corona virus, and your employer doesn't offer contractual sick pay, you
can claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if you usually earn at least £118 per week before tax. For the next 3 months at least, you can claim SSP
from the first day of not working. Your employer pays SSP and you should tell them immediately, and at least within 7 days, that you need to
claim it. You normally have to provide a GP fit note after 7 consecutive days of illness but at present you only need to provide a note from
NHS 111 online: ---- https://111.nhs.uk/ ---- If you qualify for SSP, you also qualify for some Universal Credit monthly payments towards
rent costs and for Council Tax Reduction. Use the benefit calculator at the Turn2Us website to calculate how much you qualify for and how to
apply for it:
https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou

SSP is paid for up to 28 weeks, at which point you'll need to make an online Universal Credit claim on the grounds of long-term illness or
disability:
https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay

Universal Credit
If you're unable to work due to illness, are self-isolating due to Corona virus and do not qualify for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), for
example, if you're not classed as an ‘employee' due to being self-employed, are on a zero-hours contract that doesn't offer sick pay, or
usually earn less than £118 per week before tax, you need to make an online claim for Universal Credit. The monthly Universal Credit award
will also include payments towards rent, children living with you, and includes an exemption from work searching and possibly additional
payments if you're assessed as unable to work due to illness or disability:
https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit

If you live with a partner, you'll need to make a joint claim and their income will be taken into account. Use the benefit calculator at the
Turn2Us website to calculate how much you qualify for and how to apply for it:
https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou

Normally, once you've made an online claim for Universal Credit, you're expected to call them to arrange a claimant commitment interview at
the Jobcentre, in which you're expected to agree with your work coach on the efforts you'll make to find work. However, these have been
cancelled for at least 3 months and might be conducted online, over the phone or, as is the case in some Jobcentres, it's awarded on trust.
You should be given instructions when you call the number given after submitting your online claim or on your online journal when it's
activated.

Normally, if you're claiming Universal Credit on grounds of an illness or long-term disability that prevents you from working, you're
expected to provide a GP fit note and attend a Work Capability Assessment after 13 weeks of the claim. However, all face-to-face assessments
have been cancelled for at least 3 months and instead it could be decided on paperwork such as medical evidence, online or over the phone.
You should be given instructions when you call the number given after submitting your online claim or on your online journal when it's
activated.

Once you've been awarded Universal Credit, you'll have to wait 5 weeks for payment and therefore can apply for an Advance Payment in the
form of a loan of up to 100% of your estimated award, which is then repayable as a deduction from your award over 12 months. To apply for an
Advance Payment, you normally need to go into the Jobcentre to provide ID but for the next 3 months at least you can apply on your online
journal for this or by calling the helpline on 0800 328 5644.
If you have grounds for backdating your claim, you can apply on your online journal for a backdate of up to a month by sending a message to
your work coach, do this as soon as possible after your online journal has been activated.

Jobcentres are obliged to support claimants who are vulnerable, homeless or lack a phone and/or internet access by arranging face-to-face
meetings but this is often not the case - if they refuse to do this a complaint should be made, ideally with the support of a benefits
advisor. Alternatively, claimants who lack internet access or the skills to make an online Universal Credit claim can call the Citizen's
Advice Bureau Help to Claim line for support on 0800 144 8444 in England, 0800 024 1220 in Wales and 0800 023 2581 in Scotland:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/claiming/hel...

If you don't have a mobile phone but do have internet access, enter eleven zeros in the online claim form and you'll get notifications via
email.

An up-to-date page on Corona virus and Universal credit:
https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/

New Style Jobseeker's Allowance
If you need to make a Universal Credit claim because you've lost your job, and have paid enough National Insurance contributions over the
previous 2 years, you can apply for New Style Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). You'll still need to apply for Universal Credit for help with
rent and children living with you but New Style JSA will be deducted from your monthly Universal Credit award. The advantage of this is that
on New Style JSA you're allowed to exceed the capital limit of £16,000 and your partner's earnings aren't taken into account:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-jobseekers-allowance

New Style Employment & Support Allowance
If you need to make a Universal Credit claim because you can't work due to illness or disability, and have paid enough National Insurance
contributions over the previous 2 years, you can apply for New Style Employment & Allowance (ESA). You'll still need to apply for Universal
Credit for help with rent and children living with you but New Style ESA will be deducted from your monthly Universal Credit award. The
advantage of this is that on New Style ESA you're allowed to exceed the capital limit of £16,000 and your partner's earnings aren't taken
into account: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-employment-and-support-allowance

http://www.brightonsolfed.org.uk/brighton/corona-virus-sick-pay-benefits

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Message: 5




The article also highlights the extent of the current economic crash and its impacts for the most precarious. Will we, as in 2008, accept a
financial rescue plan paid for with the fruit of our work and our taxes? Should the rescue benefit the financial giants or the refinancing
of health care services? ---- We must therefore organize and resist, so that the financiers do not bring the people to their knees as it
happened in 2008! ---- Even in physical isolation, let's not stop being united, organized and active. ---- Against fear, let's organize
hope. ---- The Italian people have now been living in lockdown for several days. The situation in Belgium is not yet similar to the Italian
situation, but it still seems wise to you to share the following text fromhttps://medium.com/@ilcorsaro.info/ . Let's stay one step ahead!

We will not dwell on the measures taken, which are certainly traumatic, probably inevitable, at this stage. What we need now is to do our
part to get out of it, helping each other, protecting the weakest elements of our society and learning from it for the future.

We asked ourselves what collective, social and political realities can do in a moment like this, when what is necessary, that is to say the
isolation of everyone in the privacy of its own home, is the complete opposite of what we commit to every day, that is to say the sharing of
common, collective and open spaces.

What we can do is give a message of solidarity, determination and hope in a difficult time. We call on everyone not to give in to
discouragement, not to panic, to commit in the right way the many hours that will have to be spent without normal contact with others. If we
agree to follow the instructions of the health authorities in a responsible manner to avoid contagion, we must, at the same time, continue
to remain active. In particular, we invite everyone to:

Keep an open mind: don't be discouraged and help yourself.

The situation is difficult, but not yet dramatic, it will be difficult for a while, but we will get out of it. Let's enjoy slower rhythms,
spend time with our loved ones. Let's take care of each other, respecting the rules of isolation, listen to the problems of people most in
difficulty, try to find solutions.

As much as possible, and with the utmost care and caution, organize activities to help the elderly and all those trapped at home, do their
shopping, or other activities of active solidarity as do many social spaces.

Using social networks in a responsible and united way

In the isolation of the coming days, many social networks will be the only window on the world. Let's try not to fill them with toxic
content, but rather to use them as a sharing and relationship tool. Let's keep our collective places alive even without physical contact.
Get organized online to discuss attentively and with reliable sources the daily news flow, to inform us about the people who need something
and what we can do to help them, to report problems. that must be fought.

Mobilize, even online, so that the dramatic costs of the epidemic and quarantine are not thrown on our shoulders

We are asking for the freezing of evictions and dismissals, the suspension of rents, invoices and installments, real income support for the
many workers, salaried, precarious or self-employed who cannot work , assistance to families with children of school age, support for the
many social and cultural realities that will be in economic difficulty. We must do our part to stop the contagion, but we cannot pay for
everyone while continuing to fuel revenues and profits.

Put health, well-being and public services at the center of priorities.

This emergency also made it clear to those who had wanted to forget that without a health system that is up to the task, there is no hope of
seriously treating the most difficult situations. 25 years of cuts and privatizations have seriously damaged our health systems, and we are
now seeing the price in terms of beds and human lives. Being responsible in the face of an emergency does not mean that we must stop
denouncing those responsible for dismantling public services and the neoliberal transformation of our society. We will come back to occupy
the squares and the streets.
To experience a different world.

This dramatic moment brings out the deepest contradictions of our social organization, starting from the unequal loads of care between men
and women. This moment asks us to rethink the instruments of social assistance and lifestyles. Extraordinary and equal parental leave for
men and women; economic recognition of care work; reduction of working time; social shock absorbers and forms of economic support for
stable, precarious or self-employed workers; ecological transition, outside of this system which feeds both epidemics and our unpreparedness
to face them. The fact that our way of life is so threatened by the emergency should make us think about building a better, different and
livable world.

We are close to all people who live with this situation with a particular difficulty, in particular those who live in the red zones or those
who are particularly exposed because of previous medical problems. Even in physical isolation, let's not stop being united, organized and
active. Against fear, let's organize hope. "

Pay attention to the stock market crash

Unlike other information, this one does not make the headlines, and yet ... Last Thursday, the price of oil recorded a historic drop of 30%.
The stock market indices have been in free fall for a week, most of the markets having fallen by more than 10%... which had not happened
since the financial crisis of 2008. This crash is due to the anxiety caused by the spread Coronavirus, but other financial bubbles may still
burst, putting us on the brink of a systemic crisis, which will affect, as always, the most disadvantaged, precarious and elderly people.

We're going to be told about saving the economy, but which one? The one that allows shareholders (10% of the population) to continue to
enrich themselves at the cost of the destruction of our living environments, social security, public services, health care?

Will we, as in 2008, accept a financial rescue plan paid for with the fruit of our work and our taxes? What about those who speculate on the
pandemic, who increase the price of necessary goods, such as masks and others? We will have to settle our accounts. Should the rescue
benefit the financial giants or the refinancing of health care services?

We must therefore organize and resist, so that the financiers do not bring the people to their knees as it happened in 2008!

To do this: support the group of caregivers " Health in struggle ", as well as workers on the front line (firefighters, garbage collector,
cashiers, pharmacists, household staff, and so many others!), organize with colleagues to stop work as quickly as possible if it is not
essential and / or if management does not respect health precautions, financially support small independent workers and SMEs in difficulty,
prepare the payment of the bill by an exceptional crisis tax on the accumulated wealth of the richest 10% or other justice measures.

Union Communiste Libertaire Liège

https://bxl.communisteslibertaires.org/2020/03/20/ucl-liege-face-au-coronavius-un-message-despoir-et-un-appel-a-la-creation-de-liens-de-solidarite-dans-la-population

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Message: 6




The crisis situation of employees employed under junk contracts has been increasing for years. Now this problem can no longer be swept under
the rug. A firm action plan is needed. ---- People on a low income who have lost their jobs due to epidemics and quarantine must receive
support. However, we do not accept the idea that this support would amount to 80% of the minimum wage. Putting this way hits the very idea
of a minimum wage. No remuneration (and this is how guaranteed income should be treated during quarantine) should not be lower than the
minimum remuneration. We do not accept the one-time help character. We do not know at the moment whether the situation will last for a long
period. There are also no offers for people who have been dismissed (or have not been extended junk contracts) because of a pandemic.

The government has decided that only contractors who signed contracts before March 1 should get help. Why? Is the government really unaware
that some employers renew (or not) contracts even on a monthly basis?

The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic must be used to fundamentally heal the situation of those working on junk contracts who are
actually performing work under an employment contract. It is also important to ensure that companies create real jobs instead of using this
form of deception sanctioned by many years of tradition.

There is no precise information yet about how the government plans to pay assistance to those working on the mandate contract. The
submission of a payment application should be an opportunity to check whether there should be a need to change the garbage contract into an
employment contract. For example, the application could contain an information field with the following questions:

do you work for the same company
a) less than a year (if yes, how many months)
b) 1-2 years
c) more than 2 years
d) more than 5 years
Did you perform work of a specific type for the employer and under his supervision (*) and at the place and time designated by the employer?
(*) Management does not have to be direct and does not have to rely on each specific task and does not have to mean the physical presence of
the supervisor.

An affirmative answer to question 2 will mean that there was an employment relationship and the contract signed with the employer was by law
a contract of employment (Article 22 of the Labor Code, paragraph 1 1 ) regardless of the form of the contract actually signed.

If the applicant's response indicates that the work had the features of an employment relationship or that the work on the commission
contract lasted more than a year, the case should be automatically referred to the National Labor Inspectorate to check whether there was a
breach of law by using the wrong form of contract. It should be possible to officially change the garbage contract into an employment
contract if it is based in the Labor Code. Such competence could be obtained by an inspector of the National Labor Inspectorate. In
addition, companies that violated the Labor Code by applying civil law contracts in place of employment contracts should be excluded from
anti-crisis assistance from the state budget.

The government is currently working on a draft amendment to the Labor Code. Unfortunately, there are no significant changes foreseen for
people on the mandate contract. We know that people who perform the same work as employees on employment contracts often work in this way.
In some industries, many employees are doomed to work on fictitious contracts of employment, which deprives them of important labor rights,
which is particularly acute in a crisis like the one we are dealing with today.

The epidemic showed very clearly how much it is necessary to strengthen the competence of the National Labor Inspectorate and introduce
far-reaching changes to the Labor Code. The loopholes that employers use to reduce employees' rights must be sealed and far more severe
penalties should be imposed in the event of employers abusing junk contracts.

Association of Polish Syndicalists

https://zsp.net.pl/kryzys-smieciowego-zatrudnienia-potrzebne-stanowcze-dzialania

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Message: 7




It is a common tactic of states and capital to invoke the "national interest" and "we're all in it together" as a means of diverting
attention from the class war. Such cries were heard often during and after the 2008 financial crisis, when states and capital protected
themselves by turning the screws on workers. However, the current situation with COVID-19 has certainly outdone the 2008 financial crisis in
the pleas for national unity. Indeed there has probably not been an occasion since the 2nd World War where the national interest has been so
successfully employed (at least in "the West"). ---- In the UK all parties and governments are largely in consensus, happy to echo this call
for unity, any division between Tory and Labour, liberal and conservative, "leaver" and "remainer", Westminster and Holyrood has been
temporarily put aside by the political classes. Journalists and politicians alike, backed up by their tame experts and pet scientists, are
happy to raise the myth of WWII - a wartime footing for the NHS, the fight of our lives, etc - to make the argument for unity. Of course the
real divisions of society - between labour on the one hand and capital and State on the other - are as present as ever. The effects of this
crisis will be felt disproportionally by the poorest - both in the UK and worldwide.

The political consensus is rooted in the unanimity that there can be no more damage to the economy, an argument reflecting the
interdependence of the State and capital. Contrary to claims of some social democrats, neo-liberalism has not been a case of capital doing
away with the State but rather the State and capital becoming increasing integrated, capital requiring the State to facilitate its
exploitation of workers. The current crisis provides an excellent example of this interdependence, with the State stepping in to ensure the
economy (i.e. the economic exploitation of workers) continues to function in some manner.

To this end we have seen a series of increasingly interventionist budgets by the UK government to deal not only with the COVID-19 situation
but also the demands of workers. As a result there have been some real, if limited, concessions to labour - the covering of 80% of the
salary of those workers on a payroll will be welcome relief to some, however, it does nothing for those in precarious employment and many of
the lowest paid. And while the demands from some for a "basic income" may have some advantages, particularly at the current time, it would
still be part of a series of measures designed to save capitalism not to bury it.

However, despite their intentions, capital and the State may have a harder time than they think in putting the genie back into the bottle.
Even before, the additional measures were taken because the COVID-19 crisis workers had forced the 1st budget of this government to the
"left" of any since at least 2008. While the conflict between liberalism, already weakened before the pandemic, and (national) populism is
currently taking a backseat, it seems likely it will be renewed sooner rather than later. It is not hard to see that the current crisis will
feed into the increasingly anti-immigration political climate. Neither liberalism nor national populism offer anything to labour directly
but the competition between the two may open opportunities to advance the power of workers. In addition, to supporting worker
self-organisation at this moment it is vital that we also look forward to how we can keep and extend any gains we make. To that end the
nonsense of national unity, not "being political" and workers and bosses being on the same side needs to be opposed whenever possible.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2020/03/22/class-war-not-on-pause/

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Message: 8




First published by the Huffington Post, then republished by Marianne, a forum sparked an important controversy in the feminist milieu. What
if the question was not which woman to fight with but how to fight together ? ---- On February 13, the Huffington Post website published a
column entitled "Trans: is it enough to proclaim yourself a woman to be able to demand to be considered as such ?" Arousing lively
controversy, it will be unpublished in stride [1]. The Marianne newspaper will republish it a few days later on its site, considering that "
the debate is essential " [2]. ---- Following feminist collages referring to the sentence at the stake of the TERFs (trans exclusive radical
feminist), this tribune was signed by nearly 140 personalities, including renowned feminists like Christine Delphy, materialist sociologist,
or Marguerite Stern, initiator collages against feminicides.

What debate is this, exactly ? For the signatories of this text, the "trans question" would divide the feminist struggle by re-examining
what makes a woman a woman. In reading them, trans women are only women because they "self-proclaim" themselves. However, we cannot reduce
the "trans question" to a purely declarative value.

Being a trans woman also means being subjected to exploitation, domestic and public violence, as we are women. To deny this reality is "at
best" not to know the subject, at worst to show bad faith.

No, materialist feminism in no way asserts that women " are first of all female human beings[with]a double X chromosome ". It is distressing
to see women like Christine Delphy sign a text which says the exact opposite that what materialist feminists have always always defended.

We are not born a woman
 From the point of view of materialist feminism, gender is a sociological characteristic, if we attribute "natural femininity" to the double
X chromosome, it is only by virtue of defined and contingent social beliefs. Trans women are women, and it is sad to see such a platform
accusing us of dividing a struggle in which, in fact, we are only participating in the same way as any feminist woman.

Theoretical inconsistencies and the inequality of the practices of struggles cannot be our responsibility. As a trans woman, we are
indignant at "TERFs" [3]only because they deny our existence with the same violence that is usually attributed to the treatment of lesbians
by cisgender men.

There is no debate to be had on "the trans question". As a feminist, it is our struggle practices that should be re-examined. But, together,
with all women, whoever they are.

Marlène (UCL Lyon)

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[1] "Why we unpublished the forum" Trans question: splicers against feminicides are dividing and all women are threatened "" , The
Huffington Post, February 12, 2020.

[2] Marianne, "Trans: is it enough to proclaim yourself a woman to be able to be considered as such ?", February 17, 2020.

[3] Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist: Name given to feminists who do not recognize trans people as being able to recognize themselves
(mainly women).

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Transidentite-et-feminisme-qui-divise

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