#Worldwide #Information #Blogger #LucSchrijvers: #Update: #anarchist #information #from all over the #world -14.06.2020

Today's Topics:

   
1.  Czech, Korona without rent -- Decentralized demonstration
      for not paying rent in an unfavorable pandemic situation [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL press release: Let's
      stop everything except what is vital (fr, it, pt)[machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL - press release:
      Exclusion of an activist from the Libertarian Communist Union
      (fr, it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  Britain, Anarchist Communist Group ACG: We are NOT all in
      this together! (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  Britain, wessex solidarity: Careworkers: Cannon fodder to
      the coronavirus? From Manchester SolFed (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  Bulgaria, anarchy.bg: They are at war... against us!
      [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
  
 7.  Bulgaria, anarchy.bg: Crisis Response: Why isn't the power
      fighting the virus?, pass it on (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
  
 8.  anarkismo.net: The Plague by Melbourne Anarchist Communist
      Group (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1



In mid-March, Team 115 published ten requirements , measures necessary to reduce the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The
third point, entitled 'Suspension of the repayment of loans for house purchase, mortgages and the payment of rent', states: ---- "The
housing crisis does not take a break in a pandemic, on the contrary - a loss of income will endanger tenants and mortgage payers. It is not
possible for a person to choose whether to buy food or pay rent or installment. No one should end up on the street, a pandemic is not a
pandemic. People who have been in financial trouble due to coronavirus must be allowed to postpone mortgage repayments or rent during a
pandemic. Similarly, water, electricity or gas should not be disconnected from households during a pandemic. (...) Housing is right, and
especially during a pandemic, no one should be deprived of a roof over his head. "

At the end of March, the #koronabeznajm campaign raised the same issue . At a time when demonstrations are out of the question, people have
manifested themselves in a decentralized way through leaflets and banners calling for non-payment of rent and solidarity with those who do
not have a rent due to the epidemic. The campaign, involving both groups and individuals, calls for a temporary suspension of rents and
charges for water, electricity and gas.

In Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Jihlava and other places there appeared signs such as "I do not want to pay rent", "Without rent pay rent, I call
it misfortune", "Don't have money for rent bothers", "Stop work, stop rent" "Na, here's your mask, Na, here's your hotel. Thank you, I need
both of them very much now "," Living everyone for the duration of the pandemic "," Forgive rent "," A lot of people don't have rent right
now "," Homeless is not quarantine ", Do not pay rent! "," Forgive rent is the same as sew drape "," Where will we live in May? "Etc. The
banners were on balconies, embankments, bridges, trams ... ".

The leaflets with the motto "There is hunger under the cover - solidarity to people, not capital!" Bear a clear message: "You will hardly
stay at home when you have to work to pay rent and hardly pay rent when you are out of work." and they add: "Despite the current situation,
it is becoming increasingly palpable that housing is not a business but a right. A right that belongs to all and only together. "

The unenviable situation of some people in connection with their existential problems caused by the pandemic is not left unresponsive, the
state is already talking about some rescue measures and in some places it does not swell local councils. Some even manage to use empty
hotels and hostels to accommodate the needy. Yet it is necessary to remain alert, to reject half-heartedness, to push the aid to the
disabled and to move the whole issue of the right to housing beyond the limits defined by the capitalist way of thinking.

On April 8, the Chamber of Deputies passed a government bill limiting the possibility for landlords to terminate a lease agreement for
people who incur rent debts during a coronavirus pandemic and because of the loss of income caused by the current crisis. These are
potential debts that arise from the adoption of the law until the end of July. People will have to repay them completely by the end of the
year, otherwise the landlord will be able to give them notice. However, it does not take into account people in dormitories, very frequent
fixed-term rentals (eg for a year or even less) or that many may not be able to repay the debt by the end of the year. In addition, if you
do not pay the debt by the end of the year, you are not subject to a standard three-month notice period.
* * *
At the local level, you can join initiatives of different groups. For example, on April 7, several organizations urged the City of Ostrava,
in an open letter , to declare a moratorium on evictions from municipal housing during a coronavirus pandemic, while recommending the same
to other owners. In addition, organizations call for the establishment of a crisis team to respond to any evictions.
* * *
Similar campaigns are also taking place elsewhere in Europe or the United States. Following the fact that homeless people were forgotten in
times of crisis around COVID-19, at the end of March, #besetzendeset activists were occupied by ten vacant flats for this group of
residents. In Cologne, for the same purpose, they managed to occupy the entire empty house and even agree with the owner on the conditions
of use.

Related Links:
A3: Social Quarantine
FNB continues to help the most vulnerable
Solidarity instead of collection camps
Drapes against the logic of money
Leisure solidarity
Digital infrastructure for solidarity action
On the wave of solidarity. Will we help the Palestinians as soon as possible?

https://www.afed.cz/text/7155/korona-bez-najmu

------------------------------

Message: 2




By forcing millions of employees to go to work for activities that have no meaning or usefulness in the face of illness, the State and the
bosses behave like criminals. What is essential and what is vital is for workers to decide. ---- By forcing millions of employees to go to
work for activities that have no meaning or usefulness in the face of illness, the State and the bosses behave like criminals. ---- They
seek to suggest that individual "  bad behavior  " is responsible for the epidemic. ---- Dare to say that today's patients were those who
did not "  respect  " confinement as did the prefect Lallement ... while the Minister of Labor is waging only war that that in the service
of bourgeoisie by forcing construction sites to resume, while transport in large urban agglomerations become highways for the virus with the
flood of attendance caused by the resumption of work in many sectors.

These words made us want to vomit, the arrogance and contempt of the prefect Lallement were an insult to all those who lost their lives, for
all those who fight against the disease, patients as caregivers . But they are only the heinous caricature of a murderous political and
economic system.

The reality is that the deadly thirst for profit from the capitalists remains a priority to be satisfied for this government.

Our priority, to us as to all of those who make this society go round by their work, as to health care workers who seek by all means to
cope, our priority is that of protect everyone from disease.

Let's immediately stop all but vital activities
Much is said about Italy and Spain, which have already limited the production of goods and services to what their governments consider
essential. But if this has been done in these countries, it is partly because workers rebelled, through strikes and walkouts, protested,
resisted.

And that's not it yet ! The entire logistics sector remains considered "  essential  " by the Italian government, for example. A sector in
which there are, for example, a number of warehouses that see packages of shoes, clothing, toys, etc. The entire sector of call centers is
also concerned. Everything essential ? Really ?

We say that it is up to the workers to decide directly ! And to use all their strength and all their collective intelligence for that:
coordinated right of withdrawal, walkout, strike... but also, and why not, "  control  " of the production of goods and services or
initiatives to reorganize the tool of work, in self-management and in the service of the fight against the disease.

Socialization is the order of the day.

These are our emergencies ! They may ban the right to strike in Portugal , fire Amazon unionists like Chris Smalls in New York , we know our
class will continue to resist and defend itself. Because we are not alone.

Because in France, these resistances exist today even: stoppages at Amazon there were, supported by trade unionists SUD or CGT. There have
been calls from bicycle courier unions to strike. Refusals to work until obtaining superior protections in the absence of those necessary,
there have been.

So yes, we ask the population not to order products that are neither necessary nor vital, but we do not forget that if the demand is
possible it is because the supply is maintained. The first of the responsibilities is that of the capitalists.

By ourselves, for ourselves, we must stop them.

Libertarian Communist Union, April 8, 2020

See our articles and press releases:

" Precarious people are not bossy flesh ", March 19, 2020
" Amazon: epidemic of withdrawal rights at Lauwin-Planque ", March 25, 2020
" Airbus restarts: profits against health ", March 28, 2020
" Armored transport in the midst of an epidemic: long live capitalism ", April 4, 2020

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Arretons-tout-sauf-ce-qui-est-vital

------------------------------

Message: 3



On February 16, 2020, the federal coordination of the Libertarian Communist Union voted, at 85% of the mandates, the exclusion of Jérémie,
activist of the Gard group. ---- This decision resulted from a federal procedure launched within the organization in November 2019. ---- At
the end of this procedure, the organization considered that the seriousness of the facts collected made it impossible for this activist to
be present in our ranks. ---- We wish to publicly inform the militant community of our decision. ---- For any question relating to our
statutes and exclusion procedure: contact@communisteslibertaires.org
Libertarian Communist Union, April 3, 2020
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Exclusion-d-un-militant-de-l-Union-communiste-libertaire

------------------------------

Message: 4



In crisis situations, the Queen, government, big business and the media push the idea that the nation is united to fight a common enemy, in
this case a killer virus. Sir Keir Starmer, the new Labour Party leader, is "refusing to rule out" a government of national unity. However,
as in times of war, divisions and inequalities in society become if anything more apparent. The same is true now with Covid-19. Though in
theory anyone can succumb to the virus, as we have seen with Prince Charles and Boris Johnson, the chances of actually being infected and
surviving it are not equal. And, the experience of living through this period of lockdown is very different depending on your position in
society. We know that the chances of dying from the disease are greater for the elderly and those with underlying conditions. However, these
are biological inequalities. Here we consider the social and economic inequalities which exacerbate any biological weaknesses and expose
many others to the virus, and which also give people a very different chance of surviving both physically, psychologically and economically.
(Age and inequality is covered in other articles on this website).

Class inequality

Before lockdown when people were continuing as normal, chances of catching the virus were fairly equal. The politicians and corporate
executives were still mixing with others and therefore many did get the virus. Westminster was certainly an unhealthy place to be. But since
then, the ones most vulnerable are those who work in the health service, social care, supermarkets, transport, cleaning, and other essential
workers. There are also other workers are working because their employers demand it or they won't get paid. The construction industry is
such an example. Workers continue to build luxury flats and do renovation for the well-off. And, will the rich do without their cleaners,
gardeners, nannies? It is unlikely, so many have to go out to work to service the wealthy. The most at risk are those who are in the front
line dealing with those who already have corona virus, but other jobs where you still have to mix with people are hazardous. There have
already been deaths of bus drivers. To make matters worse, these jobs are some of the lowest paid. Those in better paid occupations can
often work from home and have most of their income maintained.

Though private health insurance does not cover pandemics, there are question marks over how hospital care and doctor attention may differ
according to income. Boris Johnson was said to be given the ‘best of care'. What does this mean? Is he being given better care than others
in the same situation? And the Royal Family with their private physicians will be able to get home treatment and help unavailable to others
who just have to self-isolate if they get any symptoms without any contact with the health service until they need to be admitted to hospital.

Healthcare inequality is much more marked in other parts of the world. The USA has a system based largely on insurance, giving those who can
afford it access to better hospitals and care. The public network is underfunded and not capable of coping with such a crisis. And the
situation will be much, much worse in the Global South where for the majority health care does not exist. Countries like India, with a
massive divide between rich and poor will end up protecting the well off and leaving the poor to die in the shanty towns. Lockdown in India
can only mean locking the poor out of the well-off areas, leaving them unprotected and without access to healthcare.

The experience of lockdown also varies according to class. Those who live in a big house with a garden in a place where you can walk easily
from your doorstep into the countryside will have a very different experience to those who live in small flats in the city. Councils are
making things even more difficult for people by closing down public spaces like Victoria Park in east London. Other spaces, such as Hyde
Park and Regents Park in the wealthy areas of London are still open.

The better off are already more likely to have online shopping set up with Waitrose and may also employ people to do their shopping for
them. Meanwhile, others have to struggle with the stress of shopping in supermarkets, one of the main places you have contact with others
and where you open yourself up to getting the virus.

Keep Calm and Carry On?

The sham of national unity, with everyone making sacrifices equally, is becoming increasingly apparent and causing widespread anger. (See
other articles about strikes and unrest). The rich are not making any sacrifices. The CEO of Tesco sends out updates about how much work his
company is doing to ‘feed the nation'. But it is not Tesco or Sainsburys or Amazon which is doing the work, but all the ordinary workers who
are putting their lives on the line every day for little pay. The CEOs are working from home, still commanding huge salaries and watching
their profits soar. The supermarkets have deigned to give bonuses or pay increases to their staff, but the amount is miniscule compared to
what the executive and shareholders are making. The Amazon boss Jeff Bezos appeals for donations to a staff relief fund but fails to give up
any of his billions to help his staff whilst  The Queen and Royal Family are self-isolating in luxury.

Even though a business suffers, it is the small ones and the self-employed who are struggling to survive economically. It was one of
Johnson's first concerns to provide support for business but this support will be unequal. The bigger and richer the business, the easier it
will be to survive as well as use their clout to demand support. This goes on while health care staff are still unable to be provided with
protective equipment for health care staff or to carry out an effective programme of testing.

Yes, sacrifices are needed if we are going to avoid more deaths, economic meltdown and social injustice. But it is not us who should be
making the sacrifices. We have done enough over the years- working hard for low wages, spending our money on inflated prices for what we
need, such as food and housing, accepting austerity and cuts. And all of these sacrifices have benefitted a small minority and made them
very well-off. It is now time for this wealth and privilege to be sacrificed.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2020/04/08/we-are-not-all-in-this-together/

------------------------------

Message: 5



It is well known by anyone who has ever worked in, or been around the social care system, how much employers in that sector try to exploit
their staff and just how badly they treat them. Care workers have long felt they are viewed in low regard by both local authorities and the
government, until recently being described by both local and national politicians as being ‘low skilled'. This has started to make headlines
in the national press and get into the public consciousness and never has it been more apparent than during the current Coronavirus crisis,
where employers have shown a complete disregard for the safety of not only their workers, but also for the people who use their services.
Careworkers have shown an unwavering commitment and compassion to the people they support by continuing to travel to work to support them
every day despite the risks, with some workers going so far as to move into their places of work, leaving their families behind at home, in
order to help shield the people they care for from the virus.

Meanwhile care employers have shown their usual commitment and compassion to their employees by treating them as badly as they possibly can
in order to protect profit margins. Most care workers have never been eligible for sick pay and receive only Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and
this has continued during the current crisis.

Workers have said they have been pressured to go into work and do shifts even though they are isolating at home either because they
themselves have become sick or due to a sick or shielding family member and some of those that live in a household with a high risk family
member and who want to self isolate to protect them have been told that they will not even be eligible for SSP and will go unpaid, as it is
not they themselves who are sick.

Care staff have also been pressured to provide sick notes for all time spent off self isolating due to having Cornavirus symptoms, despite
the government advice being that you only need to provide an isolation note, which can be applied for online to help ease pressure on GP
surgeries, and of course the fact that all absences 7 days or less can be self-certified.

The government's mixed messaging on pay for workers who are shielding due to health issues has led to complete confusion as to whether care
staff who are shielding at home for 12 weeks are entitled to be furloughed as per the government's program and receive at least 80% of their
regular wage.

Some workers are saying that their employer has agreed to place them on furlough while others have said that they have been told they will
only receive SSP for 12 weeks. Some staff have even been told they will be placed on furlough only to be told later that their employer will
not be doing so.

For low paid staff who are on Minimum Wage and often have no savings, the prospect of being on SSP, which is currently only £94.25 a week,
for at least 12 weeks with no idea of when this will be over,  is a pretty daunting one and one that may not be affordable for many.

The lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as gloves, masks and aprons as well as hand sanitizer and cleaning equipment for care
workers is a national scandal and is leaving both care workers and the people they care for at massive risk of contracting, or spreading
through no fault of their own, the Coronavirus.

So desperate has the situation become that companies have tried to source PPE from local nail bars and vet's practices with up to 80% of
providers saying they do not have adequate PPE. One worrying report emerged from the GMB union in Scotland of a care home locking PPE in a
cupboard away from staff.

Care staff have been receiving varying, if any,  advice on how and when to use PPE with some being told by their employers that some PPE
will only be provided if a service user is showing symptoms of Coronavirus and they have to perform personal care, despite the fact that the
virus seems to be extremely contagious, easily transmissable and spreading at a rapid rate and by the time the company has got around to
deciding to provide PPE, it may be too late.

The lack of Coronavirus testing also means that care staff are having to isolate for up to 14 days without knowing if they, or someone they
live with. has the virus and also leaves them open to being pressured by management to return to work, not knowing if they still have, or
have had, the illness.

The very human cost of the lack of resources from government and the negligent practices of care companies is being tragically demonstrated
across the country as the death toll grows higher and the virus spreads. One care home in Glasgow has lost 16 residents after Coronavirus
spread through the service and another in Liverpool has also been hit badly where 9 residents have died with the home manager saying two
thirds of her staff were off ill. Several care workers across the country have now sadly died from the virus.

Care workers have described the current situation as feeling like they are ‘cannon fodder', the phrase coming from armed conflict where
soldiers, historically from poor and working class backgrounds, would be sent to the front lines and were seen as disposable. The similarity
here is that once again the working class is seen as expendable and little thought is given to their welfare by the bosses and politicians
as long as work is being done and services being provided or profit being made.

For too long care workers have been described as low skilled and they remain some of the lowest paid workers in the country, yet recently we
have seen their dedication and bravery in working through the Coronavirus. A workforce that is overwhelmingly made up of female and migrant
workers, which has a lot do with the exploitation they have been subjected to,  has shown just how essential they are whilst the bosses and
those in positions of authority have demonstrated once again just how incompetent and cowardly they are with care company CEOs, directors
and senior managers safely working from home but expecting frontline staff to take huge risks.

When we hopefully, eventually get through this crisis it is obvious the care sector needs to be completely transformed to work for the
people who need its care and the people who provide it, rather than in the interests of profit. The way the system is now just cannot
continue. If you want to organise your workplace and improve your conditions please get in touch with Solidarity Federation and we can help.

April 9, 2020

https://wessexsolidarity.wordpress.com/2020/04/09/careworkers-cannon-fodder-to-the-coronavirus/

------------------------------

Message: 6



Governments and employers say they are fighting a war on the coronavirus. In fact, they are at war against our social class. A war against
us, for their profits! ---- The global health crisis is largely a consequence of the capitalist system. ---- Of course, this does not mean
that the virus was created by capitalism. (But if we are not naive, it may mean that the LABORATORIES OF THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES
FOR... BACTERIOLOGICAL WAR DIDN'T STOP YOUR DIRTY "WORK", as the factories do, which we are experiencing in human terms is due to
capitalism. Governments around the world take the same measures and decisions, varying in degree: they started late with a reduction in the
scale of the epidemic, not out of ignorance, but because employers, shareholders, capitalists sought above all to keep their profits. These
are the profits of a capitalist minority that is opposed to the health of billions of people!

When the crisis spread, the imbalance of capitalism turned against us.

Insufficient infrastructure, staff and resources in all health sectors: this is the result of their decades-long policy of destroying the
public services won by labor struggles in one part of the world and their quasi-non-existence in the other.
No protective equipment is available: masks, clothing, hydro-alcohol gel, screening tests, respirators, etc. But, nonetheless, manufacturers
continue to produce weapons. Capitalists see only their profits, not their collective interest.
In many countries, researchers have said that in recent years their research on the virus has been abandoned for budgetary reasons .
Capitalists prefer to invest in multinational pharmaceutical companies that dictate their medicines laws.
During the health crisis, scams and scams do not stop!

Living in and out of the world of work, capitalists are fierce:

They support the activities of many companies that are not essential to the lives of the population against the background of the health
hazard we know. In order to continue their profits, the capitalists are endangering the health and lives of millions of workers around the
world.
In the really important sectors (which had to be limited to what was directly related to health, food and access to gas, electricity,
water...), employers put the "right of withdrawal" at the forefront by shifting personal responsibility. On the one hand, nothing is done in
many companies to make this "opt-out" applicable; on the other, the measures are insufficient. The whole organization of work must be
reviewed, as should the health budget of each and everyone. And it is not the capitalists who do not work and who are at home, in the best
conditions, must determine the working conditions: it is we who must do it, in every office, in every institution and enterprise, in every
activity, because that is really the most important thing.
The capitalists use the health crisis to further limit our rights, our social gains . In any country, a large part of the "emergency
measures" consists in combating our working time, leave, wages, the right to strike, etc.
The situation is even more devastating in the regions of the world that are a direct victim of colonialism: for people who are in the abyss
of misery, the health crisis can only have dire consequences.
Resistance actions are organized

They are difficult in the context we know. Members of the International Trade Union Network for Solidarity and Combat do not want to
formulate slogans for the sake of looking more radical. What we want in our jobs and in life is to unite freely, to coordinate locally and
internationally, to build a massive international movement for resistance and conquest.

We must support and publish all the news of the fights in all regions of the world.
To regroup by occupational sectors and also to protect our specific rights and to achieve social equality (for women, for migrants, for
depressed populations for "racial" reasons ...).
We do not want the poorest, the most uninsured to pay for the health crisis .
All workers, regardless of their position (employees, self-employed, unemployed, temporary workers, seasonal workers, etc.) must receive a
100% guarantee for their income, with a minimum guaranteed for all based on the cost of living in the country.
Let's take our jobs in our hands at places of life and work! Governments and states are instruments in the service of capitalism.
To requisition businesses, services, shops, public places needed to respond to emergencies!
Let's not let the capitalists organize other planetary catastrophes!

International Trade Union Network for Solidarity and Fighting

Federation of Anarchists in Bulgaria

https://www.anarchy.bg/

------------------------------

Message: 7



Another comment on the emergency sent to us by our sympathizer working in the healthcare system. ---- Why isn't power fighting the virus?
---- Because it can't. And that's not her goal. Her goal was always the same - to fight people. ---- Especially in Bulgaria there are no
resources, personnel and motivated staff to carry out the imposed violent measures. As a participant in the system, I know very well what
physician selection and bureaucracy are - most are not capable of elementary management of human or financial resources. This is a selection
that has been going on for generations and, let's not be fooled, in the West, the dreamed West, the situation is the same - only the level
of inferiority is different. ---- What is preventing us from medical insurance?
First, the executives in our structures are affiliated with the services. Therefore, their competence in organizational terms should be
questioned, since most were not raised due to the necessary qualities for managing a team.

Second: these people do not care about subordinates. Many colleagues say that they are even scared to start working in a particular ward.

Why do you think so?

We, in the class, know that there are not enough security teams. We know that the quarantine for the medical profession is in compliance
with the pro-forma and is in complete chaos with the duty. It was also known that they would not give us a meager payment for weeks before
they confessed.

Volunteers throw in naive doctors or rabbit students who have not yet grown into TV series for medics ... How can society hope that the
powerful but not motivated as well as the impossible but motivated by children, staff, without technical support (equipment and drugs) will
be able to maintain the health status of the population?

The various clinics and hospital units are managed by different managers, but for some of the large units in Sofia the following is known:
they hide the protective equipment, present it to journalists, but do not give it to the staff individually. For example, one FFP2 / FFP3
mask is used on each duty station.... Why - I have no idea, they do not disinfect ... At the same time, I waited for a supply of protective
equipment for me and my family, but first they were detained at the customs (we are talking about tens of thousands of pieces), and then my
acquaintances sold them out on a large scale ... Prices are greatly inflated and there is huge speculation going on.

At one large hospital, the duty staff were released after a case with severe symptoms and suspected Crown virus. Subsequently, the case was
confirmed, the patient's accompanying person as well as an employee at the hospital were found to be infected. Do you conclude this?

Our class has been trampled. On the floors of power are colleagues from the services or other adjusters and no one believes them. Do you
expect to be treated by such discouraged staff?

Everyone doubts the news that is being released. Doctors who are in the front line in the fight are asking me about the disease. I am far
from the front line, to emphasize, dear landlords... German scientists have announced that the disease did not spread by air - but those I
know and work with see a different picture. It is then claimed that the young people almost did not get over it. There is a case of a
36-year-old Bulgarian patient who develops severe symptoms within two days and is without any accompanying illnesses or defects ... Who can
I trust - known colleagues or an unknown team from Bonn, Germany?

It is already rumored that quarantine will be lifted within a few weeks across the European Union. Right now, big capital is simply cleaning
up small businesses and then may decide to "normalize" the situation.

On the question of social distance: How do you imagine it?

In the first days of the emergency, the cashiers at supermarkets and shops only had gloves on and warned of a queue distance of two... and
so on. The security that people were missing had no safeguards. People walked 30-40 cm from them.

These are the first days of a state of emergency. As early as February, coronavirus strains were spread in Bulgaria. The first cases are
covered, but after a week or two they introduce a state of emergency ... Think for a moment what will be the effectiveness of such a
measure? A measure that is not being fully implemented?

The worst part is that there is no conspiracy - the terrifying truth is that we are run by completely incompetent people who are more
frightened than the average person, mostly because all their money cannot hide their ignorance and animal fear of death. They know how to
use bats and the virus does not hurt them and they are horrified...

If this type of dictatorship is not stopped, domestic crime will increase enormously. First among the poorest, especially in the Roma
ghettos. They were deliberately kept in the shambles for the elections, but now the powerbrokers will have their nose out ... What will
happen (after the riots of Roma, Bulgarians and Turks)?

Most anarchist associates hope for this bloody and cruel option, but do we still want to be victims in the scenario?!

Dr. Lecter

https://www.anarchy.bg/

------------------------------

Message: 8



The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group calls on Anarchists to start rank and file groups in the unions to fight for a workers' response to
the coronavirus pandemic. Workers need to use workplace power to force the closure of non-essential industries, adequate protection of
health and safety and the provision of a living income for all. If a groundswell for these demands gains strength, the officials will have
either to give in to the rank and file, or be swept aside. In the course of this struggle over immediate issues, workers will raise broader
demands, both about the management of the pandemic (e.g. civil liberties) and the sort of society we want afterwards. And it is in the
context of this struggle that we can begin to win the argument for Anarchist Communism and to build the movement for a workers' revolution
that can create it.

Credit: Stephanie McMillan
The Plague

The coronavirus pandemic started in a market in Wuhan late last year. It grew into a crisis through bureaucratic suppression of bad news by
local "Communist" Party authorities. It has now become a global catastrophe because of haphazard and often complacent reactions by
capitalist governments. So far, there is no vaccine to prevent it and no treatment that can cure it. The best that doctors can do is treat
the symptoms and hope the body of the patient fights it off.

This would be bad enough even in a libertarian communist society, but capitalism makes it so much worse. What needs to happen? As any
epidemiologist could tell you, in the absence of a vaccine, you test as many people as possible, isolate the people infected and trace their
contacts. At the same time you cut off the path of infection by practising good hygiene and reducing the number of people that each person
contacts.

Here in Australia, the Federal Government is trying hard (thus distinguishing itself from the United States, where Donald Trump has blown
hot and cold on the issue), but won't go all out because of the consequences for business. So we get very strict rules about movement of
individual people and physical distancing, but they go out of the window when they interfere with the operations of employers.

As this article is being written, new Australian cases of COVID-19 are decreasing and it looks as if the spread of the disease is slowing in
the most heavily hit countries of Europe. It is rampaging through the United States and is just getting started in most Third World
countries - where it threatens to kill a hundred times more people than it has so far.

In Australia, you can't have more than a hundred people in the same indoor space - unless it's a worksite. Pubs, clubs and restaurants are
closed down, even small ones - but building sites go full steam ahead. You mustn't sit in a park with a friend or two - but any retail shop
can stay open serving up to a hundred customers at a time, provided there's 4 square metres a person.
The glaring contradiction became obvious when six Qantas baggage handlers tested positive to COVID-19 on 31 March. People don't become
immune to the virus just because they're at work, so any work people do away from home brings a risk of infection. This can only be
justified if the work is essential to the functioning of society. Instead, Scott Morrison says "every job is an essential job". Many people
who should be paid to stay home and prevent the spread of the virus are instead going to work to keep the capitalists in business.

Anarchism in a Pandemic

People with little or no knowledge of Anarchism might think the coronavirus pandemic provides a refutation of our philosophy. After all,
having people just decide individually what to do would lead both to hoarding and to no effective action against transmission of the virus.
This, however, would not be Anarchism but capitalist individualism.

An Anarchist society could fight the pandemic more effectively than capitalist ones. We wouldn't have to worry about the viability of
business, so we could close down all non-essential activities. Construction, for example, could be put on care and maintenance. Production
of luxuries or other low priority goods could be ceased, letting workers go home, turn their plant to medical equipment and supplies as
required, or reinforce the supply chain of necessities. And a panel of medical experts, elected in each region and given parameters by the
affected communities, would hold the necessary authority to set health guidelines.

How would these guidelines be enforced? How would we achieve the physical distancing so important to preventing transmission? We'd do it the
same way we would handle enforcement of any of our laws, whether that be concerning serious crime, anti-social activity or anything in between.

While this is not the place for a detailed discussion of an Anarchist criminal justice system, we can say a few things. In the first place,
we'd have community discussion and persuasion, acting through reason and social solidarity. When it comes to recalcitrants (we're not so
naive as to think they won't exist), communities will defend themselves. Rather than having a standing police force though, we would roster
volunteers from the widest sections of the community (noting a pandemic might necessitate a considerably larger roster for the duration of
the emergency). Importantly, the volunteers would not have powers above and beyond those of citizens generally. And, since there will be no
prisons because we will refuse to be gaolers, in the last resort recalcitrants could be exiled to a comfortable island.

The Capitalist State in a Pandemic

By contrast, governments in Australia have become increasingly authoritarian. The New South Wales and Victorian Governments have laid down
the toughest restrictions, banning many activities that couldn't possibly spread the virus. Instead, they draw the line where cops can
easily enforce it. Armed with arbitrary powers and a wide area of discretion, they are spreading fear and enforcing social conformity.
Indigenous and immigrant youth are only too familiar with "discretion" in the hands of racist cops. They are highly likely to undermine the
social solidarity needed to keep up the regime of physical distancing for the period of at least six months which will be necessary.

There is another dimension to the actions of the capitalist State, though. Under the hammer blows of necessity, the Coalition has abandoned
the dictates of neo-liberalism and introduced policies it scoffed at only three months ago. They doubled the unemployment benefit. They
introduced free child care. They banned evictions. They introduced a flat rate wage subsidy (the Jobkeeper Payment) at about the minimum
full time wage. And there's more to come. Of course, Scott Morrison is boldly saying everything will "snap back" to pre-pandemic levels when
the crisis is over, but that's a lot easier said than done. Class struggle will determine the results.
In a telling development, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has spent the last month handing out waivers to competition
rules, so that companies can co-operate to improve the supply chain for necessities and increase production of medical equipment. Think
about it.

None of this makes for a workers' paradise, however. The measures taken are full of gaps and injustices because they are aimed firstly at
keeping capitalism functioning under emergency conditions and secondly at preventing widespread industrial action by the working class. So
free child care excludes centres run by local councils. The Jobseeker Payment excludes people on disability pensions. There's no rent relief
yet for residential tenants. And neither workers on temporary visas nor casuals with under twelve months seniority get the Jobkeeper
Payment. Government reforms are about capitalist stability first and daylight second. Justice doesn't get a look-in.

The Struggle Needed

Three areas of struggle are necessary immediately. Firstly, industries not essential during the pandemic need to be closed - for the good of
the workers involved and the population generally. Importantly, the entire construction industry should be put on care and maintenance.
Building workers need to be paid to stay home and not spread the virus. Secondly, workers in essential industries need to take action to
defend their health and safety and to institute fair rationing systems where hoarding has distorted supply chains. And thirdly, the whole
working class needs to support those locked out of the Jobkeeper Payment. This is especially crucial for workers on visas, who are being
left destitute. They will be under pressure to accept cash jobs that ignore physical distancing, thus spreading the virus to the detriment
of all.

The union bureaucracy is in the road. The ACTU, having asked the Government to extend the Jobkeeper Payment to the whole workforce, has
received a slap in the face for its troubles. But it's not proposing to fight back. The CFMMEU officials, disgracefully, aren't calling for
building workers to be paid to stay home. And officials of the SDA, which covers supermarket workers, are so committed to class treason that
their organisation doesn't deserve to be called a union.

The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group calls on Anarchists to start rank and file groups in the unions to fight for a workers' response to
the coronavirus pandemic. Workers need to use workplace power to force the closure of non-essential industries, adequate protection of
health and safety and the provision of a living income for all. If a groundswell for these demands gains strength, the officials will have
either to give in to the rank and file, or be swept aside.

In the course of this struggle over immediate issues, workers will raise broader demands, both about the management of the pandemic (e.g.
civil liberties) and the sort of society we want afterwards. And it is in the context of this struggle that we can begin to win the argument
for Anarchist Communism and to build the movement for a workers' revolution that can create it.

FROM EACH ACCORDING TO THEIR ABILITY
TO EACH ACCORDING TO THEIR NEED

*This article is from the latest edition of "The Anvil" newsletter of Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group 9MACG) that can be downloaded
here: https://melbacg.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/anvil-2020.04-v-web-final.pdf

Related Link: https://melbacg.files.wordpress.com

https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31823

------------------------------