Today's Topics:
1. Britain, Class Warr MONDAY 21 APRIL 2020 -- Everbody out
General strike against the tories --- Wakey wakey.
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Britain. solfed: Pub Invest Group workers fight back: No
redundancies for COVID-19! (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Czech, AFED: Power and profits in the times of the corona
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL press release:
Police violence: it must stop ! (fr, it, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. France, Union Communiste Libertaire AL #304 - Ecology,
Pesticides: Government compromise with agrochemicals (1/3) (fr,
it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Poland, Workers' Initiative Union OZZ: Volkswagen Poznan: An
appeal totemporary employees [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. US, black rose fed: Livestream: Tenant Power in the Time of
COVID (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. icl-cit: Dealing with the corona crisis: ICL mobilizes
worldwide (ca) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
9. Britain, anarchist communist group ACG: Bury St Edmunds
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
10. Zabalaza! Interview on South Africa (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
The astounding revelation Since the Covid outbreak has been that the working class is so called because it does all of the work. ---- This
motley crew of nurses, shop workers, bus drivers, lorry drivers, postal workers, cleaners, factory workers who were previously thought to be
an outmoded Marxist concept or a bunch of shirkers and benefit cheats are now discovered to be heroes. Thatcher must - be turning in her
grave once we've dug her up anyway- having spent ten years trying to undermine the idea that the working class existed at all. ---- So she
deliberately set out to undermine the identity of the working class by gentrification from individual council house selling to dismantling
collective struggle in the workplace. This loss of class identity manifested itself at the last election where vast numbers of labour voters
voted tory - directly against their own class interest.
As comrade Marx said ‘the
class is only a class when
it perceive it's separate
collective interestsand acts in
it's own interests permanently."
Now the idea of the working
class for many people has
radically changed back in a
few weeks. Our job is to make
this our slogan:
NO GOING BACK - NO
GOING BACK TO THE
WORLD OF BOSSES AND
SERFS and no going back to
deference and wage slavery.
Our class has not died in their
tens of thousands to go back
to the way things were before.
So Class War is calling for
a oneday general strike on
Friday after lockdown
is ended. For such a small
group as Class War to make
such a call will seem a risible
move for most on the left ,but
we believe our class is more
ambitious than its wannabe
leftist leaders.
A salutary reading of Lenin's
April Theses may come in
handy here comrades.
There - we have made the call,
we have crossed the Rubicon
and as Comrade Bakunin
said "ridicule is nothing to be
scared of".
EVERY BODY
OUT - GENERAL
STRIKE AFTER
LOCKDOWN ENDS.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1asPt-Zu1-IBjJPunr6fzxx0xjoUrvF2X/view
------------------------------
Message: 2
hospitality hospitality industry attacks on working class industry & sectors anarcho-syndicalism Liverpool direct action disputes COVID-19
Job Retention Scheme coronavirus ---- A week after the closure of all hospitality business, the workers of Pub Invest Group from Liverpool
got bad news. ---- Due to the COVID-19 crisis, they were not able to give any hours to their workers as they don't have the resources to
cover their staff wages. They did, however, wish best luck to all their workforce and to see them back soon when they open again. ---- Pub
Invest Groups owns some of the most popular night pubs in the central area of Liverpool such as Einsteins, Moloko or McCooley's. As it is
common in the hospitality industry, they show their appreciation for their staff with low-pay and job insecurity.
During the Coronavirus crisis we are having the chance of seen this in many places. Although the Government is offering the coverage of
wages through the Job Retention Scheme, some employers just prefer to get rid of people.
Why should they bother? Pub Invest Group has just found out why (so as their neighbours, Wetherspoons did a week ago).
Just a couple of hours after receiving the news from the company, the workforce got together to demand a solution from the company. Due to
the organising of workers and the huge backlash on social media, later that day the company set out a second email, ‘clarifying' that they
were giving people the option of ‘furlough' with instructions on how to request this.
That means, they will be kept in the payroll and will be able to get paid during the closure of hospitality.
This "clarification" from the company, while welcome, has not ended with the workers concerns. It is still to be seen when they'll be paid, how
http://www.solfed.org.uk/liverpool/pub-invest-group-workers-fight-back-no-redundancies-for-covid-19
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Message: 3
The pandemic turned out to be a great temptation for those upstairs to consolidate their power. Download, print and distribute the April
issue of the A3 wall newspaper! ---- Government measures for coronary epidemics vary from state to state. Somewhere people are not allowed
to work and are starting to run out of money for basic needs. Somewhere, on the other hand, they have to go to work and their lives are at
stake, because those who decide on them do not even provide them with the basic conditions to survive the disease. So in the south of Italy,
people locked up in quarantine have nothing to eat, and in India cops arrest doctors who refuse to work without protective equipment. In the
Czech Republic, the police began to complain that they have up to a thousand denominations every day and do not manage to slap people. In
Nigeria, coroners are shooting straight at those who don't comply with government regulations. In North Ossetia, riot units beat people
demonstrating against martial law. The population there does not believe in a pandemic, because they probably no longer trust their rulers
and interpret the curfew as a proven power-political maneuver.
The papals of all colors and faiths have not been able to resist and are abusing measures lavishly justified by public health for their own
benefit. There is perhaps no need to talk about the most tricky alpha males of the Trump type. But they are competing with many others. For
example, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, accused of corruption, had the courts closed for spreading the virus, thus avoiding eventually
closing him down. Instead, he has involved Mossad in the fight for health, which is now unprecedentedly spying on people and threatening to
imprison him for violating quarantine.
But there is no need to go so far for examples. In Hungary, Prime Minister Orbán, who has been working for ten years to become a dictator,
has finally officially succeeded. He established an indefinite state of emergency, then essentially abolished parliament and established
self-government by means of uncontrollable decrees. And in neighboring Poland, the self-governing party PiS devastates health and education
in addition to nature, and is now using the epidemic to manipulate the presidential elections (no one can actually run an election campaign
except President Duda) or to further tighten the abortion law. He is probably already preparing a clerical cookbook with a basic recipe: how
to alive infidels, heretics, anarchists and anti-militarists alive...
Last but not least, let us remember the tendency and often cruel practice of stalking people through the tracks they leave behind by using
mobile phones or payment cards.
The temptation for power-holders is too strong. And as we know, every power tries to consolidate itself and take every opportunity to do so.
Although the acquired powers are usually declared temporary. But hand on heart, it is not in the interests of the powerful this world to
give up the voluntarily gained benefits. Let us remember what it was like with the temporary stay of Soviet troops. Or with the temporary
tightening of the belts prescribed to us by Václav Klaus and Vladimír Dlouhý at the time, when they were painting a vision of catching up
with the living standards of the West in front of us from the region of the 1990s.
Not surprisingly, those who, in the context of the so-called economic transformation, took care of moving public wealth into the pockets of
the few during that magic trick, continue to fight for the interests of economic elites. Vladimir Dlouhy, now President of the Chamber of
Commerce, made an immortal statement in the context of the coronavirus crisis, saying to KOVO: "Encourage managers to give up remuneration
and companies to give up profits, to protect the health and lives of employees is tastelessly populist and on the verge of common sense. "
Yes, the capitalists are commanded by their common sense that the personal benefit of those above and the gains of capital are the most
sacred, they are the engine of progress, they are the natural law of the stronger, they are a privilege given by God. Just as politicians do
not give up voluntarily the share of power they gain from the restrictive measures they have imposed on a substantial part of the
population, nor does capital give up its profits to heal the losses suffered by ordinary people in the current crisis.
It is up to us to allow them to increase and strengthen their power. And it is up to us whether we allow people to live from hand to mouth,
while economic elites continue to enjoy luxury.
A3 ( April 2020) for download HERE .
Download, print, distribute!
The wall paper A3 is published every month by the Anarchist Federation. They are intended primarily for street-side dissemination or posting
at workplaces and schools (not applicable this month).
https://www.afed.cz/text/7161/moc-a-zisky-za-casu-korony
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Message: 4
The police violence did not end with confinement. On the contrary, the state of health emergency encourages the police to verbalize,
humiliate and injure for non-compliance with the confinement. This police violence that kills and mutilates. And which strikes the
population of working-class neighborhoods which suffers from social inequalities and racial discrimination in addition to being on the front
line facing the Covid19. ---- The most recent was this Saturday, April 18, in Villeneuve-la-Garenne. Police in their unmarked vehicle, after
spotting a man on a motorcycle, brutally opened their door as he was passing by to arrest him. With the impact, the vehicle and its driver,
Mouldi, were thrown against poles before falling to the ground. The violent impact caused a serious open fracture of the leg. The police
then dispersed the witnesses and indignant residents.
The night of April 20 was a night of anger and revolt among the population, with clashes that lasted more than two hours: the fireworks
launched were answered by tear gas and the police charges against the rebels. Journalist Taha Bouhafs was once again arrested there, once
more violently, before being released ... with a fine for breach of confinement.
A night which would have been marked by gestures of revolt in several working-class districts across France, according to testimonies on
social networks. It was the daily police violence and humiliation , which did not stop with confinement, that set the powder on fire.
Because the list of these types of violence is growing day by day. The police through their actions have already been responsible for
several deaths. As was still the case recently, on April 8 in Béziers, where Mohamed, a homeless man, died following his arrest . In
Brussels, Adil, a nineteen-year-old boy, died after being hit by the police.
Symbolic indicator of police impunity: in Noisy-le-Grand in the Paris suburbs , a policeman who was not on duty did not hesitate to put
himself on stage on social networks, before and after shooting his neighbor with his service weapon because it "made too much noise". This
policeman was released after his police custody.
March for Justice and Dignity of March 19, 2017
Every day new videos circulate, showing humiliations, blows to the skin, or beatings ... The confinement accentuates the dangerousness of
the police interventions. The victims were easily isolated by the police in the deserted streets and the witnesses could not gather around
the scene without risking a fine.
We have the right to film and document this police violence , these humiliating checks, we must continue to exercise it.
As usual, it is people from immigrant and lower-income neighborhoods who suffer first from police violence, social inequality and racial
discrimination, those who are on the front line in the current crisis .
For the Libertarian Communist Union, the revolts of the population of working-class neighborhoods are legitimate: police violence and
humiliation must stop !
Libertarian Communist Union, Monday April 20, 2020
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Violences-policieres-il-faut-que-ca-cesse
------------------------------
Message: 5
Faced with a government that pretends to operate an ecological turning point, it must be shown that, in fact and in particular with regard
to pesticides, nothing is done. This first article highlights how the government tried to support agrochemical manufacturers who wanted to
continue to produce pesticides banned in Europe because of their toxicity, in order to sell them massively in the rest of the world. ---- A
number of pesticides have been banned from use in the European Union for over ten years due to their high toxicity. Among them are atrazine,
propisochlor, permethrin, ethoxylated nonylphenol. Syngenta, Bayer, BASF, Corteva and other agrochemical giants continue to produce them,
including in France, for resale in Africa and Latin America. A practice denounced by the UN in its 2017 report on the right to food, as "a
violation of human rights" .
However, this very profitable trade was in danger of being undermined by the Egalim law, adopted on October 2, 2018. Its article 83 provides
for the ban, from 2022, on the production, storage and circulation of plant protection products containing active substances not authorized
in Europe.
The Union of Plant Protection Industries (UIPP)[1]contacted the Prime Minister on November 18, 2018[2]. "The economic and social impact in
France of this measure will be extremely significant, with more than 2,700 jobs directly affected at our 19 production sites spread across
the country. " This same letter specifies that for certain factories these productions represent, "up to two thirds of the production volume
and the associated workforce" .
Lobbying by agrochemical giants ends up paying off. On April 11, 2019, when the Pacte law was adopted, an amendment voted with the support
of the government revoked the ban introduced in the Egalim law. This is postponed to 2025 and exemptions are planned. But disappointment,
the Constitutional Council retook this amendment, considering it as a legislative horseman. Pesticide manufacturers do not stop there. They
file a Priority Question of Constitutionality (QPC) denouncing an "excessive attack on the freedom of enterprise protected by the
Declaration of the rights of the man and the citizen of 1789".
But, patatras, in a decision rendered on January 31, 2020, the Constitutional Council rejects the QPC and affirms that "the protection of
the environment" can justify "attacks on the freedom to undertake" . If this decision of the Constitutional Council represents "a turning
point in the jurisprudence" , and opens the possibility of contesting activities in France which have an effect abroad, it is really not
thanks to this government.
Jacques Dubart (UCL Nantes)
Validate
[1] The UIPP is an employers' union which brings together nineteen companies, some of which produce both pesticides and seeds.
[2] Le Monde for January 28, 2020
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Pesticides-Compromission-du-gouvernement-avec-l-agrochimie-1-3-8635
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Message: 6
The OZZ Commission Employee Initiative at Volkswagen's Poznan plant issued an appeal to temporary and temporary employees. The commission
calls for organization and pressure on the company to oppose planned redundancies and to switch production to the production of medical
equipment. Below we publish the content of the appeal. ---- An appeal to agency workers and employees on term contracts. ---- Against mass
layoffs and wasting the potential of Volkswagen Poznan factories! ---- We work longer than Germany. Each month of work in Polish factories
is equal to 5 weeks of work in German Volkswagen factories. Added to this is a higher work rate. Each of us works almost twice as much as
our colleagues from Germany, but for 1/5 of their salary. As a result of our hard work, Volkswagen achieves profits in the hundreds of
millions of zlotys. According to the financial statements for 2018, VWP earned PLN 450 million. We are still waiting for the report for
2019. The bill is, however, simple: either an increase in employment and limiting the lethal pace of work, or we are crazy like a crew with
a reduced status, so that the management and shareholders of VWP live in luxury.
During its operation, Volkswagen Poznan received PLN 710 million from state and local authorities in the form of subsidies and tax
exemptions. Instead of new jobs, however, we have layoffs of thousands of employees. Instead of good working conditions, its pace increases.
Instead of the expected increase in wages, there is an increase in profits that are taken away from us.
We are not slaves, and the state cannot be a milk cow for a group. That is why employees associated in the Workers' Initiative demand urgent
introduction of two solutions that are to replace the layoff plan affecting the crew:
1. Fulfill the demands made by us in the context of a collective dispute with the management: instead of slowing people down, slow down the
pace and reduce working time!
2. Activate the wasted potential of the non-operating factories for the production of equipment for medical care.
The coronovirus outbreak is a real test for the company. For today, the position of VWP is that people who have generated gigantic profits
for her, are to be fired in the worst time, condemned to hunger and unemployment. By gaining huge tax breaks over the years, VWP has
contributed to the underfunding of the healthcare system. Today, when part of the factories' potential is still standing and people are
being laid off, we must fight for a real anti-crisis shield - for more employment and the fight against a virus that deepens the crisis.
Authorities should threaten to freeze public aid and force VWP to maintain the crew and switch production to help hospitals. That's what
assembly plants for Mercedes, Ford, General Motors, Citroen, Peugeot, Renault, McLaren, Ferrari, Tesla and other car factories around the
world have done.
We appeal to employees employed by the Work Service agency and having direct contracts with VWP for a definite period of urgent contact.
Together we are stronger, we can pressure the company and public authorities by various methods.
Contact with the Volkswagen Employee Initiative committee:contact e-mail/Facebook/ tel. 692 875 721
http://ozzip.pl/informacje/wielkopolskie/item/2635-volkswagen-poznan-apel-do-pracownikow-agencyjnych-i-zatrudnionych-czasowo
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Message: 7
youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=w1DNmUjsEy4 ---- Amidst the calls for tenant strikes and as many as one-third of U.S. renters not paying
rent this past month, Black Rose / Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation's Quarantine Livesteam series kicked off with a panel discussion on
tenant organizing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. ---- This panel brought together tenant organizers from the the following
organizations: ---- Los Angeles Tenants Union ---- Philadelphia Tenants Union ---- Tenants and Neighborhood Councils ---- Burlington Tenants
Union ---- For resources on tenant organizing, including manuals developed by the groups in the panel, see our "Recommended Rent Strike
Resources." ---- For more details on the organizing methods and work of the Los Angeles Tenants Union we recommend the From Below Podcast
episode "Organize Your Neighbors: The Los Angeles Tenants Union."
We also recommend the Rebel Steps podcast episode "COVID-19 and Rent Strikes," an introductory level audio guide with interviews on rent
strike organizing that you can share with your neighbors.
https://blackrosefed.org/livestream-tenant-power-in-the-time-of-covid/
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Message: 8
With the corona crisis, the world has suddenly entered a new phase of intense class struggle. This is impressively documented by a map of
(for the most part) wildcat strikes related to corona. The ICL, as a young and very radical trade union international, has responded to the
crisis according to the best of its capabilities. At the same time, we see that there are still many gaps in its organization and that very
large strikes are taking place far away from its structures and without trade union backing. We send solidarity greetings to all these
determined colleagues now. Your struggles show that we must become even faster in supporting them and that there is a lot of work waiting
for all syndicalist trade unionists worldwide in the coming months. In the following article, we will take stock of the activities in the
ICL sections in the last weeks and now and then lose a few words about the situation in the respective countries.
Greece: Street protest despite ban and self-management despite government sabotage
RelatedPosts
Coronavirus: Let's not go back to normal!
[Spain]CNT demands that the Spanish Government takes measures to protect and support workers
[Italy]Statement by USI-CIT health workers
Greece, like Italy, has suffered unprecedented privatization and cuts in the public sector in recent years. The situation of the poor
population is further aggravated by the EU-Turkey deal, which has trapped thousands of refugees. The country is highly polarized; a strong
but fragmented anarchist movement is contrasted by a strong Stalinist and a strong right-wing movement. Unfortunately, attacks on aid
workers such as on Lesbos and political murders are not uncommon.
The Greek ICL section ESE has been trying to support the struggles of hospital workers and to build a bridge between struggles in the health
sector and those for decentralized housing for refugees. In the regional district of Ioannina, the trade union federation decided in
mid-March to carry out street protests against the refugee camps. In a statement, ESE points out how dangerous it is to have political
expression banned now, in view of the imminent mass death in the health system, which has been dismantled by austerity measures, and the
risk of thousands of deaths in the camps. Due to safety measures, ESE resorted to "street" protest in Rethymno on Crete. Slogans included:
"All lives are worth the same, whether we are homeless, imprisoned, abused, refugees, unemployed or precarious workers." In addition, ESE
set up two national commissions to monitor current changes in labor law and international class struggles and to keep their federation informed.
Vio.Me, a self-managed factory that produces soap, was shut down in Greece with the help of the police. Syndicates from Germany have lodged
complaints at consulates and embassies. The workers continue their work with emergency power generators.
Poland: Conflict with VW and Amazon, 10-point program against the government
In Poland, the IP quickly created a site (also in Russian and Ukrainian) with information about the legal situation of workers in the corona
crisis as well as a video. In the meantime, the trade union has published six legal guides on individual issues. In addition, the trade
union is monitoring the situation, especially in the VW and Amazon sites (where it is the largest trade union). The IP was also the first in
the international to develop a comprehensive overview of the situation at its sister unions and sent a detailed list of questions to all
international secretariats.
In a statement, the IP criticized in detail the Polish government's handling of the corona crisis. It calls assistance for the self-employed
and casual worker completely inadequate (in Poland, there is only a temporary, very low level of unemployment benefit). The trade union also
complains that the lack of access to health insurance and sick pay forces at least 2.5 million workers to go to work sick. It also complains
about a reduction of workers' rights, a redistribution of tax money to companies, the lack of measures to support the unemployed, pensioners
and tenants.
As an alternative to the so-called "crisis shield", the following were demanded, among others:
1) Increase of unemployment benefits and abolition of restrictive regulations according to which less than 20% of the unemployed are
entitled to benefits.
2) Universal access to health care.
3) Elimination of precarious forms of employment such as temporary work or bogus self-employment. 4) Provision of free access to basic
services (electricity, gas, running water, heating) for all.
At Volkswagen and Danfoss, IP tried to close the plants with 100% wage compensation to protect their colleagues. In the Volkswagen plant in
Poznan with about 11,000 employees, these demands were met promptly. At the heating and cooling technology manufacturer Danfoss, the
organization of work was changed slightly due to pressure, but real success has yet to be achieved.
There were minor successes at the logistics companies Amazon and Avon. Here, too, IP exerted pressure, mainly through secret videos from
everyday work at the plant or graphic representations of how closely the colleagues there must work together. The revelations, which in part
fundamentally contradicted the public statements of the companies, were accompanied by large-scale social media campaigns. The companies
have reacted mainly with bonus payments to the employees. However, IP continues to fight for the closure of the sites.
In the universities, IP has been particularly active in ensuring the safety of service employees, including various reductions in opening
hours and staffing levels.
Argentina: Support for bus drivers and medical staff
In Argentina, the working class continues to face adjustment, even if there have been suspended the increases of the rent and the eviction
notice for several months. Another measurement that has been carried out is the extension in the payment of public services, but these
accumulate the debt for the workers. Although the government tried to suspend the dismissals, the companies find the legal way of
dismissing, of suspending and/or of licensing the workers; this shielding itself in legal forms of response to the decree expressed by the
government of the nation. All this with the complicity of the employers' union, the companies and the State.
The FORA also quickly offered information about labor rights. They supported bus drivers in their struggles for more hygienic working
conditions and informed the public about police assaults in connection with the implementation of the quarantine measures.
In a letter, FORA health workers point out that there is currently an epidemic of dengue fever and measles in Argentina, which places a
double burden on the health system. For this reason, they asked everyone to use the emergency rooms only in real emergencies and provided
information on suitable hygiene measures. Finally, they demand far-reaching support for the workers, the same rights for illegal employment
as for normal workers (about half of the population works in the underground economy), support for the medical staff, and a redistribution
of company subsidies to support families.
Canada: Rent strikes, sex workers support, strike for safety
The IWW Montreal is currently talking about a resurgence of the labor movement in Canada and the US: "After the crisis they're gonna try to
make us pay for it... let's get ready for that now!"
As in Spain, one of the movements with the greatest social explosive force is currently the rent strike movement. In an extensive interview,
details are given about the rental strike organization in Montreal in which the IWW is involved, albeit with reservations. At the end of
March, 20% of 3500 members wanted to strike in any case, another 55% still had open questions, but wanted to participate as well. Tim, a
long-time activist of the rent strike movement in the USA, criticizes that many leftists are currently calling for a rent strike in a
campaign mentality without dealing with the necessary basics or organizing themselves in tenant unions. At the same time, he considers the
rent strike a fact, because thousands simply do not have the financial means to pay their rent. "The fact that there are moratoriums for
evictions in many cities shows us that we have the political momentum to demand big concessions from the ruling class."
Two IWW activists paint a mixed picture of the IWW's attitude to the rent strike movement. On the one hand it is necessary, on the other
hand it is a high risk for all participants with still only a marginal degree of organization and support structures. For this reason, the
IWW Montreal is calling for a suspension of rent and mortgage payments, leaves it up to individuals to participate in the strike and calls
on all those affected by repression due to participation to contact their union.
In Ontario, the IWW Hamilton organized neighborhood initiatives and food distribution. It supports a rent strike, the opening of prisons and
supports the call for a general strike on May 1 coming from the USA. The IWW in Hamilton and Toronto supported the Sex Workers Action
Program, who are struggling due to a significant loss of work. The IWW Toronto successfully supported employees of Domino's Pizza who
refused to work under the current protective measures.
USA: Wildcat strikes, unions gathering momentum, sick outs
The IWW emphasizes that it is preparing for rapid membership growth and tough disputes. The logical reaction on the part of capital: On 1
April trade union law was tightened.
The IWW quickly provided all members with an overview of their rights and various recommendations for action for workers in different
sectors. Various webinars were also offered. At the end of March, the IWW Environmental Unionist Caucus proposed the creation of a special
relief fund for members who are facing problems due to the current crisis. It is currently working on a survey to better estimate the impact
on membership. The Caucus also advocated support for the rental strike movement.
In Portland, after mass layoffs were announced, employees of a doughnut chain formed their own IWW company union to fight back. Rallies have
already taken place despite the lockdown. Also in Portland, the IWW helped student workers win severance pay for the shifts lost due to
campus closures. In Chicago, it was enough for IWW members to petition a grocery store to achieve a hazard pay of $2 an hour for workers there.
IWW members of the CapTel Workers Union in Wisconsin were able to achieve bonus payments in a call center through mass sick out. The workers
are considered indispensable in the current pandemic but receive only a fraction of the wages of other workers at this level.
The IWW's Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee Oakland is currently reporting on the situation in various prisons and has, among other
things, carried out phonezaps against individual prison telephone numbers at prisons where guards tested positive for COVID-19. The demand:
#LetThemGo.
The IWW Oklahoma is asking people to call local restaurants every morning and ask the bosses if the staff has paid sick days because their
visit would depend on it. The IWW has also raised funds for workers in various cities or started petitions for hazard pay for the employees
of popular restaurants and other necessary services.
Together with other organizations, the IWW Mid-Valley called with for a car demonstration on April 3 titled "Horrible Bosses, Terrible
Landlords Beware!", taking to the street in unconventional fashion.
The IWW local groups Fairbanks, Phoenix, Connecticut, Burlington, Providence and North Texas are currently informing about the possibilities
of a rent strike or are calling directly for it.
In Detroit and Chicago, "Wobbly Kitchens" have distributed food among the working class in parks. IWW Southern Maine supports homeless
people who have been assaulted by police. The IWW in Albuquerque and New York are actively involved in the various neighborhood networks.
Italy: Strikes and protective equipment for health care workers
In Italy, the USI-CIT called for several strikes against companies that continued to bid their workers to work, even though their work was
currently considered to be dispensable by society. Among other things, a strike was called at the car manufacturer Ferrari. Two days after
the strike was called, the company decided to close the plants.
Apart from this, the USI-CIT is currently fighting - above all with various hospital staff - for more disinfectants and protective clothing
and is addressing the reasons for the grave state of the health care system, i.e. the health of the population under capitalist conditions
in general and under the policy of austerity in particular. USI-CIT Parma condemned the obligation for employees in the health sector to
continue working.
USI Reggio Emilia is participating in food distribution campaigns in the autonomous neighborhoods.
Spain: Arrests, rent strike, digital culture strike
The CNT is not addressing labor rights in its statements, but also the protection of basic rights and the right of assembly. There were more
than 2,800 arrests and 330,000 fines for violations of the state of emergency in Spain until last week. In addition to a central document
with 15 demands, the regional federations of the CNT published a variety of assessments of the situation.
This also included the production of a whole series of guidelines for different sectors. In addition, the syndicates of the CNT submitted
many complaints to health authorities and trade inspectorates about the lack of protective measures; the companies complained of were in
very many cases hospitals and nursing homes.
The CNT gives the same advice, over and over: If you still have to work, demand disinfectant and soap; if your industry is not vital, fight
to stay at home. The performing arts section of the CNT Madrid demanded the introduction of a basic income retroactively to March. Comrades
from the CNT Valladolid who work in an institution for mentally disabled people denounced the complete lack of protective measures for the
140 residents and staff. They published photos of themselves in protective clothing improvised with garbage bags. At Rivamadrid, the CNT
workplace group together with other unions in the companies were able to force the implementation of a catalog of measures to protect the
employees.
The bogus self-employed workers in a meat factory, some of whom lived in camps before the corona epidemic and have now been on strike with
the CNT Valencia for 40 days, have been particularly hard hit. However, the CNT Regional Committee Levante has already announced that it
will hold out during the period of the state of emergency and then resume its momentum with a wave of new actions. Support for the strike
funds will be necessary here in the next weeks.
The social workers' sections of various CNT syndicates in Vallès Oriental, Terassa, L'Hospitalet and Sabadell, among other places, have
called attention to the lack of measures in the Residential Center for Educational Action (Centros residenciales de acción educativa (CRAE))
for youth. Within a few days, the social education workers of the CNT working there developed a guideline for action, an intensive media
campaign against the responsible ministry, including photo protests and the hashtag #EmergenciaCRAE.
In some places, the bosses have already used the current crisis to get rid of union members: At Construcciones Maygar S.L. in Pedrera,
Andalusia, for example, there was a strike in November. Now the entire former CNT strike leaders have been dismissed with reference to the
economic problems caused by the corona crisis. The CNT is currently in the process of defending itself against such anti-union attacks in
many places.
The Sección Sector Musical CNT Madrid has joined other musicians' unions to announce a culture strike on the Internet for 10 and 11 April:
"We propose to mobilize the entire sector in such a way that all cultural online channels are temporarily closed, that no cultural content
is broadcast in streaming, on networks or websites, that culture is plunged into a total digital blackout."
Finally, CNT unions throughout Spain have sewed masks, participated in neighbourhood networks and donated food.
The CNT-affiliated Instituto de Ciencias Económicas y de la Autogestión (Institute of Economic and Self-Management Science) published a
series of analyses of the situation. The Biblioteca Libertaria Bilbao of the CNT has made many films, audio books, podcasts and ebooks
available in order to make good use of the time during the lockdown.
Germany: Labor rights information, online meetings and neighborhood help
One of the first steps for local FAU syndicates was to provide a precise overview of the labor law regulations in pandemic times. FAU Jena
and FAU Berlin were very quick to provide support here with two comprehensive overviews. This was followed by more detailed guides on ALG II
(Germany's welfare regime) by FAU Magdeburg and translations into Arabic by FAU Marburg-Gießen-Wetzlar.
Of the currently active FAU syndicates, almost all now offer a special page on their homepages on labor law, and about half of them have
already changed their consultation services to online and/or telephone consultation. Likewise, about half of the syndicates are very active
in the neighborhood help networks and pickup fences (where food and hygiene articles are hung on the fence for those in need) in their
cities. A somewhat smaller part of the syndicates has been accompanying the current situation through intensive media work. The FAU Münster
offered a podium event and the FAU Berlin a video on the current situation.
It is especially worth mentioning that internal meetings and consulting services transferred to an online service using the FAU's own tools
within a few days due to the efforts of the FAU IT collective.
In terms of work-related activities, FAU Bonn initiated several support Telegram groups for different sectors. FAU Dresden has collected
funds for different employment groups and supports the statements in the cultural and educational sector. The FAU Berlin is currently
fighting to improve the corona-related situation in the local universities. Several syndicates are already reporting a significant increase
in the number of consultations and cases, and initial disputes have already been taken up, usually about dismissals and short-time work.
The FAU has also offered analyses of the corona crisis, for example from the FAU Jena with their statement "Corona crisis - what can we do,
who pays for it?" and the FAU Magdeburg with their text "The virus and the crisis of capitalism". Ralf Dreis of the FAU Frankfurt am Main
also philosophized in the FAU's Direct Action website this week about the effect of evening clapping and possible critical action here.
More news: Sri Lanka, Northern Syria, Myanmar
Stuck and bankrupt: The feminist textile workers' organization Dabindu Collective, with which the ICL organized a conference of garment
workers in February, turned to the ICL for help at the end of March. In Katunayake, Sri Lanka, 20,000 textile workers (they produce for
Zara, H&M, among others) had to continue working until March 19. After March 20, they were subject to curfew, so that they had to stay away
from their villages and cities, sometimes with a hundred colleagues. In the meantime, they were able to leave Katunayake, but many of them
are facing economic ruin and need further worldwide solidarity. Information and contact can be found in this article.
In Myanmar currently more than 500 workers at the Myan Mode Factory are on strike who are to be dismissed for their union activities in the
wake of the corona crisis. Their union, the Federation of Garment Workers Union-Myanmar (FGWM), who also participated at the garment workers
conference, is in close contact with the ICL, which has already organized solidarity actions in various countries. This factory supplies the
Zara, Mango and C&A brands, among others.
In the Democratic Federation of Northern and Eastern Syria, the situation remains precarious between war, corona and embargo: the
democratically administered region, also known as Rojava (and supported by the ICL), is still confronted with an international embargo and
an ongoing, albeit slowed, war of aggression by Turkey against its territory. Furthermore, there are large-scale bombings against the
civilian population by Turkey and regular bomb attacks by the Islamic State (Daesh). In addition, there are thousands of Daesh prisoners of
war and more than a hundred thousand refugees from all over Syria in various camps within the small region. Against this background, the
health system is dependent on volunteers and donations. Interested parties should contact the Kurdish Red Crescent.
https://www.icl-cit.org/dealing-with-the-corona-crisis-icl-mobilizes-worldwide/
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Message: 9
Postal workers at a Royal Mail delivery office in Skyliner Way, Bury St Edmunds, walked out on April 17th over safety concerns over
coronavirus. They later returned after management was forced to impose the rule of only one person in a delivery vehicle at a time. ----
Spain ---- On Thursday, April 16th, up to a hundred delivery riders for the on-line food delivery outfits Deliveroo, Glovo, and Uber Eats,
demonstrated in Madrid against cuts in pay, temporary contracts and lack of PPE equipment. There were similar protests in Cartagena, Malaga
and Seville on the same day. ---- Workers at the Telepizza restaurant chain walked out on strike on Saturday 18th after 11 workers were
disciplined for refusing to work in unsafe conditions. The disciplined workers faced suspension without pay for 20 days. Unrest has been
bubbling under for weeks, and this was the final straw. Telepizza is classified by the Spanish government as an "essential service". Many
Telepizza workers dispute this, saying it is junk food.
In response to the disciplining, workers in Palencia organised a sickout, backed by thousands upon thousands of support messages on Twitter.
Canada
Bus workers in Toronto, including drivers and mechanics, working for Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) staged several wildcat strikes over
lack of protection from coronavirus. So far 19 bus workers have tested positive for COVID-19.
On April 17th, 33 drivers and 5 bus depot workers refused to turn in for work and organised a rally. They demanded that they be supplied
with PPE equipment, as well as deep cleaning of work areas. Thanks to previous actions, bus workers have gained plexiglass partitions for
drivers, gloves, hand sanitiser, and limits to numbers of passengers.
The action was followed on Saturday April 18th by a wildcat strike of around 12 mechanics at the Queensway garage. Here, after 4 diagnosed
cases of coronavirus among workers there, it was demanded that the garage be designated as a local outbreak centre and that it be shut down
for 2 weeks to enable deep cleaning, after an earlier cleaning failed to counter the spread of the disease.
In March, streetcar cleaners refused o work at the Roncesvalles Yard for similar reasons.
In Montreal, maintenance workers with the city's transport system went out on wildcat on Thursday 16th after one worker was suspended for 25
days after speaking out about lack of PPE equipment and lack of social distancing.
USA
Transport workers in Birmingham, Alabama and Detroit, went out on wildcat strike over coronavirus concerns. Dozens of workers in Birmingham
refused to work because of lack of masks on March 23rd.
In Detroit earlier in March, drivers went out on a 24 hour strike and management agreed to supply PPE equipment and not to charge fares so
that passengers could enter by back doors and thus have less contact with drivers.
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2020/04/20/workers-and-coronavirus/
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Message: 10
This episode features an interview with Warren McGregor, an activist born in the townships of the Cape Flats and now a resident in
Johannesburg where he is involved in working class and union education and a member of the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF). The
interview offers an overview of the post-apartheid political landscape and details the current state of social movements and the labor
movement under two decades of neo-liberal rule by the ANC. Warren also discusses the work and political influences of the ZACF. ---- Related
links: ---- Livestream: International Panel Discussion on Covid-19 - An international panel of anarchist organizations focused on the
response to Covid-19 which Warren is featured. ---- Interview: Building Black Working Class Counter-Power in South Africa ---- Elections and
Class Struggle in South Africa: The Que
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zabalaza-interview-on-south-africa/id1456466852?i=1000471835034
https://frombelowpodcast.com/2020/04/20/zabalaza-interview-on-south-africa
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