Today's Topics:
1. France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL - Against
surveillance capitalism and the technopolice, free
surveillance capitalism and the technopolice, free
software (ca,
de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Anarchistische Groep Amsterdam AGA» Startpagina --
Interview with the team behind antijob.net
Interview with the team behind antijob.net
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL AL #312 - Unionism,
Politics, Health: The shameful bluff of 183 euros "
Politics, Health: The shameful bluff of 183 euros "
for everyone
" (ca, de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation]
" (ca, de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. elmilicianocnt-aitchiclana: Memory of an anarcho-syndicalist
witness to the attempts to liquidate the CNT-AIT
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
witness to the attempts to liquidate the CNT-AIT
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. UK, anarchist communist ACG: Class not nation! [Podcast]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. fel estudiantil: Solidarity with the Cañada Real (ca, it,
pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
This web page features some free software that is easily installed and usable by
anyone and provides excellent alternatives to software and services provided by
internet giants and other companies of surveillance capitalism. ---- Free
software is, according to the historical definition proposed by the Free Software
Foundation, software: ---- freely executable, ---- freely studyable, i.e. whose
source code (the cooking recipe) is public, ---- freely redistributable, ----
freely modifiable. ---- Software that is not free is said to be proprietary or
proprietary [1]. ---- Surveillance capitalism is , according to authors like
Shoshana Zuboff, the modern form of capitalism. Although this notion of a new age
of capitalism, breaking with the previous one, is debated, certain points of the
analysis are nonetheless consensus. For this capitalism, which emerged in the
2000s, the most profitable resource in the world is neither gold, nor oil, nor
rare earths: it is the personal data of Internet users.
The surveillance capitalists extract them by spying on us constantly on the web
and then resell them to advertisers who in turn seek to offer us targeted
advertising. This source of income is such that it allows companies offering
seemingly free services, such as the Google search engine or the Facebook social
network, to be in fact the richest companies in the world. The five GAFAMs are
quite simply part of the top 10 of the world market capitalization (more than
1000 billion dollars for the n ° 1, Apple, which certainly does not offer free
services but does not deprive itself either to spy on its customers. Es), where
they share places with among others some of the BATX (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and
Xiaomi - the Chinese GAFAM).
But the problem of surveillance capitalism is far from being limited to targeted
advertising: this same personal data is also sold to companies working, for
example, on facial recognition algorithms. These algorithms are then used to
control populations, with the sad examples of Uyghur or Palestinian populations
being well documented. These resales can also be done to companies like Cambridge
Analytica, whose scandal has exposed to the world the manipulation of data for
predictive purposes to influence the results of election campaigns on a large scale.
We also know with certainty since the revelations of Edward Snowden that the
great world state powers, the United States in the first place, happily use this
same personal data to file and massively monitor the population of the world,
very often outside of any legal framework. It is the state, police and
authoritarian side of surveillance capitalism, which we, along with others, call
the technopolice .
Why is free software effective weapons against surveillance capitalism and the
technopolice ? We said above that the source code, the cooking recipe, of free
software is public. This transparency guarantees the absence of cookies, Trojans
and hidden spyware, just as the transparency of a cooking recipe guarantees the
absence of poison, for example.
While it is obvious that we do not have all the necessary knowledge to read and
inspect computer source code, it is all the more obvious that prohibiting this
inspection to those who are capable of it is suspicious. Trusting free software
means trusting a vast community comprising a number of computer scientists
capable of reading these source codes, often volunteers and driven by the same
conception of software development as a public service.
Conversely, trusting proprietary software is trusting surveillance capitalists
... who, however, know that we cannot trust them and that their only goal is to
increase their profits by reselling our data. personal.
So where do you start ? What free software to use for the most common uses,
whether on a computer or on a computer (smartphone) ?
Credits: the texts below come from the corresponding Wikipedia pages, and
sometimes revised or supplemented by us. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia, in a
sense precisely similar to that of free software, and therefore allows its
content to be reused, under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-SA 3.0 ).
Important note: most of this software is financed in part by donations from users
but also by large donations from Gafam, the States or even " house " capitalist
companies . Why ? Because the Gafams and the States have ended up admitting that
the free software development model (which they also call " open source ",
because it is not the political and philosophical ideals of free software that
interests them) has a technical advantage over the proprietary model and that
they have an interest in taking, and keeping afloat through funding, which
interests them in free (Android, for example, is based on Linux free software).
To say that, does that mean that free software has been taken over by our enemies
? Maybe, in part. But we can also consider, on the contrary, that it is funding
won after decades of struggle by free software activists to implement this
software in the landscape, to get out of volunteering and live from their
profession. This is why we put forward on our side the community, libertarian and
non-market dimension of free software, knowing that it is not the only existing
dimension and that a battle is underway.
To end on this point, we must insist on the fact that by very construction, free
software does not belong to anyone, not even to its funders. The community is
always free to retrieve the source code and relaunch the software under a
different name, with another funding solution. Free software is common .
Free software, free and easy to access, for all common uses
For instant messaging, audio and video calls: Signal
Signal is an application for Android and iOS, allowing to communicate (voice and
video calls, text messages or media) in an encrypted and secure manner and whose
main goal is to ensure maximum confidentiality to its users. Alternative to
Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger or Telegram, it is developed by the American company
Signal Messenger, funded by the Signal Foundation, non-profit. It requires an
Internet connection (wifi or mobile Internet).
The application is also available on Windows, macOS and Linux, as a complement to
the mobile application (i.e. you must already use the version on a smartphone
before using the one on a PC).
To explore the web anonymously: the Tor browser
The Tor Browser (Tor browser, in French) is a web browser based on Mozilla
Firefox (alternative to Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, etc.) which allows
you to browse anonymously on the Tor anonymization network. It is developed by
The Tor Project and is available on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android ; on iOS you
must use Onion Browser.
For more details on how Tor works, see our article The Careless Don't Have Tor .
Be careful, some websites will work less well with Tor (captchas on entry, slow
loading of videos, etc.). It is therefore advisable to keep a more classic
browser alongside, such as Firefox or Brave (see below), and to test this second
browser if there is a problem with Tor.
Finally, it is also possible to use the Tor anonymization network to use software
other than web browsers (e-mail clients, F-Droid free application store, etc.).
For videoconferences: Jitsi Meet
Jitsi Meet, an alternative to Zoom for example, is an application that can be
used on the most common web browsers and allows videoconferencing. The video
streams are encrypted to maintain confidentiality in the exchanges. A Jitsi Meet
application is available on iOS and Android.
Jisti Meet allows screen sharing and the possibility for one person to listen to
the videoconference by calling a number (on certain instances only). There are
many instances to create a video conference with Jitsi Meet. We recommend
https://meet.jit.si/ as well as instances developed by KITTENS .
For web search: DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that seeks to preserve privacy and not to store any
personal information about users (IP addresses and digital traces such as browser
signature). It is also available as an app for mobile platforms, and there is
also a " hidden service " accessible only on Tor allowing optimal anonymity.
Only part of DuckDuckGo's source code is free. But it is so far the only at least
partially free search engine providing correct results for the general public.
DuckDuckGo's concern for respecting the personal data of Internet users is
sincere. In addition, the company devotes a large part of its revenues to finance
free projects (Tor, SecureDrop, Riseup, Tails, OpenStreetMap, F-Droid, Wikimedia,
etc.). Its presence in our list is therefore a compromise.
A less well-known but completely free and decentralized alternative is called
Searx . Searx is an intermediary that orders the requested search from Google and
sends the results back to the user (" metasearch engine "), eliminating all
possibility of Google listing and monitoring. Searx is therefore unfortunately
unable to exist without Google, while DuckDuckGo is independent. This does not
prevent Searx from being a promising and interesting project, effective in the
fight against surveillance, which must be followed closely.
To constitute a social network: Mastodon
Mastodon is a self-hosted, distributed, and focused social network and
microblogging software (like Twitter). It allows you to share messages (" pouets
" or toots in other languages including English), images and other content.
Instances are publicly available to facilitate its use.
UCL's Mastodon account: https://todon.nl/@ucl
We recommend the following bodies: https://framapiaf.org/ (which will however
close registrations in 2021, without closing the service) and https://mamot.fr/ .
On Android, we advise Tusky and Fedilab customers (free to download on F-Droid).
On a computer, the web interface is fine. For iOS, you can use Amaroq.
To work on texts with several people: Etherpad
Alternative to Google Docs, Etherpad is an online text editor that works in
collaborative mode and in real time.
It allows several people to share the simultaneous elaboration of a text, and to
discuss it in parallel, via instant messaging.
Extensions allow you to add functionalities: versioning, annotations, automatic
deletion after N days, etc.
We recommend the use of instances maintained by KITTENS .
There is also a collaborative spreadsheet project named EtherCalc , so we also
recommend using instances maintained by KITTENS .
For choosing and installing applications on Android: F-Droid
F-Droid is a store of free applications for Android operating systems and
derivatives. It is a free alternative to Google Play. It allows you to install
and update free applications on smartphones using Android or a derivative. The
apps for smartphones that we present here are (almost) all installable via F-Droid.
Finally, F-Droid can be configured to pass all its Internet traffic over the
anonymizing Tor network.
To install F-Droid, go to the official website , click on Download F-Droid, and
install the program by opening the downloaded .apk file and ignoring the Android
warnings (Google is trying to discourage you !).
Currently there is no real alternative to the App Store on iOS, Apple's system is
particularly locked.
What about electronic messaging ?
Electronic messaging services are very good allies of the technopolice. There are
solutions to exchange by email in a private and secure way, but unlike the tools
presented on this page, these have constraints and more difficult accessibility (
ProtonMail , RiseUp , GnuPG, etc.).
Thus, with a view to combating surveillance, we encourage you to look instead on
the instant messaging offered on this page.
To go further, other software to consider
Always free and free !
For encrypted SMS without Internet access: Silence
Silence is email encryption software. It allows the secure exchange of SMS and
MMS type messages with other Silence users. The Android app can work as a
replacement for the native Android messaging app.
Unlike the Signal application presented above, Silence allows you to exchange
encrypted messages without an Internet connection. It can therefore be used in
addition to Signal (which we recommend).
For browsing when Tor Browser is lacking: Firefox ...
Mozilla Firefox is a web browser, developed and distributed by the Mozilla
Foundation with the help of thousands of volunteers. This cross-platform software
is compatible with various versions of Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
Some important extensions, also free, to install to guarantee maximum security
and confidentiality [2]:
uBlock Origin : extension for Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Microsoft
Edge web browsers responsible for filtering the content of web pages in order to
block certain elements, in particular advertising banners. In addition to being
an antipub software, uBlock blocks the collection of browsing data.
HTTPS Everywhere : computer security extension for web browsers. It allows you to
automatically use HTTPS security on many sites.
Privacy Badger : is a plug-in for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome web browsers.
Its objective is to block advertising agencies and other third-party sites which
seek to know the pages visited by the Internet user. It also blocks tracker
cookies that do not respect the setting of the web browser.
Decentraleyes : protects against tracking linked to centralized " free "
content distributors .
... or Brave
Brave Browser ( https://brave.com/fr/ ) is a web browser that aims to protect
privacy by blocking trackers by default and promoting browsing via HTTPS pages
with the integration of the HTTPS Everywhere extension. It also incorporates two
private browsing modes, one of which is via Tor. The browser is available on
Windows, macOS and Linux as well as on iOS and Android.
For a social network like Facebook: Diaspora *
Diaspora is both a social network web application, and the distributed social
network that is based on this application. Each user of the network can choose to
register on one of the already existing diaspora * servers or to create their
own. This new server thus forms, with all the other servers, the Diaspora *
federation.
UCL's Diaspora * page: https://framasphere.org/u/ucl
We recommend the following instances: https://framasphere.org
For a video-based social network: Peertube
Peertube is a decentralized video hosting software thanks to peer-to-peer
broadcasting, developed and supported by the Framasoft association. It operates
on the principle of a federation of instances hosted by autonomous entities. Its
objective is to provide an alternative solution to centralized platforms such as
YouTube or Dailymotion. Since version 3, it supports live streaming.
UCL's Peertube account: https://peertube.social/accounts/ucl/video-channels
To find a video on all Peertube instances: https://sepiasearch.org/ .
For the activist agenda: Mobilizon
Mobilizon is an event organization and group management software launched in
October 2020 by Framasoft to offer a free alternative to GAFAM platforms
(Facebook events, Meet-Up, EventBrite).
Welcome portal and list of bodies: https://mobilizon.org/fr/
Events created by UCL: https://mobilizon.fr/@union_communiste_libertaire/events
For audio conferencing: Mumble
Mumble is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software. It is available on
Windows and Linux. On Android, we recommend the Mumla client. On iOS, the client
is simply called Mumble.
Jitsi Meet (presented above for video conferencing) can be used without cameras
and thus provide an audio conferencing-like experience ; but Mumble is optimized
for this use and can accommodate many more people (several hundred or thousand
people where Jitsi Meet will have trouble after a few dozen, even without cameras).
For chat rooms and video / audio calls: Element
Element (formerly Riot.im) is instant messaging software that uses Jitsi Meet to
provide integrated video conferencing. Element supports end-to-end encryption,
groups (called communities), rooms, and user-to-user file sharing. Registration
does not require a phone number. Access is possible from a web app, a desktop
client for all major operating systems and as a mobile app for Android and iOS.
The important differences with Signal which offers a similar service are that
Element is decentralized and you don't have to enter your phone number to use it.
For office automation: LibreOffice
Libreoffice is an office suite available on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and
iOS. It represents a very credible alternative to Microsoft's Office suite.
Among the software present in the Libreoffice suite:
Writer: word processing software (alternative to Mircosoft Word)
Calc: spreadsheet software (alternative to Microsoft Excel)
Impress: slide show software (alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint)
Draw: drawing software for simple illustrations (alternative to Microsoft Publisher)
For multimedia playback: VLC
VLC is a multimedia player (music, movies, etc.). This software is cross-platform
and works on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android. One of the great strengths of
VLC is that it integrates the necessary codecs to play most audio and video
formats, multitrack playback, stream playback, as well as many configuration options.
To go even further, some references
The UCL digital self-defense training booklet .
BOUM's digital self-defense guide .
The PRISM-Break web page .
KITTENS .
Framasoft .
April .
La Quadrature du Net .
The campaign against the Technopolice .
The report " All watched - 7 billion suspects ".
The report " Nothing to Hide ".
The book " The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, by Shoshana Zuboff ".
Validate
[1] Since it must always be possible to redistribute free software freely, and
therefore to redistribute it for free if desired, paid free software is in
practice extremely rare and in this case we pay more for support and
after-service. sale than the software itself. Conversely, a lot of proprietary
software is free. Free therefore has little to do with software freedom.
[2]There are several solutions to install an extension: in the " Tools " menu,
click on " Complementary modules " ; in the Firefox navigation bar type: about:
addons ; or type Ctrl + Shift + A
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Contre-le-capitalisme-de-surveillance-et-la-technopolice-le-logiciel-libre
------------------------------
Message: 2
We have to work most of our lives. Our efforts, time, ideas, successes and
failures are compressed into rubles, dollars and euros - impersonal banknotes,
which are constantly lacking to fulfill our desires and needs. Typically, work is
fraught with wage delays, employers' machinations, nervousness and humiliation
from idiotic rules and bosses fooling around. ---- https://antijob.net/manifest
---- That's how antijob.net, the most successful anarchist project from Russia,
starts it's manifest. It's a website where workers can leave a review on their
(ex-)bosses, helping each other in finding the job that sucks less. AGA took an
interview with the team behind it. ---- Tell us about the project, its history
and its mission. Why did you choose this format?
The project started in the early 2000s. More than 20 years have passed since the
first version of the site. It was created in a radical anarchist environment and
was designed for young people who had recently graduated from universities, but
instead of respect for the profession, they found exploitation and deception in
the labor market. These were the main users of the Internet in Russia at that time.
The aesthetics of the site, name and approach are a joke on the Job.ru portal, at
that time the largest job search service. It created the illusion of a stable
future, everything as usual - happy people in office clothes who are pursuing
their career aspirations and strive for some form of American-Russian
middle-class dream. In practice, for most of those looking for work in Russia,
there are no bright prospects and career aspirations. And if there is, then
reality quickly puts them in place.
Reality can be changed, but only the workers themselves can do this, if they
understand their position and will fight for better working conditions. The
mission of our collective is to promote "direct action" in solving labor
conflicts and create a place for coordination of forces in the class struggle, as
opposed to the judicial-bureaucratic system, which in fact acts in the interests
of our class enemies. To do this, we collect and distribute feedback, which is
the voice of the workers themselves. From these we form a database - the "black
list of employers", and the Internet indexing mechanisms help to spread it.
Tell us about the team behind the project.
The team has changed almost completely over the years, but the spirit of
anarchism, self-organization, revolutionary spirit and, to some extent, epatage,
have been preserved. Although less so than before. Today we are not promoting
"radical laziness" as a concept and theft of an employer's property as a method.
But now we are talking more about the trade union struggle and direct, acute,
conflicts between workers and employers.
For the most part, we all come from an anarchist environment, various political
projects or radical political music scenes. Some of the participants are over
thirty, some already have children, we are sedate, somewhat cynical, but we still
believe in the values of freedom, solidarity, in the fact that people can
organize themselves, draw conclusions from experience and create better kinds of
interaction and economy. Well, that one day we will be able to defeat capitalism,
the state, hierarchies and all this retrograde nonsense =)
Tell us about the specifics of the situation of workers in Russia and the
ex-USSR. What are the laws and practice of their application?
The specifics of Russia is that a rather large layer of laws and norms of the
times of the USSR remains, which the state selectively uses. Some laws look more
progressive on paper than in many countries, but they still work on the basis of
political will - as and when the powers that be. If the current policy is to
promote business, then employees will lose the courts, and they will turn a blind
eye to violations of the labor law, but if it is necessary to grease the "broad
masses", then employers will be screwed. In general, the levers of influence are
somewhere in the heavens.
There are trade unions in Russia, but mostly yellow ones. The largest of them is
the FPNR. This trade union is politically engaged with the current government and
acts as a labor regulator at the request of the top. It has significant resources
of property and political influence, which allows at the level of "service", such
as gifts and vouchers, to achieve some success and sometimes even carry out some
generally useful, albeit microscopic in scale, legislative initiatives. As with
all yellow organizations, this association cannot even be called "reformist",
because it has no reform goal.
Alternative trade unions are represented mainly by Novoprofs and KTR, these are
more workers' organizations that have influence. The cells carry out a social
agenda and in general they have a strong leftist connotation. They are not that
radical and use a wide range of methods from strikes to participation in a
tripartite commission (employers, trade unions, government officials) that agree
on legislative labor amendments. The trade unions we work with often belong to
these associations.
There are almost no radical trade unions, to some extent such can be called the
recently appeared Courier, whose organizational composition is from the left and
close to libertarian environment. Now they are also in the KTR, and using the
topic of platform capitalism and Coronavirus, they manage to catch media attention.
Labor issues in Russia are acute, the latest reform of the retirement age has
mobilized thousands of people in hundreds of cities for mass actions, caused a
wave of indignation, but did not lead to anything. We put forward the slogan of a
general strike, which was clearly supported "from below", but was pessimistically
assessed by the trade unions. As a result, the law was adopted with minimal
amendments. There is no culture of radical labor protest in Russia at the moment,
but we can not exclude that sooner or later this will result in something much
more radical than a series of rallies.
Tell us about the impact of the project on society and how it helps in the fight
against capital.
For those who write reviews, we help punish the employer - the review greatly
affects the reputation of the bosses. It is a very common situation that a former
employer pays debts to an employee, having seen a review about himself on
AntiJob, if only the employee cancels it. For those who read reviews, we help to
avoid cheating, non-payment of wages, etc. In short - the site has a large
database of "black employers", which is well indexed by searches with our help.
Anyone who got into our black list finds himself in the first results of a search
engine when typing in the name of the company. Thus, new employees and even
customers of the fraudulent company begin to bypass it, because the reviews are
shown above the information about the company itself.
We also highlight the underside of hired labor. We have rules - only negative
reviews get to the site and the employer is wrong by default. We call this the
employer's presumption of guilt. This is how we sift out the countless number of
self-praisers that splurge and prevent us from seeing existing problems.
This is useful not only for system critics. For the same employers and
politicians, this is an invaluable storehouse of refined information and feedback
that they apparently do not know how to use or do not want. We have more than one
hundred thousand reviews from several countries about various areas and companies
with direct speeches from employees, which allows us to make a good picture of
the specifics of work in various areas. And this picture is not very beautiful.
Reviews are not written by activists or politicians, it is easy to find common
problems on which left-wing activists and anarchists should build and adjust
their optics and rhetoric, these are not only problems with non-payment of wages,
but also an acute sense of disrespect, attitude as a thing, frustration -
everything that is easily described theoretically by alienation and class
contradictions.
We plan to work with this and our end goal is to bring people from the level of
presenting the problem to its politicization, and then to action.
Tell us about offline activity around your project.
One of the important offline channels is stickers. We send dozens of envelopes
with stickers by regular mail to everyone for free. So those who wish can tag a
black employer or simply decorate the streets of their city.
At the beginning of the project, our stickers were spread by dozens of
anarcho-groups throughout Russia. By the way, this was a good promotion - in
those cities where the biggest spreading happened, we still have the highest
visitors count. The secret of success - the stickers were not politicized and
simply offered to add their employer to the blacklist. And since there are a lot
of dumb employers, the stickers almost were not removed and hung for years at
stops and in public transport.
Formally, the site's team does not conduct other offline activities due to
anonymity, but for some time we have actively promoted not only the idea of
organizing trade unions (rather as a concept), but also the organization of
"Solidarity Networks" cells - groups that dealt with labor conflicts on the ground.
Such existed at different times in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Voronezh,
Nizhny Novgorod, Irkutsk, Barnaul.
Some of the actions were successful, they managed to apply pressure in a
super-direct format. This was unexpected for employers and atypical even for the
police, who rarely intervened. Similar projects periodically flare up again.
Recently, a group in the same format, "Moscow Syndicate", appeared in Moscow,
that operates as a Solidarity Network. We did not participate in its
organization, but we are always happy to support them with information. We are
monitoring this activity and will promote it whenever possible.
Does your team has security risks? There is a constant repressions against
activists in Russia. Do you feel pressure from the bosses?
We keep the team anonymous. This is directly related to safety, but equally from
the state and employers. There is no great interest from state structures in us.
So far there is no experience for someone to be arrested or tracked down for
involvement in the project, even despite some politicization. But we are ready
for such a turn.
It's more difficult with bosses. They are directly interested in a conflict with
us. We do not delete reviews, sometimes we were offered thousands of euros for
"cleaning up reputation". Of course, for this money, they can find ways to
pressure us in different ways, physically or legally. There was a precedent when
information was leaked on one of the foreign comrades, who was considered the
"owner of the antijob" (including clearly personal and clearly related to police
data) and they tried to shake us. But in the end they failed.
We are periodically attacked, DDOSed, and sometimes even hacked. Because of this,
we had to pump up security a lot and switch to a new project engine. In general,
considering the circumstances, we are constantly scared, that somewhere in the
site we have security holes and we can be hacked. If among those who read the
text there are comrades who are fond of penetrate testing, we are always grateful
for information on vulnerabilities and possible fixes on our website.
We are being sued, in the databases of the courts you can find countless claims
against the site for "harm to business reputation", "disclosure of personal
data", "libel" and so on. Courts go on without us and sometimes even make
decisions. Those who threaten to block the site reach us. But not all. For
example, we were blocked without notification in Belarus and Kazakhstan. There
have been no precedents of police prosecution based on court decisions yet. But
if we had some kind of official form of organization, undoubtedly, we would have
to leave a lot of nerves and money for legal nuances.
Anonymity greatly hinders further promotion and basic collection of resources. We
can even make permanent donations to the site only if we find or create a legal
entity. But if we create it, then we will get a lot of problems -[such is the fork].
What about your future plans. You recently started crowdfunding campaign, what do
you want to do next?
Our minimum plan is to drive all "competitive" commercial feedback websites into
a hole from which they will not get out. There is a lot of them. The demand for
reputation cleansing creates supply. Sometimes it gets to the point of absurdity
and someone copies all the available information from our site, making a similar
domain. Sometimes they even buy ads to push us to lower positions in the search.
This is done because there is a problem with working in Russia, and traffic can
be monetized. Also, if you do not have a political position, you can also take
money for removing reviews.
We have a brand and a reputation, but we strive for convenience and usefulness.
Now we are developing a new version of the site, which will be more complex and
more difficult to copy, but at the same time much more useful and user-friendly
than crude fakes. To do this, we carried out crowdfunding, some of which still
goes on the firefund.
We also plan to create a full-fledged platform that will help to collect
important information about labor issues, and then help deceived workers to
coordinate. Plus is may involve trade unions and other projects that operate in
the field of labour. This will undoubtedly require a lot of time and resources in
the future, but it can potentially give an opportunity to operate not only in
Russia. Now, in this regard, we are building cooperation with the local trade
union of workers in the technological sphere, where there are IT engineers who
are also interested in such a project.
We have a strong suspicion that there are labor problems in almost all countries,
as well as the desire of people to share them. Especially if this can affect the
employer's reputation. Our project cannot go global simply by adding a
translation to the site. To be useful to users abroad, you need knowledge of the
language for moderation, understanding of local legislation, the nuances of
requests and local problems. However, we urge to create similar web projects of
comrades from other countries, contact us, exchange experience, assess problems
and then look for integration opportunities for joint development and saving
resources (including development labor resources). We would like to take
advantage of the platform effect that today gives a lot of power to corporations,
but change it, make it a local initiative, while maintaining the advantages of
"scale" and economy on resources.
https://www.agamsterdam.org/interview-with-the-team-behind-antijob-net/
------------------------------
Message: 3
There are so many excluded from the salary increase promised by the " Ségur de la
santé " that the signatory federations of the agreement - FO, CFDT and Unsa - are
biting their fingers. The others continue the fight ! ---- The second wave of
Covid-19 left no respite for health workers, for whom there was no " truce for
confectioners " ... But the protest, it too, knows no respite. We demonstrated on
December 3 in Île-de-France, then a national day of action took place on December
15. At the heart of the discontent: the poor 183 euros of salary increase granted
at the end of the " Ségur de la santé ". ---- For the record, the five
federations representing the public hospital - CGT, FO, CFDT, UNSA and SUD - were
invited to the negotiations at the Ministry of Health, avenue de Segur, Paris 7
th . In fact, SUD-Santé-sociaux slammed the door as soon as Nicole Notat (the
ex-shock boss of the CFDT), charged by Macron with chairing Ségur, announced that
she had no control over the financial resources.
Indeed, the central demand of the personnel in struggle, carried in particular by
the Inter-emergency collective, is an increase of 300 euros. During the
negotiations, the ministry gave the choice: 300 euros for the caregivers and
nothing for the others, or 183 euros " for everyone ". Finally, FO, CFDT and Unsa
signed for it. The CGT rejected the agreement after consulting its unions.
There remain therefore two federations in the fight: SUD and CGT, which were
quick to show that the " 183 euros for everyone " actually excluded many people !
The medico-social sector - including when it is in the hospital public service -
may not be concerned. Ditto for home services or addiction centers, most of which
are found outside the perimeter. As for personnel in training for professional
development, they are also excluded ! The only good news: while the Ségur did not
concern the social sector, some collective social agreements have included the
183 euros increase.
Must read before signing
As a result, the FO, CFDT and Unsa federations seem a bit like buzzards. As if
they hadn't read the agreement before signing. Panicked, FO is now agitating in
its fiefdoms to integrate the excluded services into the " 183 euros ". It makes
the management laugh a lot, who have sometimes responded to FO leaflets,
explaining that they themselves would never have signed for such a gas plant. FO
also complained to the ministry that people in " professional promotion " were
excluded... and the ministry replied that there was nothing more they could do,
while acknowledging that the situation was abnormal !
Also annoyed that the additional 45 euros that will be allocated to caregivers "
in the patient's bed " do not concern social workers for example, the CFDT made a
demonstration (all alone) for the 183 euros for all ...
At this stage, each union is mobilizing in its fiefdoms, in a poorly coordinated
way for the moment. The next national day of action is being organized for
January 21 !
Solow (UCL Grand-Paris sud)
Logo copyright: Photothèque Rouge / JMB
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Sante-Le-bluff-honteux-des-183-euros-pour-tout-le-monde
------------------------------
Message: 4
For some time, as a contributor to the anarcho-syndicalist newspaper Fragua
Social - the organ of expression of the Levante Regional Confederation of the
CNT-AIT - I have read very carefully the Magazine of Ideas Ácratas Orto , and I
have seen fit to write and to collaborate, as well as to write in the same
direction as the articles that were published with the titles: In defense of
anarcho-syndicalism and The liquidation of the CNT, with which I find myself
in close agreement. ---- However, in the face of this history of liquidation,
there is a story apart from all these outrages that is led by the CNT-AIT, which
was never destroyed or deviated from its principles, tactics and purposes and of
which today we will tell its story.
As is well known, for more than ten years, many CNT unions have been expelled or
have publicly declared in defense of the CNT-AIT, due to the very fact that the
CNT-CIT has decided to voluntarily violate not only their own agreements of
Congress, but its principles and its revolutionary action.
In this sense, many unions were expelled or disbanded from the CNT, among them
the unions of Motril, Cádiz, Chiclana de la Frontera , Seville, Camas, Velez de
Benaudalla, Huelva, Albacete, Alcoi, Sagunto, La Plana, La Marina Alta, Elda,
Gandía, Tarragona, Telecommunications and Computer Services of Madrid, Vigo,
Pontevedra, Ponteareas, Vilagarcía de Arousa, Lugo, A Corunha, Torrelavega,
Granada, and recently the Local Federation of Madrid with the unions of Various
Trades, Teaching and Social Intervention and Metal, Mining and Chemicals and
Puerto Real.
Of all these defenseless anarcho-syndicalist unions, some unions, in 2015, began
the path of restructuring the CNT-AIT, as a result of the attacks that the CNT
Committees, both at the Confederal and regional levels, occupied by reformist
elements, had directed against anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism within the
Organization.
However, with the expulsion of most of the unions from the Levante Regional of
the CNT-AIT, the convening of a National Conference of Trade Unions of the
CNT-AIT arose in Madrid on June 25 and 26, 2016, in the The vast majority of
unions from the Levante Regional of the CNT-AIT participated. The most important
conclusion that was reached in this Conference was to establish an Organization
directly heir to the principles, tactics and purposes of the CNT-AIT among those
unions that had been expelled from the CNT in a totally fraudulent manner, a
situation to which added the totally reformist, authoritarian, top-down and
professional drift of the CNT, today CIT.
The development of these conclusions resulted in the convocation of a Confederal
Congress of the CNT-AIT in Benissa that was held on November 4, 5 and 6, 2016,
where the Principles, Tactics and Purposes of the CNT and the AIT were ratified.
, and a new Confederal Congress was convened to be held in Villalonga, where the
Organization would be restructured and membership of the AIT would be requested.
From December 2 to 4, 2016, the XXVI Congress of the AIT was held in Warsaw
(Poland), where among many other agreements it was discussed and it was agreed to
terminate the CNT, FAU and USI for non-payment of fees. During this Congress, two
delegations from the CNT and a delegation from the CNT-AIT were present, the
first two made up of the direct delegation of the CNT, made up of Genis Ferrero,
and a delegation, as observers, made up of militants from the Local Federation of
Madrid and Granada. On the other hand, the CNT-AIT delegation was made up of
militants from the Levante Regional, mandated by the Benissa Congress.
However, there were many reasons aside from their economic commitments to the
International to expel the CNT, FAU and USI, since they had promoted an
International Conference in Barakaldo with the intention of promoting a split
within the international that finally it has come to call the International
Confederation of Workers, and that is nothing more and nothing less than the
result of a series of betrayals, which have culminated in the attempt to
liquidate the international organization and its sections.
The Confederal Congress of the CNT-AIT in Villalonga was held from April 13 to
16, 2017, and the results of its sessions were the approval and ratification of
the Principles, Tactics and Purposes of the CNT, request for adhesion and
ratification of membership of the AIT, approval of some Statutes and Organic
Regulations, and the request to join the AIT.
A few months later, the Extraordinary Congress of the AIT was held in Belgrade
(Serbia) from 3 to 5 November 2017. Congress in which the CNT-AIT was represented
with a direct delegation, and in which its adherence to the AIT and it was
recognized as legitimate and historical heir to the CNT-AIT. Thus, the Confederal
Congress of the CNT-AIT, the Plenary of Regionals and Trade Unions of the CNT-AIT
held in Albacete, and the Congress of the AIT in Belgrade (Serbia) completed the
restructuring process of the CNT-AIT, and in which it can be said that finally
the waters returned to their true channels.
In this context of restructuring, the CIT in Spain is immersed in a process of
liquidation, while the CNT-AIT continues to grow with the adhesion of more and
more unions to its federation and the creation of more confederal nuclei.
However, even though the CIT expected the elimination and disappearance of the
unions it expelled, the CNT-AIT turned them into opposition unions ready to
fight. This situation led the Permanent Secretariat of the Confederal Committee
of the CNT-CIT in Spain, Enrique Hoz, behind the back of his entire organization,
to mandate a lawyer from Seville in 2018 in order to sue seven unions of the
CNT-AIT before the Social Courts of Albacete, Castellón, Alicante, Denia,
Valencia and Cádiz. The unions sued were: Albacete, Alcoy, La Marina Alta, La
Plana, Sagunto, Gandía and Cádiz.
Luckily, the CIT lawyer, Vicente González Escribano, a professional of dubious
competencies, did not succeed in any of these seven lawsuits to be successful in
any Social Court. What forced him to present withdrawals in front of all the
initiated procedures.
Two years after these attacks, and with a CNT-AIT, which, far from disappearing,
is growing with new incorporations, such as the accessions of the unions of Vega
Baixa, Cartagena, Murcia, the four unions of the CNT-AIT Catalunya, organized in
the CNT-AIT, they are repeated, but, this time, in front of the National Court.
In the middle of this year 2020, the CIT has again sued several unions of the
CNT-AIT, for the use of the CNT acronym. The reformist and authoritarian drift of
the CIT has its culmination in the judicial persecution, of the CNT-AIT, before
the old Court of Public Order of the Franco regime, which since it was
constituted was in charge of persecuting anarchist and anti-Franco militants.
The collaboration and the dirty work that the CIT is doing to the State and
capitalism is served. These new attacks resonate the hour that the
anarcho-syndicalist militancy knows how to rise to the occasion, defend
anarcho-syndicalism in the Iberian Peninsula and unmask its false
representatives, but above all demonstrate that the destruction of the CN-AIT not
only does not It may be done by trying to snatch our legitimacy on an acronym, a
historical heritage and a memory, but rather by demonstrating that the CNT-AIT
and anarcho-syndicalism have their true heritage in their anarchist and
anarcho-syndicalist ideas and in their militancy, without this implying that in
that many terrain and many of us will fight.
Magazine "Orto", nº 199
http://elmilicianocnt-aitchiclana.blogspot.com/2021/01/memoria-de-un-testigo.html
------------------------------
Message: 5
In December, the ACG held its annual dayschool, Libertarian Communism 2020. This
year's event was online and the topic for the day was nationalism, the nation
state and class struggle. For those of you who couldn't make it on the day,
here's the audio podcast: ---- Class Not Nation (scroll down the playlist) ----
Here's the blurb for the event: ---- The nation state creates the illusion that
the people who live within certain physical borders are united politically,
economically, and culturally. However, this is not the case and belief in this
illusion has led to many in the working class to support their rulers and bosses
more than their fellow workers who are not identified as belonging to this
nation. Though understandably groups of people who have been exploited and
oppressed under colonialism want to free themselves, the end result is the
substitution of another oppressive State, just with different people in charge.
Whilst many people understandably identify with the place they live, the way in
which nationalism as an ideology has developed makes it very difficult to develop
any sense of working class internationalism. Political and social movements have
been diverted from fighting the real enemy- the capitalist class- and instead
have focused on another state or another group or people as the cause of their
situation. This can be seen all over the world - the conflict in Yugoslavia,
Hindu/Muslim clashes in India, the horrendous genocide in Rwanda/Burundi and the
hatred and violence against immigrants in the UK. Though the nationalism of
Scotland and Catalonia may seem less dangerous, it is based on the same premises:
that an independent Scotland or Catalonia will be better for all and workers
stand side by side with the ruling class.
Nationalism is a form of identity politics: the belief that by sharing a
particular identity, eg being Scottish, English, Welsh or whatever, that you
automatically share certain essential characteristics. People may experience
certain forms of exploitation and oppression because of having a particular
identity, eg not being able to speak your own language or even genocide. However,
this situation is based on the structural and material situation that people live
in and has nothing to do with eternal or essentialist characteristics of
different groups of people. The only way out of the situation is to see things in
terms of class with the enemy being capitalism. This does not mean that
identifying yourself as working class is enough - and repeating the same mistakes
of other forms of identity politics. Rather it is seeing that there is a
particular relationship between capital and labour that leads to exploitation. In
the end we want to abolish class as well - ending all exploitative and oppressive
relationships such that all that is left is human beings living in a free and
equal society.
Libertarian Communism 2020 will consider all these issues, aiming to find ways of
combatting nationalism and working towards a working class internationalism.
Speakers will address the question of nationalism generally and then the next
speakers will focus on nationalism in Catalonia (with a speaker from the CNT in
Spain) and in Scotland.
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2021/01/18/class-not-nation-podcast/
------------------------------
Message: 6
In recent days, the storm Filomena has brought Madrid the heaviest snowfall since
1971 , collapsing the snow streets and dropping temperatures enormously. This
extreme situation is showing us how the management of its effects puts the needs
of capital and the most privileged sectors of society first and the most excluded
and impoverished sectors last. ---- We have seen the most extreme case of this
situation in the Cañada Real de Madrid. This area of irregularly built houses had
been suffering power cuts for months from the Naturgy company (formerly Gas
Natural Fenosa). The company relies on the overconsumption of several alleged
marijuana plantations illegally connected to the network, to leave an entire
neighborhood of extremely vulnerable families without electricity. For their
part, the residents of the neighborhood have organized demonstrations and rallies
calling for the reestablishment of electricity and being able to pay for it.
The consequences of the cut show that it poses a real risk to its inhabitants:
there have been dozens of cases of gas poisoning , burns, children with frostbite
symptoms, anxiety attacks and suicide attempts, according to the inhabitants of
the glen themselves.
If the arrival of the storm Filomena has been catastrophic throughout the city,
keeping the Cañada without electricity now only unmasks the criminal management
of Naturgy, which even in this emergency is reluctant to reconnect the Cañada (
here and here ) putting its interests above access to an essential resource for
one of the most vulnerable populations in Madrid in a context as serious as the
current one.
The government and the rest of the State institutions have shown with their
inaction, and allowing the 27% rise in electricity in the midst of the cold wave,
that their role is to serve and protect the interests of capital, and especially
that of the large Spanish transnationals with which our political class has a
close connection .
This state management also puts on the table the limits of the United Podemos
social democracy, which campaigned saying that it would defend the most
vulnerable population and, in particular, that it would lower the cost of
electricity. However, since his entry into government, the only thing he is
achieving is to adorn with lukewarm and insufficient social measures the
management of a government entirely at the service of Capital as a whole and in
particular of large companies.
On the other hand, the Community of Madrid, which is responsible for Health
competencies, has completely ignored the Health Emergency that is occurring and
refuses to treat it as such.
The Madrid city council, on the other hand, has wanted to treat the inhabitants
of the cañada as homeless people and the only solution it has provided is to host
them in a municipal shelter, exposing them much more to COVID-19 in the middle of
the third wave of the pandemic . The inhabitants of the Cañada do not need a
roof, they already have one, what they need is light and to be able to heat
themselves.
From the nuclei of the Libertarian Student Federation of Madrid, we want to join
all the groups and associations that are showing solidarity with La Cañada and
demanding that they give them back the light (now, due to the extreme situation
we live in, and always, because it is a service essential for a decent life).
We encourage you to publicize this situation, since the media silence and the
criminalization and stigmatization with which the media usually treat this
population are the first accomplices of Naturgy's abuses. We also encourage to
collaborate to the extent of the possibilities of each one in the solidarity
initiatives that are taking place. From donations of warm clothing to financial
donations.
We also support the initiatives of boikot Naturgy (aka Gas Natural Fenosa) like this:
Finally, for more information, we encourage you to follow @mujerestabadol and
@juventud_canada to know first-hand their situation and the support or claim
initiatives that they promote.
Only the people save the people!
PS: We do not want to end this position without denouncing how all political
parties (except for Vox) are breaking with the Cañada Real Regional Pact signed
in May 2017.
https://felestudiantil.org/2021/01/solidaridad-con-la-canada-real/
------------------------------
pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
This web page features some free software that is easily installed and usable by
anyone and provides excellent alternatives to software and services provided by
internet giants and other companies of surveillance capitalism. ---- Free
software is, according to the historical definition proposed by the Free Software
Foundation, software: ---- freely executable, ---- freely studyable, i.e. whose
source code (the cooking recipe) is public, ---- freely redistributable, ----
freely modifiable. ---- Software that is not free is said to be proprietary or
proprietary [1]. ---- Surveillance capitalism is , according to authors like
Shoshana Zuboff, the modern form of capitalism. Although this notion of a new age
of capitalism, breaking with the previous one, is debated, certain points of the
analysis are nonetheless consensus. For this capitalism, which emerged in the
2000s, the most profitable resource in the world is neither gold, nor oil, nor
rare earths: it is the personal data of Internet users.
The surveillance capitalists extract them by spying on us constantly on the web
and then resell them to advertisers who in turn seek to offer us targeted
advertising. This source of income is such that it allows companies offering
seemingly free services, such as the Google search engine or the Facebook social
network, to be in fact the richest companies in the world. The five GAFAMs are
quite simply part of the top 10 of the world market capitalization (more than
1000 billion dollars for the n ° 1, Apple, which certainly does not offer free
services but does not deprive itself either to spy on its customers. Es), where
they share places with among others some of the BATX (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and
Xiaomi - the Chinese GAFAM).
But the problem of surveillance capitalism is far from being limited to targeted
advertising: this same personal data is also sold to companies working, for
example, on facial recognition algorithms. These algorithms are then used to
control populations, with the sad examples of Uyghur or Palestinian populations
being well documented. These resales can also be done to companies like Cambridge
Analytica, whose scandal has exposed to the world the manipulation of data for
predictive purposes to influence the results of election campaigns on a large scale.
We also know with certainty since the revelations of Edward Snowden that the
great world state powers, the United States in the first place, happily use this
same personal data to file and massively monitor the population of the world,
very often outside of any legal framework. It is the state, police and
authoritarian side of surveillance capitalism, which we, along with others, call
the technopolice .
Why is free software effective weapons against surveillance capitalism and the
technopolice ? We said above that the source code, the cooking recipe, of free
software is public. This transparency guarantees the absence of cookies, Trojans
and hidden spyware, just as the transparency of a cooking recipe guarantees the
absence of poison, for example.
While it is obvious that we do not have all the necessary knowledge to read and
inspect computer source code, it is all the more obvious that prohibiting this
inspection to those who are capable of it is suspicious. Trusting free software
means trusting a vast community comprising a number of computer scientists
capable of reading these source codes, often volunteers and driven by the same
conception of software development as a public service.
Conversely, trusting proprietary software is trusting surveillance capitalists
... who, however, know that we cannot trust them and that their only goal is to
increase their profits by reselling our data. personal.
So where do you start ? What free software to use for the most common uses,
whether on a computer or on a computer (smartphone) ?
Credits: the texts below come from the corresponding Wikipedia pages, and
sometimes revised or supplemented by us. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia, in a
sense precisely similar to that of free software, and therefore allows its
content to be reused, under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-SA 3.0 ).
Important note: most of this software is financed in part by donations from users
but also by large donations from Gafam, the States or even " house " capitalist
companies . Why ? Because the Gafams and the States have ended up admitting that
the free software development model (which they also call " open source ",
because it is not the political and philosophical ideals of free software that
interests them) has a technical advantage over the proprietary model and that
they have an interest in taking, and keeping afloat through funding, which
interests them in free (Android, for example, is based on Linux free software).
To say that, does that mean that free software has been taken over by our enemies
? Maybe, in part. But we can also consider, on the contrary, that it is funding
won after decades of struggle by free software activists to implement this
software in the landscape, to get out of volunteering and live from their
profession. This is why we put forward on our side the community, libertarian and
non-market dimension of free software, knowing that it is not the only existing
dimension and that a battle is underway.
To end on this point, we must insist on the fact that by very construction, free
software does not belong to anyone, not even to its funders. The community is
always free to retrieve the source code and relaunch the software under a
different name, with another funding solution. Free software is common .
Free software, free and easy to access, for all common uses
For instant messaging, audio and video calls: Signal
Signal is an application for Android and iOS, allowing to communicate (voice and
video calls, text messages or media) in an encrypted and secure manner and whose
main goal is to ensure maximum confidentiality to its users. Alternative to
Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger or Telegram, it is developed by the American company
Signal Messenger, funded by the Signal Foundation, non-profit. It requires an
Internet connection (wifi or mobile Internet).
The application is also available on Windows, macOS and Linux, as a complement to
the mobile application (i.e. you must already use the version on a smartphone
before using the one on a PC).
To explore the web anonymously: the Tor browser
The Tor Browser (Tor browser, in French) is a web browser based on Mozilla
Firefox (alternative to Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, etc.) which allows
you to browse anonymously on the Tor anonymization network. It is developed by
The Tor Project and is available on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android ; on iOS you
must use Onion Browser.
For more details on how Tor works, see our article The Careless Don't Have Tor .
Be careful, some websites will work less well with Tor (captchas on entry, slow
loading of videos, etc.). It is therefore advisable to keep a more classic
browser alongside, such as Firefox or Brave (see below), and to test this second
browser if there is a problem with Tor.
Finally, it is also possible to use the Tor anonymization network to use software
other than web browsers (e-mail clients, F-Droid free application store, etc.).
For videoconferences: Jitsi Meet
Jitsi Meet, an alternative to Zoom for example, is an application that can be
used on the most common web browsers and allows videoconferencing. The video
streams are encrypted to maintain confidentiality in the exchanges. A Jitsi Meet
application is available on iOS and Android.
Jisti Meet allows screen sharing and the possibility for one person to listen to
the videoconference by calling a number (on certain instances only). There are
many instances to create a video conference with Jitsi Meet. We recommend
https://meet.jit.si/ as well as instances developed by KITTENS .
For web search: DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that seeks to preserve privacy and not to store any
personal information about users (IP addresses and digital traces such as browser
signature). It is also available as an app for mobile platforms, and there is
also a " hidden service " accessible only on Tor allowing optimal anonymity.
Only part of DuckDuckGo's source code is free. But it is so far the only at least
partially free search engine providing correct results for the general public.
DuckDuckGo's concern for respecting the personal data of Internet users is
sincere. In addition, the company devotes a large part of its revenues to finance
free projects (Tor, SecureDrop, Riseup, Tails, OpenStreetMap, F-Droid, Wikimedia,
etc.). Its presence in our list is therefore a compromise.
A less well-known but completely free and decentralized alternative is called
Searx . Searx is an intermediary that orders the requested search from Google and
sends the results back to the user (" metasearch engine "), eliminating all
possibility of Google listing and monitoring. Searx is therefore unfortunately
unable to exist without Google, while DuckDuckGo is independent. This does not
prevent Searx from being a promising and interesting project, effective in the
fight against surveillance, which must be followed closely.
To constitute a social network: Mastodon
Mastodon is a self-hosted, distributed, and focused social network and
microblogging software (like Twitter). It allows you to share messages (" pouets
" or toots in other languages including English), images and other content.
Instances are publicly available to facilitate its use.
UCL's Mastodon account: https://todon.nl/@ucl
We recommend the following bodies: https://framapiaf.org/ (which will however
close registrations in 2021, without closing the service) and https://mamot.fr/ .
On Android, we advise Tusky and Fedilab customers (free to download on F-Droid).
On a computer, the web interface is fine. For iOS, you can use Amaroq.
To work on texts with several people: Etherpad
Alternative to Google Docs, Etherpad is an online text editor that works in
collaborative mode and in real time.
It allows several people to share the simultaneous elaboration of a text, and to
discuss it in parallel, via instant messaging.
Extensions allow you to add functionalities: versioning, annotations, automatic
deletion after N days, etc.
We recommend the use of instances maintained by KITTENS .
There is also a collaborative spreadsheet project named EtherCalc , so we also
recommend using instances maintained by KITTENS .
For choosing and installing applications on Android: F-Droid
F-Droid is a store of free applications for Android operating systems and
derivatives. It is a free alternative to Google Play. It allows you to install
and update free applications on smartphones using Android or a derivative. The
apps for smartphones that we present here are (almost) all installable via F-Droid.
Finally, F-Droid can be configured to pass all its Internet traffic over the
anonymizing Tor network.
To install F-Droid, go to the official website , click on Download F-Droid, and
install the program by opening the downloaded .apk file and ignoring the Android
warnings (Google is trying to discourage you !).
Currently there is no real alternative to the App Store on iOS, Apple's system is
particularly locked.
What about electronic messaging ?
Electronic messaging services are very good allies of the technopolice. There are
solutions to exchange by email in a private and secure way, but unlike the tools
presented on this page, these have constraints and more difficult accessibility (
ProtonMail , RiseUp , GnuPG, etc.).
Thus, with a view to combating surveillance, we encourage you to look instead on
the instant messaging offered on this page.
To go further, other software to consider
Always free and free !
For encrypted SMS without Internet access: Silence
Silence is email encryption software. It allows the secure exchange of SMS and
MMS type messages with other Silence users. The Android app can work as a
replacement for the native Android messaging app.
Unlike the Signal application presented above, Silence allows you to exchange
encrypted messages without an Internet connection. It can therefore be used in
addition to Signal (which we recommend).
For browsing when Tor Browser is lacking: Firefox ...
Mozilla Firefox is a web browser, developed and distributed by the Mozilla
Foundation with the help of thousands of volunteers. This cross-platform software
is compatible with various versions of Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
Some important extensions, also free, to install to guarantee maximum security
and confidentiality [2]:
uBlock Origin : extension for Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Microsoft
Edge web browsers responsible for filtering the content of web pages in order to
block certain elements, in particular advertising banners. In addition to being
an antipub software, uBlock blocks the collection of browsing data.
HTTPS Everywhere : computer security extension for web browsers. It allows you to
automatically use HTTPS security on many sites.
Privacy Badger : is a plug-in for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome web browsers.
Its objective is to block advertising agencies and other third-party sites which
seek to know the pages visited by the Internet user. It also blocks tracker
cookies that do not respect the setting of the web browser.
Decentraleyes : protects against tracking linked to centralized " free "
content distributors .
... or Brave
Brave Browser ( https://brave.com/fr/ ) is a web browser that aims to protect
privacy by blocking trackers by default and promoting browsing via HTTPS pages
with the integration of the HTTPS Everywhere extension. It also incorporates two
private browsing modes, one of which is via Tor. The browser is available on
Windows, macOS and Linux as well as on iOS and Android.
For a social network like Facebook: Diaspora *
Diaspora is both a social network web application, and the distributed social
network that is based on this application. Each user of the network can choose to
register on one of the already existing diaspora * servers or to create their
own. This new server thus forms, with all the other servers, the Diaspora *
federation.
UCL's Diaspora * page: https://framasphere.org/u/ucl
We recommend the following instances: https://framasphere.org
For a video-based social network: Peertube
Peertube is a decentralized video hosting software thanks to peer-to-peer
broadcasting, developed and supported by the Framasoft association. It operates
on the principle of a federation of instances hosted by autonomous entities. Its
objective is to provide an alternative solution to centralized platforms such as
YouTube or Dailymotion. Since version 3, it supports live streaming.
UCL's Peertube account: https://peertube.social/accounts/ucl/video-channels
To find a video on all Peertube instances: https://sepiasearch.org/ .
For the activist agenda: Mobilizon
Mobilizon is an event organization and group management software launched in
October 2020 by Framasoft to offer a free alternative to GAFAM platforms
(Facebook events, Meet-Up, EventBrite).
Welcome portal and list of bodies: https://mobilizon.org/fr/
Events created by UCL: https://mobilizon.fr/@union_communiste_libertaire/events
For audio conferencing: Mumble
Mumble is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software. It is available on
Windows and Linux. On Android, we recommend the Mumla client. On iOS, the client
is simply called Mumble.
Jitsi Meet (presented above for video conferencing) can be used without cameras
and thus provide an audio conferencing-like experience ; but Mumble is optimized
for this use and can accommodate many more people (several hundred or thousand
people where Jitsi Meet will have trouble after a few dozen, even without cameras).
For chat rooms and video / audio calls: Element
Element (formerly Riot.im) is instant messaging software that uses Jitsi Meet to
provide integrated video conferencing. Element supports end-to-end encryption,
groups (called communities), rooms, and user-to-user file sharing. Registration
does not require a phone number. Access is possible from a web app, a desktop
client for all major operating systems and as a mobile app for Android and iOS.
The important differences with Signal which offers a similar service are that
Element is decentralized and you don't have to enter your phone number to use it.
For office automation: LibreOffice
Libreoffice is an office suite available on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and
iOS. It represents a very credible alternative to Microsoft's Office suite.
Among the software present in the Libreoffice suite:
Writer: word processing software (alternative to Mircosoft Word)
Calc: spreadsheet software (alternative to Microsoft Excel)
Impress: slide show software (alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint)
Draw: drawing software for simple illustrations (alternative to Microsoft Publisher)
For multimedia playback: VLC
VLC is a multimedia player (music, movies, etc.). This software is cross-platform
and works on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android. One of the great strengths of
VLC is that it integrates the necessary codecs to play most audio and video
formats, multitrack playback, stream playback, as well as many configuration options.
To go even further, some references
The UCL digital self-defense training booklet .
BOUM's digital self-defense guide .
The PRISM-Break web page .
KITTENS .
Framasoft .
April .
La Quadrature du Net .
The campaign against the Technopolice .
The report " All watched - 7 billion suspects ".
The report " Nothing to Hide ".
The book " The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, by Shoshana Zuboff ".
Validate
[1] Since it must always be possible to redistribute free software freely, and
therefore to redistribute it for free if desired, paid free software is in
practice extremely rare and in this case we pay more for support and
after-service. sale than the software itself. Conversely, a lot of proprietary
software is free. Free therefore has little to do with software freedom.
[2]There are several solutions to install an extension: in the " Tools " menu,
click on " Complementary modules " ; in the Firefox navigation bar type: about:
addons ; or type Ctrl + Shift + A
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Contre-le-capitalisme-de-surveillance-et-la-technopolice-le-logiciel-libre
------------------------------
Message: 2
We have to work most of our lives. Our efforts, time, ideas, successes and
failures are compressed into rubles, dollars and euros - impersonal banknotes,
which are constantly lacking to fulfill our desires and needs. Typically, work is
fraught with wage delays, employers' machinations, nervousness and humiliation
from idiotic rules and bosses fooling around. ---- https://antijob.net/manifest
---- That's how antijob.net, the most successful anarchist project from Russia,
starts it's manifest. It's a website where workers can leave a review on their
(ex-)bosses, helping each other in finding the job that sucks less. AGA took an
interview with the team behind it. ---- Tell us about the project, its history
and its mission. Why did you choose this format?
The project started in the early 2000s. More than 20 years have passed since the
first version of the site. It was created in a radical anarchist environment and
was designed for young people who had recently graduated from universities, but
instead of respect for the profession, they found exploitation and deception in
the labor market. These were the main users of the Internet in Russia at that time.
The aesthetics of the site, name and approach are a joke on the Job.ru portal, at
that time the largest job search service. It created the illusion of a stable
future, everything as usual - happy people in office clothes who are pursuing
their career aspirations and strive for some form of American-Russian
middle-class dream. In practice, for most of those looking for work in Russia,
there are no bright prospects and career aspirations. And if there is, then
reality quickly puts them in place.
Reality can be changed, but only the workers themselves can do this, if they
understand their position and will fight for better working conditions. The
mission of our collective is to promote "direct action" in solving labor
conflicts and create a place for coordination of forces in the class struggle, as
opposed to the judicial-bureaucratic system, which in fact acts in the interests
of our class enemies. To do this, we collect and distribute feedback, which is
the voice of the workers themselves. From these we form a database - the "black
list of employers", and the Internet indexing mechanisms help to spread it.
Tell us about the team behind the project.
The team has changed almost completely over the years, but the spirit of
anarchism, self-organization, revolutionary spirit and, to some extent, epatage,
have been preserved. Although less so than before. Today we are not promoting
"radical laziness" as a concept and theft of an employer's property as a method.
But now we are talking more about the trade union struggle and direct, acute,
conflicts between workers and employers.
For the most part, we all come from an anarchist environment, various political
projects or radical political music scenes. Some of the participants are over
thirty, some already have children, we are sedate, somewhat cynical, but we still
believe in the values of freedom, solidarity, in the fact that people can
organize themselves, draw conclusions from experience and create better kinds of
interaction and economy. Well, that one day we will be able to defeat capitalism,
the state, hierarchies and all this retrograde nonsense =)
Tell us about the specifics of the situation of workers in Russia and the
ex-USSR. What are the laws and practice of their application?
The specifics of Russia is that a rather large layer of laws and norms of the
times of the USSR remains, which the state selectively uses. Some laws look more
progressive on paper than in many countries, but they still work on the basis of
political will - as and when the powers that be. If the current policy is to
promote business, then employees will lose the courts, and they will turn a blind
eye to violations of the labor law, but if it is necessary to grease the "broad
masses", then employers will be screwed. In general, the levers of influence are
somewhere in the heavens.
There are trade unions in Russia, but mostly yellow ones. The largest of them is
the FPNR. This trade union is politically engaged with the current government and
acts as a labor regulator at the request of the top. It has significant resources
of property and political influence, which allows at the level of "service", such
as gifts and vouchers, to achieve some success and sometimes even carry out some
generally useful, albeit microscopic in scale, legislative initiatives. As with
all yellow organizations, this association cannot even be called "reformist",
because it has no reform goal.
Alternative trade unions are represented mainly by Novoprofs and KTR, these are
more workers' organizations that have influence. The cells carry out a social
agenda and in general they have a strong leftist connotation. They are not that
radical and use a wide range of methods from strikes to participation in a
tripartite commission (employers, trade unions, government officials) that agree
on legislative labor amendments. The trade unions we work with often belong to
these associations.
There are almost no radical trade unions, to some extent such can be called the
recently appeared Courier, whose organizational composition is from the left and
close to libertarian environment. Now they are also in the KTR, and using the
topic of platform capitalism and Coronavirus, they manage to catch media attention.
Labor issues in Russia are acute, the latest reform of the retirement age has
mobilized thousands of people in hundreds of cities for mass actions, caused a
wave of indignation, but did not lead to anything. We put forward the slogan of a
general strike, which was clearly supported "from below", but was pessimistically
assessed by the trade unions. As a result, the law was adopted with minimal
amendments. There is no culture of radical labor protest in Russia at the moment,
but we can not exclude that sooner or later this will result in something much
more radical than a series of rallies.
Tell us about the impact of the project on society and how it helps in the fight
against capital.
For those who write reviews, we help punish the employer - the review greatly
affects the reputation of the bosses. It is a very common situation that a former
employer pays debts to an employee, having seen a review about himself on
AntiJob, if only the employee cancels it. For those who read reviews, we help to
avoid cheating, non-payment of wages, etc. In short - the site has a large
database of "black employers", which is well indexed by searches with our help.
Anyone who got into our black list finds himself in the first results of a search
engine when typing in the name of the company. Thus, new employees and even
customers of the fraudulent company begin to bypass it, because the reviews are
shown above the information about the company itself.
We also highlight the underside of hired labor. We have rules - only negative
reviews get to the site and the employer is wrong by default. We call this the
employer's presumption of guilt. This is how we sift out the countless number of
self-praisers that splurge and prevent us from seeing existing problems.
This is useful not only for system critics. For the same employers and
politicians, this is an invaluable storehouse of refined information and feedback
that they apparently do not know how to use or do not want. We have more than one
hundred thousand reviews from several countries about various areas and companies
with direct speeches from employees, which allows us to make a good picture of
the specifics of work in various areas. And this picture is not very beautiful.
Reviews are not written by activists or politicians, it is easy to find common
problems on which left-wing activists and anarchists should build and adjust
their optics and rhetoric, these are not only problems with non-payment of wages,
but also an acute sense of disrespect, attitude as a thing, frustration -
everything that is easily described theoretically by alienation and class
contradictions.
We plan to work with this and our end goal is to bring people from the level of
presenting the problem to its politicization, and then to action.
Tell us about offline activity around your project.
One of the important offline channels is stickers. We send dozens of envelopes
with stickers by regular mail to everyone for free. So those who wish can tag a
black employer or simply decorate the streets of their city.
At the beginning of the project, our stickers were spread by dozens of
anarcho-groups throughout Russia. By the way, this was a good promotion - in
those cities where the biggest spreading happened, we still have the highest
visitors count. The secret of success - the stickers were not politicized and
simply offered to add their employer to the blacklist. And since there are a lot
of dumb employers, the stickers almost were not removed and hung for years at
stops and in public transport.
Formally, the site's team does not conduct other offline activities due to
anonymity, but for some time we have actively promoted not only the idea of
organizing trade unions (rather as a concept), but also the organization of
"Solidarity Networks" cells - groups that dealt with labor conflicts on the ground.
Such existed at different times in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Voronezh,
Nizhny Novgorod, Irkutsk, Barnaul.
Some of the actions were successful, they managed to apply pressure in a
super-direct format. This was unexpected for employers and atypical even for the
police, who rarely intervened. Similar projects periodically flare up again.
Recently, a group in the same format, "Moscow Syndicate", appeared in Moscow,
that operates as a Solidarity Network. We did not participate in its
organization, but we are always happy to support them with information. We are
monitoring this activity and will promote it whenever possible.
Does your team has security risks? There is a constant repressions against
activists in Russia. Do you feel pressure from the bosses?
We keep the team anonymous. This is directly related to safety, but equally from
the state and employers. There is no great interest from state structures in us.
So far there is no experience for someone to be arrested or tracked down for
involvement in the project, even despite some politicization. But we are ready
for such a turn.
It's more difficult with bosses. They are directly interested in a conflict with
us. We do not delete reviews, sometimes we were offered thousands of euros for
"cleaning up reputation". Of course, for this money, they can find ways to
pressure us in different ways, physically or legally. There was a precedent when
information was leaked on one of the foreign comrades, who was considered the
"owner of the antijob" (including clearly personal and clearly related to police
data) and they tried to shake us. But in the end they failed.
We are periodically attacked, DDOSed, and sometimes even hacked. Because of this,
we had to pump up security a lot and switch to a new project engine. In general,
considering the circumstances, we are constantly scared, that somewhere in the
site we have security holes and we can be hacked. If among those who read the
text there are comrades who are fond of penetrate testing, we are always grateful
for information on vulnerabilities and possible fixes on our website.
We are being sued, in the databases of the courts you can find countless claims
against the site for "harm to business reputation", "disclosure of personal
data", "libel" and so on. Courts go on without us and sometimes even make
decisions. Those who threaten to block the site reach us. But not all. For
example, we were blocked without notification in Belarus and Kazakhstan. There
have been no precedents of police prosecution based on court decisions yet. But
if we had some kind of official form of organization, undoubtedly, we would have
to leave a lot of nerves and money for legal nuances.
Anonymity greatly hinders further promotion and basic collection of resources. We
can even make permanent donations to the site only if we find or create a legal
entity. But if we create it, then we will get a lot of problems -[such is the fork].
What about your future plans. You recently started crowdfunding campaign, what do
you want to do next?
Our minimum plan is to drive all "competitive" commercial feedback websites into
a hole from which they will not get out. There is a lot of them. The demand for
reputation cleansing creates supply. Sometimes it gets to the point of absurdity
and someone copies all the available information from our site, making a similar
domain. Sometimes they even buy ads to push us to lower positions in the search.
This is done because there is a problem with working in Russia, and traffic can
be monetized. Also, if you do not have a political position, you can also take
money for removing reviews.
We have a brand and a reputation, but we strive for convenience and usefulness.
Now we are developing a new version of the site, which will be more complex and
more difficult to copy, but at the same time much more useful and user-friendly
than crude fakes. To do this, we carried out crowdfunding, some of which still
goes on the firefund.
We also plan to create a full-fledged platform that will help to collect
important information about labor issues, and then help deceived workers to
coordinate. Plus is may involve trade unions and other projects that operate in
the field of labour. This will undoubtedly require a lot of time and resources in
the future, but it can potentially give an opportunity to operate not only in
Russia. Now, in this regard, we are building cooperation with the local trade
union of workers in the technological sphere, where there are IT engineers who
are also interested in such a project.
We have a strong suspicion that there are labor problems in almost all countries,
as well as the desire of people to share them. Especially if this can affect the
employer's reputation. Our project cannot go global simply by adding a
translation to the site. To be useful to users abroad, you need knowledge of the
language for moderation, understanding of local legislation, the nuances of
requests and local problems. However, we urge to create similar web projects of
comrades from other countries, contact us, exchange experience, assess problems
and then look for integration opportunities for joint development and saving
resources (including development labor resources). We would like to take
advantage of the platform effect that today gives a lot of power to corporations,
but change it, make it a local initiative, while maintaining the advantages of
"scale" and economy on resources.
https://www.agamsterdam.org/interview-with-the-team-behind-antijob-net/
------------------------------
Message: 3
There are so many excluded from the salary increase promised by the " Ségur de la
santé " that the signatory federations of the agreement - FO, CFDT and Unsa - are
biting their fingers. The others continue the fight ! ---- The second wave of
Covid-19 left no respite for health workers, for whom there was no " truce for
confectioners " ... But the protest, it too, knows no respite. We demonstrated on
December 3 in Île-de-France, then a national day of action took place on December
15. At the heart of the discontent: the poor 183 euros of salary increase granted
at the end of the " Ségur de la santé ". ---- For the record, the five
federations representing the public hospital - CGT, FO, CFDT, UNSA and SUD - were
invited to the negotiations at the Ministry of Health, avenue de Segur, Paris 7
th . In fact, SUD-Santé-sociaux slammed the door as soon as Nicole Notat (the
ex-shock boss of the CFDT), charged by Macron with chairing Ségur, announced that
she had no control over the financial resources.
Indeed, the central demand of the personnel in struggle, carried in particular by
the Inter-emergency collective, is an increase of 300 euros. During the
negotiations, the ministry gave the choice: 300 euros for the caregivers and
nothing for the others, or 183 euros " for everyone ". Finally, FO, CFDT and Unsa
signed for it. The CGT rejected the agreement after consulting its unions.
There remain therefore two federations in the fight: SUD and CGT, which were
quick to show that the " 183 euros for everyone " actually excluded many people !
The medico-social sector - including when it is in the hospital public service -
may not be concerned. Ditto for home services or addiction centers, most of which
are found outside the perimeter. As for personnel in training for professional
development, they are also excluded ! The only good news: while the Ségur did not
concern the social sector, some collective social agreements have included the
183 euros increase.
Must read before signing
As a result, the FO, CFDT and Unsa federations seem a bit like buzzards. As if
they hadn't read the agreement before signing. Panicked, FO is now agitating in
its fiefdoms to integrate the excluded services into the " 183 euros ". It makes
the management laugh a lot, who have sometimes responded to FO leaflets,
explaining that they themselves would never have signed for such a gas plant. FO
also complained to the ministry that people in " professional promotion " were
excluded... and the ministry replied that there was nothing more they could do,
while acknowledging that the situation was abnormal !
Also annoyed that the additional 45 euros that will be allocated to caregivers "
in the patient's bed " do not concern social workers for example, the CFDT made a
demonstration (all alone) for the 183 euros for all ...
At this stage, each union is mobilizing in its fiefdoms, in a poorly coordinated
way for the moment. The next national day of action is being organized for
January 21 !
Solow (UCL Grand-Paris sud)
Logo copyright: Photothèque Rouge / JMB
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Sante-Le-bluff-honteux-des-183-euros-pour-tout-le-monde
------------------------------
Message: 4
For some time, as a contributor to the anarcho-syndicalist newspaper Fragua
Social - the organ of expression of the Levante Regional Confederation of the
CNT-AIT - I have read very carefully the Magazine of Ideas Ácratas Orto , and I
have seen fit to write and to collaborate, as well as to write in the same
direction as the articles that were published with the titles: In defense of
anarcho-syndicalism and The liquidation of the CNT, with which I find myself
in close agreement. ---- However, in the face of this history of liquidation,
there is a story apart from all these outrages that is led by the CNT-AIT, which
was never destroyed or deviated from its principles, tactics and purposes and of
which today we will tell its story.
As is well known, for more than ten years, many CNT unions have been expelled or
have publicly declared in defense of the CNT-AIT, due to the very fact that the
CNT-CIT has decided to voluntarily violate not only their own agreements of
Congress, but its principles and its revolutionary action.
In this sense, many unions were expelled or disbanded from the CNT, among them
the unions of Motril, Cádiz, Chiclana de la Frontera , Seville, Camas, Velez de
Benaudalla, Huelva, Albacete, Alcoi, Sagunto, La Plana, La Marina Alta, Elda,
Gandía, Tarragona, Telecommunications and Computer Services of Madrid, Vigo,
Pontevedra, Ponteareas, Vilagarcía de Arousa, Lugo, A Corunha, Torrelavega,
Granada, and recently the Local Federation of Madrid with the unions of Various
Trades, Teaching and Social Intervention and Metal, Mining and Chemicals and
Puerto Real.
Of all these defenseless anarcho-syndicalist unions, some unions, in 2015, began
the path of restructuring the CNT-AIT, as a result of the attacks that the CNT
Committees, both at the Confederal and regional levels, occupied by reformist
elements, had directed against anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism within the
Organization.
However, with the expulsion of most of the unions from the Levante Regional of
the CNT-AIT, the convening of a National Conference of Trade Unions of the
CNT-AIT arose in Madrid on June 25 and 26, 2016, in the The vast majority of
unions from the Levante Regional of the CNT-AIT participated. The most important
conclusion that was reached in this Conference was to establish an Organization
directly heir to the principles, tactics and purposes of the CNT-AIT among those
unions that had been expelled from the CNT in a totally fraudulent manner, a
situation to which added the totally reformist, authoritarian, top-down and
professional drift of the CNT, today CIT.
The development of these conclusions resulted in the convocation of a Confederal
Congress of the CNT-AIT in Benissa that was held on November 4, 5 and 6, 2016,
where the Principles, Tactics and Purposes of the CNT and the AIT were ratified.
, and a new Confederal Congress was convened to be held in Villalonga, where the
Organization would be restructured and membership of the AIT would be requested.
From December 2 to 4, 2016, the XXVI Congress of the AIT was held in Warsaw
(Poland), where among many other agreements it was discussed and it was agreed to
terminate the CNT, FAU and USI for non-payment of fees. During this Congress, two
delegations from the CNT and a delegation from the CNT-AIT were present, the
first two made up of the direct delegation of the CNT, made up of Genis Ferrero,
and a delegation, as observers, made up of militants from the Local Federation of
Madrid and Granada. On the other hand, the CNT-AIT delegation was made up of
militants from the Levante Regional, mandated by the Benissa Congress.
However, there were many reasons aside from their economic commitments to the
International to expel the CNT, FAU and USI, since they had promoted an
International Conference in Barakaldo with the intention of promoting a split
within the international that finally it has come to call the International
Confederation of Workers, and that is nothing more and nothing less than the
result of a series of betrayals, which have culminated in the attempt to
liquidate the international organization and its sections.
The Confederal Congress of the CNT-AIT in Villalonga was held from April 13 to
16, 2017, and the results of its sessions were the approval and ratification of
the Principles, Tactics and Purposes of the CNT, request for adhesion and
ratification of membership of the AIT, approval of some Statutes and Organic
Regulations, and the request to join the AIT.
A few months later, the Extraordinary Congress of the AIT was held in Belgrade
(Serbia) from 3 to 5 November 2017. Congress in which the CNT-AIT was represented
with a direct delegation, and in which its adherence to the AIT and it was
recognized as legitimate and historical heir to the CNT-AIT. Thus, the Confederal
Congress of the CNT-AIT, the Plenary of Regionals and Trade Unions of the CNT-AIT
held in Albacete, and the Congress of the AIT in Belgrade (Serbia) completed the
restructuring process of the CNT-AIT, and in which it can be said that finally
the waters returned to their true channels.
In this context of restructuring, the CIT in Spain is immersed in a process of
liquidation, while the CNT-AIT continues to grow with the adhesion of more and
more unions to its federation and the creation of more confederal nuclei.
However, even though the CIT expected the elimination and disappearance of the
unions it expelled, the CNT-AIT turned them into opposition unions ready to
fight. This situation led the Permanent Secretariat of the Confederal Committee
of the CNT-CIT in Spain, Enrique Hoz, behind the back of his entire organization,
to mandate a lawyer from Seville in 2018 in order to sue seven unions of the
CNT-AIT before the Social Courts of Albacete, Castellón, Alicante, Denia,
Valencia and Cádiz. The unions sued were: Albacete, Alcoy, La Marina Alta, La
Plana, Sagunto, Gandía and Cádiz.
Luckily, the CIT lawyer, Vicente González Escribano, a professional of dubious
competencies, did not succeed in any of these seven lawsuits to be successful in
any Social Court. What forced him to present withdrawals in front of all the
initiated procedures.
Two years after these attacks, and with a CNT-AIT, which, far from disappearing,
is growing with new incorporations, such as the accessions of the unions of Vega
Baixa, Cartagena, Murcia, the four unions of the CNT-AIT Catalunya, organized in
the CNT-AIT, they are repeated, but, this time, in front of the National Court.
In the middle of this year 2020, the CIT has again sued several unions of the
CNT-AIT, for the use of the CNT acronym. The reformist and authoritarian drift of
the CIT has its culmination in the judicial persecution, of the CNT-AIT, before
the old Court of Public Order of the Franco regime, which since it was
constituted was in charge of persecuting anarchist and anti-Franco militants.
The collaboration and the dirty work that the CIT is doing to the State and
capitalism is served. These new attacks resonate the hour that the
anarcho-syndicalist militancy knows how to rise to the occasion, defend
anarcho-syndicalism in the Iberian Peninsula and unmask its false
representatives, but above all demonstrate that the destruction of the CN-AIT not
only does not It may be done by trying to snatch our legitimacy on an acronym, a
historical heritage and a memory, but rather by demonstrating that the CNT-AIT
and anarcho-syndicalism have their true heritage in their anarchist and
anarcho-syndicalist ideas and in their militancy, without this implying that in
that many terrain and many of us will fight.
Magazine "Orto", nº 199
http://elmilicianocnt-aitchiclana.blogspot.com/2021/01/memoria-de-un-testigo.html
------------------------------
Message: 5
In December, the ACG held its annual dayschool, Libertarian Communism 2020. This
year's event was online and the topic for the day was nationalism, the nation
state and class struggle. For those of you who couldn't make it on the day,
here's the audio podcast: ---- Class Not Nation (scroll down the playlist) ----
Here's the blurb for the event: ---- The nation state creates the illusion that
the people who live within certain physical borders are united politically,
economically, and culturally. However, this is not the case and belief in this
illusion has led to many in the working class to support their rulers and bosses
more than their fellow workers who are not identified as belonging to this
nation. Though understandably groups of people who have been exploited and
oppressed under colonialism want to free themselves, the end result is the
substitution of another oppressive State, just with different people in charge.
Whilst many people understandably identify with the place they live, the way in
which nationalism as an ideology has developed makes it very difficult to develop
any sense of working class internationalism. Political and social movements have
been diverted from fighting the real enemy- the capitalist class- and instead
have focused on another state or another group or people as the cause of their
situation. This can be seen all over the world - the conflict in Yugoslavia,
Hindu/Muslim clashes in India, the horrendous genocide in Rwanda/Burundi and the
hatred and violence against immigrants in the UK. Though the nationalism of
Scotland and Catalonia may seem less dangerous, it is based on the same premises:
that an independent Scotland or Catalonia will be better for all and workers
stand side by side with the ruling class.
Nationalism is a form of identity politics: the belief that by sharing a
particular identity, eg being Scottish, English, Welsh or whatever, that you
automatically share certain essential characteristics. People may experience
certain forms of exploitation and oppression because of having a particular
identity, eg not being able to speak your own language or even genocide. However,
this situation is based on the structural and material situation that people live
in and has nothing to do with eternal or essentialist characteristics of
different groups of people. The only way out of the situation is to see things in
terms of class with the enemy being capitalism. This does not mean that
identifying yourself as working class is enough - and repeating the same mistakes
of other forms of identity politics. Rather it is seeing that there is a
particular relationship between capital and labour that leads to exploitation. In
the end we want to abolish class as well - ending all exploitative and oppressive
relationships such that all that is left is human beings living in a free and
equal society.
Libertarian Communism 2020 will consider all these issues, aiming to find ways of
combatting nationalism and working towards a working class internationalism.
Speakers will address the question of nationalism generally and then the next
speakers will focus on nationalism in Catalonia (with a speaker from the CNT in
Spain) and in Scotland.
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2021/01/18/class-not-nation-podcast/
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Message: 6
In recent days, the storm Filomena has brought Madrid the heaviest snowfall since
1971 , collapsing the snow streets and dropping temperatures enormously. This
extreme situation is showing us how the management of its effects puts the needs
of capital and the most privileged sectors of society first and the most excluded
and impoverished sectors last. ---- We have seen the most extreme case of this
situation in the Cañada Real de Madrid. This area of irregularly built houses had
been suffering power cuts for months from the Naturgy company (formerly Gas
Natural Fenosa). The company relies on the overconsumption of several alleged
marijuana plantations illegally connected to the network, to leave an entire
neighborhood of extremely vulnerable families without electricity. For their
part, the residents of the neighborhood have organized demonstrations and rallies
calling for the reestablishment of electricity and being able to pay for it.
The consequences of the cut show that it poses a real risk to its inhabitants:
there have been dozens of cases of gas poisoning , burns, children with frostbite
symptoms, anxiety attacks and suicide attempts, according to the inhabitants of
the glen themselves.
If the arrival of the storm Filomena has been catastrophic throughout the city,
keeping the Cañada without electricity now only unmasks the criminal management
of Naturgy, which even in this emergency is reluctant to reconnect the Cañada (
here and here ) putting its interests above access to an essential resource for
one of the most vulnerable populations in Madrid in a context as serious as the
current one.
The government and the rest of the State institutions have shown with their
inaction, and allowing the 27% rise in electricity in the midst of the cold wave,
that their role is to serve and protect the interests of capital, and especially
that of the large Spanish transnationals with which our political class has a
close connection .
This state management also puts on the table the limits of the United Podemos
social democracy, which campaigned saying that it would defend the most
vulnerable population and, in particular, that it would lower the cost of
electricity. However, since his entry into government, the only thing he is
achieving is to adorn with lukewarm and insufficient social measures the
management of a government entirely at the service of Capital as a whole and in
particular of large companies.
On the other hand, the Community of Madrid, which is responsible for Health
competencies, has completely ignored the Health Emergency that is occurring and
refuses to treat it as such.
The Madrid city council, on the other hand, has wanted to treat the inhabitants
of the cañada as homeless people and the only solution it has provided is to host
them in a municipal shelter, exposing them much more to COVID-19 in the middle of
the third wave of the pandemic . The inhabitants of the Cañada do not need a
roof, they already have one, what they need is light and to be able to heat
themselves.
From the nuclei of the Libertarian Student Federation of Madrid, we want to join
all the groups and associations that are showing solidarity with La Cañada and
demanding that they give them back the light (now, due to the extreme situation
we live in, and always, because it is a service essential for a decent life).
We encourage you to publicize this situation, since the media silence and the
criminalization and stigmatization with which the media usually treat this
population are the first accomplices of Naturgy's abuses. We also encourage to
collaborate to the extent of the possibilities of each one in the solidarity
initiatives that are taking place. From donations of warm clothing to financial
donations.
We also support the initiatives of boikot Naturgy (aka Gas Natural Fenosa) like this:
Finally, for more information, we encourage you to follow @mujerestabadol and
@juventud_canada to know first-hand their situation and the support or claim
initiatives that they promote.
Only the people save the people!
PS: We do not want to end this position without denouncing how all political
parties (except for Vox) are breaking with the Cañada Real Regional Pact signed
in May 2017.
https://felestudiantil.org/2021/01/solidaridad-con-la-canada-real/
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