LONDON CALLING

MARCH 28/09 // 
MILITANT WORKERS: DIRECT ACTION BLOC
‘Put People First’ Anti-G20 demonstration, 11am Central London

As the financial crisis has spurred a global economic recession the reality of the situation is being faced by us all – price hikes and wage cuts, job losses, spiralling debt and repossessions. The institutions of government and global finance are making us pay for their mistakes, giving themselves hefty bonuses for the privilege. As big banks get billions of our money to bail them out, the Post Office is threatened with privatisation and mass redundancies to claw back the pension hole! Government and bosses, while protecting their own interests, are steadily losing their grip as the anger of the working class becomes more and more apparent after a decade of enforced ‘social peace’.

Putting working class anger first

The recent wildcat strikes at the Lindsay Oil Refinery saw workers take action for themselves, without union backing. Thousands of workers across the country walked out in sympathy strikes – a practice still outlawed under the Thatcherite anti-trade union laws. No repercussions were suffered by the workers – a lesson to us all.  And although we oppose such slogans as “British Jobs for British Workers”, we do not dismiss the experiences, anger and positive action of those workers to develop a pro-working class position, based not on capitalism’s demands for inter-worker competition, but on international class solidarity. If we want social change we must fight without prejudice for it.

Solidarity is not a word but a weapon

Our purpose is to put direct action at the core of any fightback – against the repossessions and redundancies that we will face over the coming months and years, to restate our commitment for an international unity amongst all working class people regardless of nationality, race, sexuality or religion. We stand shoulder to shoulder with all those who
take direct action against their current situation (against the state and its institutions, against the bosses and the capitalism they cling to), and confront those who seek to hinder or recuperate that action – fascist parties like the BNP, government forces, the trade union elite and the corporate media. The memory of the miners strike, Wapping, Poll tax lingers long and hard.  2009 is our summer of rage – we are only as strong as the power we give ourselves.

Join the direct action bloc on the Put People First mass demonstration on Saturday March 28th. Meet in Victoria Embankment Gardens, 11am. Look for the red and black flags.

APRIL 1/09 // RECLAIM THE MONEY
Meet in the Square Mile (London’s Financial centre) to take back what’s ours

World leaders, including Barak Obama, are set to meet at Docklands Excel Centre in London’s East End, for the G20 financial summit on April 2nd, to sort out the global crisis they themselves conspired to create. While unemployment escalates along with debt and poverty – we are told to tighten our belts, not to complain, to have faith in bankers, bosses and politicians, these leaders are preparing the biggest shake up in the history of capitalism since the 1930s. We can only imagine what is on offer as their solution – from the people that brought us wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, from the heads of economies that continue to concentrate the world’s wealth in the hands of a tiny minority from the obscene rich and powerful who continue to steal the products of our labour and time, forcing us to fight amongst ourselves for what’s left.

We are living in uncertain, dangerous times, where we can either allow our futures, and the future of our children, to be decided by the same class of people that have brought us into this crisis (and continue to profit from our misery) or we can decide to get rid of the lot of them and organise society differently – for our own benefit and of the benefit of those around us; those we work with, those we live with, for a future based on our collective needs.

We are their crisis
Let’s make this a chance for a fundamental change in society. Let’s reclaim the history of working class struggle for a new free world, for a global human community fit for all, not the undeserving rich elite who are happy to see our lives ruined if it means that they stay in charge and at the top.

Join thousands of disgruntled, angry, pissed off people on the streets of the financial district. As the bankers continue to cream off billions of pounds of our money let’s put the call out – RECLAIM THE MONEY, storm the banks and send them packing.  April 1st in the square mile, City of London financial district

APRIL 2/09 // G20 London Summit, Excel Centre, Docklands
A day of fucking up the summit and other adventures. Be warned. Be aware. Be ready!

FROM HERE
Posted in U.K. | Comments Off on LONDON CALLING

Protesters clash with police in Volos, Greece

 

 

Protesters calsh with police in Volos, Greece suite the demonstration two days ago in Larissa.

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Protesters clash with riot police during insurgent prisoner’s trial in Larissa, Greece

Clashes erupted between protesters in solidarity to V. Pallis (Βαγγέλης Πάλλης) in the
greek city of Larissa during his trial over the prison uprising in
Malandrino in April 2007

 

Clashes erupted on Monday 23/3 between protesters and riot police
during the disciplinary trial of Vagelis, a veteran prison
activist and symbol of the prison abolition struggle in Greece who was
tried for his role in the uprising at the prison of Trikala in April
2007. The uprising which began at special security prison of Malandrino
and spread to all greek prisons at the time, and was met by ruthless
repression, was ignited after guards brutalised the anarchist prisoner
Yannis Dimitrakis. Pallis defended himself citing that at Trikala the
10 square meter cells house over 48 inmates although they are meant for
only 16. Although guards verified this testimony, the court ruled a
three year penalty for Pallis, infuriating the solidarity protesters.

During the clashes that erupted between protesters in solidarity to
the prison activist and riot police forces two protesters were
seriously injured and hospitalised. The riot police attacked the demo
outside the courts and the fighting spread into the center of the city
where many protesters sought refuge in the Medical School premises.
Despite threats to lift the academic asylum, the protesters were
allowed to leave after several hours of siege. There have been 9
detentions but no arrests.

from here

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Manifestation à Paris 19.03.2009

        

 

Ni dieu Ni maître

et surtout pas Sarko

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à Paris 19.03.2009

Demonstrations have been held in about 200 French towns and cities. French unions have claimed that up tothree million people have taken part in street protests amid a national strike against France’s economic policies.We won’t pay for their crisis! We are their crisis!

 

 

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WHEN THEY MESS WITH ONE OF US – THEY MESS WITH ALL OF US

K. KUNEVA – video: a chronicle of events

film edited and produced by the Black Bloggers_

title song: Downpressor Man by Sinéad OConnor

 

 

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London Solidarity Event for Konstantina Kuneva

Konstantina Kuneva is a female, single mother, migrant worker and grassroots syndicalist who was attacked  with sulphuric acid by employer-hired thugs in late December 2008. She has suffered major injuries and is being treated in intensive care in Athens since. The attack happened in the aftermath of the December revolt, and the solidarity response of the movement was vigorous and dynamic throughout the country. Fund raising events are still taking place in various greek cities because of the urgent need for money, that will allow Konstantina to travel to the USA for an elaborate and very expensive opperation, which her only chance to have some of her basic bodily functions restored.


Benefit event for Konstantina: Screenings, discussion, food and live
music on
 
Friday March 13 from 5 to 11 at 100 Flowers squat, 2A Belgrade Road, Dalston N16 8DJ
 
The event is organised jointly by Greek comrades in solidarity, local Turkish/Kurdish workers organizations, and comrades from NorthEast London squats.

For more info on Konstantina’s case, most of the greek texts that have been translated into english can be found in the following link

 
 
 
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Konstantina KUNEVA – Κωνσταντινα ΚΟΥΝΕΒΑ

This is the bank account for raising money

to help Konstantina in her very difficult condition:

  • Account Nr. 5012 019021 277 PIREOS BANK
  • IBAN: GR 28 0172 0120 0050 1201 9021 277
  • BIC: PIRBGRAA
  • under the name of DECHEVA ELENA KUNEVA KOSTADINKA NIKOLOVA.

On December 23, sulphuric acid was thrown at the face of Konstantina Kuneva as she was returning home from work. Konstantina is in the intensive care ward of Evangelismos hospital suffering serious sight and respiratory system problems.

Who was Konstantina? Why was she attacked?

Konstantina is one among the hundreds of female immigrant workers who have been working for years as cleaners. She is general secretary of the Panattic Union of Cleaners and Domestic Personnel. She is a militant union organizer, well known for her stance against various bosses. Just last week she had a clash with the employer company “OIKOMET” when she demanded for herself and the rest of her colleagues to get paid the whole amount of money of her Christmas bonus. She also denounced illegal procedures in payments. Just a short while ago the same company fired her mother in an act of revenge against her and she got herself an unfavourable transfer to Marousi station. There is also a case of a three-part meeting in the Labour Inspection Office still pending on the 5-1-2009 concerning a denouncement of hers. Situations like these are not at all rare in the field of cleaning and employee lending companies. It’s exactly the opposite. This is the rule when it comes to cleaning company contractors: delayed contracts, stolen wages, stolen overtime payments, differences between contract assets and what the employee actually gets paid, selection of almost exclusively immigrant male and female workers with green card status (legal residency in Greece ranging from 1 to 5 years – in most cases only 1 year) so they can be held in a state of hostageship, social security benefits that are never attributed. All these under the support of the public sector and enterprises which are aware, incite and support working conditions reminiscent of the middle ages. OIKOMET in particular, a cleaning company with enterprises all over Greece and owned by Nikitas Oikonomakis who is a member of PASOK (Greek Socialist Party), “officially” employs 800 workers – on the other hand, workers say that their number is at least twice as much and during the last 3 years the turnover amounts to 3000). Illegal procedures on the part of the employer company are on the everyday list. To be more specific, employees sign “blank page contracts” and they are never given a copy of them. They work 6 hours a day but get paid for 4,5 (including stamp) because in this way they appear to be working less than 30 hours per week on paper and the boss is not forced to include them in the “higher stamp category”. Employees get terrorized, they get unfavourable transfers, they get fired and blackmailed into resigning voluntarily (a female employee was threatened by her employer into signing her resignation after being held for 4 hours in a space owned by the company). The boss organised a “yellow” (company) union in order to manipulate employees while he fires and hires people as he wishes, ruling out any prospect of communication inside the workplace or collective action.

What is the connection between OIKOMET and ISAP?

OIKOMET has been assigned as a contractor the cleaning of ISAP (as well as the cleaning of other public sector and corporations) because it can “provide” the cheapest deal that includes the highest level of exploitation and devaluation of work. This “regime” of “offer and demand” is based on public sector organisations such as ISAP. ISAP is an accomplice in maintaining this regime of crude exploitation despite repeated denouncements by the union. The murderous attack against our colleague was an act of revenge and had the intent to serve as an example. The target was not coincidental. Female, immigrant, militant union organizer, mother of an underage child, she was the most vulnerable for the bosses. The method was not coincidental. It resembles “dark” ages and aims to “brand”, to serve as an example and terrorize us. The time chosen was not coincidental. The media, the political parties, the Church, businessmen and union bosses have been trying to ridicule the social movement that has taken the form of an explosion and talk about the cold-blooded murder of 15-year-old Alexandros as the result of a bullet getting redirected. In this pretext, the attack on Konstantina is lost in the everyday news. This murderous attack on the part of the employers was well-planned.

Konstantina is one of us.

Her struggle for DIGNITY and SOLIDARITY is also our struggle.

The attack on Konstantina has left a mark in all our hearts. It has left a mark in our memory as have done the racist pogroms, the concentration camps for immigrants, the attacks by thugs working for the state, the workplace accidents, the people murdered by the state, the working conditions that resemble galleys, the purges, the lay-offs and the terror. All these show the long way ahead for the social and class struggle.

Our hearts are filled with sorrow and rage and one sentence comes to our lips:

MURDERERS, YOUR TIME WILL COME

THE EMPLOYERS TERROR SHALL NOT PASS

 

SOLIDARITY ASSEBLEY FOR KONSTANTINA KUNEVA

 

gr en

 

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Subcomandante Marcos of EZLN salutes revolted Greece

First Wind – A Dignifited Raged Youth
 
 
 


 
Venceremos
 
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