That Was A Great March!!!

         I wrote this article away back on October 24th. 2010, I still hold that same opinion, marches and rallies will never achieve any meaningful change. It way well publicise your cause, make you feel good, but don't expect the government to be too bothered by your colourful and boisterous march/rally.  

 They are laughing at you.

       I was at the mass “demonstration and rally” against the cuts, held in Edinburgh on Saturday 23^rd. The figure was put at about 20,000, it was very colourful with lots of banners fluttering in the stiff breeze. As we marched down Princes Street it seemed to be a very sombre, quiet and sedate affair, we could have been following a funeral. At this point a comrade turned to me and in a cynical manner stated, “This will have them shaking in their shoes.”  When was the last time a government in this country changed its policies because of mass demonstrations and rallies? It certainly wasn’t the Iraq war, it went ahead in spite of the largest demonstrations seen in Britain and across the world for many a year. It wasn’t the poll tax, the poll tax disappeared because of civil disobedience, non-payment and grass roots organisation and the marches and rallies turned to riots. Around 11am. on Thursday 21^st. 11 people occupied a large bank in Glasgow city centre and closed the bank for a couple of hours. They left before there were any arrests. Those 11 probably had a greater impact than the 20,000, though the 20,000 gave a lot of police officers some easy overtime payment.

       If you want a government to move in a particular direction then you have to have strategies other than marching from A to B waving your banners and shouting at the selective deaf. Selective targets, boycotts, work to rule, occupying and selective picketing have to be among your weapons, Surprise and unpredictability are the hallmarks of good planning, mass rallies may politicise more people and can be a gauge of the support for a particular idea but are hopeless weapons by themselves if you are trying to implement change.

           If everybody at that demonstration and rally went back to their community and workplace and organised to fight at that level, in federation with other communities and workplaces, it would have a far greater effect than organising another and bigger demonstration and rally in a few months time. The struggle for change has to be every day and everywhere.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk     

Boycott Workfare.

     We all know that the real reason for "workfare" is to drive up corporate profits and drive down wages. All the crap about helping the unemployed, and training them for a job, is just an attempt to put a badge of respectability on what is  plain and simple, slave labour. The corporate greed merchants have nothing but praise for their millionaire friends in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, for coming up with such a lucrative scheme. They probably thought that they would never again get free workers legally in this country, but here we are, in the 21st century UK and the government is handing them thousands of free slaves to fatten their shareholders bank accounts.

     We can stop this abuse of our people with solidarity, if together we boycott and picket all those whose greedy hands grasp at this inhumanity. They don't want anything that might hurt their pockets. We must realise it is not just a problem for the unemployed, it is also a problem for the employed. This slave labour scheme depresses incomes of those in employment and also hinders those looking for work. Why give a job to a person looking for a wage, when you can get one to work for free?

This from Boycott Workfare: 

 

12.30-1.30pm, Monday 2nd December, outside the ERSA workfare industry conference, Senate House, Malet Street, London (nearest tubes: Russell Square, Warren Street, Euston), 

facebook event here

     (Can’t make it to London? Take part in the week of action where you are.)

     On 2nd December, those driving forced labour for unemployed people on the government’s workfares schemes are getting together in one place for their annual conference. Be there too to show them that their days of vast profits for abusing the poorest people in the UK are numbered.

     The workfare industry is already on the backfoot. The government’s flagship ‘Work Programme’ which promised to hand £5 billion to this sector – whose profits are wholly subsidised by public funds – has failed. The industry failed to meet even the minimum targets and tens of thousands have returned to the Jobcentre as the two year stint comes to an end.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Sports Direc And Zero Hours Contracts.

      We all know, or should know, that the "zero hours" contracts are a direct road to deprivation and an employers dream. Some firms are just dipping their toes in, while others are grasping the opportunity with both sweaty, greedy hands. Sports Direct is in there with both hands milking the con with gusto. This firm employs 90% of its staff on "zero hours" contracts. There employees are onto, no job security, no guarantee income, no ability to plan their week. They are there at the whim of the boss, business is slow, just go home and I'll phone when I need you, is the way the game is played. This type of contract has to be stopped and stores like Sports Direct have to feel the anger of the people by boycott and picket. The only way they will abandon this unjust means of employing people will be if it hurts their pocket.

    In the meantime 38 Degrees, are backing a court case against Sports Direct being taken out by an ex-employee. and are asking for your support:

    Can you chip in just £1 to help fund the case against Sports Direct?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/the-people-vs-sports-direct
        It’s the people vs Sports Direct. Companies abusing zero hours contracts have been all over the news this week. The stories started after it was revealed that Sports Direct employ 90% of their staff on contracts with no guaranteed hours week to week, no holiday pay or sick pay. [1]
     Today 38 Degrees member Zahera, an ex-employee of Sports Direct, is taking them to court to challenge their use of the controversial contracts. If she wins, it will send out shockwaves to all companies abusing these contracts. And it will put pressure on the government to tighten up the law and protect vulnerable employees.
    Can you chip in just £1 to help fund the case against Sports Direct?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/the-people-vs-sports-direct
      Elizabeth George, a lawyer at law firm Leigh Day, has offered to represent Zahera and will only receive a fee if we win the case. But there will still be costs involved. If Sports Direct decide to fight, it could cost over £10,000 to go to court, much more than Zahera could afford on her own.
      But if enough of us chip in just £1 each to raise the money, it will send a powerful message to Sports Direct and their billionaire owner, who will have deep pockets to fund their legal team. They'll see that they are heading to court to face not just one ex-employee standing up for her colleagues’ rights, but an army of 38 Degrees members too.
      Can you chip in £1 and back Zahera against Sports Direct?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/the-people-vs-sports-direct
     38 Degrees members have already sent over 120,000 emails to Sports Direct demanding they treat their staff properly and give them the option of fairer contracts. [2] They have so far refused to comment, hoping the story will go away. But by taking them to court we’ll force them to.
      Zero hours contracts are already being investigated by the government. But our action could set a legal precedent for all businesses, not just Sports Direct, and will put the government under pressure to act fast. [3]
     We know that people powered legal cases can win. Last week, we celebrated after beating Health Minister Jeremy Hunt in court. [4] 38 Degrees members donated £15,000 to the Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign’s case against his plans to close their local hospital. It was a huge win in the fight to save our NHS and made headlines across the country.
      Now let’s use our collective power to take on Sports Direct and strike a victory not just for Zahera, but for people on zero hours contracts across the country.
        Can you chip in £1 to help fund the case against Sports Direct?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/the-people-vs-sports-direct

Thanks for standing with Zahera

Robin, Belinda, Megan, Blanche & the 38 Degrees Team

FURTHER INFORMATION

Why could it cost so much?

      To issue the claim, Zahera is required to pay an issue fee of £250. There is a further fee if the claim goes all the way to a full hearing of £900. Law firm Leigh Day are representing Zahera on a no-win no fee basis, so there is no cost here. However Elizabeth will be bringing a co-counsel to fight the case with her. We anticipate the cost to be in the region of £10,000 plus VAT for the hearing.
If for some reason the case doesn’t go ahead we would offer a refund.

      What happens if we raise more than is needed to fight the case?
Any donations made above the amount needed to fight the case will go towards 38 Degrees' campaigning work, including pushing the government to tighten up the law around zero hours contracts. For more details of our donations policy click here: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/pages/donations-to-38-degrees

      Are all zero hours contracts bad?
Many people would like to see zero hours contracts banned outright, but for some employees, zero hours contracts are a useful flexible way of working. However, the news has been filled with stories of companies abusing these contracts to bully staff. This case could be a landmark moment in the fight to stop this abuse.

NOTES:
[1] Sports Direct: 90% of staff on zero-hour contracts - http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jul/28/sports-direct-staff-zero-hour-contracts
[2] Email Sports Direct - https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/page/speakout/sports-direct-stop-unfair-zero-hour-contracts
[3] They won't be lovin' it: McDonald's admits 90% of employees are on zero-hours contracts without guaranteed work or a stable income - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/they-wont-be-lovin-it-mcdonalds-admits-90-of-employees-are-on-zerohours-contracts-without-guaranteed-work-or-a-stable-income-8747986.html
[4] Save Lewisham Hospital campaign in the papers - http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/tag/save-lewisham-hospital/

WHEN IS A BOYCOTT NOT A BOYCOT?

        Over the years there have been pickets and attempted boycotts of multi-nationals because of some aspect of their business, recently it was Holland & Barrett because of their embracing the workfare scheme. What were we trying to do? Get Holland & Barrett to be a more compassionate capitalist, or trying to shut it down? Do we want a more compassionate capitalism, or can we shut it down? Were we capable of imposing a boycott and to what effect? When is a boycott not a boycott, and when is it a valid tactic?

This from Profane Existence:

          It really pisses me off when I hear some punk kid or anarchist claim they are boycotting Nike (or whichever other giant corporation). Not because I think they should be supporting Nike, but simply because it shows a lack of any understanding of what a boycott is. And if we desire to be effective, we need to have a clear understanding of what different tactics and strategies actually are.

          Boycotting is a non-violent consumer tactic which is based on withdrawing support (usually financial) as a way to force ones enemy/oppressor into a compromised position in which they must negotiate with you or meet your terms in order to regain your support. So simply not participating is not the same as actively boycotting. Thus going Vegan is not a boycott of the meat and dairy industry for example.

          There are many problems with the idea of some patched up crusty claiming to be engaging in boycott tactics against major corporations. The first of which is that in order to take part in a boycott, you must first have support to withdraw, meaning you need to be a client or customer of the target company who financially contributes to them. Even further, you need to be open to reinvesting that financial support one the target has complied with your demands. This differs greatly from the DIY punk ethos of making our own shit rather than giving them our money, which is actually more about creating an alternative economy, or perhaps an alternative to economy.

Continue READING:

ann arky's home.

STILL STRUGGLING TO ABOLISH SLAVERY??

      Capitalism's answer to the unemployment problem, start slave labour, simple!

      One Quarter of Holland & Barrett Staff Could Soon Be On Workfare -Work for Dole Money. Holland & Barrett are set to become one of the biggest exploiters of forced labour with plans to take on 1000 unpaid work placements from the JobCentre over the next year. With a workforce of only around 3,500 people this could amount to more than a quarter of their current staff on Workfare.
      All 5 Workfare schemes still have sanctions in certain circmstances i.e. benefits are cut, so they are not entirely voluntary. Jobcentres use every trick in the book to force benefit claimants onto nominally voluntary schemes. The Guardian has reported that young people who refuse the Work Experience scheme face Workfare under a different scheme.

       These schemes represents a huge public subsidy for Holland and Barrett who make millions in profit. At present they offer a four week induction programme followed by more specialized product advisor training. Under the Work Experience scheme young people can be required to carry out a two month period of workfare, under the Work Programme it can be as long as six months. Therefore Holland & Barrett can use hese schemes to cover wages during their induction and training periods. They have the added advantage of having workers with no employment rights who can be laid off at a moments notice. So the ones they like they keep, the ones they don’t they can get to stack shelves or hump boxes about for a bit and then farm them back to the dole office. Holland and Barrett have taken on 500 young people for 8 week periods since last summer and of these only about 20% have been taken on permanently.

        Holland & Barrett can therefore use public paid for schemes to fund both their recruitment costs, staff training and to make up any extra staff at busy periods. This will have a devastating impact on the staff to whom they actually pay wages, who will no doubt see hours and over-time cut. If Holland and Barrett are using free staff who are paid only meagre Government benefits then that means they are recruiting less staff than they would otherwise. Workfare is causing, not curing unemployment.

Boycott Holland and Barrett! Boycott Workfare!

ann arky's home.

NEWS CORPORATION.

     

     A short profile of Rupert Murdoch taken from Class War,  his influence spreads far and wide, so you should know a little about the man.

     Rupert Murdoch is News Corporation, an organisation that has evaded, (avoided) paying what would be considered his fair share in tax.

      Some of Murdoch's tax avoiding assets: Fox, Sky, The Sun, News of the World, The Times, The Financial Times, and Myspace.com. He is rated as the 117th richest person in the world with a net worth of $6.3 billion

        He is a union hater and according to the Economist in 1986 Murdoch helped to smash the British print unions by transferring the production of his newspapers to a non union plant at Wapping in East London. He stated that he would dismiss the 6,000 striking workers who were trying to win some concessions out of the media billionaire. The London Evening Standard called the episode, "the biggest union-busting operation in history."

      According to a BBC report; "Mr Murdoch's die-hard loyalty to the tax loophole has drawn wide criticism." The report found that in the four years prior to June 30, 1998, "Murdoch's News Corporation and its subsidiaries paid only $325 million in corporate taxes world wide. That translates as6% of the $5.4 billion consolidated pre-tax profits for the same period. By comparison another multi-national media empire, Disney paid, 31%. The corporate tax rates for the three main countries in which News Corp. operates - Australia, the United States and the UK - are 36%, 35% and 30% respectively. Further research reveals that Mr Murdoch's main British holding company News Corp. Investments, has paid no net corporation tax within these shores over the past 11 years. This is despite accumulated pre-tax profits of nearly $3 billion." 

    So in keeping with the feelings of the ordinary people about occupying and picketing bailed out bankers and tax dodgers we could start a boycott campaign against the tax dodging anti-working class newspapers who will be peddling the crap put out by the millionaire cabal at the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption, that these cuts are necessary.

ann arky's home.