Yorkshire Anarchist Federation

On the 5th of Feb, Leeds AF held a demonstration alongside West Yorkshire Solidarity Federation and Leeds Class War in front of the office of the German Honorary Consul in Leeds to protest the ban of the FAU-B, the Berlin section of the Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union (Free Workers Union, or FAU). A letter protesting the persecution of the FAU was handed to the consul, and leaflets were distributed to workers and passers-by explaining the dispute and expressing our solidarity with our comrades in Germany.

The persecution of the FAU is a result of their success in organising workers at the Babylon cinema in Berlin. Management and local government, including Die Links (The Left party), worked together to undermine attempts by the workers to organise independently of the established unions, resulting in a union contract offering inferior conditions being signed by Ver.di - a union with almost no representation at the cinema and brought in over the heads of the workers. On top of this, a German court has ruled that the FAU is not allowed to represent workers or even call itself a union. As well as being the first case of the German state banning a union since 1933, the ruling sets a precendent for future cases and means that no new unions may be set up in Germany, granting a legal monopoly to the existing unions. The management is currently demanding that the FAU be fined up to 250,000 Euros and its members imprisoned in an effort to crush the cinema workers attempt to deal with poor conditions and low pay.

This assault on workers’ rights in Germany is not purely the concern of the German working class. The events at the Babylon cinema is part of the ongoing attack against working conditions and social provisions across Europe and throughout the world. The erosion of workers’ rights in one country make it easier to strip workers of their rights elsewhere. By supporting the rights of workers anywhere, we support the rights of workers everywhere.

More information on the dispute and updates on the ongoing situation can be found on the FAU website: http://www.fau.org/verbot/en

The next communist forum hosted by the Commune and Anarchist Federation in Sheffield will be a discussion on the rise of the far right in Britain today, the character of fascism, and how we should organise against this threat.

The meeting takes place from 7pm on  Tuesday 16th February at The Rutland Arms, 86 Brown Street, Sheffield S1 2BS. Email uncaptiveminds@gmail.com to express your interest or ask for more info – see below for some background reading for the meeting.

(As you can tell from the long list of pieces, this is not compulsory reading for the discussion, just a list of articles that may be of interest!…)

Fascism/anti-fascism, by Gilles Dauvé

Anti-fascism in the 21st century – from Shift magazine

The European elections, the left and anti-fascism, by David Broder

The rising threat of the BNP: the underlying causes, its present nature and prospects, by Dan Jakopovich

British nationalism and the rise of fascism, by Chris Ford

Get this racist Jack Straw off the BBC, by The Commune

Fascism and democracy – two cheeks on the same arse - by Anarchist Federation

Bash the fash – by Anarchist Federation

Giving up No Platform?, a speech to the 2009 Anarchist Bookfair

Bash the fash, anti-fascist recollections 1984-1993 - by K. Bullstreet

Below is a recording of a meeting held on 19th January 2010 in Sheffield titled, “What would our alternative society look like?”

Audio stream

The meeting was hosted by the Commune and the Anarchist Federation.

Recommended reading for the meeting included:

William Morris - News From Nowhere

Bertell Ollman – Marx’s Vision of communism – Critique 8

Cornelius Castoriadis – The content of socialism

Sorry that the levels are low, if you turn up your amp it should be OK.

The next meeting of this discussion group will be on the far right and anti-fascism, from 7pm on Tuesday 16th February at The Rutland Arms, 86 Brown Street, Sheffield S1 2BS.

Thanks to Chris from Sheffield Indymedia for arranging the recording.

Because if we won’t stick up for each other, who will?

We all know how crap life on the dole is. We didn’t ask for a recession, we didn’t make it happen, but now it’s here and we can’t find work. So because there’s no jobs going, we’re made to feel guilty for being “lazy dolescum” and not trying hard enough to find work. If we turn down any job, no matter how bad the wages and conditions are, we risk getting our benefits cut off altogether – if they’ve got around to paying our benefits in the first place and not just screwed up somewhere. And if the government’s “welfare reform” plans go through, things will get even worse.

Well, we’re not taking it anymore.

We want to see a group set up that’ll fight for our rights and put an end to harassment and unfair treatment. It can be really hard even just getting through the paperwork to claim the benefits we’re owed, so we need to stick together if we’re going to get anywhere. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, contact: sheffdoleys@gmail.com

To find out more, and hear stories from other groups that’ve successfully fought for the rights of unemployed people, come to our launch meeting at the Quaker meeting house at 6pm on Thursday 28th January. It’ll be at 10 St James Street, just off Church Street and a few minutes’ walk from the Cathedral, with speakers from the Disabled People’s Direct Action Network and Hackney Unemployed Workers.

This feels like one of the easiest arguments I’ll ever make: does anyone actually like paying ridiculous amounts of money to use the bus? No? Right, that’s this leaflet sorted, I’m off down the pub.

But seriously, it’s starting to seem like every time we get the bus it’s costing more and more. This isn’t just a minor annoyance, it’s a serious problem. For one thing, bus users tend to be people who can’t afford cars in the first place, so the people most affected by fare increases are those who can afford them the least. Meanwhile, those have access to cars aren’t going to be tempted away by overpriced buses, so fare increases mean more cars on the road, and so more traffic congestion, making it harder for everyone to get around. And, without to come across like an annoying preachy hippy, it’s really not that great for the planet we live on either.
This would all just be pointless whining, if it wasn’t for the fact that things don’t have to be this way. Like so many other things, buses seem totally outside of our control, but they actually only run because of us – the users who pay for the service to run, and the drivers (and other workers) who actually keep them going. Sheffield Anarchist Federation supports the We Want Our Buses Back campaign, and hopes to see it develop into a strong, united movement of passengers and drivers. Collective action gets results - not long ago, the bus bosses were scared into freezing fares for a year, and the bus drivers’ strikes at the end of last year also won important gains. We need to start spreading that spirit, so we can remind the Stagecoach and First bosses who really keeps the system going. It won’t be easy, but it’s got to be better than paying silly money just to ride a sodding bus.

WE WANT OUR BUSES BACK
DEMO AGAINST FIRST BUSES FARE INCREASES, DRIVER INTIMIDATION AND SERVICE CUTS ETC.

SAT 9TH JANUARY – 1230 ASSEMBLE OUTSIDE SHEFFIELD TOWN HALL FOR MARCH AND RALLY

More details to follow. Please try and get down and bring as many folk as you can!

For more info please contact Calvin Payne (WWOBB Convenor) - 07810 628740 - wewantourbusesback@hotmail.co.uk - www.wwobb.org