Red And Black Telly: INSTANT REACTION TO U.K. EURO-ELECTION RESULTS

Delfin English teachers win contract improvements after joining IWW

Industrial Workers of the World Dorset

We would like to start a TEFL group in Dorset, there are many language schools especially in the BH postcode area. If you are employed by one of these firms in any capacity and would like to participate in this new initiative, please get in touch.

If you are a student, we would like to hear from you also. Remember you can carry your IWW membership in and out of work, and across national borders.

After joining the TEFL Workers Union, teachers at Delfin Language School in London have won paid meetings, paid CPDs, paid sick days, a pay policy, and an end to zero-hours contracts.

Teachers at Delfin Language School in London have joined the TEFL Workers Union, part of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). As a result, they have won major improvements to their working conditions.

Prior to unionisation, Delfin contracts were copied-and-pasted templates off the…

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Trans Pride 2019

Red and Black Leeds

Picture of our banner, kindly taken by @bombshellroodi on Instagram.

On the 31st of March members of RABL attended the Trans Pride march in Leeds. There was a really good turnout and it was a lovely day.

We used this opportunity to argue that in a capitalist society, the bulk of issues effecting trans people disproportionately harmed working class trans people and making transphobia a largely working class issue. We did this by distributing a leaflet, written by trans members of RABL which drew inspiration from articles by Shon Faye and Sadie Cash.

A5 copy of the leaflet given out at Trans Pride.

We would encourage any groups who find this leaflet useful to use it for themselves. Anarchist positions rarely seem to extend beyond trans inclusivity and other groups seem sceptical about discussing anything that might be deemed “identity politics”, and in our opinion this leaflet bridges this…

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Communist-Anarchist Group (Portugal): Declaration of Principles (1887)

Robert Graham's Anarchism Weblog

The Communist-Anarchist Group in Lisbon was one of the first revolutionary anarchist groups in Portugal. The group was likely formed under the inspiration of Eliseé Reclus, following a series of talks that he gave in Portugal in 1886. The Group’s Declaration of Principles, published at the beginning of 1887, shows the continuing influence of the ideas developed by anarchists involved in the International Workingmen’s Association, particularly after the anti-authoritarians reconstituted the International following Bakunin’s expulsion by the Marxists at the 1872 Hague Congress. The influence not only of Reclus, but also of people like Michael Bakunin and Carlo Cafiero, among others, can be seen in the text that follows, particularly in the emphasis on social revolution, the rejection of any participation in parliamentary politics, the rejection of the legally sanctioned patriarchal family, and the advocacy of communism and anarchy as necessary correlates of each other. A…

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Anarchy Camp 2019 – Rebooting Anarchism in Aotearoa

In March 2019, 50 anarchists from across Aotearoa and even further afield, gathered for the first time in a decade for discussions, strategising and building networks and relationships. Back in April 2009, the Wildcat Anarchist Collective organised a two-day conference at the Newtown Community Centre in Wellington. An anarchist bookfair was held in Wellington in 2014, but no attempt of bringing the movement together has been made for ten years.

The newly founded group Tāmaki Makaurau Anarchists has brought new energy and among its members a desire to network and collaborate with others. Together with the Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement, Wellington’s Freedom Shop and Black Star Books in Dunedin, they are the only functioning explicit anarchist group on these islands at the moment (although there are others that are lingering around like Rebel Press, Communalism Aotearoa and Beyond Resistance)

The gathering was held at a marae in Parihaka, in coastal Taranaki. Parihaka has a long history of resistance to colonialism, sustainable living and community gardening. You can read more about Parihaka’s past, present and future on their website.

Between sunrise and sunset each day (with both being accompanied by karakia) we had sessions on indigenisation, feminism, environmentalism and the future of anarchism in Aotearoa.

In between these sessions, we had workshops on mental health and feminist self-defence, a tour of Parihaka, a trip to the food forest and gardening with the sun beaming down on us and mounga Taranaki looming over us.

While we didn’t solve the world’s problems, the feedback on the last day and in a subsequent questionnaire was largely positive with people keen to meet again next summer and even making it a day or so longer.

An anarchist housing network (similar to couchsurfing) was re-started at the hui and a call was made for further collaboration between existing groups. It was also clear that anti-racism, anti-fascism and working on constitutional reform is key focal point for many.

Two comrades from Collective Action, a Melbourne based anarchist group, participated in the discussions and it was great to share ideas and views on what’s happening in Australia.

All in all, the hui was a success, with old friendships being renewed and new relationships being created through kōrero and whakawhanaungatanga.

It is envisaged that these hui will take place annually from now on, as through these and other forms of anarchist gatherings and coordination, we can now safely say: anarchy has returned to Aotearoa!

Te Kaupapa Pāpori – Communalism Aotearoa

AWSM

One year in office for Labour Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz -what next?

Focus E15 Campaign

Focus E15 campaign and Brimstone House residents made their presence felt at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday 7 May, to mark one year since the Labour Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz came to power and to continue to hold Newham Labour council to account for its housing policies and the high rate of people living in temporary accommodation in the borough and also to witness what our local elected representative are saying.

Artwork by Andrew Cooper

During the cabinet meeting the Labour Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz commentated that the council ‘will support the delivery of the promises I made to you when I was elected last May’. She hailed her improved transparency and accountability of involving residents in decision-making through citizen assemblies.

However anyone familiar with the politics of Newham understands that Rokhsana Fiaz can only look good following Robin Wales, the former Mayor of Newham. It was the much disliked Robin Wales…

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Red And Black Telly: EURO-ELECTION DAY BLUES

Internationalism in practice – dockers in Italy show the way

Anarchist Communist Group

The Saudi ship Bahri Yanbu has been halted by dockworkers in the Italian port of Genoa.

The ship had previously picked up weapons for the war in Yemen from Antwerp, Belgium, but at Le Havre, France, it was prevented from picking up more arms for the Saudi military after a legal challenge by protesters from a human rights group. Now in Genoa, dock workers, with support from local protesters, have taken direct action and refused to load generators, saying in a statement, “We will not be complicit in what is happening in Yemen” and they also make the call to “open the port to migrants and close it to arms”.

While we are pleased that the legal challenge in Le Havre successfully prevented the ship from being loaded, we should also remember that the ruling class courts are rarely on the side of justice and the only sure way to prevent mass murder in this and other wars is when workers take direct action and physically prevent or sabotage the ruling class war effort.

This is the true spirit of anti-militarism and working class internationalism and the ACG applauds the dockworkers and their supporters in Genoa. We can only hope that this type of intervention sets an example to other workers also in a position to halt the bosses’ war machine.

International repression news: Bulgaria, Belarus, Indonesia, the US and more

Cautiously pessimistic

In Bulgaria, antifascist prisoner and prison organiser Jock Palfreeman continues his hunger strike, which has now gone on for a month. The Bulgarian families and friends of prisoners group write:

“Jock Palfreeman’s hunger strike is in its 30th day today, May 21st. On April 21st 2019, Palfreeman declared a hunger strike due to the systematic pressure and harassment that he has been subjected to over the last two years from the prison administration and the Ministry of Justice because of his human rights work with Bulgarian Prisoners’ Association and as a form of protest against widespread corruption and abuse of power in Bulgarian prisons.

Palfreeman and BRPA are targeted for the political work they are doing within prisons and for speaking up against its administration and representatives of the Ministry of Justice!

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Fire Brigades Union backs anti-fracking campaign

DRILL OR DROP?

Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road fracking site near Blackpool, 2 January 2019. Photo: Frack Free Lancashire

The Fire Brigades Union voted today to oppose fracking in the UK and to offer support to anti-fracking campaigns.

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