EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT UNIVERSAL CREDIT: 9th October, Bridport

Hi Autonomy film watchers,

We haven’t shown a film for a while because we’ve been doing other things, but we thought you might like to know about a meeting we’re organising this week.

So many people have been having trouble getting the benefits they are entitled to – or even getting any kind of response – from the new Universal Credit scheme. For some it is causing real hardship. So two members of the Citizens Advice Bureau are coming to explain it and try to help. Please let anybody know who might be interested! Hope to see you there.

And This time its Personal: Psychocompulsion & Workfare by WellRedFilms.

Published on Feb 29, 2016

“At the very moment when the government is reducing the ability of NHS mental health practitioners to serve those who are unwell, they are investing public money in dubious mental health programs. Unemployed people will be coerced by sanctions into compliance. The government is trying to convince us that unemployment is a mental illness rather than a result of adverse economic conditions created by capital. WellRedFilms explores the underpinnings of the psycho-coercive practices endorsed by the government with leading researchers and the Mental Health Resistance Network.”

A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions

Stupid or malicious? You decide: STUPID SANCTIONS.

There will be no unpaid workers at the Co-op!

Posted on Industrial Workers of the World Dorset

Dorset IWW General Members’ Branch is pleased to announce that our dispute with a Bournemouth outlet of the Co-operative has been settled amicably. We have a verbal assurance from local management who are USDAW members, that they have no wish to exploit unpaid workers on their premises, and that their connection with ‘Prospects’ has been severed. We congratulate them on their principled decision and affirm our commitment to defeat the government’s work programme and end unpaid labour.

Nationally however, the situation is less clear; we have had sight of a Co-op internal document that sets out the parameters of their unpaid work experience programme. Whilst it insists that placements must be voluntary and offer meaningful experience, we note that vulnerable adults are being conscripted who may not be fully aware of their rights. It’s highly likely some of them will not be able to make an informed decision and/or will get browbeaten by jobcentre staff with targets to meet. Once they are on the scheme if they leave they may be deemed to have made themselves intentionally unemployed, and be sanctioned. Lastly of course, however you dress it up, it’s unpaid labour. How long does it take to assess a person’s suitability for working in a grocer’s shop? A week, two? Why then should a national chain not speculate a fortnight’s minimum wage to find out?

URGENT SOLIDARITY CALLOUT FROM DORSET IWW: Co-Op Anti-Workfare Pickets.

We urge all anarchists, socialists and working class radicals in the Bournemouth area to support this action and get this despicable practice shut down once and for all!

Posted on Dorset IWW

A local Co-operative store in Bournemouth has chosen to sign up to use the exploitative practice of Workfare or government work programme.

IWW Dorset are outraged that a store that promotes itself as an “ethical employer” is prepared to put fellow workers jobs at risk, as well as paying the workfare participant less than minimum wage.

We demand that Co-operative put an immediate end to this exploitative practice and offer the workfare participant a contract of employment and treat them as an equal team member.

As such we are proposing a rolling picket to inform customers of the situation and allow them to make up their own minds what action they are prepared to take if any.

We are therefore looking for volunteers to man the picket, handing out leaflets at convenient times between 7am and 11pm ongoing as and when people are available.

The picket will operate at any times when we can get 3 or more people to man it.

Leaflets and guidance will be provided for all volunteers.

If you want to help with this action please be in touch, in the first instance by emailing afoolofatook@riseup.net with any availability. Someone will then be in contact with you with further details and rota slots will be prepared.

Solidarity – See you on the streets!

Iain’s story

Skookum Bardily @SkookumBardily on twitter.

Open letter to Families Fighting for Justice

If you exploit us, we will shut you down!

Liverpool IWW

Dear Families Fighting For Justice,

This is an open letter to your organisation, which has been made public on the website of Liverpool Industrial Workers of the World, a trade union.

It has come to our attention that your charity makes heavy use of two of the government’s so-called ‘workfare’ programmes – the Mandatory Work Activity and the Community Work Placement schemes. As you will be aware, these schemes compel people to work for you for free over a period of six months, on pain of likely losing their benefits – and therefore their means of supporting themselves – if they refuse, or often if they are just late etc. This cruel system has contributed to many suicides nationally, as well people simply wasting away from malnutrition.

We understand that your organisation does important work, which would otherwise go undone if you were not in operation. It is crucial that…

View original post 154 more words

Balls to the budget! DPAC mayhem at downing street.

Events around Mayday 2015.

We’ll probably add more as we hear of them, send us yours!

Why we celebrate May Day.

Bridport: Sat 2nd May 2015. Autonomy film show, The WI Hall, North Street, Bridport.

Brighton: Mayday weekend, 29 April – 4 May, Hosted by Brighton Solfed

29 Wednesday – Syndicalism and Education Sussex Uni Fulton building 113 = 6−8pm This event will feature an introduction to the current campaigns engaged in by SolFed, along with a discussion of contemporary issues pertaining to education and how they relate to workers’ control. The documentary “Street Politics 101” will also be shown.
01 Friday – MayDay
2 Saturday – Syndicalism in Brighton at the Cowley Club 4−6 pm
03 Sunday – Roast + Film and Discussion after at the Cowley Club 1−6 pm
04 Monday – Demonstration 12 0’Clock from Old Steine + picnic

Bristol: Friday 1st May. May Day Demo – Combat Workfare with Bristol Anarchist Federation

We’ve been lucky to mark International Workers Day (1st May) with some effective & fun demonstrations and direct actions for the past four years.

Last year we directly a large local organisation to end all involvement with workfare – picture of the demo is the one above! This year we hope to build on that, and our other anti workfare successes.

Boycott Workfare have called for a week of action that covers May Day, we aim to target a couple of companies who are profiting from the forced exploitation it represents – and hopefully help out some people affected by the schemes at the same time.

We’ll post more details nearer the time, yes we know its during the day on a workday but we also know a lot of you use any means at your disposal to avoid working on May Day! If you are forced into it you have our sympathy, if not see you on the streets again!

Gig afterwards

Cardiff: Radical Workers Bloc  Saturday 2nd May facebook

Caerdydd: Bloc Radicalaidd y Gweithwyr.

“THE DAY WILL COME WHEN OUR SILENCE WILL BE MORE POWERFUL THAN THE VOICES YOU ARE THROTTLING TODAY.”

– (August Spies on the scaffold before his execution)

South Wales Anarchists will be demonstating in Cardiff to celebrate this years May Day. Originally a pagan festival, the modern May Day bank holiday has its roots in the fight for the eight hour day and is celebrated across the globe as an International Workers’ Day to commemorate the anarchist trade union organisers who were executed in Chicago 1887. They were framed and wrongly accused of throwing a bomb at police breaking up a crowd in the Haymarket during a demonstration involving over 400,000 working in Chicago on May 4, 1886.

The anarchist idea did not die with these workers in 1887 and continues to be the inspiration for many fighting capitalism around the world. We call on all those struggling for a world of justice, dignity and freedom to come together and join us this May Day in Cardiff.

Bring your red and black flags and class struggle banners!

Meet at 12 noon at the southern end of St Mary St, under the railway bridge near the Great Western Wetherspoons. March starts at 12.30 through the streets of Cardiff City centre to…. somewhere with no bureaucrats’ speeches!!!

London: Reclaim the Beats – join the Fuck Parade! Class War 12V multi rig street party at 1 Commercial Street, London, from 6pm on Friday May 1.

Sisters Uncut Bank holiday action 4th May 2015, The Scoop. Queen’s Walk, London SE1 2DB

Direct action to prevent cuts to vital domestic violence services. Open to self-defining women only. This includes trans* and intersex women, as well as those with multi genders that include ‘woman’. We invite male allies to support us by creating hype on social media and by facilitating their sisters to go in any way they can. For more info on Sisters Uncut check out our FB page or our Twitter @sistersuncut.

Manchester: 0161 Festival Friday 1st, Saturday 2nd, Sunday 3rd May 2015 Facebook

Milano: NoExpo 2015

May 1, 2015: from Milan, capital of the crisis, to Europe.

After seven years of crisis the precarious pride has become rage and indignation against the burgeoning unemployment and the growth of poverty imposed by BCE & IMF  to most of the population with austerity policies, particularly in Italy, Greece and the rest of the Latin Europe. Social slaughter, plunder of wealth and common goods, the end of the public city are the bases upon which governments build their response to the economic crisis.

Make a week of it:

APRIL 28: INTERNATIONAL NO EXPO CAMPING. Until May 3 with debates and workshops
APRIL 29: THE CITY OF MILAN AGAINST THE FASCIST MARCH
APRIL 30: NATIONAL STUDENTS DEMONSTRATION
MAY 1: #NOEXPOMAYDAY
MAY 2: MOBILIZATIONS AGAINST EXPO
MAY 3: GENERAL ASSEMBLY for 6 months of mobilizations
FROM MAY 3: 6 months of meetings and conflict against and beyond the Expo paradigm.

Plymouth: TIME TO GET RID OF THE RICH – ANTI CAPITALIST BLOC – PLYMOUTH MAYDAY MARCH 2nd May.

Tyne & Wear:

Rachel Reeves shows how intellectually and morally bankrupt Labour are