Edinburgh Anarchists

Quick-quiz: How many of you out there think that “non-executive” means the same as “doesn’t do anything”? As in “non-executive director”?

I thought that being a NED meant to turn up to the meeting, eat the biscuits, read the minutes, send texts to your mistress and nod through pay rises. Their performance at scrutinising RBS, among others, says I’m right.

But maybe I’m wrong. They must be working awfy hard, because according to this story, they’ve been given a payrise of more than 5% across big companies. Meanwhile, workers are seeing pay freezes (always a cut in real-terms, remember) if they’ve not been put on short hours to “save” their jobs.

What happened to “fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay?” Seems like that was only ever meant to work one way. Fuck the wages system.

Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine is shaping up to be a key text for making sense of the 21st century. This excerpt from the book may be prophetic. The positive thing is that knowing what’s going on can be part of preventing it – protests have led to £100M from the IMF being converted into a grant instead of a loan.

In terms of what’s going on on the ground, there’s some pointed criticism of the behaviour of some journalists, consciously or otherwise desperate for footage of a “savage” black mob “looting”. Former Radio 1 DJ Andy Kershaw (white) has been to the island plenty times and calls out, among others, the BBC’s Matt Frei:

Over the weekend we saw him anticipating an outbreak of unrest, standing before a crowd of thousands of hungry, humiliated Haitians as they waited, patiently and quietly, to be given rations by UN soldiers. Their dignity and stoicism seemed to escape Frei who was, in any case, looking away from them while ranting about the inevitability of looming bloodshed – conspicuously unlikely, judging from the evidence of his own report.

And:

This self-imposed blockade by bureaucracy is a scandal but could be easily overcome. The NGOs and the military should recognise the hysteria over “security” for what it is and make use of Haiti’s best resource and its most efficient distribution network: the Haitians themselves. Stop treating them as children. Or worse. Hand over to them immediately what they need at the airport. They will find the means to collect it. Fill up their trucks and cars with free fuel. Any further restriction on, and control of, the supply of aid is not only patronising but it is in that control and restriction where any “security issues” will really lurk. And it is the Haitians who best know where the aid is needed.

I’ll leave the last word to (some of) the Haitians themselves. Batay Ouvriye (it means Workers’ Struggle) have put out a message indicating just how big a struggle they face to rebuild. Give them some money.

CALL FOR SOLIDARITY AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
12 JANUARY 2010 IN HAITI
On January 12th, 2010, an earthquake hit us, we, the Haitian people, terribly.
Besides the public buildings, for sure, it was the popular neighborhoods that were most destroyed. No surprise there, since they are the most fragile, the most unstable structures; they are the ones who never received any services, nor consolidation, nothing; quite the opposite, the ruling classes were always set on getting us out, displacing us, which is why we were never able to even try to consolidate ourselves by our own means.
As some capitalists try to force the workers to return to work in factories that are still damaged; while the store owners clutch their merchandises, not to speak of those who’ve decided to sell at exorbitant prices; while the state is showing (again) its complete nonexistence, a characteristic incapacity and incompetence (all they know is stealing, corruption and serving the big landowners, the bourgeois and the multinationals); while the “protect and serve” police force never showed up to assist the population faced with the gangs (which is normal, since all they know is repression); while the imperialist forces are taking advantage of the help they’re giving to establish a protectorate they hope to be definitive… the workers and working class, the popular masses in general are undergoing a catastrophic situation in which they are left alone and helpless.
Some press agencies developed their progressive aspect in allowing for a minimum of coordination in the field, some individuals helped in this too, consistent popular organizations are working without respite to do all they can, but: there are no means! Truly, beyond having utterly massacred us, the earthquake was completely beyond us.
As much as we can, we refuse to go through the dominant circuit. But the situation is beyond belief! That is why, today, we’re launching a SOLIDARITY APPEAL, to all workers, working class, all consequential progressives all over the world, to help us try to emerge from this terrible moment we are in.
According to the inventory we have made up to now, here are our most immediate needs:
Destroyed homes US $ 50,000.00
Destroyed belongings 20,000.00
Hurt, crippled 10,000,00
Daily existence 30,000.00
Dealing with deaths 10,000.00

Total US $ 120,000.00

We need to add 40% to this calculation because the various prices keep skyrocketing and will continue to do so. So, the real TOTAL of this section is about: $US 170,000.00.
Furthermore, there are the various contacts we had begun to develop in the struggle for the 200 gourdes salary adjustment. They are many and in various neighborhoods. We have to help them too, in our own way, but actively. This demands an additional accounting, to be added to the first one. Also, in the areas where our militants and members live or function, several community actions are taking place. We’re active amongst them. To impulse our energy amongst them, to mark the necessary orientation. Immediately, too, we have to take the initiative to launch our own actions, in the context of the reconstruction, in which we can’t just accept that it’s the dominant classes who are giving it the form they want it to take. All this requires funds.
Taking into account all these forms of action and solidarity, we can say the grand total we need presently, for this first period, is roughly: US$ 300,000.00.
This is the necessary to help us survive, to help many workers hold on and resolve in the the minimum of their own lives, and, too, to mark a political direction in the struggle for our lives presently, so as to be able to develop more force in the face of the next catastrophe facing us: that which the imperialists, the dominant classes and their reactionary state are preparing.
We thank in advance all contributors. These times demand such forms of SOLIDARITY, which should all direct towards bridging together, an advance in our shared battles.
For those who wish to send help in kind (medicine, clothes, food, sheets, chairs…), the address is that of our central base: Batay Ouvriye, Delmas 16, #13 bis, Port-au-Prince.
For those who can send cash, our account information is as follows:
Bank Name: City National Bank of New Jersey
Bank Address: 900 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102
ABA Number: 0212-0163-9 City of NJ Newark
For further credit to:
Account Number: 01 000 9845
Account Name: Batay Ouvriye
Account Address: Ave. Jean Paul II, # 7
Certainly, we will inform publicly all contributors (individuals and organizations) of that which was received at all times and the use of these funds.

BATAY OUVRIYE
Port-au-Prince, January 20th 2010

Want to do something for the victims of the Haiti earthquake but worried that your money might get used on 4×4s to escort journalists around Port-au-Prince?

A group in Miami is organising fundraising on behalf of Batay Ourviye, one of few groups to have fought for and won union recognition in Haiti’s “free trade zones”.

Here’s the link: http://tinyurl.com/BatayOurviye

And here’s what they say:

A natural disaster has descended upon Haiti whose scope we only are seeing the surface of at this time.

Right now we can have the deepest impact by committing ourselves to act in solidarity with the autonomous social movements of Haiti directly. They present the best possible option for the Haitian people, and are in the greatest need.

Our act of solidarity should, in no shape or form, be solely an act of humanitarian aid. It should not be an apolitical act, and we shouldn’t give the green light to those that wish to capitalize on the suffering of others. Click here for a statement on solidarity with the Haitian people.

Support Solidarity and Grassroots Relief

Give now to Batay Ourviye. Your money will go to directly support workers impacted by the earthquake by providing food, water, and health care. Your dontaion will also support the purchasing of minutes on cell phones so survivors can contact loved ones, and coordinate a grassroots relief effort.

Batay Ourviye – a grassroots Haitian Organization
As a movement, Batay Ouvriye strives to organize workers, peasants, working people in general, and the oppressed masses in general around their specific demands, in an autonomous and democratic manner. Click here for more information about Batay Ourviye.

Miami Workers Center is supporting Batay Ourviye by facilitating online and credit card donations.

Anyone on the average salary (that’s £25,000, more than most people globally could dream of) knows that buying a home to live in has become virtually impossible. This isn’t the story usually told in newspapers (who have very profitable property supplements), where rises in house prices are prayed for as fervently as visions of the Madonna in Ireland, with just as much basis in reality.

If you had a house before prices went crazy, you have a huge amount of pretend money. If you didn’t, you won’t. Ever. A house no longer costs 3-4 times your salary, it’s 7 or 8.

Now some minor government functionary says: fugged abaht it. You ain’t getting one. Rent forever. Raise kids in a place where you can be turfed out at the whim of one of the Propertied Classes. Don’t decorate. Don’t even put posters up. No you can’t insulate better, pay the ever-increasing heating bill instead.

Which we knew anyway. What’s the solution?

Here’s one. Since there’s a drought of nice, secure council / social housing since the introduction of the Right to Buy in the 1980s, why don’t we level the playing field a bit?

Let’s not abandon the Right to Buy, let’s extend it to privately-owned homes. If I’ve lived in a place for a certain number of years, it is mine, treat it the same as if it were a mortgage. Landlord’s got their money back several times over.

It takes the sound principle of ownership by use, the proven popularity of right-to-buy and it’s a win in terms of increasing equality.

What do you think?

…they’ve arrested 1000 people demanding that the summit produce meaningful action.

While the rich governments try and fix things so they stay rich and oil companies finally get their hands on Iraq’s oil, the main certainty is that whatever comes out of Copenhagen, they’re determined that it won’t be decided by people on any of the world’s streets. The “indiscrimate” arrests are reported to have been focussed on the Libertarian Socialist Bloc, calling for System Change Not Climate Change.

It’s hard to be hopeful about the COP15 process but if delegates don’t come up with a satisfactory deal, and people in Copenhagen were to blockade them in the conference centre until they do, then history isn’t going to condemn them as much as it would for inaction.

EDL reveal their Scots roots by pissing on English Heritage

We owe the English Scottish Defence League an apology. We thought that they were just a bunch of racist football hooligans who wanted to see some rain and hills, so transplanted their wannabe-race war to Glasgow last month.

We thought the fact that their SDL hoodies have the English St Georges Cross on them was proof that they had no links here.

However. The photo here proves us wrong. It shows “English” patriots pissing against the historic and very English Nottingham Castle.

Clearly there’s only one explanation. The English Defence League are all secretly Scottish. Having got a taste for bamming up English cops in Manchester last year, a paramilitary branch of the Tartan Army set up the EDL using “dirty war” tactics learned in Northern Ireland.

Now their secret is out, claims that the Scottish Defence League are an attempt to franchise dumbfuck English Nationalism can be shown up for what they are.

A reader has sent us this first hand report of the protests against the SDL’s march in Glasgow.

The protests in Glasgow against the Scottish Defence League can broadly be called a success. Anti-fascists were certainly successful in preventing the group from assembling in any significant way on the street, and the number of people who came out to fight the fascists was extremely impressive. However, as was the case in Leeds where a comrade was handed over to the police by a steward, the actions of the self-appointed leaders of the anti-racist movement – Unite Against Fascism (UAF) – were disgraceful.

Anti-fascists met outside the St. Enoch Street subway station in significant numbers with the intention of going to Cambridge street, where the majority of the SDL were drinking in a bar behind a sizeable police line. We set off through the streets towards their hideout as a loose group, but soon the UAF banner was at the front of the march and Weyman Bennett was stopping for photo opportunities, and commandeering a megaphone to tell the group to slow down to accommodate the cops! Despite this, those who were interested in actually opposing the SDL on the streets walked on towards the bar.

Having got to Cambridge street, Bennett and his supporters once again took control of the megaphone and began telling protesters to head to the ‘Scotland United’ demonstration at Glasgow Green! This created a split in the group leaving only 50 behind to oppose the SDL where they were, with the majority following the UAF banner away from any confrontation and towards the official protest. This not only left those who stayed in danger, but also allowed the SDL briefly outside the bar.

The actions of the UAF group on Saturday were despicable, but not unexpected. Their history of state collusion against radical anti-fascists and collaboration with religious groups, political parties and the forces of the state is no secret. It is becoming increasingly clear that they cannot be trusted as a genuine anti-fascist group, and are not an effective means of combating fascism in Britain.

I hope so. Rope is cheaper than bullets, after all…

Schnews report on Scottish & Southern Electricity’s attempted use of a Terrorism Act against a blacklisted electrician:

A judge has dismissed a power company’s attempts to prevent a one-man picket with an injunction under the Terrorism Act as “fanciful and bordering on paranoia”. Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) attempted to suggest that the picket represented a “threat to national security”.

Electrician Steve Acheson was dismissed from from his job at the Fiddlers Ferry power station project in December 2008. Although he was technically made redundant, at the time of his dismissal the firm took on another 300 workers. Since then he’s maintained a regular picket outside the construction site with a banner saying “STOP VICTIMISING UNION WORKERS – END THE BLACKLISTING NOW”

Although the judge in this case called SSE out on their nonsense, the attempt itself shows that companies are ready to take this Act to places where they’ve succesfully used the Prevention of Harrassment Act. If a single picket can be branded a threat to “national security”, what about a whole group of them occupying their factory?

The “blacklisting” referred to is the one run by sleazy voyeur Ian Kerr of “the Consulting Agency” who maintained, illegally and at great profit, a database of more than 3000 workers suspected of union activity. This he sold to every large contractor you could name. Net result: workers reduced to poverty, and an insultingly token fine of £5000 for the spy.

A good source of information on this: The Blacklist Support Group.

Surely the Evening News didn't just lift this picture off of Indymedia without attribution? They wouldn't be dumb enough to put it on the front page...

A recent article in the cash-strapped, poorly-written Evening News claimed that half of council manual workers are ready to give up their work-to-contract over pay cuts. EEN fact checkers failed to clock that a mass meeting of all those same workers were unanimous in their message: Not a penny off our pay. Here’s the press release in response to the transparent attempt to divide & rule.

Street cleaners have hit out at Council leaders’ claims that they are “set to give up their protest” in the long-running dispute over wages and conditions.

“It’s absolute nonsense.  There’s no truth in it at all,“ a Council street cleaner said.  “Everybody I spoke to today at work was of the same opinion.”

“The vast majority of manual workers will not be going back until the wages are re-paid to the binmen whose wages have been docked.”

The Council claimed that a “formal agreement” has been put to the street cleaners.  But a street cleaner stated: “The only letter we have had through the door from the Council is one stating that our wages are being cut to between £12,000 and £14,000.”

ACTION CONTINUES

Hundreds of Council manual workers agreed at a mass meeting on 9th October to continue their work-to-rule and overtime ban to oppose wage cuts and changes in conditions.  “Nothing’s changed,” a street cleaner told us, “This is Council PR.  They can’t give separate deals to different sections of workers.”

And a street cleaner slammed the Council’s “partial performance” policy of docking the wages of binmen who are working to rule.  “The binmen are the only people in the City of Edinburgh Council being hit by so-called “partial performance.”  It’s victimisation!” he insisted.

And a bin worker stated: “The management are using bullyboy tactics and harassment.  Our depot’s like a police state.”  He explained that several binmen signed off sick by their doctor are being refused sick pay by the Council.  “This is illegal,“ he declared.

“SUPPORT THE COUNCIL WORKERS”

The Council workers solidarity group, who have been blockading the private bin lorries, stated: “The Council manual workers are fighting the first battle against the Council’s plans for massive cuts and privatisation of many services.  We urge Edinburgh citizens to support the Council workers – this affects us all.”

Meanwhile a Council source revealed that Council bosses recently held a summit meeting to discuss how much longer they can continue paying “astronomical sums” to the private companies who are operating bin lorries during the dispute.  Council leaders are still refusing to comply with Freedom of Information requests to reveal the sums being paid to Assist, Shank Waste Management and other companies.

The Council’s claims that the street cleaners were about to end their industrial action were reported as if they were fact in the Edinburgh Evening News on 19th October.   It is believed that some supporters of the council workers are investigating a submission to the Press Complaints Commission.

GET INVOLVED
More info, and to get involved, contact Council workers solidarity group edinburghmuckraker@riseup.net
Organising meetings currently held weekly,  next meeting 6pm Tues 27 October at ACE, 17 West Montgomery Place, EH7 5HA  All interested very welcome.
The Edinburgh Muckraker news-sheet and stickers can be collected free from ACE, open Saturday 11-6, Tuesday 1-4pm, Thursday 6-8pm