Two articles from Bristol about Porkie Pies

Notts Black Arrow

Update: 4pm today (Saturday) in Nottingham, Forest Fields – details in Tweet: https://twitter.com/open_nottingham/status/1375471612099710981

Here are links two new blog articles that should create resonance in Nottingham considering the past action of the police here, not least as this year it is the 10th anniversary of the ATOS 2 incident where police attempted to stifle protest against medical tests for disability benefits with an wideranging injunction and a dropped case against the two arrested. This was obviously largely politically motivated judging by a police officers’ remark on the arrest that there “had been too much of this sort of thing and we were told to crack down on it”, which echoed the earlier arrests of Nottingham Uncut activists.

It’s also nearly a decade since Nottingham played a part in the days of protests and riots in England following the death of Mark Duggan who was shot dead by police in…

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Women’s History Month and IWD 2021

Women and Non-Binary Events for March.  

8 March: Global Women’ Strike – IWW is a named supporter of the global women’s strike. However, if you are unable to support a full strike there are other things you can do. Slow down your work. Taken your proper lunch breaks. Work to contract. Recruit, recruit, recruit. Take a duvet day. More information on the women’s strikes here: https://womenstrike.org.uk/  

9 March, 7pm: Historian Heather Mayer, author of ‘Beyond the Rebel Girl’ has agreed to speak to us about her book which centres on IWW women in the US North West. Afterwards we will have a discussion about what we can learn from these women to help us organise now. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/h1A94ZFaSmYAkTZJ8 

14 and 21 March, 1pm: Organising for Training for Women and Non-Binary FWs. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/492xZWyggwSDaHq58 

16 March, 7pm:  Part two of Reclaim the Agenda’s Sexual Harassment Workshop, ‘Everything you wanted to know about consent but were too afraid to ask.’ Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-consent-but-were-afraid-to-ask-tickets-143680306665  

Solidarity with Retail Workers

Last week (w/c 30 November 2020) was terrible for staff working in the retail sector. The collapse of the Arcadia Group owned by capitalist Philip Green has created uncertainty for 13,000 shop workers and has left a pension deficit of up to £350 million pounds.

Green and his wife, who live in the tax haven of Monaco, purchased the Arcadia Group in 2002 and are thought to have benefited from a £1.2 billion dividend in 2005 and have made over £300 million on interest payments and loans. Although Green promised to put £50 million back into Arcadia’s pension deficit, it is certain that this will not be enough to cover worker’s losses.

The Green’s lack of compassion is typical of capitalists. It was after all Philip Green who sold British Home Stores (BHS) for £1 to a former bankruptee Dominic Chappell in 2016, which collapsed a year after with a pension deficit of £571 million. The case of BHS is yet another example of how capitalists are allowed to play around with employee’s futures just to make a quick profit.

The day after the insolvency of the Arcadia Group, billionaire capitalist Mike Ashley of JD Sports announced he was pulling out of a deal to purchase department store Debenhams, putting the jobs of another 12,000 workers on the line. That was followed later in the week by the Bon Marche store, which also went into administration causing the potential loss of another 1,500 jobs.

This means that in one week, the jobs of 26,500 workers across Britain have been put on the line, close to Christmas and in the middle of a global pandemic. The Nottinghamshire IWW branch condemn the venture capitalist bosses and offer solidarity to the workers and their families who have been affected by the collapse of the retail sector.

Join the Anti Fracking Demonstration on 12th November in Manchester!

For more info on the Fracking situation in Britain see https://ecology.iww.org/node/1882

Student Workers – Fight For Your Rights

Here are some useful tips for students needing or wishing to support themselves through working whilst at Uni or College that was published on the IWW web pages some years ago.  Organisation and awareness are for everyone!

https://iww.org.uk/resource/survival/

Notts IWW Statement on Orlando Attack

The following is a statement from the Nottinghamshire General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of The World in England, regarding the recent terrible events in Orlando, Florida, USA:

The IWW’s Nottinghamshire General Members’ Branch was deeply saddened to hear of the shooting that occurred at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando last Sunday. This shooting, which targeted LGBT members of the Latinx community, was a tragic symptom of the racism, homophobia and transphobia that permeates so much of our society, both in the United States and in the wider world. Both of the communities targeted suffer disproportionately at the hands of the boss class, with the Latinx community especially being affected by issues of poor pay and precarious working conditions. We note that many of the victims of this event have been forcibly outed as a consequence, either posthumously or as a result of ending up in hospital, and thus may experience further discrimination at work or at home. As members of One Big Union, we feel compelled to give our sincerest condolences to those who have lost friends, family and lovers to this incident, and we offer solidarity to those who must deal with its aftermath.

This statement has been passed to the IWW in Orlando and has been posted on the Notts IWW Facebook page.

In November We Remember – Industrial Worker, November Issue

In this issue:

* Legal victory over police repression of union activity & free speech in Boston
* Boycotts, pickets in support of Familias Unidas farm worker union intensify
* In November We Remember: Fellow Worker Ed Mann, Federico Arcos, Krazy Bill and incarcerated workers
….and more!

To download it, follow this link: Industrial Worker Fall 2015

Industrial Worker Newspaper June 2015

The June 2015 issue of the Industrial Worker:

You can download a PDF from the international IWW website here.

Headlines:

• #ResistenciaMovistar: A Strike Of This Century In Spain
• IWW Statement On Baltimore Uprising And Police Repression
• Amtrak Wreck Could Have Been Prevented

Features:

• May Day Celebrated Around The World
• Staughton Lynd Reviews New Saul Alinsky Biography
• Call To Support Migrant Workers In Europe

Happy Wob-read!

Meeting on Argentina and Precarious Labour

Argentina – Precarious labour and global capitalism.

Meeting organised by Nottingham Trade Union Forum.
Wednesday 4th March, 7pm. Nottingham Mechanics Institute, North Sherwood Street, Nottingham.

Maurizio Atzeni is a researcher concerned with issues of workers’ organisation, collective action, trade unionism, the labour process and workers’ control and self management. He has recently returned from Argentina where he has been involved in the study of precarious workers organisation.

In the talk Maurizio will present some of the findings of his research and give an overview of the current context of the labour movement in Argentina. This will help to introduce some of the arguments about the conceptualisation of labour in the context of globalisation which have been treated in Maurizio’s last book Workers and labour in a globalised capitalism: contemporary themes and theoretical issues (2014) as well as a number of articles Maurizio has recently published Workplace Conflict: Mobilization and Solidarity in Argentina (2010) and edited Alternative work organisations (2012)

Industrial Worker Newspaper Jan to Feb 2014

Industrial Worker – Issue #1771, January/February 2015

Headlines:
* Anti-Police Brutality Protest Shakes Things Up At The Mall Of America
* Strange Encounters: World Meeting Of Popular Movements In Vatican City
* Windsor Wobblies Build Street Solidarity

Features:
* The Centennial Commemoration Of Joe Hill
* Review: Doing (And Making) History From Below
* Prisoner Letters: Crime And Punishment

http://www.scribd.com/doc/252451660/Industrial-Worker-Issue-1771-January-February-2015