The welfare state was introduced largely at the behest of capitalism to ensure a healthy and educated workforce. Its origins date back to the Boer War when the army recruits were in such poor health they were unfit to fight. Since then, things have changed. Large sections of the working class are now surplus to the needs of capitalism, so the capitalist state no longer cares so much about our health, education and welfare.
On Wednesday 10th November 2010 the NUS and UCU have organised a demonstration in London in protest against the cuts in education. We are calling on all anarchists and militant workers and students to join us in forming a 'Radical Workers' and Students' Bloc' on the demonstration, arguing for all those in education to fight the cuts based on the principles of solidarity, direct action, and control of our own struggles – not for a struggle controlled by union bureaucrats and political ‘leaders’ who can only go so far.
Liverpool Solidarity Federation members held a street stall in Bootle town centre today (Saturday 6th November 2010) to spread our message of community/workplace resistance and working-class self-organisation.
As well as handing out copies of our No War but Class War leaflet, we also gave out our new Beat the Bailiffs advice pamphlet.
The conversations we have with members of the public suggest that libertarian anti-capitalist and anti-state sentiments are widespread, but anarchism isn’t always seen as a viable alternative to the status quo. We aim to try and change that.
Throughout the world it is the workers who are paying the price for the capitalist crisis. In Britain it took a trillion pounds sterling to save the banks from collapse and the government now aims to pay for the bank bailout by making brutal spending cuts. The attacks by the Thatcher government decimated many working class communities but the planned spending cuts go much further than Thatcher ever dreamed. Over the next 4 years the government intends to cut public spending by 25%.
The media keep running stories about benefit fraudsters living it up no doubt in preparation for drastic changes to the benefits system. Brighton SolFed spoke to one of the supposed benefit scroungers to find out what it’s really like to live on benefits.
Since finishing a postgraduate course, Teresa has been looking for a job in Brighton. “I have been applying for at least 4 to 5 jobs a week for the past 4 months but did not get any job. Often I have been told I am overqualified for the positions and even though I tried to impress on them that I would like to work – I was told that they can get someone less qualified to do the work on minimum wages.”
Today (November 1st 2010) marks the 100th anniversary of our Spanish sister organisation, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT-AIT). Liverpool Solidarity Federation extends revolutionary greetings to our comrades in the CNT-AIT and best wishes for the next century of struggle.
¡Viva la CNT-AIT !
¡Viva la AIT y el Anarcosindicalismo!
Read more on the CNT-AIT here.
October 20th saw the unveiling of the long-awaited Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), the coalition government’s detailed blueprint on precisely how they plan to screw the working class. Little within the CSR was a source of surprise, with cuts roughly at the level that had been predicted in the run up. While the scale was predictably significantly below the 40% that had been mooted, this was clearly an attempt to ‘soften us up’ and feel lucky the cuts were “only” 20%, as if it had been taken straight out of the pages of ‘Negotiation for Dummies’.
Newsletter for a 2010 anti-cuts demo : fighting cuts, view of a 'benefits scrounger, restaurant tips
On Saturday (23rd October) members of Brighton Solidarity Federation joined the Radical Workers Bloc on a march to demand an end to the cuts being imposed on the working class in the ‘austerity budget’ – the greatest attack on the working class in decades.
We join the fight against the cuts now because they will bring immediate and real hardship and suffering to working people. But the answer does not really lie in a readjustment of the government’s budget.
The real answer lies in a fundamental change in the way we organise our society and economy. The fight over cuts is symptomatic of the fight between the wealthy, the capitalists, and the workers. It concerns how the wealth generated in society is distributed: but a slight shift one way or the other is not enough.
As reported in the last Catalyst, Britain's biggest insurer is axing over 2,000 jobs in one of the worst examples of outsourcing to hit the UK. It is now clear the job losses are to be centred in Norwich, York and Perth. Norwich has already been hit in a drive to outsource 900 jobs to Delhi and Bangalore. Amicus, who called the move 'despicable' and vowed to fight it, has delivered little in terms of saving workers' jobs.
Outsourcing, recently endorsed by Labour Cabinet ministers as good for business ("and therefore good for us"), is projected to strip 200,000 jobs from the UK by 2008. Most of those affected are doing data input or call centre work: sectors already notorious for their high turnover of staff. Hence workers with little legal or union protection are being protected, and while the unions aren't much cop, they are invariably better than nothing.