La Tarcoteca

La Tarcoteca

martes, 20 de enero de 2015

Spain: McDonald's Boicot. Stop Abuses!!! CNT-IWA

 After more than five years working in this company, our colleague Saray is named delegate of the CNT union McDonald section in León city. At the moment she decided begin her unionist activity the company executive direction fired her straight away.

Is know by all the low product quality this company sells. However, is less known  its contempt to workers rights and phobia to their employees organized. It seems that this company is only interested in money. For McDonald's, health and working conditions of workers means nothings.

For these reasons, we call all McDonald's workers to organize themselves and defend against corporate abuses.

We also appeal to customers to pressure the company and require the rights of the workers and not to consumme until they reinstate the dismissed companion.

TODAY IT'S ME, TOMORROW IT'S YOU.
Boicot McDonald's - Sindicato de Oficios Varios de León (CNT-AIT)
_______________________
McDonald's picket report

As expected, both Friday 16 at pm and Saturday 17 at pm and Sunday 18 at am, call by CNT, a group of people meet at the entrance of McDonald's in Papalaguinda walk, León city, Spain. The reason is the open conflict we have with this infamous company for the dismissal of the Union Section delegate in this workplace.

The owners of this franchise tried to spot what is a clear trade union repression case with a disciplinary dismissal. His only goal is to eliminate the organized action of workers and get rid of the companion without pay one euro. What no employer expected is we to faced the firm organized, and we standing at the entrance of the business reporting their abuses. We will continue with this kind of actions, performed directly by workers, until the problem is resolved.

We will come back next week on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to fight McDonald's abuse. If the company stands on its attitude we will expand concentrations to the other restaurants in the area. Since CNT we send a help call to other workers to boicot and not to consume at Mcdonalds in support.
Crónica concentraciones en McDonald's - Sindicato de Oficios Varios de León (CNT-AIT)

lunes, 19 de enero de 2015

Barcelona, the Dead City. Tribute documental to Patricia Heras and 4F

This video was censored in Catalonian TV due to the political implication of the City Mayor and Ex Minister Joan Clos. This is how Spain understands Justice.
<< June 2013, a group of 800 people enter an abandoned cinema in central Barcelona to project a documentary. Once inside, they change the name of the building: the old Cinema Palace is called from now Patricia Heras Cinema. Who was Patricia? Why he decided to commit suicide? And most importantly how is Barcelona related to her death? A disobedience act, with strong symbolic content and a huge media impact that seeks -through Patricia history- to present the other side of Barcelona, the Dead City.

Spanish version

martes, 13 de enero de 2015

Call for International Solidarity Actions against Repression in Spain

Last 16th December 2014, in Barcelona, 11 anarchists were detained in what is known as "Operation Pandora". All 11 detainees are anarchist activists. 4 of them were released on December 18. One of them is a member of the CNT union from Sabadell and is still imprisoned. His lawyer says they are being held because they are organized. They haven't been accused of anything more than being active anarchists that spread and publish our ideas and fight for them.

It's clear that this operation took place only to persecute and criminalise the libertarian movement and to instill fear in the rest of the population so they don't fight against this system's injustice.


On January 16 afternoon we ask for solidarity. All that are able, please hold demonstrations or protest meetings to demand the detainees' freedom and against Operation Pandora.

Paris carnage Masterminds Demostration

they are no liders, just bastard

lunes, 12 de enero de 2015

Struggles and Victories of the IWA, 2014. Brief review

The past year saw the Sections of the IWA organizing more workplace struggles, more solidarity campaigns and more social protests than at any time since the decimation of the anarcho-syndicalist movement in the 1930s and 40s. We are not able to make a comprehensive account of all the actions but the IWA Secretariat would like to make a summary of international actions and local activities of the Sections.
International Solidarity Campaigns
The IWA supported a number of solidarity appeals this year, mostly to demand the reinstatement of dismissed workers. All such campaigns ended positively this year, with either the reinstatement of the comrades or agreements for monetary compensation.
At the beginning of the year, we held solidarity actions for a comrade dismissed from OHL, one of the companies that cleans the streets of Madrid. Comrades in the east, where OHL is present (Poland, Slovakia and Russia) took part in the campaign. The conflict ended with an agreement between the company and dismissed employee.
At the beginning of March, solidarity actions took place in 13 countries against the practice of outsourcing at Santander Bank and for the reinstatement of the fired CNT delegate. The Sections organized actions in Poland, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, UK, Portugal, Norway and France and sent protests in other locations where there were no targets. Comrades from other countries like Uruguay and the US also took part. Another day of action took place in June – in total three days of action were organized in for this struggle. At the end, the company paid a settlement to the comrade, who had already moved to another city. The settlement was much higher than usual and the comrade believes it is because of the actions. To show his mutual aid, he and his union decided to send some of the money to other IWA comrades in struggle.
In March there were also solidarity actions for the freedom of the imprisoned oil workers of Las Heras , Argentina. Solidarity pickets took place at embassies in Belgrade, Warsaw and Oslo and a picket took place in Newcastle, where the comrades targetted HBSC for complicity. Later there were actions in Spain as well.
In April, several sections supported the case of a comrade from Spain against TNS , the international polling company. The comrade was fired after years in the company for trying to do something against the worsening conditions at the firm. ZSP, KRAS, NSF and ASI organized actions. In the end, the company recognized the illegal dismissal of the comrade and paid him a high compensation.
In May and June, a number of Sections send protest letters supporting workers from ZSP in Belchatow Hospital who were struggling to get their jobs back. The comrades in Slovakia also made a picket at the Polish Embassy. The workers were rehired after 3 months of occupation and action!
In June, some Sections made actions at Portinox/Teka company, to support the dismissal of the union delegate from CNT Granada. Solidarity came from Portugal, Poland, Norway and Slovakia. The comrade later was reinstated to his job!
In October, we took action against the firing of the union delegate from CNT Guadalajara from Truck and Wheel company, at the warehouse for BMW-Mini in Spain. Solidarity actions were made in Australia, Slovakia, Poland, Russia, Norway, Brazil and Germany. The comrade was reinstated to his job in the company!

Strikes
Dresden
The workers of the Trotzdem Bar in Dresden went on strike after some of them were fired. They interpreted this as anti-union activity. The workers set up protests outside the bar for many days. Although in the end they did not win, they fought for their dignity and set an example for many.
Belchatow
Workers from ZSP union at Belchatow Hospital won their jobs back after 3 months of struggle. Unfortunately, a few months later, the service provider who employed the workers started to lay off people, both in and outside the union, and increase the workloads of the others. At the beginning of November, the union decided to call an indefinite strike. Most of the other workers from this service company (cleaners and food servers) joined the strike, which was victorious after one day. In the end, more than 100 workers received normal work contracts with all benefits for the duration of the service contract.
Italy
Members of USI-AIT's various unions joined in the nationwide general strike on November 14. The main reasons for the proclamation of the strike were mostly against those laws the government is approving, in particular the Jobs Act, which is a anti-labour reform that will increase precarious work and will allow companies the utmost possibility to dismiss workers.
Pesués
At the end of May, the workers from CNT in Tinamenor factory went on strike to demand fixed employment. They had been on temporary contracts for many years, although this is not allowed and they should have already been given fixed contracts. The employer responded by firing the workers. The CNT has not stopped fighting and the conflict continues.
Barcelona
In February, the CNT in WFS airport services went on strike for two days. There have been ongoing struggles in this company over the last couple of years. The union is struggling for the reinstatement of three comrades.
Barcelona
On July 1, CNT participated in a taxi drivers' strike in Barcelona, against companies like UBER or BLABLA car.
Pilar de la Horadada
The CNT union in STV Management called a 24-hour strike in September. As far as we know, the workers' struggle is still going on.
Valencia
In the middle of December, CNT in Extracciones Levante called a three-day strike. The strike was motivated by some dismissals and the CNT would like a new collective agreement. We do not have any information of any results of the strike and assume the struggle in the workplace in pending.
Barcelona
The CNT participated in the strike of workers from Ambulancias Domingo , an ambulance company for three days at the end of December.
Madrid
The CNT also is taking part in the strike of garden workers from the Madrid Rio park. There is a plan to lay off 50% of the staff, so the workers went on strike. The strike is ongoing.
Other
We know that some CNT unions have participated in other strikes this year. Unfortunately we do not have enough information about this. There are lots of strikes in Spain and often the CNT takes part with the other unions.
ASI Education Union also took part in mass strikes in Serbia this December.

Workplace and Social Struggle around the Globe
It is difficult to get a grasp of all the workplace struggles the Sections have been involved in. Sometimes, our Sections work to provide solidarity to groups of workers, such as the Gestamp or Ceramicas Neuquen workers in Argentina. Other times, our unions take part in protest movements of workers from various unions, such as the protests of teachers and scientific workers in Moscow , which the KRAS Education and Technical workers union took part in, or protests of health care workers in Italy which members of USI-Sanita took part in. Any attempt to make a short list of struggles will inevitably leave some of them out. But a few worth noting.
In the UK, comrades from SolFed have had success this year with organizing workers and actions against wage theft.
Brighton
SolFed has been organizing workers through Brighton Hospitality Workers and has won a number of direct action campaigns, mostly against wage theft at restaurants and cafes in the city. It has had a long string of wins, mostly using pickets in front of the establishments.
South London, London
SolFed helped to organize a successful campaign to help a worker get money she was owed from Green Eco Plus. They also organized an action to defend a woman fired from a language school and, as a result, she received money and a positive recommendation.
Newcastle
Comrades helped a worker from North Tyneside receive a large settlement.
Slovakia, Australia
Comrades in Slovakia have started a Problems at Work campaign, to begin dealing with more workplace problems. They report good interest and have new contacts through the campaign. Comrades in Australia have initiated a similar campaign.
Social Struggles in Brazil
Our comrades in Brazil took part in major social protests in that country. In some cities they were among various groups organized but in other places they were the only organized force which could mobilize some people in the streets.
Berlin
Two members of FAU were among workers fired in the Swedish School in Berlin. Some protests and solidarity actions were held, but so far, there has been no progress towards reinstatement. There were also many demonstrations and pickets demanding pay for Mall of Berlinworkers who did not receive their salaries. This situation is still pending.
Montevideo
No, we don't have a section in Uruguay (yet) but some comrades and comrades from ASI helped stranded Serbian workers, who weren't paid and left without visas and tickets home.
Poland
Following dismissals in Dino supermarkets, ZSP started a campaign for reinstatement, for unpaid overtime and other improvements. The supermarket chain had to start making overtime payments and made payments for past overtime to different workers. Also several improvements to health and safety measures had to be made. The union is still fighting for reinstatement and has a discrimination case in the court.
Warsaw
The ZSP fought a number of struggles in this city. First, there was continued actions against Impuls work agency which brought tens of thousands of zloties in overdue pay to a number of their members. Then, in one language school, the school started to make all social security and benefit payments, which it hadn't made before. The union helped workers in one sex shop get money they were owed. Then it took action with a group of cooks and waiters from Doubletree by Hilton who hadn't been paid and the workers received their money very quickly afterwards. The union also started action at Citibank, where a comrade was fired for fighting against discrimination. There are now three lawsuits against the corporate giant. Finally, in support of the comrades from ZSP Amazon, there were pickets at Manpower and Adecco agencies which had to pay workers the remainders of their salaries which they had been shorted.
Spain
In Spain there are always lots of workplace conflicts and it is hard to make a list, much less say which are most important. Some were already mentioned under international solidarity campaigns.
A few others are:
Salamanca
Struggle of Arvato-Qualytel workers. They do customer service for Orange, work through the company Arvato-Qualytel, but without normal contracts. They are hired as temporary workers through Adecco and Randstad. They would like to be hired directly and receive proper benefits and have stable employment. 2 members of CNT were dismissed through non-renewal of contract and a confederal campaign has been going on. An international week of action will take place starting Jan.12
Madrid
The Education workers union is fighting against precarious working conditions in the University of Alcala. This includes fighting against the exploitation of fellows and doctoral teaching assistants.
Barcelona
The CNT won the reinstatement of a comrade dismissed from a EUREST cafeteria.
Spain
The CNT has managed to organize unions in several cities in Phone House. There have been numerous pickets organized around Spain, demanding better working conditions for the staff.
Another campaign which takes place in various cities is against Mercadona supermarkets. Earlier in the year, the supermarket had to pay half a million euros in compensation to fired workers. CNT continues to organize in the supermarkets and organize pickets around Spain.
Barcelona
The CNT managed to win the reinstatement of the comrade dismissed from SOS Childrens' Villages.
Vigo
The CNT won a settlement with Dominos Pizza who dismissed a member.

Repression and Solidarity
San Carlo
USI in San Carlo Hospital was repressed and ordered to pay a huge fine for supposedly insulting the bosses of the hospital. The IWA donated money to help.
Araxa
Comrades from COB in Araxa are being repressed. There were bogus criminal charges against one comrade, as well as charges of being in an „illegal union”. The case is ongoing.
Belgrade
In Serbia, the state is still trying to prosecute the Belgrade 6, whose case was appealed and re-opened after their aquital in 2010. The state is also trying to make a few fake criminal charges against other ASI members.
Warsaw
Several bosses have tried to make criminal cases and lawsuits against ZSP members for their syndical activity. So far the none of the criminal cases have stuck and the comrades have escaped punishment through the courts.
Operation Pandora
Several IWA Sections have already protested against repressions against anarchists in Spain. Comrades from France, Serbia, Portugal and Brazil have protested and denounced the repressions and of course the CNT has taken action across Spain.
Other
The IWA organized some presentations, workshops and training this year. The first was in Holland, where there was discussion of anarchosyndicalist organization and action. The next was in Hongkong and Taiwan, which saw many discussions and exchange with local activists.
Priama akcia also organized an international conference about organizing and internal matters in Bratislava.
Some Sections have been participating in a number of other campaigns. For example, in Lisbon and in Araxa, there are ongoing campaigns for free public transportation. In Warsaw, there is huge involvement in housing struggles. In Spain there are some collective projects such as the small farm Huerta de SOV Madrid. In Belgrade, ASI has been very active in student occupations and struggles.
We wish we could list all the struggles our Sections have been involved with, or events that they organized but this task cannot be realized by the IWA Secretariat this New Year's Eve. It is time to celebrate a successful year and to look forward to a new year filled with new struggles, new successes of our comrades and hopefully new comrades from around the world who want to work in solidarity. We wish all of our comrades from the IWA, from our Friends and comrades from non-affiliated organizations a Happy New Year and good luck to us all in the nearest future. We still hold a new world in our hearts.
Long live anarchosyndicalism and the IWA!
IWA Secretariat
Dec. 31, 2014

viernes, 9 de enero de 2015

The Asturian Commune of 1934


Today as yesterday Red Support will
take care of you families
The Workers’ Alliance sealed on 28th March 1934 was an agreement between the (anarcho-syndicalist) CNT and (socialist trade unionist) UGT, later joined by the PSOE (Socialist Party), the BOC (Worker-Peasant Bloc) and their youth organisations, the Communist Left and later the Communist Party. The Alliance intended to set up local revolutionary workers’ committees, each organisation retaining its independence, in a regional and eventual national alliance. This was to stand firm until a socialist federated society was achieved.
Such an alliance was only possible because of the supposed radicalisation of the socialists. Three years after the victory of the Left and the establishment of the Republic (1931) the Right had won the elections, and the PSOE and UGT began to talk about insurrection. They later admitted their rhetoric was the result of grassroots pressure. In Asturias he socialists were more revolutionary than elsewhere and the leadership closer to the people. This alliance would have been the key to success but in the rest of Spain there was no insurrection but a general strike.
The CNT in the whole of Spain was broadly in favour of an alliance but differed as to the timing. Many in the CNT, and also the FAI (Spanish Anarchist Federation), had doubts about its political implications, mistrusting the Socialists. But in Asturias, where 25-30,000 of the organised 80,000 workers belonged to the CNT (and sympathisers were put at a further 20 thousand) the other organisations combined were larger and (more importantly) not reformist as elsewhere. Even so, there were stormy arguments, not about the UGT but about the dubious role of the PSOE. The FAI would not join the Alliance, nor the La Felguera local Federation of the CNT. However, the FAI and the La FelgueraCNT threw themselves wholeheartedly into the insurrection.
The local Communist Party had a hundred out of only 800 members in the whole of Spain. It discredited the alliance, as it offered no scope for it to assume leadership. At the last moment it applied for membership, doubtless on instructions from the USSR.

Preparations for Red October

The Aliance CNT-UGT will erase fascism!
The anarchists of La Felguera had a resounding victory during the Duro-Felguera strike of 1933, and there were strikes and actions across Asturias. A general strike (8th December 1933) was called by the CNT across Spain, with sabotage, bombs and attacks on the security forces. Accion Popular (the right wing party of Gil Robles) tried to mount a rally from Covadonga (extolled by patriots as the town where the expulsion of the Moors began). The workers’ alliance (under the watchword UHP, Proletarian Brothers United) had called a strike throughout the mining region, leaving the streets, strewn with nails, with no taxis, rail connections cut, sporadic sniping and so on. Such actions led to the October 1934 rising.
On 4th October it was announced that three CEDA (clerical-fascist) members were joining the government and the Socialist Party in Madrid called at last for a general strike.

The events of the Revolution

Early on 5th October the Guardia Civil barracks throughout the villages of Asturias were called upon to surrender, and then attacked. When they had been overcome, revolutionary groups were set up in Sama, La Felguera and Mieres to attack Oviedo, the provincial capital, where there had only been risings in one or two barrios, and where the government forces had seized strategic positions. On the 8th/9th October the Model Prison in Oviedo was stormed and found to contain a huge quantity of rifles and machine guns but no ammunition. However, the government troops were forced to retreat.
On 9th October Gijon was bombarded by the Regular Army and Navy as were other towns. Gijon fell on 11th October. On 12th October the enemy seized back most of Oviedo and a new front was established. Without ammunition, the Provincial Committee was forced to surrender. General Lopez Ochoa, commanding, demanded surrender of the weapons of the captive Guardia Civil and Guardia de Asalto, restoration of all arms, the lives of prisoners taken to be spared, and the committees to give themselves up. No shots were to be fired on the advancing troops. The committees’ conditions for workers to lay down their arms were for the Tercio and Regulares to be kept out of the mining towns and withdrawn from the front on account of their bloody reputation.
Ochoa agreed to these terms, and the Committee surrendered on condition that none of the committee were handed over. The agreement was read out to the population in Sama, who greeted it with cries of “treachery”. They refused to surrender, knowing how vicious the repression would be. They said they would sooner take to the hills. In the end it was accepted as inevitable and when the troops entered the town there came the harshest repression yet known in Asturias.
Ever since March 1934 the people of Gijon had been demanding part of the weaponry seized from the towns but they were denied by the Socialists who had possession. Nor were they given any reinforcements once the revolt got underway. This delayed the insurrection there. In the end the industrial workers and fishermen in the town took to the streets, but the Yague Column (foreign legionnaires and Moorish troops brought in via Ceuta by sea) put men, women and children alike to the sword.

Army Atrocities

General Lopez Ochoa led 25,000 troops against Asturias, but the orders came from generals Franco and Goded in Madrid. Ironically (in view of what Covadonga was supposed to mean) they had brought Moorish soldiers back to Spain to wipe out the people. As the troops advanced they encountered blown-up bridges and roads blocked by trees, even where the revolution had not broken out, showing the depth of support it had. In Grado the armed forces faced resistance from a small group of 400 that forced them back to Aviles.
However when the troops reached Oviedo, the generals had all the wounded in hospital rounded up and shot. They did not even enquire which side they were on. The prisoners were questioned and shot. A hundred held out on Monte Naranco. In flushing them out, a young girl, 16 year old Aida de la Fuente was killed. Her friend was wounded and raped before being murdered.

Revolutionary Conduct

Three fronts of War:  
Battle front, Working front and Cultural front
All the Spanish historians, and even those who belittle the events, agree that in the anarcho-syndicalist areas like La Felguera, Ciano, Valdesoto and Gijon, there was greater respect and consideration shown to prisoners and clergy. During the struggle food was obtained by means of ration cards issued by the Supply Committee, determining allocation by family size. Foodstuffs were taken from warehouses and goods vans. All had access to them.
It is traditional for miners in Asturias to combine their toil with some gardening, so there was no shortage of milk and eggs in the hospitals. There are no large holdings there, only tiny holdings, so some way had to be found of obtaining meat without alienating the farmers. The committees bought in sheep from Extremadura shepherds, while in Pola de Laviana traders were paid for their foodstuffs. In these transactions, money (which had been abolished) was temporarily brought back. The Oviedo branch of the Bank of Spain was cleaned out.
Many fires were blamed on the “savagery of the miners” when in fact they were started by the military. In the case of the torching of the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, this was done by the revolutionaries, and had to be done to deprive the enemy of a vantage point. In this way, a nunnery had to be set on fire, though its residents were led to safety.

The committees

The War Committee attended to the distribution of materials and tactics. The Supply Committees allocated food and clothing to the villagers and fighters. There was also a Sanitary Committee, which managed the hospitals. In some cases medical supplies had to be manufactured: “staimant” splints for fractures were manufactured in Duro-Felguera. The Transport Committees in nearly every town had access to fifteen or twenty vehicles, while the Work Committees ensured the mines were kept in good order. Furnaces, which would be needed in a new society, were also kept in order. Telephone communications were restored or, where none had existed, introduced.

Repression

Once the rebels had surrendered, the police crackdown began. The signal was the ransacking of the Workers’ Athenaeum in Sama, with 500 books tossed on the flames.
The rubbish incinerator in Oviedo was burning for eight solid days burning bodies, including Aida and her female friend. By the end of October, 10 thousand people had been arrested, a third of them ending in prisons which had capacity for a couple of hundred.

Reasons For Failure

One might cite strategic oversights, the sectarianism of the Socialist leaders, lack of munitions, the deadly air raids, the failure of the Leon air base to rise in revolt, and of course the fact that in the rest of Spain, the rising held out for one or two days, at best amounting to a general strike and some sporadic shooting. But the fact is it could not have been otherwise.
The CNT and FAI, who enjoyed the sympathy of the Spanish workers, failed to throw themselves into the revolt in the rest of Spain because of the attitude of the PSOE, whose sole objective was to seize power and win back the support it lost among the workers due to its collaboration with the Primo de Rivera dictatorship (in which Socialist leaders like Largo Caballero had served) and its time-serving attitude under the Republic. The same might be said of the UGT.
In Catalonia the Generalitat declared an independent Catalan State. The Anarchists were alert and ready for a rising. But even as the new regional government was defying the national governments, anarchists were rounded up and jailed. The Generalitat’s council of defence declared “Watch out for the FAI”.
Anarcho-syndicalists could see the revolt there was nationalist and not revolutionary. Outside Catalonia the PSOEaimed only at a general strike, not a rising, a rebuke that was later put to it in Asturias. Anti-statist anarcho-syndicalism was not disposed to mount a rising that would simply be in the interests of a party and its trade union appendage. Only In Asturias did the proper conditions exist for the setting aside of past resentments and an insurrection in which all were united.
From: "CNT" (October 1993) Granada, reprinted in "Black Flag" 204, Spring 1994 . Translated by: Paul Sharkey.