autonomy - issue 3

8/14/2019 Autonomy - Issue 3

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Issue #3 Winter 2013

Higher education workers strike

AUTONOMYAUTONOMYAUTONOMYA Scott ish newssheet for socia l change f rom below

The 31st October saw joint strike

action from UCU, Unison and

Unite in universities across the

UK. This was in response to a

real term pay cut of 13% after

five years of a pay freeze. It wasalso in opposition to the culture

of low pay and zero hours con-

tracts which employers seek to

normalize and extend, forever

reforming higher education to

suit profit.

Striking workers succeeded in

seriously disrupting the running

of the universities. In Edinburgh

University, staff were well sup-

ported by students picketing sev-

eral buildings throughout the

campus. Students played a gameof shutting the Old College gates,

the security staff having to re-

peatedly open them. At the li-

brary, we urged others not to use

the building to support those on

strike.

At Glasgow University, manage-

ment were forced to shut down

the library. Cleaners were out on

the picket from 5am, there was a

large gathering of strikers at

the main gate and smaller

pickets elsewhere. Unite even

brought along Scabby the gi-

ant rat.

Not just lecturers but every-one who runs the university,

from caretakers to caterers,

were out and this made it par-

ticularly important. A one day

strike is unlikely to be enough

to force a major rethink from

employers. For that day

though many of us felt an un-

usual sense of control over the

campus. It fostered new ties

between staff and students.

And if it was sometimes diffi-

cult trying to convince some

students and even other work-

ers not to cross picket lines, the

strike itself was an education inclass solidarity.

We want to see this as the first

of more industrial action, to

build on militancy and turn up

the heat. A big part of this is

to make UCUs work-to-

contract, which began on 1st

November, a success.

#fairpayinHE

Free/Donation

Edinburghs

anti-capitalist

& anti-racist

dayschool

Veteran black

panthers visit

Scotland

Events and

groups around

the country

Glasgow feminists protest for reproductive rights

Grangemouth:

what happened?

Every now and again, Glasgow

sees the small pro-life lobby

come out of the woodwork. On

Thursday 24th October, they

planned a vigil in George Square

and then a torch-lit procession to

St Andrews Cathedral. In

response, feminists and allies

decided their own get-together to

argue the case for womens control

over their own bodies. They easily

outnumbered anti-abortionists,

and produced loads of excellent

signs, slogans and chantsKeep

you rosaries off my ovaries!.

Womens access to abortion along

with other reproductive rights

remain a massive issue here and

around the world. We only need to

read the traumatic stories of

women in neighbouring Ireland,

where abortion is restricted.

Those who campaign against

choice need to be opposed.

The counter-demonstration was

organised and led by self-

identifying women, who made up

the majority, and male allies

supported. Hopefully well see

more like it.

Thanks to athousandflowers.net

for the picture.


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Floaker in AFed Glasgow draws

lessons from the industrial

dispute, lock-out and threatened

closure of the Grangemouthpetrochemical plant and refinery

last October.

There has been a lot of speculation

about how ready and willing workers

at Grangemouth have been to take

industrial action. Looking at the

actions of the Ineos bosses, Unite the

Union, and the politicians we can

start to see how much of these three

groups vested interests are tied up in

making sure workers on the groundare given the thin edge of the wedge.

First, Ineos themselves - as expected

from the bosses - have been lying

through their teeth. On one hand

they have claimed the site is making

a loss, though when the economic

analyst Richard Murphy looked

through their books he was stunned

to find they were

7million in the black

while at the same

time the costs to the

company for site

assets and a public

loan they were paying

back have been

written off. Money

from the site is also

being moved into an

offshore tax haven.

All of this makes the future of

Grangemouth look hugely profitable.

The only other way Ineos can

squeeze more money out of the plantwould be to cut staffing costs and

benefits, and that is just what they

are doing.

Michael Connarty, the Labour MP

who covers Grangemouth, claimed

on the BBC's Daily Politics show

that Unite had been "conned and

that it was "quite clear [Ineos]

prepared for this conflict quite well".

However, the workers of

Grangemouth have not beenoutsmarted by their bosses as much

as they have been ill-represented by

the Unite bureaucracy and their

tired and predictable way of reacting

to negotiations. The union's

willingness to keep the peace by

giving a three year no-strike deal

means the bosses can do what they

want for that time with no real way

for workers to come back at them;

that is unless the workers take the

decision to act outside of Unite's

hands and back into their own.

Some have claimed that rank-and-file

action may not have been possible,

but if that's the case then it raises

the question of how the workforce got

into that state, and what was the

union's role in creating this

situation? Back in 2000, workers atGrangemouth were striking in

solidarity with truckers blockading

the plant as part of the fuel price

protests, then again in 2009

hundreds of Grangemouth workers

took wildcat strike action to stand

shoulder-to-shoulder with striking oil

refinery workers at Lindsey. Have

they really

given up this

strong will to

fight in justfour short

years? Or

have Unite

(and the

other trade

unions) been

quick to

dampen any

militancy in

an attempt to show the bosses that

they are in control of militancy and

keep their own slice of the pie?

However, The Scotsmanreported

that 665 workers did notsign the

survival plan agreement, indicating

that workers on the shop floor are

still up for a fight. How has Ineos

reacted? They are going to sack these

workers and have them rehired as

new employees, putting them on

contracts with lower pensions than

those who where forced into giving in.

Those who did sign the contract will

also get a sweetener of between2,500 and 15,000. Unite, rather

than fighting this blatant attack to

divide the workforce, had already

tied their hands in preparation by

signing that no-strike agreement

and are complicit in worsening

conditions for its members and

breaking the bonds of solidarity

between different workers. It is

clear that they have no interest in

protecting the working class, just so

long as they get their place at the

bosses table.

Over in Holyrood, the SNP have

been only too willing to play into

the hands of the bosses, giving

Ineos support in the calls for

compromise to be reached. The

thought that a Scottish government

(either further devolved or fullyindependent of Westminster) will be

any friendlier to workers, the

unemployed or anyone else is an

assertion without any backing. The

state will always behave in the

interests of the state. Holding hope

that someone else can fix things for

us is only going to lead to half-

measures and disappointment. It is

only by building up our ability to

take action together at the heart of

the problem that will give us anyreal measure control of our lives.

The way in which the unions and

the politicians have behaved is not

the victory for common sense that is

being billed; it is a stitch-up

against all of us as a class. Bosses

are pitting worker against worker

while the trade unions and

politicians are only too happy for

this to happen as long as their

power remains intact. The people on

the shop floor know their business

better than anyone else. We should

learn the lessons from past fights

such as the 2009 Lindsey strikes

where worker stood in solidarity

with worker and won the

reinstatement of 698 workers and

an agreement of no retaliation from

the bosses: a victory through shared

struggle. By helping to empower

one another by showing support

when action is called for we can

take a degree of power forourselves, and to hell with the

bosses, union bureaucrats and

politicians who stand in our

way.

Grangemouth: the rank-and-file against the world

PAGE 2 AUTONOMY

The union's willingness to keep the

peace by giving a three year no-strike

deal means the bosses can do what

they want ... unless the workers take

the decision to act outside of Unite's

hands and back into their own.


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PAGE 3 AUTONOMY

Veteran black panthers visit Scotland

On 6th October, JoNina Abron

Ervin and Lorenzo Komboa Ervin,

two long-time grassroots organisers

from the United States and former

Black Panthers, kicked off their

speaking tour of the UK at

Edinburgh University. They spoke

on the subject of The Rise of the

Ku Klux Klan, new confederacy

movements and the anti-racist

movement for this period to an

audience of nearly 100, standing

room only. The following day they

travelled to Glasgow for another

packed talk this time on the

1960s/70s US black power

movement.

In the Edinburgh talk, Lorenzo

gave background on the history of

the three rises of the Ku Klux Klan,

and both he and JoNina spoke

about the recent mobilisation

against them in Memphis,

Tennessee. JoNina told us about Ida

B. Wells, a pioneering investigative

journalist who visited the UK in

1893 and 1894 to raise awareness of

lynchings in the United States. In

her memory JoNina and Lorenzo

introduced the new Ida B. Wells

Coalition Against Racism and Police

Brutality, and invited groups in the

UK to join.

Lorenzo and JoNina are both

founding members of the Black

Autonomy Federationbased in

Memphis, promoting class-based

grassroots anti-authoritarian

struggle, self-determination for the

Black community and autonomy and

liberation for the oppressed world-

wide. You can like them on facebook.

JoNina is the author ofDriven by

the Movement: Activists of the

Black Power Era, and Lorenzo

is the author ofAnarchism and

the Black Revolution.

Edinburgh dayschool: building working class resistance

to capitalism and racism

Edinburgh Anarchist Federationinvite

you to a day of discussion on

contemporary anarchist and

communist strategy and organisation.

Focussing on practical experience of

organising above abstract theory we

want as many people as possible to

come together on November 30th.

In the aftermath of the largest

economic crisis in decades and the

collapse across the world of the

legitimacy and membership of social-

democratic parties, the opportunity

should exist for a re-emergence of the

communist movement. Despite this, we

remain marginal, disorganised and

lacking in strategic direction. The left

remains in thrall to outdated ideas and

tactics unable to adapt to current

conditions, to offer any effective

opposition to neoliberal attacks or build

the organisations

necessary for working

class power andautonomy.

Too often self-described

revolutionaries and

communists meet only to

discuss abstract theories

or to analyse historical

events, divorced from any

material relation to

current struggles in the

UK, and unwilling to

consider new

organisational methods. This

gathering aims to be different. Wewant to discuss practically how we

create a culture of resistance and

organisation in our own workplaces

and communities, to smash the

growing threat of fascism and racism

from the EDL to the UKBA.

Though we remain weak at present,

reasons for optimism do exist, from

the wave of spontaneous workplace

occupations and wildcat strikes in

2009 to the student movement of

2010, the arrival of the anti-fascist

network as a serious, militantalternative to the UAF, the

innovation of the pop-up union at

Sussex university and the growth ofsolidarity networks. We want to draw

out the successes and failures of

these nascent formations and

consider where we go from here. Do

these ideas offer the basis for a new

workers movement or another dead

end? We invite everyone who opposes

capitalism and fascism to present any

ideas and discuss the future of our

movement.

Lineup to be confirmed. Contact

@ScotAFed for more information.


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Autonomyis produced byAnarchist Federation (AFed) Scot-

land. It aims to promote and link

together campaigns that empower

working class people and that

challenge capitalism and irrational

systems of power. We want to re-

port on positive, inspirational ex-

amples of struggle but also storieswhich motivate us to act. We will

focus on things happening in Scot-

land and also report on events in

Britain, and around the world.

Upcoming Events

The Anarchist Federation organises for social

change through solidarity, direct democracy

and direct action. We have groups and

members across Scotland including Dundee,

Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.

Meadbowbank Sports Centre, 7pm.

24th November: STUC St Andrews Day

Anti-Racism march and rally. Assemble:10.30am at Glasgow Green. Rally at 12

noon at the Glasgow Film Theatre, RoseStreet.

26th November: Glasgow Reclaim the

Night 2013. Assemble 6pm at BotanicGardens entrance. March off 6.30pm toSTUC.

30th November: AFed Edinburghs

dayschool Building working class resistance

to capitalism and racism. The Pleasance,9.30am-5.30pm.

2nd December: start of the Week ofAction to Stop Workfare and Sanctions.

Watch out for protests against workfare in

1st November:UCU members start work-to-contract.

6th November: Day of action against depleteduranium weapons. Dundrennan Range,

Kirkcudbright. 12.30pm.

10th November: IWW Scottish Assembly, Stirlingfrom 11am-6pm. For members and radicals in

education, health, call-centres etc. Contact theIWW below fore more info.

10th November: Scottish Education WorkersNetwork, a sub-meeting of the IWWs Scottish

Assembly, 3pm-5.30pm.

11th November: IWW Edinburghs AGM, at theAutonomous Centre of Edinburgh from 7pm.

20th November: Trade unions: in whose

interests do they act?, AFed Glasgow talk and

discussion. Fred Paton Centre, 19 CarringdonStreet, Glasgow. 6.45pm-9pm.

22nd November: Public meeting: Edinburgh CityCouncil to cut 36 million next year: what are the

alternatives? organized by local anti-cuts groups.

Housing

Glasgow Solidarity Networkglasgowsolnet.wordpress.com

Edinburgh Private Tenants Action Groupeptag.org.uk

Work

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)iwwscotland.wordpress.com

Scottish Education Workers Network

iwwscotland.wordpress.com/scottish-education-

workers-network/

Call Centre Workers Network

callcentreworkersnetwork.wordpress.com

Welfare

Edinburgh Coalition against Povertyedinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk

Contribute your article or

let us know about a

grassroots initiative!

Get involvedWest Glasgow against Poverty (WestGAP)westgap.co.ukAsylum/Refugees

Unity Centre Glasgowunitycentreglasgow.org

Feminism

Glasgow Feminist CollectiveSearch on facebook!

Hollaback! Edimburgh

edinburghhollaback.org

Social Centres

Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh

autonomous.org.uk

Disability rights

Black Triangle

blacktrianglecampaign.org

Crutch Collectivethecrutchcollective.blogspot.co.uk/

Anti-cuts & Bedroom Tax

Edinburgh Anti-Cuts Allianceedinburghagainstcuts.org.uk

No2BedroomTax Campaignno2bedroomtax.co.uk

Greater Leith against the Cuts

On facebook

For regular updates on Glasgow events,

subscribe to:

[email protected]

facebook com afed scotlandScot Fed

afed org uk scotland

autonomy - issue 3

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