Category: workers

Freedom Exclusive: 1,312 Undercover Anarchists Discovered in Metropolitan Police

Freedom News  Last week the Undercover Policing Inquiry revealed that, since at least the 1970s, anarchists have been infiltrating London Metropolitan Police.

An estimated 1,312 undercover anarchists were discovered within the Met’s ranks so far, with some still active. AFed, SolFed, Freedom Collective and The Wombles refused to disclose the names of infiltrators, instead providing the Inquiry with their numbers: ranging from ACAB0001 to ACAB1312.

They have also refused to say how many are still active, or what is the purpose of the undercover operation.

One member of Freedom Collective, who prefers to remain anonymous, said: ”We will be issuing a statement at some point, but first we need to have a number of very long meetings and argue on Libcom.

I guess we better start doing more illegal raves in order to gather funds we will likely need if the Met choses to take legal action against us. Also, for the record, there is no leader of this operation: it was purely self-organized”. Continue reading “Freedom Exclusive: 1,312 Undercover Anarchists Discovered in Metropolitan Police”

6 Million Women Reclaim their Power: The1st Feminist General Strike

A strike against/beyond borders: The March 8 feminist strike

It was to be a Feminist women’s strike, at work and in the home. In order to give it legal coverage it had to be officially registered by a Trade Union, in this case the anarchist CGT and CNT. But it’s not legal to call a Women’s Strike in the Spanish State, so they went one further and registered it as the first feminist General Strike. Legal and official.  Helped by hundreds of women’s collectives, women journalists and social media the strike snowballed amazingly to over 6 million women.

photo: 3 anarchist women after legally registering a General Strike.

by Julius Gavroche      main text from autonomies  with thanks

This year’s call for a global women’s strike to mark the 8th of March women’s day was expressed in protests throughout the world.  But it found no greater resonance than in the Spanish State.

The call to strike was already in itself a radical gesture, to move beyond the ever so often tepid parades of slogans for equality of rights.  However useful such moments may be, their political limitations are profound.https://thefreeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/cartel-cgt-llamada-convocado-derechos_ediima20180118_0870_19.jpg

In the Spanish State, the strike call was made in the name of feminism: March 8th was to be a Huelga Feminista, under the rallying cry of “If we stop, the world stops!”.  And if Spain did not come altogether to a stand still, tens of thousands protested during the day and roving pickets closed roads, public transportation services, shops.  Public and private sector workers (teachers, journalists, care workers, cleaners (las kellys) and so on) struck.

Originally called by radical labour unions (the CNT, CGT, among others), along with hundreds of feminist collectives and other political groups, its extraordinary resonance finally forced Spain’s larger labour unions (the CCOO and the UGT) to join, with their membership contributing to a two hour afternoon labour stoppage involving some 6 million people. (El Pais 08/03/2018).

 CAN YOU describe how the strike was organized? What were the most important organizations?  …..THE STRIKE began to be organized in August and September of 2017, a time during which many feminist collectives in the Spanish state met to analyze the feminist movement and the situation in which it was operating and to assess the potential for organizing a strike on March 8, 2018, following the strike organized by feminists in Argentina in March 2017. …YOU CAN read the strike’s manifesto here. Continue reading “6 Million Women Reclaim their Power: The1st Feminist General Strike”

French Uprising Spreading as Police use Water Cannon, Toxic Gas and Snatch Squads.


 Everywhere in France people are suffering cuts, closures and blatant injustice  under Macron’s rightwing regime. The aim is to increase Corporate profits, make the rich richer and compete with even more repressive slave economies. After sending an army of police and bulldozers to destroy the alternative ZAD social system the eco warriors fight on in the ruins and forests, calling for a mass uprising which is snowballing as we speak, calling for us to go even beyond May 68 and lay the foundations of a better world.

Main Text via RT with thanks     Police have clashed with protesters on the streets of Paris as rail workers and students continue nationwide demonstrations against sweeping new labor reforms.

Officers in riot gear fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse protesters angry at French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to pursue job cuts and salary freezes across the public sector, including education, transport and the courts.

In footage captured from the scene of the protest at Boulevard Saint-Jacques in the 14th arrondissement protesters can be seen throwing objects at police and lifting street-side railings to use as barriers. Continue reading “French Uprising Spreading as Police use Water Cannon, Toxic Gas and Snatch Squads.”

Signs of a French Spring against Fierce State Oppression… May 68 to May 18 ?

Grèves aux usines Citroen lors des mouvements et manifestations survenus en France durant les évènements de Mai 68 à Paris, France, en mai 1968 .

By  Cole Stangler    at Jacobin  shared with thanks                             A wave of strikes and a student revolt has shaken France in recent days — but can it provide the first real challenge to Macron’s agenda?Rail workers from the Force Ouvrière union on strike in Paris . FranceInfo

This isn’t the first significant unrest under President Emmanuel Macron — his labor reforms last year were opposed by strikes and days of action — but the current wave is broader in scope. A weekend strike at France’s largest employer, supermarket Carrefour, was followed by strikes on the trains and at airports at the start of this week that have severely impacted transport in the country — and now a burgeoning student movement is joining in support.It’s far from clear whether these various protests will coalesce into a unified movement. They remain largely isolated for now. But the potential for what French left-wing activists term a “convergence of struggles” is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Here’s an overview of the situation:
After joining civil servants in protest on March 22, rail workers across France kicked off rolling strikes Tuesday. Unions are calling on the government to abandon proposed reforms that would cut worker benefits and inaugurate what they see as the first phase of a full-scale privatization of the national publicly owned rail system, the French National Railway Corporation (SNCF). Under strike plans, workers will engage in a series of two-day job actions separated by three-day intervals until June 28. Continue reading “Signs of a French Spring against Fierce State Oppression… May 68 to May 18 ?”

Remembering Paul Z. Simons: An Unyielding Anarchist, Author, and Rebel

By  CrimethInc. Ex-Workers Collective
We’re saddened to announce the passing of Paul Z. Simons, longtime anarchist, journalist, and author. Paul was an anarchist writer with a playful spirit, an uncompromising love of life, and equally uncompromising hatred for authority—be it from the right or the left. We treasure our memories of Paul. His presence will be sorely missed.

Recalled by his eldest daughter as “a uniquely intelligent writer, traveler, idealist, and fire-breathing anarchist,” Paul participated in some of the most inspiring thought and action of the past forty years.

We are not equipped to properly write his eulogy, but we hope others will, and now that he is no longer able to speak to you himself, we urge you to read the materials he left behind.

Paul wrote with great eloquence and erudition on everything from theater to insurrectionary strategy, from play to hallucinogens. In his history writing, he explored everything from the anti-racist insurgency of John Brown to the English Revolution of 1645 from an insurrectionary perspective. Continue reading “Remembering Paul Z. Simons: An Unyielding Anarchist, Author, and Rebel”

‘Spycop’ scandal Hits new low with Claim that Officer exploited Elderly Activist as part of Cover

by Tom Coburg at The Canary.. shared with thanks

An undercover police officer allegedly befriended an elderly activist as cover for intelligence-gathering. She was partially blind and deaf. The ‘spycop’ went on to head Special Branch.

Exploitation

During 1980 and 1981, police officer Roger Pearce used the cover name Roger Thorley to spy on members of the anarchist Freedom Press in London’s Whitechapel. As ‘Thorley’, he wrote several articles [pdf] for the newspaper Freedom, attacking the police.

As part of his cover, he is alleged to have been a ‘chauffeur’ for veteran anarchist Leah Feldman. At the time, Feldman was in her 80s, was partially deaf and blind, and often needed help moving around.

The spycop

Roger Pearce went on to head the Special Demonstration Squad and oversaw the creation of the National Public Order Intelligence Unit. He was later appointed Director of Intelligence; and Commander, Special Branch. On leaving the police service, he was appointed Counter-Terrorism Adviser to the Foreign Office.

Pearce was first identified as an undercover police officer in June 2014. In March 2017, Lord Pitchford (then head of the Undercover Policing Inquiry) refused [pdf] anonymity status for Pearce. The inquiry subsequently revealed that Pearce had infiltrated anarchist groups from 1979 to 1984.

In July 2013, when Pearce was asked about the practice of undercover police officers forming sexual relationships so as to gain intelligence, he said:

the [Special] Branch was inviting individual officers to live a false life for four or five or more years, the false friendship can develop and escalate into a sexual relationship. So it’s almost inevitable that these took place and I am making no moral judgement about them at all. Continue reading “‘Spycop’ scandal Hits new low with Claim that Officer exploited Elderly Activist as part of Cover”

Catalan President faces 30 yrs Jail.. Police Attack.. Assange Gagged.

Madrid ratchets up Catalonia independence crackdown

Graphic images of the recent clashes between protesters and police in Barcelona serve as a stark reminder of the political repression Catalans have suffered at the hands of Madrid since voting for independence.

Assange’s internet cut over Catalonia crackdown tweet – source close to WikiLeaks Mar 25

”In 1940 the elected president of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, was captured by the Gestapo, at the request of Spain, delivered to them and executed. Today, German police have arrested the elected president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, at the request of Spain, to be extradited”.

Catalans took to the streets of Barcelona last Sunday, and the days following, to protest the arrest in Germany of former separatist leader Carles Puigdemont. Dozens of protesters were injured by the all-too-familiar heavy-handed tactics employed by police against pro-independence demonstrators – adding to the indignity of Puigdemont’s politically-motivated detention.
Protesters clash with riot police in Barcelona on March 25, 2018 © Lluis Gene / AFP

Over 80 people have been injured in clashes with riot police in Barcelona and elsewhere across Catalonia, as angry protesters denounced the arrest of former separatist leader Carles Puigdemont in Germany earlier on Sunday. Continue reading “Catalan President faces 30 yrs Jail.. Police Attack.. Assange Gagged.”