Workers Solidarity Movement

Last Saturday, 26 March saw up to half a million take part in a TUC organised anti-cuts protest in London.  In the aftermath of the protest there has been much controversy about the 700 strong black bloc that broke away from the protest to throw paint at and break the windows of banks, luxury car dealers and the 4,000 a night Ritz hotel in Central London.  Workers Solidarity's Australian correspondent Sean Matthews argues here that a few broken windows was not violence but a legitimate display of class anger and that if anything this was a welcome distraction from the speech of the Labour leader Ed Miliband whose party initiated and imposed cuts and privatisation of public services over the last decade.

Over 10 years on from the signing on the Good Friday Agreement and working-class communities in the North have failed to reap the rewards from the ‘peace dividend’ according to a new study conducted by the assembly’s Research and Library Service. The report which examined deprivation and social disadvantage since the 1998 agreement found that the proportion of people claiming benefits and unable to heat their homes had ‘increased’, poverty had remained ‘broadly unchanged’ and unemployment levels had began to ‘rise’.

Christmas Island off the Western Australian is still reeling from last weeks insurrection from ‘asylum seekers’ at the islands detention centre. The breakouts were followed by three overnight riots at the centre in which accommodation tents and small buildings were burnt down as police fired tear gas and "bean-bag" bullets to quell rock-throwing rioters.

After hearing about Slugger O’Toole’s day in the Orange, I jumped at the chance of finding out more about this annual event which brings hundreds of thousands onto the streets across Northern Ireland. As the day progressed I was converged with a mixture of emotions, soon drained away by tiredness and an element of boredom.

“Don’t wait for politicians and people high up in the unions- just do it yourself”, says Unite shop steward John McGuire.

Protests spread, as workers continue to occupy Visteon/Ford plant in West Belfast.

The insurrection in Greece is a violent manifestation of the flame of class war that is sweeping across the world.
The flame of rage against injustice is burning from sweatshops in China to the streets and campuses of Dublin; to the inner city areas of Belfast. From the thousands of pensioners, education workers who took to the streets recently, to the workers who occupied a factory in Derry, we all share a common desire for change.

Despite its retention of a heavy arsenal of lethal weapons including Tasers, and a litany of repressive anti-terror legislation including Diplock Courts, Hugh Orde, current Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland often refers to the force as the ‘most democratic, accountable police service in the world’. This from the same Chief Constable who has recently unsuccessfully attempted to block the release of vital documents to the Pearse Jordon Inquest. Pearse, an unarmed IRA volunteer, was gunned down by the RUC on the Falls Road in 1992.

The recession in the economy means that working people are having to come to terms with growing house repossessions, below inflation pay-increases, and a steep rise in the cost of living. Meanwhile, property developers and banks are busy using the credit crunch and the downturn in the housing market to get Government bail outs, despite the fact that it was their speculative polices that helped created the mess in the first place.

Over a period of several months Sean Matthews interviewed a representative from the anti-fa organisation in relation to their current activity in combatting the far-right, building support with migrant workers and lessons we can learn in Ireland both North and South plus lots more...... 

Anti-fa is committed to physically and idealogical opposition to fascism. The 'Antifa' initiative has come from members of the Anarchist Federation, Class War Federation, and No Platform. Although coming from the anarchist tradition, antifa are open to work with any group/individual that is serious about militant anti-fascism, but will NOT work with any state affiliated groups. Image: *eightball* - http://flickr.com/photos/kola1965/

When most people think of benefit fraud they usually think of the ‘solitary criminal figure’ that doesn’t want to work and who continually pockets more from the benefit system than they have been allocated. This vision is primarily the image conjured up by the mainstream media, politicians and the gutter press such as the Sun. It’s ok if your filthy rich and wealthy such as the Murdoch mafia who can afford to hire lawyers and keep their money in offshore accounts away from the public gaze.