anarcho-syndicalism

On Sunday, Solidarity Federation was contacted by a Guardian journalist regarding revelations that police in London were advising members of the public to report local anarchists as potential terrorists. SolFed's external relations officer, who is delegated by our organisation to deal with press and media enquiries, made a statement which was quoted in Monday's newspaper and can be read below.

The police have subsequently retracted their advice after it resulted in widespread hilarity amongst anarchists and non-anarchists alike.

In the following conversation, Jano Charbel, a labor journalist in Cairo who defines himself as anarcho-syndicalist, talks about the character of the revolution in Egypt, the recent history of workers' struggles, the role of Islamists and unions, gender relations and the perspectives of struggles.

Download a PDF of the interview here.

The interview was conducted by two friends of the classless society in Cairo in spring 2011.

Updates on the situation in Egypt can be found on Charbel's blog.

A joint statement released by our Spanish sister section, the CNT, along with several other Spanish unions (leer en español).

The unions Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), Solidaridad Obrera (SO) and Coordinadora Sindical de Clase (CSC) met on June 24 in Madrid to discuss how we can respond to the attack we the workers are under, an attack without precedents, one that bushwhacks our acquired rights, one made a reality by the government and European institutions, the bosses and the markets. How we can coordinate a struggle, and a response, based on class unity and action.

On Saturday 4th June, almost 150 people took part in the Liverpool People's Assembly Against The Cuts. Members of Liverpool Solidarity Federation were amongst them, as the conference discussed resisting cuts in the public sector, to the NHS, and in communities.

Contrary to the name, the event was quite traditional in its set-up. Each of the three sessions was a panel debate, with the chair introducing four speakers who opened and closed the sections, with other contributions often also taking the form of prepared speeches. Despite this limitation, there were still many good points made. Numerous times, the TUC and trade union leadership came in for substantive criticism, and a SolFed comrade drew this together to make the point that we need to act for ourselves and build our own confidence rather than looking to leaders.