Housing Associations scabbing off tenants hit by bedroom tax
Submitted by Combat Bedroom Tax on Mar 1 2013 16:24
Housing associations are no better than scabs. In fact, they are scabs
As tenants are catapulted towards the chaos of the bedroom tax, one question must be asked again and again of housing associations: Whose side are you on?
Liverpool Mutual Homes (LMH), despite their ‘don’t blame us’ campaign, have made their position very clear: They don’t give a shit about tenants.
Second occupation at the University of Sussex
Submitted by libcom on Feb 28 2013 14:19
Following the largest demonstration yet, a second occupation has begun at the University of Sussex. This statement was read from the steps of the occupied BSMS building.
We, 200 students and staff of this university, have occupied the Michael Chowen lecture theatre.
This action is a response to a lack of alternatives within the current situation. Management still refuse to engage with our demands even as they attempt to placate us by feigning negotiation. So we reiterate that we will not compromise, and state them again:
Anti-privatisation struggle gathers momentum at Sussex Uni
Submitted by libcom on Feb 28 2013 10:24
Demo today (Thurs 28th Feb): 'the big one' | 1pm Library Square | Bring workmates, friends, and yellow squares.
The long-running struggle against the outsourcing of 235 jobs at the University of Sussex has been gathering momentum. The plans were first announced in May 2012, prompting demonstrations and mass meetings by staff and student supporters.
The “war on the unions” - its meaning and the response we need
Submitted by Phil on Feb 23 2013 14:49
Stories about the government threatening a “crack down” on trade union power emerge almost on a loop. Particularly in times of heightened class antagonism. But far from showing the unions as threats to society, such threats are a demand that the unions tighten up their role in policing class conflict.
The latest such story comes from the Independent, the main headline of which is a policy to “make strikes illegal unless at least 50 per cent of union members voted in a ballot.” This ties in with government rhetoric about ballot turnout whenever they attempt to
The General Strike in York, 1926
Submitted by jonthom on Feb 22 2013 14:21
Leaflet produced by the University of York's Borthwick Institute detailing the 1926 General Strike and its how it played out in the City of York.
How to combat the bedroom tax with a tape measure
Submitted by Combat Bedroom Tax on Feb 20 2013 11:18
One - but only one way - to combat the bedroom tax
One – but only one – of the challenges to the bedroom tax is the minimum size of your smallest bedroom.
Many of the smallest rooms in social housing are less than 70 sq/ft and thus a boxroom rather than a bedroom.
A single bedroom has to be 70 sq/ft or 6.5 sq/m to be classed as a full (1.0) bedroom. If it is 9ft x 7ft then it is 63 sq/ft and just 0.9 of a bedroom.
The bedroom tax and Labour Party hypocrisy
Submitted by AnarchoDoom on Feb 19 2013 17:45
In the past week, the Labour Party has launched its Labour Against the Bedroom Tax campaign nationwide, with its roots in Liverpool. It’s the usual Labour Party fare; sign a petition, display a poster.
It offers no support for real action by tenants themselves and instead expects them to allow the Labour Party to lead them around by the nose. Meetings were called across the country without any contact being made with tenants groups or already existing campaigns.
Tim Burgess: 'celebrity' Charlatan scab
Submitted by Steven. on Feb 19 2013 11:53
As journalists at the BBC strike to defend their jobs while senior execs get huge payoffs, former front man of middle-of-the-road Britpop act The Charlatans, scabs on them by covering for Lauren Laverne who joined the walkout. Presumably, as he is so desperate, being a scab is the only way he can get on the radio.
Thousands of members of the National Union of Journalists at the corporation walked out on 18 February against job cuts. As the corporation makes compulsory redundancies while advertising posts externally and giving huge payoffs to failing bosses like George Entwistle who quit during the Jimmy Savile scandal.
Academies & Lies: Downhills Primary documentary
Submitted by Choccy on Feb 18 2013 15:21
Documentary detailing the community campaign against the forced academisation of Downhills Primary in 2012.
Some interesting scenes in this documentary. Effectively charting the campaign against something that was clearly a done-deal long before parents or school workers were told anything about it.
“The real enemy?” Why we should reject left unity as a concept
Submitted by Phil on Feb 17 2013 16:20
A number of pieces have been written recently on “unity” amongst the left and the ways we can achieve that. What follows are the reasons I reject left unity as a notion and the kind of real unity that the workers' movement needs – and, to a large extent, already has.
I've written about this previously in relation to specific issues, both here and here.
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