2000s
Community struggles in South Africa, 1994-2004
A pamphlet about anti-eviction, water and electricity cut-off movements, and some workplace struggles in South Africa.
PDF taken from www.prol-position.net, converted to text by libcom
2003: Postal workers wildcat strike
A short history of the largely successful wildcat stoppage of thousands of postal workers in the UK, and the developments which led to the strike.
Background
Construction: Struggle at Laing O’Rourke, Britain, 2004
The following article provides a short summary about a strike of building workers in London in Autumn 2004. Apart from the more or less self-organised character of the struggle, with workers assemblies in parks and blockage of the site entrances, we think that there were two main interesting aspects of the dispute.
1) The fact that eastern European workers got involved. So far capital has more or less managed to use the eastern European countries as a large pool of labour force which could be mobilised for short term projects like large construction projects or the seasonal work in the harvest.
Short report from DHL workers demonstration in Brussels, 2004
A short report from a DHL workers demonstration in Brussels, with information about developments and struggles at DHL and at Brussels airport.
Serviceair baggage handlers strike, Gatwick Airport, UK, 2004
A first person account of a picket line visit at a Serviceair baggage handlers strike at Gatwick Airport in 2004, with information about the strike.
2006: The French movement against the CPE
libcom.org’s brief summary of the mass movement which swept France in early 2006 against the further casualisation of labour which forced the government into a humiliating defeat.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin unveiled his labour law liberalisation package the CPE (’first employment contract’) on 16th January. He said that “urgent” action was needed to “bring the French labour market into the modern era”. The law would see employers hire 18-26 year-olds on two year contracts that would allow them to fire the youths without notice, and without explanation.
Argentina 2001 uprising Treason pamphlet
This pamphlet was produced to make available information about the massive working class revolts in Argentina in 2001-2. These struggles were probably the most important action of the global proletariat in recent years. In time what happened in Argentina will come to be seen as an event of similar importance to May 1968 in France when 10 million workers went on wildcat strike for three weeks.
1999-2000: The US university living wage campaign
Howard Zinn's brief history of the joint campaign between American university students and staff to win a living wage for all campus employees.
Against a background of several victories in workplace organisation in the US – notably for California cleaners, Boeing workers and Los Angeles health employees - a movement of students and university staff began coming together.
2004: Granada coffee house strike
The history of a small strike at coffee shop in Spain, with the involvement of two different groups of anarchists, and ended largely in failure, albeit with some very minor concessions won.
History
2003-2004: Los Angeles supermarket strike
The history of a huge five-month strike and lockout of 70,000 supermarket workers in California, which ended in defeat.
The walkout was against cuts in benefits, and run almost entirely by union leaderships. While the supermarkets lost $2.5bn in profits, they succeeded in beating the strike and imposing the cuts.
Notes on Another Defeat for Workers in the US
