occupations
Articles about direct action in the form of occupations, including sit-ins and sit down strikes.
Thomas Cook outlets in Dublin occupied against closure
On Friday 31 July Thomas Cook managers and security went to close down shops in Dublin at 10 a.m. Staff in two of the outlets then occupied their workplaces in response.
The workers, some of whom are members of the Transport and Salaried Staff Association (TSSA), have since been served a court ordered to leave the premises but are refusing to budge.
Lewisham Bridge School Heritage listing upheld
Parents occupying Lewisham Bridge Primary School in south-east London are a step closer to keeping the school open after the English Heritage Grade 2 status of the school was upheld.
Supporters and parents of children have been encouraged by the news that Lewisham Bridge Primary School's status as a Grade 2 English Heritage site has been upheld. This means that the school cannot be knocked down and replaced, as had been intended.
Ssangyong occupation update: day eleven, July 30, 2009
Negotiations have occurred several times throughout the day. The major hurdle is layoffs: management says they're necessary; strikers won't budge and demand that no one be laid off, even if it requires less hours for everyone and work furloughs. For the government and management it is crucial to break the strike so that austerity can be imposed on other autoworkers, as well as in other sectors needing restructuring due to the crisis. The biggest creditor of Ssangyong is Sanup Bank(Korean Development Bank), which is government owned.
***Update July 30, 2009***
Vestas occupiers sacked
On Tuesday night, eleven of the twenty-five Vestas wind turbine workers occupying their plant against closure were fired without offer of redundancy pay.
Eleven of the 25 workers at the Vestas factory in Newport, Isle of Wight, England who have been carrying out a sit-in since Monday July 20 have been sacked with immediate effect.
Ssangyong occupation update: day ten, July 29, 2009
July 29, 2009 is day 10 (corrected: the police assault began July 20). Medical workers and other community solidarity supporters attempted to deliver water to the factory in the morning. In the afternoon KCTU organized a rally of 3,000, only to have it attacked by as many as 10 helicopters dropping bags of toxic tear gas, in addition to 500 riot cops attacking the demonstrators and watercanon trucks spraying teargas on them.
***Update July 29, 2009***
Continued police presence around Ssangyong factory: 
***Morning hours***
Ssangyong occupation update: day nine, July 28, 2009
Yesterday (Monday, July 27, 2009) evening at 6:30, taking 40 minutes, around 3,000 police (out of a total of 9,000 cops surrounding the factory) and the fire department conducted a coordinated drill to simulate a "safe" retaking of the factory. But in the process, cops inched closer to the factory, securing positions within 30 meters of the paint department. A SWAT team of 50 cops also participated.
***Update Tuesday, July 28, 2009***
The latest report from strike supporters say there are 785 workers in the factory, made up of both those regular workers who are being laid off as well as casualized workers who joined the struggle in solidarity.
Reclaim the streets for children - Practical History
Leaflet distributed before and during the Reclaim the Streets party in Brixton, South London in June 1998, looking at how streets and car culture effect the lives of children.
The streets used to be a place where children could run around, play and hang out with their friends. Today children are taught that the streets are dangerous and that they should keep off them.
Ssangyong occupation update: days seven/eight, July 26-27, 2009
The police are closing in on the paint department, but the strikers occupying the factory are not backing down. They broadcast their determination to "fight to the death" over loudspeakers from the paint department roof, only to have the cop helicopters immediately resume the bombardment with bags of a toxic teargas mixture.
The map below shows that as of Monday at 1:00 p.m. the cops have fought their way even closer to occupied paint department (at bottom center with the number 2): 
***Sunday, July 26, 2009***
Workers holed up in the factory: 
Ssangyong occupation update: day six, July 25, 2009
Brief update: management failed to show up for the tripartite meeting today (Saturday, July 24, 2009), saying "Talks would be meaningless unless violent acts are halted." The hypocrisy is made clear by non-stop attack of helicopters dropping toxic liquid teargas on the strikers. In Pyeongtaek a solidarity rally took place today, with pitched street battle between demonstrators and riot cops. More details coming soon.
Photos of today's rally:
Ssangyong occupation update: day five, July 24, 2009
Today it became apparent that with the constant spraying of teargas tainted with thinner, strikers are suffering from their skin blistering and peeling off with an extreme burning sensation. With no water in the occupied factory to wash off the toxins, it is becoming a severe health problem. There was also a tripartite meeting between government, Ssangyong management, and the union. The company bosses refused to negotiate until the occupation ends, stating that they won't back down on the layoffs.
Today, 24 July 2009, is Day Five of the battle over the occupied Ssangyong Motors factory at Pyeongtaek in South Korea.
