Autonomy - Issue 4

8/12/2019 Autonomy - Issue 4

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Issue #4 Spring 2014

AUTONOMYAUTONOMYAUTONOMYA Scott i sh freesheet for social change from below

Anti-workfare campaigners

swooped on four Salvation

Army shops in Edinburgh on

3rd March, blockading them all

and turning away customers

and a delivery lorry. SalvationArmy managers were visibly

rattled as a giant banner

proclaiming IF YOU EXPLOIT

US WE WILL SHUT YOU

DOWN blocked the entrance to

their shops.

The blockade of the Forrest

Road Starvation Army shop was

particularly successful, only two

people entering the shop in a

street teeming with lunch-time

passers-by. At the large Earl

Grey Street charity shop a

Salvation Army worker pushed

one of the protestors from

Edinburgh Coalition Against

Poverty (ECAP) in a vain

attempt at intimidation. Here

as at the other shops panic-

stricken management phoned

desperately for assistance

which never came. The police

were one step behind the

protestors all day, and were

totally unable to prevent any of

the four blockades.

The Salvation Army are a

notorious user of

government slave labour

schemes both locally and

UK-wide. In Edinburgh

Mandatory Work Activityprovider learndirect have

hinted they are their

main user and ECAP

demonstrated at the

Salvation Army's Leith

Walk shop in December

in solidarity with a

claimant ordered to

undertake four weeks

unpaid labour there.

An ECAP spokesperson

said: With the new Communi-

ty Work Placement scheme

starting in April we are step-

ping up our direct action

against workfare exploiters

with a UK-wide week of action

from 29 March6 April. We

urge all charities and employ-

ers to boycott this exploiting

scheme and all work-for-your-

benefits programmes. We ap-

peal to all workers, especially

in the voluntary sector, to pres-

sure their employer to boycott

workfare. And we appeal to

the unemployed and allclaimants to join us to

make the workfare

schemes unworkable.

Free/Donation

Climate

change &

capitalism

Sex workers

rights in

Edinburgh

Events and

groups around

the country

30 years on: the 1984-5 Miners Strike

Bedroom Tax

latest news

March sees the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the

national Miners' Strike of 1984. Here, the miners of the

Polmaise Colliery near Stirling are shown during a sit-

in protest. Already out on strike from 21st February after

threats of closure, they began action before anyone else

and stayed out for the full 57 weeks of national action.

Its also claimed that they were the only colliery that

didnt need a picket line because support was so strong.

The miners strike was a clash between the most militant

section of the labour movement and a state that used all

the powers in its possession to finish off working class

power. Though the state closed the pits, the example of

solidarity in struggle shown by the miners and womens

support groups should never be forgotten.

Anti-workfare pickets shut down Salvation Army

Edinburgh Coalition

Against Poverty |

[email protected]

Faced with workfare

know your rights and con-

tact ECAP for support.

Info on upcoming week of

action: boycottworkfare.org

International

Womens Day


2/6

Back in February, the Scottish Government an-

nounced it would provide funding to mitigate the

Bedroom Tax in Scotland. An extra 15 million

was allocated for tenants in social housing with

a spare bedroom. This has rightly been called a

significant victory for the campaign against thetax which put real pressure on the parties to

bring this about.

It doesnt mean, of course, that the Bedroom Tax

has been scrapped in Scotland. The funding will

be used for Discretionary Housing Payment

(DHP) and social housing tenants still need to

apply for this.

The Scottish Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation have

made the following demands in light of the miti-

gation:

1. That all tenants get a full refund for the

years 2013/14 for money paid on the bed-

room tax and to cancel all arrears.

2. That tenants are automatically granted

DHP by their councils; If tenants are in

receipt of housing benefit, they automati-

cally get DHP. No further means testing.

3. That all councils and housing associations

stop the legal proceedings against their

tenants which have run up arrears due to

the Bedroom Tax.

4. Councils take action now to remunerate

those who should have been exempt from

the Bedroom Tax from the pre-1996 DWP

loophole.

5. The Scottish Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation

is calling on all councils and social land-

lords to launch a campaign of awareness

as to how tenants can claim the mitiga-

tion, in order to remove the confusion that exists aroundthe Scottish Governments recent [February] announce-

ment.

However, at the time of writing (14th March), the Scottish

Government is still waiting on Westminster to remove a cap

on housing payments. Five weeks have gone by without a

response, meaning that the money isnt available for tenants

who could be threatened with eviction. Although the Scottish

Government will apparently try to find other ways to make

the money available to tenants the situation is still unclear.

In the meantime, 2 billion is being cut from welfare in Scot-

land this year, according to the Scottish Government. Thisshould put things in perspective and re-emphasise the need

for grassroots organizing against the cuts. Check out the

week of action against workfare 29 March6 April in events.

The end of the Bedroom Tax in Scotland?

PAGE 2 AUTONOMY

International Womens Day in Edinburgh These hysterical women, a feminist collective based inEdinburgh and largely made up of Spanish economic exilesorganised a demonstration against the new abortion law

passed by the conservative party Partido Popular (PP).

Around 150 people joined at The Mound in Edinburgh to

claim legal, free and universal abortion. The new law makes

illegal for women to choose. Abortion will be allowed only in

case of rape or danger to the mental health of the woman.

In the first case an accusation has to be done before a judge;

in the second case damage to her mental health has to be

diagnosed by two accredited psychiatrists. In the case of

foetal abnormalities incompatible with life, she will have to

carry the baby to term.

They read a statement claiming that Nobody else canchoose for us. And we don't need legislations to regulate our

bodies. It is my body, it is my choice. As simple as that.

From: indymediascotland.org

These Hysterical Women can be contacted on facebook.

As always, if you are directly affected by the Bedroom Tax seek

advice about appealing or applying for DHP from groups like

Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty who run regular Tuesday

solidarity sessions (12-3pm at ACE, 17 West Montgomery Place

EH7 5HA ).


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PAGE 3 AUTONOMY

16/3There Will be Blood (2007)

23/3Daisies (Vera Chytilova,

1966)

6/4Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe

Tornatore, 1988)

30/3Autonomia film night.* Porto Maghera: the

last firebrands (2004) & Investigation into a

citizen above suspicion (1969). *18.00 start.

13/4Old Boy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)

Free Entry | Screenings begin at 18.30 at the

Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh, 17 W.

Montgomery Pl, EH7 5HA.

Another victory for Glasgow Solidarity Network:

direct action wins illegal letting agency fees back

In January, Glasgow Solidarity

Network celebrated the

successful conclusion of its first

campaign in 2014. This is what

happened:

Back in 2010 a couple were charged

187 by a letting agency as an (illegal!)

administration fee in order to secure a

new home. When they moved out in

2013 they wrote a letter to the agency

quoting the relevant passages from

Scottish Housing Law and demandingthe return of their money. There was

no response to this letter so they made

a couple of phone calls to the agency

which brought assurances that it would

be looked at. However, these

assurances were only followed by

weeks of silence.

Three paths opened up to them: letting

the agency rip them off; a lengthy

and costlysmall claims court

procedure; or attempting a more direct

form of action. They opted for the latter

and looked to the Glasgow SolidarityNetwork to show solidarity and

provide aid in getting the money back.

A call-out went out and those who

could attend sat down with the pair

and agreed that this was a winnable

case.

The first action took place mid

December 2013 with thirty people

walking into the letting agencys

premises on a very rainy and stormy

morning to support the pair in the

handing-over a demand letter asking

for the fees back and giving them

until the new year to pass them backbefore further action was taken. The

delivery went very well, in good

spirit, and attracted people who

never had participated in anything

like this. It was also fantastic to

experience the coming-together of

people who had never met the couple

an injury to one is an injury to

all. Everyone was pleased with the

actioneveryone apart from the

letting agency staff! The manager

was so unhappy about the visitors

that he decided to hide in a little

room off the main office and let

his colleague deal with the situation

by herself.

However, the agency did not return the

money within the deadline set in the

letter. The Network, together with the

two affected people, then planned the

next step in the escalation process. It

was decided that the bad news from the

agency should be met with bad reviews

online, and so a week of action was

organised via this blog, Facebook, and

personal contacts.

Success was almost immediate.

The Bad News Gets Bad Reviews

action started on Monday. OnWednesday morning the letting agency

manager contacted their ex-tenants

and offered the immediate return of

their money. The manager stated that

the agency had lost business contracts

worth over 2000 because of

the reviews. GSN called for an end of

the campaign as the managers

assurance was deemed trustworthy.

Indeed, the cheques arrived in the post

two days later. Victory!

If you have had a deposit or admin fee

wrongfully taken, a boss stealing moneyfrom your final pay packet, or have a

boss/landlord issue that cant be solved

through the usual channels, then get in

touch and get involved in the Network.

This most recent case demonstrates that

direct action gets the goods and that

solidarity works.

If youve had admin fees taken by a

letting agency, or have a similar

problem with a landlord or boss,

contact Glasgow SolNet:[email protected] |

07842 935713

Does the left need an

electoral party?

An Edinburgh AFed member argues

against the case for left-wing

electoralism.

Where parties are involved in

extra-parliamentary activity its

usually to their detriment, by co-opting things or exploiting them.

How then should we organise? Join

the discussion at:

afed.org.uk/scotland


4/6

Here, we reprint the statement

made by SCOT-PEP, a charity

which promotes sex workers

rights.

SCOT-PEP is disappointed in Edin-

burgh City Council's decision to

remove licenses from the saunas. This

will mean that women are working in

constant fear of traumatising and coun-

ter-productive raids on their workplaces.

This will further erode the already shak-

en trust that women working in these

premises have in the police and in the

justice system; making women far less

likely to feel able to report crimes

against them. Violent people will knowto target these women precisely because

they will know that the women feel una-

ble to rely on police help.

Violence against sex workers increases

when our workplaces are criminalised. In

2007, when Edinburgh brought in kerb-

crawling legislation that targeted street-

based sex workers and clients, reported

attacks on sex workers went up by 95%

within six months.

Premises will be driven under ground,

away from service providers such as

health workers. With Police Scotland

persisting in its policy of using condoms

as evidence of sex work - against the ex-

plicit recommendations of the World

Health Organization - workers will fear

to keep large quantities of condoms on

their premises, as this could be used to

criminalise women. This policy has obvi-

ous negative implications for the ability

of women to protect their health, as well

as wider public health implications in

Scotland. Police Scotland and Edinburgh

City Council would do well to recall that

the saunas were put in place to tackle the

HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Complacen-

cy on this issue is ill-founded. HIV was

successfully tackled in Edinburgh

through policies that centred harm reduc-

tion; if we remove those policies, we may

well see a corresponding rise in HIVtransmission.

Raids on saunas are a waste of police re-

sources, especially at a time when organi-

sations like National Ugly Mugs, who

seek to prevent violence against sex work-

ers, are facing catastrophic loss of fund-

ing. SCOT-PEP pioneered the first UK

'ugly mugs' scheme, to enable sex workers

to share with each other information

about violent people posing as clients. Sex

worker-led organisations are the experts in

what sex workers need to be safer; the ex-

perts in what sex workers need to accessservices more effectively. The further crimi-

nalisation of sex workers, those associated

with sex workers, and our workplaces, has

been shown again and again to endanger

those working, whether they are there

through choice, circumstance, or coercion.

Sex workers need health services and a

justice system that prioritises our safety -

which has to include our safety if we con-

tinue working, as well as if we choose to

'exit'. The removal of the sauna licenses

puts sex workers at risk.

SCOT-PEP calls on Edinburgh City

Council to listen to the voices of current

sex workers, who are calling for full

decriminalisation, including of our col-

leagues, managers, workplaces, and

clients. Sex workers are also calling forbetter services based around what each

individual states they need, rather than

upon imposing a rigid ideological frame-

work onto sex workers. Sex workers

need full decriminalisation now, and

better services.

From: www.scot-pep.org.uk

Edinburgh City Council withdraws sauna licenses:

what does it mean for sex workers?

PAGE 4 AUTONOMY

In February, Edinburgh AFed

hosted a talk by the excellent Sex

Workers Open University, aproject created by and for sex

workers. Notes from the talk

should be online soon. For more on

what they do, go to:www.sexworkeropenuniversity.com

Introducing...the Scottish Radical LibraryThe Scottish Radical Library (SRL) houses hundreds of books,

journals, posters and archives at the Autonomous Centre of

Edinburgh, 17 West Montgomery Place, Edinburgh, EH7

5PU. It is a unique resource in Scotland and has a

substantial collection of materials of social, cultural and

economic interest, comprising thousands of items donated by

users, supporters, members and publishers. The SRL exists

to preserve, promote and celebrate cultures of resistance and

to serve as a self-managed public space to learn and to share -

a real 'people's library'.We hope that the literature we

stock empowers and inspires people to make positive

changes to the world - from challenging unequal power

structures to breaking down prejudiced attitudes to

others and ourselves.

Be a part of the SRL at this exciting time as we digitize our

records to get a fully searchable catalogue online and expand

our collection. We are looking for volunteers to help with our

new tech project, to add new books to our records, and to help

organise and promote the library. You can now contact us

at [email protected]. Get in touch!

Scottish

Radical

Library


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PAGE 5 AUTONOMY

For more like this, check out:

libcom.org/outofthewoods

But with climate change, this logic is

reversed. Now, it is inaction which

assures mutual destruction. The

inertia inherent to the states-system

has thus far scuppered all attempts

at a binding international emissions

reduction framework. The already

weak Kyoto Protocol expired without

replacement, and the professed goal

to agree a new protocol by 2015 looks

a lot like kicking the can down the

road. This time wasted is time we

don't have.

The latest report from the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change makes use of 'Representative

Concentration Pathways'. These

represent four outcomes for

atmospheric greenhouse gas

concentrations, and their associated

'radiative forcings' in 2100. In the

most aggressive of the pathways

atmospheric greenhouse gas

emissions peak in 2020 and decline

thereafter (atmospheric

concentrations lag behind emissions,so the peaks come later).

But this is not going to happen,

barring immediate, drastic cuts to

fossil fuel use. At least 1,199 new

coal-fired power plants are currently

planned worldwide, which in itself

makes a 2020 peak of greenhouse gas

emissions impossible. The window for

gradual, reformist climate change

mitigation may already have closed.

The window for revolutionary climate

change mitigation is rapidly closing.

III : Disaster communism

To speak of disaster communism is

not to express a preference for a post-

apocalyptic style. It is a sober

realisation of the irreversible climate

change which is being locked-in by

present day development. We don't

claim devastation as a sufficient, or

even desirable, basis for a communist

revolution. That's the case even if it

does draw class lines, and brings

looters into conflict with the state (as

with Hurricane Katrina), or provides

space for self-organised disaster relief

(as with Hurricane Sandy).

Rather, to speak of disaster

communism is to recognise the Earthwe inherit is one where the ice caps are

melting, the glaciers are retreating, the

sea levels are rising, the oceans are

acidifying, food webs are collapsing, the

rate of extinctions is growing, storms

are getting stronger, flooding is

becoming commonplace, and where

agriculture will struggle to adapt to

changing climate. It's true that there's

no such thing as a natural disaster.

Capitalism's pursuit of endless growth

is driving climate change. But even if it

is overthrown, even if that happens

soon, we'll be living with theconsequences for centuries, or even

millennia.

As capitalism accelerates climate

change, possible reforms become

utopian and impossible revolution

becomes realistic. We live in strange

times. Capitalism is blasting and

ruining not just its world, but the Earth

systems which sustain human

civilisation. We are going to inherit

ruins and abandoned cities, there is

only the slightest doubt about that. But

we still also know how to build, and to

build better.

Whos afraid of ruins? Capitalism &climate change

Capitalism is locking-in climate

change for centuries, but in the

process, making radical social

change more realistic than

tinkering around the edges.

I : Ruins

There is an oft-quoted passage from the

Spanish anarchist militant

Buenaventura Durruti. Many readers

will know it by heart. It reads:

It is we who built these palaces and

cities, here in Spain and in America and

everywhere. We, the workers. We can

build others to take their place. And

better ones! We are not in the least

afraid of ruins. We are going to inheritthe earth. There is not the slightest

doubt about that. The bourgeoisie might

blast and ruin its own world before it

leaves the stage of history. We carry a

new world here, in our hearts. [...] That

world is growing in this minute.

Durruti's quote brims with the optimism

of a social revolution in full-flow. The

insurgent proletariat and peasantry had

met an attempted military coup in the

streets, and in response launched a

profound social revolution. Land and

workplaces were seized and reorganisedalong collectivised lines, moving as fast

as possible towards libertarian

communism.

Three months later, Durruti was dead.

The revolution was not far behind. And

with the revolution dead and nothing

left to fight for, Franco's forces swept the

remnants into prisons and mass graves.

Durruti's optimism gave way to fascism,

and the unparalleled destruction of the

Second World War.

Eight years after Durruti's death, theruins got a lot scarier. The Trinity test,

the world's first atomic bomb, exploded

with a yield of 20 kilotons in the desert

of New Mexico. Soon after, the Japanese

cities of Hiroshima, then Nagasaki, were

reduced to ruins in an instant. The mass

destruction of World War II could now be

visited on cities in a single warhead. The

spectre of mutually assured destruction

would dominate the remainder of the

twentieth century.

II : Climate change

Today, we are facing an arguably graver

threat. Mutual destruction was assured

in the case of any state launching a

nuclear strike. Survival required, in

effect, that states did nothing.


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Autonomyis produced byAnarchist Federation (AFed) Scot-

land. It aims to promote and link

together campaigns that empower

working class people and that

challenge capitalism and irrational

systems of power. We want to re-

port on positive, inspirational ex-

amples of struggle but also storieswhich motivate us to act. We will

focus on things happening in Scot-

land and also report on events in

Britain, and around the world.

Upcoming Events

The Anarchist Federation organises for social

change through solidarity, direct democracy

and direct action. We have groups and

members across Scotland including Dundee,

Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.

Tear Down the Walls is the rallying cry of prison abolitionists around the world. When

we begin to understand the harm caused by prisons, the concept of dismantling the prison

-industrial complex seems like the most logical conclusion.

But the common narrative surrounding prisons is that they are a necessary part of justice.

As prison abolitionists we reject this and claim that prisons are the symptom of a broken

system. This March members of the Empty Cages Collective will be touring the north of

the UK to discuss the ideas of prison abolition and alternatives to incarceration.

22nd March: Fly Kites Not Drones, 14pm TheMeadows, Edinburgh (next to the Pavilion Caf).Organised Peace and Justice Centre.

25th March: (Edinburgh) Tear Down the Walls:Prison Abolition talk/discussion. Organised byEdinburgh AFed. 7pm, Room G5, St. Margaret'sHouse, 151 London Road, Meadowbank.

26th March: (Glasgow) Tear Down the Walls:Prison Abolition talk/discussion. Organised byGlasgow AFed. 6.45pm, Fred Paton Centre, 19Carringdon Street, Glasgow, G4 9AJ.

28th March: Anti-ATOS picket in Glasgow (lastFriday of every month). Coruna House, 29 CadoganStreet, at 12.30.

29th March6th April: Week of action againstworkfare. Details of Edinburgh events will be on

ECAPs website soon.

30th March: IWWs Scottish Education WorkersNetwork (SEWN) Edinburgh meeting. Details tbc,check iwwscotland.wordpress.com.

2nd April: ACE monthly meeting, 7.30pm in theAutonoumous Centre of Edinburgh. All welcome.

Housing

Glasgow Solidarity Networkglasgowsolnet.wordpress.com

Edinburgh Private Tenants Action Groupeptag.org.uk

Work

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)iwwscotland.wordpress.com

Scottish Education Workers Network

iwwscotland.wordpress.com/scottish-education-

workers-network/

Call Centre Workers Network

callcentreworkersnetwork.wordpress.com

Welfare

Edinburgh Coalition against Povertyedinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk

Contribute your article or

let us know about a

grassroots initiative!

Get involvedWest Glasgow against Poverty (WestGAP)westgap.co.ukAsylum/Refugees

Unity Centre Glasgowunitycentreglasgow.org

Feminism

Glasgow Feminist CollectiveSearch on facebook!

Hollaback! Edimburgh

edinburghhollaback.org

Social Centres

Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh

autonomous.org.uk

Disability rights

Black Triangle

blacktrianglecampaign.org

Crutch Collectivethecrutchcollective.blogspot.co.uk/

Anti-cuts & Bedroom Tax

Edinburgh Anti-Cuts Allianceedinburghagainstcuts.org.uk

No2BedroomTax Campaignno2bedroomtax.co.uk

Greater Leith against the Cuts

On facebook

For regular updates on Glasgow events,

subscribe to:

[email protected]

facebook com afed scotlandScot Fed

afed org uk scotland

1st May: International Workers Day! Keep an eye out for things

happening on the day itself as well as events on the May weekend.

Autonomy - Issue 4

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Transcript of Autonomy - Issue 4