Plenty of bluster: Brighton Solfed unimpressed with legal threats by Cafe Plenty

Cafe Plenty issued legal threats just hours after Brighton Solfed tried to talk to them about £4,400 they owe a former worker. Having made clear they were unwilling to resolve the matter, the cafe's bogus threats triggered a campaign of protest highlighting the plight of the former worker organising with Solfed.

A Solfed member involved in the case explained what happened: “In late November, a couple of us went to hand them a letter about the £4K they owe the former worker. Our approach is always to try to resolve things amicably, by talking to them first and give them a chance to rectify their mistake. Since the owner wasn't there, we just left the letter with a helpful member of staff.

Brighton Solidarity Federation opens a dispute with Youngs Estate Agency

Brighton Solidarity Federation has started a dispute with the letting agency Youngs on Upper St James's Street. Two tenants have been organising in regards to structural damp, presence of severe black mould and overall dilapidation issues that created unsafe living conditions - dangerous to the tenants' health - throughout their tenancies at two separate properties managed by Youngs. Both tenants are demanding compensation for such issues and one of them, who is still living in the property, is urgently requesting that a number of neglected and still unresolved problems are attended to by the agency.

New Edition of the Migrant's Guide to Manchester in English and Spanish

Manchester Solfed's guide for migrants coming to Manchester has been republished with a updated edition for November 2017.

The guide contains information to help new migrants settle in the city. While focusing on Manchester, much of the guide will be useful to people living anywhere in the UK.

Available in English and Spanish, the guide can be downloaded in pdf format from the links below, paper copies will also be distributed around the city.

We are currently working on a translation into Portugese and we are producing a version for smartphones.

The Migrants Guide is a work in progress and we welcome submissions and suggestions. Please contact the Manchester local if you have anything to contribute.

 

Fujitsu: stop victimising reps

As part of its national campaign to make over 1000 people redundant Fujitsu  is targeting a number of reps at its factory in Manchester. The Manchester site has a long history of militancy and the 3 reps being target, Ian Allinson, Denis Morris and Lynne Hodge, have been active at Fujitsu for many years.

You can get more information about the dispute at: www.ouruniontest.wordpress.com

Send letters of protest to Duncan.Tait@uk.fujitsu.com

Support Train Guards

Rail guards on the 3rd October took action to protect their jobs on Northern,‎ Southern, Merseyrail and Greater Anglia. The strike is aimed at preventing the rail companies removing the guards from trains and operating driver only trains. The RMT rail union stated  "RMT members are standing absolutely rock solid and united this morning in these four separate disputes as they make the case for safe, secure and accessible rail service for all.”

Calderdale SF on Catalonia: against police violence, against new states

Calderdale SF/IWA condemns the police violence against Catalan citizens on the 1st October 2017 who went to vote on what the Spanish state has declared to be an illegal referendum on independence. While, as anarchosyndicalists, we don't support the creation of a new state, which reflects mainly the interests of the Catalan bourgeoisie, we do condemn all police violence and intimidation against men, women and children. Instead of the creation of new states with warring police and capitalist factions pitted against one another, we favour the deeply embedded solution of libertarian federalism - free, self-managed communities that are plural, open and tolerant.

Spencer & Leigh Make Legal Threats Against a Tenant with Young Children: Brighton SolFed Opens a Dispute

Brighton Solidarity Federation has started a dispute with the lettings agency Spencer & Leigh in Patcham. A tenant has been organising with SolFed after £510 was withheld from her deposit in order to change a lock and to have the property professionally cleaned. The tenant left the property secure at the end of her tenancy, and she also had it professionally cleaned prior to vacating it.