London: Events in autonomous spaces, November 2008

from various sources, 11 November 2008:

Pullens Centre
184 Crampton Street,
Elephant and Castle,
London SE17 3AE

Race Revolt Zine Launch and Benefit

Sunday 16th November 12-5pm, Pullens Centre

Race Revolt is a zine focusing on race, ethnicity and identity within queer, feminist and DIY communities.

- Readings by Race Revolt writers and discussion.
- Cafe with vegan meals and cakes. Zine stalls.
- Chatting about zines and radical politics

More details from:
www.racerevolt.org.uk
racerevolt@riseup.net

to be followed by

Precarious Work and the Struggle for Migrant Workers' Rights

Talk and Discussion, November 16th, 5.30pm, Pullens Centre

A public talk and discussion organised by London NoBorders, Campaign against Immigration Controls and the Latin American Workers Association Sunday November 16th, 5.30pm, Pullens Centre, SE17 3AE

Three months ago five Colombian cleaners working for Amey Plc at the National Physical Laboratory were suspended for daring to criticise Amey for putting an excessive workload onto ever fewer staff, for unilaterally changing terms and conditions and for disrespecting grievance procedures. The five have since been sacked.

When Amey took over the contract in December 2006 it found itself faced with a largely Latin American migrant workforce that was organised and conscious of its rights. They had recently unionised and were taking steps to gain recognition - a right afforded to all other staff at the NPL.

In order to enforce a serious increase in workload and downgrade in conditions, Amey tricked the cleaners into attending a fake training session, only for the doors to be bolted and 7 of the workers to be taken away by the police.

Of these, three were deported - one to Colombia and two to Brazil. All lost their jobs.

The case of Amey Plc seems to be typical of the working condidtions many migrant workers face in the UK and the profit companies make from their precarious situation.

In our talk we will hear from workers involved in those struggles and activists supporting them what their experiences are to organise and what the perspectives of such self
organised struggles could be.

Sunday 23 November, 2008

Time: 6pm, film at 6.30pm sharp!
Location: Pullens Centre, 184 Crampton Street - off Walworth Rd - Elephant and Castle SE17

Full Unemployment Cinema present:

Bitter Rice by Giuseppe De Santis

Bitter Rice is a classic of Italian neorealist cinema. Made in 1949, it is set amongst the mondine, the women rice pickers that every year migrated to the Po Valley from the rest of Italy to work in the rice paddies.

Touching upon themes of work, struggle and the changing nature of resistance in post-war Italy, it is also a film rich in melodrama and love intrigue.

More details and photos here:
http://unemployedcinema.blogspot.com/

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For those of you with a wider perspective on the world we live in, you might like this resource all about the continuing crisis of capitalism. We recommend this site that brings together news, analysis and also a 'For Beginners' section.

Aside from all the jokes about bankers and who is to blame, it's obvious that all of our lives are going to get seriously worse as this crisis goes on. It's a good time to fire up your anti-capitalist class struggle analysis and get organised around the basics.

http://sites.google.com/site/radicalperspectivesonthecrisis/

Also:

Saturday 29 November, 4pm

Capitalist Decline, Financial Crisis & Revolutionary Prospects

The Whitechapel Centre 85 Myrdle St London, E1
Nearest tubes: Whitechapel & Aldgate East

Hillel Ticktin's reinterpretation of Marx's ideas enabled him to foresee the disintegration of Soviet Stalinism years before it occurred.

Since then he has argued that capitalism itself is in a state of inexorable decline. During the 20th century, world wars, reformism, Stalinism and recently the credit boom successfully maintained capitalism by keeping the working class passive.

But does the end of the credit boom mark the end of capitalism's survival strategies? Will the coming recession spark a new working class movement? Come and join the debate.

At the Pullens Centre.
184 Crampton Street
Elephant and Castle
London SE17 3AE

(Tea, coffee and refreshments will be available)

http://noborderslondon.blogspot.com
http://caic.org.uk

Email: noborderslondon@riseup.net

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