CNT STRIKE COMMITTEE SIGNS AGREEMENT ON WAGES AND CONDITIONS WITH THE AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING COMPANY ~ from CNT Seville ~ The strike at GAZC Sevilla SL, called by CNT and started on October 6, ended yesterday with the signing of a strike settlement agreement. The agreement includes a new bonus system that more fairly compensates night work, promotions, a new professional classification system, greater participation in the creation of the work schedule, and increased flexibility in choosing vacation days. Payment of wages during vacations is corrected, and measures are taken to ensure job stability and guarantee rights for union representation. Mechanisms have been added to the agreement to maintain a climate of dialogue and negotiation so that, in the future, an attempt can be made to avoid the escalation of a possible conflict. The strike ends after a tough conflict that was finally resolved thanks to the impetus given to negotiations by both sides a couple of weeks ago, the result of the willingness of both the union and the company to restart dialogue and end an indefinite strike that ultimately lasted 72 days. Following a constructive final negotiation process, both the union and the company consider the agreement reached to be balanced, with mutual concessions that have made it possible to end the strike. Both parties hope that the signing of the agreement will usher in a new era of mutual understanding, aimed at resolving any future disagreements through dialogue. The post Strike at GAZC Seville ends after 72 days appeared first on Freedom News.

VARIOUS UNIONS AND ORGANISATIONS JOINED THE PROTEST IN XIXÓN AGAINST THE BAKERY WORKERS’ CONVICTION ~ Guillermo Martínez, La Marea ~ Following the court’s refusal to suspend their sentences, the streets of Xixón (Asturias, Spain) once again chanted, “the Suiza 6 will not go to prison”. The protest on Sunday (29 June) drew around 8,000 people, according to the organisers, and demonstrated their rejection of the prison sentences imposed on the union members. Various unions and organisations joined the protest, demanding a pardon from the central government. “Trade unionism is not a crime”, they repeated in their hoarse voices. The demonstration started on Paseo de Begoña at noon and ended in front of the courthouse in the Asturian city, which once again vibrated with the activists’ passage. Erica Conrado, the general secretary of the CNT (National Union of Workers’ Unions), the union to which four of the convicted women belong, criticised the court’s refusal to allow the union members to divide their sentences, a measure that would have prevented them from going to prison. The conflict began in 2017. The CNT in Xixón began mobilising in front of the La Suiza bakery, as its owner owed money to one of his workers. The union’s pressure materialised in demonstrations in front of the shop and an attempt to mediate with the owner of the establishment after he also filed a complaint. The process ended with a conviction by Judge Lino Rubio, known for his landmark rulings against union members. They were sentenced to two years in prison for ‘serious coercion’ and another for ‘obstruction of justice’, which translates to a year and a half in prison. Against the court ruling, Xixón has once again taken to the streets to strengthen this armed barricade of mutual support, which has continued to grow over time. “The prison order could come at any moment. Our comrades live in a state of constant uncertainty”, Conrado told La Marea before the start of the demonstration. The sun was beginning to set over the city streets. “Irreparable damage has been caused after eight years of legal proceedings that have persecuted six people solely for defending the rights of the working class”, she added. Throughout the march, which lasted a couple of hours, chants such as “worker fired, boss hanged,” “comrades, you are not alone”, and “the strength of the worker: solidarity” were heard constantly. Several of the convicted individuals also participated in the demonstration. One of them welcomed the announcement by the Socialist government of Asturias that this Monday it will join the petition for a pardon already formalised by 22 union organisations.  “It’s a precious opportunity for the PSOE to position itself in favour of the working class it claims to defend”, the convicted woman stated. However, the sentence they suffer goes beyond themselves: “Three of us have two young children. We think a lot about how our children will cope with their parents potentially being in prison”. KEEPING THE PULSE ON THE STREETS Just a few meters away was Belén Álvarez, a friend of two of the convicted women. “It’s important to take to the streets because this sets a very dangerous precedent for the union struggle. We have no choice but to oppose it head-on”, she stated, while banners of support held by activists from around the state continued to parade around her. Álvarez added that “we must maintain the momentum in the streets.” “Those of us who are convicted are taking everything that’s happening to our friends badly, but demonstrations like this give us a lot of strength to continue”, she continued. Buses chartered by the CNT made it possible for hundreds of activists and citizens to arrive in Xixón early this morning from provinces such as Barcelona, Zaragoza, Segovia, León, Madrid, Bilbao, Burgos, and Vitoria. This was the case with Fernando Sanfrutos, who, although not affiliated with the Confederation, did not hesitate to join them for the protest from Valladolid.  Carrying the Palestinian flag on his shoulder, this protester stated: “A brutal injustice is being committed here against six people who have only defended their union rights, and for that they are going to prison”. Regarding the pardon, Sanfrutos commented that “it should be granted immediately because these people should never go to jail”. In his view, the judge would not act this way “if it were a union more subservient than the CNT”. DOUBTS ABOUT THE PARDON While some passers-by filmed the demonstration with their cell phones, a woman leaning out of her balcony looked down at the stream of people with a slight smile and nods of agreement. A few meters below her, thousands of people chanted against the bosses and in favour of class solidarity, something evident in the number of unions, also the majority, that supported the mobilisation. Likewise, the general secretary of Podemos, Ione Belarra, supported the march and expressed her solidarity with those convicted. Vicente Fernández and Lucía Fernández have decided to travel to Xixón from Ourense on their own: “It’s time to be here. The streets are essential for the condemned women to see that they are not alone and to raise awareness of the grave injustice that is taking place”, said the former. Although they have expressed doubts about whether the government will grant a pardon, both have commented: “Perhaps it’s something that would even be good for them as a party, given the current political situation”. According to them, neither of them is active in any political organisation, and they admit that this “case of repression”, as they have described it, is not widely known in Galicia. EXPLOITATIVE BUSINESSMAN AND COMPLICIT COURT A few minutes after 2:00 p.m., the protest arrived in front of the Xixón courthouse, where a banner was lowered from a nearby bridge. There, the organisers read a statement. They referred to the union unity evident today: “We are forced to do this by a retrograde alliance of police, judicial, business, and media powers that seeks to undermine the basic rights of the working class”. They also shared with those present: “The criminalisation and sentencing of these colleagues demonstrates that our rights as workers are so weak that the collusion of ultra-conservative powers can deactivate them.” As they explained, the Supreme Court’s ratification of the ruling has highlighted how “the oligarchic alliance formed by the judiciary, business, and other powers wants to make the demand for union negotiations a crime of obstruction of justice. And that calling for rallies can be a crime of coercion”. On the other hand, they emphasised regarding the pardon that “when trade unionism is imprisoned with perverse sentences, all legal responses are legitimate”. The mobilisation concluded with a unanimous cry from the thousands of people gathered in Xixón: “Comrades, you are not alone”! At least, in this way, the uncertainty that has plagued those sentenced for eight years becomes less painful. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Machine translation. CC BY-SA 3.0 The post Thousands demand a pardon for the Suiza 6 appeared first on Freedom News.

IN AN INTERVIEW, KSUSHA LOOKS FORWARD TO “DRONE COOPERATIVES, REHABILITATION OF THE WAR INJURED, CULTURAL PROJECTS, SQUATS FOR REFUGEES” ~ Cristina Sykes ~ An anarchist based in Kyiv has responded to questions from Kapinatyöläinen magazine in Finland about the activities of anti-authoritarian networks in Ukraine today. Ksusha described anarchists’ networked presence in the military units and involvement in civil support for the front line and their . In terms of future projects, she looks forward to “drone cooperatives, rehabilitation of the war injured, cultural projects, squats for refugees”. To “comrades in Finland, the Baltics or Poland” she recommended “first aid skills and attending public defense courses, building drones, as well as many other civilian hobbies”. According to the interview, the anti-authoritarian volunteer unit sponsored by Yuri Samoilenko “got stuck due to the attitude of the higher army management” and anarchists now “have people at different levels of the army, connections, understanding of war operations and how to work with people in the army. An understanding has been formed about what kind of things can be developed and what can be dangerous”. With this combination of understanding and experience, anarchists are developing practices that are “viable under wartime conditions”, while starting “small projects, sowing the seeds of anti-authoritarian cooperation methods in their own locations”. Previously in Kharkiv, Ksusha related she had been involved with renovations of a squat for war refugees and “joined an eco-anarchist group that worked against construction projects and deforestation, took action to stop fur production and organized free markets”. When the full-scale war started in 2022, she joined Operation Solidarity, described as a civic action platform organised to support comrades from the anti-authoritarian left who went to the front lines. “We supported socialists, anarchists, punks, hard core subculturers, anti-fascists, feminists – anyone united by some kind of progressive leftist views”. Later reorganising as the Solidarity Collectives, this “mutual aid network” now supports 80-100 “anarchists, anti-fascists, punks, eco-anarchists, feminists, squatters, LGBT+ people and union activists” with clothes and first aid equipment as well as “walkie-talkies and night vision devices, as well as tablets, laptops, cars, and even expensive airplanes and drones”. Organised as a decentralised network, the Collectives also aid those affected by the war, in house repairing projects and by supplying laptops for teaching use, while their media group works to make these activities visible and “be in contact with our comrades”. They emphasise work with unions which are “in danger of being suppressed” in order to help them “influence workers’ rights and disrupt the neoliberal reforms that are now so popular in Ukraine”. She emphasised that anarchist activity in Ukraine had only stared in the last decades, against a distrust of anything labelled as “Leftist” because of the Soviet past. “Everything had to be started from a scratch, and it was not possible to lean on any background, institutions that would have already been in operation for a long time.When we start projects in the military or in the civil society, we face demonization of our ideas”. The full interview is has been translated into English on Takku.net The post Ukraine: Solidarity Collectives & anarchists in the ranks appeared first on Freedom News.

“WHERE WE COME FROM AND WHERE WE ARE GOING”: A REFLECTION ON BRAZILIAN ANARCHISM, THEN AND NOW ~ from O Amigo do Povo ~ Brazilian anarchism lost influence over the masses with the decline and later, the end of revolutionary syndicalism in Brazil between the 1920s and 1930s. This syndicalism already had certain limitations when compared to the model of the historical AIT and its relationship with Mikhail Bakunin’s Alliance. The limitations can be summarised as purism, a-politicism and lack of understanding of the reality of Brazil, in addition to the centrality of anarchist organisation. What remained of anarchism in Brazil for more than half a century were small initiatives of propagandists, educationists and memorialists of anarcho-communist groups, composed of a mix of the old generation of anarchists in contact with young university students and punks, mostly from the petite bourgeoisie. Between 1995 and 1996, through contacts between anarchist activists in Brazil and the Uruguayan Anarchist Federation (FAU), a new era emerged for anarchism in Brazil, culminating in the creation of the Libertarian Socialist Organization (OSL) in 1997 and, later, the Forum of Organised Anarchism in 2000. Despite the limitations and lack of theoretical and strategic unity of some local groups, it was in this context that Brazilian anarchism once again gained a small presence in the class struggle. Of note were the actions of the Gaucho Anarchist Federation (FAG) and, later, the Collective of Pro-organisation Anarchist of Goiás (COPOAG), with its work among waste pickers in the National Movement of Waste Pickers (MNCR), and the Libertarian Socialist Organization OSL-RJ (future UNIPA), with its urban occupations and secondary school movements in the outskirts. Of the initiatives that stood out in the class struggle in the early 2000s, FAG’s activities lost traction among waste pickers and other social movements, adopting a shift towards post-structuralism. The Colective Anarchist Pro-organisation of Goiás, which was Bakuninist, ended in 2008. The only organisation that continued to advance, both in theory and in practice, was the group from Rio de Janeiro, which became the Popular Anarchist Union. At that time, the Popular Anarchist Union had already been debating the importance of building a revolutionary theory through Bakunin’s thought, criticising individualism and highlighting the importance of strategic action, as in the debate between CONLUTAS and INTERSINDICAL that existed within the Forum of Organised Anarchism. In this sense, the Popular Anarchist Union broke with Forum of Organised Anarchism and launched itself as a national organisation, criticising revisionism and eclecticism. The Popular Anarchist Union, which was a local group in Rio de Janeiro until 2007, due to its more successful performance in the national context of degeneration of the left with the Worker’s Party governments, such as in the revolutionary bloc in Conlutas and in the promotion of a combative tendency in the student movement with the Class-Based and Combative Student Network, experienced relatively large quantitative and qualitative growth in the 2010s building centres in the Federal District, Ceará, Center South, Goiás, Mato Grosso, among others. Meanwhile the Forum of Organised Anarchism, which became the Brazilian Anarchist Coordination (CAB), despite its growth, changed little in terms of strategic unity and mass line, often acting as an auxiliary line of reformism or practicing welfare in social movements, resulting in less influence in the class struggle. Garbage collector in Juazeiro, Bahia, 2007. Photo: Glauco Umbelino CC BY 2.0 In 2013, with the June uprising and the growth of its influence in several cities, the Popular Anarchist Union contributed to the call for the National Meeting of Popular, Student and Revolutionary Trade Union Organisations and the national reconstruction of Federation of Revolutionary Syndicalist Organisations of Brazil, becoming a reference for class-based tendencies in Brazil, mainly in the student movement with the Class-Based and Combative Student Network and in basic education with the Class Resistance Opposition group. There was a significant increase in the participation of Bakuninists in the class struggle, such as in the high school occupations of 2015 and in universities in 2016. The Popular Anarchist Union, which established itself as the only bastion of revolutionary class-based anarchism in Brazil during the Worker’s Party governments (2003-2016), began to make its first mistakes after Dilma’s impeachment, by adhering to the coup narrative and, consequently, favouring the fight against the Worker’s Party “coup-mongering” and the defence of bourgeois democracy. This can be explained, in part, by the contradiction of its growth having occurred in intermediate sectors, such as the student movement of federal universities and the civil service. Meanwhile, the Brazilian Anarchist Coordination lost itself in social-democratic and identity-based narratives, having little influence in the class struggle. After losing its way in the conceptual dispute with the reformists following Dilma’s impeachment, the only Bakuninist organisation in the world also failed to fully understand the changing context and the decline in struggles after 2016. Even in a new context of right-wing governments and a decline in struggles, it helped to convene the second National Meeting of Popular, Student and Revolutionary Trade Union Organisations, with a proposal de-contextualised from Western Europe by the anarcho-syndicalists of the International Confederation of Labor (CIT) with the creation of the SIGAs, parallel unions, breaking with the only model that was working: the class-based and disciplined tendencies. Thus, they created free unions aimed mainly at libertarians and doctrinaire revolutionaries, focusing only on agitation and propaganda, like the outdated models of the factory-gate unions of the 20th century. The Popular Anarchist Union/ Federation of Revolutionary Syndicalist Organisations of Brazil continued to present errors in reading the context and promoting hasty and misguided structural changes, and as a result, several internal disagreements arose, mainly on issues such as the “Coup”, “Bolsonaro Out”, “identitarianism” and the “stay at home” policy. In this context, between 2021-2023, there were many ruptures in The Popular Anarchist Union/ Federation of Revolutionary Syndicalist Organisations of Brazil, some public, others not. In the Brazilian Anarchist Coordination, there were also disagreements on two main issues: the advancement of the national organisation with political and strategic unity and the criticism of liberalism/identitarianism, which culminated in a split, mainly of the southeastern organisations of the Brazilian Anarchist Coordination, which formed the new Libertarian Socialist Organization (OSL) in 2023. With all these changes in the situation in recent years – right-wing governments, the pandemic and the return of the Lula government, even more bourgeois – splits were created that today divide militant anarchism in Brazil into four main lines: Brazilian Anarchist Coordination, Libertarian Socialist Organization, Popular Anarchist Union/ Federation of Revolutionary Syndicalist Organisations of Brazil and its dissidents, such as GLP/Jornal Amigo do Povo, Ofensiva Revolucionária, among others. Our humble position, the result of these ruptures and more than 20 years of activism even though we are not an anarchist group today, but rather a group of class-based activists, is summarised in advancing where the historical Popular Anarchist Union (2003-2016) was unable to do so. We want to make a quantitative and qualitative leap not only with intermediate sectors, but mainly with strategic sectors and the marginal proletariat, continuing with disciplined activism and theoretical and strategic unity as a legacy of Bakunin and Makhno. We must go to the people and continue fighting for the social revolution. The post The ruptures of militant anarchism in Brazil appeared first on Freedom News.