UK Newswire Archive
Pizza Hut Workers Demand A Proper Slice
04-02-2012 21:17
Demonstration against Atos & police repression
04-02-2012 18:55
On Friday 3rd February, campaigners returned to Atos Healthcare's offices on Stoney Street in the Lace Market, Notttingham.
This was the first protest there since a demonstration on September 30th last year, part of a national day of action, which ended with two of the participants being arrested, and subsequently charged, with aggravated trespass.
While the charges were dropped in January, the protest was a reminder to Atos that people have not been intimidated by the arrests and that protests will continue as long as they are making people's lives a misery.
Protesters met at the junction of Carlton Street and Heathcote Street, Hockley (outside Ice Nine). The police drove past several times before coming over looking for organisers, eventually offering some vague road safety advice before leaving again.
The demonstration set off at around 12.45 to walk the short distance to Atos' offices. There people formed up on both sides of the road. There was some chanting, although people were struggling for slogans. "Atos kills," "Atos they don't give a toss" and "Atos out" were all attempted with varying success.
There were around 30 people, supplemented by a small gaggle of student journalists (their professional counterparts were seemingly uninterested), an impressive turnout given the extreme cold.
There were two brief speeches. The first delivered by one of the "Atos Two" was about their own experience of the criminal justice system and the need to continue the fight against both Atos and the economic system of which it is a product.
The second speech focussed on the policing of protest (touching on the publication the previous day of the HMIC report into this matter), arguing that the police would always be used to render protest ineffective in a class system and that this would only become more obvious as the government sought to impose "austerity" on an unwilling populace.
After the speeches, there was some more chanting and general milling about. No wanting to hang around too long given the cold, protesters decided to leave at around 1.30pm and made their way back to Hockley and then to Market Square. There, the placards produced for the demo were set-up around the Occupy Nottingham camp where they attracted quite a bit of attention.
It appears that the police and Atos were taking the protest fairly seriously. There were two police officers visible at their offices, a couple of vans driving around, presumably in case there were any problems and at least one private security guard. Throughout they made little effort to interfere, even when people were standing in the road outside Atos (the pavement there is very narrow).
This was a relatively small and relatively brief demonstration, but it sent out an important message that campaigners would not be intimidated by heavy handed policing and that Atos will not be able to carry on making people's lives a misery without facing resistance. Campaigners made it clear that they intended to return and that this was only part of a long-term campaign.
In London, welfare rights campaigners held a solidarity demonstration at around the same time at Atos' Triton Square headquarters.
Intellectual property rights and "patent wars"
04-02-2012 18:37
We have already talked about piracy and control of the internet in our previous posts. But there are many more fronts in this fight - here is a great piece from npr.org on "patent wars". Most of us have probably heard about one company suing another over pattens and intellectual property rights (for example, Kodak sued Apple and HTC over digital image patents, Motorola Sued Apple Over iPhone 4S and iCloud, and Intel bought RealNetworks' patents and video coding tech over the last month alone), but what does it all mean for us and why do patents inhibit progress, discovery and innovation?No war on Iran! For regime change from below!
04-02-2012 18:18
Protests at Veolia's sponsorship of Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition
04-02-2012 18:09
Oxford human rights activists came out in force on the first day of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at Science Oxford to protest at the sponsorship of the exhibition by multi-national, Veolia. A demonstration in the morning by Oxford Women in Black was followed in the afternoon by one organised by Oxford PSC and the University Palestine Society.Pizza Hut Workers take action in Sheffield
04-02-2012 16:55
Pizza Hut workers at the Crookes store are taking action outside in the snow today to raise awareness of por pay conditions.
Around 15 Pizza Hut workers and supporters are gathered outside the delivery store in Crookes Sheffield to protest over lack of increased Bank Holiday pay and insufficient delivery commission rates.
The protest will continue throughout the afternoon, further updates and photos to come later.
Solidairty demos are taking place all over the place including Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Calais, Portland, Vancouver, Berlin.
Follow IWW Sheffield on twitter and facebook if that's your thing, or keep checking back on indymedia where we'll be updating with more info on the day as soon as we can.
Free University Network National Meeting
04-02-2012 12:35
Time: 11:00 until 16:30
Where: The Oaklands Centre, Winleigh Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Calling all students, take back your campus
04-02-2012 12:16
Wall Street Journal on private property/internet monopolies-What would Lenin say
04-02-2012 10:53
It's kind of ironic that Wall Street Journal, a newspaper owned by media tycoon R. Murdoch, published this article, that accurately describes how monopolies are formed, and talks about how even the internet is now in the process of being controlled by a few monopolies.The WSJ article was written by Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School, and it was published back in November 13, 2010:
A Report from the Solidarity Vigil for Julian Assange at the Supreme Court
04-02-2012 08:20
*Photos from Supreme Court Solidairty Vigil for Julian Assange
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64728140@N02/sets/72157629160258713/ **Short Vid from Solidairty Outside the Supreme Court
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64728140@N02/6813355337/in/set-72157629160258713 To the people of Syria who are fighting against tyranny
04-02-2012 02:25
There will be no peace in Syria until the murderer Bashar leaves, his repressive regime disappears, all the prisoners are free and the refugees return to their homes.Brighton Squatters - Update on a crazy week
03-02-2012 22:44
SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, private property and internet monopolies (part 1)
03-02-2012 19:41
Private property: This is what it comes down to.'Pigs' will pay for Copenhagen!
03-02-2012 15:08
Copenhagen police agreed to negotiate the payment of compensation for violating human rights and breaking their other laws during the COP 15 summit in december 2009.Praver Plan: Confiscation of Bedouin Lands Bill - soon to be passed by Knesset
03-02-2012 13:05
Anti fascist / Anarchist presence Sat. 3:30 Glasgow
03-02-2012 12:15
This Saturday, 4th Feb ;- Anti fascist / Anarchist and Friends presence
3:30-5pm. Outside Lush/opposite All Saints on Buchanan St.
New Unionism: a conference on how workers can fight back
03-02-2012 12:15
In the late 1880s, workers (often unskilled or semi-skilled, often migrants and often working in casualised and precarious environments) organised militant industrial unions to fight back against their bosses. Socialist activists like Eleanor Marx, Tom Mann and Will Thorne were crucial to the struggles.Faced with increasingly similar conditions today, can we build a New Unionism for the 21st century that transforms and revolutionises the modern labour movement? Organised by Workers' Liberty.
Jill Phipps Rememberance Day
03-02-2012 11:17
Jill Phipps Remembered Never Forgotten!