On the eve of our phone blockade of the Lowell Group, yesterday, we had some great news. James Coll, who Lowell were threatening with litigation received letters from the debt collection company saying that they were closing his case and pleading with him to let the Nottingham Solidarity Network know. The threat of direct action from James’ enraged community was enough to make even a company as established as Lowell back down.

This is great news for James and we wish him the best of luck with his recovery, but it is also great news for the solidarity network. Our campaign worked and we hope that this inspires other members of our community to have confidence in collective action.

As a result of this good news the phone blockade of Lowell for later today is cancelled. But Lowell should be warned that James will let us know straight away if they go back on their word.

James contacted us about the harassment he was getting from Lowell in June. Following this we asked our members to email Lowell to ask them to cancel the debt because we did not feel that James was liable for it. Lowell responded saying that they were reviewing the case.

However, at the end of last month James received further correspondence from Lowell saying that they had passed the debt to Hampton’s Legal, their legal arm, and that he would be faced with litigation to recover the money. We responded by calling for a phone blockade of the Lowell Group that was due to take place today.

Fortunately this will no longer be necessary as Lowell seem to have realised that we will not be intimidated and will continue to fight.

Collective direct action (and the threat of it) have got the goods!

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Unpaid wages? Denied deposit? Unsafe workplace? Refused repairs?

Don’t let bosses and landlords use and abuse you!

We are a network of working people and tenants who work to defend ourselves through direct action and mutual support. Nottingham Solidarity Network will help you get back stolen wages and deposits, get repairs made, and stop evictions.

We are a collection of Nottingham residents who have lived in the city for a number of years. We are all volunteers and anybody who wishes to show solidarity is able to join us. Each of us at some time has suffered from unjust treatment by employers, landlords, or other wealthy people who hold power over our lives.

We’ve learned from experience that the only way we’ll be treated fairly, equally, and with dignity is by being prepared to stand up to such people and defend our rights.  It’s hard to do this alone.  That’s why we’ve come together, and we’re seeking out other local people with similar problems who feel the same way.  Together we can find ways of dealing with abusive bosses, greedy landlords, and those who would deny us, our friends, families, neighbors and co-workers the right to a decent life.

See this page for more on how to get help from the network.