MayDays of the precarious take place in many cities [euromayday network | lists on imc estrecho and imc uk].
MayDay Sur 007 was a five day gathering with meetings, actions, workshops, manifestation, discussions, parties, and lots of socialising [program | call | Desobediencia Mutante Rumbo al Maydaysur 07 (mutant disobedience on target for Maydaysur 07)]. This year, it took place in Malaga, with people mainly from cities in Andalucia in the south of Spain, a border region between the Continents of Europe and Africa. People came from Sevilla, Granada, Madrid, Tarrassa and Jerez. Here is a rough translation from indymedia estrecho [original].
Maydaysur - Cabaret Pics | Maydaysur - Visiting a Shopping Center
mayday sur 2007 poster
Friday 27 April
12h – Action and public presentation of MayDay
Offices of ManPower and Ranstad
25 people from various social movements related to the struggle against precarity turned up at the offices of two major temping agencies. They threw several rubbish bags, unfolded banners and informed about the responsability of this type of companies for the constant precarisation of work conditions and the extreme temporaryness of employment. They used the occasion to present the initiative "MayDaySur: The 1st of May of the precari@s" to the Media. Mayday Sur consist of different activities over five days, which will denounce the precarity and speculation. [report, pics | press release]
19h – Precarious Cabaret/Circus: “No llego a Fin de Mes” (I won't make it til the end of the month)
Square near Casa Invisible
With the collaboration of artists and workers of the show business, a cabaret of circus arts and street theatre was celebrated. Every performance was related to precarity and the difficulties in reaching the end of the month. In this street performance, artists from La Carpa de Pizarra (more), and the theatre group Las Poliposeidas from Grenada collaborated with workers from the show business to produce a montage (directors, illuminators, sound engineers, etc.). About 200 people, amongst them many neighbours, gathered at this event which took until 23h [pics].
Saturday 28 April
17h – Demonstration
Plaza de la Merced
500 people gathered for the demonstration that was called in the course of Mayday. This year, it was decided to bring the Mayday demonstration forward. Although the demonstration was smaller than people had hoped, moved with much energy through the centre of town, while marking places which are responsible for precarity and speculation with miles of stickers and some spraypaint. The demo was led by a soundsystem on a truck. Apart from music, it transmitted all the time words of denounciation about the precarious situations which are lived in town. The microphon was taken by members of several social collectives. Along the entire route, slogans were shouted and leaflets distributed. At the head of the demonstration was a banner declaring: We have the right to have rights", along with the banners of the Coordination of Immigrants in Malaga, the network "Precari@s en Movimiento" and the syndicate CGT.
report, pics [1 | 2 | 3], video
21h – Concert in defense of Public Spaces
Baños Del Carmen
About 800 people came to the concert that took place at the beach of "Baños del Carmen", which is threatened with destruction by a plan of the council which will practically lead to its destruction. During the concert, people read leaflets inviting them for the rest of the activities and (... can't translate, what's this: y actuaron Sanchez no te Enganches y TantaTrampa Batucada)
Sunday 29 April
19h – Action against Precarity and Privatisation of the Public
Train Station - Shopping Center Vialia María Zambrano
At precisely 7pm, four groups of precari@s started simultaneous actions to denounce precarity at Zara, Burger King, McDonalds and Vodafone, all located in the Shopping Center María Zambrano. In outspoken actions, they intervened at the doors with informative pickets and distributed information. They marked these locations as "precarious zones" and explained the "hidden history" of these companies to bypassers.
Meanwhile, two banners were unfolded in the large entrance area of the shopping center. Dozens of people had gathered in that central hall, where at 19.10, a voice was heard (transmitted through a soundsystem), which donounced the precarious conditions suffered by the workers in this shopping center. About 50 people grouped around the soundsystem, unfolded banners, and shouted slogans like “precarias, precarios, saliendo del armario” (precarias, precarios, come out of the cupboard); “mayday! mayday! no llego a fin de mes” (MayDay! MayDay! I won't make it til the end of the month!); “no queremos contratos basura” (we don't want rubbish contracts!).
The action was followed by hundreds of people who wondered in surprise what was happening and seemed generally rather positive. At the end, an informative assembly gathered at the doors. Members of the collectives of the precari@s as well as members of the syndicalist section of RENFE (spanish national train company), who denounced the conditions of work. [pics]
Monday 30 April
19h – Meeting, Debate: Experiences of Organisation in the Era of Precarity
Casa Invisible
25 People participated in this debate and exchange on experiences in the struggle against precarity. Participant came from Precari@s en Movimiento, CGT, SOC-SAT, CNT as well as from several social and political collectives. What type of organisation do we need to confront the extreme precarity suffered on todays labour market? Which experiences have develloped in these last few years along these lines? Which tranformations has the class [not sure if translation is correct] undergone in these last few years, and how do these affect our organisations? These were some of the questions which should be resolved in a collective way.
21h – Concert “Tenemos Derecho a Tener Derechos” (We have a Right to have Rights) – Amparo (from Amparanoia) and invited musicians [check translation]
Casa Invisible
During the night, more than 1000 people passed through the Casa Invisible for this concert fronted by Amparo, singer of the group Amparanoia. She was accompanied by several local musicians, and dedicated the concert to MayDay and the participants of Casa Invisible. It was a good thing that not many leaflets were distributed - the space was more than packed long before the concert, while about 200 people had to wait in the street. After the concert, Ampara went out on one of the balconies facing the street and sung a song to those who didn't get in as well as to the neighbours, who seemed not quite to believe what they heard [check translation] Before the concert, the process of MayDay Sur was explained, and a statement/call was made to "let us construct spaces of organisation and struggle to say "enough!" to this model of precarity". It also commented on the situation of Casa Invisible, the new social center in town. People were invited to join in, so that these spaces would be forever. [check translation!]
Tuesday 1 May
8h – Departure of Coaches from Málaga
Demonstration to support the workers of Delphi in Cádiz
A coachload of people from Málaga participated in the “red and black” bloc during the demonstration. More than ten thousand people marched in the streets of Cadiz. The main issue this year was to prevent the closure of the Delphi company. More than 4000 families in the region are threatened to be made rendundant.
17hs – Deriva Piquetera “Zero Precarity”
City Center
Dozens of precari@s wandered around the city center with megaphone, stickers and propaganda material. On their derive, they denounced the conditions of work and the precarity. They entered several shops that were open on the first of May, amongst them PAN´S, McDonalds and the Cafetería Anglada.
