English

16 was day of solidarity actions with Bartorz Kantorczyk, postman from Gdansk who was dismissed from his job after he refused to carry big amounts of money with him. He claims that this is very dangerous. This is occupational safety risk for the postmen. This is why Bartek, member of IP, asked for the stun guns and pepper gas for all the postmen.

Post office doesn't like Bartek or people like him, fighting for the workers rights. After Bartek refused to carry money with him, he was fired. His union was in dispute with Post Office, although Post Office didn't start any negotiations. In accordance with law, the workers in the union dispute mustn't be fired. Bartek considers his dismissal as illegal.

The people made the solidarity pickets in Poland and in Lithuania at the ambassy. Pickets took place in Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan, Szczecin, Torun, Lublin and two in Warsaw.

* During mid-June 2008 the Iberian counter-information collective A Las Barricadas www.alasbarricadas.org posed several questions to the MLC www.mlc.acultura.org.ve, an affinity group of Cuban anarchism abroad. The complete text of this interview follows.

We’re interviewing the Cuban Libertarian Movement (Movimiento Libertario Cubano – MLC), an organization made up of anarchists in exile in different parts of the world. In these days of apparent change, of transition, as the European and North-American media would have it, it’s of interest to know first hand about what’s happening inside the island. The demise of Fidel Castro has opened up all sorts of speculation about the future of the communist regime due to the first measures the new chief, Raul Castro, has taken. Here’s the interview:

Dear friends and comrades!

Currently a number of anarchists are attempting to win opening of house-museum of Kropotkin in city of Dmitrov in Moscow region of Russia.
This is where Pyotr Alekseevich Kropotkin lived last years of his life and died in 1921. Museum existed here until year 1942. In time of Perestroika authorities of Dmitrov promised to open museum again, and in 1992, at event of the 150th jubilee of Kropotkin, authorities freed the house where Kropotkin lived. between 2004 and 2007 it was widely announced that museum will soon open, and a memorial statue was set up
in Dmitrov. Local (now deceased) amateur geographer R.F.Khohlov collected exhibits for the museum.

An Italian court has found 15 officials guilty of mistreating protesters following violent demonstrations at G8 meeting in the city of Genoa in 2001.

A judge handed down prison sentences ranging from five months to five years to the accused - who include police, prison officials and two doctors.

Another 30 defendants were cleared of charges, including assault.

A solidarity picket was held in front of the Post Office 12 July in Zielona Gora. Before the picket there was an information event on the pedestrian street against the changes in Labour Code. The action was organized by Workers Initiative from Zielona Gora and the ZSP from Szczecin and Gorzow took part.

The first week of July saw the beginning of international solidarity actions with Jakub G., a union activist unfairly dismissed from the Warsaw office of Lionbridge Poland.

On June 30, activists from Priama Akcia in Slovakia visited the local office in Zilina. Leaflets were given out and a toy lion was left for the management. In a rather grotesque turn of events, the manager of the Polish and Slovakian offices, Jacek Stryczynski, claimed that the lion was something like a death threat and made a very ridiculous and paranoid representation of the event in one of a string of e-mails to sent to frighten employees.

On July 1, a picket was held in Brussels. Leaflets were given out and people spoke to the workers at the office. In Paris the next morning, members of CNT-AIT got a more harsh reception from security but still managed to hand out leaflets to the employees. In Lisbon, the offices of Lionbridge got some information posters about the case.

Bartosz Kantorczyk, a member of the Workers' Initiative, was dismissed from his job at the Post Office in Gdansk, in breach of the Polish Labour Code. Kantorczyk is an active union organizer who already has had his share of problems at the Post Office which offers employees poor conditions and remuneration.

1 July ZSP from Wroclaw held a solidarity picket as a part of international action against union busting Starbucks. They demanded reinstatement of Cole from US IWW and Monica from CNT in Spain who were fired for trying to organize unions in Starbucks.

Starbucks will open in Poland in the fall. AmRest will control the Starbucks. This company also runs Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, Freshpoint and other restaurants in Poland. Members of ZSP promised to investigate the workers' rights situation in these restaurants and will also encourage the workers of Starbucks to organize.

In feline solidarity, Miaou, my cat, fasted today against the delusional US Star Wars proposal for Poland and the Czech Republic! But he only lasted 10 mins, then started eating a cheesecake, so I took over for him.

Why fast today? Well Sunday, June 22nd, was declared by our Czech colleagues as World Hunger Strike Day Against Star Wars - sensibly calling on financial resources to be divested from the US missile defence programme, and militarism in general, and to be directed towards addressing real human needs - food, education, health, sustainable environment, etc.

Please read on to find out more about this initiative, videos against Star Wars, photos and comments from participants in today's fast.

On Friday, June 20, just days before the area known as Dal Molin was to be
turned over to the U.S. military as the site for a second base in Vicenza,
Italy, the administrative court of the Veneto region ruled to suspend all
work. In the case filed by Codacons, a consumer and environmental
advocacy group, the court´s findings included failure to consult the local
population with regard to the decision for the new base, as required by a
Memorandum of Understanding between Italy and the U.S. The court
further ruled the apparent "verbal" approval of the project - no formal act
has ever been presented - by the former Prodi government to be extra
ordinem and "absolutely incompatible in view of the importance of the
matter and the traditional principals of administrative law."

Grand Rapids Starbucks Union and Sevilla, Spain CNT have announced a Global Day of Action against Starbucks July 5th

Day to protest recent firing of CNT member in Spain and continuing anti-union discrimination in Grand Rapids

The Union of Comerical and Hotel workers CNT-AIT in Sevilla, Spain along with the Grand Rapids Starbucks Workers Union (IWW) have announced a Global Day of Action scheduled for July 5th. The two groups are asking social organizations, unions, and individuals from around the world to promote and participate in this day of action.

On April 24th, 2008 a barista named Monica was fired for her union activity from a Starbucks in Sevilla, Spain. She was a member of the Union of Commercial and Hotel Workers of the Confederacion Nacional de Trabajadores (CNT). Now with the support of all CNT affiliates, the International Workers Association, and the Starbucks Workers Union (IWW) they are demanding justice for Monica.

The Sejm voted for an amendment to the act on privatization yesterday. One of the amendments concerned salary caps for managers in state-owned companies, or companies where the State Treasury have a majority share. Previously, managers of state-owned companies could only earn four times as much as the average salary in the company whereas managers of companies where the State Treasury have a majority stake can earn six times as much as the average salary. Now there will be no limit on their salaries.

The pro-business organizations had been lobbying for the change. In their view, the current regulations constituted "discrimination against managers".

In the meanwhile, statistics show than 13% of managers in Poland already earn over 100,000 zloties a month - about 30,000 euro.

June 13 there was a picket organized by feminist organizations outside of the parliament (the Sejm). The reason for the picket was incidents surrounding the story of a 14-year old girl who wanted to get an abortion.

The girl said that she was raped. Polish law allows for abortions to be performed only in certain cases. She was given papers but in Lublin, where the girl was from, two hospitals decided not to take her. Polish law allows doctors to refuse to perform abortions, provided they sent the patient on to another hospital which should agree. She went to Warsaw only to find that a group of pro-lifers, led by a priest from Lublin, were harrassing the doctors and even occupied the office of the hospital. She was turned down again.

It is now highly likely that Irish voters have rejected the Lisbon Treaty. The final results are due to be announced at 16:00 Polish time (+0100)

Results have already being announced in 19 of the 43 constituencies, and the Lisbon Treaty has been rejected by a margin of 54.7% to 45.3%.

Dermot Ahern, Minister for Justice, has conceded that the Lisbon Treaty has been lost.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Lenihan got hunted out of the main count centre by No campaigners.

Analysts are saying that the high turnout (50%) surprisingly did not favour the Yes side, as was predicted.

A far right anti-communist hooligan and sometimes journalist started a campaign against the internet poral "Left without Censorship". The editor is a known Bolshevik, fan of Dzerzhinsky. The main arguments against the portal wasn't so much that it promoted "communist totalitarianism", (which is illegal in Poland, unlike the right-wing totalitarianism promoted by some ultra-Catholic Carlists), but that it called for illegal acts of violence against politicians, that it harrassed priests and called for the murder of Polish soldiers. In other words, on the portal you could read that the editor wishes that Polish soldiers don't return from Iraq (we assume that means don't return alive) and that people should fight and make actions against politicians, interrupt their meetings, etc.

A criminal investigation is underway, with some politicians and secret police cooperating. In the meantime, the portal removed all such radical articles, applying self-censorship.