Home
Previous
| SchNEWS 210 | Next | Index
| PDF
WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S YER SUMMER PARTY AND PROTEST...

Published in Brighton by
Justice? - Brighton's Direct Action collective
Issue 210, Friday 30th April 1999
"The Private Finance Initiative means paying more for
less." - Dr.Jean Shaoul, accountancy expert Manchester
University.
Public services sold off to big business. Private firms in our
schools. Worse pay and conditions for workers. Adverts on fire-engines. Who
could possibly be behind such dastardly schemes? New Labour, silly.
Welcome to the world of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), which in plain
English means privatisation by the back door.
The London Underground is already the most expensive in Europe, and with plans
for it to be sold to private companies, fares will spiral even higher. As with
the fragmentation of British Rail, health & safety will be put at risk,
services will be cut, and large scale redundancies and casualisation are on the
cards.
In Haringey four private companies have been short-listed under the PFI to
take over schools, including Rentokil Initial (who in the past have been
removed from one in three of its school cleaning contracts).
School buidlings will effectively be privatised, as private companies will take
control for up to 30 years, and they will decide how schools will be used
outside of school hours, to make profits.
In Haringey this will mean the privatisation of cleaning, caretaking and repair
and maintenance work, threatening jobs, pay and conditions. Despite widespread
opposition, the Council is pushing ahead spending £250,000 just to
prepare its bid.
If that's not enough New Labour have also come up with Education Action Zones,
allowing big business to get involved in running education. In Sheffield the
main sponsors are Midland bank and Yorkshire Water. Meanwhile in Surrey, the
council have announced plans to privatise the teachers of one of its schools.
"It's privatisation through the back door. All companies work for profit
and this is just not appropriate within a public service." -
Fire Brigade Union spokesperson
Fire-fighters are on the brink of their first national strike
since the seventies over plans to break up the national framework, which sets a
minimum standard of working conditions around the country and replaces it with
"local bargaining." Fire-fighters rightly see this as a first step towards
privatisation. One union spokesperson commented "We've seen what damage
local bargaining has done to our public services,our railways and our ambulance
service. First they carve up the workforce then they sell bits off and the
public end up paying for a worse service."
Just to show how keen they, the London Fire Brigade this month made a
multi-million pound Private Finance Inititave deal to fund their fire-fighting
fleet and equipment.
And there's more
London are also looking into the raising cash through
private sponsorship, which could include advertising on the side of fire
engines!
"It's (the PFI) like taking out a mortgage from a loan shark to buy a house
which you already own - and then discovering, 25 years down the line, that the
property has been repossessed by the lender anyway" -
Francis Wheen, journalist
Dryburn hospital in Durham due to open in 2001 will be built,
financed and owned by a private sector consortium, Consort Healthcare. In
return for use of the hospital, the local health service trust will pay the
consortium £7 million every year for the next 30 years. Consort will also
provide most of the hospital's ancillary staff, at a cost of an extra £5
million a year.
Offically, PFI schemes are given the go-ahead only if they offer better value
for money than other options. But a study by the union UNISON shows that the
cost of the PFI scheme over 30 years will be over £22 million more than if
the public sector had built and owned the hospital.
There will also be a reduction in services with only half the hospital beds
originally planned and a 22 per cent cut in clinical staffing budget over the
next two years
Workers at the University College Hospital in London recently went on a two
week all out strike over privatisation plans.
Housing Benefit and Council Tax staff in Brighton and Hove are preparing to take
strike action after the Council revealed it's plans to sell off their department
to a private company called Capita. The announcement , made only three weeks ago,
was followed by an immediate meeting where 180 people voted unanimously for a
strike ballot to defend their jobs, and two mass pickets of the Town hall while
the issue was debated left Councillors in no doubt as to what the mood was. The
proposals, which will remove the entire Housing Benefit operation to Falmer, will
mean an inevitable drop in the quality of the service: long delays in processing
claims, no local service points, no flexibility when it comes to overpayment demands.
Capita have a past history of incompetence(in one mistake 4,600 pensioners were
accidentally sent a letter informing them that their housing benefit was being
cut, along with an increased council tax demand!), lying about their efficiency
rates -and redundancies. The most interesting thing about the company is that
Labour Council leader Lord Bassam lists a consultancy with Capita in the House
of Lords Register of Interests! When news of the privatisation broke, Capita's
shares rose 39p-more money for Bassam's chums.
The Council, worried that this is becoming a local election own-goal have
decided to 'review' the decision-a stalling tactic if ever there was one. But
with Unison deciding to introduce a voluntary levy on all it's Brighton and
Hove members to support a prospective strike, the Council may have bitten off
more than it can chew.
"Strikes in the future are not just going to be won by the withdrawl of
labour - they are going to be won by employing other methods. Having people
like Reclaim The Streets(RTS) involved could go a long way to winning other
disputes in the future. RTS get publicity and cause the bosses serious
financial distress - and they can't be sacked." -
Steve
Steve Hedley was on strike with other railway maintainance workers and
engineers over pay and conditions. Since privatisation the companies that
bought British Rail have been making around £1million a day profit and
Railtrack a similar amount. Meanwhile maintenance workers are taking home
around £135 a week after tax for a 37-39 hour week.
During the dispute Steve was at Euston Station on a picket line when a scab van
drove straight at the picket line. On its way past it was alledged that a wing
mirror was cracked on the van and Steve was blamed. However two independent
photographers and even Railtracks own CCTV showed that Steve wasn't the person.
Still, the Railtract sub-contractors sacked him and even though the case was
thrown out of court, the company have refused to give him his job back.
- A recent report which studied 41 local authorities involved in Private
Finance Initiative schemes, has concluded that 150,000 jobs will be transferred
to the the private sector in the next 10 years. Job losses are estimated at
30,000.
Top
Last November 273 airline catering workers at Heathrow airport were sacked just
three hours after going on an official one-day strike over worsening pay and
conditions. People on holiday pay or sick that day were sacked.
The company LSG Lufthansa SkyChefs are the biggest airline catering company in
the world serving 260 air-lines with pre-tax profits of £2.2 million in
1997. Meanwhile sacked workers doing a 60 hour shift could expect a take-home
pay of just £220 a week.
The strike, which has received virtually no press, is seen by many as a pointer
to the future. If Skychefs get away with it, then all their workers will
eventually be forced to work under worse conditions for longer hours and less
pay
There's a mass picket on Monday 3rd May 9 am - 1 pm at Fagg's Rd off the A30,
south end of Heathrow airport. Assemble opposite the 'Green Man' pub (5 mins
walk from Hatton Cross tube station.)
THE STRIKE SUPPORT GROUP aims to give financial aid to workers
in struggle, give striking workers resources to print and publish their own
leaflets etc., and to physically support pickets and other demonstations of
workers in dispute.
For a copy of their newsletter send SAE to 145 Imperial Ave., Victoria Rd.,
London, N16 8HL Tel 0171 249 0041 They meet every Monday at the CockTavern,
Phoenix Rd., London NW1 at 7.30 pm
- Reclaim the Streets 0171 281 4621
rts@gn.apc.org
- Haringey Against Privatisation c/o PO Box 8446, London,
N17 6NZ
- Campaign Against Tube Privatisation 47c Wadeson St.,
Bethnal Green, London, E2 9DP- Tel 0181 981 8065
- Anarchist Trade Union Network PO Box EMAB, 88 Abbey St.,
Derby DE22 3SQ
Top
The celebration of Beltane heralds the start of the summer in the pagan
calender - signifying the death of winter and the return of the warm weather.
BEL-TENE:'A goodly fire'. Traditionally people jumped the fire
together and alone to purify, to cleanse and to bring fertility. The
TEIN-EIGIN, the sacred fire, was kindled after all the fires in the
community had been put out. Beltane is the celebration of the sacred marriage.
A festival for friends and lovers, for joining energies together and for
honouring that union. It is a time to honour sex in it's raw state as part of
the cycle, nature and the expansive energy of this time. So get out into the
fields, light a fire and indulge in some loved-up beltane celebrations.
Top
May 1886 and 80,000 workers and their families walk down Chicago's Michigan
Avenue in the world's first ever May Day Parade. At the same time 340,000
workers in 12,000 factories across the US down tools to demand an eight hour
day in order to spread work among the thousands made unemployed by new 'labour
saving' machinery. The next day Chicago police attack peaceful strikers with
guns and clubs, killing and wounding several. On May 3rd 6,000 striking
lumberworkers march to the aid of strikers at the Mcormick Harvester factory
who have been locked out over a wage dispute. When pickets try to stop scabs
from entering the plant, the cops attack again, opening fire killing four and
wounding many others. Outraged at this a protest is called for the next day at
the Haymarket Square.
The meeting was peaceful and a shower of rain soon sent away most of the crowd.
However, with only a few hundred people remaing the police once again attacked
- a bomb was thrown and exploded among the police who immediately opened fire.
Several cops and many workers were killed.
It has never been discovered who threw the Haymarket bomb, but it was certainly
none of the eight anarchists who were put on trial for it. Six of them were not
ever there! Yet the trial with biased judge and hysterical press ensured a
guilty verdict and condemned 5 of the 8 to death. Despite worldwide protests
Parsons, Spies, Fischer and Engels were hanged on November 11th (Ling had
committed suicide the previous day). Six years later the state governor
released the survivors from jail, admitting that there had no evidence to link
any of the 8 with the Haymarket bomb.
On 14th July 1889, on the 100th anniversary of the Bastille Day, an American
delegate at the International Labour Congress in Paris proposed that May 1st be
officially adopted as a workers holiday. This was unanimously approved and
since then May Day has served as a date for international solidarity.
Top
AVON RING ROAD Trying to stop Bristol's answer to the M25
being built. People with experience of tunnelling would be most welcome, as
would anyone else. Directions: from Bristol train station catch the 48 or 49
bus to the end of the route (Sainsburys), go down the hill and turn right. The
camp is another minute's walk, and is opposite the security compound. Tel: 0797
999 0389.
BIRMINGHAM NORTHERN RELIEF ROAD Camps set up to try and stop
England's first toll motorway. Directions: From the centre of Birmingham take
the 105 or 105A bus to Roughley Terminus. Carry on walking in the direction the
bus was going, past a beech wood on the left and past Turf Pits Lane. They
could use materials for treehouses plus some tarpaulin. Tel: 07931 161761.
LYMINGE FOREST After battling against the Rank organisation
for a couple of years (who want to build a massive leisure complex), the camp
has almost won against the entertainment giants. Rank have lost interest, but
there's a rumour that planning permission may be sold to Center Parcs.
The local council in Kent wants to sell the land, but will have to do so by
August. Tel: 01303 257046.
FASLANE PEACE CAMP Still hassling the Trident
base next door, after 16 years the camp is still going strong. Contact: 01436
820901.
MANCHESTER A camp has been set up to stop Manchester Airport
PLC cutting down trees at Cedars Wood. A few days ago nearly 30 cops raided
the camp without a warrant and arrested 5 people and nicked off with
boltcroppers and tools (replacements most welcome!). More people are needed to
keep the two camps going, local support is still strong. There is a stay of
execution till October when the House of Lords will make their decision. A
party is planned for June 21st. Tel: 07931 931850
Top
SELLAFIELD Womens Peace Camp. 16 Sholebroke Ave, Leeds. LS7
3HB. Tel: 01132621534. Email ( marked clearly for the peace camp)
cornerstone@gn.apc.org
ALDERMASTON Womens Peace Camp. Contact Helen, 33 Heron Rd,
Bristol. 0117 9393746
MENWITH HILL Womens Peace Camp. Outside Menwith Hill US NSA
Spy Base, Kettlesing Head Layby, A59, Harrogate. HG3 2RA. Tel: 01943 468593
GREENHAM COMMON WOMENS PEACE CAMP. Yellow Gate, Greenham
Common, Newbury, Berks. Tel: 01374 136728. Between7-9.30pm only.Permanent camp
outside main gate of Greenham Common. Organises information about and actions
against, the production of trident at Aldermaster and Burghfield.
Top
New issue out in next couple of weeks. All the usual listings and reviews of
fringe,mainstream,alternative festivals, camps, partys and protests. Send
£2.50 + large SAE to BCM 2002, London, WC1N 3XX
http://www.festivaleye.com/ [??]
Climate Crisis Special Issue. Essential magazine £3.50 + postage from
Cissbury House, Furze View, Five Oaks Rd., Slinfold, W.Sussex, RH13 7RH
The final edition of the "alternative news video" is out now featuring workers
aid to Bosnia, pie attack, Big Brother awards, Adbusters, plus all yer global
direct action news available for £15 from 16B Cherwell St., Oxford, OX4
1BG Tel 01865 243562
http://www.undercurrents.org/
At last the June 18th video is out....18 minutes of sizzling video to inspire
you and your friends. The video is free IF you are going to show it to groups,
at meetings etc. just send a stamped addressed jiffy bag with enough stamps for
a video to Reclaim the Streets, PO box 9656, London N4 5JY
Top
THE SCHNEWS SURVIVAL GUIDE
Out soon, featuring SchNEWS issues 151 - 200 + articles, photos, cartoons and a
comprehensive contacts list of 500 grassroots groups. Order your copies
NNNNNNNOOOOOOWWWWWW £6 + SAE 93 pence worth of stamps.
Top
May |
June |
July |
August |
September
Mon 3 LLANTRISANT FREE FESTIVAL Mid
Glamorgan, S.Wales; 0973 399220
Sat 8th and Sun 9th STREETS OF BRIGHTON
FESTIVAL on-the-beach including The Firestarter Stage with Zion
Train, Head-Mix collective, Max Pashm, the super-groove Jazz Skiffle Sensation,
Kyras Tortoise and the phenomenal, unmissable, legendary Lucy Wild Blues(viva
villcabamba sista!) Tel: 0181 986 9646;
http://www.continentaldrifts.co.uk/
Sat 8th PEACE IN THE BALKANS, Stop the War Demo. Meet
Embankment 12 noon. Tel 0171 275 0164
Sat 8th HULL RECLAIM THE STREETS. Meet, Pearsons Park, off
Beverly Rd. 12 noon
Sat 8 Undercurrents 10 & comedian Mark Thomas at New
Theatre Royal, Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth 7pm £2
11th-16th HAGUE APPEAL for PEACE for the abolition of war.
Internationl Conference. Tel: 0181 347 6162.
http://www.haguepeace.org/
Thurs 13th WORLD STARFISHMAN DAY. Foreshadowed by the
Hale-Bopp comet, starfishman left the womb of the ocean and came ashore at
Whitby on May 13th '97
.Celebrate by doing Starfishmanly things of your
own devising, in your own way
Thur 13- Tue 18 Home educators Festival, Work shops and
educational activities, Beach, Dorset; 0171 813 5907
Fri 14th National Demo against Live Exports from 9am, Meet
Tesco car-park, whitfield. Tel: 01304 613904
Fri 14th London Anarchist Forum meets every Friday, 8pm,
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL. Tube Holborn. Various talks
and discussions Tel 0181 847 0203
Sat 15 London Permaculture Gathering , 11am-7pm, lunch 1.30pm,
at the Bowlers Community Nursery, 81 Crouch Hill, London N8. BusesW7, 91, 41,
210. Tube: Archway, Finsbury Park £5-25 (sliding scale). Tel: 0171 281
3765
Sat 15th FREEDOM FOR OCALAN! FREEDOM FOR KURDISTAN! Demo. Sat
15th May, 1pm, Malet Street WC1. Tel: 0956 155 788
21st -24th Action camp against Highway A20. Nr
Lubeck(N.Germany). Protesters travelling from Europe will be reimbursed for 50%
of travel expenses(as long as you don't fly). Camp costs between 25 and 40 dm.
Vegan/organic food, tree-climbing, canoeing, street theatre, RTS etc. Tel:
(+49) 0451/7070646. Email:
jupluebeck@t-online.de
Fri 21st Demo at biotech company Zeneca's AGM. Tel: 0161 224
4846
Sat 22 Festival 99 Devonshire Green, Sheffield; 0114 225
4158
22 May - 20th June The Inter-Continental Cararvan will be in
town. Around 500 activists from across the globe will be coming to Europe to
bring the concerns of the South directly to the hear of the North. Telling us
how free trade and economic globalisation is devestating the lives of the poor.
Contact the ICC London Welcoming Committee, 39 Thornhill Square, London, N1 1BE
Tel 07970 896736 email
icc99uk@hotmail.com
Sat 22nd Citizens Assembly for the Abolition of War,
Westminster Central Hall. Tel: 0181 347 6162
Sat 22nd SEX MANIACS BALL and the 6th EROTIC OSCARS. 10pm-4am,
The Pleasure Rooms, 604 Highroad Tottenham. Contact Sexual Freedom Coalition
0171 460 1979
http://www.sfc.org.uk/
Sat 22 Stanmer Park Organics community open day
sutainabilty, gardening, music. Bring a picnic 10 am onwards 01273 388673
Sun 23 Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project (behind
Moulsecoomb Railway Station, just off the Lewes Road) Open Day 12 noon till 4
pm 01273 628535
28th-31st BLANDFORD FORUM FESTIVAL, Stour Park, Dorset.
Alabama 3 + Zion Train + Headmix + Rory McLeod etc. £5 a day
28th-31st Animal Gathering Festival at Greenacres Sanctuary,
Marston Montgomery, Nr Uttoxeter, Derbyshire. Tel: 0171 278 3068
Fri 28 - June 2nd Alternative to the EU Summit, Cologne
Details from Bundnis Koln 99, KornerstraBe 69, 50823 Koln, Tel 492219520008
email
koeln99@gmx.net
Sat 29th EUROPE-WIDE-MARCH. Cologne. Against unemployment, job
insecurity, Social Exclusion and racism.Tel: 0191 222 0299. Email:
EUROMUK@aol.com
Sat 29th ORGANIC FESTIVAL, Arundel
Sat 29th CAAT day-school-planning action against DSEi arms
fair(14-17 Sept) 10-5pm, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, WC1. Tel: 0171 281
0297
Mon 31st KINGSTON GREEN FAIR. Canbury Gardens, Kingston,
Surrey. Tel: 0181 974 8883
Mon 31st Anti Bloodsports demo. Surrey County Show, Guilford,
10.30am-5.30pm. Tel:0790 181 4936
Tue 1st LONDON to STONEHENGE WALK begins. Meet Battersea Park
Peace Pagoda noon onwards phone Willie X 0171 722 4781
Fri 4th-Sun 6th COVENTRY FESTIVAL
Sat 5th STRAWBERRY FAYRE,Mid Summer Common, Cambridge
FREE!
4th-6th LIVING LONDON FESTIVAL, environmental music festie
Battersea Park,
http://www.globalpartnership.org/
Tues 8th World Oceans Day. Walks, talks, exhibitions and
events worldwide. Tel: 0171 924 2355
Tues 8th Protest naked for the right to be naked in public
outside 2pm Buckingham Palace. Contact: 208 Foleshill Rd. Coventry, CV1 4JH
Thur 10 Possible Referendum for a ban on genetically modified
food. Under the 1972 Local Government Act if 10 local authority electors in a
parish vote for a referendum then one has to be called. For a campaign pack
ring 01226 762359
Fri 11th National Goldfish Day . For goldfish freaks
everywhere, put your best fish forward and boogie on down
Sat 12 National demonstration against Hillgrove cat
vivisection farm. Meet 12 noon at Hillgrove, Whitney, Oxfordshire 01386
833846
Sat 12th-Sun 13th STOKE NEWINGTON CHURCH STREET FESTIVAL
12TH-20TH STOP THE ARMS TRADE WEEK-An International Week of
Action. Contact Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) Tel: 0171 281 0297
http://www.caat.demon.co.uk/
14th-20th National Vegetarian Week . Vegetarian Society, Tel:
0161 928 0793
On the first day of the meeting of the G8 Summit in Cologne, Germany a global
day of direct action is being planned, aimed at the heart of the global
economy/financial banking districts. Actions are planned to take place in 35
countries across the world. In the UK people are taking their action to the
City of London. Groups including London Animal Action, Campaign Against Arms
Trade, Third World First, London Greenpeace/Mclibel and Reclaim The Streets are
planning openly advertised action for people to get involved in. Autonomous
groups around the are also planning actions to carry out on the day. For info n
your local groups contact Reclaim The Streets. A booklet about how the City
works and detailed map of the area is also available for a SAE from J18 info,
Box E, 111 Magdalen Rd., Oxford, OX4 1RG
http://www.j18.org/
19th -20th LEAMINGTON PEACE FESTIVAL, Warwick (free!) 01926
421830
18th -27th SPACE 1999-10 Days That Shook The Universe!! A
celebration of independent, community-based space exploration including * games
of 3 -sided football *All night parties/training for raves in space * Workshops
on how to become an autonomous astronaut * Sex in space. The Association of
Autonomous Astronauts are keen to hear from those with access to venues,
satellites, soundsystems, rocket technology Contact: Space 1999 c/o BM Box
3641, London WC1N 3XX.
http://www.deepdisc.com/aaa/
21st-26th Global Week of Action against Quintiles Animal
Tests. For info on events tel: 01562 745778. Email:
sqat@messages.to
Mon 21st STONEHENGE SUMMER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION!! The
exclusion zone has been lifted but in anticipation of a renewal of the old
festivities police say their operation will be "adjusted accordingly"
SUNSET 8.49pm at the Stones -BST- Tues22nd SUNRISE
(nearest to solstice) 4.59am at the Stones-BST-
http://www.geocities.com/soho/9000/glastone.htm
[turn Javascript off - code is fucked]
Fri 25th-Sun 27th GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL, Pilton, Somerset
Fri 2 - Sun 4 Bracknell Festival South Hill Park Tel 01344
484123
Sun 4th FREE FESTIVAL OF GLOBAL RIGHTS 12noon-10pm (Hackney
Marshes)
Thur 8- Sun 11 Larmer Tree Music Festival Wilts; £50;
01722 415223
http://www.larmertree.demon.co.uk/ [beware undersized frames]
Sat 10th BIG DAY OUT, Milton Keynes
10th-11th T IN THE PARK, Glasgow
15th-17th SEVEN REVELS, Forest of Dean
17th-18th MUSIC IN THE SQUARE , Portsmouth 01705 357593
Sat 17 Derby Punx Picnick Bass Recreational Ground
Sun 18th ASHTON COURT FREE FESTIVAL, Bristol
Fri 23 - Sun 25 Foothills, Wales
Sat 24th No Animal to Human Transplants Action Day , Jesus
Green, Cambridge. Tel:0114 2530020 They want to break the world record for the
biggest ever ring-a-roses (over 12,000 people) so come out to play!!
Wed 28th-1st Aug Northern Green Gathering, on an organic farm
in West Yorkshire. £30 0113 2249885
30th-8th Aug THE 4TH ANARCHIST SUMMERCAMP. Near Hannover,
Germany. Tel: 0531/82909. Email:
a-camp@gmx.de
1st-21st MOONSHADOW ECLIPSE FAMILY CAMP, Cornwall
6th-8th THE BIG CHILL 'ENCHANTED GARDEN 99', Salisbury Tel:
0181 372 9735;
http://www.bigchill.co.uk/
6th-15th SUNSHADOW FESTIVAL, Cornwall
http://www.klasol.demon.co.uk/sve99/sunshadow/ssMain.htm
6th - 12th LIZARD ECLIPSE FESTIVAL, near Plymouth, Devon
6th-12th MEGADOG SON-OF-A-BEACH FESTIVAL
http://www.thepulse.co.uk/megadog/index.html [??]
7th-14th CORNISH ECLIPSE STONE FESTIVAL
9th-12th TOTALITY! Newquay Tel: 01637 871999
http://www.totality.co.uk/
10th-11th ECLIPSE PARTY. + camping for one week. £25
http://www.splintered.demon.co.uk/eclipse/
Wed 11th TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
BOOM SHANKAR!! Who turned
the fuckin' lights out
Wed 11 World Earth Healing Day Tel 0181 806 3828 email
WEHD@freenet.co.uk
Mon 13th ABBEY PARK FESTIVAL, Leicester
21st - 22nd V99 Chelmsford
http://www.gigsandtours.com/ [??]
29th-30th NOTTINGHILL HILL CARNIVAL FREE
28th-30th EXODUS FREE FESTIVAL, Luton. Don't miss this one.
14th-17th Demonstrations against the Defence Systems Equipment
International, Chertsey and London Docklands arms fair. Campaign
Against The Arms Trade 0171 281 0297
1/1/00. SATANIC ORGY.Royston Parish Church. Please bring
condoms and a partner Ruth Kettle Project.
Top
Despite
the best efforts of the authorities, people are still putting on free parties
up and down the country. Here's a few do's and dont's just in case you stumble
wide-eyed across one.
- Be prepared to be self sufficient. Facilities will be minimal.
- Park sensibly, keep site roads clear.
- Be friendly to local residents, ramblers etc. Smile - you're at a free
party!
- Bury your shit!!
- Don't trash the site - take a bin bag
- Fires - use dead not live wood (it don't burn in any case).
- Make a donation - if someone passes a bucket round, don't be a mean git. It
costs money to put on a free event.
Know your rights - Get yourself a BUST CARD, 10p from Release. Advice line
0171 729 9904. Emergency Help Line 0171 6038654 Enjoy
yourself - and don't let the party poopers get yer down!
Top
As SchNEWS went to press, students at Sussex University were still occuping the
finance office of their administration building following the threatened
expulsion of 89 students over non payment of fees. They said they would remain
until their demands were met- that no student would be expelled for non payment
and that there would be no repercussions on students involved in the
occupation. University management responded by barricading a fire door and
cutting off electricity to the occupied part of the building, although they
later agreed it was a fire risk and re-connected it.
In Court yesterday morning, a rather senile old judge bored everyone with
anecdotes about his involvement in the University choir. He then went on at
great length about how much he loved the University before declaring he had no
conflict of interest. He also granted the University posession before hearing
the defense case, and told to them to be out by 2pm, despite the fact that the
wrong papers were served, and he was obviously biased against the students (he
refused to call them students, and instead preferred 'undergraduates').
Apparently the University's solicitors used to represent squatters and hippies
in the 70s!
Some rather interesting memos from university management about the previous
proposed occupations at Sussex in 1994 also surfaced, which showed that the
Student Union at the time was in the pockets of management and was told to
sabotage the occupation debate. The Union Officers were supposed "to take on
the opposition at the EUGM and not be defensive". Nice to know they were
sticking up for the interests of students who elected them. The university was
also worried that there were 'sleepers' on the staff who would help the
students, and that they had links with anarchists from Brighton, and that they
were more of a problem than the SWP. How flattering!
- Campaign for Free Education National Conference, Wed May 12, Sheffield
Hallam University Union 11am - 5pm Debate + pratical workshops. Contact CFE,
PO Box 22615, London, N41 WT email
cfe@gn.apc.org
Top
Simon Jones died when he was sent to do highly skilled work in Shoreham docks
as a stevedore with no health and safety training. Within two hours he was
dead. A year on and despite a high level direct action campaign no-one has been
charged with his death.
So on Wednesday (Workers Memorial Day), fifty people including his family,
gathered outside the Health and Safety Executive HQ in London to pay their
respects with a minute's silence. Health and Safety have done nothing to bring
Simon's killers to justice, so people decided to occupy Southwark Bridge for an
hour, stopping the traffic by unfurling banners across the street and blowing
whistles and shouting. Despite this direct action, when Simon's parents and a
few of the group gained access to the director of the Executive, Jenny Bacon,
she fobbed them off, telling Simon's aunt to "shush"! This high ranking
government official denied receiving 5 letters sent by Simon's mum, and claimed
that investigating 1 in 20 serious injuries in workplaces was acceptable due to
budget restrictions. Jenny Bacon chose not to respond when asked what chance
people would have of having their grievances heard, if they didn't occupy
bridges in central London.
Simon Jones Memorial Campaign c/o on the fiddle, PO Box 2600, brighton,
E.Sussex BN2 2DX 01273 685913
http://www.simonjones.org.uk/
Top
- Cheeky protestors from the No Opencast group have put in a planning
application for a 20 acre opencast mine on the site of the Millenium
Dome! There's gonna be a grand opening ceremony on May 9th 1.30 pm at
Westcombe park Station (Charing Cross to Dartford line) Contact 0181 767 3142
- John Tyndall, the leader of the British National Party,
has been invited to address the Oxford Union (University Debating Society) on
Monday 17th May. Protest to Oxford Union, Frewin Court, Oxford,OX1 3JB
Tel(01865) 241353 E-mail:President (Theo Mills):
president@oxford-union.org
- MayDay is the offical opening of the LOFT (Library of Free
Thought)in Penzance. It will be selling anarchist and alternative books, mags,
postcards with meeting space. Contact LOFT, PO Box 19, Penzance, TR18 2YP Tel
01736 331236
- A 'No War but the Class War' discussion group has been set
up in London for people from differing political backgrounds-anarchist,
Trotskyist, libertarian Marxist etc., who oppose NATO intervention but want to
maintain a socialist or working class perspective. Meet every Wed, 7.30pm,
Conway Hall, Red Lion Sq., London WC1. Holborn tube. Email:
escape6@hotmail.com
- The Ecstasy.org website, is being relaunched on Wed Feb
3rd. Hosting the first on-line edition of Nicholas Saunders last book on
ecstasy: "Ecstasy Reconsidered"- the most comprehensive and authoritative work
on the subject to date. For scientific research-user experiences and the
interactive ecstasy testing database surf on into
http://www.ecstacy.org/
For info. Tel: 01718369404 or email:
nicholas@ecstacy.org
- London Anarchist Black Cross, supporting class struggle
prisoners, if you want to fight, inform and organise against the prison system
then join 'em at 7.30pm, 1st and 3rd Tues of every month, Red Rose Pub, 129
Seven Sisters rd. N7 (tube Finsbury Park) email:
londonABC@hotmail.com
Top
FREE CAKE! At the no-diet day celebrations, Thurs 6th May at
4pm in the Pavillion gardens (or Churchill Sq. if it's raining)Bring your
bellies and bikinis and let it all hang out..bare your beauty-if you've got it,
flaunt it!The diet industry is there to make money out of our insecurities,
remember the saying "you can never be too rich or too thin"? Well who
wants to be a capitalist bastard and waste their life obsessing about their
weight? Learn to love your body as it really is. Babes and boyz welcome of all
shapes and sizes, WE'LL BE HAVIN'IT LARGE!
Top
People who said the building of the Newbury Bypass would lead to the opening
of greenbelt land had their worse fears confirmed on Wednesday, when planning
permission was given to VODAFONE to build a massive new HQ on a greenfield site
in the area.
One resident told SchNEWS "Vodaphones attitude to this town has been appalling,
nothing less than blackmail, telling residents they would pull out of the town
if they did not get planning permission."
Vodaphone refused to contemplate moving to other sites such as vacated MoD site
or Greenham Common (which they reckoned was a security risk because of the
peace women there - all three of them.)
Funnily enough, Vodaphone were supporters of the pro-bypass campaign.
During the six hour Council meeting it was estimated that the company had
earned around half a million pounds.
Top
"It is hypocrisy for Sir Robin to accuse Med T.V. of incitement to
violence when he is a director of a company selling arms to a security force
which tortures and kills it's own people" - Rachel
Harford, CAAT
Sir Robin Biggham, a director of British Aerospace(BAe), would
seem to be engaged in a 'serious conflict of interest' or blatant hypocrisy
concerning his role as chairman of the Independent Television Commission(ITC).
He is apparently unaware of the irony of the ITC decision to revoke the license
of the Kurdish satellite station Med T.V. for repeatedly flouting the
regulations on incitement to violence and impartiality by sympathising with
Turkey's Kurdish separatists. Strange, considering that BA has landed an $18
million contract to start licensed production in Turkey of assault rifles and
grenade launchers for the security forces whose reputation for human rights
abuses have been repeatedly documented. So the senile old bastard is not
prepared to tolerate the use of tv to encourage violence but sees no problem
with his company selling arms to a security force which tortures and kills it's
own people, an incident in keeping with their long-term tendency to sell arms
to repressive regimes. Since the guns will be made locally in Ankara, BAe
avoids having to apply for an export license-a handy little scam. The factory
in Ankara is now exporting 500 machine guns to the Indonesian Police, friendly
types these guys!
BA is also currently trying to buy a Roman Catholic Church in Wharton,
Lancashire, so it can improve access to the factory where 16 Hawk jets are
being built for Indonesia. BAe's Don MacLean kindly explained to protesters
"sometimes you have to leave your conscience at the door" In other words, as
long as the cash keeps rolling in they just don't give a shit. Tel: CAAT on
0171 2810297 web-site:
http://www.caat.demon.co.uk/
Top
Ever wished you could get SchNEWS off the web and print it out so it looks like
the real thing? Well now you can. All you need is an internet connection, Web
browser, the Acrobat Reader and any old printer. See our web-site for more info.
Top
Spooky goings-on's at the new HQ for the Intelligence and Security Centre (ISC,
an all-services agency established in 1996 to coordinate covert intelligence
operations) Apparently the 850-year old Chicksands Priory near Bedford, is
haunted by at least nine spirits, including a nun called Rosata who was
entombed after being forced to watch her lover's execution. After several
sightings, unexplained laughter and moving lights in unoccupied rooms, the MoD
deployed surveillance equipment and seismic sensors but drew a blank. Head of
the ISC, Brigadier Chris Holten, appreciates the irony of an intelligence
agency being haunted by spooks. He believes the apparitions are recordings of
"traumatic events imprinted in the fabric of the building". Permission has
been obtained for a new investigation involving ISC personnel using high-tech
pressure sensors, night vision recorders, infrared video, temperature and
movement sensors, to prove Brig. Holten's conviction that there is a "spiritual
element to the intelligence business".
Top
SchNEWS warns all readers to get their finger out and give the Private Finance
Initiative a good kickin' otherwise what's left of our public services will go
down the tube. Honest
P.S. Don't forget Reclaim The Streets Party this Saturday. Bus tickets from
Brighton Peace Centre
P.P.S. Tune into radio 4A this Sunday 10am onwards 106.6 fm-worth listening
to
Top
Subscribe to SchNEWS:
Send us first class stamps
(e.g. 20 for the next 20 issues) or donations (cheques payable to
"Justice?"). Or £15 for a year's
subscription, or the SchNEWS supporter's rate, £1 a week. Ask for
"original" if you plan to copy and distribute. SchNEWS is post-free to
prisoners. You can also pick SchNEWS up at the Brighton Peace and
Environment Centre at 43 Gardner Street, Brighton.
SchNEWS, PO Box 2600, Brighton, BN2 2DX, England
Phone/Fax (call before faxing): 01273 685913
Email: schnews@brighton.co.uk
Web:
http://www.schnews.org.uk/
Last updated 18 May 1999
@nti copyright - information for action - copy and distribute!
SchNEWS Web Team
(webmaster@schnews.org.uk schnews@riseup.net)
|