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Home
| 12th
April 1996
| Issue 69
WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S
YER UNCOMPROMISING.
SchNEWS
ANARCHISTS STORM PARLIAMENT
A huge demonstration
against the Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) threatened to shake the
very foundations of British democracy on Tuesday when black-flag
waving anarchists and paper selling lefties tried to storm the houses
of Parliament. Fresh from an attack on the Department of Employment
the work-shy rabble turned their sights on Parliament before...
Er well, not quite. The march against the JSA attracted around two
hundred people and the rally ended up with the sort of tit-for-tat
squabbling that we need like a hole in the head. In the meantime
folks, the people of Medway and Humberside are facing the all new
work-for-your-dole fare schemes; Unemployment Benefit was abolished
on April Fools Day and the JSA is only 6 months away.
OH NO NOT ANOTHER BLOODY
JSA ARTICLE
Come October, if you
leave a job, get sacked or refuse to take a job no matter what the
pay and conditions, you can lose ALL benefit for SIX months. In
the first year alone 70,000 people will lose all welfare benefits
and a further 180,000 will lose up to 70%.
These figures are scary
but the attitude of many unemployed people is even more worrying.
Allison from the local Claimants Union told SchNEWS "Unemployed
people are worried about what will happen but feel they can find
some individual solution."
But is burying our heads
in the sand or adopting an 'I'll be alright Jack' attitude really
the way forward? Peter told SchNEWS "I knew some girl who couldn't
get any benefits and she had to strip to earn money to live."
Although a few people might be lucky in finding ways of making cash,
the squeeze will be even tighter for the rest of the poorer population
of Britain.
STRIKE
The recent 3 month strike
in JobCentres over performance-related pay showed just how fed up
doleworkers are. A new wave of industrial action is in the offing
this time over screens. Benefit Agencies are staging strikes as
managers refuse to put up protective screens between workers and
claimants.
Since 1993 attacks on
staff by claimants have increased by 240%!
Chris from Brighton Claimants
Union told SchNEWS, "Not surprisingly, staff are a little pissed
off. They're either going to lose their jobs or get a punch in the
head - or both if they're really unlucky!"
Shane from the Green
Party added "It's ironic that the supposed party of law and order
are introducing measures that will leave people penniless - leading
to more crime, burglaries and begging."
But just because you've
got a job don't think the JSA won't affect you. According to the
Richard Exell of the TUC (notorious radicals!) "Without a minimum
wage, unemployed people will be forced to undercut the pay of workers
with jobs. JSA will push wage levels down for all workers, and undermine
other conditions that trades unionists have struggled for decades
to achieve."
We know you've heard
all this before and it's not very interesting or sexy, but people
don't seem bothered about the most vicious attack on the welfare
state yet. Just like the poll tax, we can and must make these attacks
unworkable.
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CRAP BIND OVER
OF THE WEEK
A judge told The
Worthing Critical Mass 3 that for the next year they've "got
to really nice to everyone!" Unfortunately one of the defendants
broke the bind-over just 10 minutes later, calling one of
the arresting coppers a bastard!
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"We call on the
waged and the unwaged everywhere to work together to resist the
JSA by means of non co-operation, industrial and direct action."
DOUBLE-STANDARDS
The JSA is part of an
all-out attack on social security budget of £900 billion a year-
with over a third of the population dependent on some benefit. This
is obviously a lot but to put it into perspective Trident is costing
up to £50 billion (ex-chief scientific officer of MoD) Isn't it
just a question of priorities?
Meanwhile, back In
another world...
Members of unelected
quango bodies are, just like the rest of us, having to knuckle under
for the greater good of the country. Poor old Sir Brian Shaw, chairman
of the Port of London Authority with a £50,000 salary has to drag
himself to 12 meetings a year - that works out as £4,000 a day!
John Newcombe Maltby, Chairman of the Dover Harbour Board has to
go to just 10 meetings a year. With an annual salary of £15,000
that's £1,500 a day
GET ACTIVE
* Get in touch with the
Claimants Action Group to get a JSA info pack, find out about a
local group in your area - or set one up! They also have copies
of the 'Claimants Survival Guide'. Send SAE to Claimants
Action Group to OUWCU, East Oxford Community Centre, Princess St.,
OX4 1HU or ring 01865 723750
* Next Wednesday morning
between 8 - 10am a mass picket by the dole-workers union has been
organised outside the Ealing Benefits Agency.
* Next Groundswell Conference
is in Sheffield on May 25th (Groundswell is 'a network of independent
claimants' groups')
* Along with other far-sighted
councils Brighton has joined FraudWatch declaring "We will
not tolerate greedy people stealing taxpayers money. If you think
anyone's fiddling, ring 0500 500 777 - and no joke or malicious
callers either naughty schNEWS readers!
A Fraud Amnesty is being
piloted in Haringey, Croydon and Enfield asking 'benefit cheats'
to own up and volunteer to pay off their debt!
* If you're in Brighton
there's a coach going to Kent on Saturday 13th April for a rally
against the planned work-fare schemes. Tickets £3/£4. Meet Sam at
Palace Pier.
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A
SINGLE GESTURE OF DEFIANCE IS WORTH MORE THAN A THOUSAND ANGRY
WORDS
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CAMBODIAN MAD-COW SOLUTION
While much of the world
shuns British cows, a Cambodian newspaper reckons they should be
shipped to Cambodia and allowed to roam free - detonating the millions
of land mines littering the country.
The Cambodia Daily said
"the English have 11 million mad cows and Cambodia has roughly
the same number of equally mad land mines. Surely the solution to
our mine problem is here before our very eyes in black and white.
The plan is simple, practical and will make mince-meat of the problem
overnight."!
GREEN ANARCHIST TRIAL
Four Green Anarchist
(GA) editors, ALF Supporter's Group editor Simon Russell and ALF
press officer Robin Webb are bailed to appear in court on April
17 after Hampshire Special Branch raided their houses on January
16. They face charges of 'conspiracy to incite criminal damage'.
Attempts to silence began in '91 when copies were seized from a
Manchester book shop by police and follows harassment by ARNI (Animal
Rights National Index - the national police squad trying to suppress
animal libs and militant Greens) and multiple raids on distributors,
subscribers and printers. Phones were tapped, mail stolen and records,
office equipment and cheque books stolen in a futile attempt to
thwart publication of issue 38.
Naturally, this will
send shudders down the spine of all alternative news publications.
Don't let 'em get to you! GA are still doing their bit, but need
more people to come forward with practical offers of help. You can
contact them at: BCM 1717, London, WC1N 3XX.
ASIAN ANGER
Last Tuesday Asian youths
clashed with riot police after a scuffle broke out over a parking
ticket. The battle raged in Birmingham in the predominantly Asian
Alum Rock area, when petrol bombs and bricks were thrown and shops
were looted. The trouble started initially over the enforcement
of 'heavy handed' parking regulations and snowballed into a riot
against policing tactics. Mayhem ensued as the men in custody were
held in the city's Digbeth police station, including a 74 year old
shopkeeper, who had been handcuffed and taken to the station. Mr
Aziz Arif, secretary of Saltley Traders Association said "This lack
of respect for the older people creates a lot of ill feelings".
Whereas parking regulations were vigorously, enforced by police,
Mr Arif claimed more serious problems of muggings and drugs were
largely ignored.
*** What a surprise police
have been cleared of misbehaviour and indiscipline during riots
last June In Bradford. Solicitor Mr Iqbal said the Police Complaints
Authority (PCA) Report "reflects very badly on the Asian community
if it says that the police did nothing wrong." One Constable is
to be given advice and retraining after misusing arrest procedures.
The police meanwhile used that old chestnut of shifting the blame
to 'organised outside agitators'!
STUDENTS PROTEST - NOT!
Over the last 18 years
students have faced huge attacks on living standards. In 1977 a
student grant was worth 36% of the annual manufacturing wage - today
it's worth only 12%. That's on top of having fewer books, being
ineligible for Income Support and Housing Benefit and the introduction
of the loan system. So, are students organising demos, actions and
occupations to defend a higher education system open to all?
Er, no ... especially
not if you're the National Union of Students. They told us "We recognise
that the student grant is not adequate to live on, but we stopped
campaigning for higher grants two weeks ago. The government and
the opposition have made it clear they will not give students higher
grants and we want 'a seat at the table' with the politicians."
Fine - students starve,
but the wannabe Labour MPs running the NUS enhance their job prospects
by going along quietly with the destruction of the higher education
system. They get their 'seat at the table' - students get no food
on theirs. Unless students get tired of paying the wages of their
pathetic 'representatives' at NUS and start taking actions to defend
the right to a decent education, that is...
SCOTLAND KICKING!
Publication fever has
gripped Scotland. Following quickly on from the launch of BANEWSED,
which describes itself as a Scottish SchNEWS, we now have issue
1 of JUSTICE/COTHROM (Gaelic for Justice) - another Scottish SchNEWS!
All very exciting, especially since they're all mates and see the
publications as complementing each other. COTHROM hopes to come
out fortnightly, each issue being edited by different grassroots
groups throughout Scotland. The first issue is excellent, with articles
on Faslane Peace Camp, the Skye Bridge, JSA, the M74.... Get it!
Stamps to Justice/Cothrom c/o SACJA, Larkfield Centre, 39 Inglefield
Street, Glasgow G42; BANEWSED at same address.
Another new publication
from Scotland worth checking out is INSIDE OOT, a magazine by and
for Scottish prisoners. 50p to Inside Oot Collective, c/o Glasgow
Solidarity Centre, 3 Royal Exchange Court, 8587 Queen Street, Glasgow
G1 3PA.
SchNEWS In Brief
Last November, members
of the Movement for Justice chucked paint at Tory party chairman,
Brian Mawhinney, in protest at the racist Immigration and Asylum
Bill. Funny at the time but now they're in court for assault and
using threatening words'! Trial at Bow Street Magistrates Court
at 9.30am on Mon. April 15th. Nearest tube: Covent Garden. Info:
0956 365393.
*** Fancy yourself
as a bit of a road protester? Think Direct Action and
campaigning for a better public transport system is a good idea?
Ventura Galvan is someone who has taken these ideas a bit further.
When Mexico's government sacked over 10,000 bus workers and declared
the city's public bus company bankrupt, Ventura went on hunger strike
and had his eyes and ears sewn shut to symbolise the governments
refusal to notice the bus workers. He then had his lips sewn together,
his hands sewn into fists and scheduled his own crucifixion for
Good Friday! Last minute talk offers encouraged him against it but
he is still ready to die for his beliefs.
*** An eccentric Transylvanian
Mayor has come up with a novel idea to stop workers leaning
on their shovels. In a letter to the Cluj council works department
Gheorghe Funar wrote "The handles should be shortened so that
they can no longer be used as a leaning point by those who meditate
while at work. We need to end the present system where one man works
while another 10 colleagues and bosses watch, comment and advise."
and finally...
Ever thought about some
DiY surgery? According to the latest Green Anarchist "It's trendy,
tribal and trippy, the world's oldest operation - trepanation! Our
ancestors learned c.8,000 BC that a hole in the head was a real
high. All the cranial fluid between the skull and brain is freed,
so more blood can circulate. Trepanation might even make you smarter!
Something so good is, of course, illegal. Only doctors are allowed
to trepan someone else, and they won't.
If a mate's prepared
to help, the traditional tool is a deer antler. If you're staying
within the law, operating on yourself, make concessions to technology.
A hand drill will probably be too slow - try a Black & Decker
cordless in front of the mirror. Go through the crown of the head.
Read biology books so you know what blood vessels to avoid but don't
worry about your scalp bleeding. Your brain can take a bit of drilling
but not churning!" Happy 'panning l
disclaimer
The SchNEWS
warns all reader not to attend any illegal gathering or take part
in any criminal activities. Always stay within the law. In fact,
please sit at home, watch TV, and go on endless shopping sprees
filling your lives and homes with consumer crap ... you will then
feel content. Honest.
Subscribe!
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Original if you plan to copy: SchNEWS c/o on-the-fiddle PO Box 2600
Brighton East Sussex BN2 2DX
SchNEWS is free to prisoners
next Justice? meeting
on Wednesday 17 April @ Brighton Unemployed Centre @ 7.30pm
tel/fax: (01273) 685913
e-mail: justice@intermedia.co.uk
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