Workers Solidarity Movement

WSM member Joe King, a clerical officer in the public sector, responds to the calls for pay cuts and redundancies.

This interview with a Zapatista Educational Promote was carried out in the autonomous and rebel Zapatista community of Morelia, Mexico. 

This area of Chiapas have been in rebellion since the 1st of January 1994 and during this time the rebel movement has constructed a new education system. The interviewer is a WSM member who lives outside of Ireland.

Brendan Drum of the HSE had earmarked the St Mary’s Orthopaedic Hospital in Cork as next in line for his cuts. But workers at the hospital are intent on fighting back and not accepting this. Kevin Doyle interviewed Paula Walters, SIPTU member, and a hospital attendant with over 30 years experience at the hospital.

Interview with Fergal who had just returned from a weekend trip to Rossport and who puts the events of the last week in the context of the struggle of the last years.

Over a period of several months Sean Matthews interviewed a representative from the anti-fa organisation in relation to their current activity in combatting the far-right, building support with migrant workers and lessons we can learn in Ireland both North and South plus lots more...... 

Anti-fa is committed to physically and idealogical opposition to fascism. The 'Antifa' initiative has come from members of the Anarchist Federation, Class War Federation, and No Platform. Although coming from the anarchist tradition, antifa are open to work with any group/individual that is serious about militant anti-fascism, but will NOT work with any state affiliated groups. Image: *eightball* - http://flickr.com/photos/kola1965/

Abortion is a criminal offence in Ireland, even in cases in which a woman is carrying a non-viable foetus, is pregnant as a result of rape or incest or where pregnancy threatens her health. The state has not clarified the circumstances in which abortion to save the life of the women is permissible. The following is an interview with a member of the Cork Women's Right to Choose (CWRTC), an activist group campaigning for abortion rights in Cork (first published in Rebel Worker).

Go Hirasawa mobilizes against the G8-summit in Japan with the group „No G8! Action“. He is lecturer of film studies at the Tokyo University and a media activist. Very recently, he has coordinated the retrospective of the Japanese director Koji Wakamatsu at the international film festival Berlinale.

(Translated from japanese, via german it give a a bit of insight inrto the state of play in japan at the moment)

Ciaran Murphy is a political singer songwriter based in Belfast who wrote the bulk of his material while a "dissident republican" prisoner between 2003 - 06. Last month an English music label pulled out of an agreed distribution deal with him due to unease at the political slant of his songs and the perceived sympathies of his small fan base. He describes himself as an 'Irish separatist' with libertarian socialist principles. Here Sean Matthews of the WSM puts questions to him on music, gigging and his political outlook. Ciaran is speaking in a personal capacity.

This is an interview with a member of the TGWU who is attempting to organise a union in a leading Irish Sports Shop in Belfast. It describes the problems facing workers in the retail sector who are exploited by their employers and start organising themselves in their own work-place to improve their conditions. These problems are even more acute when there is no history of unionisation in the workplace and a limited awareness of people's rights as workers.

Due to potential libel action and its consequences for the union we are unable to print the company’s name. 'An Ireland of equals' what rubbish!

A running theme of this issue of Red & Black Revolution has been the question of how we as anarchists should orientate ourselves towards the non-revolutionary elements of our class and towards non-revolutionary social struggles. We have suggested that we cannot remain peripheral to our class defending the purity of our ideals, rather we, as anarchists, need to be at the centre of working class social struggles. It is only thus that we can create a movement capable of abolishing class society.

The recently launched Scottish platformist group 'Praxis' offers an example of this type of anarchist activism. They have been deeply involved in trying to develop working class community organistions in Glasgow. Here we ask one of their members a few questions about what they are up to.