Beating back victimisation at Leeds Deliveroo: two sacked workers and 100 hours reinstated

Cautiously pessimistic

In a quick update from the Leeds Deliveroo struggle, the local IWW branch have pointed out how much they’ve won back in their fight against the victimisation of the Leeds 7:

“– 2 Reinstated contracts
– Over 100 weekly hours reinstated, with all 7 receiving scheduled hours
– 1 boss sacked

This struggle is far from over. Deliveroo continue to over recruit, whilst their Riders endure a lack of basic workers’ rights – no Sick Pay, Holiday Pay and NI contributions.

We will renew our demand for a recruitment freeze with a second mass bike ride on April 1st, this time as part of a national day of action against Deliveroo by the IWW and IWGB (event to follow).”

In the meantime, there’s also a slightly more indepth report looking at the situation in Leeds and Brighton up on the Transnational Social Strike website here.

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US prisoner news: help Jalil Muntaqim and Robert Seth Hayes

Cautiously pessimistic

A quick reminder about Jalil Muntaqim and Robert Seth Hayes, two prisoners who are still imprisoned as a result of the conflict between the Black Liberation Army and the US state in the early 1970s:

Robert Seth Hayes is still waiting for an insulin pump and monitor, and is in serious danger as a result of his diabetes while he waits for them.

Please pass the following message on:

“Hello, I am contacting you to demand that, as a matter of medical urgency, inmate Robert Seth Hayes #74A2280 needs to be provided with:
1. Immediate provision of an Insulin Pump/Sugar Monitor
2. A Diabetic Diet that consists of fresh fruits and vegetables and all the current recommendations for diabetics.

These are urgent medical neccessities, and the DOCCS will be failing in its duty of care if these things are not provided.”

To the following people:

Carl J. Koenigsmann M.D.

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‘You’re better off in jail’

scottish unemployed workers' network

Those were the words of one of the many unhappy people we met outside Dundee buroo this week. He had been sanctioned, and his observation was based on personal experience.

There were other sanction cases too. James had been sanctioned for 65 days for not coming to an appointment that clashed with his college course. He had informed the DWP, of course, but the relevant information had got lost. He wasn’t surprised at this because they had been consistently chaotic, even sending him appointments at a Manchester jobcentre, rather than Dundee. And now he was waiting for an overdue hardship payment. We asked him to contact us if the payment didn’t come through that day and he needed immediate support.

Alan had missed a Triage (Work Programme) appointment back in October because he was at a job interview. He had told them and they had also phoned on the day…

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Solidarity wildcat on Merseyrail, Deliveroo update, and upcoming events

Cautiously pessimistic

In case you missed it, the huge railway strike yesterday saw a great bit of solidarity on Merseyrail, as drivers affiliated to ASLEF – who weren’t officially striking – refused to cross the picket lines of their coworkers who were.

There’s a great video of the head of Merseyrail apologising for his workforce’s refusal to scab:

The Plan C website has an update on the Leeds Deliveroo struggle, including this latest statement from the riders involved:

“Friday was a great display of solidarity, with riders from Deliveroo and fellow members of the labour movement out in equally impressive numbers.

Several of the Leeds 7 received significant increases in hours after the protest on Friday night – we are hopeful the second of the terminated riders will have their contract reinstated by Monday.

This has proved to us that with continued pressure on the company, and solidarity from all…

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Book review; Bob Crow Socialist, Leader, Fighter by Gregor Gall

lipstick socialist

Bob Crow grew up on a council estate in the East End of London: his father was a docker and his mother was  a cleaner. He left school at 16 without any qualifications with dreams of becoming a professional footballer,  and when this failed he got a job working for the London Underground.

He came from a political background: his father was part of that radical tradition of dockers who were communists, read the Morning Star,  and active in their Union. Like my father who worked in the building trade,  they were highly politicised workers who knew what side they were on and,  as Bob says  “When we used to come home at 6 o’clock at night, the news was always on and old man had an opinion about everything. All the big industries were unionised. All my mates’ dads’ families were in unions. It was just a fact…

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Making life harder one step at a time

scottish unemployed workers' network

As the full Universal Credit ‘service’ gets rolled out to more areas, growing numbers of people are finding a new hurdle in the way of them getting the help and advice they need. In these areas (listed below) anyone who is helping a claimant and needs to contact the DWP on their behalf can no longer just provide their basic data, they will need the person being helped to give their consent themselves – either verbally over the telephone or through their online journal (we’d all just be numbers on a computer if the DWP had their way) or in person at the jobcentre. Getting through to the DWP by phone is rarely quick and easy (cue lots of tiny Vivaldi), and what if someone has learning difficulties or is in hospital…? Furthermore, this consent only covers the particular question being asked. If you need another separate piece of information you…

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International Women’s Day: Our Day of Empowerment, Resistance, Celebration

IWW Scotland Blog

About IWD History…

1909: The Woman’s National Committee of the Socialist Party of America calls for a national day of protest on the last Sunday of February to support women’s suffrage in the context of the broader movement for women’s rights, workers’ rights, and social justice.

1910: The Women’s Congress of the Socialist International meets in August in Copenhagen and approves the call for an international day of protest. The specific date is left open to the participants in each country.

1913: Russian socialists begin celebrating International Women’s Day. Their intention is to organize rallies for the same day as that set in the United States, but since the Julian calendar lags 13 days behind the Western calendar (not used in Russia until 1918), the events take place in early March by our reckoning.

1917: The date of March 8 for International Women’s Day gets established when tens of thousands…

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Strike Back! – Spring 2017

IWW Scotland Blog

Download Strike Back! – Spring 2017 here.

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Direct action – Towards an Understanding of a concept by Harald Beyer-Arnesen

New flyer and template letter for Leeds Deliveroo struggle

Cautiously pessimistic

A new flyer’s been designed publicising the ongoing campaign against the victimisation of IWW members working at Deliveroo in Leeds:

The Morning Star and Open Democracy both have new articles up on the ongoing issues at Deliveroo, and the mass bike ride in support of the sacked workers will be starting at 6 pm in Leeds city centre on Friday 10th March.

As mentioned on the flyer, there’s also a new template letter/email you can send – Deliveroo addresses I’ve been able to find are riders@deliveroo.co.uk, press@deliveroo.co.uk,reception@deliveroo.co.uk and david.ross@deliveroo.co.uk, and if you copy in bradford@iww.org.uk or leeds@iww.org.uk it’ll allow the workers involved to see your support. The text is as follows:

Dear Sir/ Madam

As a Deliveroo customer, I am writing to express my disappointment at the treatment of your riders in Leeds. Your continued failure to reinstate those riders targeted for their union activity, is…

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