Today's Topics:
1. Britain, class war: The Qatari royal family NEEDS those
low-paid workers' tips, sacking staff for eating on duty
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. First of May Anarchist Alliance: The Fall of Aleppo by BD,
Detroit Collective (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, Alternative Libertaire AL Novembre - feminism,
Sexism at work: 80% of employees regularly consider themselves
victims (fr, it, pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
Hidden cameras, mass sackings and a climate of fear: Life as a Harrods restaurant
worker... That poor old Al-Thani family, possibly one of the richest in the world as the
royal family of Qatar, are short of cash as owning most of London's most expensive
properties is a tight business. Of course, profiting from owning Harrods isn't easy. So
why shouldn't they keep the 12.5% service charge added to the Harrods restaurant bills for
their own profit? ---- After all, their low-paid workers would only waste it on
unaffordable housing and food. ---- Politics.co.uk: Hidden cameras, mass sackings and a
climate of fear: Life as a Harrods restaurant worker ---- The company employs more than
450 employees in its 16 restaurants. Workers say that every few months or so, bosses will
make several sackings in one go. They believe it's used as a way to let the staff know
they are dispensable.
"It's how they keep you down," David says. "It sends a message out to staff. We know we
can be sacked for small things, so are scared to complain when there's a problem."
In the summer, workers say that bosses sacked almost the entire staff of one restaurant
apparently because they were caught eating while on duty... full article here
http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2017/01/12/hidden-cameras-mass-sackings-and-a-climate-of-fear-life-as-a
http://www.classwarparty.org.uk/qatari-royal-family-needs-low-paid-workerss-tips-seen-queue-local-food-bank/
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Message: 2
On January 3, 2017, Syrian refugees, joined by Iraqi refugees and international
supporters, marched on the Russian embassy in Thessaloniki, Greece. An article reporting
on the march quotes a Syrian refugee as follows: ---- "They are trying to kill all the
flowers in Syria, but they cannot kill the Spring. The Spring is coming. We are here, they
cannot kill all the Syrian people." ---- ("Syrian refugees in Greece despair over Aleppo,"
reported by Marianna Karakoulaki and Dimitiris Tosidis, DW, January 3, 2017
(http//dw.com/p/2vBIT)) ---- The brave people of Aleppo are dispersed or detained or
fallen in their thousands. Their city and their homes are destroyed. The dictator, Assad,
the butcher of Aleppo, moves to reassert control with the bombs and backing of Putin and
the Russian Air Force and with the support of the armed militias of the government of Iran.
The Arab Spring began six years ago in Tunisia. From Tunisia to Egypt to Libya to Syria
and beyond the working classes and anti-imperialists and fighters for freedom rose up.
They rose up against dictators, against U.S. imperialism and against oppression. The
fighting people of the region brought down dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. They
inspired people who yearn for freedom throughout the world from the Occupy movements to
anti-austerity struggles to the Movement for Black Lives to prisoner struggles and beyond.
But now, in Egypt, a new military dictator, Sisi, with the support of U.S. imperialism, is
in power. The revolution is in retreat. U.S. imperialism and Russian imperialism and the
local capitalists throughout the region attempt to reassert control and maintain control
by smashing or diverting the struggles of the working people for freedom.
In Syria, where the people had risen against Assad and had established local formations,
Local Coordination Committees, to take control of their lives and their communities,
hundreds of thousands are dead and millions are refugees. The people of Syria had Assad on
the defensive and retreating, but the Russian imperialists, assisted by the government of
Iran, stepped in to "save" the Assad dictatorship and to attack the revolution of the
peoples of Syria.
In the region and internationally, revolutionary forces and the working classes are in
disarray and under attack. The diaspora of people forced to flee Syria and Iraq and
Afghanistan and North Africa and beyond continues. Refugees are in border camps in Turkey,
Lebanon and Jordan and fleeing to Europe and in detainment camps in Europe. Thousands are
drowned. Reactionary nationalist forces, fascist forces are on the rise in Europe and the
United States. The U.S. imperialists, European imperialists, Russian imperialists and the
regional powers and local dictators are responsible for this disaster. The Capitalist
Class and Capitalism are responsible for this disaster and have worse coming in the
future. Working people everywhere, people who yearn for freedom, must organize and fight.
The Arab Spring is in retreat and has suffered terrible defeats, but it is not defeated.
The international working class is on the defensive and in disarray, but we are not
defeated. "The Spring is coming."
People of Syria continue to fight and to demonstrate and to struggle against Assad.
Working people of all countries must unite to support their struggle. Assad continues in
power because of the support of the governments of Russia and Iran. He must be overthrown.
The imperialists from the United States and from Russia must be driven from Syria, from
Iraq, from the Middle East and from every country and region where they try to rule or
assert their control. The regional powers and authoritarian governments from Iran and
Turkey and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States must be driven from Syria, and those
governments must be overthrown by the working and oppressed people of those countries and
their allies.
The dictators from Assad in Syria to Sisi in Egypt and their imperialist partners would
have us believe that there are only two alternatives: rule of the dictators backed by
Russian imperialism as in Syria or U.S. imperialism as in Egypt, or the rule and
dictatorship of ISIS or other reactionary fundamentalists. This is not true. There is
another way: the revolution of the people, the revolution of the working classes, the
international revolution against capitalism and imperialism and reaction in all its forms.
The lesson of Egypt is that it is not enough to bring down a government or a dictator; it
is not enough to change the regime. Capitalism and the state must be overthrown and
replaced by the direct rule and direct control of the working people. There is no other way.
Solidarity shows the way forward. We are not on the ground in Syria; we do not know the
country. But the peoples of Syria have the right to determine their own futures, free of
Assad and the Russians and the U.S. and the Iranians and Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The
peoples of Syria have the right to self determination; as revolutionary anarchists we
support that right.
The Kurdish people and others in Rojava also have the right to self determination. We
support that right. What is needed now is solidarity among the peoples of Syria, the
people of Rojava and among Kurdish people and Arabs and all working and oppressed people.
What is needed now is a united fight against Assad and the imperialists and for freedom
and self determination, respecting the rights of all the peoples of Syria and the region.
We need solidarity among Syrian refugees, among Iraqi refugees, among all refugees and
among their international supporters and the international working classes. We need to
open all borders and prepare to dispose of all borders. We need freedom. We need
solidarity from the working people of every country in support of all refugees and
immigrants and in defense of the refugees and immigrants from fascist, racist and
government attacks.
There are political groups in the U.S. and elsewhere who support Assad and Russian
imperialism and Iran against the people of Syria, but who claim to stand for working
people or against imperialism or for socialism. This is a lie. Any group which supports
the dictator Assad and opposes the people of Syria is an enemy of working people
everywhere. Some authoritarians claiming to be Marxists and socialists support Assad; they
are authoritarians and not revolutionaries. They see a dictator and a revolution to
overthrow the dictator, and they side with the dictator. Some other leftists claim
confusion and can't decide.
We stand with the peoples of Syria and Aleppo and Rojava against the Assad dictatorship
and all imperialists. We stand with the Syrian refugee at the demonstration in Greece:
"... they cannot kill the Spring."
http://m1aa.org/?p=1346
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Message: 3
Violence at work is the lot of far too many wage earners faced with a leader who abuses
his position of authority. But in addition to pressure, blackmail, humiliation and
intimidation, women also face gender-based violence at work. ---- These are in the
continuity of violence against women in society in general. No reason for bosses, chiefs
and sub-chiefs, generally men, to leave women alone in this highly oppressive environment,
which is the workplace. ---- What is Violence at Work? ---- Violence at work is any
manifestation of psychological, physical and sexual violence that affects an employee in a
professional setting, whether at work or outside, by a chief or colleague. Such violence
is in particular the result of the capitalist oppression between the owner of the
enterprise and the chiefs to the employees whose labor power is exploited. One of the
manifestations of this violence is the "burn-out", which would be the victims of several
millions of French.
But in the case of gender-based violence at work, another axis of oppression is added:
patriarchal oppression. In particular, sexual violence is widespread and yet largely
killed. They can be of different types, including sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape.
According to a 2015 survey conducted under the auspices of the Higher Council for
Professional Equality between women and men (CSEP), 80% of employees feel they are
regularly confronted with sexist attitudes or decisions[1].
How it works?
Les femmes subissent de nombreuses discriminations professionnelles. Elles sont ainsi
discriminées à l'embauche, moins payées et moins promues au cours de leur carrière. Plus
insidieusement, les femmes sont également souvent cantonnées à des métiers moins valorisés
socialement et moins payés, ou encore doivent réaliser les tâches sociales qui fluidifient
les relations interpersonnelles (encouragements, communication...). Ces discriminations
servent l'exploitation des femmes par les hommes qui sévit dans le reste de la société.
Les violences sexistes au travail ont pour but de maintenir les femmes dans un état de
peur et donc de faiblesse, et ainsi de les neutraliser malgré les injustices dont elles
sont victimes socialement et économiquement. En effet, le commentaire sur la prise de
poids, la «blague» graveleuse de la pause déjeuner, la main aux fesses que personne
d'autre n'aura vu et le viol par son supérieur hiérarchique sont autant de méthodes qui
humilient les femmes, leur font perdre confiance en elles et en leurs capacités.
They also isolate them from their colleagues, as any public denunciation may not be taken
seriously: "It's good, he laughs," "You're exaggerating ..." "Yes, but you know, it does
not belong to the same generation as we " are the kind of response that victims of
violence receive systematic risk. Especially since the world of capitalist labor is a
place where it is good to be competitive, sophisticated colleagues will not benefit from
sounding the alarm after such confidences, and the women victims of this violence will
certainly find Losers.
Work, a place of subordination for employees
Talking is therefore difficult for victims of gender-based violence at work, as for all
women victims of violence. But, beyond the denigration of the testimony of the victims,
the latter run another risk in case of denunciation. Indeed, an employee is dependent on
her boss: she sells her labor force to her for a living wage she needs. Thus, whether the
boss is the aggressor or wants to protect the image of his company or his administration,
he has no interest in accompanying the victim, allowing him to work in a secure
environment and free of his Aggressor, to help her file a complaint if she so wishes, to
lend her the confidence and indulgence that the victims need.
Subordination to his boss thus often has the effect of the status quo: the victim and the
aggressor continue to work together, the aggressions are perpetuated, and the rest of the
environment closes their eyes. If the victim has spoken, she is exposed to mobility,
blackmail to promotion or dismissal. Recourse to justice is of course a possibility, but
let us recall its limitations and limitations:
It does not limit, at least initially, the contacts between the victim and the perpetrator,
The evidence is difficult to present, as many attackers avoid leaving written traces or
acting as witnesses,
Victims are often already impaired psychologically,
The procedures are therefore long, costly and without guaranteed results. Sexist violence
at work is also a barrier to equality in the workplace. A woman who regularly takes sick
leave, who does not dare to take the initiative because she has lost confidence in
herself, who avoids certain colleagues, who dissociates herself ... will not benefit from
the next promotion, will not be entrusted to the Tasks the most rewarding and interesting,
will not have the confidence of the team.
Faced with this violence, it is important for women to be supportive and to give a
sympathetic ear to their colleagues. Associations exist and unions can sometimes be tools
to defend themselves.
In France, 80% of employees consider that they are regularly confronted with sexist
attitudes or decisions
According to a 2015 study by the Higher Council for Professional Equality.
If you are a victim of gender-based violence at work, you can contact:
The AVFT: The European Association against violence against women at work is a reference
organization on this issue. It carries out a role of listening, supporting and
accompanying the victims who contact them. It is also firmly in the political field, with
clear feminist demands against the violence.
Unions: A combative and independent trade union team hierarchy can provide assistance and
react in situations of violence. Before you entrust, however, make sure that you can trust
the person you are talking to. If there is no union presence in your company, you can
contact national unions directly, who will then be in charge of linking you with the
appropriate structure.
[1]CSEP, "Sexism in the workplace, between denial and reality" , 2015. Survey conducted
among 15,000 salarié.es.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Les-violences-au-travail
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