The latest state in (the restaurant) Banquet salonika..

Translated by: Subalterne beim Subbotnik During the whole summer period, the workers from the restaurant Banquet and their solidarity committee continued their mobilization with pickets, demonstrations, a live concert and public kitchen outside of the business. The employer not only remained firm at his position, keeping the business suspended, continuing his efforts to eliminate his employees financially. But in beginning  of August he announced that he makes new dismissals, with the excuse of the fact that he doesn't want specific  employees to go back to work. The attempt to ruin the workers economically failed, thanks to the practical solidarity from workers, youngsters, unions and the food supply workers and after the  employees were supported financially by the solidarity  committee's campaign. From Monday 8/16th and on the employer aims to open the restaurant and to put the tables and chairs outside,  since it is the period before ΔΕΘ  (International Fair of Thessaloniki) starts, a period which is traditionally profitable for the  specific company and the city. Until now no one from the 8 workers, who were fired and participated in  the struggle, has been informed, unlike the other  workers, who have helped to prepare the reopening  of the business. We are calling for a new solidarity committee in  order to prepare new protests for Friday 8/20th at 7 pm at the Labor Center of Thessaloniki. Some background information about the labor conflict  in the restaurant 'Banquet' can be found here: http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=en&article_id=1170718

Bristol anarchist bookfair organising meet U.K.

less than 3 weeks to go...

Regular organising meet of the anarchist bookfair collective.
From 7 to 9pm at Kebele social centre, 14 Robertson Rd, Bristol BS5 6JY

and definitely no scum from the LibDemCon coalition

With the stalls booked, and workshops timetabled, we now concentrate on the small but key issues: other events, finances, running the actual day, banners and venue decs, and crucially publicity distro - if you can help us publicise the event...please do! Posters etc are available on the website, or pop into the meeting to get some.

We are also looking for helpers on the day, to shake collecting buckets, and staff an infopoints giving meeting locations and the like to members of the public. Email us your name and tel no. if you can spare an hour. Thanks.

Related Link: http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org/

ATM's found in fields 23/8

Two ATMs banks cash machines found farmers from South Mesorachi Zihni, Northen Greece abandoned car on the truck. The incident happened when the guiding farmers in their fields, spilled out ...

... The small building of municipal drilling a large truck, loaded with two damaged site, which the authors were able to open and get the money.
After an investigation by the Police Department Serres, found that two ATMs were stolen from a department of Drama. Point men

went to the police Department of Drama and Serres, while ATM and the old truck, which was found to have stolen the previous

day were transferred to the Police Department of Drama. By this time, the perpetrators have not been identified and remains

unknown amount of money have the ATM'S

However, according to the police department of Serres, the perpetrators used the power supply of the local drilling and open the site

GENERAL LOGAL NEWS FROM ATHENS FROM MEDIA...

Precinct escape
Two officers suspended after eight migrants break out
Two policemen stationed at the precinct of Palaio Faliro, south of Athens, were suspended yesterday after eight detainees escaped from their cells by pulling out the bars of their windows. Of the eight men, four Palestinians, two Afghans and an Algerian had been due for deportation. The eighth, a Pakistani, had been detained on drug dealing charges. Officers later traced two of the Palestinians. The two officers on duty at the time of the group escape have been charged with neglect.

Bomb hoax
An unidentified female caller phoned in a bomb threat to the police on Saturday evening, warning that an explosive device would detonate at the Parliament building in central Athens at exactly 8 p.m. Police cordoned off and searched the area after receiving the call at 7.42 p.m. but found no suspicious device. The woman had telephoned the police’s 100 emergency telephone number.

The announcement for the police to bank robbery in Piraeus
In Piraeus, were arrested by police-three (3) nationals, aged 33, 43 and 24 years respectively, accused of "robbery", "threat",
"unlawful detention" and a violation of the Law on Arms.
Particular, 23/08/2010 and 12:28 hours on the headquarters of the General Police Directorate of Attica was informed that the

Bank located at the intersection of University and Heroes Trikoupis was robbery. Immediately there is a general mobilization of all
police forces that existed in the region, Direct Action, groups DI.AS. and Security, which rushed to the spot.
At that time, the Bank came running two (2) persons, one (1) of them armed, which, after a chase, arrested. Within the branch was
one (1) even an armed offender who was holding about eighteen (18) hostages employees and customers of the Bank, with the
threat pistol and two (2) grenade.
Immediately put into effect the special project for the hostage-taking and point police arrived to block the area, as well as
negotiators of the Greek police, who came in contact with the offender and akrovolistikan and I took special forces.
After negotiations, more than two (2) hours of the perpetrator was convinced to leave original fourteen (14) people, customers and
employees of the branch. Negotiations continued until 15.00 hours, when it surrendered.
In possession of the three perpetrators were found and seized the following:
Two (2) hand grenades
One (1) gun TOKAREV
One (1) 22 mm gun
Three (3) pulets boxes
Seventeen (17) Cartridges
Questioning is conducted by the Sub Prosecution of Crimes against life and property, and examined their involvement in other criminal acts.

Greek bank robber wanted in Cyprus

August 24, 2010

ONE OF three men arrested following the storming of a National Bank of Greece branch in Athens yesterday (see page 10)  is wanted by the Cyprus police in connection with the murder of Michalis Kakathymis in Limassol last year.
According to police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos, a European arrest warrant is currently pending for one of the three arrested in the failed bank robbery in Greece which temporarily involved a hostage crisis. He said Cyprus police awaited an official briefing from the Greek police as to whether and when the arrest warrant will be executed and extradition procedures started, given that the man in question was arrested in Athens in a serious case of robbery.
A trial has already begun against five suspects believed to be involved in the murder of former cabaret owner Kakathymis in Limassol last year. The five suspects face a number of charges, though until now, the alleged shooter, a 33-year-old Greek Pontian Constantinos Michaelides, had remained at large.

anarkia meeting from 1 TO 5 SEPT 2010 in brussels

for our meeting in brussels"anarkia"from 1 TO 5 _WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU RE COMING REALLY TO IT-just to welcome you in the best way possible-if some of you are coming and want to get the parole on our meeting ,as witnesses from their homeland or as anything else,they re really welcome ,just let us know!please contact us to insure your coming,trough the walls of the event or with phone on 0032 495134029 OR 0032 492078278-we hope to meet u there and to build something together for the international anarchist mouvment.

Barclays' network glitch causes chaos in UK

August 21, 2010 3:58 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of Barclays customers in Britain were unable to access their bank accounts or withdraw money from cash machines on Saturday after a system crash caused chaos nationwide.
The problems, which began at around 1230 GMT (8:30 a.m. EDT), hit telephone and online banking services and caused frustration at retail outlets as embarrassed shoppers were forced to abandon purchases at the till.
Barclays' telephone banking centers were inundated with calls from customers, many of whom were angry at the lack of information. A Barclays spokeswoman was unable to elaborate on the cause of the problems.
"We became aware of a problem earlier in the day," she said. "We apologize to customers for any inconvenience."
At 1915 GMT, access to online accounts was still being denied and calls to the helpline suggested the problems were ongoing.
Barclays is Europe's sixth-biggest bank by market value. It signed a two-year deal with NCR Corp on Aug 16 for the management and maintenance of its UK network of ATMs.

More sweeps in central Athens from greek media....papers

Police arrest 37; squatters removed from buildings as capital awaits government’s regeneration planAuthorities conducted a second day of controversial sweep operations in the center of Athens yesterday, leading to 37 arrests, as the city’s mayor, Nikitas Kaklamanis, called on the government to tackle the problem of rising crime in the downtown area.
Special police squads spent much of Thursday and yesterday stopping and searching people in central Athens. Officers stopped 181 people and 18 vehicles. Of those arrested, 27 were immigrants who did not have documents, six were in possession of drugs and four were suspected of being prostitutes.
Police also assisted workers from the City of Athens and Athens Prefecture in removing squatters from downtown buildings.
Local authorities had sealed off one of the properties on August 6, as it was deemed unhygienic and unsafe, but the doors had since been forced open and, according to officials, a number of people were living inside in squalid conditions.
A total of 44 people were removed from the buildings that were checked yesterday and authorities said they intend to continue such operations.
The practice of removing squatters, who are mostly immigrants, from abandoned buildings in central Athens was criticized earlier this month when it emerged that a 3-year-old Afghan boy had been raped while sleeping in a square just days after his family had been thrown out of one of these properties.
Immigrant rights groups accused authorities of not offering the evicted temporary accommodation and of failing to even record their details so that social services could follow up and check on the conditions in which they are living.
Yesterday’s operations came as Kaklamanis made it clear that he feels the municipality does not have the resources or the authority to tackle crime in the city center.
“Safety in the center of Athens is an issue for the government of the time to tackle,” he told Skai radio. “Unfortunately, the local government does not have the authority to do so.”
Authorities have been under pressure for some time to deal with rising crime and degradation in the area around Omonia Square. Following consultation with various bodies, including the City of Athens, the government is expected to present its plan for increasing safety and reviving the rundown parts of the city center later this month.

Tasers in Nottingham and elsewhere u.k.

Tasers are becoming an increasingly prominent tool in the arsenal of police in Nottinghamshire and elsewhere. This should raise important questions, regardless of whether you accept the anarchist critique of the police as a tool of state control, view them as a necessary evil or actually regard the boys in blue as good for society. However, these questions do not seem to be asked. Despite a number of high profile incidents when tasers have been deployed, we continue to creep towards a situation where police are routinely armed without any public debate on whether this is actually what we want or not.

Community policing in Nottingham city centre
The most high-profile incident locally was the tasering of a man outside Flares on Upper Parliament Street. The incident, in June last year, was captured on video which for some reason was handed over to radio station Trent FM, but quickly found its way onto YouTube and from there became a major national story.
The incident was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), a notoriously toothless organisation. They concluded their investigation in February of this year, announcing, "The investigation examined force and national policies on the use of tasers by police officers and police guidelines on managing conflict. It found that the actions of the police officers in these circumstances were within relevant policies. The investigation sought the opinion of a private sector expert in the use of tasers and force. His view was that the actions of the officers and the decision to deploy a taser several times, and not to use any alternative such as a baton or incapacitant spray, was compliant with their training and relevant guidelines."
Whether these guidelines were correct was not considered, a point raised by Amnesty International who noted, in response to the IPCC's report, that "current policing guidelines do not specify clearly that these weapons should be used only when there is a genuine threat to life or very serious injury. This, in our view, leaves the risk that the Taser may be used when officers are presented with far less threatening situations." In Amnesty's views, tasers, "which inflict excruciating pain" should only be used by highly trained officers in situations where there is a genuine risk to life. They urged "the Home Office to review the policing guidelines on the use of Tasers so as to ensure that officers only use the weapon when absolutely necessary."
growing list of fatalities, following the deployment of tasers has forced the abandonment of this as a selling point and the weapons are now billed as "less lethal". Experience in Nottingham and elsewhere, demonstrates that in any case tasers are usually not used in situations where a firearm would be deployed, but instead serve to lower the threshold of violence, possibly encouraging police brutality.
This is quite apart of course, from any questions about the competence of the officers using the weapons. On Wednesday August 4th, police were called to Alexander Street in Stapleford following reports of "anti-social behaviour." Reportedly, one man "became aggressive" towards the officers (a turn of phrase used by both Nottinghamshire Police and the BBC). At this point the police used a taser against him, but missed (or to use the police's own wording, the taser "did not connect with the man") and hit Jodie Gallagher who was standing behind him.
This case was referred to the IPCC, but they decided to hand the case back to Notts Police without even bothering to organise a sham investigation. The IPCC said: "In making this decision the IPCC considered a number of factors including that the girl was stood near the intended target , who moved as the officer discharged the Taser." Note that they state this as fact even before an investigation has happened. They were also content "that the police officer concerned took prompt actions to rectify the incident by stopping the discharge as soon as he realised the mistake and ensuring she was not injured. We are also aware that Nottinghamshire Police have apologised to the girl and her family." That makes it alright then? What's 50,000 volts between friends?
On the same day this story was published in the Nottingham Post, that paper was carrying another taser related story on the front cover, reporting that "POLICE dog handlers had to use a Taser gun on a crazed dog which savaged its owner in her flat." The Post states, "Police said the use of the Taser on the dog was 'extremely unusual' but they had no other option to ensure everyone's safety." Unfortunately, the paper doesn't make it clear if this is actually recommended policy or whether the officers involved were improvising, hoping that the weapon wouldn't simply enrage the animal further.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the article is the final line which reveals that "Notts police officers trained to use Tasers now include road police and dog section officers." When the weapon was first introduced to the force it was only trained firearms officers who were issued with them. This is now changing. As the weapons become routine, we can expect to see them deployed in a increasingly diverse situation. In all likelihood this will include them being used against protesters. In August 2005, police in Pittsburgh attacked a counter recruitment demonstration using both Tasers and pepper spray against protesters. Nobody should kid themselves that this couldn't happen here. During last year's G20, in an incident which has received remarkably little coverage, the Met Police threatened peaceful protesters with a taser while evicting a squat in London.
Another worrying taser-related development recently was the death of Raul Moat, who shot himself after police used a "Taser Xrep" in an attempt to subdue him. The Xrep is a new weapon developed by Taser International. Unlike earlier tasers it is a wireless weapon which can be fired from any 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. The deployment of this weapon was a surprise because it is still undergoing testing by the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) did not know Northumbria Police had these weapons. While there are questions about the impartiality of some of the research used in previous Home Office trials, you might hope that the police would at least conduct some testing of weapons before using them against members of the public. Cynics might also note that this was a particularly high profile case and if the police were prepared to use an untested weapon in the full glare of the international media spotlight what are they up to on a day-to-day basis?
Tasers have been introduced with minimal mainstream debate. We are slipping towards a situation where police are routinely armed and nobody has been asked if this is what they actually want. This may be par for the course, but the silence of activists on this point is surprising and unfortunate. We may believe the police today are violent and oppressive, they didn't need a taser to do for Ian Tomlinson, but we shouldn't dismiss this as irrelevant. Tasers lower the threshold of violence and in doing so make it more likely.

A Dublin II Deportation Diary

Published on August 21, 2010

Why did you want me back in Greece?, ask the refugees being returned due to the Dublin II regulation from different other European countries. The deportation diary carrying the same name evolved out of a short visit in Athens, where activists from the newly founded infomobile project conducted interviews with refugees affected by this European regulation.
The findings, based on interviews with the people affected, are shocking and deeply disturbing. For although every story of flight to and within Europe is different, if we were to summarise, there are two main conclusions that need to be drawn.

In Greece, despite numerous announcements and communications of intent by the relevant authorities of the PASOK government, the situation has only worsened for refugees. There still is no support system for refugees providing even the most basic necessities, while the impact of the economic crisis has hit refugees the hardest: they are in an even more precarious situation by now. Frequent police raids have made their stay in Greece even more volatile and have increased the risk of repeated and prolonged detention under the same inhuman conditions documented countless times. At the same time, the Greek asylum system is still dysfunctional and only existent by name.

The Dublin II-regulation, on the other hand, destroys all hope refugees might have to reach their final destination and to escape the conditions in Greece by moving on to another European country. As the regulation stipulates that the responsibility for an asylum application lies with the country of first entry, many refugees that manage the journey onwards are simply deported back, without any examination of their situation. This leads to refugees straying around Europe, searching for protection and rest, sometimes even for years, only to find themselves deported back to Greece. Given the current situation of refugees in Greece, we contend that the human rights of refugees are fundamentally violated in Greece. Under this perspective, the Dublin II-regulation is a systematic violation of the non-refoulement principle laid down in the Geneva Convention on Refugees and needs to be abolished at once.
We invite you to follow the kaleidoscope of stories assembled in the report and to spread the word about it. The Dublin II-regulation is already under intense legal scrutiny by highest national and European courts, and it is the facts that you can read in this report that need to be brought to the public attention all over Europe: the state of the European asylum system in 2010 is a state of organised irresponsibility and violation of fundamental principle of human rights and international laws.

We invite you to read, not to freeze but to get involved: it is an invitation to join the refugees’ struggles for freedom of movement. It is not enough to report. Convince your government to accept more refugees and stop sending them back here! was one of the instructions we received at Attiki Square in the centre of Athens.

MAPUCHE STRUGGLE

August the 1^st 2010

In regard to the hunger strike that is being carried out by our Mapuche brothers in the prisons of Angol, Concepcion and Temuco following their unfair imprisonment by the Chilean “Justice”, the Association of Mapuche Communities fro the Teodora Schmidt commune “Lafken Mapu Newen” would like to say the following to the public opinion.

1. We energetically/totally back up/support the decision made by our brothers, since unfortunately this is the only way we have left now a days to express by forceful means our utter discontent and contempt towards the injustice that is being perpetrated against the fair demands of our Mapuche people and nation.
2. We declare that our brethren have been arrested without no evidence that could possibly provided (in terms of) by the country's common law. Nonetheless they have now to go through a long time of reclusion/imprisonment without a trial which might have guaranteed a certain procedure of transparent and egalitarian/equal “justice”. All this been done with a humiliating attitude by the Chilean state. This is why our brothers continue to get locked up by means of highly dubious declarations made by “protected” and faceless witnesses and through fabrications engineered by the political and judiciary powers.
3. We declare that today the hunger strike has being going on for 20 days and is bringing about a serious worsening of our “penilangems” (COMRADES?) physical and mental health and integrity. However, neither the current government nor the judiciary have shown any concern towards this situation.
4. We have witnessed with sheer worry and surprise how the president of the Chilean Republic does not hesitate in showing/paying heartfelt consideration towards people from another countries in the same situation as our Mapuche brothers (such as in the case of Cuban political prisoners) while failing to do anything in order to stop the mistreatment and Human Right violations exerted these days upon our Mapuche community.
5. We believe that this government should change the ways in which approaches its relations with the Mapuche since it will never be able to imprison our people's consciousness through fear and repression. This is as trying to cover up the sun with just a finger and only promotes the uprising of our communities which will carry on in their struggle for their rights.
6. We keep following all the current affairs/events as well as seeking the way to publicly denounce them in favour of our rights.
   
   
   
   Signed by:
   Association of Mapuche communities Lafkenche; which gathers 14 Mapuche communities from the “Comuna” (Commune) Teodoro Schmidt.
   “Lafken Mapu Newen”
   
   

Bomb Goes Off at Chile Shopping Mall, No One Hurt

August 20th, 2010 

SANTIAGO – No one was injured Thursday when a homemade bomb went off in the underground garage at a shopping mall in the Chilean capital, police said.
Three other bombs were found and defused, according to a report from the Carabineros, Chile’s militarized national police.
Left at the scene were leaflets referring to special prosecutor Alejandro Peña’s case against 15 anarchists accused of carrying out more than a score of bombings over the past few years.
A court in Santiago ordered Tuesday that eight of the 15 suspects in that case be held pending trial.
Six other defendants were allowed to remain at liberty, but ordered not to leave the country and to stay away from each other. The 15th suspect, Gustavo Fuentes Aliaga, is already in jail in connection with other offenses.
The court gave prosecutors 180 days to complete the investigation of the 23 bombings covered by the indictments.
The attacks targeted banks, the offices of foreign companies, embassies, churches and police stations, mainly in Santiago. The sole fatality was an anarchist killed when a bomb exploded as he was transporting it on a bicycle. EFE

Chilean police lob tear gas protesting students

Chilean police used tear gas and water cannons to quell a crowd of nearly 2,000 students on Wednesday (August 18) as they protested against what they see as government plans to privatise the education system in the Latin American country. The protesters, who were made up of both university and secondary school students, also called for increased government spending on state schools and universities. "We want to make a stand in front of the media that this is a march that has a peaceful character and we are not responsible for the provocation," said Julio Sarmiento, the President of Chile University Student Union as he addressed the crowd of protesters. As the crowd marched through the capital Santiago they were met by a heavy contingent of riot police who used tear gas and water cannons to quell the crowd. At least 20 students were detained by police.

South Africa Police, State Workers Clash on Strike’s Third Day

from signalfire blog.

August 20




Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) — South African police clashed with state workers who protested outside government buildings as a wage strike entered its third day.
Police used water cannons to disperse protesters at Johannesburg’s Helen Joseph hospital today, according to video televised by Cape Town-based e News Channel. Officers broke up a group of strikers who blocked roads to a hospital and a courthouse and in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province’s town of Chatsworth, police said.
“We have got our crowd-management teams deployed in all nine provinces,” police spokesman Phuti Setati said in a telephone interview from Pretoria. “Those who are breaking the law will be dealt with. We have got to protect lives and property.” Officers are still investigating incidents of violence, he said.
While state employees are demanding an 8.6 percent increase in pay and a housing allowance of 1,000 rand ($136) a month, the government says it can’t afford to raise its offer of a 7 percent increase and a 700 rand allowance. South Africa’s annual inflation rate is currently 4.2 percent.
The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference expressed “horror at the incidences of violence and intimidation perpetrated by participants” in the strike.
“In particular we abhor the inhuman conduct of denying doctors and patients access to hospitals and teachers and pupils access to their schools,” the group said today in a statement issued to the South African Press Association. “Care is being denied to the weakest and most vulnerable.”

Soweto Hospital
Police fired rubber bullets yesterday to disperse workers who entered the grounds of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto township, south of Johannesburg, police spokeswoman Nondumiso Mpantsha said.
Union officials are due to meet with Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi at 2 p.m. local time today to discuss ways of resolving the impasse, Chris Klopper, chairman of the Independent Labor Caucus, which includes 10 unions representing 460,000 workers, said by telephone from Pretoria.
Unions representing about 1.3 million state workers say their members can’t survive on their current salaries and that the strike will continue until their demands are met.
“The strike will be intensifying all around the country,” Sizwe Pamla, a spokesman for the 250,000-member National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union, said today in an interview. “Our members have reacted positively to calls for a strike.”

Struck in 2007
Government employees last struck in 2007, when schools, hospitals and immigration offices were disrupted for 29 days, the longest-ever walkout by state workers.
South African laws prevent strikes by certain categories of workers who provide essential services, accounting for about a third of state employees. Even so, many nurses have joined the labor action, said Fidel Hadebe, Health Ministry spokesman.
“The impact of the strike has been quite severe in a number of facilities,” he said today by telephone from Pretoria. The provinces of “Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu- Natal have been worst-affected.”
Members of the South African Defense force were deployed to several hospitals to fill in for striking workers, while critically ill patients who were unable to access treatment at state facilities were transferred to private hospitals.
Several newspapers said patients had died because they had not been treated or received medication. The health department was still investigating the reports, Hadebe said.

‘Right to Strike’
“As much as we offer our condolences to those families, we don’t want our members to be blackmailed when they have a legitimate right to strike,” Pamla said. “Hospitals by their nature are places that people go to get saved, but it doesn’t always happen that way” and it can’t be proven that strikers caused the deaths, he said.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, representing 70,000 workers, said today that car and fuel retail-industry workers plan to strike from Sept. 1 after employers failed to meet their demands for a pay increase. Numsa members in the tire and rubber industries will begin a walkout on Aug. 30, the union said.

5,000 migrants riot at Malaysian factory

Malaysia.jpg

More than 5,000 migrant workers tore down a guard tower during rioting at the facility where they were staying in Malaysia’s industrial city of Johor Baru today.

During the struggle rubbish and stones were used against over 200 riot police, with fire extinguishers being torn off the walls and allegedly used to spray bystanders.
The fighting, which was eventually contained in the early evening after seven hours, was sparked after an injured staff member died when employers delayed sending them to hospital.

Have you read today newspaper regarding the protest of five thousand factory foreign workers, relate to a death of a Nepali worker happened recently in Tebrau Industrial area? They are mainly from India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Nepal and Myanmar.
They destroyed the guardhouse, threw objects like stones and rubbish at bystanders, used fire extinguishers against bystanders and chased down a vehicle fetching two health inspectors…
Whoever fault it is about the death case, the foreign workers have gone over their limit!!!

Luxury cars aflame in Germany

HUNDREDS of luxury cars are still being torched every year in Germany as part of a radical uprising against the capitalist system.

The latest reported incident saw an upmarket vehicle in Prenzlauer Berg set on fire on Wednesday this week, reports directactionde.ucrony.net

There is a website calling 'burning cars' (Brennende Autos) which plots arson attacks on a Google-powered map.

The featured area is centred around Berlin, but there are so many incident flags on the map that the city is obscured, apparently overwhelmed by the rampaing fires.

The 2010 SS Act in Greece

Copyleft 2010 Contra Info link

The new ‘Social Security’ Act imposed by the IMF-EU-ECB ‘troika’ and the Greek government: A brief description of the most significant recent changes (August 2010)

Layoffs – Compensations – Overtime

• They increased the limit layoffs (from today’s 2%) to 5% per month, and up to 30 employees regarding companies which are staffed with more than 150 workers. Companies with 21 to 150 employees may now lay off up to 6 persons per month, while companies with less than 20 workers have no limit layoffs.

• They reduced the allowances due to redundancy.

For employees who have been working 2 to 12 months, a one-month notice by the employer is now considered sufficient before their dismissal, in order to receive a reduced compensation.

They gradually enforce six-month notice before dismissal in the case of an employee who has fulfilled over 20 years of labor and, as a result, smaller compensation.

Allowances will be paid in installments to redundant! The initial amount will be given on the day of dismissal, while the remainder will be paid in bi-monthly installments. Unless the amount remaining for the full payment of compensation is not lower, each of these installments will be equal to at least two-month wages.

• They reduced overtime allowances and worsened the excessive-work conditions.

Those who work 40 hours a week may not refuse to work 5 hours overtime per week.

Those who work 6 days a week are now forced to work up to 8 hours overtime per week, if so requested by their employer.

In fact, the eight-hour day officially becomes nine- or ten-hour day. Even worse, the Minister for Employment, after an Opinion by the Supreme Council for Employment, will have the right to grant permission to the private and the broader public sectors to impose additional overtime than the above!

Salaries – Benefits

• Employers are now entitled to give 84% of the minimum daily wage or salary to young people under the age of 25 who enter the labor market for the first time. In addition, employers now have the privilege to gain portion of the contributions of these workers by the Manpower Employment Organization (OAED).

Things are even worse for young people 15-18 years old, as the new Act provides ‘special apprenticeship contracts’ of one-year duration. For one-year wage slavery, youngsters shall receive 70% of the minimum daily wage or salary. Unprotected by labor legislation – with the exception of provisions for health care and social security – the younger workers will endure an actual slavery regime.

• They eliminate the 13th and 14th salary in the wider public sector.

Those with gross earnings of more than €3,000 (nearly €2,000 net income) will not get Easter and Christmas bonuses nor vacation allowances.

Employees below this threshold may receive €250 Easter bonus, €250 vacation allowance, and €500 Christmas bonus…

• They enforce extra 8% reduction of benefits and allowances in the narrow public sector.

They abolish all benefits of public servants who have gross earnings exceeding €3,000.

In the case of the wider public sector – where benefits are not provided – the salaries and allowances fell by extra 3%.

• They cut the last installment of the Social Solidarity Benefit for 2010!
  They are examining its short-term abolition!

• They shrinked unemployment benefits; it’s now lower than 60% of the basic salary (instead of 80% of the final salary before unemployment).

• They reduce the number of social security funds to three by the year 2018 (IKA for employees, OAEE for freelancers, OGA for farmers).
  All public sector employees who will be hired from 1st March 2013 will also contribute to IKA (rather than the recent social fund of the public sector).

• They impose three-year freeze of wages and pensions in the wider public sector (until 2013).

There will be no increase in salaries and pensions as long as the Greek State is monitored by the IMF-EU-ECB ‘troika’.

The new measures are those of the first phase (2010 – May 2013) of the ‘bailout and austerity programme’. However, the freeze of wages and pensions can be extended if the close monitoring by the troika will continue in Greece!

As far as the private sector is concerned, the increase will be 1.5% for 2011, and 1.7% for 2012 – well below the official inflation rate!

Pensions

• The so-called ‘basic pension’ will reach… €360 per month (based on 2010 data)! This pension will be given for 12 months a year. Hence, they have abolished the 13th and 14th pensions in all social funds.

Those who receive a pension that does not exceed gross €2,500, will receive €200 Easter bonus, €200 summer allowance and €400 Christmas bonus (that is €800, instead of the former two additional pensions)… This money will be a retirement allowance, therefore in the future could be easily reduced or even eliminated.

• The State’s obligation to retirees is now limited to a pension of hunger.

The so-called ‘guaranteed pension’ for those who have reached 65 years old will be paid provided retirees meet certain income standards. In particular, social security members must have been residing at least 15 years in Greece, and during the preceding financial year their personal income should not exceed €5,040 or their family income should not exceed €10,080.

The height of the so-called ‘basic pension’ will be constantly changing, and it is not at all certain that in the future it will have the current purchasing power. It will be determined by the consumer price index, the evolution of gross national product and the economic situation of the social funds…

Any clause of the legislation in force today, which provided for increases in pensions or adjustments in a different way than mentioned, is being abolished from year 2014 under the new measures!

For those who wish to receive this pension of hunger before reaching 65 years old, the €360 will be cut by 0.5% for each month that remains until the age of 65. Therefore, if someone retires at the age of 60, he or she loses 30% of the retirement and will receive as basic pension €252 per month!

• The ‘proportional pension’ will be calculated from the pensionable earnings and the percentage of replacement.

Firstly, as already mentioned, the State no longer guarantees this pension.

Secondly, the pensionable earnings were formerly calculated based on the last year of labor, the last 2 years, and the 5 best of the last 10 years of labor. They will now be computed on the basis of all the years of contributions (all the years of labor). It is thus clear that the income listed for the pension’s calculation is lower. Meanwhile, the coefficient of readjustment, that is used arbitrarily by the State to calculate pensions, is reduced.

The second factor – after the pensionable earnings – which will be included when calculating pensions are the coefficients of replacement (the percentages by which pensionable earnings are multiplied in order to calculate the final pension), particularly for those who have contributed from 25 to 40 years in labor.

Previously, it reached 70% (80% in the public sector) of the average wage of the 5 best of the last 10 years of labor.

In order for a worker to ensure the same coefficient of the previous regime, he or she now has to work 3 to 5 years in addition. Even so, the worker will not receive the same pension, because it is very doubtful if he or she will have the same pensionable earnings.

Actually, from now on, all pensions will be calculated as determined in the private sector:
For 39 (instead of 40 years of contributions) the proportional pension (other than basic) falls to 55% of the pensionable earnings for the entire working life.
For 35 years of work the pension drops to 45%.
For 40 years it reaches 60%, disregarding the basic pension.

• Supplementary pensions will be formed according to the economic sustainability of each of the plucked social security funds.

The Boards of Directors of these social funds will determine, as of early 2012, the percentages of replacement.

From 2011, the State will not cover any deficit in supplementary funds. Wherever and whenever there is a deficit, pensions will ‘adapt’, that is they will slash!

• From 2011 and every two years, the National Actuarial Authority will plan and publish studies according to which pensions will be ‘redetermined:’ Nothing is ensured for workers, not even the amount of the minimum pension.

• The public sector’s pensions exceeding €1,400 will henceforth be subject to LAFKA tax, where LAFKA is ‘Solidarity Account for Social Security Agencies.’ This extra tax ranges from 3% to 10%, depending on the amount of pension.

They will impose LAFKA tax for the sum of earnings in the case of pensions which exceed €1,400. The total reductions in current pensions range from about €500 a year (for a monthly pension of €1,400) to about €4,200 a year (for a monthly pension larger than €3,500).

• They revised the context of granting disability pensions.

Indicatively, a holder of a disability pension, according to the new Act will be entitled to 75% of the basic pension (€270!) if the percentage of disability ranges from 67 to 80%, and 50% of the basic pension (€180!) if the percentage of disability ranges from 50 to 67%.

• They increase the retirement age of women who work in the public sector, at 65 years gradually until the end of 2013.

In the public sector, the equalization of the retirement age for men and women (always increasing) will begin in 2011 with a three-year adjustment period.

Reduced pension can be granted at 60 years old (instead of 55, as was previously valid).

With regard to early retirement for men and women, 5 years of less labor lead to more than 30% reduction of pensions.

Under the new Act even the age limit of 65 years and generally the limits of the retirement age should not be taken as granted, since they will be ‘redefined by the change in life expectancy of the population’!

• For workers who shall enter the social security system from 31st December 2010, their pension is calculated in two ways:
  The first part is calculated according to the previous system for the years of contributions until the end of 2010.
  The second part, from 1st January 2011 until the date of retirement, will be calculated with the new, far most unfavorable conditions.
  In both cases, the final pension will be reduced up to 50% over the current system.

• Mothers with an under-age child or at least 3 children and 25 years of contributions, may not retire at the age of 50, as was previously valid.

After year 2013 this right is lost:
They may receive a reduced retirement at the age of 60 with more than 5,500 social security stamps, whereas until now they could retire at the age of 50.
In order to get full retirement, they will have to be 65 years old (provided that their child is still underage…) while until now they had the right to retire at their 60.
Women who haven’t reached 50 years old in 2012 but have completed 25 years of service, will have to work 5 more years in order to retire at the age of 55.
From 2013 men and women with 3 children or a child with at least 67% disability, will retire at 65, rather than 56 years as was the case before.
The mothers of 3 children may purchase up to 5 years of the so-called ‘notional time of social security‘. This means that each aspiring retiree will dearly pay her procreation.
Also, the new Act suspends the right of men and women with at least 3 children to retire regardless of age limit.

• The men that have entered the social security system before 1993 and have completed 35 years of full working experience, from 2012 will retire later than expected until now.Gradually from 2012 to 2015, they will be forced to work plus one semester per year.
  Thus, from 2015 they will retire with reduced pension at the age of 60 with 40 years of service, rather than at 58 with 35 years’ contributions, as was previously valid.

• They increase the minimum contribution period (of 35 years) to 40 years, gradually until 2013.

Hence, a retiree must have completed 40 years of contributions or have reached 65 years of age.

Up to 7 years of contributions will be recognized, if the years of military service, the period of absence due to illness or regular unemployment, the years of study, sabbatical or leave without pay, etc. will be purchased. This means that the employee is called to pay an expensive ‘notional time of social security.’

• The new SS Act contains cuts in the list of heavy and unhealthy occupations.

In addition, in the public sector the retirement age in these professions is increased gradually until 2013 (from 55) to 60 years for men and 58 years for women.

Here too there is total insecurity, since the new measures provide for the amendment of this list every 3 years!

• From year 2011, unless they are disabled or students, adult unmarried daughters will not be entitled to the pension of their deceased parents.

These pensions are reduced from what they were entitled so far, since the new Act puts strict income criteria. Their gross monthly income (except basic and supplementary pensions) must be less than 30 times the daily wage of an unskilled worker (recently €34). If this income is 30 to 40 times higher, they will receive 2/3 of the pension; if 40-50 times higher, 1/2; if 50-60 times higher, 1/4, while the pension is completely cut if they earn more than about €2,040 (60 times the minimum daily wage).

Phone Blockade English Defence League coach company Johnsons Coaches

Blockade English Defence League coach company Johnsons Coaches | 17.08.2010

The English Defence League are a violently racist, Islamophobic and Zionist gang of hooligans with connections to racist groups such as combat 18, Blood & Honour, BNP, NF and UKIP. They have attacked communities, placed pigs heads on Mosques, pulled off Muslim women's clothes, smashed up shops, cars and homes in racially motivated riots in the UK.

The English Defence League have rioted in towns and cities including the small picturesque town of Dudley which has seen some of the worst rioting by the racists.

The racist, Islamophobic and Zionist EDL have been transported to riot in coaches hired from Johnsons Coaches based in the West Midlands.

We are asking Johnsons Coaches to stop taking the hooligans to riot in their coaches. The EDL have been involved in stabbings and have tried to return home covered in blood. Some of the hooligans have violently attacked the police which has also left them bloodstained. Do Johnsons really want these bloody racist idiots and thugs on their coaches? Do Johnsons approve of the rioting? How would they like it if anti fascist protesters demonstrated in Henly in Arden where Johnsons are based?

Telephone Johnsons Coaches and tell them not to transport the racist rioting thugs. Blockade the lines all day tomorrow Wednesday 18th August.

Tel : 01564 797 000
Tel : 01564 797 010
Tel : 01564 797 020
Tel : 01564 797 030
Tel : 01564 797 040
Tel : 01564 797 066

Fax : 01564 797 050

 info@johnsonscoaches.co.uk

 http://www.johnsonscoaches.co.uk/

Johnsons Coaches
Liveridge House
Liveridge Hill
Henley-In-Arden
Warwickshire
West Midlands
B95 5QS


Pictured here are the EDL around a Johnsons Coach with the police, rioting and a Camden EDL Division member with a specially hand crafted placard alongside the Zionist SOIE in Harrow.

Blockade English Defence League coach company Johnsons Coaches

Cop On Fire at bookfair after-party

bristolanarchistbookfair at riseup dot net

Thanx to Kebele sound & friends, and Classics for this one!

After a long hard day at the bookfair, let your hair down at the bookfair after-party fundraiser, just down the road...

dress code: Party! (you dont have to wear black)

Saturday 11 September - 8pm. £4/5 on door
Classics Freeshop, 35 Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3PH

Featuring live:
Cop on Fire (rolling ska wizards, Belgium)
Donderhod (dark & dangerous gypsy dance, Belgium)
The Dagger Brothers (live 80's dance but not as you know it, electro Bristol)

plus DJs playing ska, reggae, hip hop and drum n bass.

Full bookfair info at http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org
More cool gigs from Kebele sound at http://kebelesound.wordpress.com

FUNdraisers help keep the Bristol anarchist bookfair free to all. Any spare cash afterwards gets spread around local groups & campaigns.

Related Link: http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org

not the band silly, but a Greek cop on fire during riots after they shot dead a teenager

afterpartyposter.pdf 0.16 Mb

Santiago, Chile - 25 anarchists arrested before comrades appear in court

 

 

laht

SANTIAGO – At least 25 people were arrested on Tuesday before the first court appearance of 15 suspects in a series of bombings in Santiago and other cities in Chile, police said.
The protesters, the majority of them fellow anarchists, were arrested for damaging public property and disturbing the peace.
Fourteen of the suspected anarchists appearing at the hearing were arrested last weekend in operations in Santiago and Valparaiso that included searches of squatter settlements in the capital and residences. The 15th defendant is an anarchist already serving prison time for previous offenses.
The courthouse in Santiago was surrounded early in the day by three security rings manned by about 150 police officers equipped with water cannons and tear gas. The security perimeter was extended to a nearby Metro station, where a checkpoint was set up to check the identification of people using the facility.
The tight security for the hearing, allowing only one relative of each of the suspects to be present, as well as only one reporter from each news outlet, caused a delay of more than one hour in the start of the proceedings.
Special prosecutor Alejandro Peña, who is in charge of the case, ordered last Saturday’s operations after investigating the attacks for several months.
Physical evidence, such as traces of explosives on the skin and clothing of some of the defendants, links the suspects to the bombings, prosecutor Marcos Emilfort, who is working with Peña, said Tuesday.
Rodolfo Retamales and Pablo Morales, two former members of the leftist Grupo Lautaro that fought the 1973-1990 military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, are among the suspects in the case. Retamales and Morales spent more than 12 years in prison for crimes committed after the restoration of democracy. The press has identified the two men as the masterminds behind the series of bombings that killed one person, an anarchist who was carrying a bomb on a bicycle in Santiago last year. The bombings targeted banks, the offices of foreign companies, embassies, churches and police stations in Santiago and other cities. Retamales’s lawyer, Alberto Espinoza, criticized the extensive media coverage of his client, saying that it “weakens the right to a defense a lot.” EFE

Madrid - Police Academy and a Benetton store attacked in solidarity with the Mapuche prisoners

madrid.indymedia 9/8

Last night the Benetton store (the company that in collaboration with the Chilean State steals land from the Mapuche people, and exploits them as cheap labor, confining them in kind of concentration camps) in calle Fuencarral, in Madrid was attacked again. The door was destroyed by a large stone and the inscription: "Here we exploit the Mapuche people" left at the secene. A police academy near Atocha was also attacked, this time the window of the entrance door was smashed with a hammer. The words: "Solidarity with the Mapuche people" and "animal killer".
For the defence of the earth, for the defence of all animals.
Solidarity with the Mapuche prisoners on hunger strike.
For the destruction of the means of production.
We have nothing to self-manage (and even less stupid celebrations of consumption).