The following is a joint statement regarding Mayday achieved through a North American collaboration of the following class struggle anarchist groups and organizations: Prairie Struggle Organization, Wild Rose Collective, Four Star Anarchist Organization, Common Struggle/Lucha Común, Workers Solidarity Alliance, Free Association of Anarchists, Miami Autonomy & Solidarity.
Doomsday politics and its affect on struggle
So the world didn’t end and you are still alive. ‘’Our’’ false idols predicted wrong, the coming insurrection didn’t arrive, capitalism didn’t crumble, and Christians didn’t all float up to heaven (damn). Time after time we have seen prophets from religious, to revolutionary backgrounds predict the end of our suffering or for those going to hell, the beginning. Emancipation is promised time after time by these ‘’new’’ theories embodied in apocalyptic events like the rapture and or ‘’end ofcivilization’’ but they leave us with nothing but empty promises.
In recent weeks the American labour movement has been boosted by strike actions at Wal-Mart and various fast food corporations--all of which have historically been near impossible to organize into business unions. It is hardly a secret that the campaigns, OurWalmart and FastFoodForward, are in collaboration with the United Food and Commercial Workers, and the Service Employees International Union and several community groups. Moving forward past the days of action, and the successes they brought, members of the Prairie Struggle Organization offer the following reflections on these unique strike actions, and this new turn as a whole.
In September 2012, shortly after the end of the largest unlimited general student strike in the history of Quebec, several class-struggle anarchist organisations in Canada along with a few local chapters of the IWW put together a cross-country tour to bring the history and experiences of the Quebec student movement to students and activists outside the province. Stopping in over a dozen cities from Toronto, Ontario to Victoria, BC, the tour brought a participant in the 2012 student strike to audiences in colleges and universities as well as union halls and various cooperatives. The article that follows is based on this conference. Special thanks to Jonathan from Zabalaza for editing help!
Article originally posted on anarkismo
Stand Aside, There are Enough People Against the Working Class!
For the past month, organizers in Prairie Struggle, and the ASSE Support Committee have been mobilizing around the Quebec student general strike, and the ideas of combative unionism promoted by L’ASSE. A significant part of this combative unionism is the constant escalation of protest, and the use of direct action to disrupt the economy of the employer. Over the past month, the Regina pots and pans rallies have been almost exclusively a show of solidarity for this movement. However, on June 22nd, community members responded to calls for greater disruption, and graduated from wearing the red squares to living the combative unionism that the red square represents.
New posters for summer agitation
We are happy to announce that our first series of posters for mass agitation is now complete. These posters are a product of PSO and UCL collaboration and many thanks go out to our comrades in Quebec for helping us out. Subjects cover Imperialism, Police brutality, racism, sexism, class war and poor housing with the message that the time to organize is now!
A Prairie Struggle Organization Communiqué on the Québec student strike #2
We are all inspired to picket in solidarity with Quebec students for various reasons, and we have every reason to be. They are fighting the recent trend of increasing user costs to public services, they have built a movement numbering in the hundreds of thousands, that is increasing daily; they are winning their struggle despite draconian laws, and heavy police enforcement, and they are picketing night after night with no relent. Perhaps the most visual inspiration has been the red square in solidarity with La CLASSE, and the recent emergence of nightly pots and pans rallies to support the students. These visuals have come to represent for many of us the power of collective action, and the ability to resist oppressive government policy. For some, this is inspiring thoughts of invoking these symbols to advance our own political agendas outside of the student movement in Quebec. However, prior to doing so, the implications of this should be considered.
A Prairie Struggle Organization Commu
niqué on the Québec student strike #1
In the past decades we have been seeing a trend, a political direction in both Saskatchewan, and all of Canada that can be characterized by a race to the bottom, where workers and families have been expected to swallow cuts to public funding of services so that the richest among us can continue to profit from the products and services our labour creates. Even in the past five years we have seen cuts to Statistics Canada, the Status of Women, funding for Environmental groups, Healthcare, programs for First Nations, Community Justice Programs ... and the list goes on and on. Included in this list is are consistent attacks on unionism, assembly, and free speech as well increased fees for our so-called public institutions, including education. This trend is not inclusive to only Conservative Party views but also all party views that hold capitalism as a ''correct'' way of managing our livelihoods. The bottom of the barrel mentality ironically resembles the end of a barrel logic where the interest of a well off few are paramount over the well being of the collective. Forces beyond an ''uncontrollable'' market are at work in this country and it is now time we realize this. Politicians and big business have been chipping away piece by piece any social progress for the benefit of endless profit.
The creation of Prairie Struggle Organization, its politics and its goals.
Dear comrades, in the last 5 months, some anarchists from Regina have been engaged in the difficult process of creating a revolutionary anarchist organization and debating its political influences. As a result of these meetings and debates, we are proud to finally announce the existence of Prairie Struggle Organization based in Regina. To hopefully start a dialogue with anarchists in the west of Canada and beyond, we feel it important to let you know why anarchist politics in Regina are taking this direction.
