Blog Title: Dreaming Neon Black

Workers’ Fightback: Update 9

This past week has been relatively quiet on the industrial front. However, this is only in comparison to the past several, have seen workers gain real if unstable victories at the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire, the Linamar car parts factory in Swansea, and a link-up between students and cleaners at the London School Of African and Oriental Studies.So with other disputes simmering,

Workers Fight Motor Meltdown

The recent reinstatement of union convenor Rob Williams by his bosses at the Linamar car parts factory is a welcome victory for the Swansea workers, as well as all those who expressed their solidarity. Amidst the celebrations, however, caution is needed. Linamar are likely preparing a counter-attack, and this is just one front in a global war on car workers’ conditions. Linamar sacked Williams on

Sunshine Cleaning (15)

Directed by Christine JeffsWritten by Megan HolleyOn general release from 26th June 2009It is rare for a film to be both wearyingly dull and seat-punchingly frustrating, but Christine Jeffs (Sylvia) manages to serve-up just such a disappointing hodgepodge in her second film.Rose (Amy Adams) is a former highschool head cheerleader whose life has gone downhill from those apparently dizzy heights.

Workers' Fightback: Update 8

Following the recent gains made by workers’ resistance at Visteon and Linamar plants, there is apparently more positive news this week. Wildcat strikers at the Lindsey oil refinery – in conjunction with others in solidarity around the country – have seemingly won the reinstatement of seven hundred sacked construction workers. The dispute was

Workers' Fightback: Update 7

This last week has been a momentous one for our young phoenix of resistance as it rises from the flames of economic devastation, because we have witnessed the first major link-up between this generation of students and workers in struggle in the UK.Last Friday (12th June), cleaners at the School of African and Oriental Studies in Camden were instructed to attend an early morning meeting. The

Looking For Eric (15)

Directed by Ken LoachWritten by Paul LavertyOn general release from 12th June 2009The Eric in question here is not really Monsieur Cantona – the ‘mercurial’ Man U star turned actor, who plays himself – but Eric the Manchester postman (Steve Evets), whose emotional turmoil is founded on half-buried relationship issues and a general sense of alienation from his ‘team-mates’ and the world. Though he

Workers' Fightback: Update 6

Over half of UK workers have seen an attack on their jobs, pay or working conditions since the start of the recession, according to bosses’ website Keep Britain Working. LibCom reports that: “27% of workers in the UK have taken a pay cut, 24% have seen a cut in hours, and 24% have “lost benefits”. 37% of workers have experienced one of these attacks, whereas 27% have experienced two and 5% have

Workers' Fightback: Update 5

Parents are still defiantly occupying the rooftop of Lewisham Bridge Primary School, six weeks after they began their action against a planned demolition and privatisation.If Lambeth Council gets its way, the Grade Two listed building will be demolished, to make way for a new, privatised 3-16 foundation school. In the meantime, the Council are bussing children to the Mornington Centre, some nine

Workers' Fightback: Update 4

Workers at the Swansea Linamar car parts plant have voted for an all-out indefinite strike, in support of their sacked union convenor Rob Williams. Williams was originally sacked one month ago, after an “irretrievable breakdown of trust” with management – i.e. he actually tried to stand up for his fellow workers. Indeed in April he visited all three Visteon occupations (like Linamar, Visteon are

Workers' Fightback: Update 3

The big news this time is the end of the Visteon occupation in Belfast, and pickets in Basildon and Enfield, after seven weeks of protest and direct action, which has seen sacked workers win a much improved redundancy package. Their bank accounts are expected to credited with tens of thousands of pounds over the next few days.There have been unofficial (‘wildcat’) strikes taken around the country

Meet The New Boss: The United Auto Workers Union

What do you call a ‘union’ where the people at the top will directly profit from increasing the exploitation of their ‘membership’? Well, if Barack Obama gets his way, you can call it the United Auto Workers. Yes, in return for a government rescue package, Chrysler executives and UAW bureaucrats have agreed a deal which has important implications for the class struggle worldwide, and marks a new

Synecdoche, New York (15)

Written and directed by Charlie Kaufman Screening at FACT from 15th May 2009According to Wiktionary, a synecdoche is ‘A figure of speech by which an inclusive term stands for something included, or vice versa’. Examples include ‘fifty head of cattle’ and ‘a fleet of ships, fifty sail deep’. So basically, the title is a fancy way of saying the Schenectady, New York-set film is meant to represent

Workers' Fightback: Update 2

Time for the second update on the struggle against the chaotic profit system, in the UK and around the world.Sacked Visteon workers are still hanging in there, and still waiting for their money to come in. The deal is still uncertain though, and there have been rumours that Ford/Visteon might insist the Belfast occupation is ended before it is handed over. More news when it happens here. Trade

Enough Rope

Enough Rope is ten minutes of near chaos. Everything is a blur. Too much happens for the mind to fully take it all in. This is a very good thing, because it perfectly captures the rush of taking action for a cause you believe in, as history seems to speed up all around you.Loosely based on events at the 2003 G8 protests in Switzerland, Enough Rope tells the story of Iris (Vicky McClure), a brave

Mersey May Day Solidarity Raises £300 For Sacked Visteon Workers

£300 was raised on Merseyside this May Day weekend, in solidarity with sacked Visteon car parts makers who have now been taking direct action at three UK sites for more than a month.Recent weeks have also seen a workers’ cooperative take over running of the Dundee Prisme packaging factory, parents on the roofs of threatened primary schools in Lewisham and Glasgow, and various actions around the

Workers' Fightback: Update 1

This is the first update for the Workers’ Fightback group. I intend to make them once a week or thereabouts, bringing you the latest from the class struggle frontline, in the UK and elsewhere.As many of you will know, Visteon workers in Enfield, Basildon and Belfast have voted to accept an improved redundancy offer, after they were sacked a month ago. However, they are maintaining their English

In The Loop (15)

Directed by Armando IannucciWritten by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche and Armando Iannucci On general release from 17th April 2009"Shut it, Love Actually, or I’ll hole punch your face.” This is just one of the hilariously horrible threats which spurts from the mouth of government enforcer Malcolm Tucker in Armando Iannucci’s big screen debut. But as the echoes of the insults die

Revolting Times

There can be little doubt that we are entering a period of economic collapse, the likes of which many of us have never seen before. Analysts are predicting the most severe crisis since the 1930s. In response, business leaders and politicians are trying to make working class people pay for the chaos they created. There’s been redundancies, cut hours, wage freezes, loss of sick pay and pensions…and

Winter In The City EP

The Ruby KidI first encountered Daniel Randall - AKA The Ruby Kid - just after dawn in a Kent field last summer. I had my back to a line of police. They'd just invaded the edge of our protest camp - again - and they weren't about to move, but then we weren't going anywhere either. So the call went up for performers to keep us all entertained. This might all sound a bit weird, but I can't really

John Moores Students Protest Against Cuts

John Moores Vice Chancellor Michael Brown fled a group of 150 angry students and their supporters in his BMW (complete with JMU 1 numberplate) this afternoon. In doing so, he postponed a showdown over his plans to cut thirty-four courses from September.Following betrayal by the NUS rep, students only found out about the cuts when they were announced in the Daily Post on 13th March, and today was

The Age Of Stupid (12A)

Written and directed by Franny ArmstrongScreening at FACT from 20th March 2009The Age Of Stupid is extremely depressing, and this isn't a good thing for a film that's supposed to make people want to save the planet. It’s not the sheer enormity of the unfolding environmental crisis it presents that’s so disheartening; it’s the lack of a perspective for rescuing our species and millions of others.

Merseyside Jobs Cull Begins

Merseyside Job Centre queues grew by the largest amount in eighteen years last month, bringing back memories of traumatic times before the 'regeneration' gold rush and the credit boom.The number of Jobseekers' Allowance claimants in the region - which officially includes Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, Halton and St Helens - increased by 7,532 in February, taking the total to 52,524. This

Climate for Change

FACT centre, Wood Street (13th March - 31st May 2009)Over the past year or so, as the global credit crunch has turned to recession and inevitable depression, the idea that the current way of organising society is unsustainable has become almost commonplace.In the United States, a relatively unknown Chicago politician has risen to the presidency, basing his whole campaign on the vague buzzword of

Three Monkeys (15)

Directed by Nuri Bilge CeylanWritten by Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Ercan KesalScreening at FACT from 6th March 2009Like the third wise monkey from the Japanese proverb, the characters in Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's latest film speak no evil, on screen at least. But suspicion and secrecy about what we don't see or hear permeates every single second of screen time, contributing to

The Class (15)

Directed by Laurent Cantet Written by François Bégaudeau (novel and screenplay), Robin Campillo and Laurent Cantet Screening at FACT from 27th February 2009It all came flooding back, as I watched this innovative Palme D'Or-winning film. All the noise, conflict, and chaos of a secondary school classroom. The standing for teachers, the ‘insolent’ banter, the wondering what the hell the lesson had