About Solidarity federation (SolFed)

[Cheïtanov]

Hi ! As I'm studying english in the university, I sometimes have presentations. The last one I made was about SolFed, the British section of the IWA. For the ones interested, I can send it (powerpoint) to you by mail (send me a private message). i've exchanged mails with Martin, the international secretary, in the form of an interview. Here it is !

-Why does Solidarity Federation was created so late? Was there another form of anarcho-syndicalism in Great Britain?
"SolFed was created in 94 from the Direct Action Movement and some other groups. Previously the DAM was the IWA affiliate in the UK - the DAM was founded in 1979. It included the last remnants of the Syndicalist Workers Federation (SWF) the previous affiliate. There have been no other forms of anarcho-syndicalism outside of local groups in Britain, though many anarcho-syndicalists have been in the IWW at one point or another."

-Was there an anarchist organisation under Thatcher?
"There were lots of anarchist organisations under Thatcher. She was bad, but it wasn't like any form of protest was criminalised. Nationally there was DAM, Class War and the Anarchist Communist Federation. Later on there was a platformist split from DAM called the Anarchist Workers Group (1988 I think). There were also lots of local groups."

-What are your relationships with the other British trade-unions (all reformists of course!)?
"Our relations with the British trade unions is that we are often members of them, and sometimes take shop stewards and other lay roles within them. We see working through them as unavoidable at times and this is reflected in our strategy:

from http://www.solfed.org.uk/docs/strategy/

"

We need a three-pronged approach to the business of actually setting up an independent organisation at work.

1. In a workplace with a recognised TUC union, an SF member would join the union but promote an anarcho-syndicalist strategy. This would involve organising workplace assemblies to make collective decisions on workplace issues. However, workers will still be likely to hold union cards here to avoid splits in the workplace between union members and non-union members.
2. In a non-unionised workplace, independent unions, based on the principle of collective decision-making, should be set up wherever possible.
3. In a non-unionised workplace, that is difficult to organise due to a high turnover of staff or a large number of temps, we should just call workers assemblies when a dispute arises."

-Do you work with other organisations in Great Britain?
"We work with other organisations on a local or regional level, as this is where we act. For example in London and Brighton we have worked with the Anarchist Federation on a lot of issues."

-Why is SolFed not established in Ireland?
"Historically, our Irish comrades sought to establish a cross-border organisation and to unite the working class across sectarian boundaries, While we recognise that nationalism is a dead end, we also respect the autonomy of workers in Ireland, particularly in the north, to determine their own form of organisation."

-What are your means to inform people about anarchism?
"Our methods to inform people are our publications - Direct Action, Catalyst, our website, and our activities. "

-How many members do you have per country in Great Britain? Have SolFed 's methods, actions and ideas a good echo in Great Britain?
"We have about 60 members, all bar two of whom are in England. That size probably gives a clue as to whether we have a good response."

-What was the effects of the capitalist crisis on the workers? How acted the British government to save its system?
"The crisis hit Britain hard, because of the preponderance of the financial sector and the bankruptcy of many of the banks. The govt acted to bail out the banks and now owns a majority share in Lloyds, HBOS and all of Northern Rock. It also gifted several smaller banks to larger instutions, such as Spain's Santander.There is an election this year and it is being fought on the speed of cuts to be made, no party with any chance of being elected thinks says it won't make cuts. For workers, unemployment has gone up, and in many places pay cuts and short time working have happened. All main parties promise big cuts in the public sector after the election."

-How did you react to the crisis? What about the other trade-unions?
"Our response to the crisis (and it is not unique) is to advocate fighting the cuts and the attempt by the bosses to push the austerity onto us. An example is Brighton's leaflet for a march tomorrow about "Jobs" here :
http://brightonsolfed.wordpress.com/201 ... /#more-402 "

-What are your links with the other sections of the IWA?
"We have links through the IWA to other sections, though our relatively small size means we could always try to do more. Recently we have carried out actions in support of the FAU dispute at Kino Bablyon and the Belgrade Six in Serbia. We are committed as an organisation to international solidarity, even if our size sometimes means we can only act in a token way in support of overseas struggles."

-How do you see the future?
"For the future, we need to consolidate where we are, improve our internal functioning and debates and grow our influence amongst militant workers."