tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post5196348844232178762..comments2024-03-04T10:20:10.154+00:00Comments on Anna Chen: Madam Miaow Says: Vodafone tax protests put Left and TUC to shameMadam Miaowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-36663705020659616182010-11-07T20:01:23.024+00:002010-11-07T20:01:23.024+00:00I think the protests at Vodafone are a brilliant i...I think the protests at Vodafone are a brilliant idea. It is very difficult to defend cuts - when the local council is coming for the nursery or whatever they have control of the purse strings - but an attack on unfairness like this can have an effect. Philip Greene nearly owns the high street, advises the government on savings, and some years ago he paid a £1.2 bn dividend to his wife in Monaco, so he could be a future target. My problem is that I don't know how to get involved. Can someone tell me how to find out about London protests.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14409306278715458629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-18704877982562348212010-11-03T10:49:16.312+00:002010-11-03T10:49:16.312+00:00Brilliant post Madam Miaow. I completely agree. ...Brilliant post Madam Miaow. I completely agree. I tried to make a similar point the other night at an anti-cuts meeting up here ... Listening to speakers from the UCU and the NUS talk about their "Day of Action" march/demonstration in London next Wednesday as if it was going to be the greatest political upheaval in history was pretty frustrating. <br /><br />In hindsight I probably sounded like a cynical, desperate nihilist but I pointed out that whilst marches can ocassionally be good for raising awareness and changing public moods, they usually achieve practically nothing in meaningful political terms. Do these people really think the Tories will give a fuck if their policies are unpopular on the streets? We need to be a lot more imaginative, a lot more militant, a lot more creative, and throw a spanner in the works so the cuts are <i>unworkable in practice</i>. The Vodaphone protestors, and the workplace occupations last year, showed the forward for me. <br /><br />As you can tell, I'm utterly pissed off with the current situation! Dunno if I'll be starting any one-man actions though...D.B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17068816125711875576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-65554029294652552022010-11-01T12:50:36.347+00:002010-11-01T12:50:36.347+00:00That's interesting feedback, MSIS.
Someone to...That's interesting feedback, MSIS.<br /><br />Someone told me about the Paris Metro workers who, on strike days, leave the barriers open and allow passengers to travel for free, hitting the bosses in their pockets while giving everyone else free travel. I thought that was brilliant. Don't know what the legal situation would be here, though.<br /><br />I suspect that, once the cuts bite and we are being flayed en masse, some of the niceties regarding striking will go out the window. It is a barrier but I don;t think it's necessarily a permanent one.Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-9217432065214950922010-11-01T11:51:34.954+00:002010-11-01T11:51:34.954+00:00I showed this clip to a group of family and friend...I showed this clip to a group of family and friends last night. Most of them are employed in the public sector. All are worried about the future. All are angry. But none of them relish the idea of industrial action as a way of fighting back. This has less to do with feelings of insecurity and a reluctance to lose wages, and more to do with the feeling that such action is futile (and probably plays into the hands of the ideologues waging this war on welfare and the public service). Also there was a the feeling amongst us that when we do withdraw our labour, the only people we really hurt are the people who really on the public services we provide - students, patients, the unemployed etc.<br /><br />But it occurred to me while watching the Vodaphone protest that what public service workers really should be doing (and what the unions should be leading) is direct action protests against private sector interests.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-33668943155199610742010-11-01T05:54:27.189+00:002010-11-01T05:54:27.189+00:00Has the world fnally flipped! Or is the rock botto...Has the world fnally flipped! Or is the rock bottom we have to plumet to before we start the growth of a new spine and start "doing" something about the state of the nation!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08915236568015079389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-15263544102263787392010-10-31T16:52:09.634+00:002010-10-31T16:52:09.634+00:00Strange isn't it that we live in a political e...Strange isn't it that we live in a political environment were entertainer Paul O'Grady offers more vocal protest than many in the Labour Party and TU, and a filmmaker (no matter how good) is brought on to lock horns with right-wing politicians. <br /><br />Then again, maybe this is the start of something...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com