IMC UK - Sheffield - Social Struggles

Defend Disability Benefits

14-05-2006 16:55 | Health | Social Struggles | Sheffield

Sheffield Welfare Action Network (SWAN) is one of the lead organisations in the campaign against the proposed welfare reforms. They are organising the forthcoming People's March and Rally Against the IB cuts, a national demonstration on the 17th June being held in Sheffield. SWAN has been steadily helping build the campaign and seen opposition grow to the draconian welfare reforms as their implications become clear. There is also a benefit concert in aid of SWAN on the 20th May.

Striking for Pensions

30-03-2006 11:10 | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements | Sheffield

Thousands of people employeed by Sheffield Council and Sheffield Hallam University and others struck on 28th March 2006 in defence of their pension agreements. There were picket lines in front of buildings across the city and there was a rally on the Town Hall steps at lunch time. The strike was supported by the Trades Council.

This one day strike was part of a national day of action and further strike are possible if the government doesn't back down. Some activists are concerned that the union leaders are prepared to sell out future employees by just looking at securing protection for the pensions of existing employees.

World Allows Second Disaster to Hit Kashmir

08-01-2006 21:37 | Social Struggles | Sheffield | World

With over 3 million people homeless following the October Earthquake the winter disaster long predicted by NGOs [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 ] has now arrived.

Over Xmas a delegation from Sheffield visited the affected region helped by the JKLF. The daily hardships faced by survivors in Balakot, Muzaffrabad, Lagubura and Kamsar were plain to see as was the determination of the aid workers and victims of the quake. Despite the scale of the disaster and the incredible storys of survival, the mainstream media is giving little coverage to what is now a second catastrophe.

There is a screening of the film produced by the delegation on 11th Feb 2006 at SIF.

Buses for people not profit

24-11-2005 12:42 | Social Struggles | Sheffield

300 people demonstrated in Sheffield on 19th November 2005 against bus fare rises and cuts in services [callout | reports and photos]. Fares on First buses in Sheffield have gone up four times in the last year and since the privatisation of the bus service journeys made in South Yorkshire have fallen from 350 million a year to 112 million last year and there has been a corresponding increase in car usage, congestion and pollution.

In addition to the demonstration a group of activists put on a free bus service — "Some people believe in asking large corporations for cheaper services so that there is less profit made. Whilst we understand that this is a desirable goal we go one step further to ask for a co-operative way of living, where no profit is produced."

The demonstration was organised by We Want Our Buses Back (WWOBB) and they also held a lobby of the Sheffield City Council meeting on Weds 7th December where they presented a 5,000 name petition.

Film Listings for Sheffield Indymedia ALT.DOC.FEST 2

20-11-2005 19:00 | Culture | Indymedia | Social Struggles | Sheffield

The full list of films is now out for the Sheffield Indymedia's second alternative documentary festival: Alt.Doc.Fest 2: Films from the Frontline 24-26th November at Matilda Social Centre, 111 Matilda Street.

You can download the programme as a PDF file below

Activist who visited Sheffield now in Israeli Prison

Kelly, one of two activists who visited Sheffield in April to talk about Palestine and show a film, has now been imprisoned in Israel for filming.

Bhopal: 20 years on

03-12-2004 14:33 | Health | Social Struggles | Sheffield | World

The Bhopal Disaster of 1984 killed thousands of people in the Indian city of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. It was caused by the accidental release of forty tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) from a Union Carbide pesticide plant located in the heart of the city. This event remains the worst industrial disaster in history with significant injuries to at least 50,000 people.

The MIC leak began shortly after midnight on December 3, 1984. The vapors killed more than 2,000 people outright and injured anywhere from 150,000 to 600,000 others, some 6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries.

To commemorate the lives lost in the disaster Sheffield Indymedia has arranged for a screening of the film Bhopal Express to be shown at 6:30pm Sunday 5th December at The Showroom Cinema in Sheffield with all proceeds from the film to be donated to the Bhopal Medical Appeal.

Indymedia India has a number of articles about the disaster: Fast for clean up of Bhopal Factory Site | Cloud over Bhopal | Students at 60 Colleges on Five Continents Demand Justice

South Yorks Bus Strike - Victory after 21 days

29-07-2004 12:26 | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements | Sheffield

South Yorkshire bus workers agreed to return to work on 10th August after being on all-out strike for 21 days for better pay and conditions. This strike is been the longest bus workers strike on the UK for 30 years. The first strike web site has an article about the victory on day 21 and a bus worker posted a comment here:

First and foremost we stuck together and won the good fight. We are back to work without conceding benefits to pay for the rise...
thank you to all the passengers of first buses who are polite and decent to drivers and thank you to all who have supported us through the strike.
(read the full comment)

The hype in the local media about the economic impact of the strike, which was mentioned in the newswire post, industrial collapse in Sheffield resulted in a response from the Chief Exec of the Sheffield Chamber of Trade(!).

Previous bus strike feature | Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 Photos: 1 | 2

South Yorkshire Bus Strike

25-07-2004 19:57 | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements | Sheffield

Update 10 August: After 21 days out, the longest bus strike for 30 years is over, see victory after 21 days.

A significant all out strike is under way by 800 bus drivers employed by First Bus, a major multinational with annual profits in excess of £160m, the strike has been solid as it goes into its second week.

Drivers are striking for a 40 hour week, a reduction of the maximum hours a day to eight-and-a-half hours and a quicker increase in pay for 'starter rate' drivers, who currently have to wait three and a half years to earn more than £5.85 an hour! Steve Clark, the regional organiser for the TGWU, says "Clearly we are in for the long haul".

Debt and Poverty

01-05-2004 14:07 | Social Struggles | Sheffield

There was protest in Sheffield on Saturday 1st May outside Brighthouse, on The Moor, because it is a credit company that make huge profits by exploiting those people who don't have access to mainstream sources of debt finance. Brighthouse sell goods on credit at extortionate rates, and people who often have no other financial options end up paying double or more of the cost of the original product they buy. Brighthouse are not alone in this game, there are many more predatory lenders who profit from exploiting people who can not borrow money from banks, building societies and credit cards, and locking them further into debt. For example Provident Financial are a company who offer doorstep loans, where a typical loan could be £100 repaid at £5 a week over 30 weeks and the APR can be up to 170%!

The Sheffield Social Forum gave out a leaflet at the protest and music was provided by members of the Sheffield Samba Band and the poverty trap was illustrated with big mouse trap in a street theatre proformace. At the end of the flyering a number of protestors followed the Samba Band into the shop itself, to make the protest that little bit clearer to those inside.

Reports: [Photos] | [Sheffield Green Party: press release | photos] | [Sheffield Samba Band: photos]

Sheffield - Social Struggles

Defend Disability Benefits

Striking for Pensions

World Allows Second Disaster to Hit Kashmir

Buses for people not profit

Film Listings for Sheffield Indymedia ALT.DOC.FEST 2

Activist who visited Sheffield now in Israeli Prison

Bhopal: 20 years on

South Yorks Bus Strike - Victory after 21 days

South Yorkshire Bus Strike

Debt and Poverty

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