We have placed another entry in the menu: you can find the older contributions to the new stuff-page under older stuff. We want to keep the new stuff-page short (and the download as well).
As usual you can get a complete text-file under download.
Here the reports which were also published in the leaflet (some in a shorter verson):
(You can find the other hotlines-editions under leaflets.)
Read it (and send us more)!
We want to thank all of you who have supported us in the past few weeks and who spread infos on the ISI-attacks on www.free.de and hotlines. Thanks to your efforts this has circulated in the german- and englishspeaking areas, and many people know now what ISI stands for. Carry on!
After a chamber of the district court in Bochum (Ruhrgebiet/Germany) has rejected a second ISI-attempt to get an injunction against the provider www.free.de (again on a certain phrasing in the leaflet on ISI), this conflict is getting through to the next round. The ISI-lawyers have already announced that they will file an appeal against this latest decision.
So the www.free.de-people are still in trouble (although the hotlines-files are no longer on their computers!). For them - and other providers - this is about the question, whether they can carry on publishung uncensored contributions through their computers and the internet.
All this costs a lot of money, too,...
...so much, that the existence of providers like www.free.de is in danger.
In case you have some money left over, here are two accounts for donations:
Wissenschaftsladen e.V.
Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union(18.08.02) That's it...
for this format of the website. It will stay online though.
We will carry on circulating stuff on the situation and struggles in call centers and elsewhere. See on the website
www.prol-position.net.
Furthermore, the book on the experiences during the call center-inquiry will be out in September. You will find a web-version on
www.nadir.org/kolinko.
Check it out!
(21.06.02) Summer!
We have not put much on the hotlines-page recently. That is due to the fact that we are also busy with other stuff... But first of all, we are currently writing a longer text on the experiences with the call-center-intervention. That will be published by late August. More on this website.
If you want to be informed then, please, send us an email:
hotlines@motkraft.net
Stay tuned!
(20.06.02) hotlines no.3 and no.4 in Italian
People from Bologna have translated hotlines no.3 and 4 into Italian and are distributing it in call centers there. Thanks a lot!
Here they are:
hotlines n.3: senso e nonsenso del lavoro
hotlines n.4: sulle lotte dei lavoratori nei call-center
(07.03.02) Another italian translation, this time...
... hotlines no.2 (on the intensification of work in call centers). Thank you again to the comrades in Italy. Read it or pass it on: hotlines n.2: chiamata dopo chiamata - sull'intensificazione del lavoro.
(06.03.02) Experiences of a waitress...
... in an irish pub in ruhr.germany. "This was written to share the experience of one waitress with others. We often work in small places for short times, but if we all stand together we have a chance to fight back against the crap we get at work.. This starts with sharing what is going on..."
Here it is: irish stew: experiences of a waitress.
(23.02.02) More on the cleaning-workers in Italy
The planned strikes were cancelled after the railway-company FS asked for new negotiations. Here is a second report on the cleaning-workers in Italy and a leaflet written by people from Milano.
(18.02.02) Cleaning workers working for the railways in Italy make a slow-down and blockades
Here is a report on the strike of cleaning workers in Italy. It makes clear that we, the workers, have to give a clear answer to the crisis and the bosses attempts to make us pay for it...
(01.02.02) The italian translation...
... of hotlines no.1 (on the extension of the working hours in call centers) has just been finished. Thanks to the comrades in Italy who have done it. In case you want to pass it on: hotlines n.1: volantino contro l’estensione flessibile dell’orario di lavoro nei call-center
(13.01.02) Strikes in Florence and wildcats in Sicily
Today two things from Italy: Firstly, call for a strike at Telecom Italia in Florence for the 15th of January. Unfortunately, it consists purely of demands and does not address the work conditions themselves.
We forward this call - like others before - so you can get a picture of the conflicts there. Still, we have a critique for the unionist orientation. In case you want to read more on that, see the for instance the hotlines-leaflet no.4: workers' struggles (in call centers).
Secondly, a contribution from the pamphlet "Gatto selvaggio" (wild cat) on a "strike" at Atesia in Caltanissetta (Sicily). November last year the 500 workers had enough, after weeks without calls - and without income, because they get paid by the call! Before that the workers got hardly 1200 DM (600 Euro) a month fulltime. And while these Atesia-workers got no calls and no money, Atesia continued to hire workers for other departments...
See also the first contribution on Atesia from May 2001.
(08.01.02) Mailing-List
We have established a mailing-list. Some people do not manage to get to this site on a regular base. Besides, there isn't something new every day. That is, why you could take part in the mailing-list. We will send you an overview of the current contributions once or twice a month. Urgent things will be sent out immediately.
You can enrol here: mailing-list.
(From now on the mailing-list will also appear in the menu on the left.)
(29.12.01) Strike at McDonald's in Paris
Have you ever worked in fish n' chips-joints, fast-food kitchens, restaurants or the popcorn-corner of a cinema-center? As a cook, waitress, kitchen-help or pouring out Coca Cola?
In that case you can imagine the joy we felt hearing about the strike in Paris!
We document a leaflet from prols for never-ending mclunchbreaks which has been handed out to workers at Rhein and Ruhr together with a leaflet from Paris (sorry, this one just in French and German).
McDoIt. Any time is a good time for a strike!
(14.12.01) Holy shit...
... we were offline for a few weeks because the provider motkraft had problems.
Ok, we are back and will try to put all the stuff that's piling up here on the site in the next few days and weeks ;-)
Let's start with this: There was another strike action in the Toscana... Generally, it seems that it's getting tense in Italy. More than 200.000 on the metal workers' demonstration in Rome, last week a general strike (although only for a few hours). Let's see what comes next.
Here is the call from people of the base union FLMU for a strike in all Telecom call centers. They have concluded from the last strike on the 10th of December:
"We need to adjust the forms of struggle to the changes in the organisation of work. When today the workers of the 187 of Telecom Italia in the Toscana go on strike, even with a high turnout, that has hardly an effect on the company, because the strike is being "amortized" by the 187 in Liguria. The same goes for other call centers. Furthermore, the strike becomes "blunt", because the work is given to other companies: The calls for the 187 are transferred to Atesia. The logical consequence is, that initiatives for struggles have to be extended to all call centers of a company, in order to show some effect. Not only that: It is necessary to include the associated companies into the struggle, like for instance Atesia."
(There is more on Telecom Italia and Atesia under reports... See also under 27.10. and 12.10.)
Stay tuned
prols
(07.11.01) Over 300 days on strike at Korea Telecom
This is the report on the strike of casual workers that a korean comrade has sent to us.
See also the earlier report: "If we have a sin, it is only that we are part-time workers"
(31.10.01) article on call centers in italy
Here is an article from the monthly newsletter of the Italian base union FLMU. It is active in offices and call centres of Telecom Italia, the mobile branch TIM and other telecommunication companies.
You find some information on call centres in Italy. Interestingly, there is also a regional split of the call centres in Italy: Here the pay and conditions of workers in East Germany are worse than for example in the Ruhr area, and in Italy the same is the case for workers in the South, where the conditions are worse than those in Milan, for example. Call centres can base themselves in a small Sicilian town - as long as they could find the workforce there - which hast to graft for its lousy pay.
The title of the report, "A new class of exploited, prepared to rise", is a bit vague. There are, to be sure, permanently daily and hourly strikes in the Telecom Italia and TIM call centres against the conditions of work and currently against closures of call centres and jobs being relocated to other towns. Sometimes they are organised just by the base unions, sometimes together with the "official" unions (CGIL, CSIL, UIL: comparable with the DGB/Germany or TUC/Britain). But it seems a bit premature to talk about the possibility of a new offensive (and the article does not really explain that).
However: After the clashes at the G8 meeting in Genoa - and in Italy there was a broad mobilisation (also by base unions, in companies...) - and the announcements of the right government under Berlusconi to abolish the labour laws (protection against unlawful dismissal...), there was much talk of a "Hot Autumn" in Italy. So far that has not really happened. In any case, it is worth taking a closer look at the developments in Italy...
Here ist the article from Bip, Bip.
(29.10.01) leaflet on call center in france
This is the french version: leaflet from Lulu ("téléprospecteur" payé au SMIC horaire). The leaflet was written by a worker from IFB and distributed by activists of the CNT/AIT (anarcho-syndikalists) in Toulouse in front of the call center in order to denounce the lousy conditions. The next day 20 were sacked (out of 55). They want to continue their struggle.
Comrades from the CNT promised to send an english translation soon...
(27.10.01) on the strike at Telecom Italia
Here is the press release of the base union that organised the countrywide strike at the call centers of Telecom Italia earlier this month.
(17.10.01) ... changes on the prol-position-site ...
Over the last weeks we have discussed a lot about the "anti-globalisation"-mobilising, the attacks in the US and the so-called "war against terrorism". All this is about not less than the crisis of capitalism and the conditions for future struggles against exploitation and for a different and better life.
For these discussions we have created a space on the startpage where we publish our contributions - and those of others. Besides, we will carry on writing and circulating stuff on the conflicts in call centers.
Cheers
prols
(12.10.01) call for a strike at the call centers of Telecom Italia
We document the call for a strike for the 15th of October which we have translated quickly.
(26.09.01) Link to kolinko-website
On the startpage you can now find a link to the recently revised kolinko-website with more texts on the background and aims behind the "hotlines"-leaflets and this website.
A good overview is the kolinko-interview with the anarcho-syndikalist paper "Direkte Aktion".
Have fun reading it!
(25.09.01) Leaflet on the developments in the US and here
The attacks in New York and Washington and the - by many governments - declared "war on terrorism" will have drastic effects on our situation. Already the attacks are used as an explanation for more redundancies (e.g. airlines) and for a deeper crisis.
Some people in Ruhrgebiet have written this leaflet. So far there are translations in German, English, French, Spanish, Turkish, Serbo-croatian and portuguese.
Send your remarks, critique, etc. to prol-position@motkraft.net
(31.07.01) Holidays!
We take a break of one month, will lie in the sun, go swimming and be really lazy for a while.
In case you have important news, critique, etc., please, keep sending it to hotlines@motkraft.net.
Have a nice summer!
Stay tuned
prols
(14.07.01) hotlines-leaflet number 4 is out!
It took some time: the last leaflet of the series. Here it is:
hotlines 4: workers' struggles
You find the german edition under neuigkeiten Date: 14.07.01) and the german textfile under runterladen.
british telecom/britain
audioservice/berlin
hotline gmbh/berlin
adm/berlin
verizon/usa
citibank/bochum
isi/bochum.essen.duesseldorf
(13.07.01) Short report on strike at Korea Telecom (KT)
After the asian crisis three years ago the conditions for most workers in South Korea have deteriorated dramatically. Many confrontations are developing along the same lines as over here: low wages, insecure contracts, temp work, lousy working conditions.
Here a short report on the strike at Korea Telecom (KT). We are trying to get more information (which is difficult due to language problems).
Here the whole letter we have got, which also describes other conflicts: report on confrontations in South Korea.
(09.07.01) Bin Men Wildcat
Nice to have some inspiring experiences these days. Here is a report on the wildcat-strike of bin men in Brighton/England. It describes the experiences of this struggle, the organisation of it, the relation of permanent and agency workers and that of workers and (outside) activists who supported the strike with direct actions.
All these questions are also relevant for us concerning the situation in call centers and other sectors. This is how the authors express it:
"This pamphlet is written with the specific aim of communicating the experiences from our participation in this struggle, which was not simply guided by the enthusiasm that it gave us, but because we recognised in their struggle part of our own. The hope is to further communicate this experience to our own workplaces and to use the lessons that we can learn from it in our next encounters against capital's domination of our lives. Nothing is lost. As it was once said, so long as the class struggle exists, all hopes are allowed."
(13.06.01) "Not again!? ISI is so boring!"
(Did someone say. It's an opinion. Or an insult? Can we report that without permission?)
For the fun of it you could type "ISI Marketing" into a search-engine and see how many critical reports come up. And what kind of words appear in connection with ISI! Revolting, but: virtual reality!
account-no.: 414 860 - 466
bank: Postbank Dortmund
bank code: 440 100 46
key word: Meinungsfreiheit
account-no: 96 152 201
bank:Postbank Hamburg
bank code: 200 100 20
key word: FREE
(11.06.01) New provider for prol-position and hotlines
Today this site has moved to another provider because we don't want to create more problems for our previous one, www.free.de.
As reproted here before: The company ISI Marketing is putting pressure on www.free.de by getting court injunctions against a leaflet and a report (just in german). Neither one was actually written by www.free.de but instead by a collective that publishes the hotlines-leaflets. ISI does not want to understand that.
But this is about something else, too: We are witnessing attacks on a provider who gives left- wing projects the opportunity to publish its texts and opinions. ISI tries to involve the provider into expensive legal battles by getting court injuctions, battles that the provider can hardly afford. ISI just cites some terms from the leaflet and refers to the "law against unfair competition". No word on the working conditions, on the content of the leaflet and report at all. ISI knows why.
For hotlines this is not just about ISI. This is one case out of many (just some company...). Of course, people like ISI-boss Steinbach must understand, that workers do not put up with working conditions and fight against them. But that is done by the workers themselves, not us.
The hotlines-leaflets shall support the discussion among workers and give information on the chances for struggles and the weak points of the companies. Where could and can workers win? What are the conditions in other work-places? How do we overcome the defensive situation?... Behind all this lies the hope that though the struggles we get to a new self-confidence, to a situation where we attack and overcome the whole wage-slavery.
They will not make us shut-up!
(01.06.01) Presentation of Zona Industriale No. 4 (Bologna)
This page is part of the prol-position-website which is also used by the Collettivo Rete Operaia from Bologna and their paper Zona Industriale. They are investigating and intervening in conflicts and struggles in and around Bologna.
Here is the presentation of Zona Industriale No.4, which shortly describes their current activity and summarizes this edition's articles.
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