April 8 (France) - 150,000 electricity and gas workers marched through the streets of several cities to fight privatization. In Paris, power workers blocked the Rue de Rivoli with trucks and threw light bulbs at the offices of the Conseil d'Etat (Council of State) and Electricité de France. The strike began the day before, with workers shutting off power in many locations, causing 800 power outages across the country. In some towns, workers reconnected power to the households of families who had been cut off for not paying bills, but disconnected power to local officials and public buildings. The communist CGT union which claims to represent the workers denounced the actions, saying "We condemn this type of wild cuts. It is not the course of action that was decided upon collectively." In the city of Lille workers cut off power to street lights and removed the fuses.

April 8, Oxford (United Kingdom) - A wildcat strike by postal workers which began on March 30 continued to spread like a virus, as workers at the Royal Mail House walked off the job. "Unofficial strikes are against the law," said a company spokeswoman. The Oxfordshire Chamber of Commerce says the strike has cost local businesses over £500,000 pounds. The wave of wildcat strikes began at Oxford's main sorting office on March 30, and spread to the Cowley depot on April 6. Headington delivery staff walked out the next day, followed by the Royal Mail House workers on April 8. The strikers are fighting unsafe conditions, bullying by the bosses, and an imposed ban on overtime.


April 8 (Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada) - The province's school board is trying to get a court injunction to prevent heavy picketing by striking school employees and sabotage in the schools. Striking workers have been blocking school busses from entering parking lots, and the schools themselves have had toilets plugged, windows broken, and paint thrown on their floors. The school board believes that it is striking workers and not students who are responsible for the damage, since janitors have night-time access to the buildings. The union denies the charges. 20,000 public sector workers throughout the province have been on strike since April 1st.


April 5, Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Subway workers won back their six hour work day and forced the reinstatement of those fired for taking part in the wildcat strike which began on April 1st. 2,500 people also held a solidarity festival, with music and banners, outside one of the subway stations. The installation of ticket machines is still up for negotiation.


April 5, Montreal (Quebec, Canada) - More than 300 workers walked off the job at the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine psychiatric hospital in a wildcat strike to fight the termination of 24 full-time maintenance and restaurant jobs.

April 4, Buenos Aires (Argentina) - The city's five subway lines remained paralyzed, as workers continued a wildcat strike against a negotiated agreement between their union, the Metrovías company and the Department of Labor, which will increase their working day to seven hours and install ticket machines. The workers released a statement explaining that they rejected the deal signed by their union and will defend their current six hour work day. They also pointed out that ticket machines would increase unemployment and precariousness, which Argentina already knows too well.
Company staff showed up for work on April 4th, but were prevented from operating the trains when about 30 rebel workers blocked the tracks. The Metrovías company’s communications director claimed to have seen union officials threatening workers. Workers occupied the stations and slept in them over night.
On April 2nd, the day after the strike began, the company announced it would fire 50 of the striking workers. The workers say they will continue the strike indefinitely until the fired workers are hired back and the agreement between the union and company is declared void.

Insurrectionary Anarchists of the Coast Salish Territories
(Vancouver, Canada)
www.geocities.com/insurrectionary_anarchists