A-Infos (en) Britain, Anarchist journal Direct Action #42 - Organising - South London SF Act against Underpaying Restaurant; London Coalition Against Poverty

Organising - South London SF Act against Underpaying Restaurant --- A top London 
restaurant paid only £1.50 an hour to a kitchen porter. ----- Cesare Copeta, a 
member of the Solidarity Federation’s South London local, was employed by The 
Food Room, owners of The French Table restaurant in Surrey and the Tom Ilic 
restaurant in Battersea, currently listed in Time Out’s Top 50 London 
restaurants. He was employed as a kitchen porter at the Tom Ilic restaurant and 
had applied for the job through an advertisement in the Depart-ment of Work and 
Pension’s Jobcentre Plus database. ----- He worked 50 hours over a 2 weeks 
shift, but was then paid only £75. Having been paid only £1.50 per hour, he 
walked out of the job in disgust.

The South London local of Mr Copeta’s union, Solidarity Federation, wrote to the 
boss setting out our member’s legal entitlement to the National Minimum Wage, 
payment for wrongful dismissal and accrued holiday pay. We organised a picket 
outside the restaurant at 6:30pm on Thursday 7th February. At the start of the 
picket, the employer agreed to pay the member his wages at a little over the 
rate set at the National Minimum Wage and has also paid the member’s accrued 
holiday pay.

The South London local secretary, Mike Ward, said:

     The catering industry is riddled with long hours, low pay and shady 
practices. This is a far cry from the glamorous world of celebrity chefs. We are 
determined to help workers do something about the conditions they face.

If you are facing a similar situation and want to organise against it, contact 
South London SolFed on 07956 446 162.

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Organising - London Coalition Against Poverty

One of the most exciting developments in London over the last year is the 
formation of the London Coalition Against Poverty. LCAP is inspired by the 
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty in Canada, who have created a successful and 
empowering model of grassroots community organising over the last two decades. 
It brings together activists, advice workers and campaigning groups in order to 
tackle the causes and effects of poverty, merging advice work, direct action and 
libertarian organising.

LCAP’s work has been based in Hackney and, to a lesser extent, Haringey in the 
north east of London. This is a pragmatic approach, reflecting where most 
current members live or work. The main focus over the year has been combating 
Hackney Council’s Homeless Persons Unit’s (HPU) use of ‘gate-keeping’. This is 
the practice of misdirecting, lying and confusing people attempting to access 
housing. Officially ‘gate-keeping’ is illegal, but the practice is widespread 
amongst councils who attempt to manage demand for reduced housing stocks through 
making staff deny people a Homeless Person’s Interview which is their statutory 
right.

LCAP started out leafleting outside the HPU (which they still do regularly) 
informing people of their rights and asking if they had experienced 
‘gate-keeping’. Once they have a case they work by placing pressure in the form 
of public collective action on the HPU office. A typical action involves a 
letter to the council explaining their obligations followed by a visit to the 
housing offices with the person affected and between five and ten supporters who 
will refuse to leave until the person has been housed.
 
LCAP’s approach is based on ‘Direct Action Casework’ (see below) which has been 
used successfully on several occasions, in each case challenging the unlawful 
refusal of accommodation to homeless people. For example, LCAP was approached by 
a man who had lived on the streets for some time. He had approached the Housing 
Office for help and had been turned away and prevented from making a Homeless 
Person’s Application. LCAP brought five people to accompany him to the Housing 
Office and demanded that the application be accepted. The Housing Office 
responded by offering an appointment in several days time. This was not good 
enough and LCAP immediately escalated their action by leafleting the people 
waiting with information about their legal rights. Although initially 
threatening to call the police the Housing Office backed down and took the 
application the same day, providing temporary housing in a hostel.
 
LCAP has also held consultations outside Hackney HPU to collect evidence about 
‘gate-keeping’ and to get people’s ideas about what they want to see changed at 
the HPU. There have been two successful demos against ‘gate-keeping’ outside 
Hackney town hall. One was a Halloween action called ‘a Night Left on Mare 
Street’ where costumed revellers trick or treated councillors. The other was 
just before Christmas with a Dickens’ ‘Christmas Carol’ theme with the ghosts of 
Christmas past, present and yet to come exposing Hackney’s ‘gate-keeping’ 
practices. A future tactic will be to try to get the council to support a motion 
against ‘gate-keeping’ to publicise the practice and use the motion to pressure 
the council in the future.
 
LCAP seeks to empower people through solidarity rather than to duplicate the 
work of existing advice agencies. They always make clear that they are working 
to change the unjust system of which these cases are particular examples. But 
once they take on a case the priority is to win.

LCAP have started doing training days, helping people learn about doing Direct 
Action Casework and about the law around homelessness. The first one was 
attended by about 25 people who considered it a success. Whether this will 
translate into many people becoming involved is yet to be seen, although some 
were already members gaining greater confidence, knowledge and skills.
 
Other campaigns have included the Haringey Anti-poverty Initiative, looking to 
tackle issues around debt, with the dual methods of offering support and advice 
and confronting the finance companies making money out of misery. Activities 
have centred mainly on Noel Park estate including advice surgeries with the 
emphasis on using collective action and picketing Brighthouse, a company that 
specialises in fleecing people with poor credit ratings through extortionate 
interest on goods brought. In the future they hope to map the main problems in 
the area, build a support network capable of mobilising when debt collectors or 
bailiffs are in the areas and to use Direct Action Casework in bailiff cases.

LCAP have also been working with North London Action for the Homeless with 
documenting the numbers of rough sleepers and the problems they face, to gather 
evidence to counter Hackney Council’s ridiculous claim that there are only six 
street sleepers in the borough. This is a good of example of LCAP’s attempts at 
alliance building, to enable groups to share resources whilst retaining 
autonomy. LCAP is also facilitating a campaign of hostel residents who want to 
challenge the unsafe, overcrowded, unsanitary and poor conditions they are being 
forced to live in.
 
Although the successes LCAP have had have been small, they prove Direct Action 
Casework does work. The last year has seen LCAP consolidate and educate its 
membership base, build alliances, fund raise and build a solid foundation for 
future growth and action. In its second year it is looking to find a permanent 
office (it currently has a temporary one in the London Activist Resource 
Centre), expand its activities into other parts of London and apply Direct 
Action Casework to other relevant issues.
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