When we took part in the 2019 climate strikes, we couldn’t imagine that further protests would be paralysed by pandemic. And when the pandemic came, it seemed that, with the apparent decline of some industries some, the state of the planet would improve, at least minimally. But it turns out that we are actually worse off than we thought. The last two years have confirmed that, if there is any hope, the necessary changes will have to address the real causes of the problems. And much more than just touch. Capitalism and the system of decision-making through the state must sink into oblivion and we must build something better.

We are happy to announce that, as part of the International Week Against Unpaid Wages, we prepared an English version of our pamphlet related to our workplace conflicts between years 2015 and 2019. The publication called "How We Coped with Problems at Work. Conflicts of Priama Akcia Union in 2015-2019" provides a detailed description of conflicts in all their stages. It contains photos from actions, interviews with the workers, leaflets and a short analysis of hospitality sector where most of the conflicts took place.

Below you will find an annual recap of our activities during the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parliamentary elections and pandemic-related campaigns, solidarity actions, two new publications on workplace struggles and anarchosyndicalism, International Week Against Unpaid Wages in Slovakia and abroad. And more.

On Friday 25th to Sunday 27th June 2021 the IWA Plenary and Extraordinary Congress took place. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions both meetings were organised online, not in-person in Bratislava as was initially planned. Most of the IWA-AIT affiliates (Sections and Friends) were able to attend. Since it was online, our meetings were not interrupted by repressive regimes and travel visas. In the report that follows we summarise what was discussed and how Priama Akcia as the host Section of the IWA-AIT evaluates the meetings.

During the third week of October (12th-18th) the first International Week Against Unpaid Wages took place. It was established by the International Workers’ Association (IWA/AIT) to highlight the phenomenon of unpaid wages and how we can fight it in the anarchosyndicalist manner. The IWA secretariat, Priama Akcia (PA) and other unions wrote their statements regarding the topic. Furthermore, unions of the IWA informed about the Week in the countries they are active and reminded their older or actual conflicts related to the issue. Here is the summary of all activities from 14 countries and our evaluation of the Week.

We live in a society where we have to work for money to survive. We need money for food, housing, education, healthcare but also for culture, recreation, leisure activities etc. Often, we struggle to cover all our costs, so when we aren’t paid for our work at all, the consequences are drastic for us and the people who rely on us. In response to this widespread phenomenon the International Workers’ Association (IWA) decided to set the third week of October as the International Week Against Unpaid Wages. Throughout this week, the unions federated in the IWA will inform about the issue and how they approach it in practice.

When we face a problem at work and think about how to solve it, more often than not we face difficulties. Sometimes we manage to work them out quickly, other times it can be really demanding or even more than we can handle. Still, it’s almost always true, that it is easier when there’s more of us and we act together. Therefore we reach out to you – to everyone who wants to actively solve problems in the workplace and share their experience. Let’s help each other. Hereby we also introduce the first point of our campaign „COVID-19 Crisis: We are not on the same boat!“ dedicated to the consequences of the pandemic for workers.

The English broadcast of RTVS (national radio service) called Slovakia Today prepared a very good, more than 20 minutes long special dedicated to the First of May. It included an interview with a member of our union, who spoke about workers’ struggles during the COVID-19 crisis. She also mentioned activities of some of the Sections of the International Workers’ Association and our campaign We Are Not On The Same Boat! (minutes 10:15 to 12:45). You can listen to the 1M special (in English) here: https://www.rtvs.sk/radio/archiv/1487/1327603.

Last year we commemorated First May by organizing an arts exhibition Shortly before that, we won in another workplace conflict and we thought it could be interesting to point out that workers’ struggles are not only about workplaces. They are primarily about our creativity. And we need it even more at the time of layoffs, unpaid and lowered wages, and suppression of our rights and freedoms. Therefore, this year on First May we are launching a campaign „COVID-19 Crisis: We are not on the same boat!“ .

Quite a busy period is behind us. Again, we organized workplace conflicts, were present at public actions and showed solidarity to IWA sections as well as social movements in France and Chile. We restarted public “open meetings” with our union and informed about workers’ struggles on our website and Facebook page. See the full report in English and Spanish below.

As a union we wrote a statement related to today’s protest and also participated in person as part of the “dark green” block that marched behind the big banner of Bod obratu collective “Let’s change the system, not the climate”.

In the last few months the global climate change movement has made a significant step and approached the workers. One of the first results is the Climate Strike taking place on 20th September. In the struggle against the climate catastrophe, the workers’ movement faces a challenge it has to deal with. Although the challenge is not new, it requires greater attention than before.

Several sections of the International Workers‘ Association responded to the call for solidarity from French CNT-AIT. So far we have heard about ZSP in Poland, KRAS in Russia, SolFed in UK and NSF in Norway. In Slovakia, Priama akcia organized a visit to the French embassy in Bratislava.

Recently, an unpleasant thing happened to our comrades from WAS union: their organizational finances were stolen. So, together with another collective which faced the same problem, they decided to organize a benefit party on Saturday 29th July, to which they also invited us. Last time we met in Bratislava in 2014, when we organized an international conference entitled Problems at Work?, so we were curious how our comrades have been doing since then.

We would like to ask you to show solidarity with Mia, who is together with Priama akcia in conflict with Space Mania café. You can send a protest e-mail directly to the boss Viera Pierce, who refuses to pay owed money to her former worker Mia. The total owed sum is 222.44 €. Since October 2017, Mia has been trying to get her unpaid wage, but her boss ignored her written requests as well as protest actions she organized together with her friend in front of the café. In December 2017 Priama akcia entered into the conflict concerning Mia's unpaid wage. The article contains all the background details a a template of a protest e-mail.

Last year in June, Priama akcia won a conflict related to owed wages. We informed about the conflict the same month. This year we created a short video from the footage we made during the conflict, which you can watch here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0xSaAGVAXg (includes English subtitles). Feel free to share and spread.

On Saturday 18th of March, the Presentation of Anarcho-Syndicalist Groups took place in the Prague autonomous center Klinika. The event was organized by the Prague solidarity network Solis with speakers from Solis, Lithuanian solidarity network Gyvenimas per brangus (Life Is Too Expensive), Solidarity network Chceme bydlet! (We Want Housing!) and two sections of the International Workers’ Association (ZSP and PA). We hereby thank Solis for the invitation and organization of the event. Here are a few of our observations.