London Mayday - Suited and Booted with the Hijackers

[zygote]

The only suit I own is silver so I guess I'll have to dust off my 'court' attire.

(and hope I won't need it again a few days later)

 

[Balbi]

This would appear to be the plan for the day then

 

[In Bloom]

Whats the alternative? Marching with a load of stalin worshippers?

Well, we're opening a social centre in Liverpool that day, which is nice

I don't know what it's like in London, but surely a few mental Leninists aren't a good reason to totally abandon a perfectly good opportunity to get a good public presence out and distribute some prop?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

But a lot of people working in the city - admin people etc - aren't necessarily earning that high salaries...

No, but they usually shell out for a good pair of shoes, in order to fit in.

 

[yokerist]

I think, to be honest that's part of the plan. We're trying to get away from a Them Vs Us point of view. Were going to try and embrace the beast, and promote this via MySpace, Office email forwards, party mailing lists, and everything else, so hopefully it won't just be activists who come along to play.

It's partially about saying that we are all getting shafted by "the man", so let's get together and see if we can shake things up a bit. That campaigning for workers rights isn't just done by unemployed troublemakers, and that we are all going to be affected by climate change, so let's start working together. Business is going to have to change, as are we all.

Taking on the 8 hour day theme, i think the plan is to kick off at 5pm (when we should all finish work). Then encouraging a party, socialising and play in a space which is usually so rigid and formal.

So this the relaunch of Mayday?? You wanna go and frolick about and have a laugh with city workers?

Is this fresh and exciting critical anti capitalism???

Shit sorry is this the K Hole thread????

 

[Bristly Pioneer]

well we want to go a frolick around and have a laugh whilst taking the piss out of authority figures and not playing but the rules. These are all things that have made mayday, mayday, for several centuries.

Joining in with that is a promotion of respect for the rights of workers, and our environment. As you know Mayday has been linked with social struggles for over a hundred years.

If we can encourage city workers to come and play, bunk off work and join us in turning the place upside down, then in my opinion, all the better. If we can encourage them to make a spectacle of themselves in public, then there is already a chip in their armour. It's something that Mayday has been lacking for the last few years, playing and a sense of humour.

If we can turn it into more than a bunch of angry activists squaring off against the police, so that the daily mail can get their riot porn photo's then that has to be worth it.

 

[Bristly Pioneer]

There is now a pdf invite for people to email out, or print out here:

http://www.spacehijackers.org/mayday07/invite.pdf

A secret band is going to be coming along, and we are in talks with a radio station to help us with our dispersed sound system.

 

[Taxamo Welf]

It's something that Mayday has been lacking for the last few years, playing and a sense of humour.

was your last years action not funny then?

 

[Bristly Pioneer]

Well I think so, but I get the impression that people have always tended to view our actions as a bit of an oddity stuck on the side of "real mayday". So we try and encourage a bit of humour from the sidelines.

 

[Groucho]

The shoes are the dead giveaway. Business types usually drop a couple of hundred bucks on a pair of shoes.

You can borrow your brother's suit, but the shoes probably won't fit. The cops will just have to look down.

No, cos there's city workers and city workers. They may all wear suits but whilst many are on shit loads some are like Bradly in Eastenders - office juniors.

 

[Groucho]

thye are perhaps equally useless. However one aims to have a playful take on the ritualised cat and mouse game between 'protestor' and police officer and one aims to put anarchism or socialism across to potentially interested parties.

Both events could have the same effect - to get people interested in anarchism or socialism and the cause and effects of inequality. Its just a matter of approach and its up to you, the discerning communist to decide which you prefer.

furthermore, marching with stalinists doesn't clash with dress-up day do you can do bothe

What? Aren't they both on May Day - 1st May? Anyway the Stalinists will be a minority on the march. eta Oh I see it's 5pm so doesn't clash with the march.

Don't forget striking Civil Servants and cleaners protesting shite pay will be on the streets this year too.

 

[free spirit]

Don't forget striking Civil Servants and cleaners protesting shite pay will be on the streets this year too.

cool - do they have suits?

 

[gabi]

Hey kids - i work in the city - dont wear a suit tho, none of my colleagues do either. dont let that get in the way of ya predjudiced generalizations tho! go n blow £200 on saville row...

this gets done every year by the way, outside liverpool st station. not sure if its your lot - bunch of 'protestors' dressed in suits being ker-azzee...

i normally amble down to have my lunch and watch, but its generally a letdown, none of the 'suits' even bother to get off their blackberries long enough to notice.

 

[treelover]

wanker

 

[Bristly Pioneer]

go n blow £200 on saville row...

Have you ever been to saville row?? you might get a shirt or tie for that.

 

[smokedout]

what gives you the right to claim you are relaunching mayday, have you liaised with any other groups, are you having open meetings, has consensus been reached within the anarchist movement for this relaunch, and if so why the snide remarks about the tuc march

how do people get involved in the organisation, is this an anarchist event or just a load of top down art school bollocks done in the hope you can get your names in the papers

do you have a plan if 500 people turn up and it kicks off, have you got legal support, medics on hand, plans to resist the police, are you going to be taking genuine direct action or just prancing about on the pavement like a bunch of christians

are you actually capable of organising an event like this, or will it just be an embarrassing bunch of muppets entertaining the bankers and making fools of themselves

just askin'

 

[Thora]

Yeah, do you have medics or what BP??

If there's no medics then I'm not going.

 

[gabi]

wanker

grow up - or fuckin graduate. one or the other.

 

[gabi]

what gives you the right to claim you are relaunching mayday, have you liaised with any other groups, are you having open meetings, has consensus been reached within the anarchist movement for this relaunch, and if so why the snide remarks about the tuc march

how do people get involved in the organisation, is this an anarchist event or just a load of top down art school bollocks done in the hope you can get your names in the papers

do you have a plan if 500 people turn up and it kicks off, have you got legal support, medics on hand, plans to resist the police, are you going to be taking genuine direct action or just prancing about on the pavement like a bunch of christians

are you actually capable of organising an event like this, or will it just be an embarrassing bunch of muppets entertaining the bankers and making fools of themselves

just askin'

from what ive seen medics aint exactly required... this lots not exactly gonna be taking roy and troy from the barclays trading floor. from someone who works in the city and sincerely hates a lot of what goes on there, i wish some mutha would actually rip the pink shirts off their perma-tanned chests... but it just dont work like that, pragmatically. pfft..

i make my living there... i draw pictures for their use (im a g designer there)... judge me as u will, but fuck - adolosecent shit like this makes a laughing stock of you all amongst anybody who actually has the power to change anything. do what u will tho!

ill carry on filling the ears of those that can change some shit with what i believe can/could/should be changed. so fuck off treelover. u have no fucking idea, believe me.

 

[DrRingDing]

I think Gabi should lay off the coke.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Seconded.

 

[gabi]

Hehe... Bless... if only...

 

[gabi]

I seriously wish u guys all the luck in the world on this, but fuck - ive been workin there about 3 years and this is NOT original. unless u have something up ya sleeve... ?

ill wait n see... i hope ya do... it takes a lot to get these assholes out of their torpor...

 

[8ball]

I seriously wish u guys all the luck in the world on this, but fuck - ive been workin there about 3 years and this is NOT original. unless u have something up ya sleeve... ?

I'm gonna sneak into the Commodities Exchange and buy titanium when their backs are turned

 

[nosos]

dont let that get in the way of ya predjudiced generalizations tho!

Stop racism against city workers!

 

[nosos]

ill carry on filling the ears of those that can change some shit with what i believe can/could/should be changed. so fuck off treelover. u have no fucking idea, believe me.

Gabi - changing the city from the inside, one man at a time.

 

[treelover]

er, KE are you referring to me, i have no interest in this, been there, done it, but snidey remarks from G are no help


seconded

 

[Bristly Pioneer]

what gives you the right to claim you are relaunching mayday, have you liaised with any other groups, are you having open meetings, has consensus been reached within the anarchist movement for this relaunch, and if so why the snide remarks about the tuc march

how do people get involved in the organisation, is this an anarchist event or just a load of top down art school bollocks done in the hope you can get your names in the papers

do you have a plan if 500 people turn up and it kicks off, have you got legal support, medics on hand, plans to resist the police, are you going to be taking genuine direct action or just prancing about on the pavement like a bunch of christians

are you actually capable of organising an event like this, or will it just be an embarrassing bunch of muppets entertaining the bankers and making fools of themselves

just askin'

We said were relaunching mayday, because that's what we do every year, to try and liven up proceedings a bit. Except for last year when we held a (tongue in cheek) police victory party at the Bank Of England. As for the TUC march, each to their own, but I know I'm tired of marching, and much prefer to dance.

It's not a top down thing at all, our group is open for anyone to join, so long as they have secret agent skills. Plans are come up with on our boards, and at our monthly meetings. We even held an open planning session at Reclaim The Future. "Relaunching the Mayday Brand"
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/04/366791.html

If 500 people turn up, then ace! We've held much bigger events before, and they were great fun. We managed to get about 2000 people down onto several Circle Line trains for a huge party a few years ago, there was no real trouble (Sloane Square station was shut down, the circle line stopped and a street party started, but no fisticuffs). There was only one arrest (sorry dubversion) but thankfully he was let off (because he hadn't done anything). This time we are trying to sort legal eagles, but probably not medics.

If you fancy coming along you're more than welcome, if you belong to an anarchist group who want to come and play, then bring them too. We're not trying to tell you what to do, simply offer up another alternative as there isn't much choice out there at the moment.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

er, KE are you referring to me, i have no interest in this, been there, done it, but snidey remarks from G are no help


seconded

Eh?

 

[Taxamo Welf]

Yeah, do you have medics or what BP??

If there's no medics then I'm not going.

genuine question Thora - do you enjoy these kind of events? Like do you enjoy clowning and dressing up and that?