Open meetings in two new cities. Discussion and art events. Prompt payment of wages owed in a dispute in Košice. Dispute with VegaNana over wages owed started in Bratislava. Solidarity with people in an emergency situation, workshop, meetings, interview and other activities. That was the year 2024 for us and here is a more detailed report on the activities.
LONG-TERM ACTIVITIES
“Are you taking on a temporary job?“
Symbolically, on 1st May we promoted the new version of the brochure dedicated to student part-time work as well as related stickers, posters and leaflets aimed at secondary schools and colleges in the area. The publication includes experiences of problems in student jobs, but also general information, the legal framework of the issue and tips and tricks on what (not) to do when problems arise.
International Week Against Unpaid Wages
In the third week of October, actions are taking place around the world as part of the “Week” declared by the International Workers’ Association (IWA). In the report on the actions, Sections and organisations close to the IWA organised probably the most varied forms of activities so far – protests, pickets, gatherings, discussion meetings, workshops, banner drops, spreading of thematic publications, stickers and posters in the streets, or sharing information online about unpaid wages. During the Week, we organised a protest action in Vienna focusing on the dispute we are having with VegaNana. Together with the Austrian section of the IWA, the Wiener Arbeiter*innen Syndikat, and former VegaNana workers Jana, Laura and Veronika, we handed over a letter to GlutenFreeX, a company that profits from working with the VegaNana pastry chef. We also distributed stickers and posters for the Week in Slovak cities and published a text calling on workers to get in touch if they have problems with unpaid wages.
PROBLEMS AT WORK
Dispute with Falco
Falco Engineering Slovakia, s.r.o. owed former employee Martin €2047.38. For three years, nothing happened, despite a court ruling. At the end of 2023, he contacted us and together we agreed on a course of action. In February 2024, we handed over the demand letter and within a week he had the money in his account.
Dispute with VegaNana
The campaign for the payment of outstanding wages and other financial claims totalling €17,252.30 has been ongoing since August 2024 and has gone through several phases. The shop was shut down just a few days after the campaign began. Subsequently, those responsible moved to another location and continued to operate in hiding with a modified business model and thanks to the substantial assistance of key accomplices in Bratislava and Vienna. The campaign continues in 2025 and further steps are being prepared as those responsible absurdly think that unless their fraud (and debt) is proven in court, it did not happen. Check https://priamaakcia.sk/tag/veganana for the latest info and ways you can show support.
In addition to these disputes, we have also been in contact with other workers. However, the problems at their workplaces did not escalate into an open dispute.
In June, we also published the story of a restaurant worker who contacted us and eventually received the wages she was owed.
PRESENTATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS
Moderated discussions
In March, we introduced a new format for presenting the activities of our union, which is more dynamic and varied. We used it for the first time in Žilina at an event connected with slam poetry performances. We continued in May in Bratislava at the United Colours of Football event and in November at the 2nd Anarchist Bookfair in Brno, Czech Republic.
The format means that 3-4 people from the PA give a presentation and answer questions from the moderator and people from the audience in a moderated discussion. The questions touch on both personal and collective aspects. They usually address our perspective on organizing and the functioning of the union (and us being in the union). For example, we talked about our activities, how we organise successful disputes and how we view the climate crisis or queer topics. We also explained how our activities are linked to the IWA, how we can organise in regions where there are no other people, how we differ from traditional trade unions, what motivates us to do activities, etc. All three events were successful and we would like to continue with this format in the future in other cities.
Workshops
In February, a workshop was held in Kubik in Trnava dedicated to graphic design. It was divided into several parts: brainstorming about graphic or text ideas, preparation of materials for the production of badges, the production itself, printing on textiles, preparation and production of stickers, printing using RISO. Thanks to the workshop we not only learned new things related to graphics, but we also made several promotional materials on our own.
SOLIDARITY ACTIVITIES
Aid to Sudanese anarchists
At the request of the French CNT-AIT, which is part of the IWA, we have joined the appeal for both financial and moral support for Sudanese anarchists. The money raised eventually helped people to get out of the war-torn country.
Solidarity with the CNT-AIT Spain
In September, we published new information on the trials of the reformist CNT-CIT against the anarcho-syndicalist CNT-AIT in Spain. The CNT-CIT has been attacking our sister organisation for several years, trying to materially damage it through the courts and threatening them with imprisonment.
DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS
All-organisational meeting
In November, we held a congress to evaluate the activities carried out and to plan the activities for the next period.
Open meetings
These meetings are for people who want to actively address issues at work, contribute their own topics to the discussion, or get involved in ongoing and planned union activities. In addition to the cities where they used to be held until 2024 (Bratislava, Trnava, Košice), we have started to organize regular meetings in Žilina and Brno, thanks to the cooperation with people from those regions. One meeting in the summer took place again in Skalica.
IWA Plenary
At the June Plenary in Bogotá, Colombia, we, along with other Sections and friendly organisations, addressed internal issues that would help to improve and make more effective the practical functioning of the IWA. Discussions included the need for training on communication safety, the effectiveness of the Week, IWA’s working group on the climate crisis (in which we participate), and other topics.
Collective reading
Collective readings are meetings in which we discuss books or shorter texts related to the workers’ movement. We have been meeting for a number of years and the most recent text we have read in 2024 was Fundamental Principles of Communist Production and Distribution by the Group of Internationalist Communists. The point of the text is expressed in the title itself. In addition to a devastating critique of state capitalism, it presents the possibilities of how to secure economic life in a free self-managed society. The reading also included the text “Communism 2023” by Karmína collective, containing Slovak translations of reflections on the GIK’s text by mostly contemporary authors.
PROMOTION ACTIVITIES
As in other years, in 2024 we visited other collectives’ and music events with our publications.
In April, the monthly magazine Kapitál published an interview with Priama Akcia union, which we also published on our website. In it, you can find out more about our approach to solving problems at work or engaging in wider social struggles.
Priama Akcia
