Hackney NOT 4 Sale

On Oct 12th, five Hackney residents occupied the head office of Nelson Bakewell property services and refused to leave until their demands were met, including the withdrawal of all community properties from auctions the following Monday. Two women locked on with d-locks. Accounts and finances workers were handed leaflets about Nelson Bakewell. At 4pm when all office employees had left to go home and leaflets had run out, the remaining two protesters unlocked and joined the rest of the group outside. There were no arrests.

Nelson Bakewell are heavily involved with the selling off of vital community services in Hackney as advisors to the council.

Contact 07752 592 740 hackney4sale@yahoo.co.uk

Workers Walk Out

Also on October 12th workers employed by Hackney Council in London’s East End went on strike against further planned cuts. Those striking included rubbish collectors, homecare assistants, parks and gardens workers and meals-on-wheels providers. Hackney Council workers face further cuts to wages and working conditions as the cash-strapped council opens up more facilities to the private sector.

Auctions Protest

Oct 15th saw a lively and noisy demo outside the Langham Hilton where Nelson Bakewell were holding an auction which included some of Hackney’s community properties. A handful of Hackney residents went inside and disrupted the auction, one woman loudly announced that the auction was closed because the buildings belonged to the people of Hackney and were therefore not for sale. After she was removed by security, others stood up and also voiced their objections, and were all eventually removed. There was a samba band outside and a spoof estate agent display was set up. Hundreds of leaflets were handed out. There were loads of police and security in vans and on all the doors but anyone who wanted to got inside.

see www.indymedia.org.uk for Hackney updates.