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Catalyst #29 (Feb 2012)The great workfare scandal - thousands forced to do unpaid work for their benefits Resisting, questioning, creating - 101 years of International Women's Day Victory for the Sparks - Electricians beat back BESNA cuts to pay and conditions Interview - John Foley, the man behind the 'RyanAir don't care' campaign Plus: your basic rights at work, pensions 'sell out', letters, international round up and much more. Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #28 (October 2011)With friends like these, who needs enemies? To beat the cuts, workers need to act independently of the trade union laws... and it's already happening. Dispatches from the frontlines: Three London education workers speak about cuts, organising and casualisation in the sector. Victory for the cleaners: unofficial action by Senate House and Guildhall cleaners gets results in London. Sparks fly: electricians direct action over pay cuts. Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #27 (June 2011)Stop work to stop the cuts? Why striking against the cuts makes sense on June 30 and beyond. Striking back: In-depth centrefold feature on strike action, including an illustrated timeline of strikes in Britain and a graph plotting falling strike days against rising inequality. Victory against Office Angels: Direct action solidarity wins a temp's stolen wages. This year's war: From Iraq to Libya - where there's oil there's 'humanitarian intervention'. Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #26 (March 2011)Winning the argument or winning the fight: where next after March 26? Austerity Britain: centrefold feature on austerity and the resistance. Levenshulme Baths saved: 20-day campaign gets results. North African revolts: calls for 'bread and freedom' spread. Know your rights: basic rights at work. Comment: crisis in care. Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #25 (December 2010)
Actions speaks louder: Did the trashing of Tory HQ at Millbank in November mark the start of a militant anti-cuts movment? Housing benefit cuts spark poverty fears: We interview a claimant. 'All joined up': An interview with a French teacher who participated in the general strike and economic blockades there. Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #24 (Summer 2010)NOT all in this together : The Government’s “tough but fair” budget will hit the poorest the hardest, as well as having a disproportionate impact on women. Meanwhile, the Sunday Times Richlist reveals that the richest 1,000 people in Britain added 30% to their wealth despite the recession. |
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Catalyst #23 (Spring 2010)In this issue: Vote for change?; Battleground higher education; Climate change; Net pirates, Know your rights and more! Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #22 (Winter 2009)In this issue: Crisis, cuts and class struggle; Interview with a Tower Hamlets College striker; Cleaners struggles; Lewisham Bridge school occupation, Know Your Rights and more! Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #21 (Summer 2009)Sweep ISS out of SOAS : Victimisation of cleaners at a major London university is fought by students and workers. |
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Catalyst #20 (Spring 2009)Occupy and win! : After they were given six minutes’ notice of the closure of the company, Workers at car parts manufacturer Visteon in Belfast, Enfield and Basildon occupied their factories on Wednesday 1st April.National Day of Action against Subway: A series Subway outlets in the UK and Ireland are picketed following the victimisation of a pregnant Subway worker in Belfast. Know your rights: Maternity Leave The regular Catalyst column at our rights when we're pregnant.Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #19 (February 2009)Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #18 (Autumn 2008)Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #17 (July 2008)Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #16 (Spring 2007)Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #15 (Summer 2006)Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #14 (Spring 2006)Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #13 (Summer 2005)Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #12 (April 2005)Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #11 (September 2004)Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #10 (May 2004)Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #9 (Spring 2004)Catalyst 9 Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #8 (Autumn 2003)Catalyst 8 Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #7 (May 2003)Catalyst 7 Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #6 (December 2002)Catalyst 6 Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #5 (December 2001)Catalyst 5 Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #4 (May 2001)Catalyst 4 Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #3 (February 2001)Catalyst 3 Download as a PDF file or read online. |
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Catalyst #2 (September 2000)
Royal Mail: Unofficial action gets results. Workplace organisation at Runcorn Delivery Office reaches a new height with a 24h wild cat strike. |
About Catalyst
Catalyst submission guidelines
Catalyst is SolFed’s main outward-looking propaganda, and is produced by the media collective as mandated by national conference. We want it to be as good as possible, and reflect both the geographical and topical scope of the organisation. But we can only print what gets submitted!
You don’t have to be an experienced writer to submit to Catalyst, anything from 25 words to 1,200 words will be considered. We have tried to develop a ‘house style’ of ‘psuedo-news’, because Catalyst only comes out every 3 months we need to present analysis in an accessible newsy way. But you don’t need to worry too much about this – that’s what the collective is there for, to sub-edit or re-write sections where necessary to fit in with the overall style.
Since Catalyst went 8-page tabloid in October 2009, we’ve also tried to break it down into fixed sections to make it easier to structure and solicit articles. This can help you get an idea what you can write, and where it would go:
Page 1: Mostly flags for what’s inside, plus the first 400 words of a lead article (which can be up to 1,000 words long if it’s continued inside). This article is usually on the most important issue that will be topical for the 3-month duration of the issue (e.g. cuts, elections etc), and is normally written or commissioned by the Catalyst collective.
Page 2: International round-up. Anything from 25 word shorts to 600 word articles about international class struggles or events of interest to angry/militant/disillusioned workers. We try to get IWA stuff in, but only when it’s of interest to non-anarchists – so things like the FAU Babylon Cinema and Belgrade 6 have been covered extensively because they’re also newsworthy, but CNT actions would only be covered if significant, rather than reporting every minor dispute or bit of solidarity they do (which is quite a lot!).
Page 3: the second most important page in the paper. Usually a feature article of 5-600 words, ideally on a struggle we’ve been directly involved in (such as the Lewisham Bridge school occupation), or a topic of wide interest where our anarcho-syndicalist perspective offers and angle people won’t have read elsewhere. This page also has around 400 words for other articles, plus a ‘news in brief’ column for 50-100 word shorts.
Page 4-5: Centrefold spread. This is our chance to look at an issue in depth, or do an interview with a participant in a recent direct action (strike, occupation etc). Usually around 1,400 words in total, but broken into several separate pieces on the same theme. So if it was an interview, there’d also be a ‘background’ box, for example. They wouldn’t necessarily have to be written by the same person.
Page 6: Industry Focus OR Know your rights. Standing feature, 8,00-1,200 words in-depth on a particular industrial focus or legal rights issue. Basic rights at work are in every issue on page 6 or 7.
Page 7: Comment, Opinion & Letters.
Page 8: Miscellaneous/everything else.