Group A (Finland)
Group A is an anti-authoritarian political group based in Helsinki that organizes demonstrations and political campaigns, among other things. It is part of the Platform, a national anarchist organization in Finland, of which it was a founding member. The "task force" was set up over social media in 2006.
The group has organized lectures, demonstrations and political campaigns, aiming to make anarchist action easily approachable. It also offers food in a folk kitchen and publishes a magazine called Igniter. The group has operated on the premises of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki. Many of its members are also students at the University of Helsinki.
Well-known people who have worked in Group A include Antti Rautiainen and Suvi Auvinen.
Ideas and values
Group A saw in 2014 that the state was waging a class war for the rich. The group holds that Finland's national unity is an illusion and that Finnishness corresponded only to the values of the white middle class. The group saw the activities of the Confederation of Finnish Industries as declaring strikes effectively illegal, the purpose of which was to guarantee the property of the owning class at the expense of others. In place of the capitalist system, Group A strives for the implementation of direct democracy in Finland.Demonstrations and political activity
Labor movement support activities
Group A has organized and participated in the May Day marches for several years, demonstrating against a hierarchical class society. In 2014, police destroyed Group A anarchist flags at the demonstration in Vappu, claiming they were being used as weapons. The incident caused a stir in the media, as police had also destroyed the red flags of the Left Youth.In 2015, Group A supported a trade union's strike action by stopping a bus transport for strike breakers. As part of a major demonstration against government blackmail, trade unions had cut off the Helsinki Metro. Police action against Group A protesters was violent, with the police strangling the protesters. But the police denied these allegations.