Thursday, October 28, 2010
LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:
HALLOWEEN PARTY AT THE DRAG:
I guess this might be called the 'MONDster Mash' party. This Saturday, October 30, down at the Mondragon, Winnipeg's infoshop, 91 Albert St. Here's the promo.
MHPMHPMHPMHP
HALLOWEEN PARTY!
Time
Saturday at 8:00pm - Sunday at 1:00am
---------------------------
Location
Mondragon Bookstore & Coffee House
91 Albert St.
Winnipeg, MB
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Created By Viva Mondragon
-------------------------
More Info
LIVE BANDS AND DJ's! ONLY $5 COVER AT THE DOOR!!!
-Prophet
-Mad Young Darlings
-JCFM
-The Unkindness
-Mixtechs Deejays
Labels: anarchist music, concerts, events, Halloween, local events, Mondragon, music, party., Viva Mondragon, Winnipeg
HUMOUR:
LISTEN TO YOUR BETTER SIDE:
Labels: anarchist cartoons, anarchist humour, cartoons, humour, jokes
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR SOUTH KOREA:
REPRESSION OF WORKERS IN SOUTH KOREA:
South Korea is due to host the next G20 meeting soon. It will no doubt be true to form with protests being violently repressed. Whether SK can live up to the heights of overkill recently demonstrated on the streets of Toronto is an open question. What is sure is that South Korea has yet to live up to its commitments to bring its labour legislation in line with international standards. Here is an item from the international union federation the IUF about what sort of country the g20 meeting will be held in this time around.
KLKLKLKLKL
International Unions Call for Action on Labour Rights Abuses in Korea
When Korea joined the OECD in 1996, a condition of adherence was a commitment to reform its industrial relations legislation in line with ILO standards. Not only has there been no reform, but the situation has markedly deteriorated.
In the runup to the G20* meeting scheduled for November 11-12 in Seoul, South Korea, international union organizations are calling for pressure on the Korean government to bring its repressive labour law and employment regime into line with international standards and its own commitments.
The ILO has repeatedly called on the government of South Korea to amend its labour legislation, which criminalizes legitimate union activity, blocks large numbers of public sector workers from joining unions or bargaining collectively and promotes the massive use of precarious employment relationships to effectively deny workers their collective rights.
Despite its 1996 pledge, current and previous Korean governments has refused to ratify ILO Conventions 87 (freedom of association) and 98 (collective bargaining).
Article 314 of the Penal Code on "obstruction of business" is routinely used to arrest and imprison union leaders and members and impose fines totalling millions of dollars in order to cripple union activity. Over 300 trade unionists have been imprisoned over the past 18 months.
When the crisis affected production at Ssangyong Motors, management responded to union demands to negotiate worksharing by unilaterally dismissing agency workers. In the course of the strike which followed (May-August 2010), riot police consistently used violence against the workers, including using electroshock weapons. ( See previous posts here at Molly's Blog- Molly )
A loose definition of "essential services" allows the government to deny large numbers of public sector workers the right to join a union. Unions of government employees, teachers, construction and transport workers are refused the right to represent over 250,000 workers.
Outsourced, subcontracted (dispatched) and other forms of precarious work have been aggressively promoted to deny whole categories of workers their right to union representation. Some 50% of all employed persons in Korea today lack an open-ended, direct permanent employment contract. The KCTU Korean metalworkrers have identified companies making use of up to a hundred labour contractors in a single factory - all to prevent workers from joining a union and bargaining with the real employer.
In an important decision last year, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association called on the government of Korea to stop the abusive use of precarious contracts to deny workers their rights.
The only labour law reform, however, is proposed legislation to extend the current two-year period after which dispatch workers must be made permanent - to 4 years! Sungjong Lee, Policy Director of the IUF-affiliated Korean Federation of Private Service Workers' Unions (KFSU), denounces the proposed legislation because it will be used by employers to evade their obligation to regularize precarious workers: most employers, says Lee, will simply replace irregular workers as their contract conversion approaches with new, precarious hires.
Newly proposed legislation would also expand the range of job classifications allowed for dispatch (agency) work from the current 32 with up to 17 additional job classifications (in accordance with "market needs"). According to Nambee Park, President of the IUF-affiliated Korean Women's Trade Union, this has already encouraged the conversion to agency work of many directly-employed women workers, with a consequent loss of security, wages and benefits. If the remaining restrictions on agency work are done away with, says Park, the result will be a further expansion of low wage work, deepening insecurity and gender discrimination
The global union federations, the ITUC and TUAC are together calling for pressure on G20 governments to make sure the urgent need for labour law reform comes to the fore at the G20 meeting. A briefing note, sample letters and background materials for trade unions are available on the website of the International Metalworkers Federation in English, French, German, Russian and Spanish.
But you needn't live and work in a G20 country to take action in support of our Korean sisters and brothers! Unions everywhere can use these campaign materials to urge your government to pressure the government of Korea, to organize actions and protests at South Korean government representations and to inform your members and the wider public about the current situation - and the urgent need for change.
------------------------------------
*The Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors is made up of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom and the USA.
International Unions Call for Action on Labour Rights Abuses in Korea
When Korea joined the OECD in 1996, a condition of adherence was a commitment to reform its industrial relations legislation in line with ILO standards. Not only has there been no reform, but the situation has markedly deteriorated.
In the runup to the G20* meeting scheduled for November 11-12 in Seoul, South Korea, international union organizations are calling for pressure on the Korean government to bring its repressive labour law and employment regime into line with international standards and its own commitments.
The ILO has repeatedly called on the government of South Korea to amend its labour legislation, which criminalizes legitimate union activity, blocks large numbers of public sector workers from joining unions or bargaining collectively and promotes the massive use of precarious employment relationships to effectively deny workers their collective rights.
Despite its 1996 pledge, current and previous Korean governments has refused to ratify ILO Conventions 87 (freedom of association) and 98 (collective bargaining).
Article 314 of the Penal Code on "obstruction of business" is routinely used to arrest and imprison union leaders and members and impose fines totalling millions of dollars in order to cripple union activity. Over 300 trade unionists have been imprisoned over the past 18 months.
When the crisis affected production at Ssangyong Motors, management responded to union demands to negotiate worksharing by unilaterally dismissing agency workers. In the course of the strike which followed (May-August 2010), riot police consistently used violence against the workers, including using electroshock weapons. ( See previous posts here at Molly's Blog- Molly )
A loose definition of "essential services" allows the government to deny large numbers of public sector workers the right to join a union. Unions of government employees, teachers, construction and transport workers are refused the right to represent over 250,000 workers.
Outsourced, subcontracted (dispatched) and other forms of precarious work have been aggressively promoted to deny whole categories of workers their right to union representation. Some 50% of all employed persons in Korea today lack an open-ended, direct permanent employment contract. The KCTU Korean metalworkrers have identified companies making use of up to a hundred labour contractors in a single factory - all to prevent workers from joining a union and bargaining with the real employer.
In an important decision last year, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association called on the government of Korea to stop the abusive use of precarious contracts to deny workers their rights.
The only labour law reform, however, is proposed legislation to extend the current two-year period after which dispatch workers must be made permanent - to 4 years! Sungjong Lee, Policy Director of the IUF-affiliated Korean Federation of Private Service Workers' Unions (KFSU), denounces the proposed legislation because it will be used by employers to evade their obligation to regularize precarious workers: most employers, says Lee, will simply replace irregular workers as their contract conversion approaches with new, precarious hires.
Newly proposed legislation would also expand the range of job classifications allowed for dispatch (agency) work from the current 32 with up to 17 additional job classifications (in accordance with "market needs"). According to Nambee Park, President of the IUF-affiliated Korean Women's Trade Union, this has already encouraged the conversion to agency work of many directly-employed women workers, with a consequent loss of security, wages and benefits. If the remaining restrictions on agency work are done away with, says Park, the result will be a further expansion of low wage work, deepening insecurity and gender discrimination
The global union federations, the ITUC and TUAC are together calling for pressure on G20 governments to make sure the urgent need for labour law reform comes to the fore at the G20 meeting. A briefing note, sample letters and background materials for trade unions are available on the website of the International Metalworkers Federation in English, French, German, Russian and Spanish.
But you needn't live and work in a G20 country to take action in support of our Korean sisters and brothers! Unions everywhere can use these campaign materials to urge your government to pressure the government of Korea, to organize actions and protests at South Korean government representations and to inform your members and the wider public about the current situation - and the urgent need for change.
------------------------------------
*The Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors is made up of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom and the USA.
KLKLKLKLKL
THE LETTER:
Please go to this link to send the following message to the President of South Korea.
KLKLKLKLKL
Dear President Lee Myung-bak,
I join with the International Metalworkers' Federation in calling for the Korean government to honour its international commitments and respect workers’ rights.
Repeatedly workers and trade unions in Korea are subject to violations of human and trade union rights. The number of arrests and severity of prison sentences as well as physical violence is increasing.
When Korea joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1996 it was on the proviso that your government would take the necessary measures to bring Korea’s labour law in line with international standards.
Korea has failed to adhere to or ratify ILO conventions no. 87 (right to freedom of association) and no. 98 (right to collective bargaining) and your government has repeatedly refused offers of technical assistance from the International Labour Organisation to bring your legislation into line with international standards.
The Korean Government routinely uses criminal sanctions under Article 314 of the criminal code to arrest and imprison trade unionists for exercising their legitimate right to conduct trade union activities.
The Korean law denies workers in precarious or irregular employment the right to join a trade union and bargain collectively. Employers systematically engage workers on precarious employment contracts specifically to prevent them from forming and joining trade unions.
Public sector workers are subjected to anti-union discrimination and disciplinary measures and their collective agreements are unilaterally cancelled by the Government. Whole categories of Government workers are prevented from organizing through an overly broad definition of “essential services”.
I call on the Korean government to honour your international commitments and respect workers’ rights.
Yours,
Labels: G20, international labour, International Metalworkers Federation, IUF, labour., petitions, protests, solidarity., South Korea
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
ANARCHIST HUMOUR:
IS YOUR JOB A BLAST OR A BOMB ?
Labels: anarchism, anarchism humour, anarchist cartoons, cartoons, humour, jokes
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
OCAP SPEAKS OUT ABOUT RECENT TORONTO CIVIC ELECTION:
No doubt they are cheering at the Fraser Institute with the recent election of Rob Ford as Mayor of Toronto. Never mind that "fiscal conservatives" have had a very dismal record at keeping budgetary deficits under control. One has only to look to our "beloved" federal government to see what "ending the gravy train" actually means. let alone the record of conservatives in power elsewhere in North America. Deficits are them. What is actually means is dealing out the gravy to others that are more favoured by a conservative mind-set. This will mean just as much expenditure, though on different items. True to his word ford's first priority on becoming Mayor of Canada's largest city is a "war on graffiti". What this means in reality is diverting the works and engineering department of Toronto from such things as road repair to cleaning walls. Looks good on the surface I guess.
Ford's election has made news across the world- literally. It has even been reported in the Chinese 'People's Daily'. How significant it is is another matter entirely. When the heat dies down it is likely that Ford will not be able to keep even a fraction of his "promises" about "cutting waste". A lot of his voodoo economics rests upon the assumption that there is enough spare city land to sell off to his friends (at no doubt reduced prices) to push the city into a surplus situation. The idea of tax cuts coupled with no reduction in services is, of course, pure fantasy.
It is, of course, civic election season here in Canada. Ford's election is actually less significant than that of the election of Naheed Nenshi as Mayor of Calgary. Not that his reign will be any different from that of a conservative such as Ford in terms of waste and cronyism. Yet, it was significant not just because he is of East Indian heritage (via Tanzania) nor because he is a Muslim. In Calgary !!! What is most significant is that he has been a University professor. The idea of Calgarians elected an "intellectual" of any political stripe says volumes about how much that city has changed in the past few years.
Meanwhile here in Winnipeg we will have our own civic election tomorrow. As usual Molly will not be voting. In terms of the mayoralty candidates it is the crooked right represented by Sam Katz versus the bureaucratic left represented by Judy Wasylycia-Leis. Hardly anything to chose from. It's all who you want picking your pocket and how you want the ill gotten gains spent. I'm almost tempted to vote in the local councillor elections just because the property developer candidate Jeff Browaty, the incumbent, approached me while I was trying to do some yard work and annoyed me. Never mind that he is into real estate which in my mind means he should be automatically barred from running for municipal office. His attitude and his physical appearance reminded me of two things. One is that he looks just like a mass murderer ala Colonel Russell Williams down in Ontario. The other is that he looks and acts like the high school "football hero" that school authorities used to use to bully the students back when I was young. Perhaps such people have more likelihood of ending up as mass murderers. To my family's great credit my brother broke the collarbone of one of these thugs when we were in high school. Threatening, pushy, obnoxious and interfering with my work. Sorry, Jeffy-poo, there are some you can't bully into putting a sign on the lawn. Don't even bother speaking loudly and demandingly at me. I'm not one of your underlings.
Ah well, the politics are over, but the struggle continues. Here's an item from the Ontario Coalition against Poverty (OCAP) about their opinion of Toronto's new Mayor.
CPCPCPCPCP
OCAP Gets Ready To Confront Rob Ford
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty Gets Ready to Confront New Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
OCAP Gets Ready To Confront Rob Ford
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty Gets Ready to Confront New Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
Eight years of the progressive Mayor David Miller has meant little for the poorest people in Toronto. The former City Council and David Miller are responsible for 312 shelter beds for the homeless being cut with only 60 ever replaced. Promises of new shelters have been empty rhetoric, with people waiting years for any new spaces to open up. Gentrification has continued at high speed, Toronto Community Housing is looking to sell off properties, while the waiting list for housing is almost 10 years long. Transit fares have gone up and accessibility was one of the first things to be cut from the budget. Welfare rates are shamefully inadequate, while city administrators willfully deny people access to vital benefits such as the Special Diet Allowance. Poverty in Toronto has continued to grow under a so-called progressive Mayor. The City of Toronto is increasingly divided between the rich and the poor.
Now Toronto has elected Rob Ford as its new Mayor. OCAP knows Ford and his priorities all too well. He has consistently supported cuts to Welfare/ODSP including the recent cut to the Special Diet Allowance, spoken out against social programs, community housing, affordable transit, the homeless and immigrants. Ford's rhetoric in this campaign has been to 'end the gravy train at City Hall' and to 'respect the taxpayer'. What Rob Ford really means is all too familiar; cutting social services, housing and transit, while giving tax breaks to the wealthy. We will see cuts to services that poor people need on top of an already existing lack of funding to services thanks to Miller. If anything, the 'gravy train' for the rich will be all that Ford cares about.
"Rob Ford's agenda is the same as Mike Harris’ was in the 1990s –attacking poor people to benefit the wealthy." says OCAP organizer John Clarke. “During the Harris period Ontario saw unprecedented civil dissent and disruption, we are putting Ford on notice that he ought to expect the same." OCAP will be working with communities across Toronto to fight Ford’s agenda and defend the rights of poor people.
Media inquiries:416-925-6939
-----------------
To get involved:
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Labels: Calgary, Canadian politics, civic election, elections, Rob Ford, Toronto, Winnipeg
ANARCHIST HUMOUR:
TWO TYPES OF ANARCHISTS:
Labels: anarchist cartoons, anarchist humour, cartoons, humour, jokes
Monday, October 25, 2010
CANADIAN LABOUR ONTARIO:
CAW DAY OF ACTION:
This Wednesday, October 27, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) will be holding a day of Action across Ontario where they will protest the continued erosion of workers' rights and benefits by the employers. Here's the announcement of times and places.
CAWCAWCAWCAW
CAW Auto Parts Workers 15,000 Strong Demonstrate Across Ontario
----------------------------
CAW members in the auto parts sector will be demonstrating outside their respective workplaces on Wednesday, October 27 for a province-wide Day of Action. In more than 100 workplaces across Ontario, workers will be staging rallies, calling for an end to the downward pressure on working conditions and employer demands for severe contract give-backs.
This is the first time such a large-scale effort has been orchestrated by Canada's auto parts workers. The Day of Action also includes a massive outreach effort to non-unionized auto parts workers, including those employed by Magna.
CAW National President Ken Lewenza and Assistant to the President Jerry Dias will be attending the rally at Burlington Technologies, located at 3267 Mainway Drive in Burlington at 12:30 p.m.
Here is a cross section of key rally locations and contact information:
Brampton
Benteler Automotive
9195a Torbram Road - 10:20 a.m.
Gerry Harvey, CAW Local 1285 2nd Vice President (cell) 416-456-2310
Guelph
CPK Interior Products (Formerly Guelph Products)
500 Laird Road - 10:00 a.m.
Robin Dudley, CAW Local 1917 President (cell) 519-993-8985
Ingersoll
Autrans
17 Underwood Road - 11:00 a.m.
Kellee Janzen CAW Local 2163 President (office) 519-425-9028
Hamilton/ Dundas
El-Met Parts
47 Head Street, Dundas - 12:00 p.m.
Randy Smith, CAW Local 504 President (cell) 905-973-3231
Kitchener
Lear Seating
530 Manitou Drive - 11:25 a.m.
Tim Mitchell, CAW Local 1524 President (cell) 519-749-5110
London/ Glencoe
Cooper Standard
268 Appin Road, Glencoe - 11:00 a.m.
Tim Carrie, CAW Local 27 President (cell) 519-318-1022
Oakville
Automodular
2335 Speers Road - 11:00 a.m.
Angus MacDonald, CAW Local 1256 President (cell) 905-467-5133
Stratford
Cooper Standard Automotive
1030 Erie Street - 10:00 a.m. rolling to 12:30 p.m.
Kim Kent, CAW Local 4451 Vice President (cell) 519-272-9004
St. Thomas
Legatt & Platt (formerly Crown North America)
43 Gaylord Road, Unit #2 - 12:00 p.m.
Ryan Dolby, CAW Local 2168 President (office) 519-631-2005
St. Catharines
Tora Investments Inc.
15 Cushman Rd - 12:00 p.m.
Wayne Gates, CAW Local 199 President (cell) 905-328-9532
Tillsonburg
Reiter Automotive Systems (formerly Mastico Industries Ltd.)
73 Goshen St. - 12:00 p.m.
Fran Ward CAW Local 1859 President (office) 519-688-0051
Toronto
Woodbridge Foam
8214 Kipling Avenue, Woodbridge - 9:30 a.m.
Roland Kiehne, CAW Local 112 President (cell) 416-801-1120
Windsor/ Tecumseh
Canadian Engineering
2265 South Cameron Boulevard - 12:00 p.m.
Gerry Farnham, CAW Local 195 President (cell) 519-980-4195
Integram Seating
201 Patillo Road, Tecumseh - 11:00 a.m.
Dave Cassidy, CAW Local 444 Financial Secretary (cell) 519-999-7708
Woodstock
TRW (Formerly Kelsey-Hayes)
155 Beard's Lane -12:00 p.m.
Ross Gerrie, CAW Local 636 President (cell) 519-535-2014
Labels: Canadian labour, CAW, CAW Day Of Action, demonstrations, events, labour., Ontario, protests
Sunday, October 24, 2010
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:
MIGRANTS IN THE MODERN WORLD:
The following item is from ZCommunications. I have to say that I have serious disagreements with what follows, being as it is pretty well standard academic post modernist "theory". I have another name for this speculation that is hardly kind. To say the least the concept of "race" is hardly a novel invention derived from the Spanish Reconquista. A lot of the "geneology" of racism that follows from this is utter fantasy. I wonder if they actually belive this sort of nonsense in the academy today. It is, of course, nonsense to ascribe the actions of genocide to some European "deviation", no matter how much American influenced post modernists may want to believe this. Racism and its cause "xenophobia" predates "capitalism", and it will exist beyond the abolition of same especially if the theorists of post-modernism have their way and privilege certain "races". In that case genocide will exist under different names. In other words this sort of thing is very much a program for further ethnic conflict rather than being something "liberatory". But I'll let the reader judge. Here is the article. All that I can say for now is that I am grateful that I don't have to do the proper bows that people such as Znet have to do to be proper leftists. Who knows if they understand the implications of nonsense, and how others view them for it. But anyways here is the article that has some very good points mixed with the silliness.
ZCZCZCZCZC
Race, Racism, Xenophobia and Migration
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Race, Racism, Xenophobia and Migration
----------------------
By Bill Fletcher
Friday, October 22, 2010
From October 8-11 in Quito, Ecuador, the 4th World Social Forum on Migration was held. Hundreds of activists and scholars from around the world participated in some of the most interesting plenary sessions and workshops of any conference I have attended.
"The conference was an eye-opening experience. Migration was examined on various levels, including global economic, political, military and environmental factors, all of which influence migration. The International Labor Organization estimates that at least 83 million people are currently migrating, a figure that is bound to grow for many reasons, particularly climate change. Yet in the face of this mass migration of human beings, there are political forces that have taken advantage of the fear that is often produced through demographic changes in order to advance right-wing, irrationalist and xenophobic politics. This, too, was addressed at the conference.
"I was asked to deliver a key note speech to one of the plenary sessions that addressed discrimination and xenophobia. The following is the text of the remarks that I delivered. I hope that you find them of interest and use."
--Bill Fletcher, Jr.
~~~
Let me begin by thanking the organizers for inviting me to engage in this discussion.
The nature of the remarks I am to offer—which focus on the issues of race/racism, xenophobia and migration—are more than enough for a multiple week class. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for you, I do not have multiple weeks to deliver it. So, in the next fifteen minutes my hope is to offer an overview of the relationship of these issues and end with some suggestions regarding a manner to rethink global solidarity in the context of migration in the 21st century.
We must begin by establishing, without any ambiguity, that “race” is not a biological or genetic category, but is a political construction. The origin of ALL of humanity is to be found in southern Africa, so in that sense, all of humanity is African.
Yet the notion of race, and the corresponding practice and theory of racism is very real. Prior to both the so-called “Reconquista” in Spain with the Catholicization of Iberia and the purge of the Moors and the Jews in the 15th century, as well as the English occupation and colonization of Ireland in the 16th century, “race,” as we have come to know it, did not exist on planet Earth. While there were certainly religious, tribal, ethnic and imperial conflicts, this was transformed over the course of the end of the 15th century and throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Race came to be associated with so-called inferior and superior peoples, and fundamentally with the occupation of lands and the displacement of populations. Eventually, this came to be associated with skin color, but it is worth noting that in the beginning race did not depend on skin color, with Irish Catholics and Spanish Jews being a case in point. This overall process of racial construction was linked with the development of capitalism and in that context, the notion of race must be understood as an ideological and institutional mechanism for both the suppression of specific populations in perpetuity, as well as the introduction of social control over the working masses as a whole, be they of the suppressed/oppressed population or of the suppressor/oppressor population.
In Latin America, the art form and classification code called the castas, along with the introduction in both North and South America of slavery for life for specific populations—Africans—and marginalization and genocide perpetrated others—Indigenous—had nothing to do with science generally or genetics specifically. Rather, it became a means to divide up populations, turning them against one another through the associated system of racial privileges that tended to be meted out according to how close someone got to being supposedly pure white. “White” was always the reference point for the dominant bloc, even though this did not in any way mean that everyone who was designated by the ruling classes to be “white” was automatically part of the ruling classes. It has also been the case that who is and is not considered white in a specific society is not always self-evident. A classic example from US history in the early 20th century was the debate over whether Armenians were to be considered “white” or not.
In sum, the construction of race was linked, from the beginning, to the rise of capitalism and later imperialism. It was not an add-on or a device that was to be used and thrown away at a whim.
The second piece that is important to grasp about race and migration is that the current global wave of migration, which the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates to be more than 86 million, is fundamentally different from earlier waves during the history of capitalism, i.e., those from the 1500s through the early 1900s. In the waves of migrations that began with the invasion of the Western Hemisphere and the colonization of other parts of what we reference today as the global South, the migrating populations were part of the process of colonization and, as in the cases of the USA, Canada, Australia, and South Africa, to name just four locales, the establishment of formal settler states. These migrating populations, irrespective of whether they were persecuted in their European countries of origin, served as part of a process in the construction of colonial and settler states. Even when they engaged in wars of independence with their European colonial sponsors, these were struggles that were not truly emancipatory, but were struggles to redefine the terms of a particular relationship. To put it another way, most of the independence struggles represented a break with a colonial power—and a renegotiation of the relationship—but not a break with the key social and economic institutions, e.g., slavery in the Western Hemisphere; the Latifundia in Latin America, that were hallmarks of the colonial period. As such, the native populations were never true allies with the insurgents, but were, at best, allies of convenience (example: Native Americans used by both sides in the French and Indian Wars 1754-1763).
It should be noted that there were other migration patterns that did not originate in Europe. Migration from China and Japan to the Western Hemisphere in the mid to late 19th century, for instance, had a different character and particularly in the case of the migration of these Asian populations to the USA, there was intense hostility that was visited upon Asian migrants, a hostility that has lasted for generations. This is worth noting since the European migrants, even when experiencing a hostile reception by prior European migrants, were generally absorbed into the “white bloc” after their ‘credentials’ as white people were established. Asian migrants in the 19th and early through mid-20th centuries faced a very different challenge since they were not accepted into a white bloc. They were placed, depending on the country or territory to which they migrated, into a racial hierarchy but they were not considered white people.
The character of migrations began to change in the early 1900s when populations from colonies proceeded to relocate to the imperial centers. The migration patterns that we are witnessing today are a continuation and acceleration of this process. In the absence of self-determination and with the deformed economic and political structures imposed on colonial and semi-colonial territories, populations began to shift. Separately, there were population shifts between and among colonial and semi-colonial countries. The migration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic that began in the 19th century, for instance, is just such an example of the latter, and one that reminds us of the manner in which xenophobia can take on genocidal proportions when a so-called native population is manipulated through fear. Specifically, race was constructed in such a way in the Dominican Republic that there was a generalized denial of the African roots of most of the population and a distain for anyone described as being “black.” The dictator Rafael Trujillo took advantage of this situation to move an anti-Haitian pogrom in 1937 in which more than 20,000 Haitians were murdered, having been blamed by Trujillo as having been the source of the Dominican Republic’s many problems.
Current waves of migration, then, have as their source both a continuation of these factors, plus additional factors, including but not limited to wars, neo-liberal globalization, imperial foreign policies and climate change. Time does not permit me to examine each of these. In this situation, however, we must note, that the ‘racialization’ of migrants has taken on a particular significance.
At the global scale such racialization is found in the broad characterization of European/white vs. non-European/non-white. What this means, particularly in the post-World War II context, is that the “problem” of migration has usually been associated not with the general question of migrants and refugees, but the specific question of the shifting of non-white populations away from their homes of origin to the imperial metropole (usually meaning to the country that was the historical imperial/colonial dominationist force over their particular oppressed nation/territory/people). The non-white migrant has been presented as the ‘evil’ or the problem by the so-called “nativist” forces in the global North on a racial basis. As the theorist Etienne Balibar has pointed out, however, this racial construction is a bit different from traditional racial notions since it does not OVERTLY presume superiority/inferiority (certainly on an alleged genetic basis) but rather articulates an ‘other-ness’ based on cultural incompatibility.
To explain this point for a moment, let us take an example from the United States. As you know, the issue of illegal or undocumented migration has been a major watchword for the political Right since at least the 1970s. In the USA, the face of the undocumented migrant is, in the popular imagination, not color neutral but is brown and black. It is largely—though not exclusively—the face of the Latino despite the fact that undocumented migration has never been restricted to this group. In the 1980s and early 1990s there was significant Irish migration to the USA, an important percentage of which was undocumented. Yet Irish migration to the USA during that period was never defined by right-wing or mainstream sources as being problematic. For all intents and purposes it was ignored. Documented AND undocumented migration from Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Mexico during that same period, however, was defined as being a problem because the unspoken message was that the Irish can be absorbed into the dominant white bloc in the USA, whereas the Haitians, Dominicans and Mexicans represent an “OTHER” population that is culturally incompatible.
The racialization of migrants, however, is not something that is limited to conflicts in and with the global North. The xenophobic response to migrants in parts of the global South, be it the genocide against Haitians in the 1930s under the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic or the more recent attacks on migrants in South Africa by mobs, points to forces largely driven by limited—and often declining—resources that results in toxic competition between populations. This competition becomes racialized where the migrants are portrayed as the force that is incompatible with the needs and existence of the dominant population. They become the “Alien,” so to speak, both literally—that is, in terms of the law—and figuratively—that is, in terms of the popular imagination. This competition for resources, we must note, is not something that exists in the abstract but is a phenomenon related to the rise of neo-liberal globalization and the dramatic polarization of wealth and resources we have witnessed on a world scale. When we have a situation, for instance, where 225 individuals have the accumulated wealth of the bottom 47% of the world’s population it becomes clear that those at the bottom will be struggling to make do with what is left to them by those who have accumulated so much.
With regard the question of migration and the dialectic between the global North and the global South, we must understand that the political Right plays upon what a US Hip Hop/Rap group called “Public Enemy” described once as a fear of a Black planet. When I use the term “Black” here I mean it more in the manner that many of us used it in the 1960s and 1970s, that is a term referencing not just people of more recent African origin but people from the former colonies and semi-colonies. Changing global demographics along with changing economics and politics have become a source of fear and insecurity for much of the global North, specifically, for the so-called white populations. The fundamental source of this insecurity actually is rooted in both the weakening of traditional imperialist relationships along with the rise of neo-liberal globalization and its transformation of both domestic and international conditions for working people. To put it another way, as the living standard for the working population in the global North declines due to the neo-liberal transformation—including the transference of wealth to the rich—the ‘spatial’ violations that are the result of migration come to represent more of a perceived threat to that same population. That “threat” may be in terms of competition for employment in certain sectors, but more often than not it is a psychological threat in which the working populations of the global North come to recognize that imperialism’s impact can no longer be perceived as being solely an external matter but is also manifested internally…that is, the security that once existed is now long-gone.
What are some of the implications of this analysis? Let me suggest the following.
1. A progressive response to migration cannot be grounded on abstract moral principles but must be grounded in an understanding of the historic relationship between the migrating population and the target of migration: The absence of an analysis that provides a context inevitably leads to failure. If one cannot explain the historical roots as to why a migration pattern is unfolding and the relationship of the policies of the migration target to the migrating population, then the migration may not make any sense or can be perceived as the equivalent of an invasion.
2. The destruction of lands, nations and peoples by imperialism, and its current incarnation as neo-liberal globalization is resulting in unprecedented population shifts: The impact of imperialism on land use, climate change, ethnic rivalries, etc., is leading to increasing competition for resources as well as population shifts. In this environment right-wing ideologies, grounded in a racialization of other populations, has advanced in both the global North and global South with the objective of excluding or marginalizing migrant populations, and in some cases, exterminating them altogether.
3. Racialization, as a process, is not only a matter of the perception of the migrating population by the ‘native’ population but also the manner through which the migrating population perceives dynamics within migrating target nation: This particular point is one that could and should be the topic of an entire discussion. The migrating population does not migrate with a blank consciousness, particularly on matters of race. It travels to the target nation with a racial consciousness that is shaped by the ideologies, histories and experiences from the home country. It is also shaped by the perceptions of the racial hierarchy in the target country. Thus, and by way of example, Latinos migrating to the USA from the Dominican Republic, are shaped by the historical antipathy between the Dominican Republic and Haiti; the bizarre racial denial and oppression that was perpetrated by the Trujillo regime; as well as understanding of how white supremacy operates in the USA, including but not limited to which populations have what standing in the US imperial/racial hierarchy.
4. A radical, anti-racist practice must be introduced in order to build solidarity and respond to anti-immigrant and xenophobic ideologies and practices: The racialization of current migration has several objectives. One is the creation of a permanent, marginal, powerless and subordinate working stratum. This is summarized in the notion that migrant workers will do work that ‘native’ workers avoid. The other aspect of the racialization is exactly the opposite, that is, the use of the “Other” as a way of creating a renewal of the dominant white bloc and the uniting behind a right-wing populist agenda. Right-wing populism can sometimes be confused for progressive, popular-democratic politics, if one avoids race. Right-wing populism often seizes on language from the Left in order to strengthen its base among working people from the ‘native’ population. To break this alignment, the racist nature of right-wing populism must be unpacked and exposed and a politics advanced that focuses on the development of an alternative, progressive bloc.
The struggle for justice for migrant workers is directly connected to the struggle against neo-liberal globalization. The destruction of Earth’s resources and the massive accumulation of wealth by a minority of the planet to the disadvantage of the majority, means that billions find themselves in a struggle for survival. One option has become migration, but rather than migration being accepted as the reality of a modern economy, it has brought with it demonization of those who migrate, covert exploitation of the migrant, and the use of the migrant in fundamentally racist ways to serve as scapegoat for the economic injustice being felt by so many.
The struggle for justice for the migrant worker is inextricably connected to the fight for racial justice, and, indeed, the fight for broader social justice. This struggle must be integrated into our various battles and not placed to one side as one additional issue on a long list of issues.
Thank you.
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, Bill Fletcher, Jr., is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, the immediate past president ofTransAfrica Forum and co-author of, Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice (University of California Press), which examines the crisis of organized labor in the USA. Click here to contact Mr. Fletcher.
Friday, October 22, 2010
From October 8-11 in Quito, Ecuador, the 4th World Social Forum on Migration was held. Hundreds of activists and scholars from around the world participated in some of the most interesting plenary sessions and workshops of any conference I have attended.
"The conference was an eye-opening experience. Migration was examined on various levels, including global economic, political, military and environmental factors, all of which influence migration. The International Labor Organization estimates that at least 83 million people are currently migrating, a figure that is bound to grow for many reasons, particularly climate change. Yet in the face of this mass migration of human beings, there are political forces that have taken advantage of the fear that is often produced through demographic changes in order to advance right-wing, irrationalist and xenophobic politics. This, too, was addressed at the conference.
"I was asked to deliver a key note speech to one of the plenary sessions that addressed discrimination and xenophobia. The following is the text of the remarks that I delivered. I hope that you find them of interest and use."
--Bill Fletcher, Jr.
~~~
Let me begin by thanking the organizers for inviting me to engage in this discussion.
The nature of the remarks I am to offer—which focus on the issues of race/racism, xenophobia and migration—are more than enough for a multiple week class. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for you, I do not have multiple weeks to deliver it. So, in the next fifteen minutes my hope is to offer an overview of the relationship of these issues and end with some suggestions regarding a manner to rethink global solidarity in the context of migration in the 21st century.
We must begin by establishing, without any ambiguity, that “race” is not a biological or genetic category, but is a political construction. The origin of ALL of humanity is to be found in southern Africa, so in that sense, all of humanity is African.
Yet the notion of race, and the corresponding practice and theory of racism is very real. Prior to both the so-called “Reconquista” in Spain with the Catholicization of Iberia and the purge of the Moors and the Jews in the 15th century, as well as the English occupation and colonization of Ireland in the 16th century, “race,” as we have come to know it, did not exist on planet Earth. While there were certainly religious, tribal, ethnic and imperial conflicts, this was transformed over the course of the end of the 15th century and throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Race came to be associated with so-called inferior and superior peoples, and fundamentally with the occupation of lands and the displacement of populations. Eventually, this came to be associated with skin color, but it is worth noting that in the beginning race did not depend on skin color, with Irish Catholics and Spanish Jews being a case in point. This overall process of racial construction was linked with the development of capitalism and in that context, the notion of race must be understood as an ideological and institutional mechanism for both the suppression of specific populations in perpetuity, as well as the introduction of social control over the working masses as a whole, be they of the suppressed/oppressed population or of the suppressor/oppressor population.
In Latin America, the art form and classification code called the castas, along with the introduction in both North and South America of slavery for life for specific populations—Africans—and marginalization and genocide perpetrated others—Indigenous—had nothing to do with science generally or genetics specifically. Rather, it became a means to divide up populations, turning them against one another through the associated system of racial privileges that tended to be meted out according to how close someone got to being supposedly pure white. “White” was always the reference point for the dominant bloc, even though this did not in any way mean that everyone who was designated by the ruling classes to be “white” was automatically part of the ruling classes. It has also been the case that who is and is not considered white in a specific society is not always self-evident. A classic example from US history in the early 20th century was the debate over whether Armenians were to be considered “white” or not.
In sum, the construction of race was linked, from the beginning, to the rise of capitalism and later imperialism. It was not an add-on or a device that was to be used and thrown away at a whim.
The second piece that is important to grasp about race and migration is that the current global wave of migration, which the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates to be more than 86 million, is fundamentally different from earlier waves during the history of capitalism, i.e., those from the 1500s through the early 1900s. In the waves of migrations that began with the invasion of the Western Hemisphere and the colonization of other parts of what we reference today as the global South, the migrating populations were part of the process of colonization and, as in the cases of the USA, Canada, Australia, and South Africa, to name just four locales, the establishment of formal settler states. These migrating populations, irrespective of whether they were persecuted in their European countries of origin, served as part of a process in the construction of colonial and settler states. Even when they engaged in wars of independence with their European colonial sponsors, these were struggles that were not truly emancipatory, but were struggles to redefine the terms of a particular relationship. To put it another way, most of the independence struggles represented a break with a colonial power—and a renegotiation of the relationship—but not a break with the key social and economic institutions, e.g., slavery in the Western Hemisphere; the Latifundia in Latin America, that were hallmarks of the colonial period. As such, the native populations were never true allies with the insurgents, but were, at best, allies of convenience (example: Native Americans used by both sides in the French and Indian Wars 1754-1763).
It should be noted that there were other migration patterns that did not originate in Europe. Migration from China and Japan to the Western Hemisphere in the mid to late 19th century, for instance, had a different character and particularly in the case of the migration of these Asian populations to the USA, there was intense hostility that was visited upon Asian migrants, a hostility that has lasted for generations. This is worth noting since the European migrants, even when experiencing a hostile reception by prior European migrants, were generally absorbed into the “white bloc” after their ‘credentials’ as white people were established. Asian migrants in the 19th and early through mid-20th centuries faced a very different challenge since they were not accepted into a white bloc. They were placed, depending on the country or territory to which they migrated, into a racial hierarchy but they were not considered white people.
The character of migrations began to change in the early 1900s when populations from colonies proceeded to relocate to the imperial centers. The migration patterns that we are witnessing today are a continuation and acceleration of this process. In the absence of self-determination and with the deformed economic and political structures imposed on colonial and semi-colonial territories, populations began to shift. Separately, there were population shifts between and among colonial and semi-colonial countries. The migration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic that began in the 19th century, for instance, is just such an example of the latter, and one that reminds us of the manner in which xenophobia can take on genocidal proportions when a so-called native population is manipulated through fear. Specifically, race was constructed in such a way in the Dominican Republic that there was a generalized denial of the African roots of most of the population and a distain for anyone described as being “black.” The dictator Rafael Trujillo took advantage of this situation to move an anti-Haitian pogrom in 1937 in which more than 20,000 Haitians were murdered, having been blamed by Trujillo as having been the source of the Dominican Republic’s many problems.
Current waves of migration, then, have as their source both a continuation of these factors, plus additional factors, including but not limited to wars, neo-liberal globalization, imperial foreign policies and climate change. Time does not permit me to examine each of these. In this situation, however, we must note, that the ‘racialization’ of migrants has taken on a particular significance.
At the global scale such racialization is found in the broad characterization of European/white vs. non-European/non-white. What this means, particularly in the post-World War II context, is that the “problem” of migration has usually been associated not with the general question of migrants and refugees, but the specific question of the shifting of non-white populations away from their homes of origin to the imperial metropole (usually meaning to the country that was the historical imperial/colonial dominationist force over their particular oppressed nation/territory/people). The non-white migrant has been presented as the ‘evil’ or the problem by the so-called “nativist” forces in the global North on a racial basis. As the theorist Etienne Balibar has pointed out, however, this racial construction is a bit different from traditional racial notions since it does not OVERTLY presume superiority/inferiority (certainly on an alleged genetic basis) but rather articulates an ‘other-ness’ based on cultural incompatibility.
To explain this point for a moment, let us take an example from the United States. As you know, the issue of illegal or undocumented migration has been a major watchword for the political Right since at least the 1970s. In the USA, the face of the undocumented migrant is, in the popular imagination, not color neutral but is brown and black. It is largely—though not exclusively—the face of the Latino despite the fact that undocumented migration has never been restricted to this group. In the 1980s and early 1990s there was significant Irish migration to the USA, an important percentage of which was undocumented. Yet Irish migration to the USA during that period was never defined by right-wing or mainstream sources as being problematic. For all intents and purposes it was ignored. Documented AND undocumented migration from Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Mexico during that same period, however, was defined as being a problem because the unspoken message was that the Irish can be absorbed into the dominant white bloc in the USA, whereas the Haitians, Dominicans and Mexicans represent an “OTHER” population that is culturally incompatible.
The racialization of migrants, however, is not something that is limited to conflicts in and with the global North. The xenophobic response to migrants in parts of the global South, be it the genocide against Haitians in the 1930s under the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic or the more recent attacks on migrants in South Africa by mobs, points to forces largely driven by limited—and often declining—resources that results in toxic competition between populations. This competition becomes racialized where the migrants are portrayed as the force that is incompatible with the needs and existence of the dominant population. They become the “Alien,” so to speak, both literally—that is, in terms of the law—and figuratively—that is, in terms of the popular imagination. This competition for resources, we must note, is not something that exists in the abstract but is a phenomenon related to the rise of neo-liberal globalization and the dramatic polarization of wealth and resources we have witnessed on a world scale. When we have a situation, for instance, where 225 individuals have the accumulated wealth of the bottom 47% of the world’s population it becomes clear that those at the bottom will be struggling to make do with what is left to them by those who have accumulated so much.
With regard the question of migration and the dialectic between the global North and the global South, we must understand that the political Right plays upon what a US Hip Hop/Rap group called “Public Enemy” described once as a fear of a Black planet. When I use the term “Black” here I mean it more in the manner that many of us used it in the 1960s and 1970s, that is a term referencing not just people of more recent African origin but people from the former colonies and semi-colonies. Changing global demographics along with changing economics and politics have become a source of fear and insecurity for much of the global North, specifically, for the so-called white populations. The fundamental source of this insecurity actually is rooted in both the weakening of traditional imperialist relationships along with the rise of neo-liberal globalization and its transformation of both domestic and international conditions for working people. To put it another way, as the living standard for the working population in the global North declines due to the neo-liberal transformation—including the transference of wealth to the rich—the ‘spatial’ violations that are the result of migration come to represent more of a perceived threat to that same population. That “threat” may be in terms of competition for employment in certain sectors, but more often than not it is a psychological threat in which the working populations of the global North come to recognize that imperialism’s impact can no longer be perceived as being solely an external matter but is also manifested internally…that is, the security that once existed is now long-gone.
What are some of the implications of this analysis? Let me suggest the following.
1. A progressive response to migration cannot be grounded on abstract moral principles but must be grounded in an understanding of the historic relationship between the migrating population and the target of migration: The absence of an analysis that provides a context inevitably leads to failure. If one cannot explain the historical roots as to why a migration pattern is unfolding and the relationship of the policies of the migration target to the migrating population, then the migration may not make any sense or can be perceived as the equivalent of an invasion.
2. The destruction of lands, nations and peoples by imperialism, and its current incarnation as neo-liberal globalization is resulting in unprecedented population shifts: The impact of imperialism on land use, climate change, ethnic rivalries, etc., is leading to increasing competition for resources as well as population shifts. In this environment right-wing ideologies, grounded in a racialization of other populations, has advanced in both the global North and global South with the objective of excluding or marginalizing migrant populations, and in some cases, exterminating them altogether.
3. Racialization, as a process, is not only a matter of the perception of the migrating population by the ‘native’ population but also the manner through which the migrating population perceives dynamics within migrating target nation: This particular point is one that could and should be the topic of an entire discussion. The migrating population does not migrate with a blank consciousness, particularly on matters of race. It travels to the target nation with a racial consciousness that is shaped by the ideologies, histories and experiences from the home country. It is also shaped by the perceptions of the racial hierarchy in the target country. Thus, and by way of example, Latinos migrating to the USA from the Dominican Republic, are shaped by the historical antipathy between the Dominican Republic and Haiti; the bizarre racial denial and oppression that was perpetrated by the Trujillo regime; as well as understanding of how white supremacy operates in the USA, including but not limited to which populations have what standing in the US imperial/racial hierarchy.
4. A radical, anti-racist practice must be introduced in order to build solidarity and respond to anti-immigrant and xenophobic ideologies and practices: The racialization of current migration has several objectives. One is the creation of a permanent, marginal, powerless and subordinate working stratum. This is summarized in the notion that migrant workers will do work that ‘native’ workers avoid. The other aspect of the racialization is exactly the opposite, that is, the use of the “Other” as a way of creating a renewal of the dominant white bloc and the uniting behind a right-wing populist agenda. Right-wing populism can sometimes be confused for progressive, popular-democratic politics, if one avoids race. Right-wing populism often seizes on language from the Left in order to strengthen its base among working people from the ‘native’ population. To break this alignment, the racist nature of right-wing populism must be unpacked and exposed and a politics advanced that focuses on the development of an alternative, progressive bloc.
The struggle for justice for migrant workers is directly connected to the struggle against neo-liberal globalization. The destruction of Earth’s resources and the massive accumulation of wealth by a minority of the planet to the disadvantage of the majority, means that billions find themselves in a struggle for survival. One option has become migration, but rather than migration being accepted as the reality of a modern economy, it has brought with it demonization of those who migrate, covert exploitation of the migrant, and the use of the migrant in fundamentally racist ways to serve as scapegoat for the economic injustice being felt by so many.
The struggle for justice for the migrant worker is inextricably connected to the fight for racial justice, and, indeed, the fight for broader social justice. This struggle must be integrated into our various battles and not placed to one side as one additional issue on a long list of issues.
Thank you.
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, Bill Fletcher, Jr., is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, the immediate past president ofTransAfrica Forum and co-author of, Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice (University of California Press), which examines the crisis of organized labor in the USA. Click here to contact Mr. Fletcher.
Labels: post modernism, theory. Z Communications
LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:
MARIACHI GHOST AT LA BAMBA ONCE MORE:
From the local Latin music group Mariachi-Ghost Ánima. Once mare at La Bamba.
WMWMWMWMWM
MARIACHI GHOST TRIO AT LA BAMBA!!!
Time Friday, October 29 · 8:00pm - 11:00pm
--------------------------
Location La Bamba Restaurant
-------------------------
Created By Mariachi-ghost Ánimas
------------------------
More Info
ONE MORE GO!!!
COME SEE US PLAY!!!
Labels: concerts, la bamba, local events, mariachi ghost, Winnipeg
CANADIAN POLITICS:
NO TO THE STEALTH FIGHTERS:
This just in from CeaseFire.ca , a public education conference call on the Harper government's plans to blow $16 billion dollars on 'stealth fighters'. One might think that in light of the government's ballooning deficit that they should be a bit more "conservative" with our money. Ah well, for some things there will be to times of austerity. One should note that "stealth" fighters are pretty well the definition of an offensive weapon. They are only useful over somebody else's airspace. In any case the amount that may be spent on such toys has more or less been buried by the feds. Can we call this "Stealth by stealth" ? Here's the invite from CeaseFire.ca.
SFSFSFSFSF
Join our Canada-wide campaign conference call
Canada-wide campaign conference call
NO STEALTH FIGHTERS
Thursday, October 28, 2010
12:00 noon ET
(1:00 AT, 11:00 CT, 10:00 MT, 9:00 PT)
With Steven Staples and
special guest Michael Byers
Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. His work focuses on Arctic sovereignty, the law and politics of military force, and international humanitarian law. He is the author of War Law (2005), Intent for a Nation (2007) and Who Owns the Arctic? (2010).
Join us to learn more about Stephen Harper's plan to spend $16 billion on "shock and awe" stealth fighters.
Send in your question or campaign idea. Find out how you can get involved.
Labels: Canadian militarism, Canadian politics, Cease Fire organization, conference calls, militarism, protests, stealth fighters
Saturday, October 23, 2010
LOCAL NEWS WINNIPEG:
A DEAL FROM THE WINNIPEG ART GALLERY:
Here's an offer from the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Good for a Christmas gift for the artsy-fartsy in your life.
WAGWAGWAGWAG
Warm up at the WAG with this hot membership offer!
The WAG and Winnipeg Transit are offering a special promotion for Winnipeg Transit Monthly Bus Pass holders – buy one annual membership and get the second one free!
Buy two gifts for the price of one this holiday season with WAG gift memberships - also buy one get one free! It's the gift they'll enjoy all year.
To redeem this offer present your valid monthly Show & Save bus pass at the WAG admission desk, call 786.6641 ext 212, or email
development-associate@wag.ca with your monthly pass bus code.
Some restrictions apply.
Labels: local news, membership, Winnipeg, Winnipeg Art Gallery
AMERICAN LABOUR MINNEAPOLIS:
JIMMY JOHNS WORKERS UNION LOSES ELECTION IN CLOSE TALLY:
Close but no cigar. The Jimmy Johns Workers' Union in Minneapolis lost the Labour Board election that would have seen them representing workers in the 10 outlets in that city. the final tally was 85 in favour of the union and 87 against. US labour law says that a majority of those eligible to vote would have to vote yes to certify a union as the bargaining representative. In this case that would have meant 103 workers.
The IWW isn't giving up, and hopefully future efforts will be rewarded. The reader can see more and keep up to date on developments at both the Jimmy Johns Workers' Union site and also that of the Twin Cities IWW. Management fought a dirty campaign against the union, and there are quite a few unfair labour practices complaints in the works. As the following article from Business Week shows, red-baiting was part of their book of tricks. Nothing remarkable about this. What is remarkable, and it bodes well for the health of the American body politic, is that almost half the workers involved were unimpressed by scare words like "socialist-anarchist".
JJWJJWJJWJJW
Union’s Bid to Organize Minneapolis Sandwich Shops Rejected
October 23, 2010, 12:01 AM EDT
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Union efforts to recruit workers at U.S. fast-food restaurants were set back yesterday as Minneapolis employees at Jimmy John’s sandwich shops rejected a bid to affiliate with organized labor.
The Industrial Workers of the World, a Chicago-based group, failed to win enough votes at 10 shops where the union’s supporters complained of low wages and too few working hours. A tally showed 87 workers against the union and 85 in favor, with 103 votes, a majority of those eligible, needed to win, according to the National Labor Relations Board. The parties have seven days to file objections.
“We make minimum wage, and if the companies could pay us less, I’m sure they would,” said Ayo Collins, 20, who delivers sandwiches and is a union organizer at Jimmy John’s, a Champaign, Illinois-based chain with 1,000 U.S. shops. “We don’t have health care either.”
Success at Jimmy John’s would have been a breakthrough for organized labor in the fast-food business, where 1.3 percent of workers belong to a union and organizing is difficult because of rapid turnover and a young workforce, said Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The drive signals that working conditions are “perhaps a real social problem that requires a more pressing solution,” he said.
Mike Mulligan, who owns the 10 franchises in Minneapolis that were targeted in the campaign, said he has been “more than fair” to his workers. He said the workers include a high percentage of minority employees and he has “zero tolerance” for sexual harassment. Most employees have been with the company for less than six months, and are paid minimum wage of $7.25-an- hour, he said.
Socialist Wobblies
The I.W.W., known as the Wobblies, has 1,600 U.S. members and few union contracts with employers. The socialist union ( "socialist" is a fair description, but it should be stressed that this doesn't imply any support for any electoral socialist party ie "small s" socialist- Molly )says on its website that there can be “no end to injustice and want until the profit system itself is abolished.” The union has tried in the past to organize baristas at Starbucks Corp.
Employees at two Jimmy John’s in downtown Chicago, which wasn’t part of the I.W.W. organizing, said yesterday that pay is low and hours are inadequate.
“Three hours Monday through Friday isn’t enough,” said Julian Western, 20, who said he makes $8.25 an hour at the Jimmy John’s at 2 N. Riverside Plaza and works side jobs to supplement his income. “You need a second job just to get enough to get by, pay bills.”
Western and his friend Susana Contreras, 20, a cashier and baker at a nearby Jimmy John’s, said they hadn’t heard of the effort in Minneapolis. He said the Wobblies would succeed if they tried to organize in Chicago.
Hours, Pay
“A lot of people are complaining about the hours and pay,” said Western, who works the cash register and hands out sandwiches. “They’d be more than happy to cooperate.”
Mulligan, a retired senior vice president with grocer Supervalu Inc., said he met frequently with workers in the past six weeks to combat the union effort. He told workers the I.W.W. is a “socialist-anarchist” group, and that the union wouldn’t be likely to improve their working conditions.
“They’re trying to take down the quick-service industry,” said Mulligan, who became a franchisee after he leaving Supervalu as a way of going into business with his son. “Our employees don’t deserve these people, and these people don’t deserve our employees.”
Robert Bruno, director of the labor education program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said it’s significant for labor unions to target fast-food workers as potential union members.
“Some of the traditional rationales against unions in the industry -- that the workers are too young, they don’t stay on the job -- isn’t true any longer,” Bruno said. “Something has changed in the economy. It signals that you can’t take these workers for granted.”
--Editors: Steve Geimann, Larry Liebert
To contact the reporters on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net; Flynn McRoberts in Chicago at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net .
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net .
Union’s Bid to Organize Minneapolis Sandwich Shops Rejected
October 23, 2010, 12:01 AM EDT
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Union efforts to recruit workers at U.S. fast-food restaurants were set back yesterday as Minneapolis employees at Jimmy John’s sandwich shops rejected a bid to affiliate with organized labor.
The Industrial Workers of the World, a Chicago-based group, failed to win enough votes at 10 shops where the union’s supporters complained of low wages and too few working hours. A tally showed 87 workers against the union and 85 in favor, with 103 votes, a majority of those eligible, needed to win, according to the National Labor Relations Board. The parties have seven days to file objections.
“We make minimum wage, and if the companies could pay us less, I’m sure they would,” said Ayo Collins, 20, who delivers sandwiches and is a union organizer at Jimmy John’s, a Champaign, Illinois-based chain with 1,000 U.S. shops. “We don’t have health care either.”
Success at Jimmy John’s would have been a breakthrough for organized labor in the fast-food business, where 1.3 percent of workers belong to a union and organizing is difficult because of rapid turnover and a young workforce, said Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The drive signals that working conditions are “perhaps a real social problem that requires a more pressing solution,” he said.
Mike Mulligan, who owns the 10 franchises in Minneapolis that were targeted in the campaign, said he has been “more than fair” to his workers. He said the workers include a high percentage of minority employees and he has “zero tolerance” for sexual harassment. Most employees have been with the company for less than six months, and are paid minimum wage of $7.25-an- hour, he said.
Socialist Wobblies
The I.W.W., known as the Wobblies, has 1,600 U.S. members and few union contracts with employers. The socialist union ( "socialist" is a fair description, but it should be stressed that this doesn't imply any support for any electoral socialist party ie "small s" socialist- Molly )says on its website that there can be “no end to injustice and want until the profit system itself is abolished.” The union has tried in the past to organize baristas at Starbucks Corp.
Employees at two Jimmy John’s in downtown Chicago, which wasn’t part of the I.W.W. organizing, said yesterday that pay is low and hours are inadequate.
“Three hours Monday through Friday isn’t enough,” said Julian Western, 20, who said he makes $8.25 an hour at the Jimmy John’s at 2 N. Riverside Plaza and works side jobs to supplement his income. “You need a second job just to get enough to get by, pay bills.”
Western and his friend Susana Contreras, 20, a cashier and baker at a nearby Jimmy John’s, said they hadn’t heard of the effort in Minneapolis. He said the Wobblies would succeed if they tried to organize in Chicago.
Hours, Pay
“A lot of people are complaining about the hours and pay,” said Western, who works the cash register and hands out sandwiches. “They’d be more than happy to cooperate.”
Mulligan, a retired senior vice president with grocer Supervalu Inc., said he met frequently with workers in the past six weeks to combat the union effort. He told workers the I.W.W. is a “socialist-anarchist” group, and that the union wouldn’t be likely to improve their working conditions.
“They’re trying to take down the quick-service industry,” said Mulligan, who became a franchisee after he leaving Supervalu as a way of going into business with his son. “Our employees don’t deserve these people, and these people don’t deserve our employees.”
Robert Bruno, director of the labor education program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said it’s significant for labor unions to target fast-food workers as potential union members.
“Some of the traditional rationales against unions in the industry -- that the workers are too young, they don’t stay on the job -- isn’t true any longer,” Bruno said. “Something has changed in the economy. It signals that you can’t take these workers for granted.”
--Editors: Steve Geimann, Larry Liebert
To contact the reporters on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net; Flynn McRoberts in Chicago at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net .
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net .
JJWJJWJJWJJW
Here's how the Jimmy Johns Workers' Union themselves see the matter.
JJWJJWJJWJJW
Unfazed by near tie, Jimmy John’s Workers vow to continue campaign
by Twin Cities Iww on Friday, October 22, 2010 at 8:14pm.
Unfazed by near tie, Jimmy John’s Workers vow to continue campaign
by Twin Cities Iww on Friday, October 22, 2010 at 8:14pm.
Jimmy Johns Workers Union (Industrial Workers of the World) Contact: Erik Forman, 612-598-6205, Ayo Collins 612-281-0882
October 22, 2010
Unfazed by near tie, Jimmy John’s Workers vow to continue campaign
Workers report widespread illegal activity by company
MINNEAPOLIS – Workers at 10 Jimmy John’s franchise locations in Minneapolis are crying foul after a near tie in a union certification election marred by misconduct by owner MikLin enterprises. 85 workers voted in favor of unionization and 87 against, with two unknown contested ballots. Under the National Labor Relations Act, a tie goes to the employer.
Workers reported strong evidence of several violations of the National Labor Relations Act on and before election day, including attempted bribes of workers, management asking workers to wear anti-union pins, threats of mass firings, and anti-union firings. MikLin Enterprises currently stands charged with 22 alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act.
“We are extremely disappointed with the company’s conduct in this matter; rather then letting simply letting us vote, management chose to break the law repeatedly during the last six weeks. They spent over $84,500 on a vicious anti-union smear campaign, that's over $1000 per vote. We do not recognize these election results as legitimate and will continue to fight for our demands,” said Erik Forman, a worker at Jimmy John’s and a union member.
Ayo Collins, a delivery driver, says the union “hasn’t put all their eggs in one basket” and has multiple avenues of action still open to them. He says the union is considering taking legal action against the company over their misconduct in the runup to the election.
"In a company with turnover approaching 50% each month, a majority at any given moment only means so much. We have a mandate- more than 85 of us are committed to continuing the fight for decent wages, consistent scheduling, sick days, and the basic respect and dignity that all workers deserve. This is just the beginning of the fight," said Collins.
The Jimmy Johns Workers Union, open to employees at the company nationwide, is the first fast food union in the nation, and is affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World labor union. Gaining prominence in recent years for organizing Starbucks workers, the IWW is a global union founded over a century ago for all working people.
##
JimmyJohnsWorkers.org
October 22, 2010
Unfazed by near tie, Jimmy John’s Workers vow to continue campaign
Workers report widespread illegal activity by company
MINNEAPOLIS – Workers at 10 Jimmy John’s franchise locations in Minneapolis are crying foul after a near tie in a union certification election marred by misconduct by owner MikLin enterprises. 85 workers voted in favor of unionization and 87 against, with two unknown contested ballots. Under the National Labor Relations Act, a tie goes to the employer.
Workers reported strong evidence of several violations of the National Labor Relations Act on and before election day, including attempted bribes of workers, management asking workers to wear anti-union pins, threats of mass firings, and anti-union firings. MikLin Enterprises currently stands charged with 22 alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act.
“We are extremely disappointed with the company’s conduct in this matter; rather then letting simply letting us vote, management chose to break the law repeatedly during the last six weeks. They spent over $84,500 on a vicious anti-union smear campaign, that's over $1000 per vote. We do not recognize these election results as legitimate and will continue to fight for our demands,” said Erik Forman, a worker at Jimmy John’s and a union member.
Ayo Collins, a delivery driver, says the union “hasn’t put all their eggs in one basket” and has multiple avenues of action still open to them. He says the union is considering taking legal action against the company over their misconduct in the runup to the election.
"In a company with turnover approaching 50% each month, a majority at any given moment only means so much. We have a mandate- more than 85 of us are committed to continuing the fight for decent wages, consistent scheduling, sick days, and the basic respect and dignity that all workers deserve. This is just the beginning of the fight," said Collins.
The Jimmy Johns Workers Union, open to employees at the company nationwide, is the first fast food union in the nation, and is affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World labor union. Gaining prominence in recent years for organizing Starbucks workers, the IWW is a global union founded over a century ago for all working people.
##
JimmyJohnsWorkers.org
Labels: American labour, current events, IWW, Jimmy Johns workers, Minneapolis, syndicalism
Friday, October 22, 2010
PERSONAL:
MOLLY IS BACK IN HER FOXHOLE:
Well, in case my fans and enemies haven't gathered Corporal Molly is back in her foxhole at the front. Almost a week to be exact. It takes little time for a paranoid mind to get used to a city where cars don't stop for pedestrians, unlike out in Victoria. To be honest I could never get used to the idea that some son-of-a-bitch wasn't ready to gun it and run me down, just like here in my home territory. Here you look both ways before crossing the street, run like hell to the middle, catch your breath and repeat the process providing there is no traffic either way. I will also have to get used to the less than benign presence of "street demons" here, but that is easy as my pissed off button is very near the surface. Quite frankly I have always (I've been in Victoria before) had a hard time adjusting to the idea that threat is not the best way of dealing with street demons. In Victoria they have better manners than the average Winnipeger, non-demon Winnipeger that is.
Let's say slightly that I and what one wag has called "Mrs Molly" enjoyed our stay our there immensely. It's a great place, even though a bit "crowded" for my taste. We liked the bars. Hell. I even found 'Murphy's Stout' on tap, something you could never find here at the ends of the Earth. Winnipeg actually has a few "pubs", rather than sleazy bars, and we may even have our own (one) micro-brewery now. This puts us on the same level as Regina which should be a great matter of shame.
Molly drove up to Nanaimo to visit Comrade Larry and was properly impressed by the scenery along the way. Many photos were taken. I was even more impressed by the hospitality that I received from Larry and Rosie. I also found out that Nanaimo was a neat little city with a very vibrant anarchist community. Many thanks to L and R.
So here we arrived back in Winnipeg. Open the door. Cling, cling. cling comes loud from the basement. Appreciate that Molly's house was built in 1929, and the water heat furnace is from the original. Oh Fucking Jesus. At least the place hasn't burnt down. The problem is a water pump that is attached to the furnace, and a spring connector on it. Click, click,click. Check, check check. It's a few days later that I call Winnipeg Supply and have the pump fixed. This is because, to my utter amazement, despite the fact that the pump is fucked we still have heat and hot water. It gets shoved down the priority list.
Meanwhile the wife tries to start her car. Dead as a doornail. Now...I've always been happy to screw around with cars. Furnaces I won't touch with a ten foot pole., I pull up the hood on the wife's car. Jesus H. Christ !!! I have never seen such an accumulation of copper sulfate on a battery in my life. Now Molly is from from Saskatchewan, and I swear that there was enough bluestone to sterilize about 3 dugouts. Screwdriver and baking soda go to work. I get the mess cleaned up and boost the wife's battery. Vroom, vroom.
Piss and Jesus. MY car goes dead. Click, click,click. Fuck,fuck,fuck.. We do a back boost and the machine is working fine. With great circling the wife drives off to get her battery charged by driving. I take off elsewhere. Stop at the pharmacy to pick up my nicotine lozenges. Come out. Click, click, click. God knows what my blood pressure was then.
Up goes the hood. Bang, bang,bang, Twist,twist, twist. Vroom, vroom. vroom. I never knew before that you could screw up your battery connections just by giving somebody a boost. Live and learn. Oh God do I hate machinery.
Welcome back to Winnipeg. Actually I don't mind it as much as it may seem. It is far better than Saskatchewan, espcially Regina where I "served" 14 years. Back to decorating the yard for Halloween. Such is my more or less boring personal life. Mechanical disasters are great events. I gues it's better than noting bites from Rottweillers.
Labels: cars., furnace, Halloween, Nanaimo, personal, thanks.hospitality, Victoria, Winnipeg
WEIRD STUFF:
ONE TENTH OF A MIND:
Molly has had her hands slapped before and done her proper mea culpas about her opinions about the state of the American mind. Now it is no doubt true that the majority of the American population is indeed part of the modern world with all that that implies. Still, I have yet to see anybody present any proof that the USA does not contain the majority of religious sects (yes I include every stump worshipping local cult in the far reaches of the Amazon in this estimate) existent in the world today.
In a field that I am much more familiar with I doubt that anyone could present proof that the USA doesn't contain the majority of the weird political sects that infest the modern world. In term of leftist bullshit it would be hard to find another country which could produce the Weathermen, one of whose "political" tenets was that one should sleep on the floor because "mattresses were white skin privilege". Similarly, and speaking of stump worshippers, it should be noted that the USA is the necrotic centre of the religious revival masquerading as politics known as "primitivism". For those unfamiliar with this cuteness it is a current of thought claiming the "anarchist" label (or claiming to be far superior to it) that says that "civilization" should be abolished and that this is actually some sort of realistic 'program". I'll leave the naive reader to their own devises in imagining what this means because it essentially means nothing except intestinal gas disguised as speech.
But then there is the other side which far outweighs leftist bullshit by several orders of magnitude. Outside of the Middle East and parts of Central Asia the USA is probably the only area of the world where obviously insane nonsense can easily become part of everyday "accepted" politics. Most of this nonsense could be styled "right wing bullshit" rather than the left wing variety of bovine feces. The examples are endless, but I've chosen to present one below. This is the political movement known as the "Tenthers".
Out here in the civilized world this probably has about as much resonance as a dispute about how many Imams there there have been in the Muslim world. Yet, it seems to mean a lot in the country where "Birthers" has a meaning. Believers in this way of politics think that the last 70 years of US politics are illegitimate because the Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution says that "any powers not expressly designated to the federal government are the province of the states or the people". Sounds pretty "libertarian" ? Wrong ! The targets of those who believe in this legal fiction are pretty well exclusively those "powers" whereby a less prosperous segment of the population guards against the exploitation of the more prosperous people. NOTHING is said about the rights of communities (as opposed to states), and NOTHING is said about the legal protection (and how it shouldn't exist) for those who are higher in the class system as opposed to the efforts of those below them. Some "individuals" are more equal than others I guess, and States are more equal than communities.
WSWSWSWSWS
‘Tenthers’ Would Abolish Wage and Child Labor Laws, Social Security, Medicare and More
by Mike Hall, Oct 21, 2010
Most cults are based in some sort of skewed spiritual vision or the worship of a charismatic leader, but there is a re-emerging cult that bows down at the feet of the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Many of them want to bring their cultish beliefs to the halls of Congress and are running for election this fall.
They’re called the “tenthers” and they say federal laws and rules like the minimum wage, Medicare, Social Security, unemployment insurance, the Department of Education, even child labor laws and a laundry list of other federal laws and programs are unconstitutional.
Their rationale—irrationale would be a better word—is that if a federal power is not specifically spelled out in the Constitution, well the government doesn’t have it, according to their view of the 10th amendment.
It’s a view that has long been discredited, but reappears from time to time, such as during FDR’s New Deal era and after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education.
Here’s Think Progress in today’s Progress Report:
…because the Constitution doesn’t actually use the word education—it instead gives Congress broad authority to spend money to advance the “common defense” and “general welfare”—Senate candidates like Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Sharron Angle (R-Nev.) claim that the federal Department of Education is unconstitutional. That means no federal student loan assistance or Pell Grants for middle class students struggling to pay for college, and no education funds providing opportunities to students desperately trying to break into the middle class.
And that’s hardly the worst news tenthers have in store for young Americans. Alaska GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller wants to declare child labor laws unconstitutional—returning America to the day when ten-year-olds labored in coal mines.
Miller told Dermot Cole of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner that he didn’t believe the federal government had any right to establish child labor laws.
I asked him about whether he also believed that federal child labor laws should be done away with.
He said he is not against Social Security, unemployment benefits, the minimum wage or child labor laws.
But he doesn’t want the federal government mandating any of them.
Tenthers believe the states alone should–or more likely, should not–address these issues. Because states are in such financial straights these days, they can’t even pay for the programs, laws and policies already on their books. Hmmm? You don’t think tenthers are counting on that do you?
Click here to read The Progress Report’s in-depth look at the “tenthers” movement and here for more from Ian Millhiser at The American Prospect.
‘Tenthers’ Would Abolish Wage and Child Labor Laws, Social Security, Medicare and More
by Mike Hall, Oct 21, 2010
Most cults are based in some sort of skewed spiritual vision or the worship of a charismatic leader, but there is a re-emerging cult that bows down at the feet of the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Many of them want to bring their cultish beliefs to the halls of Congress and are running for election this fall.
They’re called the “tenthers” and they say federal laws and rules like the minimum wage, Medicare, Social Security, unemployment insurance, the Department of Education, even child labor laws and a laundry list of other federal laws and programs are unconstitutional.
Their rationale—irrationale would be a better word—is that if a federal power is not specifically spelled out in the Constitution, well the government doesn’t have it, according to their view of the 10th amendment.
It’s a view that has long been discredited, but reappears from time to time, such as during FDR’s New Deal era and after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education.
Here’s Think Progress in today’s Progress Report:
…because the Constitution doesn’t actually use the word education—it instead gives Congress broad authority to spend money to advance the “common defense” and “general welfare”—Senate candidates like Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Sharron Angle (R-Nev.) claim that the federal Department of Education is unconstitutional. That means no federal student loan assistance or Pell Grants for middle class students struggling to pay for college, and no education funds providing opportunities to students desperately trying to break into the middle class.
And that’s hardly the worst news tenthers have in store for young Americans. Alaska GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller wants to declare child labor laws unconstitutional—returning America to the day when ten-year-olds labored in coal mines.
Miller told Dermot Cole of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner that he didn’t believe the federal government had any right to establish child labor laws.
I asked him about whether he also believed that federal child labor laws should be done away with.
He said he is not against Social Security, unemployment benefits, the minimum wage or child labor laws.
But he doesn’t want the federal government mandating any of them.
Tenthers believe the states alone should–or more likely, should not–address these issues. Because states are in such financial straights these days, they can’t even pay for the programs, laws and policies already on their books. Hmmm? You don’t think tenthers are counting on that do you?
Click here to read The Progress Report’s in-depth look at the “tenthers” movement and here for more from Ian Millhiser at The American Prospect.
Labels: AFL-CIO Blog, American politics, opinion., tenthers, weird stuff
AMERICAN LABOUR:
TELL RITE AID TO DO RITE:
The following appeal for solidarity with warehouse workers at Rite-Aid Pharmacy in the USA comes from the United Students Against Sweatshops organization.
RARARARARA
Rite Aid Pharmacy wants its workers sick?
Tell Rite Aid: No more sweatshop conditions for California warehouse workers!
Support Rite Aid workers in their fight for a fair contract
Rite Aid Pharmacy wants its workers sick?
Tell Rite Aid: No more sweatshop conditions for California warehouse workers!
Support Rite Aid workers in their fight for a fair contract
Rite Aid wants to overcharge its workers by nearly 3,000% on their health insurance plan. Why would a company bringing in billions with the mission of keeping customers “healthy and safe” try to rip off its own employees with the health insurance they need to care for themselves and their families?
Tell Rite Aid CEO John Standley to stop cheating its workers on health care and to negotiate a fair first contract with its warehouse workers.
Rite Aid has been a bad actor for decades – exploiting our tax dollars, cheating the government, cutting and running from union plants, and punishing workers when they stand up against egregious conditions in Rite Aid warehouses. Two years ago, workers in their Lancaster warehouse refused to put up with Rite Aid's abuse, speaking out against daily harassment, disrespect, job insecurity, working mandatory overtime, and toiling in the sweltering heat. After voting in a union to protect themselves from Rite Aid’s abuses, the company retaliated with illegal layoffs and has refused to negotiate a reasonable first contract with these workers for more than two years. Now the company is proposing to overcharge them 28 times on health insurance while pushing higher drug prices on consumers.
Take action now and demand that Rite Aid stop this sweatshop behavior and negotiate a fair contract!
Rite Aid’s directors earn up to $100 million a year and pour money into busting unions, and yet they insist on ripping off workers by overcharging them on the health care that Rite Aid workers and their families need. Send a letter to Rite Aid CEO John Standley and tell him to stop cheating warehouse workers in healthcare costs and to negotiate a fair first contract in Lancaster.
Tell Rite Aid CEO John Standley to stop cheating its workers on health care and to negotiate a fair first contract with its warehouse workers.
Rite Aid has been a bad actor for decades – exploiting our tax dollars, cheating the government, cutting and running from union plants, and punishing workers when they stand up against egregious conditions in Rite Aid warehouses. Two years ago, workers in their Lancaster warehouse refused to put up with Rite Aid's abuse, speaking out against daily harassment, disrespect, job insecurity, working mandatory overtime, and toiling in the sweltering heat. After voting in a union to protect themselves from Rite Aid’s abuses, the company retaliated with illegal layoffs and has refused to negotiate a reasonable first contract with these workers for more than two years. Now the company is proposing to overcharge them 28 times on health insurance while pushing higher drug prices on consumers.
Take action now and demand that Rite Aid stop this sweatshop behavior and negotiate a fair contract!
Rite Aid’s directors earn up to $100 million a year and pour money into busting unions, and yet they insist on ripping off workers by overcharging them on the health care that Rite Aid workers and their families need. Send a letter to Rite Aid CEO John Standley and tell him to stop cheating warehouse workers in healthcare costs and to negotiate a fair first contract in Lancaster.
RARARARARA
THE LETTER:
Please go to this link to send the following letter to the CEO of Rite-Aid.
RARARARARA
Dear Mr. Standley,
As a Rite Aid customer, I am troubled to hear that workers in your Lancaster, California distribution center who voted to form a union two and a half years ago do not have an agreement with Rite Aid to improve working conditions and give employees a voice at work.
Union contracts are our best assurance that Rite Aid is providing the good jobs our communities need.
I am also alarmed to hear that Rite Aid management has proposed overcharging employees by 28 times on their health insurance plan. This would constitute an enormous financial strain on workers and their families. For me, these abuses really are personal.
By making such an outrageous and unethical proposal, your company is making it impossible to move forward in finalizing a fair contract to end sweatshop conditions at the Lancaster distribution center.
I urge management to do everything possible to bring these negotiations to an expedited conclusion with a fair agreement for Rite Aid's hardworking employees. As a company that provides critical health care services to the public, it's hypocritical not to provide a health insurance plan that workers and their families can afford.
Labels: American labour, labour., Rite Aid, solidarity., United Students Against Sweatshops
