Thursday, September 16, 2010
AMERICAN LABOUR:
MOTTS STRIKE ENDS VICTORY OR DEFEAT ?:
Well the strike at the Motts plant in Williamson New York has finally ended after a vigorous continent wide solidarity campaign. Now Molly can go back to buying Clamato juice by the case. Yum ! The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) who are the parent union of the RWDSU who represent the Motts workers are 'declaring victory". Here is their statement from the Canadian website.
MWMWMWMWMW
Mott’s strike ends in victory
The four-month strike by three hundred RWDSU-UFCW Local 220 members at a Mott’s bottling plant in upstate New York has come to a successful conclusion.
Workers at the plant, owned by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS), have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement by a margin of 3 to 1.
“This is a very important victory for our Local 220 brothers and sisters,” said UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley. “Their resolve was reinforced by the solidarity and support of UFCW International and UFCW Canada members and local unions across North America through their letters, petitions and boycott of DPS products.”
More than 300 members work at the Mott’s plant in Williamson, New York. With the successful conclusion of the strike, the campaign to boycott DPS products has also come to an end. The conclusion of the work stoppage also marked the end of UFCW Canada's very successful No to Clamato/Down with Caesar campaign, which was widely received by Canadians across the country.
"Our brothers and sisters in Canada were a key part of this fight," says RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum. "The donations to the hardship fund we received from Canadians, the support of Members of Parliament, and innovative campaigns like UFCW Canada's "No to Clamato/Down with Caesar" petition drive - all of these things helped Local 220 members know that they were not alone as they fought for good middle class jobs. We are grateful to our brothers and sisters in the UFCW."
MWMWMWMWMW
All, however, is not wine and roses in this agreement. It is, I guess, expected that the unions involved would blow their own horns about "victory". Expected yes, but is it either useful or desirable ? This fault called in old-fashioned language "triumphalism" is hardly restricted to unions or the business world in general. It is a widely spread human tendency. Where it becomes harmful is where the disconnect from reality is so great that pretty well anyone other than a protagonist can see the discrepancy. In such cases the claims do little other than discredit the claimant. This is where it becomes undesirable. It becomes a hindrance ie not useful when it prevents the protagonist from dispassionately analyzing what went wrong and what went right and making future plans. be my guest to judge where the union proclamations of "victory" fall in this case.
Many others outside of those immediately involved have opined that the strike was less than a clear victory. I could quote many sources, but here is a particularly good one from Mike Elk in the Huffington Post. This has been a long running theme on this blog. Truth is usually a messy affair in which one side is never always either right or good. After many years of being "on one side" I have come to accept it as a truism that many on my own side may exaggerate, lie or even be simply out to lunch. In this case I would personally definitely support the Motts strikers, but I don't see the usefulness of lieing and pretending that they achieved an unsullied victory.
MWMWMWMWMW
Was the Mott's Strike "Victory" Really a Victory?
While organized labor spends close to $100 million to propel Democrats to victory in November, members of the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union/UFCW (RWDSU/UFCW) Local 220 on Monday won perhaps labor's most important victory of the fall.
The Mott's applesauce plant workers went on strike in Williamson, N.Y., on May 23, after Mott's parent company, the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, demanded what amounted to a $3,000 per year wage cut for every worker across the board, as well as cuts in pension and healthcare. Companies and unions across the country were watching the Mott Applesauce Strike as a sign of bargaining trends to come. So Monday's settlement is being seen as a "victory" because it stopped profitable companies from demanding wage cuts.
But was the "victory" at Mott's really a victory? For the first time, Mott's workers were forced to accept a two-tier employee structure -- a system that breaks union solidarity over the long run by pitting new hires against older employees. Under the new system, new hires will not have guaranteed pension plans like current workers, but instead have riskier 401(k) plans. Likewise, the company will decrease its matching payments to all retirement plans as well as force employees to pay health care contributions of 20 percent.
As Stephen Franklin reported last week, Snapple argued that because the average worker in the Williamson area was making $14 an hour, while Mott's workers were averaging $21 an hour, Mott's workers should accept wage cuts because the local area contained so many workers who would work for less. Mott's demanded this despite boasting one of its best annual profits on record last year--$550 million, up from $312 million the year before.
As Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), an affiliate of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, said, "This is the first time a very profitable company has come to us and asked for concessions, and I've been with the union for 23 years."
Yes, the new agreement does "restore" wage levels for current employees. But it also freezes them for three years.
One has to wonder how much of a victory this truly is for labor. At a time when Mott's overall profits are increasing, workers wages' should be increasing. By threatening massive wage cuts, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group was able to force the union to accept small benefit concessions and a two-tier employee system that saves Dr Pepper Snapple money.
The fact that a corporation was able to force these concessions on workers while making record profits is a testament to the weakened state of organized labor, and the desperation of American workers.
Follow Mike Elk on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MikeElk
Labels: American labour, labour., Mott's, New York, RWDSU, strike., triumphalism, truth., UFCW, USA
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
AMERICAN LABOUR NEW YORK:
MOTTS STRIKE GOES PAST 100 DAY MARK:
Molly has blogged before on the strike at the Motts' production facility in Williamson New York (see here, here, here, here and here). At least one of those posts gathered quite a bit of comment, including a mendacious posting from what I presume was a member of Motts management. Now this strike is beginning to take on epic proportions with national and even international (Canada) repercussions. On the one side is a corporate management that seems determined to live up (down ?) to the classic image of an evil top hatted capitalist, twirling mustache and all, with its CEO making $6.5 million a year and so "devoted" to keeping the company afloat that he was off on a "hunting trip to New Zealand" while the strike was ongoing. On the other side stands what one article in the Nation magazine describes as "gun fans, military veterans and motorcycle riders" ie a selection of ordinary people whom the "left" loves to look down on who are now carrying out the most visible example of class struggle in the USA. With, however, the support of the local community, of union members across the continent and even of some otherwise anti-union politicians this small band of workers may be the test case of whether the corporate ruling class can carry out their full program of 'peonizing' US workers.
MSMSMSMSMS
100 days of fighting the low waging of America:For 100 days, more than 300 Mott’s workers in Williamson, N.Y., have been on strike, fighting the low-waging of America. The Dr Pepper Snapple Group, the corporate conglomerate that owns Mott’s (of apple juice and apple sauce fame) has been trying to cut their pay and benefits—even though the company reported a net income of $555 million in 2009.
Tell Dr Pepper Snapple to back off its corporate greed and treat the Mott’s workers fairly.
Dr Pepper Snapple is taking advantage of the recession and high unemployment rates in the area to beat down the workers, members of RWDSU/UFCW Local 220. A spokesman told The New York Times recently the company’s just trying to take wages down to meet “local industry standards”—in other words, to make recession-era wages the norm.
Dr Pepper Snapple is demanding wage cuts that would amount to $3,000 a year per worker, ending pensions for new hires, cutting the company’s 401(k) retirement contributions and increasing employee health care costs.
This is a 142-year-old company with a product that’s as American as you can get—a company you thought you knew and could trust. It’s a company that symbolizes everything we’re fighting for—and everything we’re fighting against: the low-waging of America.
This strike isn’t just about Williamson, N.Y. As The Times put it, “if the Mott’s workers lose this showdown, it could prompt other profitable companies to push for major labor concessions.”
If America’s economy is going to recover, we need paychecks that can fuel consumption. And if profitable companies are allowed to use the recession to drive America’s middle class out of existence, it’s unconscionable.
Don’t be silent about the low-waging of America. Support the Mott’s workers who have been walking the picket line for 100 days. Act now.
Tell Dr Pepper Snapple to back off its corporate greed and treat the Mott’s workers fairly.
Thank you for taking action for the Mott’s workers and all working families. Please forward this e-mail to at least five friends and urge them to take action, too.
In solidarity,
AFL-CIO Working Families e-Activist Network
P.S. The RWDSU Mott’s Hardship Fund has been established to help aid Mott’s workers affected by the strike. Donations to this fund will be used to help offset hardships being faced by Local 220 members as a result of their strike against the corporate greed of Mott’s/Dr. Pepper Snapple. Please consider making a contribution to the strike fund by clicking here.
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THE LETTER:
Please copy and paste the following letter, and send it to Motts management at this email address:.
MSMSMSMSMS
Dear Dr Pepper Snapple,
With record-breaking profits, your company has no justification to cut the pay and benefits of the more than 300 Mott’s workers in Williamson, N.Y. In saying you want to bring their wages down to “local industry standards,” you are trying to take advantage of the recession and high unemployment rates to lift your profits even higher.
Your workers deserve better. And so do workers at other profitable companies that might try to follow your shameful example.
Mott’s is a 142-year-old company with a product that’s as American as you can get—a company we all thought we knew and could trust. I hope you realize you are jeopardizing a well-known, well-established and respected brand. That’s a lot to throw away.
I urge you to back off your attack on the Mott’s workers’ wages and benefits and do the right thing.
Labels: AFL-CIO Blog, American labour, labour, Mott's, Mott's strike, New York, RWDSU, solidarity., USA
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
AMERICAN LABOUR NEW YORK:
SCABS IN THE SAUCE:
Molly has blogged before about the strike at the Mott's facility in Williamson New York. The strike continues, and the company has hired scabs to try and break the strike. The following appeal from the American Rights At Work group asks you to register your support for the striking workers.
ALALALALAL
Tell Mott's: get the scabs out of your applesauce!
Even in a depressed economy, Mott's – the huge applesauce and juice company – is thriving. Just last year, its parent company earned $555 million in profits.
But instead of rewarding its workers for that success, Mott’s is keeping all the profits – and then some. At one facility in Williamson, NY, management tried to slash workers’ wages by as much as $1.50 per hour AND take away their pension plan! And when the workers went on strike, Mott’s hired strike breakers – otherwise known as scabs – to cross the picket line.
Tell the President of Mott’s parent company: Mott's workers deserve better!
Tell Mott's: get the scabs out of your applesauce!
Even in a depressed economy, Mott's – the huge applesauce and juice company – is thriving. Just last year, its parent company earned $555 million in profits.
But instead of rewarding its workers for that success, Mott’s is keeping all the profits – and then some. At one facility in Williamson, NY, management tried to slash workers’ wages by as much as $1.50 per hour AND take away their pension plan! And when the workers went on strike, Mott’s hired strike breakers – otherwise known as scabs – to cross the picket line.
Tell the President of Mott’s parent company: Mott's workers deserve better!
ALALALALAL
THE LETTER
Please go to this link to send the following letter to Mott's management.
ALALALALAL
As a consumer who cares about how a company treats its workers, I am writing to express my concern about the Mott's facility in upstate New York. It has come to my attention that strike breakers are being brought in, and that Mott's management continues to avoid negotiating with workers fairly.
Mott's is a profitable and financially healthy company, and it's outrageous that the company would seek to take advantage of a distressed economy to inflict further economic pain on workers in upstate New York. Mott's actions also threaten to put hundreds of independent apple farmers out of business. I urge you to work with the union to reach a fair contract that protects workers' pay and retirement.
Labels: American labour, labour, Mott's, Mott's strike, New York, scabs, solidarity., USA
Sunday, January 24, 2010
AMERICAN LABOUR:
VICTORY AT WILD EDIBLES:
The following story is from the website of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The organization Brandworkers International is a social advocacy coalition that has fought this particular campaign for over two years, waging a boycott that eventually forced Wild Edibles management to settle with the workers. Here's the story.
ALALALALALALAL
After Hard-Fought Campaign, Workers Achieve Victory At Wild Edibles!:
For Immediate Release:
After Hard-Fought Campaign, Workers Achieve Victory At Wild Edibles!:
For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers
January 20, 2010
Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org
Workers Reach Comprehensive Settlement with Prominent Seafood Company
Protracted Grassroots Campaign Saw Over 75 Leading Restaurants Stop Serving Wild Edibles Products
New York, NY- Lawyers filed with a federal bankruptcy judge a global settlement agreement totaling over $340,000 and containing strong workplace protections in a high-profile set of litigation brought by workers against one of New York's leading seafood companies, Wild Edibles, Inc.
The comprehensive settlement comes after a bitterly-contested campaign in which some two-dozen recent immigrant workers and their non-profit organization, Brandworkers, used grassroots actions, media advocacy, and community organizing in an effort to win legal accountability at Wild Edibles, which supplies seafood to some of NYC's most famed restaurants in addition to operating retail seafood outlets.
"We're on top of the world today because more than anything we showed that ordinary workers can get organized, take action together, and win," said Raymundo Lara Molina, a former Wild Edibles employee and member of Brandworkers.
The parties are requesting that the judge, Robert E. Gerber, of Federal Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, approve a settlement for over $340,000 in unpaid overtime as well as compensation for workers who were retaliated against for asserting their rights; a binding protective mechanism for collective activity; and an enforceable commitment to place Wild Edibles into compliance with all workplace laws including health & safety and anti-discrimination protections.
The settlement would resolve outstanding litigation under the Fair Labor Standards Act and National Labor Relations Act in addition to state law claims and ensure that Wild Edibles, which brought unsuccessful legal claims against the Brandworkers campaign, would refrain from filing further suits. The agreement should allow Wild Edibles to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy after being laid low by the workers' spirited campaign.
"In this economic downturn, it's more important than ever that workers' rights are respected and wage theft is not tolerated," said Cesar Barturen, a former driver at Wild Edibles and a member of Brandworkers. "The message we're sending today is that there's great power in workers taking on our problems together and speaking in a collective voice."
In a campaign that stretched over two years, workers and supporters persuaded over 75 of New York's leading fine-dining restaurants to stop serving seafood from Wild Edibles until workers' rights were respected. The workers attracted prominent supporters along the way including clergy and then City Council Member Eric Gioia, whose district included the Wild Edibles processing facility.
The workers effort at Wild Edibles was part of the Brandworkers Focus on the Food Chain initiative which is promoting a sustainable food system that incorporates respect for workers' human rights. Thousands of recent immigrants labor out of sight in NYC's food processing sector, often in workplaces where legal rights are routinely violated. Focus on the Chain provides workers with legal, advocacy, and organizing tools to win justice at work and broadcast a collective voice in the public arena.
The workers' campaign received critical support from the Industrial Workers of the World; the Law Office of Rankin and Taylor; Levy Ratner; the Urban Justice Center; Debevoise & Plimpton; and Vladeck Waldman, among many others.
Brandworkers is a New York-based non-profit organization protecting and advancing the rights of retail and food employees. The organization topped off 2009 by receiving the highly-regarded Union Square Award for pursuing social justice through grassroots mobilization.
Related Links
Foodstuff Workers Industrial Union 460
New York City GMB
Related Links
Foodstuff Workers Industrial Union 460
New York City GMB
Labels: American labour, boycotts., Brandworkers International, IWW, labour, New York, solidarity., USA, victory
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
CANADIAN LABOUR:
STEELWORKERS TAKE IT TO THE BIG APPLE:
In their quest for international support for their strike against an international corporation-Vale Inco- the United Steelworkers have expanded their solidarity efforts across the world. Germany, Brazil, Sweden, Australia, New Caledonia, you name it. Here, from the Sudbury Star, is the story of one of their recent efforts in New York City where they threw a little kink into what would have been a major PR coup on the part of Vale. The following item came to Molly's attention via the strike support site Fair Deal Now. Read on.
L!L!L!L!L!L!L!L!
Steelworkers take New York by storm:
VALE INCO STRIKE: Strikers take fight to Wall Street
Posted By CAROL MULLIGAN, THE SUDBURY STAR
Two dozen striking Steelworkers got their message out loud and clear to the financial community and others in the Big Apple on Wednesday.
Fourteen members of Sudbury's United Steelworkers Local 6500 and 10 from Local 6200 in Port Colborne made a 48-hour return road trip to New York City to spread the word about their labour dispute with Vale Inco Ltd.
Wednesday was to be Vale Day on the New York Stock Exchange and Vale officials were to ring the bell at the opening of trading. The event was cancelled due to scheduling conflict, said a Vale spokeswoman in Brazil.
But Steelworker Joe Guido and his travelling colleagues think it was the threat of them embarrassing the mining company at the NYSE that forced the postponement.
A machinist at Vale Inco's divisional shops, Guido organized the trip for members of USW's Political and Allies Committee. The Canadian strikers rallied on the steps of the Federal Building, paraded with banners along Broadway and "rode" the symbolic bull outside the stock exchange.
"We brought our message to Wall Street and it was loud and clear," said Guido on Thursday. "It was a good day."
Steelworkers were joined by American USW members, as well as members of the United Federation of Teachers. The latter union served lunch to the Canadians.
They also joined the rally, which by law required a permit for strikers to use a bullhorn. Police officers armed with automatic rifles were vigilant and have been present since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
One officer told the delegation, "you make all the noise you want," said Guido.
The visitors presented another officer with the Steelworkers' tiny shovel pin, which is worn handle down during a labour dispute.
"The officer said he couldn't wear it on his uniform, but he would keep it," said Guido.
Strikers used bullhorns to ask where Vale president and chief executive officer Roger Agnelli was.
"What is he hiding from?" they asked, said Guido.
Passers-by, many clearly investors by the look of their "thousand-dollar suits," said Guido, accepted leaflets the delegation distributed. Some promised to research Steelworkers' claims Vale is seeking "significant cutbacks" that led to the strike.
"I never had a negative comment," said Guido, who also arranged a trip to Queen's Park where striking Steelworkers supported the Ontario New Democrats' call for legislation prohibiting the hiring of replacement workers during labour disputes.
But the private member's bill co-sponsored by Welland MPP Peter Kormos and Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas did not pass second reading. Before the vote, Steelworkers were ejected from the visitors' gallery for cheering and jeering while MPPs spoke to the bill.
Guido said he and his union brothers spoke with people in New York City, including Canadian tourists who wondered what a delegation from their country was doing on Wall Street.
"A high number were appalled when we told them what Vale is doing," said Guido.
USW insists Vale Inco was seeking concessions with a settlement offer calling for a defined contribution pension to replace the defined benefit one, reductions in the nickel bonus and limits on transfers among workplaces.
Vale Inco officials call the proposals "changes" and insist they are necessary to keep the business competitive in all business cycles.
Sudbury strikers left the city Tuesday at 5:30 a. m. and returned 48 hours later. Guido said he slept for a couple of hours before attending a Thursday morning USW Local 6500 membership meeting where he gave an update on the NYSE trip.
"I told them it wasn't a walk in the park," said Guido. "They were impressed."
The New York rally was staged as similar events were held in Sudbury, Toronto and Brazil, where Vale is headquartered.
When asked to comment on the Toronto demonstration, Vale Inco spokesman Steve Ball said Steelworkers were doing "what they feel is right to help their cause.
"We consider this is really another distraction and, unfortunately, the Steelworkers seem to be more committed to these kinds of events than they are to meaningful negotiations," said Ball.
"It would be nice if some of that time and effort was directed toward getting a deal done, and that can only be achieved when they commit to sitting down with us and dealing seriously with the issues that need to be discussed at the bargaining table."
cmulligan@thesudburystar.com
Labels: Canadian labour, demonstrations, Fair Deal Now, labour, New York, strike, Sudbury Star, United Steel Workers., Vale Inco strike
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
AMERICAN LABOUR-NEW YORK CITY:
KEEP THE BISCUITS IN THE BRONX:
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Keep Stella D'oro and Union Biscuit Jobs in the Bronx!:
The Jobs with Justice coalition is campaigning to keep Bronx, New York-based biscuit maker Stella D'oro in New York. 136 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) were forced out on strike last year for nearly 11 months when the private equity-owned company presented a take-it-or-leave-it contract offer which would have shredded wages and benefits. From August 14, 2008, union members showed tremendous solidarity on the picket line, winning growing community, national and international support for holding the line against a predatory financial investor. The Stella buyout and the union's resistance to financial pillage - and its wider significance for a US industrial landscape riddled with private equity wreckage - was described in Buyouts, Breadsticks, Biscotti.
The union won a rare legal victory when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled the company guilty of bargaining in bad faith and ordered the workers reinstated with full back pay. When they returned to work on July 6, private equity owners Brynwood Partners announced they would be closing the plant within 90 days and relocating production. Union efforts to use the NLRB procedures to fight this illegal retaliation stalled at the NLRB. And on September 8, Brynwood announced that it had reached a deal to sell Stella D'oro to Lance, Inc., a non-union North Carolina-based food manufacturer that owns snack brands such as Archway cookies - another victim of leveraged buyout predators under investigation for cooking the books to meet their obligations to creditors.
The deal will not be finalized until October. Stella D'oro has been in the Bronx for seventy years; BCTGM Local 50 has represented the workers since the 1960's. Stella and its workers have firm roots in the community.
There's still time. CLICK HERE to send a message to Lance, telling them to keep Stella D'oro in the Bronx - with a union contract!
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THE LETTER
Click on the link above or GO HERE to send the following letter to management at Lance Inc.
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To President & CEO David Singer c/o Mark Carter
I am deeply disappointed to learn that Lance, Inc. intends to purchase the Stella D'oro Biscuit Company and move production out of its historic home in the Bronx. The Stella D’oro bakery has been a fixture in the community for decades and the source of much-needed family-supporting jobs in the neighborhood.
I am deeply disappointed to learn that Lance, Inc. intends to purchase the Stella D'oro Biscuit Company and move production out of its historic home in the Bronx. The Stella D’oro bakery has been a fixture in the community for decades and the source of much-needed family-supporting jobs in the neighborhood.
During times of economic crisis, profitable companies like Lance have a responsibility to our communities. Stella D’oro workers have built the brand you now seek to profit from and they deserve to be treated fairly.
Pledge to keep production in the Bronx and negotiate a fair contract with BCTGM Local 50!
Yours sincerely
Labels: American labour, Bronx, IUF, Jobs With Justice, labour, Lance Inc., New York, solidarity., Stella D'Oro, USA
Friday, May 01, 2009
AMERICAN LABOUR:
MAYDAY AND MIGRANTS:
Here's another May Day article, this one from the Sweat Free Communities coalition. Do drop by their website to see the full article that they mention in their lead-in how uniforms for the New York Police Department are being produced in a law breaking sweatshop. Interesting.
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SWEATSHOP FOR POLICE UNIFORMS:
Earlier this week, just days before May Day - International Workers' Day - New York authorities raided a sweatshop in New York City that was making uniforms for the NYPD. They said the factory had repeatedly and flagrantly violated the law, forcing workers to work 80 hour weeks with no overtime wages and no day off. Employees were also instructed to lie to factory investigators. Sixteen current and former workers are owed $500,000 in back wages and damages.
The struggle for workers' rights in this country is also the struggle for immigrants' rights. Most garment workers in the United States are immigrant women. Discrimination and outdated immigration laws contribute to widespread exploitation in the garment industry. This May Day, we invite and encourage you to take part in strengthening the ties that bind the anti-sweatshop movement and the immigrants' rights movement. Here are a few suggestions - do one, or do them all!
Attend a May Day Rally in your area, in support of a more just immigration policy and pro-worker policies like the Employee Free Choice Act. Check out these two lists of events:
Participate in Made in L.A.'s Community Screening Campaign
Find and attend a film screening near you. You can also screen the film yourself, using these tools. And check out this new video clip that Made in L.A. producers are launching today specifically for anti-sweatshop groups to use! Take a look and spread the word.
Get to know Elisa and Victoria by watching this powerful video of immigrant workers organizing in Massachusetts to improve conditions at Eagle Industries, where they make gear for the U.S. military, funded by our tax dollars.
Contact an immigrants' rights group in your community to invite them to endorse your local sweatfree campaign, and to commit to work in solidarity with them.
Ask President Obama to support a new path toward humane immigration policy. In April, President Obama announced that he plans to work on new immigration legislation this year. Take a look at American Friends Service Committee's recommendations to the president and send him your message through the White House website or call his office.
In honor of May Day, donate to SweatFree Communities to support our ongoing organizing for worker justice.
Thank you for joining me in celebrating International Workers' Day. And enjoy your weekend - just as the labor movement intended you to!In solidarity, Liana Foxvog National Organizer, SweatFree Communities
For the latest news,
Labels: American labour, immigrants, labour, May Day, New York, Sweatfree Communities
Monday, April 27, 2009
AMERICAN LABOUR:
SUPPORT DOMESTIC WORKERS:
It is possible that "domestic workers" are the most exploited class of workers in many societies, and it is generally true that they lack the protections that others often take for granted. The Jobs with Justice coalition in the USA is aiming to change this. Here's the story of their efforts.Support Domestic Workers!:
Every day, 200,000 domestic workers in New York, mostly women of color, make it possible for others to work. But these nannies, elderly caregivers, and housekeepers are excluded from the most basic labor laws (including the National Labor Relations Act), and isolated with no power or leverage to negotiate. They endure long hours, low wages and sometimes emotional and physical abuse.
New York State is considering historic legislation that would provide protections to domestic workers for the first time! The New York Domestic Workers Bill of Rights is the first of its kind nationally and will set a precedent for labor standards for domestic workers around the country. Email NY decision-makers today and let them know you're watching! Tell them you want New York to set the bar for your state! http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/domestic/wukd7sdfv7wkdek8?
In the wake of the economic crisis, the conditions facing domestic workers have worsened. Facing alarming rates of lay-offs, cut wages and extended hours, without notice, severance pay or any safety net, now more than ever - domestic workers need the Bill of Rights.
For 5 years, domestic workers have come together across communities to organize for dignity and respect, and demand the passage of a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in New York State,which would include:
- Notice of termination
- Severance pay, sick days and holidays, and
- An annual cost of living wage increase.
In the last two months, both the New York Assembly and Senate Labor Committees have passed the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights out of committee. This is the moment we've been waiting for.
The National Domestic Workers Alliance, an alliance of domestic workers organizations in 10 cities across the country, will co-sponsor the week of action and send delegates to stand with New York's domestic workers. Join the week of action and support domestic workers to reverse a long history of injustice and exploitation, and chart a future based on respect and dignity for all work.
For more information, contact:
DOMESTIC WORKERS UNITED
1201 Broadway
Suite 907-908
NY, NY
10001
212.481.5747 (ph)
You can take action on this alert either via email (please see directions below) or via the web at:
Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.
We encourage you to take action by May 27, 2009 Support Domestic Workers! INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take action on this alert by going to the following URL:
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your email program. Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Assembly Member Sheldon Silver
Assembly Member Susan John
Senator George Onorato
Senator Malcolm Smith
----THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT IN YOUR NAME----
Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],
I'm contacting you to urge you to help pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, Bill numbers A1470/S2311 this legislative session.
On Tuesday April 28th, hundreds of domestic workers and their supporters from around the country will come to Albany for a day of action and education. Please work with them to pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights! Domestic workers and allies around the country are watching what happens in New York.
We need New York to set a strong precedent for labor standards for domestic workers in my state.
----END OF LETTER TO BE SENT----
Labels: American labour, domestic labour, Jobs With Justice, labour, New York, solidarity
Friday, February 20, 2009
AMERICAN LABOUR:
SOLIDARITY WITH SHARON BELL:
The following item is from the website of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the parent organization of the Starbucks Union who have been organizing baristas at the chain for the last few years. be sure to check out the Starbucks Union website for further information on their efforts.
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Protesters call for "reinstatement of all fired union baristas"
With 10 or 15 current and former Starbucks colleagues by her side, former barista Sharon Bell stood dressed in a black winter parka holding a sign with the names of six recently fired baristas, including herself, and the words, "Rehire laid off baristas now!!!"
Last week, Bell was fired by Starbucks for what her managers said were issues relating to her tardiness and overall attendance, a charge she and her fellow union members adamantly deny.
Bell said the real reason for her "expresso termination" is recent activity with the Starbucks Workers Union. In a document given out at the protest, the union claims the popular coffee company "has illegally fired three baristas for organizing with the Starbucks Workers Union. Sheanel Simon, Sharon Bell and Neal Linder are excellent baristas and highly respected union members." The Union goes on to note that Simon has since been reinstated, while Bell and Linder remain unemployed.
Included with the documents are demands that range from the practical to the lofty, with calls for "severance packages for all laid off baristas," the restoration of benefit programs like personal days, vacation hours, and 401ks, "the reinstatement of all fired union baristas," and "an end to fear-based management and illegal union-busting."
Just last December, a judge found Starbucks guilty of union-busting.
Starbucks officials have yet to respond to a request for comment, and the protesting group plans to stay "until their message is heard." With enough expressos, that could be all week
.Copyright NBC Local Media
Labels: American labour, demonstrations, IWW, labour, New York, Sharon bell, solidarity, Starbucks, Starbucks Union
Thursday, September 18, 2008
AMERICAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
THE ICEMAN COMETH:
Looking south towards the USA from the comfort my cold little igloo up here in the frozen north I am all too often filled with despair at the flagrant stupidity, held in the most rigid ideological way possible, of the way that that country seems capable of degrading anything, even anarchism, into self-referential cults. But then I often get surprised, delightfully surprised. The USA is, after all, the third most populous in the world. Its anarchist movement,though chronically disorganized, goes far beyond the bizarre ("abolish civilization") and the petty thuggishness. It is the land of creativity, can-do and gadgets, and in true American tradition the vast majority of American anarchists are going about their business in a way less likely to serve the interests of the media and the police by giving out spectacles and reasons to increase budgets. Not as flashy and well reported, but much more effective in the end.
Here's an item from the New York Times about the "anarchist ice cream man". It brings a smile to my and a song to my heart.
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Selling Ice Cream, With Sprinkles of Anarchism:
By Corey Kilgannon
The Anarchist Ice Cream Truck’s menu is divided into “Treats for the Streets” and “Food for Thought.” (Photos: Corey Kilgannon/The New York Times)
By Corey Kilgannon
The Anarchist Ice Cream Truck’s menu is divided into “Treats for the Streets” and “Food for Thought.” (Photos: Corey Kilgannon/The New York Times)
There was something odd about the ice cream truck that pulled up to the curb on Park Avenue near 67th Street on Friday, with its proletarian color scheme and its overdressed driver with the subversive grin.
He was offering free ice cream in the middle of a rainstorm. The ice cream flavors were fudge, cherry, grape and tropical. But the right side of the menu offered flavors like Know Your Rights, Anarchy, Protest Tips, Black Panthers and Graffiti Liberation. There were also fact sheets on Halliburton and the Patriot Act.
Inside, the ice cream shared freezer space with emergency gas masks, and the condiment shelves held equipment for protesters at demonstrations to use when confronted by the police. The ice cream inventory is limited, because cabinets are used to store rolls of film for documenting police action, Ibuprofen for billy-club headaches and rain ponchos in case of fire hoses and water cannons. There were pepper spray treatment kits and the counter-weapon of choice: water balloons. There is an ample supply of work gloves.
“These are for throwing tear-gas canisters back at police so you don’t burn your hands,” explained the driver, Aaron Gach, 34, who wore a skinny bow tie and black-and-white saddle shoes, and a uniform with “Art” on the name tag and the words “Tactical Ice Cream Unit” on his white captain’s hat. He was not wearing his usual big fake mustache.
Mr. Gach calls the Anarchist Ice Cream Truck “the alter ego of a police mobile command unit.” Mr. Gach is a co-founder of the Center for Tactical Magic, an arts group based in Oakland, Calif., that advocates “positive social transformation” and “actively addressing power on individual, communal and transnational fronts.” The group says it uses tactics taken from “the ways of the artist, the magician, the ninja, and the private investigator.”
The truck is part of a weeklong exhibition organized by the arts group Creative Time.
The truck distributes literature developed by neighborhood progressive groups and works to “confront the rhetoric of ‘Big Brother’” and “provoke thought about political engagement,” according to Mr. Gach. It is appearing this week around New York City and will be on display next week at the Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, as part of a weeklong exhibition called Democracy in America: The National Campaign, featuring dozens of artists’ works. It is produced by the arts group Creative Time and the armory.
The truck is the perfect tool for monitoring police action at a demonstration, and protecting and replenishing protesters, Mr. Gach said. The ice cream attracts protesters and even some police. Often the police wave them through blockades, fooled by the truck.
There is a police scanner on the dashboard, and there is a GPS unit, and the cameras are digitally recorded and can broadcast the video to media outlets, in case of a newsworthy demonstration, or police action, Mr. Gach said.
Since it first took to the streets in 2005, the truck has been across the country (never before to New York), stopping a various events. Sometimes it is on the perimeter of demonstrations, and sometimes helping conduct them. Mr. Gach said he has never been arrested, but has had many standoffs with the police. Customs officials have searched the freezers at borders, and at one demonstration, undercover officers asked him if he was distributing weapons and explosives to demonstrators.
In Vancouver, he said, he was pulled over by Canadian Mounties who wanted to search the vehicle but finally relented after Mr. Gach insisted on his rights to privacy.
“They got no ice cream,” he said, smiling.
In Riverside, Calif., he said, the police threw a man to the ground, but stopped roughing him up after a member of the Tactical Ice Cream Unit ran out with a video camera and informed the officers that he and the truck were filming them.
Mr. Gach said, “At a demonstration in Chicago, the police told us, ‘You can’t sell ice cream here — it’s a protest.’”
Inside, the truck is done in sleek red upholstery, and there is a repeating loop of dance tunes and musical samples with ice cream themes. There is a poster on the truck condemning war. The freezer bears the socialist-looking insignia showing a fist thrust in front of a red star, holding an ice cream cone with a cherry and a lighted fuse. Tacked above it was a flier — “Free the San Francisco 8” and “Resist the police state” — and a lyric sheet for protesters. Mr. Gach sat in front of a bank of screens and a laptop showing a radar sweep of the area. The truck has 16 surveillance cameras and ultrasensitive microphones monitoring the exterior.
Somehow, all of these surveillance tools managed to miss the parking agent that slapped a ticket on the truck almost as soon as it arrived. Another blow in the fight against “The Man” — a $115 penalty for parking in a No Standing zone.
Elizabeth Winn, 31, a counselor at a neighborhood homeless shelter, walked up to the truck seeking ice cream, but became interested in the literature. Asked about her political activism, she said she was interested in sweat shop conditions and keeping “Wal-Mart out of New York.” She suggested to Mr. Gach that he would get more interest in places like Williamsburg, Brooklyn, than the Upper East Side.
Then Gregory Belton, 26, a construction worker from East New York, Brooklyn, ordered a tropical-flavored ice pop and three pieces of propaganda: Know Your Rights, the Patriot Act, and Black Panthers.
“I want to learn about this stuff because I hate being stopped by cops,” he said. “I got a ticket for being in the park late one night playing chess. I get stopped and searched by cops just walking down the street.”
Two electricians walked up and ordered ice cream. The men, Ralph Camoia, 35, and Matt Schulz, 32, were unaware of the truck’s political function, and ordered Protest Tips from the propaganda menu, thinking they were some exotic type of sprinkles. Mr. Shulz laughed and said, “Ah, give me the stuff on Halliburton.”
Mr. Gach said: “My first customer was a little old lady who got an ice cream, and I asked if she wanted a piece of propaganda. She said: ‘Only one? I’ll take Anarchy, Black Panthers and Earth First.’ I was like, ‘Right on.’”
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The whole is actually awe inspiring. If there ever was an example of "taking the word to the people" this is it, and while a I may disagree with some of the items on the ideological side of the menu I have to give Aaron Gach a 125% rating for dedication, creativity and intelligence.
One wonders what anarchist songs could be fitted into the music of an approaching ice cream truck. The mind boggles. "Ba,ba,ba,ba baba baba baba kunin"
Labels: Aaron Gach, anarchism, anarchism humour, anarchist ice cream truck, New York, New York Times, Tactical Ice Cream Unit, tactics
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
VIGIL FOR ESMEN ELIZABETH GREEN:
The following is an announcement from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) about a planned vigil this Friday for Ms Esmin Elizabeth Green who died neglected on the floor of a psychiatric hospital in New York City. As is obvious from the following report Ms Green had a "real" medical problem (as opposed to the pseudo-scientific "psychiatric" label), and this problem, which she died of under so-called medical supervision, went undiagnosed while they shuffled her out of the way into the nutter. The rate of diagnosis of so-called mental illness varies tremendously from country to country, underlying the local "medical politics" of such "diagnoses". It's hard to say whether Canada or the USA has the most advanced and malignant system of "bureaucratic imperialism" whereby so-called "helping professions" attempt to define more and more people as raw material for their overpaid work, the end result of which is social control, rather than any product that anybody would buy in a free market. Most European countries have travelled far less down this road. In any case, here's the story and announcement
...
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VIGIL IN TORONTO TO MOURN THE LOSS OF ESMIN ELIZABETH GREEN
VIGIL IN TORONTO TO MOURN THE LOSS OF ESMIN ELIZABETH GREEN AND CONDEMN PSYCHIATRY'S HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Friday, July 25, 2008
WE THE PEOPLE Call for an End of Medical and Psychiatric Abuse,Torture, and Neglect in the Wake of Ms. Green's Death While Detained at Kings County Hospital Center's Psychiatric Emergency Room.
Advocates, human rights activists, and community members are holding a vigil and demonstration to mourn the death of Ms. Esmin Elizabeth Green. WE the PEOPLE are calling attention to the reported horrific inactions and complete neglect that Ms. Green was subjected to while detained at the Kings County Hospital Center's Psychiatric Emergency Room, 451 Clarkson Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11203.
According to the Associated Press, after being involuntarily committed to the institution, Ms. Green sat waiting for a bed to become available for nearly 24 hours before she collapsed on to the floor. She lay there helpless for nearly an hour until she received medical attention, which came too late. Further, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union, facility staff possibly falsified documents, stating that Ms. Green was "up and went to the bathroom"and was "'sitting quietly in the waiting room' - more than 10 minutes after she last moved". The surveillance tape shown on CNN Video portrays Ms. Green dying on the floor as people pass her by. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/01/waiting.room.death/index.html . In fact, on the Internet, one can find a mass of comment on this tragedy by individuals all over the world - a question repeatedly asked, "Where is the humanity?"
All people must be treated with dignity, humanity, and respect. We must not tolerate violations of human rights that individuals who are assigned psychiatric labels often endure.
We ask you, wouldn't you be depressed and possibly even 'agitated' if you were going to lose your home and employment? Reportedly, this is what led to Ms. Green's commitment[iv]. Any one of us could be labeled with a psychiatric diagnosis and subjected to inhumane 'treatment' if we are thought to be 'agitated', particularly if we are poor.
How many more people labeled with "mental illness" will be subjected to torture and neglect before something is done to protect human rights within psychiatric systems? David Oaks, Executive Director of Mind Freedom International states, "I encourage us all to reflect on the need for a deep nonviolent revolution in the field of mental health, far beyond the "reforms" that have gotten us to where we are today, with televised death via neglect of a mother of six".
In 1875, a New York Times article cites abuses of inmates at the Kings County Asylum, spurred by Mr. Nelson Magee, a former inmate.Then-Commissioner Norris reacts to the investigation, "This sort of thing is very common among lunatics; they are always imagining themselves in great danger of being killed by their keepers". How many more centuries have to go by before action is taken to end these abuses and neglect?
WE the PEOPLE stand for change. We have been abused by the psychiatric system. Our brothers and sisters continue to be abused and murdered, as evidenced by Ms. Green's untimely demise. Massive human rights violations happen every day in psychiatric institutions but this horrific inaction was captured on videotape. We will call attention to the every day tortures committed in the name of psychiatric "help" including diagnosing life's challenges as''illness," forced pharmaceuticals, restraint, seclusion, and electric shock treatment (ECT) with a Vigil to honor Ms. Green's memory beginning at 1 PM.
There are many questions as to what led to Ms. Green's death. Was it in any way related to the toxic and debilitating drugs that people labeled with "mental illness" are intimidated, coerced, and forced into taking? A thorough investigation is necessary to determine the extent of the torture, ill treatment and other human rights violations involved in this case and in the practices of the institution as a whole. We must stand united to demand social justice, equal rights, and environments free from torture and detention.
On July 25, 2008, we invite all people to join us and stand united in support of the demand that everyone receive the full benefit of their human rights and the preservation of their liberty, dignity and respect. Similar vigils are being held in New York and Cork, Ireland.
We are also allowing time for people to remember friends or relatives who have died from psychiatric abuse or neglect in psychiatric facilities.
Who: All People.
What: Candle Light Vigil to mourn the loss of Ms. Esmin Elizabeth Green and condemn violations of human rights.
Why: WE THE PEOPLE call for an end of medical and psychiatric abuse, torture, and neglect in the wake of Ms. Green's Death on June19, 2008, while detained at Kings County Hospital Center's Psychiatric Emergency Room.
Co-sponsored by Resistance Against Psychiatry, We the People www.theopalproject.org/vigil.html , and The Opal Project www.theopalproject.org
Date: Friday, July 25, 2008
Time: 1pm
Place: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 1001 Queen St.W.(corner Ossington Ave.)
contact: Lauren J.Tenney, Lauren@theopalproject.org /
Don Weitz, dweitz@rogers.com
Labels: anarchism, anti-psychiatry, canadian anarchist movement, demonstrations, events, New York, OCAP, Toronto
Sunday, June 01, 2008
AMERICAN LABOUR:
TWENTY IWW MEMBERS FIRED FROM FLAUM NYC:
Last week 20 members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) were fired from Flaum Appetizing, a NYC food distributer. The IWW is organizing to fight these unjust firings. The following is from the IWW website.
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20 Fired from Flaum in NYC
Flaum Appetizing, a kosher food distributor, terminated 20 IWW members last week. The IWW had a strong presence at Flaum, with about two-thirds of the warehouse being union members. Workers had been struggling for respect from the boss for almost a year before the firings occurred.
The chain of events began last Thursday when the boss fired a woman known for being a strong union member. When her fellow workers decided to confront the boss about her termination, they were all fired on the spot.
The IWW is putting up daily picket lines this week and will fight the terminations through direct action, media pressure, and legal action.
Supporters can write letters to management at:
Flaum Appetizing 288 Sholes Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Related Links
Foodstuff Workers Industrial Union 460
Labels: Flaum Appetizing, IWW, labour, New York, solidarity, USA
Friday, February 29, 2008
ANARCHIST EVENTS:
NYC ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR:
The second annual New York City Anarchist Bookfair will be held again this year on Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12. Here is their press release...
*NYC ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR
* Press Release:"New York Is Anarchist Country":
2008 NYC Anarchist Bookfair
Scheduled for Sat., April 12 NEW YORK
Following up its very successful debut last year, the 2nd Annual NYC Anarchist Bookfair is scheduled to be held on Sat., April 12, again at Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. Last year's Bookfair attracted over 1,500 visitors and featured 60 independent publishers, booksellers, infoshops, zines, record labels, media creators, and labor and other activist groups, plus an art show, live performance, and 12 panels, presentations, and workshops over two days.
This year's Bookfair will be an even bigger event, with more panels,workshops, and skillshares extending over both Saturday and Sunday at Judson Memorial Church and a second venue to be announced shortly. Topics willinclude the ABCs of anarchist theory and practice, anarcha-feminism,anarchist publishing, anarchist education, urban and indigenous social movements, and anarchist/queer activism.
Alongside Saturday's exhibitors will be an expanded show of Anarchist Art.An Anarchist Film Festival and an Anarchist Cabaret are planned for theafternoon and evening of Fri., April 11.
"Anarchism is at the core of so much of today's activism, from opposition tothe 'war on terror' to support for communities under siege like the peopleof New Orleans post-Katrina," says Pat Trinidad, a Bookfair organizer. "It's also part of the fabric of New York, going back to the time when Emma Goldman made Greenwich Village her home. Last year we introduced this revolutionary and creative movement to hundreds of people who had never heard of anarchism before except as an insult or an accusation. This year's Bookfair will provide a way for the anarcho-curious to find out more about us, and for anarchists from across the Northeast area to organize, learn,and share their skills."
The 2008 Anarchist Bookfair is organized by The Bookfair Collective. Foodand free childcare will be available. To arrange interviews and for more information on the Bookfair and related events as they develop, please email media requests@anarchistbookfair.net or visit our Website at :
*THE NYC ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR 2008*
---> Saturday, April 12, 2008, 11am-8pm
---> Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, Manhattan
New York City, a center of anarchist life, culture, struggle, and ideas for 150 years, hosted its first Anarchist Bookfair last year with great success.Given this success, we are pleased to announce that we will host the 2nd Anarchist Bookfair in New York City again! We are organizing a whole weekend long event with an Anarchist Film Festival, Bookfair, Radical and Anarchist Art, Talks and Panel discussions, Workshops, Skill-shares and a lot more!
The 1st Annual NYC Anarchist Book fair featured over 55 groups exhibiting anarchist books, zines, Cd's, film/video, as well as information on organizing and other activities relating to anarchism. There were over 12 panels, presentations and skill-shares, such as 'Anarchism and Its Aspirations', 'What Would Emma Do? An Anarchy-Feminist Round table','Remembering Spain, Remembering Heroes!' among many others. With an estimated 1800+ people throughout the weekend, it was a great start!
We are looking forward to making this event a success, again, with your help! -The Bookfair Collective
info(at)anarchistbookfair.net
Labels: anarchism, events, New York, New York anarchist Bookfair
Thursday, October 25, 2007
NEW YORK:
ZOMBIES AGAINST EMPIRE:
Molly truly loves this news report. On October 19th members of the MDS (Movement for a Democratic Society) and students from Pratt New School and Pace SDS set up a street theatre event in NYC's Times Square. You can't get any more central to the pulsing heart of the American Empire than this. Protesters were clad as "pro-war zombies" and the Grim Reaper. They turned out on the third Friday in October to "help" recruiters. The zombies spoke to passersby, arguing that, "It's been a a long war, business is slow for recruiters and they seem lonely-stop in and say hello". The zombies worked a two hour shift (union rules ?), exhorting pedestrians to "support endless war", "give war a chance", sign up for "only two weekends a month-honest" and to remember that "violence is the answer". The sarcasm was not lost on three recruiters who came out of their smallish office on "military island" to glare at the ghouls. The zombies agreed that this was the most annoyed that they had ever seen the recruiters. Undead Nixon, who made an appearance at the event as well, encouraged the crowd to remember that death and destruction are "underrated" as he gave the hapless recruiters a big thumbs up.
See videos and photos of the action at:
http://www.antiauthoritarian.net/NLN/photo-gallery/2007_grim_reaper
MOLLY NOTE: Molly loves this sort of action. It's truly refreshing to see that the concept of humour isn't dead amongst modern anarchists, despite the best efforts of primitivists, post-leftists and believers in juvenile terrorism to bury it. Like a zombie it rises from the grave. Actions such as these do 100,000 more good than 10,000 set piece riots where people "play act at revolution". Revolution comes in its own good time if it comes at all, and it will never be hastened by those who think being defeated over and over by the police is "direct action". Such actions are merely "propaganda actions", whatever their participants believe in their fantasies. As "propaganda actions" they are obviously inferior to humorous actions such as the NYC comrades undertook in terms of actually influencing the opinion of people who witness them.
All that Molly can say is, to paraphrase an evil Stalinist, "create two, three, many street festivals".
Labels: anarchism, events, New York, tactics
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
NEW YORK CITY:
TOP CITY IWW WORKERS LOCKED OUT-SUPPORT URGENTLY NEEDED:
Five workers from Top City produce were recently fired from their jobs. The 'Gang of Five'- Osvaldo, Mario, Diego, Esau and Carlos- have been some the strongest and most active members of the IWW since they joined the unions almost two years ago.
After one of the workers was suspended on Saturday, the other four approached the boss in an attempt to discuss the situation. On Monday morning the boss told them all to wait outside and then never allowed them back in. They continue to be locked out.
Before joining the union Top City workers consistently pulled 72-hour weeks with no overtime and no benefits. Conditions improved once the shop went union. Workers filed a lawsuit against Top City for wage violations and negotiated a contract with the boss. They were waiting for the boss to sign the contract when they were fired without warning on Monday.
Pickets are ongoing and details will be posted on the IWW website, but right now the workers need your financial support. See HERE for how you can contribute and for a history of the IWW Food and Allied Workers' Union.
Labels: IWW, labour, New York, solidarity, USA
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
ANOTHER MEDLEY OF ANARCHIST NEWS:
Here's another clatch of items from the anarcho-world that have gained Molly's notice in the last little while. In no particular order:
A: The Anarkismo site has an interesting new article by Wayne Price entitled 'Decentralism, Centralism, Marxism and Anarchism:The problem of Marxist Centralism'. The article goes into details of the history of Marxist attitudes towards both democracy and centralism, finding the Marxists most at fault for being "procentralist" whatever its attitude towards democracy.
B: The memoirs of Chaim Leib Weinberg 'Forty Years in the Struggle:The Memoirs of a Jewish Anarchist' are now online at http://www.deadanarchists.org/weinberg.html . This is a joint project of Wooden Shoe Books and the Dead Anarchists project.
C: There is an online version of Cause Commune, the French language journal of NEFAC in Quebec. The Quebec comrades distribute 3,000 copies of this paper free in their province. To read online(a lire en ligne) go to http://nefac.net/node/2213
D: The Libertarian Book Club of New York City is now planning an observance for this August 23rd, the eightieth anniversary of the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, to be held in Union Square where people gathered these 80 years ago to protest this judicial assassination.
E: Anarchists in Victoria BC are planning their annual Anarchist Book Fair. It will be held on September 7th to 9th at 749 Pandora Ave. in Victoria. Like the Montreal anarchists they are also planning for a Festival of Anarchy in the week following. To see more about this event go to its website at http://www.myspace.com/victoriaanarchistbookfair .
F: The University of Buenas Aires, Facultad de Filosophia y Letras, the Center for Global Justice and the Argentina Autonomista Project are organizing a conference on July 19th to 21st entitled 'The Workers' Economy:Self Management and the Distribution of Wealth' at the University of Buenas Aires, Argentina. Queries in Spanish to fabierta@filo.uba.ar and in English to UBA.selfmanagement@gmail.com . Further information in
Labels: anarchism, Argentina, Cause Commune, Chaim Leib Weinberg, events, Libertarian Book Club, New York, Quebec, Victoria, Wayne Price
