'Straw That Broke the Camel's Back' in Egypt
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S p e c i a l : OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER oF T H E I NDUS T R I A L Wo R K E R S O F T H E Wo R L D I n t e r n a t i o n a l Wo m e n ’ s INDUSTRIALMarch 2011 #1733 Vol. 108 N o . 2 $1/ £ 1/ €1 WORKER D a y i s s u e ! Fighting Sexism On Celebrating A 100 Years Later: Global Solidarity The Shop Floor Tradition of Women Remembering the and Pecan Pie 5 in the IWW 6-7 Triangle Fire 8-9 12 Labor Unrest Was ‘Straw That Broke The Camel’s Back’ In Egypt By Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes ers among them. In the people’s move- As Egyptian citizens celebrate ment, they are learning its lessons. Of their first victory on the way to de- course, the working class is apt to organize, mocracy, some are asking whether and they have been moving in a very delib- the fast-spreading strikes were the erate, organized way to make demands.” straw that broke Hosni Mubarak’s On Friday morning, Feb. 11—the day back. The following is a brief report Mubarak stepped down—the AFL-CIO amalgamated from two pieces Solidarity Center reported a massive wave which originally appeared in Labor of industrial action. In Mahallah, 24,000 Notes. textile workers walked out demanding On Feb. 9, just two days before raises and calling for solidarity with the Mubarak stepped down, more than protesters in Tahrir Square. Some mili- 20,000 workers walked out on tary equipment factories, owned by the strike. Kamal Abbas, director of the military, were struck over wages and ben- Center for Trade Union and Work- efits. Subway workers walked out. Postal ers Services in Cairo, told Labor workers walked out. Workers at Egypt Air Notes, “This day in the revolution headquarters walked out. Laid-off workers could be named for the labor unions. from the famous Alexandria Library de- They have moved all over, with more manded to be rehired. The main shipping than 20 strikes in the railroads and agencies in the ports saw walk-outs. Al also textiles, nurses and doctors, Azhar, the oldest university in the world, a hospital, in government-owned saw strikes at all the hospitals it operates. factories and also private.” Additionally, employers rushed to Abbas added that women work- meet the demands of workers. Public and ers from the hospital and textile private employers were all caving on the workers made up a significant major demand that temporary/contract portion of the protest, adding that workers be made permanent. The govern- “Eight million people in the country ment began studying budgets to figure out Photo: Hossam el-Hamalawy, flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy are participating in the protests. how to make temps permanent through- Telecommunications workers strike in Egypt on Feb. 9, 2011. There are a million people in Tahrir out the government sector. Square, and there are thousands of work- Continued on 11 Three Month Fight Puts Thieving Restaurant Out Of Business By X362906 other workers’ pay, including a longtime In 2008, five members of the IWW cook at the restaurant who is now suing started the Seattle Solidarity Network Ciro in King County court for unpaid (SeaSol). Since then, SeaSol has been wages. developing a volunteer network of work- We offered Ciro a choice: pay Becky ers and tenants who mobilize in support or be driven out of business by relentless of whoever among us is currently getting picketing. Here is how the fight went, in screwed by an employer or landlord (see Becky’s words: “Uniting The People With Seattle Solidar- “For the entire month of September, I ity,” January/February 2011 IW, page 5). worked for Ciro D’Onofrio at his Italian In our most recent fight, we were up restaurant in Renton, Wash.: Bella Na- against Ciro D’Onofrio, a local restaurant poli. During this time, Ciro was verbally owner who seemed to base his business abusive towards his employees and even model on wage theft. Becky, who became customers. He would throw temper tan- a SeaSol member when we took on her trums in front of tables and claim we were fight, had not been paid the wages she was out of things on the menu simply because owed for a month of work. This behavior he did not feel like making them. He would was part of a pattern: we heard reports also hire different people to come in and throughout the campaign of Ciro stealing help out on a weekend night with no prior SeaSolers demonstrate at Bella Napoli. Photo: SeaSol experience and without training. This up or we would start fighting back. Then Industrial Worker Periodicals Postage proved to be difficult, as I was the only for two-and-a-half months, we peacefully PO Box 180195 PO Box 180195 PAID server, bartender, hostess, food runner flyered, postered and picketed. Mean- Chicago, IL 60618 Chicago, IL 60618, USA Chicago, IL and busser. while Ciro’s response was consistently and additional “I still had to pay rent, so I continued violent: shouting profanity, spitting at us, ISSN 0019-8870 mailing offices to work for Ciro. Things got hairy when I assaulting us, throwing water and picket ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED had $110 of my bank ‘disappear’ one night signs at us and more. We went down when only he and I were working. Also, every weekend, and twice a weekend I needed my check and Ciro claimed that recently, keeping his restaurant empty he only paid his employees at the end of (or nearly) for any given dinner rush we every month. I thought this was strange, desired. And through it all our numbers especially after I had seen him give a grew, with 50 picketers at an action on check to the cook, but I dismissed it. What Dec. 19, 2010.” was he going to do, not pay me? As you Organizers often say that the boss is might have guessed by now, that’s exactly your best agitator, and with Ciro this was what happened. Ciro has made up every definitely true. Ciro’s violence against excuse in the book as to why he refuses to SeaSol members, as captured on film pay me the balance of $478, from a miss- and distributed online (www.seasol.net/ ing bottle of wine to incorrect invoices. It cirovideo), inspired many more people is clear that he never intended to pay me. to join us in protesting Ciro and telling “That was when I decided to call Sea- customers, “Don’t eat at Bella Napoli!” At Sol. After meeting with them, we decided our pickets, which happened once or to inform Ciro that he had 14 days to pay Continued on 11 Page 2 • Industrial Worker • March 2011 100 Years After Triangle Shirtwaist, New Yorkers Continue To Suffer Dear IW Editor, and he and the governor spent over $700 drive them were ordered to stay with the The issue commemorating the Tri- million more on the GOP convention in immovable busses for as long as 38 hours. angle Shirtwaist Factory Fire makes me 2004, but now Bloomberg wants to “save The transit workers who would normally think of several things. The corporate money” by laying off fire fighters and other help those drivers were laid off. In the next media tells us that the world got better essential city workers. The latest rounds of storm, the government avoided stranded and we should not worry about those firefighter layoffs were scheduled for Jan. buses by not letting them run during the Letters Welcome! problems of the past. They tell us that 31. The Uniformed Firefighters and the storm. This is terrible for the people in inequality, safety and class differences are Uniformed Firefighters Officers Associa- the city who need a bus, especially people Send your letters to: [email protected] in the past. Recently, many more women tions have filed court papers demanding who cannot afford a car or even a taxi. The with “Letter” in the subject. died in another tragic fire in Bangladesh. an injunction. As the IW goes to press, the head of the transit department gets a limo Mailing address: I don’t feel that these types of tragedies outcome is not settled. with a chauffer and Bloomberg raised his IW, P.O. Box 7430, JAF Station, New are restricted to the so-called third world At the end of December 2010, a snow- salary from $250,000 to $350,000 per York, NY 10116, United States nations. In January, a sweatshop worker storm crippled the city because hundreds year. Meanwhile, transit workers make an in Brooklyn, Juan Baten, was killed on the of sanitation workers and about 1,000 average of $32,000. May Day Announcements job. Since Michael Bloomberg became the transit workers had been laid off. Each I know that death in the flames of the Announcements for the annual “May mayor of New York City, I’ve watched the corporate newspaper reported a few ex- Triangle Fire was painfully beyond what Day” Industrial Worker deadline is city government allow the wealthy real es- amples of people who died because the am- we can imagine. The people who have had Photo: iww.org April 8. Celebrate the real labor day tate companies to break any law they want: bulances could not get through unplowed to be dug out of collapsed sloppy construc- with a message of solidarity! Send labor laws, environmental, sanitation, streets. Some calls took as much as nine tion sites were in pain also.