INDUSTRIAL Official newspaper O f T h e I n d u s t r i a l w O r k eWORKER r s o f t h e w O r l d July 2009 #1717 Vol. 106 N o . 6 $1/ £ 1/ €1

More repression of Mexican workers Special: Wobbly art Massacre of ICE detainees stealing jobs? and poetry Indigenous in Peru 3 5 9 13 UE Workers in Chicago Facing Another Plant Closure By UE Local 1174 Workers at the Quad City Die Cast- The victory at Republic Windows ing plant in Moline, IL, which is slated and Doors Factory in Chicago would not to close on July 12, are facing the same have been possible without the support threat that the Republic workers faced: of thousands of people from around the being thrown out on the streets with world. We stood together in the face of nothing after years of hard work. This threats from bailed-out banks through plant closure could lead to a loss of 100 foreclosures, evictions and layoffs. A key jobs. piece of support was when international To fight this, the workers—who are unionists called the Bank of America members of UE Local 1174—are calling CEO and took action against local bank for local and international solidarity, branches. with action against Quad City Die Cast- The United Electrical, Radio and ing’s financier, Wells Fargo Bank. Machine Workers (UE) began a move- Wells Fargo received $25 billion ment exemplifying that with bold action in taxpayer money and immediately and support from around the country we planned a lavish retreat to Las Vegas in can win. Now, another group of workers the midst of the economic recession. need the power of global solidarity. Continued on 7 Photo: flickr.com/photos/ueunion QC Die Casting worker Deb Johann rallies at Wells Fargo’s offices on June 11. Starbucks Settles Sixth Labor Complaint No Contract, No Cookies: Labor Violations Fan the Flames of Escalating Public Outcry The Stella D’Oro Strike Continues By the IWW Starbucks Workers environment when one labor case after By Thomas Good Black Trade Unionists (CBT) and the Union another exposes its lack of respect for BRONX, NY — Workers at the Stella NY Metro Postal Union (APWU). MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The Star- employees?" D’Oro bakery have been on strike for As the protesters proceeded north bucks Coffee Co. settled a complaint on Pursuant to the settlement, which more than nine months. Brynwood on Broadway the orderly march was June 1 from the National Labor Rela- stems from charges filed by the SWU, Partners, the Wall Street equity firm that briefly disrupted when someone threw tions Board over charges of violating the corporation must cease engaging owns the factory, is using strike-breakers a bottle from an apartment building. workers' rights—the sixth such settle- in a slew of illegal measures, including to operate the plant. The strikers, repre- Marchers took to the street and the ment in three years for the ailing coffee threatening to call security to interfere sented by Local 50 of the Bakery, Con- procession continued. giant. The case comes as a new website, with protected activity, prohibiting fectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain At the end of the march, members StopStarbucks.com and viral video call- workers from discussing the union and Millers International Union (BCTGM), of BCTGM Local 50 came face-to-face ing on CEO Howard Schultz to respect expelling union sympathizers from com- argue that Brynwood is intent on busting with officers from the 50th Precinct out- workers' right to join a labor union pany stores. the union by slashing wages, pensions, side the factory gates. Warnings were spread like wildfire across the internet. The settlement is the first since a La- holidays and sick pay. issued by police—whose actions ap- The new media initiative, from Robert bor Board judge found Starbucks guilty On May 30, more than 700 strik- peared uncoordinated at the end of the Greenwald's "Brave New Films," was of similar rights violations in the first ers and their supporters rallied outside march—after strikers advanced beyond viewed more than 60,000 times with a ever trial between baristas and the coffee the New York City Housing Authority the police barriers and stood outside related petition garnering almost 15,000 chain in December 2008. (NYCHA) Marble Hill Houses, in the the main entrance to the plant. Despite signatures. "Howard Schultz needs to create South Bronx, and then marched to the some tension and a few standoffs be- "This settlement proves that Star- quality jobs for hardworking families, Stella D’Oro plant—located at West 237 tween protesters and police, there were bucks executives are not above the law not just line the pockets of the fat cats Street and Broadway—where a second no arrests. The National Lawyers Guild and cannot block hardworking baristas at corporate headquarters," said Erik rally was held. The strikers were joined had observers present, which may have from making positive change," said Forman, a barista and member of the by members of several unions: New York helped defuse the situation. Angel Gardner, a barista and member Starbucks Workers Union. "Our cam- State United Teachers (NYSUT), Trans- Strikers are on the picket line in of the Starbucks Workers Union (SWU) paign for secure work hours, fair pay, portation Workers Union (TWU) Local front of the Stella D’Oro plant every in the Twin Cities. "How can Starbucks and a voice at work gains momentum 100, City University’s Professional Staff day. For more information visit http:// claim that it maintains a positive work every day." Congress (PSC-CUNY), the Coalition of www.stelladorostrike2008.com.

Industrial Worker Periodicals Postage PO Box 23085 PAID California CWA Locals Preparing to Strike Cincinnati, OH 45223-3085, USA Cincinatti, OH By Freedom Socialist and Professional Employees Interna- and additional Instead of punching time clocks at tional Union (OPEIU) Local 3, as well mailing offices ISSN 0019-8870 the University of California (UC) Berke- as the San Francisco Labor Council. ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED ley on May 6, members of University The campus American Federation of Professional and Technical Employees- State, County, and Municipal Employ- Communications Workers of America ees (AFSCME) union also backs UPTE, (UPTE-CWA) Local 1 mounted spirited as they were on strike one year ago and picket lines on the campus. They are fed won contract protections for immi- up with the university’s management, grant workers. UPTE solidarity pickets which has obstructed bargaining a new closed down a construction site during contract for more than a year. The UC that action, reported Nancy Kato, a UC administration has imposed increased worker and activist with Bay Area Radi- healthcare and parking costs without cal Women. “AFSCME’s strike was our negotiating— and have also harassed strike too,” she said. “Same boss, same and laid off a union bargainer. struggle, same fight.” The one-day Unfair Labor Practice Meanwhile, CWA workers at AT&T strike brought out impressive support— have been working without a contract both on- and off-campus—including since April 4. The company is demand- endorsements and donations from the ing concessions that would destroy gains faculty union at City College, the Office Continued on 7 Page 2 • Industrial Worker • July 2009 Corrections and Gratitude Huw Jones’ article, “First IWW Event in Wales Celebrates Past & Present” on page 5 of the June 2009 Industrial Worker, incorrectly states that the May Day walking tour was the first IWW event in Wales. A previous issue of the IW carried a photo of the IWW Centenary Stone that was unveiled in 2005 in a public access for- est in Pembrey, Wales. At this event, Coast Redwoods were also planted in memory of Judi Bari, and the Unofficial Reform Committee of the South Wales Miners’ Fed- Letters welcome! eration were saluted. According to a letter submitted to the IW by Ilyan Thomas, ap- Send your letters to: [email protected] proaching the story as “...bringing the IWW to Wales” is insulting. Thomas suggests with “Letter” in the subject. that IWW was highly influenced by ideas that came from Wales. According to Ph.D. student at Greenwich University, Ken John, infamous Mailing address: anarchist and labor organizer Emma Goldman said that Sam Mainwaring, Sr., from IW, PO Box 7430, JAF Station, New Wales, coined the phrase “anarcho-syndicalism” as she was spreading his ideas to York, NY 10116, United States the United States in 1870s. Additionally, a London poster announcing a commemo- rative mass meeting about the murder of the Chicago Haymarket anarchists, listed Get the Word Out! Sam Mainwaring as the opening speaker, followed by Peter Kropotkin, Errico Ma- IWW members, branches, job shops and latesta, Frank Kitz, Louise Michel, Lothrop Withington, Temma Kaplan and others. other affiliated bodies can get the word Each spoke their own language; Mainwaring spoke in Welsh. out about their project, event, campaign Additionally, IWW member Sam Mainwaring, Jr., ran training events around Graphic: depts.washington.edu or protest each month in the Industrial Neath at the time of the Spanish Civil War. The IWW is not new in Wales. Dear Editors, Worker. Send announcements to iw@ The column, “Industrial Worker Mailing Issues Resolved” on page 2 of the June I think the Industrial Worker iww.org. Much appreciated donations 2009 Industrial Worker failed to thank FWs Walt Weber, Peter Moore and Chris should have a column devoted entirely for the following sizes should be sent to Lytle for their hard work in helping to resolve the mailing issues. Thanks FWs! to unemployed workers. The IW hardly IWW GHQ, PO Box 23085, Cincinnati The editor thanks the IW Final Edit Committee for their hard work and dedica- ever speaks to this problem that is OH 45223 USA. tion in helping to proofread and revise the newspaper each month. The Committee plaguing society, but when the newspa- $12 for 1” tall, 1 column wide members include: Maria Rodriguez Gil, Tom Levy, Slava Osowska, Nickelias Jusino per does cover the issue, it is great! $40 for 4” by 2 columns (X365373) and Mathieu Dube from the Pittsburgh GMB. Additional thanks to Dek Sincerely, $90 for a quarter page Keenan, Mike Pesa and Peter Moore for their work in proofreading the paper. Joe Randall Industrial Worker IWW directory The Voice of Revolutionary Industrial Unionism Australia Ontario Hobe Sound: P. Shultz, 8274 SE Pine Circle, 33455- New Mexico Organization IWW Regional Organising Committee: PO Box 1866, Ottawa-Outaouais GMB & GDC Local 6: PO Box 6608, 772-545-9591 [email protected] Albuquerque: 202 Harvard SE, 87106-5505. Education Albany, WA www.iww.org.au 52003, 298 Dalhousie St. K1N 1S0, 613-225-9655 Georgia 505-331-6132, [email protected]. Sydney: PO Box 241, Surry Hills. Fax: 613-274-0819, [email protected] French: Atlanta: Keith Mercer, del., 404-992-7240, iw- Emancipation [email protected]. New York Melbourne: PO Box 145, Moreland 3058. 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Gmail.com Brook 07663. 201-873-6215. [email protected] 3557. July 2009 • Industrial Worker • Page 3 PIDC Hunger Strike Leader Assaulted, Threatened with Deportation By Greg Rodriguez No Time Wasted June 3, 2009 was a day of anger and As soon as the sadness for people in the Rio Grande initial phone call came Valley, Texas—a region known for its from Carty’s fellow vast rural landscapes and primarily detainee, organizers immigrant community. At around 6:15 on the outside took a.m., Southwest Workers’ Union (SWU) action. member Nadezhda Garza received a “We began to phone call from a detainee inside the make phone calls to Port Isabel Detention Center (PIDC). our community activ- The worried voice on the other end of the ists and friends. We phone line informed Garza that fellow sent out a press re- detainee Rama Carty had been assaulted lease to both local and by four private guards and one federal international media Immigration and Customs Enforcement in order to make this (ICE) agent at around 5:45 a.m. The ICE as public as possible,” agent allegedly involved was identified said Hector Guzman, as Lieutenant Sandoval. When Carty de- a student organizer in manded to speak with representatives of McAllen, Texas. Amnesty International-USA, the guards Garza also called proceeded to drag him away. the ICE office, which Sarnata Reynolds, Policy Director of oversees the PIDC, Refugee and Migrant Rights for Amnesty and spoke to Assistant International-USA, and a representative Field Director James named Daryl Grisgraber, were at PIDC Bentsen. When she since June 2. They were writing up a informed him of the report on conditions inside the facility incident, he simply and met with Carty on the day before the said, “I don’t believe assault. you” and shrugged it IWW rallies in solidarity outside the PIDC in April. Photo: Anselmo Garza At around 8:00 a.m. after the as- off. sault, Carty called Garza to corroborate The SWU staged a zero hour pro- proved themselves impotent … they let have had weekly visits with the detain- his friend’s phone call, but also to inform test circa 1:30 p.m., outside the PIDC, it happen. That is why we want commu- ees, but have not been allowed to moni- her of his situation: “He said they were denouncing what happened and de- nity organizations in the (PIDC)—people tor conditions on the inside or the state transferring him to a detention center manding a freeze on Carty’s deportation. who have a connection with the people of those still fasting. in Louisiana, and from there he will be Still, protesters felt that their biggest in there, not out-of-towners who are just The hunger strikers are spearhead- deported to Haiti,” Carty said. Carty then chance of stopping the illegal removal of here to compile a report, and too worried ing a movement to put an end to the requested to speak with Amnesty Inter- Carty was for Amnesty International to about their schedule to pay attention to inhumane detention of immigrant work- national in order to stop the transfer. take action. They were, after all, on the a crisis that went on right under their ers, and we should view this struggle Carty then told Garza that his friend inside. Organizers made several phone nose.” as part of the broader class war. The needed to remain in the PIDC in order calls to Reynolds, informing her of what Towards the end of the demonstra- Department of Homeland Security’s to show his documentation regarding was happening with Carty and request- tion, Amnesty representatives drove out (DHS) actions against Carty are viewed the abuses. According to Garza, Carty ing they meet with him and stop the of the facility and admitted to protesters as retaliation and have had a definite ef- wanted to assert that he was a U.S. transfer. that Carty had been rushed out of PIDC. fect on all the immigrants at PIDC. citizen and had the documentation to Although Amnesty International They did not bother to join the commu- prove it. He wanted to make it clear that was notified, it refused to move on the nity action or step out of their vehicle. Hunger Strike Organizer justice was being obstructed. He was situation. Instead, they implied that Since April 2009, local organizers Who is Rama Carty? Rama Carty sent to Texas, and did not have the legal they had a schedule to meet and that with the SWU and members of Indus- is a known leader and participant in a resources to fight his way out of deten- Carty would not be deported right away. trial Workers of the World (IWW) have hunger strike that has been going on at tion. Garza said that “Amnesty International been working for justice at PIDC. They the PIDC since late April. He was born IWW Constitution Preamble in the Democratic Republic of Congo Join the IWW Today to Haitian parents, but has lived in the The working class and the employing he IWW is a union for all workers, a union dedicated to organizing on the United States for more than 38 years. class have nothing in common. There can job, in our industries and in our communities both to win better conditions After he and other detainees read a be no peace so long as hunger and want today and to build a world without bosses, a world in which production and report documenting the deplorable con- are found among millions of working T distribution are organized by workers ourselves to meet the needs of the entire popu- ditions that exist throughout the entire people and the few, who make up the em- lation, not merely a handful of exploiters. ploying class, have all the good things of immigrant detention system, they felt We are the Industrial Workers of the World because we organize industrially ­– life. Between these two classes a struggle compelled to do something about it, and that is to say, we organize all workers on the job into one union, rather than dividing must go on until the workers of the world decided to stage a hunger strike. Soon organize as a class, take possession of the workers by trade, so that we can pool our strength to fight the bosses together. after, the hunger strike spread to include means of production, abolish the wage Since the IWW was founded in 1905, we have recognized the need to build a truly up to 200 detainees at the PIDC. They system, and live in harmony with the international union movement in order to confront the global power of the bosses demanded (and continue to demand) earth. and in order to strengthen workers’ ability to stand in solidarity with our fellow the right to due process, medical at- We find that the centering of the man- workers no matter what part of the globe they happen to live on. tention for all detainees, access to legal agement of industries into fewer and fewer We are a union open to all workers, whether or not the IWW happens to have resources and an end to physical and hands makes the trade unions unable to representation rights in your workplace. We organize the worker, not the job, recog- verbal abuses by guards at the facility. cope with the ever-growing power of the nizing that unionism is not about government certification or employer recognition At the time of his transfer, Carty employing class. The trade unions foster but about workers coming together to address our common concerns. Sometimes had been detained by DHS/ICE for over a state of affairs which allows one set of this means striking or signing a contract. Sometimes it means refusing to work with 13 months, after serving a two-year workers to be pitted against another set an unsafe machine or following the bosses’ orders so literally that nothing gets done. sentence for a drug conviction he had of workers in the same industry, thereby Sometimes it means agitating around particular issues or grievances in a specific already served time for. He also said that helping defeat one another in wage wars. workplace, or across an industry. his drug conviction was wrongful. Moreover, the trade unions aid the employ- Because the IWW is a democratic, member-run union, decisions about what issues Carty has been interviewed by sev- ing class to mislead the workers into the to address and what tactics to pursue are made by the workers directly involved. eral news sources, including a recorded belief that the working class have interests in common with their employers. telephone interview with the Texas TO JOIN: Mail this form with a check or money order for initiation Observer that was aired on the popular These conditions can be changed and and your first month’s dues to: IWW, Post Office Box 23085, Cincinnati OH the interest of the working class upheld independent radio/television news pro- 45223, USA. gram “Democracy Now.” only by an organization formed in such Initiation is the same as one month’s dues. Our dues are calculated a way that all its members in any one in- At the writing of this story, it was according to your income. If your monthly income is under $2000, dues dustry, or all industries if necessary, cease known that Carty was at the LaSalle De- are $9 a month. If your monthly income is between $2000 and $3500, work whenever a strike or lockout is on in tention Facility in Jena, Louisiana. The any department thereof, thus making an dues are $18 a month. If your monthly income is over $3500 a month, dues Consulate General of Haiti is refusing to injury to one an injury to all. are $27 a month. Dues may vary outside of North America and in Regional issue DHS a travel permit in the name Instead of the conservative motto, “A Organizing Committees (Australia, British Isles, German Language Area). of Rama Carty because they have no fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work,” we __I affirm that I am a worker, and that I am not an employer. Haitian birth record for him. must inscribe on our banner the revolu- __I agree to abide by the IWW constitution. Rama Carty has the strong language tionary watchword, “Abolition of the wage of a revolutionary, with a calm and system.” __I will study its principles and acquaint myself with its purposes. concentrated delivery comparable to that It is the historic mission of the work- Name:______of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Our hearts and ing class to do away with capitalism. The solidarity are with him. army of production must be organized, Address:______not only for the everyday struggle with City, State, Post Code, Country:______capitalists, but also to carry on production Occupation:______when capitalism shall have been over- thrown. By organizing industrially we are Phone:______Email:______forming the structure of the new society Amount Enclosed:______within the shell of the old. Industrial Worker Membership includes a subscription to the . Graphic: radicalgraphics.org Page 4 • Industrial Worker • July 2009 Building a Ship By Nate Holdren immediately rewarding. But it is unjusti- I recently stepped down from an in- fiable not to do them because they are a ternational officer position in the IWW. challenge—and this applies to parenting In thinking about this, I remembered too. It’s both rewarding and really hard something I wanted to share. at the same time. I feel lucky to have had the privilege to meet Fellow Worker Utah Phillips “May never sail on it.” before he died. FW Phillips sang a song I told FW Phillips that his music with the refrain, and stories were “building a ship/ a big part of my may never sail on introduction to the it/ gonna build it IWW, and that I anyway.” That’s an had really enjoyed important idea. talking with him and hearing his “Building a ship.” stories. He said The IWW is a thank you. He said sort of ecosystem something like, “I where several ele- was your age when ments depend on each other, and move I met the people who got me into all this, at different paces. Trainings and admin- and they were about the age I am now. istrative work are the main things I do Someday you’ll be my age and will be in the IWW now. This is important, but getting new people into all this.” It was a it’s hard because the payoffs don’t come sobering thing to say, and definitely felt quickly and often happen elsewhere, out like shoes I can’t fill. It’s also an impor- of my direct sight/experience. This is tant reminder to think long term: Utah different from helping organize a picket was, I think, 73 when I met him. I had or a job action or moving a coworker in a just turned 30. one-on-one. All this ties in to the reasons I de- On a personal note, I’m happy to cided to step down. In short, I was—and report that my wife is pregnant and that am—feeling burnt out. On the one hand, our daughter is due to be born at the end I need to make sure I do not burn out of August. I am very excited to meet my entirely, so that I can continue to play a daughter and to raise her. At the same somewhat positive role for the long term. time, I know parenting will involve being On the other hand, what the song says stressed, missing sleep, being afraid, and is important. This stuff is not about im- a lot of hard work. Along the same lines, mediate returns—or, at least, not about I used to think that revolutionary activity being able to see our really big goals should always be joyful or make us feel accomplished. I find that to be a useful good. I no longer feel that way. Obvi- reminder. This work matters. We have to ously, this stuff should have enjoyable keep doing it. Right now, hanging in for and/or joyful elements, at least some- the long term means stepping back for times, but that’s a different matter. The the short term, taking on less in order work we need to do is often hard, trying, to be able to accomplish the things I am tiring and involves sacrifices. Many doing in the IWW. things worth doing are hard and are not “Gonna build it anyway.” NLRB Is No Friend In Portland By Chris Agenda ing on the government to resolve labor During a two-month period I met disputes extends the apparatus of the with representatives from the National state and negates the concept of work- Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on three ers demanding things on their own. The different issues. All of the issues were re- workers do not receive any new skills or lated to grievances of workers who were tools, they just get a handout from the represented by the IWW and employed government until the next time a prob- by Janus Youth Programs in Portland, lem arises, and the cycle continues. Oregon. The NLRB was not helpful in This brings us to the issue we need any of the situ- to discuss ations. throughout The com- our union mon line in as we each of these continue cases was that to grow— the NLRB had that is the to defer to IWW’s arbitration, growing since that was reliance on provided for in contracts. the contracts Histori- between the cally in IWW and Ja- Graphic: Ted Morée the IWW, nus. Once we charged the company with representation at a workplace has not bargaining in bad faith, and despite a always equated with having a contract. Graphic: Mike Konopacki slew of evidence proving management’s We often wind up with contracts that are of our history and realized that, again, malfeasance, the NLRB still sat on their mediocre at best. Grievance procedures our history is one of struggle and direct hands. The NLRB representatives were are often a joke, and additions such as action, not contracts. SubscribeGraphic: to Mike the Konopacki all friendly to our union, but as an insti- “management rights” clauses add insult My experience in Portland so far tution they could not provide any sup- to injury. has been educational and inspiring, but Industrial Worker port. One agent candidly explained that Contracts rarely omit the “no strike, I believe we are approaching an impor- Raise eyebrows! Get ideas! even if there were grounds to become no lockout” clause, which cuts off one of tant crossroads. We are in the midst of involved in the dispute, “there’s really our few effective weapons in disputes. an economic recession and have a great nothing we can do.” The history of this union has always need for a strong, militant vehicle for the 10 issues for: We shouldn’t be surprised at this been one of militant action, not pleading working class. If we are going to con- • US $18 for individuals. turnout, but we should be paying better for help from an ineffective government tinue to grow from the local branch level • US $20 for internationals. attention. The NLRB is a monolithic gov- institution. We should take the next logi- to the international level, we have to • US $24 for institutions. ernment agency that is detached from cal step and question what place, if any, be able to provide something that truly Name: ______working people. To expect them to help contracts ought to have in the IWW. stands out from the business unions. Address:______is irrational. We shouldn’t rely on the My introduction to the IWW was We have the theory and ideas to dis- NLRB’s help in resolving our disputes, at through a workplace that had an out- tinguish ourselves, but I think we are fol- State/Province:______Zip/ least not in most cases. dated contract which we renegotiated lowing their models in certain aspects of PC______A government agency could inter- over the course of eight months. There our actions. As IWW history has taught Send to: PO Box 23085, vene and possibly provide workers with were some good things that came out of us, direct action and solidarity are the Cincinnati OH 45223 USA a good resolution in a dispute, but this the contract as well as some bad. I had best weapons of the working class. These is problematic as the workers should be no historical perspective, however, until are what will build the One Big Union, Subscribe Today! creating the resolution themselves. Rely- the last year, when I began to read more not ineffectual contracts. July 2009 • Industrial Worker • Page 5 Michigan Autoworkers Rally Against Shutdowns, Layoffs By Dianne Feeley, UAW Local 235 estimate that two-thirds of those in There were four “Manufacture attendance were from Chrysler’s Ster- American” rallies on Monday, May 11, in ling Heights Assembly Plant, or were Dearborn, Hamtramck, Sterling Heights their family members. UAW Local 1700 and Pontiac, Michigan. The United members are on layoff and the plant is Steelworkers union (USW) organized a slated to shut down next year. The local bus tour to visit more than 30 cities, in leadership had mobilized the member- order to drive home the point that man- ship through text messages and email. ufacturing and the U.S. auto industry The platform featured politicians are vital to keeping America alive, and who delivered more conservative speech- to speak out against current U.S. trade es than in Hamtramck. For example, policies. I attended the Hamtramck and Senator Levin talked about how we Sterling Heights rallies. Steelworkers ought to be able to build all the vehicles President Leo Gerard said that we are needed for war, where as I thought I’d not against workers in countries where remembered an anti-war comment by U.S. corporations have set up plants, but one of the speakers in Hamtramck. instead we oppose the corporations that The USW representative who orga- have chosen to whipsaw workers in one nized the rallies was standing next to country against another while destroying me, and groaned while Levin was giving the U.S. manufacturing base. his jingoistic and militarist rap. I think there are some problems with The last speaker at the Sterling the campaign as it is formulated, but I Heights rally was UAW Local 1700 respect the fact that the USW workers President Bill Parker, who spoke about are trying to differentiate themselves the need to reverse the decision to close and their campaign from the chauvin- the Sterling Heights Auto Plant, and istic “Buy American” slogan. Clearly discussed what that would mean for the many of the politicians don’t understand workers at the plant and for working- the difference. I also think that if the Photo: Gerard Jackson, USW class communities. He pointed out that Steelworkers raised ideas like heavily Autoworkers rally on their first day of the Bus Tour in St. Louis on May 11, 2009. of the four Chrysler assembly plants taxing capital when companies make slated to close, all had a “mirror” plant foreign investments, this would rein- tramck rally featured speakers such mentioning that as a young man he’d making similar products in another force their point that they are focusing as Leo Gerard, Jessie Jackson, Danny worked at Dodge Main. country. He said that we should not on the corporations. However, the USW Glover, John Conyers and Virg Bernero, There was no call to action, but the begrudge workers in Canada and Mexico workers are involved in an alliance with the feisty mayor of Lansing who is at- fact that the USW workers were holding for taking our work, but instead aim our some manufacturers, and this makes it tempting to get other mayors to work rallies in areas threatened with plant criticism at Chrysler’s decision. difficult to drive their rhetoric home. together and oppose plant closings. They closures was an important initiative. A number of us from the autoworker As for the rallies, there were ap- gave militant speeches about the need In fact, the UAW was forced to support caravan made our own signs, focusing proximately 300-400 people who at- for single-payer health care and the ne- the rallies, organizing a retiree bus and on such issues as jobs and single-payer tended the Hamtramck rally, including a cessity for a strong manufacturing base turning out staffers. Region 1 Director health care. Certainly no one in the cara- number of workers and retirees from the and decent jobs. Speakers such as state Joe Peters was on the platform in both van demanded we carry only “official” Alliance for American Manufacturing Senators Debby Stabenow and Sander Hamtramck and Sterling Heights, and signs. (AAM). Other attendees included USW Levin gave less militant, but still popu- I understand that UAW Vice President After these rallies, a number of the workers, longtime labor activists and a list, talks. For example, Stabenow talked Bob King was in the crowd at all three union workers and officials held vari- number of United Auto Workers (UAW) about “universal health care” and when rallies. It was great to see rank-and-file ous meetings and rallies throughout the regional and local staff. some in the crowd (like me) shouted out autoworkers and steelworkers uniting at Detroit area. From what I understand, the “single payer health care” she stopped these events! For more information, please visit Hamtramck rally was nearly as large as and added, “and maybe single payer.” The Sterling Heights rally had http://www.autoworkercaravan.org or the earlier one in Dearborn. The Ham- Levin interestingly began his speech by approximately 600 participants. I’d http://www.peoplessummit.org. Are Mexican Workers ‘Stealing Our Jobs’? The crisis in the Mexican auto sector of new GM plants in Mexico By the Maquila Solidarity Network become the norm. For example, GM’s When the last truck rolled off the Guanajuato plant recently began an assembly line at the General Motors eight-week paro técnico which will affect (GM) plant in Oshawa, Ontario, on May some 10,000 workers. Paros técnicos 14, some workers arrived at the “closure are also underway at GM’s three other ceremony” wearing sombreros to protest Mexico plants, affecting over 6,600 the loss of 1,500 jobs. workers. The crisis is, of course, not restricted to production for the big three Canadian jobs and the announce- U.S. auto makers. ment of the opening In January, Volkswagen laid off 900 “It’s not right. They just put the temporary workers at its Puebla pro- plants in places where people are willing duction facility, a factory with a strong to work for slave wages,” one worker was independent union. quoted as saying in the Globe and Mail. Mexican auto parts companies that Clearly, Canadian autoworkers are supply the large manufacturers are being unfairly victimized by an economic also feeling the impact of the crisis. For crisis that they had no role in creating, example, last month Delphi, one of GM’s but the perception that Mexican workers main parts providers, announced the are gaining because of the crisis would closure of its Matamoros factory, leaving appear to be mistaken. The devastation 1,700 workers unemployed. of the North American auto industry And, like their North American is also being felt in Mexico, a country counterparts, Mexican workers are being heavily dependent on exports to the pushed to give up hard-won gains. United States, and where the auto sector employs some 600,000 workers. Impact on workers’ rights According to Blanca Velazquez of the Graphic: Maquila Solidarity Update Mexican job losses Worker Support Centre (CAT) in Puebla, She also notes that the terms and them with temporary, casual workers While Mexico’s share of the total employers in the auto sector and the conditions of paros técnicos being contracted through an employment North American auto production rose state and federal governments are using negotiated by unelected leaders of “of- agency. between 3-4 percent in 2008, exports the uncertainty caused by the economic ficial unions” linked to the Puebla State While announcements of new from Mexico’s auto sector actually crisis to undermine Mexican workers’ Government are undercutting workers’ investments in auto production facili- dropped by almost 57 percent between rights. legal entitlements, and in some cases are ties in Mexico could offset some of the January 2008 and January 2009. This “Companies and governments are being used to undermine worker orga- job losses, it is not yet clear whether has meant dramatic job losses in many using the threat of job loss to legalize nizing. there will be an overall employment gain communities in states that are highly so-called flexible employment in order For example, at the Johnson Con- for Mexican autoworkers, or whether dependent on the auto sector, such to weaken job security and labor protec- trols Finsa plant in Puebla, where the Mexican workers will continue to be dis- as Puebla, Coahuila and the State of tions,” says Velazquez. She points to pro- CAT has been supporting a coalition of carded by the industry as readily as their Mexico. posed regressive changes in the Federal workers, the company has been dispro- Canadian counterparts. Temporary closures or production Labor Law as well as recent reforms to portionately targeting members of the Republished from the Maquila Soli- slowdowns—called paros técnicos—have the Social Security Law. coalition in layoffs and then replacing darity Update, Vol. 14, No. 2, June 2009. Page 6 • Industrial Worker • July 2009

Recession:By Mykke Holcomb & Adam Welch Time to Organize We started this year in the middle of the hardest economic times we have seen in decades. The real estate bubble popped, followed by the dissolution of longstanding financial institutions, the subsequent doling out of taxpayer money to bail them out and the gouging of a weakened U.S. workforce. Tens of thousands of workers are now jobless, and thousands more are lining up be- hind them every week. All industries are feeling the pinch with this crisis. In our precarious workforce, we now find ourselves on even shakier ground than before. With no net to fall back on, many are laying low to hold onto what they’ve got. Many workers who’ve been laid off have justified their bosses’ cutting them loose, naively assuming that their employers simply couldn’t afford to keep paying them. Most truck- ers know better. We know better than most how much money we generate for our bosses and the corporations and how little we see of it. For example, as Citigroup sacked 30,000 of its work- ers, it would come as no surprise to us that, just the year before, its CEO raked in $15,105,376. As Sotheby’s so desper- Graphic: J. Pierce ately sought to save $7 million to stay afloat by cutting a quarter of its U.S. workforce, we might have guessed that of course, we’re expected to understand. standstill, and what did function was $25 billion in bailout money, but refused its CEO pocketed $10,341,357 in that The figures above should suffice to at the strikers’ call. They allied with to lend any longer, thus denying the same year. And, of course, we’re not explain why our hardship usually is not farmers, the unemployed and the local workers what they were legally owed. shocked to find that Richard K. McClel- necessary. But, nonetheless, you may public to strengthen support and so that Not only would they be out of a job right land, director and chairman of the board wonder what we can do about it. Work- the bosses couldn’t break the strike with before Christmas, but they would not get of courier industry giant Dynamex, took ing people have an inspiring history of scab labor. Decisions were made demo- the vacation pay they had earned, and home $1,222,513. Dynamex workers in struggles and victories, even in times cratically, putting the rank and file in would not receive the severance they New York City, many of whom are recent of recession. In fact, in these tougher control of their own fight. were due. immigrants, are among the lowest paid times it is all the more vital for us to be After a pitched battle that lasted So the workers stood together and in the industry. organized. To accept defeat now will only weeks, the truckers won. The victory was sat down in the first factory occupation There is no good reason these lay- hurt us more later. In this historic time, a turning point, not only for the truck- in the U.S. since the 1930s. They de- offs should be occurring. There is no we may find history has valuable lessons ers, but for the city’s workers in general. manded their vacation pay and their sev- good reason we should catch the brunt of for us. From then on, labor had a strong voice, erance, and that the bank fork over the a recession we did not create. We created Our current recession has been where before it had nearly none. money they owed. “You got bailed out, the profits the bosses and companies compared to the onset of the Great Around the same time in Detroit, we got sold out” was the cry of the strik- are protecting when they fire us. Or Depression that began in the late 1920s. IWW autoworkers at the Hudson Motor ers as they took on a behemoth, and it when they cut our pay and benefits. Or The Great Depression was a time of in- Car Company were successfully using the resonated far and wide. Support poured when they give us less work. And then, creased union activity and worker mili- sit-down strike to push their wages up. in from all over the world. It electrified tance. When unemployment According to the IWW website: labor and inspired millions. Even the soared, rather than hunker- “‘Sit down and watch your pay go up’ mainstream press could not ignore it, ing down and hoping for the was the message that rolled down the and politicians lined up for their photo- best, workers stood their assembly line on strikers that had been ops and speeches of support. After only ground and fought back. fastened to pieces of work. The steady six days, they won their demands. During this time, team- practice of the sitdown raised wages Many workers are in a much stron- sters in Minneapolis had or- 100% (from $.75 an hour to $1.50) in the ger position to win than many of us ganized an industrial union middle of a depression.” think. We know that without us the of truckers where there had Today—as the economy recesses and economy would not function. Goods been almost no union pres- bosses respond by threatening wages would not be moved, students would not ence before. What union did and jobs—many are taking the hint and be educated, food would not be served. exist was very small, divided standing their ground. The airline indus- And we’ve seen how when folks in other by craft and hindered by a try has been especially hit throughout industries got together and flexed their dead-weight bureaucracy. the world recently, with more and more collective muscles, even in times of This situation allowed the job actions fighting layoffs and other cutbacks and job scarcity, they’ve gotten power to stay in the hands of grievances. IWW truckers are fighting results. Even our bosses, who compete the employers, and the pros- back. Even Starbucks baristas are mak- with one another, are organized to pro- pect of making gains didn’t ing gains! tect their interests. Why aren’t we? look good. But the rank and Just last December, UE workers at If we don’t do something now, it may file organized and fought for the Republic Windows and Doors factory soon be too late. Stand up for yourself representation of all workers in Chicago stood up and made history. and your fellow workers everywhere. in the industry. The owners of the factory had been Now is the time to organize. And now is In 1934, when the bosses secretly moving operations out of state, the time that we need a democratic fight- refused to recognize the where they could employ cheaper, non- ing union movement. Isn’t it time you union, they went on strike, union workers. The factory’s 260 work- joined the One Big Union? and many of the Minne- ers were given three days’ notice that it With files from iww.org, the apolis’ workers followed. was closing. And the company’s primary AFL-CIO and Subterranean Fire by Graphic: radicalgraphics.org For weeks the city was at a lender, Bank of America, had just gotten Sharon Smith. July 2009 • Industrial Worker • Page 7 The Cure for Layoffs: Fire the Boss! By Naomi Klein & Avi Lewis, months than the previous four years. from being removed, CommonDreams.org For example, Arrufat, a chocolate using that as leverage to In 2004, we made a documentary maker with a 50-year history, was force the companies back called “The Take,” about Argentina's abruptly closed late last year. Thirty em- to the table—precisely the movement of worker-run businesses. ployees occupied the plant, and despite a same dynamic that worker In the wake of the country's dramatic huge utility debt left by the former own- takeovers in Argentina economic collapse in 2001, thousands ers, have been producing chocolates by have followed. of workers walked into their shuttered the light of day, using generators. factories and put them back into produc- With a loan of less than $5,000 from France tion as worker cooperatives. Abandoned the Working World, a capital fund/NGO In France, there by bosses and politicians, they regained started by a fan of “The Take,” they were has been a new wave of unpaid wages and severance while re- able to produce 17,000 Easter eggs for "bossnappings" this year, claiming their jobs in the process. their biggest weekend of the year. They in which angry employees As we toured Europe and North made a profit of $75,000, taking home have detained their bosses America with the film, every Q&A ended $1,000 each and saving the rest for in factories that are fac- up with the question, "That's all very future production. ing closure. Companies well in Argentina, but could that ever targeted so far include happen here?" United Kingdom Caterpillar, 3M, Sony and Well, with the world economy now Visteon is an auto parts manufac- Hewlett Packard. looking remarkably like Argentina's in turer that was spun off from Ford in The 3M executive was 2001 (and for many of the same rea- 2000. Hundreds of workers were given brought a meal of moules sons) there is a new wave of direct action six minutes’ notice that their workplaces et frites during his over- among workers in rich countries. Co-ops were closing. Two-hundred workers in night ordeal. are once again emerging as a practical Belfast staged a sit-in on the roof of their A comedy hit in alternative to more layoffs. Workers in factory, and another 200 in Enfield fol- France this spring was the U.S. and Europe are beginning to ask lowed suit the next day. a movie called "Louise- the same questions as their Latin Ameri- Over the next few weeks, Visteon Michel," in which a group can counterparts: Why do we have to get increased the severance package to up to of women workers hires a fired? Why can't we fire the boss? Why is 10 times their initial offer, but the com- hit-man to kill their boss Graphic: naomiklein.org the bank allowed to drive our company pany is refusing to put the money in the after he shuts down their factory with no public Windows and Doors story: 260 under while getting billions of dollars of workers' bank accounts until they leave warning. workers occupied their plant for six our money? the plants, and they are refusing to leave A French union official said in world-shaking days in Chicago last De- On May 15 at Cooper Union in New until they see the money. March, "Those who sow misery reap cember. With a savvy campaign against York City, we took part in a panel look- fury. The violence is done by those who the company's biggest creditor, Bank ing at this phenomenon called “Fire the Ireland cut jobs, not by those who try to defend of America, and massive international Boss: The Worker Control Solution from A factory where workers make them." solidarity, they won the severance they Buenos Aires to Chicago.” the legendary Waterford Crystal was were owed. And moreover, the plant is We were joined by people from the occupied for seven weeks earlier this Beglium re-opening under new ownership, mak- movement in Argentina as well as work- year when parent company Waterford In May, 1,000 steelworkers dis- ing energy-efficient windows with all the ers from the famous Republic Window Wedgewood went into receivership after rupted the annual shareholders meeting workers hired back at their old wages. and Doors struggle in Chicago. being taken over by a U.S. private equity of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel Chicago is making factory occupa- It was a great way to hear directly firm. company. They stormed the company's tion a trend. Hartmarx is a 122-year-old from those who are trying to rebuild the The U.S. company has now put 10 headquarters in Luxembourg, smashing company that makes business suits, economy from the ground up, and who million Euros in a severance fund, and gates, breaking windows and fighting including the navy blue number that need meaningful support from the pub- negotiations are ongoing to keep some of with police. President Barack Obama wore on elec- lic, as well as policy makers at all levels the jobs. tion night, and his inaugural tuxedo and of government. For those who could not Poland topcoat. The business is in bankruptcy. make it out to Cooper Union, here's a Canada In Southern Poland, at the largest Its biggest creditor is Wells Fargo, re- quick roundup of recent developments As the Big Three automakers col- coal coking producer in Europe, thou- cipient of $25 billion in bailout money. in the world of worker control. lapse, there have been four occupations sands of workers bricked up the entrance While there are two offers on the table to by Canadian Auto Workers so far this to the company's headquarters, protest- buy the company and keep it operating, Argentina year. In each case, factories were closing ing wage cuts. Wells Fargo wants to liquidate it. 650 In Argentina—the direct inspiration and workers were not getting compen- workers voted to occupy their Chicago for many current worker actions—there sation that was owed to them. They oc- United States factory if the bank goes ahead with have been more takeovers in the last four cupied the factories to stop the machines And then there's the famous Re- liquidation. California CWA Locals Preparing to Strike won through struggles that go back to Continued from 1 the 1940s. Muffy Sunde, a Local 9000 ment inspection fully complies with CWA member and Los Angeles Freedom company protocol. Socialist Party organizer said “A vic¬- “Work to rule is fun. Customers love tory for labor in this battle could change it because we are thorough, respectful, the power relations between unions and and take time to do it right,” said Sunde. management across the country.” The company’s bogus claim to hard AT&T, the largest unionized compa- times has contributed to CWA members’ ny in the private-sector, wants to dump intransigence. AT&T cleared a cool $12.9 its retiree healthcare obligations, triple billion in profit last year alone, and gave healthcare costs for current employees, CEO Randall Stephenson a 22 percent implement a two-tier wage scheme, salary increase. deprive new hires of pension benefits Withdrawing labor power is the and more. strongest weapon that working people That is why 88 percent of CWA vot- have. It looks like CWA workers are get- ing members have authorized a strike. ting ready for just that. The union website boldly announces For more information, visit http:// “Strike Standby” and a nationwide www.socialism.com. work-to-rule campaign is in full swing. This story originally appeared in This means workers carefully obey safety Freedom Socialist newspaper, Vol. 30, rules and make sure that every equip- No. 3, June-July 2009. Graphic: flickr.com/photos/ueunion UE Workers in Chicago Facing Another Plant Closure Now they are breaking their promise to one step in a long road towards justice. Buy a prisoner subscription to the American taxpayer—they are refus- Continued from 1 the Industrial Worker. ing to extend credit to QC Die Casting, We must keep walking. Building a 60-year-old family-owned business. solidarity around QC Die Casting is the Send a cheque for Wells Fargo has so far refused to speak next step. $18 to IW Prisoner Subscrip- to the workers about the situation. Call Wells Fargo CEO John tion, c/o IWW, PO Box 23085, Friday, June 5, marked the six- Stumpf at 866-249-3302 or email month anniversary since the first day of [email protected]. Ask Cincinnati OH 45223 USA with our occupation at the Republic Win- to be transferred to the office of Mr. a note on the cheque: ‘prison- dow and Door Factory. The banks got Stumpf, and tell him to save the jobs at bailouts while the country got sold out. Quad City. For the latest updates, please er subscription.’ When we occupied the Republic plant, visit http://www.ueunion.org/. many of us knew we were only taking With files from UE Local 1110. Page 8 • Industrial Worker • July 2009 Book Review “Sisters in the Brotherhoods: Working Women Organizing for Equality” LaTour, Jane. “Sisters in the Brother- and ultimately triumphed, and that is Still, the best testament that hoods: Working Women Organizing for the real story of the book. these were more frequently Equality in New York City.” Palgrave Day after day, year after year, they manageable disagreements than MacMillan, 2008. 308 pages, paper- went to work, often without a female co- irreconcilable ones is provided by back, $25. worker in sight, and did their jobs. Their the reflections of those involved. move up the ladder of their chosen fields Thirty years later, the women of By Andy Piascik was made more difficult and took longer color in “Sisters” look back quite If we’re lucky, the next upsurge of because of those who resented their fondly at the bonds of solidarity the working class will be led by women. presence. Some were sent to the least de- that were forged, and that is true If we’re really lucky, some of those sirable workplaces to do the worst jobs; for the bonds with whites, as well leading that upsurge will be the women others worked with men who refused to as those with other women of in Jane LaTour’s new book, “Sisters in teach them the necessary skills of their color. the Brotherhoods: Working Women trades. Despite that, virtually all eventu- On work sites, the women Organizing for Equality.” LaTour is an ally got to do work at a level that brought sometimes received support award-winning labor journalist who them a great deal of satisfaction. In from male coworkers. Some were also has a long history as a rank-and-file addition, they made it possible for more willing teachers and others stood union activist. That last is significant, women to follow them into those jobs. up to the harassment other men for “Sisters” reads very much like it was None of the women in “Sisters” were dishing out. In some of the written by someone who’s spent a long made it on their own, and every one of stories, this was especially true time in the trenches. them connects their advancement to the in the case of African-American “Sisters” is the story of two dozen solidarity of others. Given the eventual men, who also had to traverse or so women who were the first to work class bifurcation of the women’s move- many obstacles. At the conclu- as firefighters, carpenters, pipefit- ment, the degree of support that profes- sion of the incident related ters, telephone technicians, and other sional women provided their blue-collar above, for example, Brunilda jobs in New York City. Most entered sisters in the 1970s is especially strik- Hernandez recalled the words their respective fields in the 1970s and ing. Much has been written about the of a Jamaican male coworker. “He said, Graphic: us.macmillan.com early 1980s—a time when two clashing ultimate schism in the movement, but ‘Don’t worry, Bruni. I had your back.’ He what Elizabeth Faue and other histo- forces met in workplaces throughout the LaTour adds immensely to that discus- had pulled a knife and had it down by his rians have called “community-based country. On the one hand, there was the sion with a somewhat different take. For leg. And he said, ‘If that son-of-a-bitch unionism.” Union bureaucrats appear in women’s movement, which broke down example, the fateful choice some made touched you, I was going to get him.’” “Sisters” as either hostile or negligent, doors to jobs that were historically seen to emphasize the advancement of profes- If the courage of the trailblazing their organizations as ossified perhaps as off-limits to women. On the other sional, mostly white women is neither women and the support they got from a beyond repair. The extra-union activity hand was a wall of male privilege and the whole story nor was it inevitable. broad spectrum is the most inspirational LaTour describes so compellingly, on entrenched power that refused to will- Instead, it has much to do with the deci- theme of LaTour’s book, then perhaps the other hand, served the women in her ingly give the least bit of ground: unions, sion of professional women’s organiza- the most shameful piece of the story is book well, and workers in any number of contractors, government bureaucracies tions to cultivate funding sources, often where they apparently got none: New circumstances would do well to heed it. and the occasional mafioso. at the expense of cross-class alliances. York’s unions. The deplorable conduct of In addition to the important gender One result of the clash was hiring To be sure, the bulk of the work so many from the International Brother- issues it raises, “Sisters” is rich with halls and job sites that were cesspools of in these alliances was always done by hood of Electrical Workers and the other general issues of relevance to all work- hostility and obstruction. As the women the blue-collar women themselves. As unions specifically discussed in “Sisters” ers. Here, for example, is how New York in “Sisters” relate, women were taunted, related in “Sisters,” they built groups speaks for itself, but their villainy is by Telephone technician Ilene Winkler threatened, and harassed in as many like Non-Traditional Employment for no means the whole story. describes the zest with which she and ways as one can imagine. Working in Women and organized at multiple levels Where, after all, were the left-led coworkers tackled new assignments jobs where danger and the need for co- for change. LaTour’s view is a bottom-up unions like District Council 65 that many necessitated by technological change: operation are great, some of the women one; the entrenched changed only un- in New York’s labor movement so proud- “There was a lot of responsibility and were placed in life-threatening situa- willingly and only because of the tenacity ly pat themselves on the back about? autonomy,” Winkler recalled. “You got tions. Harassment anywhere is a serious of the women involved. Where were the leaders of female-major- to figure out really interesting things and issue; when it takes place amidst heavy The women of color in “Sisters” ity unions like 1199? Were there no local people were really into the job … it was machinery or high up on the skeleton of were trailblazers in numerous jobs, and presidents willing to pressure the obdu- like you were running the place yourself a skyscraper, it’s as real as it gets. LaTour does an excellent job of explain- rate in their fraternity, no officers willing and people were conscientious.” No In “Sisters,” electrician Brunilda ing the additional obstacles they encoun- to join a demonstration at a recalcitrant bosses leading the way here, nor supervi- Hernandez describes an incident with tered. Women of color were especially hiring hall? Reading between the lines of sors riding workers who don’t want to a drunk coworker who, from the time creative in coping with these obstacles. LaTour’s book, the answers are clearly work. she was hired, did everything he could Sometimes an aggressive response was “No.” That is a disgrace, and it supports “Sisters in the Brotherhoods” is to make her life difficult. “[H]e threat- the best tactic; on other occasions it the view postulated by Bob Fitch and a gem of a book. With it, LaTour has ened me,” Hernandez recalled. “All the proved more beneficial to wait and fight others that many unions, at least at the given us important documentation of an guys circled us. He was cursing me: ‘You another day. top, function as little more than fiefdoms inspiring piece of history that is too little son-of-a-bitch. Who the hell you think Relationships between women of where rule number one is never ever do known. Some of the women profiled you are? You don’t belong here.’ I was so color and white women in the coalitions anything about how the other guy runs in her book are still pushing forward, scared … I was what? 19 maybe? I was were not always smooth either, and both his ship (and in the 1970s, they were either in their fields or in vital move- skinny, five-foot-five, and I’m like, ‘Oh LaTour and those she interviewed ad- most definitely all guys). ment organizations. Wherever they are, my God. I’m going to be killed.’ I was so dress this fact quite candidly. The stirring manner in which work- newer generations of activists can stand scared.” Like the other women in “Sis- Tensions inevitably arose, and they ing class women and coalition-type orga- securely on their shoulders as we reach ters,” however, Hernandez persevered were not always worked out amicably. nizations stepped into this breach evokes for higher ground.

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Subscribe to the Industrial Worker today! Graphic: Mike Konopacki July 2009 • Industrial Worker • Page 9 Art & Poetry The Wobbly Prayer Picket The Mechanized By Adam W. By Mark Wolff Hail the spirit of Joe Hill, Lucy Parsons and Big Bill too, Workers standing in line, waiting for the rest of a wage held Hallowed be the cause of labor. Redundancy, layoff, they've walked the picket line The General Strike will come, the will of the workers will be done. from the day management locked the door, Locked the door to conceal the machines that automated tasks. Across the earth as it is on our jobs. Shopping others wait in queue, at the grocery to check out items to swipe the barcode, Let us together make our daily bread. They get out of their cars to pump the gas, insert the plastic card. And forgive us when our fellow workers let us down, Getting on the transport the employed listen to a special voice as they support us when we do likewise. Announcing each stop, in sequence, at each corner, Save us from not knowing our A-E-I-U-Os, to the workplace time clock. and deliver us from being fired by the evil boss. That special voice that answers the emergency calls For our future society is being built in the ashes of the old, and asks that humans respond "yes" or "no," We struggle for worker freedom the world over, Directs them and tells them how to ask for help, where to go. now and forever. There in emergency, they sit down and wait in the Amen! mechanical chair that clamps one's arm to measure blood pressure, Takes the pulse of the worker. Enhancing The Human Condition That special voice that will guide the machine, will signal the heartbeat, and count the breath. By Ken Lawless The computer voice that will tell how to purchase

Graphic: Ned Powell the ticket to the number on the special seat, or Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye all the little babies, hospital bed sweet newborn mammals, Code the name tag on the luggage, code the body on the toenail, mother's milk is their nutrition, to be picked up where, standing in world peace would enhance their condition. line, one's things await,

Await in storage, on file. Marie Mason is a 46-year-old mother of two, Workers on file the a poet, a musician, and a volunteer at a free herbal healthcare collective. nurse, the baggage carrier, She helped set fire to the office of a Michigan State researcher the bus driver, the worker at the gas pump, funded by Monsanto and USAID, the grocery clerk, the phone genetic engineering capable of altering life for eternity. operator; Marie Mason was sentenced to 21 years ten months The teller, the food server, the library clerk, the grave digger, though the average federal sentence for arson is seven years. the farm laborers, the miners. Judge Paul L. Mahoney sentenced her under an Enhanced Terrorism law, And workers standing in line Waiting a new concept in this climate of fears. for the remainder of their wage held by the state.

And workers walking the picket The Red Scare is turning neon green To stop financing the machines, while greenback dollars keep track of the score. to shutdown them down, to restore the jobs. What sentence is appropriate for those whose attack on the Afghan village of Garani killed up to 140 civilians, severely wounding up to two dozen more? Marvelous was the man. American F-18s, a B1 bomber, and drones destroyed a dozen homes in mud-walled compounds. Marvelous was in the man. "The Taliban had already left," said 13-year-old Naeem, Dedicated to Franklin Rosemont (1943-2009) whose mother was killed and three sisters also suffered severe burn wounds. By Len Wallace Mohedin, a 55-year-old farmer, asked why Americans who can identify a cell phone “The power of Spirit is only as great as its expression, from afar couldn't distinguish women and children from Taliban. its depth only as deep as it dares to spread out and Provincial Council member Belquis Roshan said she believed lose itself in its exposition.” only the Taliban benefited because the people of Farah City - G.F. Hegel, preface to “Phenomenology of Spirit” saw their lives being destroyed. Most reports say white phosphorus weapons were deployed. My Accordion is a receptacle, If true, the banned weapons are a war crime as well as an atrocity NOT a spittoon for the army of dead potatoes apt to inspire Taliban reciprocity. who call themselves RICH men. As the cycle of violence whirls beyond comprehension, There is power, there is power peace is a dream only visionaries dare mention. in a band of working folk! There IS power! Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye all the little babies, I called him friend/comrade sweet newborn mammals, Graphic: Ned Powell and LIFE words from his fingertips mother's milk is their nutrition, flew to my lips - world peace would enhance their condition. Mad Love! Joe Hill! Thelonious Monk! Abolish whiteness, miserabilism! Fourier! He wove the thread of the Marvelous, red thread through red and black and red. New Bastilles WILL fall, Pandora will sing as she unbinds Prometheus, And we will dance with the wolves in the streets. Government palaces will be museums of the absurd. No more governments. No more death machines. No more Second Comings. No more vanguards. No more! No more! No more! Graphic: Tom Keough All because this Bugs Bunny Baseball Card graphics dared to pull the old mole out of his hat. Tom Keough designed the top and right graphics during the baseball players strike Graphic: Tom Keough of 1995. Top left is Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who ended the baseball strike of 1995, briskly ruling against the owners in favor of the players.” According to the New York Times, the owners were trying to subvert the labor system, she said, and the strike had “placed the entire concept of collective bargaining on trial.” After play resumed, the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that by saving ing the season, Judge Sotomayor joined forever the ranks of Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams. The Chicago Sun-Times said she “delivered a wickedfastball” to base- ball owners and emerged as one of the most inspiring figures in the history of the sport.” PageJune 10 2009 • Industrial • Industrial Worker Worker • July 2009 • Page 10

Studs Terkel’s Working: A Graphic Adaptation BY HARVEY PEKAR (AUTHOR) NEW PAUL BUHLE (EDITOR) Women’s Cut “Working has been a book, a radio drama, a Broadway musical, and now a gripping graphic IWW T-shirts novel. I can’t speak for Studs, but I suspect he Sabo-cat design printed would have been tickled to see it adapted by a The Industrial Workers of the on union-made taffy pink former government file clerk and wage slave, who or olive green shirt World: Its First 100 Years by knows all about working.” —Roger Ebert Sizes S-XL $15.00 In the thirty-five years since Pulitzer Prize- Fred W. Thompson & Jon Bekken Sizes run small, order up a size for a looser fit. winner Studs Terkel’s Working was first pub- forward by Utah Phillips Specify color and size when ordering. lished, it has captivated millions of readers with The IWW: Its First 100 Years is the most lyrical and heartbreaking accounts of how their comprehensive history of the union ever Labor Law fellow citizens earn a living. Widely regarded as a masterpiece of words, it is now published. Written by two Wobblies who for the adapted into comic book form by comics legend Harvey Pekar, the blue-collar anti- lived through many of the struggles they Rank and hero of his American Book Award-winning comics series American Splendor. chronicle, it documents the famous Filer: In Studs Terkel’s Working, Pekar offers a brilliant visual adaptation of Terkel’s struggles such as the Lawrence and Building verbatim interviews, collaborating with both established comics veterans and some Paterson strikes, the fight for decent of the comic underground’s brightest new talent including Dylan Miner, Pablo Callejo, conditions in the Pacific Northwest Solidarity Peter Kuper, and Sharon Rudahl. Here are riveting accounts of the lives of ordinary timber fields, the IWW's pioneering While Americans—farmers, miners, barbers, hookers, box boys, stockbrokers—depicted organizing among harvest hands in the Staying with unsurpassed dignity and frankness. A visual treat with a visceral impact, Studs 1910s and 1920s, and the war-time Clear of the Terkel’s Working will delight Terkel fans everywhere, and introduce his most power- repression that sent thousands of IWW Law ful work to a new generation. members to jail. But it is the only general BY STAUGHTON LYND AND DANIEL GROSS 208 pages, $22.95 history to give substantive attention to Have you ever felt your blood boil at the IWW's successful organizing of work but lacked the tools to fight back and African-American and immigrant dock win? Or have you acted together with your workers on the Philadelphia waterfront, co-workers, made progress, but wondered Dynamite: The Story of the international union of seamen the what to do next? Labor Law for the Rank IWW built from 1913 through the 1930s, and Filer is a guerrilla legal handbook for Class Violence In America workers in a precarious global economy. BY LOUIS ADAMIC smaller job actions through which the IWW transformed working conditions, Blending cutting-edge legal strategies for WITH A FORWARD BY JON BEKKEN winning justice at work with a theory of Wobbly successes organizing in The history of labor in the United States is a dramatic social change from below, manufacturing in the 1930s and 1940s, story of almost continuous violence. In Dynamite, Staughton Lynd and Daniel Gross deliver and the union's recent resurgence. Louis Adamic recounts one century of that his- a practical guide for making work better tory in vivid, carefully researched detail. Cover- Extensive source notes provide guidance while re-invigorating the labor movement. ing both well- and lesser-known events—from the to readers wishing to explore particular This new revised and expanded edition riots of immigrant workers in the second quarter campaigns in more depth. There is no includes new cases governing fundamental of the nineteenth century to the formation of the better history for the reader looking for labor rights as well as an added section on Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)—he an overview of the history of the IWW, Practicing Solidarity Unionism. This new gives precise, and often brutal, meaning to the and for an understanding of its ideas and section includes chapters discussing the term “class war.” This new edition of Adamic’s tactics. 255 pages, $19.95 hard-hitting tactic of working to rule; revised 1934 version of Dynamite, includes a new organizing under the principle that no one foreword by Wobbly Jon Bekken, who offers a is illegal, and building grassroots solidarity critical overview of the work that underlines its contemporary relevance. across borders to challenge neoliberalism, Static Cling Decal among several other new topics. Illustrative “A young immigrant with a vivid interest in labor—and the calluses to prove his 3.5” black and red IWW stories of workers’ struggles make the legal knowledge was more than academic—Louis Adamic provided a unique, eyes-open- logo, suitable for car principles come alive. wide view of American labor history and indeed of American society. Dynamite was windows, $2.50 each 110 pages, $10.00 the first history of American labor ever written for a popular audience. While delin- eating the book’s limitations, Jon Bekken’s foreword also makes clear for today’s read- ers its continuing significance.” —Jeremy Brecher, historian and author of Strike! 380 pages, $19.95 Order Form Mail to: IWW Literature, PO Box 42777, Phila, PA 19101 Name:______Singing Through the Hard Times: A Tribute to Address:______Utah Phillips City/State/Zip Code:______In his life, Utah Phillips was many things - QUANTITY ITEM PRICE soldier, hobo, activist, pacifist, union organizer, storyteller, songwriter. He was an oral historian who documented the events of the working class and turned them into stories and songs. And in the folk tradition, he passed them on to others.Righteous Babe Records continues that tra- dition with Singing Through The Hard Times, a 2CD set that celebrates the music that Utah sang and loved. Included are performances from Emmylou Harris and Mary *Shipping/Handling In the U.S., please add $3.00 for first item Sub-Total:______Black, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, John McCutcheon, Rosalie Sorrels, Gordon Bok, & $1.00 for each additional item Ani DiFranco, Magpie, Jean Ritchie and many others - folksingers whose music Canada: Add $4.00 for the first item, Shipping*:______springs from the same rich vein of the people’s history that Phillips chronicled $1.00 for each additional item Overseas: Add $5.00 for the first item, Total Enclosed:______throughout his life. 39 tracks on 2 CDs, $15.98 $2.00 for each additional item July 2009 • Industrial Worker • Page 11 Breaking Oaths, Breaking Barriers By David Patrick been trying to overturn the collective solidarity with the Palestinian laborers East Jerusalem is not recognized. Nearly It’s an occurrence all over the globe termination, citing it as illegal under despite the fact that Palestinian militants 50 homes in the area have been demol- in one of the worst economic collapses in Article A12 of the Amendment to the had consistently attacked his hometown ished. In an interview with Buck, Barkat modern history. Temporary employment Law on Manpower Companies of the of Sderot with rockets and mortars. Oz claimed that the homes were unsafe agencies operate not just in the United Employment of Workers by Personnel displayed the courage to stand up to the and built illegally without the correct States, but all over the world, exploit- Contractors Law, which indicates that bigoted, stereotypical notions that have building permits. Palestinian residents ing workers by offering grueling jobs anyone working through a temporary kept the two factions fighting for so long. counter that the Israeli housing offices in highly competitive markets for poor employment agency after nine months All of their legal struggles were not in are not issuing the same number of wages and no benefits. Some workers automatically becomes an effective full- vain, thankfully, as a final decision was building permits as they used to, forcing in these despairing times simply don’t time employee under the host company expected on April 26 by Judge Daniel residents to construct homes illegally or mind, for it’s a paycheck to cover their (the IAA). Thus, Goldberg. Brick be homeless. daily living expenses—but what happens the Palestinian coincidentally Many people in the Palestinian when even the agreements provided and laborers would has had quite community say this is an attempt by the guaranteed by law are broken? Unfortu- have been entitled a number of Israeli government to drive them out of nately, a small group of people coming to the numerous similar cases the West Bank and out of East Jerusa- from one of the most repressed areas on benefits which such as this. lem. This is an allegation that the mayor the face of the Earth had to find out the they have now One occurred in flatly denies, although he has stated hard way. been denied and October 2008, that one of his responsibilities was to In 2008, the Israeli Antiquities Au- robbed of. These when 15 Pales- “maintain a Jewish majority.” Barkat thority (IAA) contracted an employment benefits, which tinian laborers also maintains a strong position of sup- agency known as Brick to hire workers have become sac- approaching the port for Jewish settlement expansion in various archaeological sites. This had rosanct in white Benchmark, or into the West Bank and East Jerusalem. been done for quite some time, some collar Western Photo: Erez Wagner and Goni Riskin / WAC the period after Such settlements have drawn fire from employees having years of experience employment spheres, include sick and which they would receive benefits were human rights groups around the world with Brick and the IAA, but in late 2008 holiday pay, worker’s compensation inexplicably terminated. Director-Gen- for decades. that all changed faster than Donald and severance packages for long-term eral of the IAA, Shuka Dorfmann, along With this kind of temporary agency Trump could say “You’re fired.” Twenty- members. The 21 laborers left Brick with with Minister of Industry, Labour, and system placed all over the world, the fate one Palestinian workers who had been nothing. Trade Binyamin Ben-Elizer, and Deputy of workers everywhere hangs in the bal- toiling for the IAA and Brick under the The WAC has been providing these Orit Noked did not respond to any ques- ance. The success of the laborers could hot Middle Eastern sun were summoned workers with financial aid and legal tions sent to them regarding this matter, mean a continued fight to strengthen by a Brick representative at the Ras al- support in their attempt to overturn the most likely due to the continuation communities, despite the divisive at- Amud site. They were told that anyone wrongful terminations. Several well- of the proceedings. However, further tempts by corporations and the govern- having a total of nine months of experi- known artists in Israel, such as Kobi Oz, investigation revealed a disturbing ment. A judgment against them could re- ence working for Brick and the IAA were front man for the Israeli rock group The system within local levels of the Israeli verberate throughout the globe, turning to be terminated immediately. No writ- Teapacks, Boaz Burni, and Israeli folk government. Early in 2009, Tobias Buck workers against each other as they fight ten forms of termination, no severance singer Rona Kerne, staged a benefit con- of the Financial Times investigated a for jobs. What can be said is that no mat- packages given to those with multiple cert earlier this year for the laborers in striking correlation—an increase in the ter what, the spirit of what has already years’ experience, just a verbal notifica- a display of ethnic unity between Israel demolition of Palestinian homes, and the been displayed here will not be broken tion and a demand to leave at once! and Palestine—a common sentiment refusal of permits being issued growing and the fight will go on. The solidarity of The workers joined up with the between the citizens of both countries, in number over the years. Nir Barkat is workers, regardless of race, creed, class Workers’ Advice Center (WAC) in East which isn’t always correctly displayed an Jewish Mayor of Jerusalem, although or ethnicity, will strengthen as they keep Jerusalem, where they secured employ- in the Western media outlets. This currently presiding over East Jerusalem. fighting and soldiering on for the right to ment. In working together, they have was especially true of Oz, who showed Internationally, Israeli sovereignty over build a better life. Post-Fordism in Belfast, Northern Ireland By Michael Reinsborough have a pension reduction of 10 percent. Swansea Visteon plant. However, in waiting list for new Fiestas in Germany The Ford motor company has had Many of the workers are asking each Belfast, there is no such nearby plant. because of a government scheme by a parts factory on the Finaghy Road in other whether or not it was a deliberate The 520 Agreement only applies if the which anyone with a car more than nine West Belfast for years. In 1980, there Ford strategy since 2000 to offer full workers go to a Ford plant, so, obviously, years old who wants to trade up for a were 1,400 employees working there. By pensions because they knew they would the Belfast workers in Finaghy feel this new car will be subsidized a couple of the year 2000, that had been reduced to never have to pay, and that pension plant closure is ripping the heart out of thousand Euros by the German govern- about 550 or 600. At least some of that costs would be off-loaded to the public their community, the majority of whom ment. The workers at the Belfast plant decline in the labor force is attributable taxpayer. During the Ford/Visteon name are from the greater Belfast area and a were quick to point out that there had to machinery improvements creating exchange, the union had negotiated a significant minority of whom are directly recently been seven critical failures on greater efficiency, but also a planned separation agreement that included a from the immediate Finaghy/West Bel- parts from the Port Elizabeth plant, pos- rundown was begun. In 2000, Ford cre- promise that the amount of work Ford fast area. sibly because helium leak tests (one of ated a subcompany which was initially gave to its new Visteon plants would be This is perhaps why the focus of the the stages of production) were not done called Neuco then renamed Visteon, and equal to or better—but the parts con- campaign is not on redundancy pay, but there. Such a spate of failures would nor- treated it in some ways as if it was an tracts always seemed to be less. rather on keeping the factory open. “I mally cause a plant to lose its Q1 stan- independent company. Visteon never The most important negotiation dur- don’t want a redundancy package,” one dard rating—a rating which is awarded existed outside of Ford. ing the name change was that by Euro- worker told me. It was Belfast workers’ internally by the Ford Company. Since So if anyone was wondering when pean Works Council, who got a guar- refusal to leave that inspired similar I talked to the Belfast workers, a sup- post-Fordism started in Belfast, the Ford antee of the same pension, pay raises, direct action resistance at the two other port agreement has been signed with motor company would claim it began in holidays and a mirror contract (the Ford closing Visteon plants in Basildon and other workers at some U.K. Ford plants. 2000. However, the Ford flag still flew book was orange and said “Ford” and the Enfield (England). On April 8, a support- As far as I am aware, U.K. Ford plants over the Visteon factory until recently, Visteon book was yellow, but otherwise ers’ march with a couple hundred people include Dagenham, Southampton and when workers seized control of their merely a reprint). However, anyone with started at a local shopping centre and Bridgend. The Hillrich plant was sold factory after being told that Visteon had a company dumped into administration walked out to the occupied plant. The to Jaguar and is now making the new been put into administration for bank- can escape all these commitments. Even Northern Ireland Parades Commission Tata. The Visteon plant in Swansea was ruptcy. They were given six minutes’ though many workers that I met had normally requires 28 days’ notice before given to Linamor, a Canadian firm with notice that they were losing their job. been working in the Belfast plant for 30 any kind of march can happen (because only two unionized plants (Swansea is So they simply stayed in the cafeteria, or more years, statutory redundancy pay sectarian marches have resulted in vio- one). The other three Visteon plants are, to which they’d been summoned, and is capped. Because all the parts contracts lence). However, the police were down of course, the subject of this dispute. I wouldn’t leave the building. When the that Visteon receives come from Ford, to the plant the day before to fast-track believe the workers were meeting with accountants and management eventually the Visteon company is really no more the permission process so that the march the Bridgend Convenor (Wales). At that left the premises, the workers didn’t let than an internal accounting unit that has could go forward legally. Support for the time they were hoping the agreement to them back in. Now there is a union flag been allowed to go bust. For Ford, the Belfast workers’ occupation has so far include not handling parts from South flying over the plant. But for the workers “credit crunch” may simply be a useful been very strong from all quarters. Africa, but I haven’t heard what was at the Ford/Visteon plant the real issue cover for an accounting and legal names Although the account books for actually signed. Writers from Libcom.org is still with Ford. hatchet job that was planned years be- Visteon in England put the company are trying to confirm that workers from In the last seven or eight years, Ford fore the bust. in administration, the Visteon plant in Southampton are blacking other Visteon has deliberately run down its Visteon Since 2000, the negotiation has been Port Elizabeth, South Africa, has been parts. plant, encouraging workers to take full an ongoing process. The “520 Agree- financially stable making the same car While direct action seems to be end- pensions, early retirement or a severance ment” said that workers at one of Ford’s parts for Ford. One of the reasons for ing in Enfield and Basildon, the plant is deal. From almost 600 workers in 2000, Visteon plants had the right to work in this is that Ford was purchasing the still occupied in Belfast, and the stated there were 210 people employed in another Ford plant as Ford employees. same car parts from the South African aim is to reopen the factory. People want Belfast at the time of the attempted plant At one point when a Visteon plant in plant for $12-14 more per part than they their jobs back, and they want to close closure on Financial Fools day (April 1, England was shedding jobs, many of were from the Belfast plant. For exam- the hole in the heart of the community. 2009). Now that Visteon has been put the employees flowed to a nearby Ford ple, plastic fuel rails are made in Belfast One Belfast trade unionist, comment- into administration, neither Ford nor plant and replaced outsourced workers (or Port Elizabeth) and shipped to the ing on the ordinariness of where things Visteon will have to pay those pensions. with temporary contracts. The workers Ford plant in Bridgend (Wales) where begin, said, “Who’d have thought the According to legislation, the government at Visteon plants in England have nearby engines are assembled and shipped to revolution would begin in Finaghy… !?” (tax-payer money) is expected to fill the Ford plants in which they are potentially Germany, where the Ford Fiesta is then For the latest news and information pension gap. Even so, some of the pen- eligible for work—for example, the Ford put together. on this struggle, visit http://libcom.org/ sioners (4,000 total in the U.K.) would plant in Bridgend was 11 miles from the Apparently, there is now a 12-week tags/visteon-occupation. Page 12 • Industrial Worker • July 2009 Indigenous People Massacred in Peru The govern- ment of Peru ordered the Policía Nacional del Perú (PNP), or the national police, to The IWW formed the International Solidarity Commission to help the union build attack the Amazo- the worker-to-worker solidarity that can lead to effective action against the bosses nian indigenous of the world. To contact the ISC, email [email protected]. peoples in early June. Civilians By John Kalwaic Kurdish activists. The government’s idea were shot from Polish Anarchist Union ZSP Pickets is to target members of the guerilla group helicopters in the Starbucks in Solidarity with IWW known as Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or cities of Bagua On May 17 the anarcho-syndicalist PKK, but instead they are targeting any Grande and Bagua union known as the Związek Syndyka- Kurdish activists, including trade union Chica and in the listów Polski (ZSP)—or Union of Syndical- activists. It is reported that 14 of the Amazonas region. ists—organized pickets to raise awareness detainees have been released, but others As of June 9, more of the union-busting tactics of Starbucks remain in prison. Some detainees have than 84 people against the IWW. There were two pickets allegedly been sexually harassed. Inter- Photo: anarkismo.net died. Indigenous leading march in the Amazon. at Starbucks cafes in Poland—one in War- national labor unions have called for the The attack began just a day after the than its destruction), we sympathize saw and one in Wroclaw, the two cities release of the detainees. Congress of Peru decided not to debate with the struggle of the native peoples as where Starbucks opened their first Polish one of the most important decrees that an immediate part of a larger project for cafes in April. Strikes and Lockouts in South Korea allows the sale of indigenous land. In- the liberation of all exploited people, and The ZSP chose to picket the stores on In the midst of a global economic digenous peoples in Peru went on strike thus part of a wider strategy or maxi- May 17, as it was the fifth anniversary of downturn, car manufacturers and other in mid-April to protest against free trade mum program of social revolution. the founding of the IWW Starbucks Work- major employers in South Korea have policies that would allow multinationals “We thus ask our libertarian com- ers Union. The pickets were organized been laying off workers. This has led to to take over their territories. rades to organize mobilizations and as solidarity campaigns, but also to raise stiff opposition from unions in the Korean Last year, Amazonian people led a demonstrations outside Peruvian embas- awareness about working conditions in the Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). nine-month rebellion. According to the sies in every country, in coordination café/restaurant industry and to encourage Labor federations have a long and militant Unión Socialista Libertaria, “the war with other sectors in struggle, in order workers to organize. history in South Korea. drums are sounding again, calling the to denounce the actions of the State and The ZSP handed out information Workers at the Ssangyong Motor Com- people to rebel in an indefinite popular the multinationals in this country.” about what is going on along “Nowy pany, which is owned by China’s top au- general strike that has been spreading For more information, please visit Swiat” (New World) Street in Warsaw, tomaker, Shanghai Automotive Industry through the countryside and the Ama- http://www.uslperu.blogspot.com and where Starbucks is located. According to Corporation, went on strike against layoffs zon regions since April 9, and that has, http://latinamericansolidaritynetwork. the union, almost all of the well-known at that company on May 21. Ssangyong since May 14, gone on to become a call to org. cafes along the street have closed down locked the workers out after they claimed insurgency for the people in struggle… With files from anarkismo.net, due to astronomical rents, leaving room that the workers took part in an illegal “As libertarian communists who Unión Socialista Libertaria and the only for corporate chains, ultra-exclusive sit-in and blocked managers from going expect nothing from the State (other Latin American Solidarity Network. places and money-laundering fronts. The to work. last of the famous cafes on the street, Construction workers from the Korean Café Bajka—which has been there for 53 Construction Workers Union also went on IPSO Strike a Tremendous Success years—is being forced to close since their strike at the end of May in South Korea. rent was raised to an astronomical 20,000 The union claims that the government is złoties per month, which is the equivalent increasingly using outside workers and of approximately $6,000 U.S. dollars. contractors on construction projects, According to the ZSP, it is visible diminishing opportunities for union on the street that other cafes and small members. It also wants the government shops have closed and are being replaced to provide guaranteed labor rights for so- by such corporate chains as Subway and called “special workers,” most of whom are Häagen-Dazs, self-employed. “The price of coffee in Starbucks is similar to that in the U.S., despite the fact that average wages in the U.S. are many times higher. This makes brands like these clearly brands for yuppies and tourists. Seeing what is going on with the rapid influx of corporate chain stores along New World Street, we renamed it ‘Brave New Photo: IPSO World Street.’ ECB members marche through Frankfurt. “We have also noticed that Starbucks By International and European European flags and many blue IPSO in Poland has started an extensive green- Public Services Organisation umbrellas. washing campaign, which an average con- On June 3, members of staff of the The protest march halted outside sumer might misunderstand and believe European Central Bank participated in a the Commerzbank building and the the prices are high because they are buying warning strike organized by IPSO (Inter- Eurotheum, where the noise attracted fair trade coffee. Only about 5 percent of national and European Public Services more staff from inside the buildings and Starbucks coffee is fair trade, but they are Organization) in Frankfurt, Germany. encouraged them to join the protest. presenting themselves as the most ‘ethical’ The event began with a gathering in the By the time the march had reached the coffee in town.” KCTU members rally. Photo: libcom.org park next to the Eurotower, followed by Goetheplatz, nearly 400 staff members The pickets were conducted primarily a march past other ECB buildings, and marched, gaining much attention and to bring attention to the plight of workers Teachers Occupy Banks and Offices ended back in the park. support from the public, who were pro- in the café/restaurant industry as well as in Oaxaca, Mexico The staff members were greeted by vided with flyers with information on the to criticize Starbucks for pushing out the Teachers in the southern Mexican the sounds of African drummers and reasons behind the action. small independent cafes. province of Oaxaca are occupying of- presented with blue whistles to be used On arrival back at Willy Brandt With files from ainfos.ca fices and banks. They’re demanding pay during the event. At approximately Platz, there was a speech of support, raises and the resignation of the unpopu- 4:00 p.m., IPSO President Adrian Petty this time from Harald Fiedler, Head of Turkish Trade Unionists Arrested lar governor Utiles Ruiz. Oaxaca is now welcomed the crowd with a short speech, the DGB Region Frankfurt (Deutscher Thirty-five teachers who are mem- famous for the occupations and riots that and then introduced the guest speaker, Gewerkschaftsbund), who proclaimed bers of a public employees union in took place in 2006, when the students, Dr. Udo Bullmann, Member of the Euro- that “next time ECB staff goes onto the Turkey known as the Kamu Emekçileri teachers and other workers were making pean Parliament. street, they will have most of Frankfurt’s Sendikaları Konfederasyonu (KESK) many similar demands. In May, teachers Bullmann spoke in full support of bankers marching with them.” were detained due to fabricated “terror- protested the banks and effectively forced the event, pointing out that the Euro- Following a short address by Em- ism” charges. The government of Turkey bank employees out and set up tents, shut- pean Parliament relies on the work of manuel Larue, IPSO Vice President and is targeting them in a crackdown against ting all bank branches in the city. the European Central Bank, and that the Spokesperson of the Staff Committee, ECB could not exist if it were not for the Adrian Petty once more roused the hard work of its staff. crowd by addressing the members of the Support international solidarity! The crowd of several hundred staff Governing Council in attendance, and Assessments for $3, members began its march along Kaiser- waved towards the top floors of the Eu- $6 are available from strasse and Neue Mainzer Strasse. It was rotower. These and many other images led by the members of the IPSO Execu- were captured by the news media. your delegate or IWW tive Board and Advisory Board carrying Following the action, the staff mem- headquarters PO Box a banner with the single word “NEGO- bers dispersed; some to go home, many 23085, Cincinnati, OH TIATION.” to return to their desks, where they were 45223-3085, USA. Other banners carried the words expected to work unpaid overtime to “PARTICIPATION” and “TRANSPAR- compensate for their participation in the ENCY,” and marchers carried several event. July 2009 • Industrial Worker • Page 13

Photo: anarkismo.net Page 14 • Industrial Worker • July 2009

Graphic: iuf.org

Visteon workers in Enfield. Photo: libcom.org

By CUPE Ontario city reeling from the economic crisis, Since mid-April, two locals of the some city politicians are trying to pit Canadian Union of Public Employees public and private sector workers against (CUPE) have been on strike. Local 82, one another. which represents some 300 outdoors Support our Windsor City Workers municipal workers, and Local 543, and send a message to governments and which represents 1,600 indoors munici- employers that workers didn’t create this pal workers, have been holding the line economic mess. Workers are part of the for the hard won wages and benefits that solution. Bargaining concessions won’t sustain their local community in Wind- help the local economy. We know that sor, Ontario. This strike could be hap- the best way out of this economic crisis pening anywhere in Ontario. Across the is for our governments to invest directly province, more employers are using the in local communities, to expand our current economic crisis to try to extract public services, and to promote green, concessions from workers. Help to send sustainable jobs. a clear message that CUPE members Get updates and send web support won’t let that happen. by visiting the locals’ strike websites: Steelworkers protesting. Photo: netzeitung.de Instead of finding solutions to http://www.82.cupe.ca or http:// benefit both the local community and www.543.cupe.ca. municipal workers, Windsor’s mayor Checks can be made payable to and city council have fuelled a city work- “CUPE Local 543 and Local 82 Strike ers’ strike affecting nearly 2,000 CUPE Fund,” 1576 Parent Avenue, Windsor, members and their families. Now in a Ontario N8X 4J7, Canada.

By the ACTU hospitality and retail where there’s been Unions welcome the historic intro- very limited access to paid maternity duction of a universal, government- leave,” reported the ACTU. funded paid maternity leave scheme cov- Treasurer Wayne Swan confirmed ering the majority of Australian women that a universal paid maternity leave and their families. scheme will go ahead, with funding to be “The campaign to win this essential committed in the near future. piece of social infrastructure has taken Burrow said the 18-week scheme 30 long years,” said Sharan Burrow, would give mothers time to bond with presidents of the Australian Council of and breastfeed their babies without fi- Trade Unions (ACTU). nancial stress forcing them back to work “This is a major achievement for the too early, sometimes within weeks, as is thousands of women and men who have currently the case. worked so hard to bring this scheme to “The ACTU and unions will continue fruition. The scheme will cover hundreds to help working women bargain for of thousands of women in lower paid measures to help balance their work and jobs with poor job security, especially in family responsibilities,” said Burrow.