Pizza Hut Workers Demand a Proper Slice by IWW Sheffield Hours
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Happy OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER oF THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD International Wo m e n ’ s INDUSTRIALMarch 2012 #1743 Vol. 109 No. 2 $2/ £2/ €2 WORKER Day! Special: Centennial Of Where Are The Wobbly Arts: Lyrics Hose Streets? The Bread & Roses Working-Class To “All The Union Our Streets! Strike 6-7 Women Novelists? 8 Ladies” & More! 11 12 Pizza Hut Workers Demand A Proper Slice By IWW Sheffield hours. Often times, Pizza Hut workers Twenty Pizza Hut workers and their pull shifts late into the night and on bank supporters in Sheffield braved freezing holidays, including Christmas. temperatures and billowing snow on Feb. Additionally, despite the staggering 4 to stage a protest against what they say increases in gas prices, Pizza Hut drivers are “insulting” conditions and pay. receive very little compensation for gas Supporters staged solidarity protests costs from the international franchise. in the United Kingdom in Birmingham, Despite the perceived downward trend Glasgow, London, Wessex, Bradford, Hull, in spending, take-out restaurants like Brighton, Liverpool, Bristol, and around Pizza Hut have been bucking the trend and the world in Richmond, Va., Portland Ore. continue to make huge profits. Workers and Germany. are angry that this boom in business has Members of the Pizza Hut Work- not been reflected in their own pay. ers Union, which is part of the IWW, “Despite our best attempts to talk to surrounded the company’s tiny store management, we feel like we aren’t getting in Crookes, Sheffield, carrying placards anywhere. It’s a joke that as Pizza Hut’s and leaflets that demanded management business continues to grow, the people return to the negotiating table to discuss that work the hardest and who are feel- the workers’ grievances over holiday pay ing the pinch are still receiving the bare and mileage rates. minimum the company can get away with Contrary to traditional practice, Pizza paying,” said a member of the IWW Pizza Hut workers do not receive the custom- Hut Workers Union. ary time-and-a-half for working overtime Read more on page 9 Wobblies brave the snow to confront Pizza Hut in Sheffield. Photo: Tristan Metcalfe Women Workers Fight Back Against Austerity In Poland on subsidizing infrastructural ficult for women to find a decent job than childcare, but this also includes house- projects like football stadiums and men, and since the government is going work, paid housework and elderly care). highways. According to financial to prolong the retirement age, women will In neoliberal discourse–which is oblig- experts, these expenditures will spend an additional seven years working atory for the Polish political class since the never be reimbursed, and many long hours with precarious and unstable capitalist transformation of 1989–care is city budgets are already on the contracts for a minimum wage of 300 considered to be just a cost. In 2010, in verge of bankruptcy. euros a month. In Poland, like in other Poznań, the city in western Poland, 750 As a result, politicians have cut Eastern European countries, the percent- million złoty from the local budget was money from education, childcare age of unstable, fixed-term labor contract spent on a football stadium, 22 million and public institutions. All over employment is amongst the highest in złoty was spent on city promotion, and Poland, schools and kindergar- Europe–almost 30 percent. only 15 million złoty was spent on nurser- tens are being closed down or are Budget cuts and privatization are ies for kids below the age of three, despite getting more expensive, the rent primarily hitting public and care institu- a huge need for childcare. In 2010, 1,600 in municipal housing is going up, tions, where women work and which they children at that age couldn’t be placed and hospitals and other public rely on. There is a huge lack of adequate in public kindergarten in the city–and property are being privatized. infrastructure, such as nurseries and day- private kindergarten costs as much as the Meanwhile, the prices of gas, elec- care facilities, as only 2 percent of children minimum wage workers make. In Warsaw, tricity, water, and medicine have below the age of three are sent to childcare 1,915 million złoty was spent on a football increased rapidly. institutions in the country. We observe the stadium, city promotion costs 60 million Graphic: Women with Initiative Women are going to bear the political nature of the care shortage. (Note: złoty, while subsidies to kindergartens By Women with Initiative costs of expensive football games and When we say “care“ or “care work” we are were decreased by 4.5 million and will In 2012, Poland and the Ukraine are the economic crisis. Polish women earn referring to any waged or unwaged activ- reach less than 60 million złoty. In this going to host Euro2012, the European less than men, are typically the first to be ity, run at public institution or at home, sense, local government policies in Poland Football Championship. For that reason, fired, and wages for workers in feminized which does not produce any commodity continue to operate under a patriarchal hundreds of millions of euros from na- sectors–such as public and healthcare but provides conditions for reproduction model of city management, and these tional and local budgets have been spent workers–are frozen. It is already more dif- of the working class. We focus here on Continued on 9 Industrial Worker Periodicals Postage Wobblies Picket Scabs In Scotland PO Box 180195 PO Box 180195 PAID Adecco—the the largest Chicago, IL 60618 Chicago, IL 60618, USA Chicago, IL employment agency in and additional the world—in Blythes- mailing offices ISSN 0019-8870 wood Square on Jan. ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED 20. Wobblies and oth- ers protested against Adecco’s deployment of scab workers at an ABB factory—a multination- al that operates in over 100 countries—in Cor- doba, Spain. At press time, Spanish workers of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) have been strik- Picketing on Jan. 20 in Glasgow. Photo: Clydeside IWW ing since Nov. 28, 2011 From the Clydeside IWW due to Adecco’s plans to make subcontrac- IWW members, along with Solidar- tors redundant and replace them with non- ity Federation and Anarchist Federation unionized workers who have no experience members, picketed the Glasgow offices of or qualifications. Page 2 • Industrial Worker • March 2012 Democracy And “Moral Right” More On Marx To the Editor, consciousness understanding,” or class I would just like to say that I really In their article “Whose Ports? Our unconsciousness? enjoyed the article “Anniversary of Marx’s Ports!” (January/February IW, page 6-7), This kind of obscure and overblown Capital,” which appeared on page 2 of the Don M. and Brendan Carrell make a vague rhetoric is typical of Marxist and socialist January/February Industrial Worker. I and semi-coherent argument to the effect grouplets who claim to be the “vanguard” agree with FW Jon Hochschartner’s views that “All workers have a moral right to de- of the proletariat, with the right and duty, in the article. I might add that on the Letters Welcome! cide what happens at that port (Oakland).” moral or otherwise, to command the back- internet there is a great series of classes They then denounce the Inter- ward masses. on studying Marx’s “Capital” by David Send your letters to: [email protected] national Longshore and Ware- How would Wobblies Harvey. Harvey has been teaching this with “Letter” in the subject. house Union (ILWU) officials react to one of these leftist class for over 40 years! Just do an internet Mailing Address: for failing to obey Occupy “vanguards” presenting the search and it will pop up. Industrial Worker, P.O. Box 23216, Oakland’s demand for a port IWW with a set of marching Thank you, Cadman Plaza Post Office, Brooklyn, NY shutdown, insisting that the orders and demanding that FW Mike Kowalski 11202-3216, United States. union bureaucracy “is shirking we obey them, and then call- Grand Rapids, Mich. its own moral duty to act as the ing us cowards if we did not? May Day! May Day! representative of the working All the more surprising Corrections class.” But it just ain’t so. then, that at the end of their The IW was unfortunately on an Photo: iww.org Announcements for the annual “May Graphic: redgreenandblue.org Day” Industrial Worker deadline is Firstly, the ILWU does not essay M. and Carrell com- inaccurate Western Australia kick in the April 6, 2012. Celebrate the real labor represent “the working class,” just a small pletely reverse and contradict their origi- January/February issue. We apologize day with a message of solidarity! Send slice of it—the majority of the Oakland nal argument, calling for the “transition for the following errors: announcements to [email protected]. Much dock workers and nobody else. Secondly, from symbolic demonstrations to sub- - In the piece “IWW In Brisbane Is appreciated donations for the following Occupy Oakland, whatever “moral right” it stantive, collective direct action” based Making A Comeback!” (page 1), we incor- sizes should be sent to:: may claim, does not represent “the work- on “democratic decision-making and rectly stated that Brisbane is in Western ing class.” There was no mass assembly of democratic struggle.” That’s more like it. Australia. Brisbane is in the Australian IWW GHQ, Post Office Box 180195, the working population of Oakland that Welcome back to Earth. By all means let state of Queensland. Chicago, IL 60618, United States. elected or mandated Occupy Oakland to us educate, agitate, organize and spread - In “Western Australia Poultry speak or act in its name.