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VOL.5 NO.2 PUBLISHED BY UNITED BLACK WORKERS FORD MAHWAH PLANTATION AND NEWARK,N.J A Call tw^o^ a^*»n • • /* International V2 Worker's Day ** Rally ^ May1 Tompkins Square Park New York City MARCH MARCH! MARCH! March to begin from Straus Park Lower East Side UNITED BLACK WORKERS WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING FOR We here by state that as oppressed workers here at the Mahwah Plantation (Ford Plant) we are not bound 1. End of Ford Motor Company paying union by any constitution, contracts, agreements, known or officials' salaries. unknown, by-laws or company policies agreed upon by 2. End of racism, exploitation and oppression of management and the U.A.W. that are racist or tend to all workers. deprive Black, Third World and all opressed workers of 3. Transportation provided for workers who must their basic constitutional and moral rights. These rights travel long distances back and forth to work. Many cannot afford to buy a car and must depend upon car being human dignity, health and safety 4 better working conditions, and equal job opportunities. pools. We further state it is our right as workers to 4. Waiver of 90 day eligibility for Viet Nam demand that both labor and management make use of veterans. Make them eligible as of the first day on the large portions of the monies gained from our labors to job. improve the living, educational and health conditions in 5. A complete revision of grievance procedures. our communities with no strings attached. 6. Mandatory medical check up every three To obtain these rights the U.B.W. are committed months for all workers who paint, spray, grind lead or to organize, agitate, expose, inform and use all means at metal, welders, drivers and all workers who are exposed our disposal, not settling for anything short of victory. to the deadly pollution which fills the air throughout We further state that we are not bound to respect, this plant. obey or follow the leadership of any plant manager, 7. End of compulsory overtime. supervisor, union official or any other underlings who 8. End of line speed-up. negate any claim they might have for these rights when 9. End of white skin privilege. they place personal ambition self interest, profit and 10. Mandatory printing in Spanish and Creole of all property rights over the human rights of workers. bulletins, pamphlets and job applications put out by The factories belong to the people and we workers Ford Motor Company and the U.A.W. are the people. 11. To get more "Black and Third World workers into skilled trades many already qualify but racism is keeping them out. A strong and effective apprenticeship program to prepare young Black and Third World workers for skilled trades. 12 Mandatory English classes in plant for non- English speaking or reading workers. 1 3. Ford Motor Company to announce a policy of THE BLACK VOICE complete disengagement from South Africa since all The Black-Voice is the information Amerikans doing business in South Africa reinforce that arm of the United Black Workers, an racist system and its government. organi/.ation of workers at the Ford Mahwah Assembly Plantation. Mah- wah, New Jersey. Thanks to the ef- forts of our members, friends and supporters. The United Black Workers oilers The Black Voice as an alterna- We do not profess to be experi- tive answer to the New York Daily enced newspapermen and women. We News, Playboy Maga/ine or other have no degrees in the fields of jour- types of similar reading material work- NATURAL MAN nalism or printing. We do have a ers are forced to read. "/ don'[ want no gold watch serious commitment to reach, unify The Black Voice was started in for working fifty years from nine to five and struggle with the working class of While the boss is guzzlin' champagne 1970. Its purpose, to help educate, and rm heltin' beer in some dive men and women wherever they may expose, inform and even agitate our 'Cause I want to he be. We do see the need for communi- happy and free fellow workers out of a feeling of livin' and l-n-in 'for me cation for and about workers and complacency and frustration. Its fur- like a natural man . their many problems. These problems (sung by Lou Rawls; are daily problems. These problems ther purpose is to assist in dealing song by Bobby Hcbb and Sandy Barun) realistically with the many problems arc not isolated, they affect us all. facing workers on the job, in the The United Black Workers and the community, country and around the Black Voice has dedicated itself to this important task. world. PAGE 2 LOCAL 906 U.A.W. NEEDS A REVOLUTION officials. There is even less Fellow workers here on the leadership coming from our Mahwah Plantation, and members of U.A.W. officials, from Wood- Local 906, U.A.W.; the United Black cock and Martin Gerber, (Re- Workers ask you this question. gion 9 Director), to our own How Much Longer? How much longer local president, Joe Rielly. are you going to put up with the The crisis for us here at lack of local union leadership? Mahwah and in Local 906 did How much longer are you going not just begin this year, as to sit quietly by and endure racism, most of you know. We have exploitation, and oppression by Ford been suffering for the past Motor Company, with no response two years. First with the Cgood or bad) from Local 906? so-called energy crisis when How much longer are we going over 3500 of us were laid off. to be pitted against each other; Those of us lucky enough to old against young, white against keep working, had to put up black, and men against women? with faster line speeds, fri- How much longer are we going to ghtened foremen, (afraid of do nothing while our fellow workers losing their jobs), long gas are being harrassed and deported as lines, and being penalized by the phoney reason for the loss of Ford Motor Company when we jobs? arrived late to work after How much longer are we going to standing in long lines for continue paying union dues while hours. getting nothing in return for our During this time, our local hard earned money? officials did nothing but blow How much longer are we going to hot air and promise us things put up with non-functioning commit- would get better in 1975 be- tee like F.P.C.(Fair Practice Com- mittee) that do nothing but rip off cause Mahwah was getting a new car (Granada) to build. our money? We could go on and on and the The new year came, the question would still remain. new car came, but nothing How Much Longer? changed. Instead, it got These Are Hard Times worse. We did lose Nixon and Agnew, but we still Brothers and Sisters you have Rielly and his gang. are all aware that these are hard times for us all. There What Can We Do? is no leadership coming from During the last con- elected officials in Washing- tract, our local officials ton, D.C., or state and local pushed through an extension PAGES LOCAL 906 Not only are our jobs and for their term in office the jobs of our fellow wor- from two to three years. kers at stake, but our lives, That is all they have done. our families, our health, and How many of these so- our self-respect are also at called leaders had to stand stake. If we do not demand in long unemployment lines, respect and to be treated or fight to get food stamps with human dignity, we won't and a welfare check? How get it. We only have our- many have been threatened selves to blame. with having their gas and Things are going to get electric turned off, and worse in this country and on goods repossessed? Instead our jobs. We must begin now of offering assistance, they to fight back; later might be laugh when they hear of a too late. fellow worker in trouble Many of us are deeply con- and say, "tough luck." cerned about what is happening U.B.W. says its time to at home and around the world. put an end to this bullshit. Such as the liberation struggles While we suffer, they get fat. in Puerto Rico, Latin America, Check them out if you are lucky Africa, Viet Nam, and Cambodia. enough to catch one around. We are concerned about stepped- You know how they can disap- up police brutality, day care, pear. housing, bussing, rascism, and We cannot afford to wait two the struggles of women. years (1976) before we begin Local 906 has not taken any to act. We must move NOW 1 In position on any of these impor- two years they will be around EGGHEAD tant topics. All of these a- like bees to honey with promis- reas affect us in some way as es, promises, promises. We blacks, whites, workers, men, need action, action, action, women, or taxpayers. By ignor- and correct leadership. If they don't want to provide ing these issues, they will not that leadership and offer go away. concrete services, then we It's Not My Job must get rid of them once Our local 906 officials Our committeeman is and for all. real conscientious. He's seem to be telling us that they We must hold them ac- been working on my griev- are not concerned or interested ance for almost a year.

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