INDUSTRIAL WORKER

O f f i c i a l n e w s p a p e r oF T h e I n d u s t r i a l Wo r k e r s o f t h e Wo r l d
O c tob e r 2 0 13 #1759 Vol . 110 No. 8 $2/ 2/ 2

Striking Workers At Insomnia Cookies Join The IWW

By Jake Carman At midnight on Sunday, Aug. 18, the night shift at the Harvard Square Insomnia Cookies in Boston voted unanimously to launch a strike for higher wages, healthcare and freedom to build a union. On Tuesday, Aug. 20, all four strikers joined the IWW and initiated a public campaign to achieve their goals. Insomnia Cookies, with 30 locations in the United States, caters to college students and runs late night deliveries of warm cookies and milk to dorm rooms. Still delivering cookies until 2:45 a.m., Insomnia workers who double-duty as bakers and cashiers receive only $9 per hour. Drivers, who are expected to deliver cookies by bicycle within a half hour, receive only $5 per hour plus tips. Neither bakers/cashiers nor drivers receive healthcare, and at a job where turnover is so high, the typical employee lasts only a month. As Niko Stapczynski, a striking driver at Insomnia told the Industrial Worker, I was being paid below minimum wage. We had no breaks because we were understaffed. Sometimes wed work without breaks until 3:15 a.m. We were supposed to keep delivery time as fast as possible, which encouraged unsafe riding. Peak hours are late at night when college students are returning from parties. As the lines of customers thickened on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 17, Chris Helali noticed his coworkers were stressed. I gauged the overall feeling that night and people were pretty down. I basically said, guys lets go on strike. It took about an hour to get everyone to agree and to figure out what we were going to do. The entire night shift of four workers: Chris Helali, Jonathan Pea, Niko Stapczynski, and Luke Robinson, used the store computer to type up a strike agreement, and made signs for the stores windows. Then, Helali continued, We told the customers we were going on strike. Some of the customers asked, Can we at least get a cookie before you close down the store? So we said, Sure, why not. We served everyone in the store. Then we went outside to put up the signs and lock the door. Continued on 6 Insomnia workers walk the picket line on Aug. 29

FW Frank Little One Year Of Wobbly IWW Organizer Organizing In Indiana Training In Uganda A Commemorated in 5 Montana 3 Success!

Solidarity With Garment Workers In 12 7 Bangladesh

gave the attendees a chance to get to know each other before getting to work on union business the following days. The billets were sent in advance and, as was the case for me, if your flight got canceled, the local organizers were able to roll with the punches and accommodate you without problems. The lodging was coordinated efficiently and provided by local members that were genuinely hospitable. Saturday morning started with the credentials verification to ensure that all of the delegates were eligible to perform their duty. All delegates were given a free copy of the new book published by Recomposition Blog, Lines of Work: Stories of Jobs and Resistance, as part of its Photo: DJ Alperovitz official launch. The whole day was IWW members from across North America and Europe gather in Edmonton for the 2013 General Convention. dedicated to reports from the unions By Mathieu Dube This year my fellow workers of the officers and standing committees. Our Industrial Worker Periodicals Postage Pittsburgh General Membership Branch General Secretary-Treasurer (GST), FW PO Box 180195 PAID (GMB) entrusted me to be their delegate Sam Green, ended his mandate by providChicago, IL 60618, USA Chicago, IL to the 2013 IWW General Convention that ing us with enlightening comments on the and additional was held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada challenges that the union is facing accordmailing offices ISSN 0019-8870 on Labor Day weekend, Friday, Aug. 30 - ing to him. Of these, I would mention the Sunday, Sept. 1. I will share my experience difficulty that our current structures have ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED of the proceedings in the following lines. in dealing with our international growth. I chose to focus on what displayed, in my Indeed, and it is a good problem to have: opinion, the most interest for the union from a membership largely based in North membership. I apologize for the voluntary America, our union has grown quite a bit Europe at the turn of the century. This omissions. The first thing that stood out was how poses a few challenges, for instance, that well the Edmonton branch took care of General Headquarters (GHQ) acts as the the logistics. The transportation was slick de facto General Administration for the to the Friday meet-and-greet that took whole union but also as the specific adminplace in the same building that the conven- istration for members in the United States. tion would be held the following days, the The report of the Organizational Training Queen Mary Park Community League Hall Committee (OTC) was very impressive. located in a park. There were literature and This committee is in the process of forswag tables offering an extensive selec- malizing the curriculum of the Organizer tion of political books. Beer and alcohol Training. The trainers will also be trained, Continued on 6 were sold as part of a benefit. This event

Reports, Discussion Abound At The 2013 IWW General Convention

Photo: FW Le Le LeChat

Page 2 Industrial Worker October 2013

Transition To Digital IW The SEIU Negotiates Sub-Standard Contracts, As Default: October 1, 2013 Poorly Represents Members At Illinois Local
Letters Welcome!
The default format for the Industrial Worker is moving to an electronic PDF version and members will no longer be automatically subscribed to receive paper copies of the IW in the mail, beginning October 1, 2013. The default form of distribution will instead be through email, unless otherwise specified. If members wish to receive print copies of the IW, please send an email to ghq@iww.org or iw@iww.org with the subject Opt-in to Print IW, or call GHQ at (773) 728-0996 and request a print subscription. If you have an existing paid subscription, you will continue to receive the IW in print. Note that ALL members are allowed to request paper copies and branches that have bundle requests will still have those requirements be honored. Check out, share and download digital copies of the Industrial Worker: http:// www.scribd.com/IndustrialWorker. Remember, every paper IW costs the union a significant amount of time and money. Go paperless, live in harmony with the earth and help save the union money! Dear Editor, L73s Springfield office and the announceOn or about Monday, June 17, the ment was quickly made that the agreement Service Employees International Union had been approved, but the vote count (SEIU) Local 73 (L73) began balloting for wasnt released. a tentative agreement at the bargaining L73 represents the lowest paid units largest concentration of workers, workers at the lowest paid state agency the Illinois Secretary of States Howlett in Illinois. The SEIU has a reputation for Building. Very few workers were notified negotiating sub-standard contracts and and most of the workers who did not vote this episode did nothing to improve that found out by word of mouth. The polling situation. place was located in a lightly traveled porIn Solidarity, tion of the building. When questioned, Bob Zoch L73 responded that the boss was supposed to notify the workers. The contract is a good one for the boss, and the boss knew few if any yes votes would come from the Howlett Building. The boss had no incentive to notify the workers of the tentative agreement. The prevailing sentiment was that the agreement would have been voted down and L73 would have then imposed the contract on the workers anyway. On or about Friday, June 28, the unsecured ballots from over 100 statewide work sites were gathered at Graphic: Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University

Send your letters to: iw@iww.org with Letter in the subject. Mailing Address: Industrial Worker, P.O. Box 180195, Chicago, IL 60618, United States.

In November We Remember
Send in your announcements for the annual In November We Remember issue of the Industrial Worker by Friday, October 4, 2013. Celebrate the lives of those who have struggled for the working class with your message of solidarity. Send announcements to iw@ iww.org. Much appreciated donations for the following sizes should be sent to: IWW GHQ, P.O. Box 180195, Chicago, IL 60618, United States. $12 for 1 tall, 1 column wide $40 for 4 by 2 columns $90 for a quarter page

Industrial Worker
The Voice of Revolutionary Industrial Unionism
Africa

IWW directory
Uganda IWW Kabale Uganda: Justus Tukwasibwe Weijagye, P.O. Box 217, Kabale , Uganda, East Africa. jkweijagye[at]yahoo.com

Organization Education Emancipation

Official newspaper of the Post Office Box 180195 Chicago, IL 60618 USA 773.728.0996 ghq@iww.org www.iww.org General Secretary-Treasurer: Sam Green General Executive Board: Monika Vykoukal, Katie Jennings, DJ Alperovitz, John Slavin, Dave Pike, Meg Beyer, Montigue Magruder Editor & Graphic Designer : Diane Krauthamer iw@iww.org Proofreaders : Maria Rodriguez Gil, Tom Levy, Scotty Hertz, Tony B., Eric Wind, Jacob Brent, Mathieu Dube, Jonathan D. Beasley, D. Keenan, Neil Parthun, Skylaar Amann, Chris Heffner, Billy OConnor, David Patrick, Joel Gosse, Zachary Snowdon Smith Printer: Globe Direct/Boston Globe Media Millbury, MA Next deadline is October 4, 2013

Australia

Industrial Workers of the World

New South Wales Sydney GMB: sydneywobs@gmail.com. Laura, del., lalalaura@gmail.com. Newcastle: newcastlewobs@gmail.com Woolongong: gongwobs@gmail.com Lismore: northernriverswobblies@gmail.com Queensland Brisbane: P.O. Box 5842, West End, Qld 4101. iwwbrisbane@riseup.net. Asger, del., happyanarchy@riseup. net South Australia Adelaide: wobbliesSA@gmail.com, www.wobbliesSA. org. Jesse, del., 0432 130 082 Victoria Melbourne: P.O. Box 145, Moreland, VIC 3058. melbournewobblies@gmail.com, www.iwwmelbourne. wordpress.com. Loki, del., lachlan.campbell.type@ gmail.com Geelong: tropicaljimbo@gmail.com Western Australia Perth GMB: P.O. Box 1, Cannington WA 6987. perthwobblies@gmail.com. Bruce, del.,coronation78@hotmail. com

Canada

IW, Post Office Box 180195, Chicago, IL 60618, United States

ISSN 0019-8870 Periodicals postage paid Chicago, IL. Postmaster: Send address changes to IW, Post Office Box 180195, Chicago, IL 60618 USA SUBSCRIPTIONS Individual Subscriptions: $18 International Subscriptions: $30 Library/Institution Subs: $30/year Union dues includes subscription. Published monthly with the exception of February and August. Articles not so designated do not reflect the IWWs official position. Press Date: September 23, 2013

U.S. IW mailing address:

IWW Canadian Regional Organizing Committee (CANROC): iww@iww.ca Alberta Edmonton GMB: P.O. Box 75175, T6E 6K1. edmontongmb@iww.org, edmonton.iww.ca. Gabriel Cardenas, del., 780-990-9081, x349429@gmail.com British Columbia Vancouver GMB: 204-2274 York Ave., V6K 1C6. 604-732-9613. contact@vancouveriww.com. www. vancouveriww.com Vancouver Island GMB: Box 297 St. A, Nanaimo BC, V9R 5K9. iwwvi@telus.net. http://vanislewobs.wordpress. com Manitoba Winnipeg GMB: IWW, c/o WORC, P.O. Box 1, R3C 2G1. winnipegiww@hotmail.com New Brunswick Fredericton: fredericton@riseup.net, frederictoniww.wordpress.com Ontario Ottawa-Outaouais GMB & GDC Local 6: 1106 Wellington St., P.O. Box 36042, Ottawa, K1Y 4V3. ott-out@iww.org, gdc6@ottawaiww.org Ottawa Panhandlers Union: Karen Crossman, spokesperson, 613-282-7968, karencrossman17@yahoo.com Peterborough: c/o PCAP, 393 Water St. #17, K9H 3L7, 705-749-9694. Sean Carleton, del., 705-775-0663, seancarleton@iww.org Toronto GMB: c/o Libra Knowledge & Information Svcs Co-op, P.O. Box 353 Stn. A, M5W 1C2. 416-919-7392. iwwtoronto@gmail.com. Max Bang, del., nowitstime610@ gmail.com Windsor GMB: c/o WWAC, 328 Pelissier St., N9A 4K7. (519) 564-8036. windsoriww@gmail.com. http:// windsoriww.wordpress.com Qubec Montreal GMB: cp 60124, Montral, QC, H2J 4E1. 514268-3394. iww_quebec@riseup.net

Wales: wales@iww.org.uk British Isles Health Workers IU 610: healthworkers@iww.org.uk Pizza Hut Workers IU 640: pizzahutiu640@iww.org.uk Sheffield Education Workers: sheffed@iww.org.uk London Bus Drivers: london.bus@iww.org.uk London Cleaners: cleaners@iww.org.uk Bradford GMB: bradford@iww.org.uk Bristol GMB: bristol@iww.org.uk Leeds GMB: leeds@iww.org.uk London GMB: london@iww.org.uk Manchester GMB: manchester@iww.org.uk Nottingham: notts@iww.org.uk Reading GMB: reading@iww.org.uk Sheffield GMB: sheffield@iww.org.uk Sussex GMB: sussex@iww.org.uk West Midlands GMB: westmids@iww.org.uk York GMB: york@iww.org.uk Scotland Clydeside GMB: clydeside@iww.org.uk Dumfries and Galloway GMB: dumfries@iww.org.uk Edinburgh GMB: edinburgh@iww.org.uk Belgium Floris De Rycker, Sint-Bavoplein 7, 2530 Boechout, Belgium. belgium@iww.org German Language Area IWW German Language Area Regional Organizing Committee (GLAMROC): IWW, Haberweg 19, 61352 Bad Homburg, Germany. iww-germany@gmx.net. www. wobblies.de Austria: iwwaustria@gmail.com, wien@wobblies.at. www.iwwaustria.wordpress.com. Berlin: Offenes Treffen jeden 2.Montag im Monat im Cafe Commune, Reichenberger Str.157, 10999 Berlin, 18 Uhr. (U-Bahnhof Kottbusser Tor). Postadresse: IWW Berlin, c/o Rotes Antiquariat, Rungestr. 20, 10179 Berlin, Germany. berlin@wobblies.de. Bremen: iww-bremen@freenet.de. iwwbremen. blogsport.de Cologne/Koeln GMB: c/o Allerweltshaus, Koernerstr. 77-79, 50823 Koeln, Germany. cologne1@wobblies.de. www.iwwcologne.wordpress.com Frankfurt - Eurest: IWW Betriebsgruppe Eurest Haberweg 19 D- 61352 Bad Homburg. harald.stubbe@ yahoo.de. Hamburg-Waterkant: hamburg@wobblies.de Kassel: kontakt@wobblies-kassel.de. www.wobblies-kassel. de Munich: iww.muenchen@gmx.de Rostock: rostock@wobblies.de. iww-rostock.net Switzerland: wobbly@gmx.net Iceland: Jamie McQuilkin,del.,Stangarholti 26 Reykjavik 105. +354 7825894. jmcq@riseup.net Lithuania: iww@iww.lt Netherlands: iww.ned@gmail.com Norway IWW: 004793656014. post@iwwnorge.org. http://www.iwwnorge.org, www.facebook.com/iwwnorge. Twitter: @IWWnorge

United States

Europe

European Regional Administration (ERA): P.O. Box 7593 Glasgow, G42 2EX. www.iww.org.uk ERA Officers, Departments, Committees Access Facilitator (disabilities issues): access@iww.org.uk Communications Officer / Comms Dept Chair: communications@iww.org.uk GLAMROC Liaison: glamrocliason@iww.org.uk Internal Bulletin: ib@iww.org.uk International Solidarity Committee: international@iww. org.uk Literature Committee: literature@iww.org.uk Membership Administrator: membership@iww.org.uk Merchandise Committee: merchandise@iww.org.uk Organising and Bargaining Support Department: organising@iww.org.uk Research and Survey Department: research@iww.org.uk / researchandsurvey@iww.org.uk National Secretary: secretary@iww.org.uk Support for people having trouble with GoCardless signup: sysadmin@iww.org.uk IT Committee (all IT related enquiries): tech@iww.org.uk Training Department: training@iww.org.uk National Treasurer: treasurer@iww.org.uk Regional Organisers Central England RO: central@iww.org.uk Central Scotland RO: central-scot@iww.org. uk Northern England RO: north@iww.org.uk Southern England RO: south@iww.org.uk Southeast England RO: southeast@iww.org.uk

Alaska Fairbanks GMB: P. O. Box 80101, 99708. Chris White, del., 907-457-2543, ccwhite@alaska.com. Arizona Phoenix GMB: P.O. Box 7126, 85011-7126. 623-3361062. phoenix@iww.org Flagstaff IWW: 206-327-4158, justiciamo@gmail.com Arkansas Fayetteville: P.O. Box 283, 72702. 479-200-1859. nwar_iww@hotmail.com California Los Angeles GMB: (323) 374-3499. iwwgmbla@gmail. com North Coast GMB: P.O. Box 844, Eureka 95502-0844. 707-725-8090, angstink@gmail.com Sacramento IWW: P.O. Box 2445, 95812-2445. 916-8250873, iwwsacramento@gmail.com San Diego IWW: 619-630-5537, sdiww@iww.org San Francisco Bay Area GMB: (Curbside and Buyback IU 670 Recycling Shops; Stonemountain Fabrics Job Shop and IU 410 Garment and Textile Workers Industrial Organizing Committee; Shattuck Cinemas; Embarcadero Cinemas) P.O. Box 11412, Berkeley, 94712. 510-8450540. bayarea@iww.org IU 520 Marine Transport Workers: Steve Ongerth, del., intextile@iww.org Evergreen Printing: 2412 Palmetto Street, Oakland 94602. 510-482-4547. evergreen@igc.org San Jose: SouthBayIWW@gmail.com, www.facebook. com/SJSV.IWW Colorado Denver GMB: 2727 West 27th Ave., Unit D, 80211. 303355-2032. denveriww@iww.org Four Corners (AZ, CO, NM, UT): 970-903-8721, 4corners@ iww.org DC DC GMB (Washington): 1027 18th St. NE #2, Washington, DC 20002. 202-630-9620. dc.iww.gmb@gmail.com

Florida Gainesville GMB: c/o Civic Media Center, 433 S. Main St., 32601. Robbie Czopek, del., 904-315-5292, gainesvilleiww@riseup.net, www.gainesvilleiww.org Miami IWW: miami@iww.org Hobe Sound: P. Shultz, 8274 SE Pine Circle, 33455-6608. 772-545-9591, okiedogg2002@yahoo.com Pensacola GMB: P.O. Box 2662, Pensacola 32513-2662. 840-437-1323, iwwpensacola@yahoo.com, www. angelfire.com/fl5/iww Georgia Atlanta GMB: 542 Moreland Avenue, Southeast Atlanta, 30316. 404-693-4728 Hawaii Honolulu: Tony Donnes, del., donnes@hawaii.edu Idaho Boise: Ritchie Eppink, del., P.O. Box 453, 83701. 208-3719752, eppink@gmail.com Illinois Chicago GMB: P.O. Box 57114, 60657. 312-638-9155. chicago@iww.org Freight Truckers Hotline: mtw530@iww.orgv Indiana Indiana GMB: 219-308-8634. iwwindiana@gmail.com. Facebook: Indiana IWW Celestial Panther Publishing IU 450 Job Shop: 317-4201025. celestialpanther@gmail.com. http://celestialpanther.me Iowa Eastern Iowa IWW: 319-333-2476. EasternIowaIWW@ gmail.com Kansas Greater Kansas City/Lawrence GMB: 816-875-6060. x358465@iww.org Wichita: Naythan Smith, del., 316-633-0591. nrsmith85@gmail.com Louisiana Louisiana IWW: John Mark Crowder, del.,126 Kelly Lane, Homer, 71040. 318-224-1472. wogodm@iww.org Maine Maine IWW: 206-350-9130. maine@iww.org, www. southernmaineiww.org Maryland Baltimore GMB: P.O. Box 33350, 21218. baltimoreiww@ gmail.com Massachusetts Boston Area GMB: P.O. Box 391724, Cambridge, 02139. 617-863-7920, iww.boston@riseup.net, www.IWWBoston.org Cape Cod/SE Massachusetts: thematch@riseup.net Western Mass. Public Service IU 650 Branch: IWW, P.O. Box 1581, Northampton, 01061 Michigan Detroit GMB: 4210 Trumbull Blvd., 48208. detroit@ iww.org. Grand Rapids GMB: P.O. Box 6629, 49516. 616-881-5263. griww@iww.org Grand Rapids Bartertown Diner and Rocs Cakes: 6 Jefferson St., 49503. onya@bartertowngr.com, www. bartertowngr.com Central Michigan: 5007 W. Columbia Rd., Mason 48854. 517-676-9446, happyhippie66@hotmail.com Minnesota Red River GMB: redriver@iww.org, redriveriww@gmail. com Twin Cities GMB: 3019 Minnehaha Ave. South, Suite 50, Minneapolis 55406. twincities@iww.org Duluth IWW: P.O. Box 3232, 55803. iwwduluth@riseup. net Missouri Greater Kansas City IWW: P.O. Box 414304, Kansas City 64141-4304. 816.875.6060. greaterkciww@gmail.com St. Louis IWW: P.O. Box 63142, 63163. stlwobbly@gmail. com Montana Construction Workers IU 330: Dennis Georg, del., 406490-3869, tramp233@hotmail.com Billings: Jim Del Duca, 106 Paisley Court, Apt. I, Bozeman 59715. 406-860-0331. delducja@gmail.com Nebraska Nebraska GMB: P.O. Box 27811, Ralston, 68127. nebraskagmb@iww.org. www.nebraskaiww.org Nevada Reno GMB: P.O. Box 12173, 89510. Paul Lenart, del., 775-513-7523, hekmatista@yahoo.com IU 520 Railroad Workers: Ron Kaminkow, del., P.O. Box 2131, Reno, 89505. 608-358-5771. ronkaminkow@ yahoo.com New Hampshire New Hampshire IWW: Paul Broch, del.,112 Middle St. #5, Manchester 03101. 603-867-3680 . SevenSixTwoRevolution@yahoo.com New Jersey Central New Jersey GMB: P.O. Box 10021, New Brunswick, 08906. 732-692-3491. info@newjerseyiww.org. Bob Ratynski, del., 908-285-5426. www.newjerseyiww.org New Mexico Albuquerque GMB: P.O. Box 4892, 87196-4892. 505-5690168, abq@iww.org

New York New York City GMB: 45-02 23rd Street, Suite #2, Long Island City,11101. iww-nyc@iww.org. www.wobblycity. org Starbucks Campaign: iwwstarbucksunion@gmail. com, www.starbucksunion.org Hudson Valley GMB: P.O. Box 48, Huguenot 12746, 845342-3405, hviww@aol.com, http://hviww.blogspot. com/ Syracuse IWW: syracuse@iww.org Upstate NY GMB: P.O. Box 235, Albany 12201-0235, 518-833-6853 or 518-861-5627. www.upstate-nyiww. org, secretary@upstate-ny-iww.org, Rochelle Semel, del., P.O. Box 172, Fly Creek 13337, 607-293-6489, rochelle71@peoplepc.com Utica IWW: Brendan Maslauskas Dunn, del., 315-2403149. maslauskas@riseup.net North Carolina Carolina Mountains GMB: P.O. Box 1005, 28802. 828407-1979. iww.asheville@gmail.com Greensboro GMB: P. O. Box 5022, 27435. 1-855-IWW-4GSO (855-499-4476). gsoiww@riseup.net North Dakota Red River GMB: redriver@iww.org, redriveriww@gmail. com Ohio Mid-Ohio GMB: c/o Riffe, 4071 Indianola Ave., Columbus 43214. midohioiww@gmail.com Northeast Ohio GMB: P.O. Box 141072, Cleveland 44114. 216-502-5325 Ohio Valley GMB: P.O. Box 6042, Cincinnati 45206, 513510-1486, ohiovalleyiww@gmail.com Sweet Patches Screenprinting IU 410 Job Shop: sweetptchs@aol.com Oklahoma Tulsa: P.O. Box 213, Medicine Park 73557, 580-529-3360 Oregon Lane GMB: Ed Gunderson, del., 541-743-5681. x355153@ iww.org, www.eugeneiww.org Portland GMB: 2249 E Burnside St., 97214, 503-2315488. portland.iww@gmail.com, pdx.iww.org Portland Red and Black Cafe: 400 SE 12th Ave, 97214. 503-231-3899. general@redandblackcafe.com. www. redandblackcafe.com Pennsylvania Lancaster IWW: P.O. Box 352, 17608. 717-559-0797. iwwlancasterpa@gmail.com Lehigh Valley GMB: P.O. Box 1477, Allentown, 181051477. 484-275-0873. lehighvalleyiww@gmail.com. www. facebook.com/lehighvalleyiww Paper Crane Press IU 450 Job Shop: 610-358-9496. papercranepress@verizon.net, www.papercranepress.com Pittsburgh GMB: P.O. Box 5912,15210. 412-894-0558. pittsburghiww@yahoo.com Rhode Island Providence GMB: P.O. Box 5795, 02903. 508-367-6434. providenceiww@gmail.com Tennessee Mid-Tennessee IWW: Lara Jennings, del., 106 N. 3rd St., Clarksville, 37040. 931-206-3656. Jonathan Beasley, del., 2002 Post Rd., Clarksville, 37043 931-220-9665. Texas El Paso IWW: Sarah Michelson, del., 314-600-2762. srmichelson@gmail.com Golden Triangle IWW (Beaumont - Port Arthur): gtiww@riseup.net South Texas IWW: rgviww@gmail.com Utah Salt Lake City GMB: P.O. Box 1227, 84110. 801-8719057. slciww@gmail.com Vermont Burlington GMB: P.O. Box 8005, 05402. 802-540-2541 Virginia Richmond IWW: P.O. Box 7055, 23221. 804-496-1568. richmondiww@gmail.com, www.richmondiww.org Washington Bellingham: P.O. Box 1793, 98227. 360-920-6240. BellinghamIWW@gmail.com. Tacoma GMB: P.O. Box 7276, 98401. TacIWW@iww.org. http://tacoma.iww.org/ Seattle GMB: 1122 E. Pike #1142, 98122-3934. 206-3394179. seattleiww@gmail.com. www.seattleiww.org Wisconsin Madison GMB: P.O. Box 2442, 53701-2442. www. madison.iww.org IUB 560 - Communications and Computer Workers: P.O. Box 259279, Madison 53725. 608-620-IWW1. Madisoniub560@iww.org. www.Madisoniub560.iww.org Lakeside Press IU 450 Job Shop: 1334 Williamson, 53703. 608-255-1800. Jerry Chernow, del., jerry@ lakesidepress.org. www.lakesidepress.org Madison Infoshop Job Shop:1019 Williamson St. #B, 53703. 608-262-9036 Just Coffee Job Shop IU 460: 1129 E. Wilson, Madison, 53703. 608-204-9011, justcoffee.coop Railroad Workers IU 520: 608-358-5771. railfalcon@ yahoo.com Milwaukee GMB: 1750A N Astor St., 53207. Trevor Smith, 414-573-4992 Northwoods IWW: P.O. Box 452, Stevens Point, 54481

October 2013 Industrial Worker Page 3

Wobbly Perspective

By Michael White In early October 2012, Hope Asya and I toured several cities and towns in Indiana, having call-out meetings along the way for interested people to hear about and discuss the IWW. There were several well-attended meetings throughout a week-long road trip, after which a surge of people joined the IWW throughout the state. The following month we held our first all-state meeting to discuss moving to form a General Membership Branch (GMB). We continued to meet monthly, and by late February 2013, our petition to be chartered was approved and our GMB has met every month since. An article was published on page 1 of the December 2012 IW, titled Wobbly Tour of Indiana, detailing the event. The Wobbly Tour, as it has come to be known by, has kick-started our organizing efforts here in Indiana and led us to form the GMB and continue our activities. As I write now, it is late August 2013, and throughout this year of organizing in Indiana, our branch has experienced quite a lot of activity. We have been active in on-the-job direct action and organizing, participated in strikes and campaigns, grown to a sizable and cohesive branch, and overcome several major hurdles as we have connected radicals and labor activists throughout the state. Several members within our GMB are actively trying to salt on the job, agitating and educating at their workplace, and making some promising gains. Since we began meeting, we have had fellow workers actively pushing solidarity unionism on the job and using direct action to gain improvements in working conditions. We have had a few Organizer Trainings in Indiana and are looking to have more in the future. We are also looking to have several members attend a Training for Trainers. We currently have eight delegates throughout the state and have developed a few ways of organizing an all-state GMB. Although some have joked about The
The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life. Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with the earth. We find that the centering of the management of industries into fewer and fewer hands makes the trade unions unable to cope with the ever-growing power of the employing class. The trade unions foster a state of affairs which allows one set of workers to be pitted against another set of workers in the same industry, thereby helping defeat one another in wage wars. Moreover, the trade unions aid the employing class to mislead the workers into the belief that the working class have interests in common with their employers. These conditions can be changed and the interest of the working class upheld only by an organization formed in such a way that all its members in any one industry, or all industries if necessary, cease work whenever a strike or lockout is on in any department thereof, thus making an injury to one an injury to all. Instead of the conservative motto, A fair days wage for a fair days work, we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, Abolition of the wage system. It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organized, not only for the everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.

One Year Of Organizing In Indiana

Indiana Model, none of these ideas are unique to uswe just put together the kind of program that works for us in Indiana under our current conditions. One thing that distinguishes the Indiana branch from others is that at a GMB meeting we devote a set period of time to an open discussion on a topic that has been previously agreed upon. We have monthly GMB meetings in Indianapolis, but between these, each separate locale has a meeting. Some of these localized meetings that we call General Organizing Committees, or Councils (GOCs), happen fairly frequent, while others occur less often. These GOCs meet with the membership of the GMB from that area, discussing organizing campaigns, events, actions, etc., and help to organize the GMB throughout the state. The GOC meetings cannot vote on official Indiana GMB policy, but function as a solidaritybuilding meeting place where workers can express themselves and move forward with organizing efforts in their area with the help of their local Wobs. Delegates in each area help to organize the GOCs, but they follow the order of business and rotate meeting officers to help people get used to the meeting structure. This helps to get more people active, especially new members, and also helps to increase retention of membership. We currently have three GOCs set up and are working to set up a fourth in the fall. The GOCs host regular discussions and also guest presentations by fellow workers and students in certain fields (i.e. permaculture, labor history, combating patriarchy, Marxist economic theory, etc.). Indiana GMB members have had opportunities to participate in a few strike campaigns already. We have been active in tabling and demonstrations. We have worked and set up the first Wobbly job shop in Indiana. Actively organizing in the workplace and helping fellow workers throughout the state when they need support and solidarity, the Indiana GMB has

IWW Constitution Preamble

built a really great network of radicals and labor activists within major cities and college campuses. Maintaining connections and contact, as well as avoiding decline, is one of the most crucial elements keeping our branch strong. Although setting up secure and reliable means of communicating is important, making sure that we con- Wobs at the Indiana University strike in April. Photo: Indiana IWW tinue to use them and use them correctly cycle. The Indiana GMB has been able is difficult. It is important to set up events to grow, agitate, educate and organize. and meetings in advance and with good Workers recognize that the IWW is the publicity. Using social networking sites best rank-and-file, democratically-run, helps to reach more people each day, and radical union that will fight for them. The if used correctly, can continue to bring major differences between the IWW and new possible members out to meetings. other unions that we are taught upon enHolding call-out meetings for interested tering the union are all the reasons why workers and students is helpful; many the IWWs structure and ethos are able times people will feel more comfortable to trump right-to-work legislationour with their first exposure to the IWW if they voluntary dues system, rank-and-file can discuss its philosophies, history, and control, every member being an active how it intends to organize workers against organizer, the practice of organizing not only the job but also the worker, and the exploitation and wage slavery. Indiana, being a right-to-work state, crown jewel that makes it all possible, poses many problems for traditional craft industrial unionism. We currently have and trade unions and other business dual-card carrying members from all the unions. And of course these laws impact major unions active in Indiana. They work the organizing of any labor, but the IWW with us and within their other unions to has many advantages in this system be- push for more rank-and-file control and cause of its solidarity union model, direct to further radicalize their unions. Given the situation in Indiana, I think action tactics, and its general disregard for capitalist legislature aimed at killing its important to remember that struggling organized labor. Business unions are busy to improve working conditions to receive paying large sums of money to the dizzy more of the wealth we create, and gaining and confused Indiana Democrats because more control over our workplaces and the Republicans in this state are forcing lives, is only the first step in effectively and so much anti-labor legislation through permanently changing the world we live in. Congress; its a vicious yet enlightening We have built a strong and reliable group of members in our branch, but we need to continue to build, grow, and organize. Struggling to alter our material conditions he IWW is a union for all workers, a union dedicated to organizing on the and liberating ourselves is a very difficult job, in our industries and in our communities both to win better conditions and long road. We shouldnt be fooled or today and to build a world without bosses, a world in which production and lose sight by cheap and shortsighted ideas distribution are organized by workers ourselves to meet the needs of the entire of little substance. population, not merely a handful of exploiters. We are the Industrial Workers of the World because we organize industrially that is to say, we organize all workers on the job into one union, rather than dividing workers by trade, so that we can pool our strength to fight the bosses together. Since the IWW was founded in 1905, we have recognized the need to build a truly international union movement in order to confront the global power of the bosses and in order to strengthen workers ability to stand in solidarity with our fellow workers no matter what part of the globe they happen to live on. We are a union open to all workers, whether or not the IWW happens to have representation rights in your workplace. We organize the worker, not the job, recognizing that unionism is not about government certification or employer recognition but about workers coming together to address our common concerns. Sometimes this means striking or signing a contract. Sometimes it means refusing to work with an unsafe machine or following the bosses orders so literally that nothing gets done. Sometimes it means agitating around particular issues or grievances in a specific workplace, or across an industry. Because the IWW is a democratic, member-run union, decisions about what isEducate yourself and your sues to address and what tactics to pursue are made by the workers directly involved.

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TO JOIN: Mail this form with a check or money order for initiation and your first months dues to: IWW, Post Office Box 180195, Chicago, IL 60618, USA. Initiation is the same as one months dues. Our dues are calculated according to your income. If your monthly income is under $2000, dues are $9 a month. If your monthly income is between $2000 and $3500, dues are $18 a month. If your monthly income is over $3500 a month, dues are $27 a month. Dues may vary outside of North America and in Regional Organizing Committees (Australia, British Isles, German Language Area).

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Page 4 Industrial Worker October 2013

By John OReilly & Juan Conatz About a year or so ago, one of us was having a one-on-one conversation with a member of the union involved in a campaign that was not public at the time. When the discussion switched to one of the more active committee members, the fellow worker said, You know, I love and respect him, but every problem we encounter he wants to shoot down with a 12 gauge. This gets to an issue we sometimes have that we will call shotgun organizing. The shotgun organizer thinks that every problem needs to be solved in the most intense and forceful way possible, regardless of whether or not it can be handled differently or of the effects on the committee. If things are bad, they need to be blasted away. For the shotgun organizer, the union is amazing and the boss is evil and anyone who disagrees is a reactionary. The shotgun organizer takes a blunt, noholds-barred approach to union activity, and has no room for nuance or collective decision-making. Getting in fights about the union, badgering co-workers who are on the fence, being the first person to stand up to management over grievances, the shotgun organizer knows what they think and makes sure that everyone else does too. It can be good to have folks like this on your side. The willingness to go to war, to stand up for people, and be a voice for no compromise is an excellent quality. However, it often can be destructive and alienating. One of the most difficult parts of organizing is dealing with the problems we encounter with the right response for the right problem. Sometimes we make honest mistakes, misjudging the size or importance of a problem or minimizing something that should be taken more seriously. Part of becoming better organizers is recognizing that we simply will make mistakes no matter how prepared we are, and anticipating how to come back from them. Shotgun organizing is a common style of dealing with problems that come up because, rather than dealing with the complexity of the organizing situation and learning from mistakes, it turns all problems into the most important problem and, predictably, uses a 12 gauge to blow them away. Part of how shotgun organizing manifests as a problem is that the campaign can become about the shotgun-toting worker rather than the issue at hand. For instance, if a certain anti-union co-worker keeps trash-talking the union on the job, a shotgun organizers first response might be to confront that worker and start yelling at them about how theyre wrong and stupid. Instead of considering the issue as a committee and coming up with a solution that might work, like having a pro-union friend approach the anti-union person

Shotgun Organizing

By Nicki Meier Radical unionism requires worker participation, without discrimination, in order to implement worker democracies. This means we must give all members a voice, and we must be conscious of the language we use. Words can be used to silence others or they can be used to foster a safe space that ensures all workers voices are heard. To be a strong rankand-file radical union, we must create a space in which we can hear all workers struggles. And in doing so, we will better understand the depth and breadth of the oppression workers facewhich is crucial to the abolition of domination. But in order for us to be truly radical we must be radical in all we do. That means in our individual politics and in our relationships with and to others. This requires an intersectional radical feminist approach. One that understands how deeply intertwined oppressions are with each other; that can analyze and understand that our comrades experience oppression in different and varying ways, because of their (perceived) identities;

Thinking Feminist, Thinking Revolutionary

privately, the shotgun organizer turns the dynamic from being about one problem worker to two people yelling at each other. Most co-workers are going to back away from that. Nobody wants to choose between two people yelling. Our co-workers who back away from the conflict are, by default, choosing against the union and doing exactly what the anti-union worker would have wanted. Sometimes the right way to deal with the problem might be just confronting the anti-union worker. By doing it as one individual instead of as a group, the focus of the controversy is on the shotgun organizer and their yelling, not on the content of the union message. The change we seek doesnt happen because of individuals. Thats a common, yet mistaken, vision of history and one that shotgun organizers often see as justifying their behavior. For every Big Bill Haywood or Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, there are numerous Henry E. McGuckins. For every Durruti, there are hundreds of lesser-known Confederacin Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) militants. Struggle is a collective process that doesnt solely depend on the initiative of individuals willing and able to approach every situation as if it was a full-scale battle. We may remember the names of the famous revolutionaries, but we do so because of the quiet, day-to-day work of many around them who are lost to history. Organizing at work is no different. Rather than be One Big Organizer who does everything by themselves, we strive to build up others as organizers. We do this by sharing work and responsibility and encouraging other people to express their opinions. When we do this we see that all organizing work need not be done by one person and that the intensity need not be turned all the way up all the time. Change at work and in society has high and low points of intensity, but it operates most effectively when that intensity is brought on by a group, not a lone wolf wielding a big shotgun. Like anything else humans do, there can be underlying reasons for shotgun organizing. The person may want to rush things because they are feeling burnt out and want to get it over with. Maybe they are very excited about the IWW or unionism in general and are letting this high amount of energy drive them completely. Maybe this person could feel like they are the only one getting things done, and therefore have to overcompensate for what they feel is less effort from other committee members. These are just a few of the numerous possibilities that might explain this conduct. We should be careful not to assume, though. Instead, we should talk to the fellow worker to get to the heart of the problem. Discovering the underlying reasons why people behave like this can be the first huge step to a solution. and seek to eradicate all oppressive behaviors at their very cores. This will, in part, require us to individually and collectively reexamine, reclaim, and recreate language that is inclusive, non-threatening, and clear. Within my own branch I have consistently witnessed certain members talking over others. This is a form of silencing them; it is a form of domination. I have seen, and also been a victim of, personal verbal attacksdismissing a fellow workers perspective as over-sensitive or crazywhich again, is a form of domination that works to silence the target. These types of behaviors are unacceptable, and we must work hard to avoid them. I believe we are capable of civil discourse that challenges and pushes each other to think critically. Critical thinking is, after all, at the very center of any transformation, whether personal or systemic. We do not need material or social privilege to change the world, we need critical thinking. Radicals are proud of their class consciousness and they claim to be conscious of other forms of oppression. Yet within our personal lives and our branches these kinds of behaviors can often be over-

Graphic: Mike Konopacki

and that failing to recognize someone as the combination of these identities is inaccurate and harmful, in and of itself, as it discredits a fellow workers experiences. An intersectional radical feminist approach will require us to place language under a microscope. It is not about stifling free speech, but rather about examining our language and its implications and effects. If we want to create a world in which oppression is non-existent, whereby hierarchical structures have been annihilated we must constantly ask ourselves the following key questions: What role should language and representation play in the creation of this world? Are we speaking by way of patriarchal power structures, where the few dominate the many, where the privileged take precedent over the marginalized? If so, how can we change this to create a safe, inclusive, and revolutionary space where we are not simply recreating the power-over structures we see in the White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy? We must understand, acknowledge,

looked. Patriarchal forms of domination are often perpetuated unconsciously by well-intentioned people. We need to make sure that we are calling each other out, practicing self-awareness, and striving to foster diversity that is valued in everything we do. Accepting that our branches have issues with language, voice and representation is not weakness, it is a space for growth. It is good to acknowledge these instances for growth, for without that realization we cannot move forward. It is when we fail to accept we have room for improvement and when we fail to adapt that we become stagnant. This may have been articulated best by bell hooks in Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black when she wrote, It is necessary to remember, as we think critically about domination, that we all have the capacity to act in ways that oppress, dominate, wound (whether or not that power is institutionalized). It is necessary to remember that it is first the potential oppressor within that we must resistthe potential victim within that we must rescueotherwise we cannot hope for an end to domination, for liberation.

October 2013 Industrial Worker Page 5

IWW Organizer Training In Uganda A Success

Wobbly & North American News

By Weijagye Justus The recent success of the Organizer Training which took place on Aug. 25 and Aug. 27 at the Kirigiime Guest House in Kabale, Uganda, and the fast developments our opposition and strikes towards the ruling class and the bosses, are positive achievements for the working class and motivation in the struggle against the forces of exploitation, oppression and suppression. These and other worker-initiated dePhoto: Weijagye Justus velopments against the employing class Training in Kabale. and ruling class is an indicator of the suc- the working class to join the IWW not cess of the workers struggles and general only for bringing positive changes to their struggle against wage slavery. workplaces, but also in moving forward the This calls for all members of the work- revolution to abolish the wage system and ing class to work together as one unified wage slavery. The more of you who join force in the name of the all workers union, us, the stronger we shall be and the more the IWW, and fight for the revolutionary changes we shall bring to the members of and evolutionary achievements where working class. everyone counts in as not only part of Donate to IWW organizing efforts the workers history of struggles but also in Uganda: http://www.indiegogo.com/ participates in the making of that history. projects/organising-the-working-classWe therefore call on all members of in-uganda.

Labor Day Celebrated In Virginia City, Nevada

Entire Shoe Store Staff Quits In Rochester

By John Kalwaic At the beginning of September, the entire staff of the Journeys footwear and apparel store, in Rochester, N.Y.s Marketplace Mall, quit due to the abusive behavior of the store manager. The manager apparently did not give an employee time off for cancer treatment, which enraged the staff. The staff left a note at the closed store. A picture of the note that has gone viral

Wobs on Labor Day.

By Ron Kaminkow More than two dozen Wobblies and their allies marched in the annual Labor Day parade in Virginia City, Nev., on Sept. 2. Over 100 years earlier, the Story County local of the IWW marched down this same street on Labor Day 1908. Following the parade, Wobblies toured the Virginia City Miners Union Hall, home to the Comstock Miners Union that gave birth to hard rock miners unions throughout the west, resulting in the formation of the Photo: Ron Kaminkow Western Federation of Miners.

Photo: reddit.com

over the internet is now being called The Declaration of Independence from a Shitty Mall Job. The store, which sells items for kids and teenagers, was then closed during the middle of back-to-school week, which will no doubt cost the store a lot of money. This is one example of employee resistance in a nontraditional form. With files from Gawker. com.

By John Kalwaic have been arrested. The Capitol police did Long after the media lost its focus on not stop there. They also arrested onlookWisconsins struggle against Governor ers who were recording the incidents with Scott Walker to keep public sector work- their cell phones. ers bargaining rights in The protestors strug2011, the Solidarity Singers gles against the attacks on are keeping the struggle public sector bargaining alive. The singers have rights and other issues have piqued the interest of been coming to Madison civil liberties groups who every week to sing harmsay Walkers measures less labor songs as well as other social justice songs against the singers are unPhoto: Jenna Pope, Labor Notes constitutional. The arrests from the 1960s. However, Walker has ordered that singing at the and the singers have breathed new life Capitol rotunda in Madison is now illegal, into a movement which was thought to be despite the building being a public space. dead by some. Many singers, some in their 60s and 70s, With files from Labor Notes.

Madison Solidarity Singers Arrested

By Baltimore Red, X341189 Long-time Wobbly, hobo and railroader Baltimore Red has produced a new songbook entitled Boxcar Sing Along: Songs for Hoboes & Tramps, Bums & Boomers, Wobblies & Wanderers, RiffRaff & Rabble-Rousers. This book of 64 classic railroad, hobo and union songs is fully illustrated with photos and graphics dating back to the 19th century. The book includes songs of tramp, hobo, Wobbly and railroad themes, and includes classics such as: Waiting for A Train (Jimmy Rogers); Ramblin Fever (Merle Haggard); Queen of the Rails (Utah Phillips); This Train is Bound for Glory (Woody Guthrie); The Big Rock Candy Mountain (Haywire Mac McClintock); The Midnight Special (Leadbelly); Milwaukee Blues (Charlie Poole); Only a Hobo (Bob Dylan); The Tramp (Joe Hill); and The Popular Wobbly (T-Bone Slim). Each song is complete with all lyrics and music. Many songs have historic notes and the book is illustrated throughout with photographs of hobos and tramps from the turn of the century, the Great Depression, the post-steam era and modern times. There is a new breed of itinerant musicians out on the road today, hopping freight trains and booming around the country, working odd jobs and playing on the street for nickels and dimes. Many are once again interested in the songs of working people of a bygone era. The object of this book is to preserve these old songs and re-introduce them to this new generation of musicians. The Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture (BBCRC) in

Get Your New Wobbly Songbook Today!

Graphic: Baltimore Red, X341189

Weed, Calif., is making this book available to such musicians free of charge when they lack the financial resources to make a donation. For those of you who would like a copy and can donate, the suggested donation is $15 (includes all shipping and handling). In donating, you are assisting us to print copies that can be given away cheaply or free to those who are financially down-and-out. After that, all proceeds go to benefit the BBCRC and support its mission (see the website http://www. bbcrc.org for more information). To order your copy, email baltimorered1@yahoo.com or call 608-3585771. Or simply write a check payable to BBCRC and mail it to: Baltimore Red, P.O. Box 2131, Reno, NV 89505. Or even better, see the BBCRC Store and order online through WePay at https://www. wepay.com/stores/bbcrc-store.

By Diana Barahona The Los Angeles branch of the IWW and community members filled Beyond Baroque in Venice on Aug. 9 for an evening of music and drama honoring the branchs namesake, Ricardo Flores Magn. Opening the show, song-fighter Ross Altman performed The Rebel Girl, There is a Power in the Union and The Preacher and the Slaveall written by Joe Hill, the legendary Wobbly singer and songwriter. It was in Ross Altmans hometown of San Pedro where Hill, a 30-year-old migrant laborer, joined the IWW in 1910. These songs were particularly relevant to the theme of the event, since they highlighted the solidarity that existed between the IWW and Mexican revolutionaries in Los Angeles in the second decade of the 20th century. Ross then performed international songs of struggleA Las Barricadas, a revolutionary song from the Spanish Civil War, Guantanamera and his own original song about the Mexican Revolution. Next, Rubn Martnez took the stage with Chicano Son artist Marco Amador. They performed music and readings from his show (which aired on PBS last year), The Ballad of Ricardo Flores Magna tribute to the revolutionary anarchist who lived and struggled in Los Angeles from 1904 until he was arrested for the last time

Los Angeles IWW Honors Ricardo Flores Magn With Evening Of Entertainment
in 1918. Martnez wrote this work in order to unearth the radical roots of the Occupy movement, taking us back to a time when Los Angeles was one of the reddest cities in America. As Martnez wrote in the Los Angeles Times, just days after the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) had brutally removed the Occupy L.A. encampment from Solidarity Park: The scene Magn joined in Los Angeles was an early 20th century version of the Occupy movement. There were raucous rallies at the plaza, festive fundraisers at the Italian Hall and plenty of run-ins with the LAPD. The Los Angeles Times itself has played a significant historical role in defense of the ruling class, attacking organized labor, socialists, anarchists and Wobblies in its pages. Martnez reported: Trials of the radicals were heavily covered by The Times, whose general manager, Harrison Gray Otis, seethed against anarchists in general, whom he blamed for the 1910 bombing of The Times Building, and against Flores Magn in particular. Otis owned upward of a million acres of land across the border in Baja California, and an armed contingent of Magonistas associated with Flores Magns Partido Liberal Mexicano [PLM] briefly took control of Tijuana and other parts of Baja in 1911.

It was in Los Angeles where Magn, fighting alongside American anarchists, embraced anarchism himself. The aim of the insurrection that he and his brother Enrique led in Baja was to found a socialist republic. In a show of international solidarity, several Wobblies fought alongside the PLM, among them Joe Hill. After a rendition of A Las Barricadas, Martnez Photo: Diana Barahona and Amador performed Rubn Martnez (left) and Marco Amador (right) perform. El Golpe, a musically complex piece that Amador says was at age 49. Martnez performed Im Writinspired by the uprisings in Egypt and ing You From Inside, based on letters Tunisia. He explained the relevance of Magn wrote from Leavenworth which the song to Flores Magn, who dedicated talk about his resolve to continue to resist his whole life to revolution: He was more the oppression of state power, even as he than just an intellectualhe was bringing suffers from failing health, exacerbated revolutionary concepts to a revolutionary by neglect by prison staff. After performing Woodie Guthries time. Following El Golpe, Martnez spoke All You Fascists are Bound to Lose, Marabout Magns life as a political prisoner. tnez and Amador took questions from Repeatedly imprisoned in Mexico, he was the audience. Finally Ross Altman joined forced to go into exile in the United States, them on stage and led the singing of Soliwhere he was also persecuted, doing a total darity Forever, the IWWs anthem. Beyond Baroque is an independent of nine years in prison. His last arrest, part of the Palmer Raids, was in 1918, for violat- literary and arts center and public space ing the Espionage Act of 1917. He died in that has hosted many cutting-edge poets Leavenworth Penitentiary four years later and musical talents through the years.

Page 6 Industrial Worker October 2013

Special

arrived around should go out on strike why not? noon, and by 3:30 Along with low pay, no benefits, and p.m. five others unrealistic expectations on the part of the had arrived. On company, workers complained about a Tuesday, all four lack of breaks. According to Helali, Cusstrikers joined tomers would flood in and sometimes wed the IWW and held have to have all of us up front helping. It a meeting with was constant on our feet. Rarely did we get union organizers. an opportunity to sit down and relax. It On Thursday, was the pressure of the crowd of hungry the strikers and customers that finally drove these workers their union held to strike. However, in not contacting the a march from the union prior to striking and not organizing Harvard Square the day shift to join the strike or a union, T Station to the the strikers began at a disadvantage. With s t o r e w i t h 5 0 dedication to their cause and plenty of IWW members support from the IWW and other allies, Insomnia workers fight for better conditions. Photo: FW Le Le LeChat and allies, includ- strikers hope to overcome the obstacles in ing Harvard din- front of them and turn Insomnia Cookies ing hall workers, members of Harvard Stu- into a job worth having and to spread the Continued from 1 At 3 a.m. the regional manager, who dent Labor Action Movement, Common union to the Insomnia Cookies locations runs the only Insomnia Cookies in Mas- Struggle/Lucha Comn, Boston Solidarity near college campuses across the country. The Insomnia strike began just a week sachusetts, arrived to file the paperwork to Network and others participating. Insomnia workers marched to their and a half before a national wave of fast fire all four strikers. He then called Luke Robinson to threaten him with a lawsuit shop again on Monday evening, following food workers strikes organized by the for violating contractual obligations, said a union rally against racially-motivated Service Employees International Union Helali. The store did not open again until firings at Harvard University organized (SEIU). On Thursday, Aug. 29, fast food 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 18, two hours later by the Harvard No Layoffs Campaign led workers across the country participated in by dual card members of the IWW and a one-day strike for a $15 minimum wage, than usual. Picketing began that morning at 10 the Harvard Union of Clerical and Techa.m., and all of the strikers were on the nical Workers (HUTCW). Onsomnia line by 11 a.m. The police, according to worker Jonathan Pea addressed the Helali, came about eight or nine times crowd. Around 50 people, including and told us to stay away, do not bother students from the Harvard Student the store...They said wed be arrested if Labor Action Movement, joined the we went inside. They told us to stay on march from Harvard to the Insomnia the center median, about 30 feet from location, surprising the manager and the store or we would be arrested. While leafleting the public. While the workers at Insomnia workers have a legal right to picket on the sidewalk outside their store, as long as they had not joined a union prior to strikremain moving in a circle or otherwise, the ing, some workers had been discussing police called in by the boss intimidated workplace conditions, unions, and strikes for weeks. According to Helali, the workers. That afternoon members of the IWW he and other workers would speak arrived to lend support. Helali, who about the issues that pertain to our job reached out to the union, said, I knew that and the conditions there. I heard a lot the IWW in Boston [were] pretty militant of the other workers gripes, what they and ready to go straight to action, as op- wanted to be changed, how they felt they posed to some of the business unions who were treated. I tried to gauge the genprobably would not even come or try to eral overall feeling, and concerns of the organize us. I knew the IWW would do ev- workers. It prompted me to eventually erything in their power to help us out. So I put the idea out for a strike, as a joke at decided to reach out on the Facebook page first maybe about two weeks before the and post about our strike. One organizer strike. Id sort of casually say, hey we Boston Wobblies on the picket line.

Striking Workers At Insomnia Cookies Join The IWW

highlighted in Boston by a 4 p.m. rally at the Boston Common. As Jonathan Pea told the Industrial Worker, We want to show solidarity with the struggles of other fast food workers because their fight is our fight. Insomnia workers were present at the Fight for Fifteen pickets in Boston beginning that morning at 6 a.m. and ending with an evening picket at Insomnia in Harvard Square at 6 p.m. While half of the striking Insomnia workers have moved from Boston this September, the other two workers are continuing to plan public demonstrations and discuss unionization with their co-workers, Harvard students, and other service workers, while they pursue legal charges against their employer for withholding breaks and back pay and failing to meet minimum wage. The company plans to open a new location near Boston University in the near future, plans that may have been delayed by the ongoing strike. For updates and information on how to contribute to the strike fund or get involved, please visit https://www. facebook.com/insomniaunion or http:// iwwboston.org.

Reports, Discussion Abound At The 2013 IWW General Convention

too much in comparison to the revenues) but also because the board, the editor, and the GST felt that there was some waste in the sense that resources allocated to printing and distributing the paper were too high for the actual need. A lot of papers were left to rot at GHQ because of the fact that we need to print more than Photo: DJ Alperovitz we distribute. Also, a lot of members read the PDF version already and throw the copy they receive straight into the recycling bin. On Sunday, we moved on to working on the motions. There were two sets of them, a few emergency motions and motions that had been submitted on time to be included officially in the agenda. The first official motion was a constitutional amendment made in the spirit of adjusting the language of the structures used in workplace organizing to reflect actual practices. The job branches, which have no specified rights or responsibilities in the current version of the constitution, would be removed to follow the organizational committees approach that is closer to our current methods. The merits of letting shops use the union logo were discussed vention. Both these motions will be put at length. Some delegates argued that our on the ballot sent to all members so that revolutionary mindset should prevent us they can vote on their addition to the from helping companies make sales by constitution. The convention left me with a very having the union bug on their product, others contended that a lot of workers positive impression about the state of our made purchasing decisions based on the union. Everyone was extremely serious fact that products or services were made about the work that needed to be done. The by unionized workers. In the end the mo- civil discussions were always carried out tion passed as it was written, including the with the aim of finding concrete solutions possibility to use the union bug. The sec- to issues rather than petty politicking. The ond official motion, also a constitutional ability of the Edmonton branch to run amendment, was aimed at modifying this convention in such an efficient way how charges are handled at conventions. inspired me to continue to work hard at The purpose of the motion was twofold: building our local branch so that we could first, to guarantee that the charges are one day do the same. If the delegates that dealt with as much fairness as possible, were at this years convention are typical which implies allocating enough time to of our membership, our union has a great review themwhich isnt possible in two future. days; and second, to allow all delegates to participate in union business rather than spend valuable convention time serving on a charges committee. The motion basically calls for a committee to be formed to deal with the charges over a longer period of time, rather than have one committee formed by convention delegateswhich would rush the charges process during the Photo: Diane Krauthamer two days of the con- Wobblies sing Solidarity Forever.

Photo: FW Le Le LeChat

Delegates discuss the important issues.

Continued from 1 and their work evaluated, so that we can ensure quality across all trainings. The most contentious report was that of the Industrial Workers editor since she, the General Executive Board (GEB), and the GST have come to a decision to distribute the paper digitally by default, unless the member asks to receive a hard copy. Many delegates had questions and the editor, the GST as well as members of the GEB had the occasion to address the opposition of certain members and elaborate on the reasons that motivated this decision. I believe this discussion clarified things. From my interpretation, the decision was made because of financial concerns (i.e. that the printing and shipping costs had increased

October 2013 Industrial Worker Page 7

The First Annual Frank Little Memorial Gathering

By Jim Del Duca On Saturday, Aug. 3, Montana and Idaho Wobblies gathered in Butte, Mont., for the First Annual Frank Little Memorial Gathering. A combination of memorial service, union solidarity picnic, and organizing meeting, the gathering commemorated the life of our renowned IWW organizer Frank Little and marked the anniversary of his Aug. 1, 1917 assassination. Former General Executive Board (GEB) member and fearless revolutionary organizer, FW Little was invited to Butte by a delegation of local copper miners to represent the IWW. This came in response to the disastrous fires in the Granite Mountain/Speculator Mine which killed 168 hard rock miners on June 8, 1917. The capitalists who controlled the Butte mines were making huge profits from the copper extracted from the miles of mineshafts beneath the city. This is because copper was, and still is, a key component of armament manufacture. Small arms cartridges and artillery shell casings, made of brass (a copper alloy), were being expended by the millions on the battlefields of World War I era Europe, and killing millions of the working class. This made the mines of Butte vital to both simple corporate profits and international capitalist war interests. Bosses were not concerned that miners had a more dangerous job than soldiers profits and social order, as always, were their top priorities. The miners of Butte, recognizing that their only hope for physical safety and social justice would be through collective bargaining, and knowing that they needed help from outside of boss-controlled Montana, formed a union and attempted to affiliate with the politically-powerful American Federation of Labor (AFL). The AFL insisted that the miners disband their new union and join the AFL as individuals, effectively giving away their local control to outside (capitalist-friendly) interests. The Butte miners refused to sell out and called upon the one organization courageous enough to challenge the capitalists, our own Industrial Workers of the World. The IWW was under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task at hand. To succeed in organizing under the circumstances at Butte would require the best of the best in organizing ability. At the request of then GEB Chair Big Bill Haywood, FW Little accepted the dangerous assignment. FW Little was known far and ready to respond to the situation. A new wide as a fearless and brilliant revolu- union was formed, the Metals Mine Worktionary organizer. Originally from Indian ers Union (MMWU), led by two former Territory-Oklahoma, he was described as IWW members. Membership quickly half Indian, half white, and all IWW. grew to 12,000. The new organization was He had held numerous critical organizing immediately attacked by the boss-owned positions in high-profile IWW campaigns, press. The workers demands for increases demonstrated exceptional ability, and was in safety and wages were rejected and the well-known across the United States and owners refused to recognize the legitimacy Canada as an implacable foe of capitalism of the MMWU. The new union then voted and a selfless champion of the working to continue the strike. Soon over 15,000 class. mine workers were refusing to work. The Calling soldiers Uncle Sams scabs in pressure was building in this vortex of uniforms and holding that warfare only capitalists vs. working-class confrontation. furthers the aims of the bosses, he firmly After FW Little arrived in Butte, he believed that the IWW should actively twice addressed crowds of over 6,000 mindiscourage workers and was ers from joining invited to parthe military. The ticipate in the IWW is opposed MMWU highto all wars, Litlevel strategy tle commented. meetings. He While some contributed within the IWW one central were unsure if message, the publicly opposing winning IWW the war would be str ate gy , o f strategically wise solidarity for the organizaamong all the Photo: Jim Del Duca workers. If the tionand there Wobs at Frank Littles grave. was real fear that the bosses and their MMWU could stay focused and accomplish tools in government would become even that, then the power of the bosses would be more aggressive in their attacks against broken, and a new day would dawn for the the IWWFW Little was uncompromis- workers. The IWW had been successful in ing in his open opposition. Better to go the past and the workers were ready to act. out in a blaze of glory than to give in, he The extreme danger to corporate control stated. Either were for this capitalistic was obvious. As a result, at some high level slaughterfest, or were against it. Im of the corporate association, the decision ready to face the firing squad rather than was made to have FW Little killed. In the compromise. The reference to the firing early hours of Aug. 1, masked men, who squad was not just dramatic wording. Our identified themselves as officers of the premier Wobbly musical propagandist, law, entered the hotel where FW Little Joe Hill, had been framed and executed was lodging. They took him by force, tied by firing squad in Salt Lake City only a him, dragged him through the city streets few years prior. Hills talents, skills and behind an automobile, and then hanged convictions made him a tremendous threat him by the neck from a railroad trestle. to the capitalist class. No arrests were ever madenot surprisBefore the Granite Mountain/Specu- ing considering that the prime suspects, lator disaster there were roughly 16,000 at least from the view of the miners, were unorganized miners in Butte, an open- all city police officers. shop policy, and a system of black listing After the murder of FW Little, the that was intended to prevent union miners capitalists applied overwhelming force to from securing employment. After the 168 break the Butte strike and regain complete fatalities in the mine fires, the Butte work- control. Martial law was declared and feders were deeply disturbed. A spontaneous eral troops were deployed to occupy Butte and unorganized walk-out developed. The where they remained to protect the bosses three existing Butte miners unions (with for the next four years. Their commander only a few hundred members) were not was future-general Capt. Omar Bradley.

IWW History

The soldiers made it clear that any serious challenge to the mine owners would be met with machine gun fire. The strike went on, but eventually failed, as workers were shot, starved out, or persuaded to return to the mines with small hand-outs. On the national scale, the capitalist-controlled federal government used the events in Butte to initiate a wave of repression against the IWW. Even today, the Sedition Act of 1918, a set of amendments to the Espionage Act of 1917, is used by the government to prosecute government whistle-blowers and anti-war resisters (e.g. Edward Snowden), and it is a direct result of the threat posed by the IWW. The Sedition Act of 1918 has been used to imprison hundreds of Wobblies and countless others, and is a key component in government persecution of anti-war activists. The law was tailormade to convict and imprison Wobblies and other enemies of capitalism. That the law is still in force, and is still actively being used against the working class, is testimony to the revolutionary legacy of FW Frank Little. Montana and Idaho Wobblies are intent on growing the union. The Annual Frank Little Memorial Gathering is being developed as our yearly opportunity to coordinate, network and strategize for organizing in our area. Further, a committee was formed to advocate for Butte to be the scene of a major IWW event to commemorate the centennial of FW Littles assassination. While currently lacking a General Membership Branch, Butte still has a strong Wobbly presence, and area members feel that the propaganda opportunities connected to such an event would be considerable. The capitalist legacy in Butte is the huge, city-swallowing excavation known as the Berkely Pit, which has the distinction of being the largest superfund toxic waste site in North America. It is stark and undeniable testimony of what capitalism does to the earth as well as the people. Wobblies are currently actively agitating and organizing in several Montana locations including Billings, Bozeman, Butte and Missoula. Membership is growing, with a healthy mix of older Wobblies and young workers new to the movement. Members interested in becoming part of the 2017 Butte-Frank Little Centennial Planning Committee are encouraged to contact Jim Del Duca at jdd@iww.org.

Opinion

Socialists And The Animal Question

By Jon Hochschartner Despite continuous government repression of animal activists, in many ways it has never been an easier time to be a vegetarian or vegan. One can find a wide selection of food without animal products in the most unlikely of places, such as in the small towns of upstate New York, where the typical accoutrement is not tie-dye, but a NASCAR cap. The national vegan population is increasing rapidly, which according to a Harris Interactive poll has doubled between 2009 and 2011. Even so, much of the socialist left remains particularly inhospitable for those concerned with animal domestication. This hostility goes back a long way. As Dr. Steve Best points out, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels lumped animal welfarists, vegetarians, and anti-vivisectionists into the same petite-bourgeoisie category comprised of charity organizers, temperance fanatics, and nave reformists. Leon Trotsky railed against those opposed to revolutionary violence, scornfully describing their ideology as vegetarian-Quaker prattle. Things arent that different today. Paul DAmato, a writer for whom I otherwise have a good deal of respect, took on the animal question in a Socialist Worker column which reads as little more than uninformed trolling. Does a mountain lion that kills a

deer have a right to a trial by a jury of its peers? he asks ridiculously. Should cows have freedom of assembly, speech and religion? He acknowledges he is speaking tongue-in-cheek, but insists there is a point to it. DAmato goes on to recount Adolph Hitlers animal protection efforts because, as you know, animal activists are actually closet Nazis. Things are hardly any different on the anarchist side of the aisle. For instance, log onto the Libcom.org forums, which are maintained by London-based libertarian communists, and ask, as I have, these otherwise nice folks what they think of vegetarians or vegans. And youll see that the British didnt get their reputation for beef-eating for nothing. And yet animal activists have always been part of progressive change. John Oswald, for instance, was a Scottish vegetarian and member of the Jacobin Club who took part in the French Revolution, and died fighting monarchist forces. lise Reclus, also a vegetarian, was a participant in the Paris Commune of 1871, for which he was imprisoned and exiled. Of course, well-known vegetarian Mahatma Gandhi led the movement to topple British colonialism in India. Cesar Chavez, a vegan, co-founded the organization that would become the United Farm Workers union. One could go on with such examples but I

would prefer to hear from readers of historical figures they know who incorporated animals in their progressive vision. I am most interested in hearing of leaders who were women, people of color or engaged in explicit class struggle. In a preface to an edition of Animal Farm, George Orwell explained the central metaphor of his satirical novel, writing, Men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat. Modern animal activists such as Bob Torres and David Nibert have expanded on this unifying theme, injecting Marxist thought into the emerging field of critical animal studies. But there has been no similar effort on the part of anti-capitalists. I dont expect the socialist left to suddenly develop an appetite for veggie burgers and almond milk ice cream. The broad movement anti-capitalists hope to create will be reflective of the masses. And veganism is just not where the masses are yet. Much of this has to do with vegan options, at least the processed ones, being prohibitively expensive. This will change when economies of scale come into play. But the attitude toward animal rights among the socialist left is more reactionary than that of the general population. My low-wage co-workers might think my views regarding non-humans are privileged and eccentric, but they never display the vitriolic scorn my beliefs earn among

the socialist left. My theory is that large segments of the socialist left, which at the moment is disproportionately made up of whitecollar workers, have adopted a misguided workerism. It is a perspective that glorifies a crude caricature of blue-collar culture, in an attempt to bond with those on lowest tiers of the capitalist system. To these more privileged members of the working class, casual indifference to animal exploitation is a defining trait of bluecollar workers. That this is immensely condescending should go without saying. But its also not based on a socialist understanding of class. For socialists, economic groups are not defined by eating habits, culture or even income. Theyre defined by someones relationship to the means of production. My class struggle resume isnt anything to write home about. But its not something Im embarrassed about either. Ive written for a variety of leftist publications, from Socialist Worker to Z Magazine. I was active in the Occupy movement, for which I spent a couple days in jail. I filed charges against my employer, and won a settlement, for union busting. Ive made some humble contributions, but Im also a vegan. And Im sick of feeling Ill be treated like the late comedian Rodney Dangerfieldno respect!if I dont hide my feelings in socialist circles.

Page 8 Industrial Worker October 2013

Special

The Parallels Between The Sisters Camelot &

By Travis Elise & Robbie Jenson Travis & Robbie are members of the Jimmy Johns Workers Union and the Twin Cities General Membership Branch of the IWW. This is Part 2 of an article in which they discuss the similarities between the struggles at Jimmy Johns and Sisters Camelot. Part 1 appeared on pages 1 & 6 of the September IW. This is the first we have heard of your concerns. If we had known, we would have gladly made things better. You can use existing ways to engage with the business so we can fix problems by working together. We will do things to show our appreciation of you and make it easier for you to come to us. Many workers go to management with grievances when they first arise; we are conditioned to seek help from authority figures, whether they are parents, teachers, police officers or bosses. This is rarely ever effective in the workplace, however, because management is typically more removed from the grievance or because resolving it is simply not in their self-interest. This is frustrating and demoralizing for workers, especially those who genuinely care about their work. It is more productive for workers to talk to management collectively or to implement solutions together through direct action. When workers realize that their problems are common problems based on shared experiences, they are able to assert their needs more strongly together. In the past, canvass directors and canvassers for Sisters Camelot have unsuccessfully attempted to individually lobby the collective to improve the working conditions of the canvassers without success, causing many canvassers and directors to leave on bad terms. Even the simple fact that the canvass workers have to go to an authority with their ideas, needs and demands debunks the idea that Sisters Camelot is an organization based on worker control. In an organization that allegedly values social justice and direct action, the canvassers should be able to implement their ideas for improving their conditions and performance at work without seeking approval from anyone above them. In an anti-union drive, bosses will always offer concessions that serve both as gestures to placate the workers and as mechanisms for challenging the power of the union by roping workers back into systems that are controlled by management. The solution proposed (and major concession made) by the bosses has been for canvassers to join the collective. By offering them spots on the collective, the bosses are individualizing the workers in an attempt to divide and conquer. One canvasser on the collective can easily become overpowered and demoralized while the other canvassers remain entirely disempowered. The same thing occurred when Hardy Coleman, a former canvass director and then collective member, attempted to implement changes identical to many of the demands presented by the canvassers to the collective. It happened again when Bobby Becker was a member of the collective and became the sole advocate for the canvassers. Theres no reason to believe things will be any different if a different canvasser or two were to become collective members. At Jimmy Johns, bosses gave out raises and had one-on-one conversations with workers to try to legitimize their so-called open door policy and hinder the collective action of the workers. The canvassers are in agreement about what they need in order to improve their work environment and do a better job. They shouldnt need to join another body of the organization in order to make changes related to their work. Additionally, they shouldnt need to take on the responsibility of making decisions about other programs carried out by the organization if they dont want to. Part of the problem in this situation is that workers within the organization have the power to make decisions about the entire organization while others have no decision-making power at all. It is the right of all workers to control their own work environment and processes, and no other group needs to do that for them. Additionally, no worker should have to work unpaid time (a requirement for being part of the collective) to have a say on the job. We are workers, too. We have worked hard to build this business and deserve your respect. Your organizing is hurtful to us. We are victims of your organizing. In anti-union drives, bosses like to emphasize the fact that they also show up to work, contribute to the success of the business, or perhaps started it themselves. They like to play the victim card, insisting that workers organizing is uncalled for, offensive, hurtful and disrespectful. In this way, management and/or owners try to frame the union drive as a personal matter and try to draw attention to themselves. They often say the organizing drive is unfair and that there are more appropriate ways to engage with the company in order to offer suggestions or express concerns. This argument also veils a threat: if you organize, you will betray me and I will make your life at work hellish. At Jimmy Johns, as with most businesses, preferential treatment is offered to workers who are in the good graces of management by being particularly reverent to authorities or doing personal favors. During the anti-union drive at Jimmy Johns, work-

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ers were generally mistreated, including being denied raises because they declared union support, while others were given promotions and raises for taking the side of the company. Of course, the Sisters Camelot collective members do work and perform important functions for the organizations operations and programs. This is not, however, about the collective, and no canvasser has spoken ill of work done in their programs. The issue at hand is simply that one group of workers has power over their own work and that of an entirely different group of workers, leaving the latter disenfranchised. To make this union out to be an attack on Sisters Camelot as an organization or the collective members as workers is classist and narrow-minded. It ignores workers who lack their own autonomy, and Jimmy Johns workers picket. Photo: twincities.indymedia.org it indicates a defense of capitalist hier- missed shifts; since the canvassers raise archies. Denying any worker their basic 95 percent of the organizations operating right alongside their fellow workers, and budget, this obviously affects the organito exert control over their own work by zations financial status. As far as medical refusing to relinquish your power is, well, bills go, its a basic workers right. All exactly what Jimmy Johns did. And it is employees should be entitled to workers done partly out of a love for control and compensation for workplace injuries, and authority, partly out of a distrust of the if Sisters Camelot refuses to accept this deworkforce that is fundamentally rooted in mand, they are worse than even the most classism, and partly out of a desire to con- sinister corporation by taking advantage tinue to control the flow of capital. This is of their contracted workers. There are also negotiable demands painfully similar to the situation unfolding at Sisters Camelot. The bosses at Sisters that indisputably will increase productivdont trust the workers nor do they show ity within the canvass operation, such any indication of giving up any of their as accepting credit card donations at power. The collective has explicitly stated the door. Other demands will improve they dont trust the canvassers with things the canvassers experiences at work and such as credit card information. The col- encourage them to do better work, like lective has also said the structural changes paid sick days and vacation, a 5 percent would be unhealthy for Sisters Camelot base pay raise, an extra bonus for working and that there must be accountability in four shifts per week in addition to raising place. By accountability, they obviously $500 per week, and access for the canvass mean accountability to the collective. To coordinator to view online donations. All say the canvass should be accountable to of these ideas would encourage canvassers the collective but not vice versa is incred- to invest themselves more strongly in their work, which directly affects the income of ibly disrespectful and belittling. the organization as a whole. The primary The union drive could cause the reason for opposing these demands is not business to close. We simply cant financial; it is because of a lack of trust that, like Jimmy Johns, is a backward, afford to have a union. Management will jump to the worst classist, and selfish tendency that is keeppossible scenario in an anti-union drive. ing Sisters Camelot from truly realizing In many ways, this is meant to play on the its alleged goal as a worker-controlled fears of workers. It plays into the idea that organization. The last point related to money is workers should feel lucky to even have a simple: no demand costs an organization job in an effort to undermine their dignity and their basic right to make a living and more than an anti-union drive. The collechave control over their work. Sure, all tive has attempted to paint the economic businesses will be affected by some of the demands of the union as too costly to the direct action tactics used by workers when organization. This anti-union drive is costthey organize, including strikes, but this ing Sisters Camelot far more money than is a necessary part of forcing people in they would incur by giving the workers a power to relinquish the power that does 5 percent raise and increase in their funnot belong to them. At Jimmy Johns, the draising bonuses. In fact, the organization company threatened to do away with bike itself is on the brink of collapse. Programdelivery, claiming they would be unable to ming has been cut, they are planning on afford the insurance policy with the added moving out of their warehouse space and cost of having a union. Similarly, the col- the collective members cant even afford lective at Sisters Camelot threatened to to pay themselves anymore. At Jimmy Johns, the bosses spent replace the canvassers with volunteers. When it comes to Sisters Camelot, about $3,000 a day over the course of this argument is simply ludicrous. Few of a month and a half on a union-busting the canvassers demands are economic; consulting firm called the Labor Relations most are structural and related to improv- Institute. They also spent an incredible ing workplace democracy. The only two amount of money on lawyers and legal fees non-negotiable money-related demands fighting the Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) are professional van maintenance and charges we filed against them. Additionmedical bills paid for work-related inju- ally, the pickets we held at stores, the ries. Professional van maintenance is a phone blasts we did that shut down overno-brainer. Without a reliably functioning the-phone delivery orders at stores, and Continued on next page van, canvassers have had shortened and

October 2013 Industrial Worker Page 9

Special

Jimmy Johns Anti-Union Campaigns: Part 2

Continued from previous page the negative media attention the company received during the union drive certainly reduced their revenue. In all, simply giving us what we were demanding (a $1 per hour raise for all drivers and supervisors and a $2 per hour raise for all in-shoppers) would have cost them less money than fighting us for so long. The threat that unions will bring financial hardship to a company is typically nothing but an empty threat to scare the workers. The IWW is an aggressive organization with scary politics that is using you to achieve its political agenda. They will harass and trick you. We can protect you from them. In all union drives, unions in general are criticized (even while praised, as mentioned earlier). Attention will be drawn to various aspects of unions that can be framed in an unpopular light. These aspects include expensive mandatory union dues, union bureaucrats making decisions on the workers behalf, a complicated grievance process, and dues money being given to politicians without the workers input. In the IWW, none of these criticisms apply since our union doesnt share those characteristics common to other unions. Instead, we Wobblies are criticized in other ways. Most commonly we are redbaited. At Jimmy Johns, we were called radicals, anarchists, communists, socialists, anti-capitalists, anti-Americans, terrorists (yes, seriously!), troublemakers, zealots and so on. We were told that we were being aggressive toward the company and attempting to bully the bosses into submission. We were accused of violent tactics including sabotaging the companys equipment and inventory of products. During our sick day campaign and subsequent firings, the companys lawyers tried to argue our campaign for sick days constituted extortion. At Sisters Camelot, similar accusations have been levied against the canvassers. They have been accused of being aggressive and being bullies for simply making demands and going on strike after the collective refused to negotiate with them. When the canvassers escalated and turned up the pressure, the collective members (and their friends who were also targeted) became downright hysterical. At Jimmy Johns, when we announced ourselves as the Jimmy Johns Workers Union (JJWU) and presented our demands, the bosses thought we were being aggressive. When we actually became aggressive, our bosses demonized us even more. However, they did begin to give in on some demands, including less tangible ones like better treatment of workers by management. The lesson to be learned here is that bosses dont respond to simple requests to change things at work. They arent convinced by others moralizing or arguing with them. They are convinced when its in their own self-interest to change. And that usually comes about when severe economic, social, and/or emotional pressure is put on them. Exerting these types of pressure was the JJWU strategy and it is also the Sisters Camelot Canvass Unions strategy, and the strategy of all militant unions. A cornerstone in the union busting arsenal, used by the bosses against unions of all stripes including the IWW, is to paint the union as a separate entity from the workers themselves with a separate agenda from the workers. We call this third party-ing the union. At Jimmy Johns, this message was a core part of the bosses narrative. In one of the companys propaganda posters they stated the IWW was using the workers to advance our political cause and the company was helping the workers cause. Sisters Camelot and their supporters have also painted the IWW as a third party with an agenda separate from the workers. When the strike first started, members of the community publicly attacked the IWW for going after Sisters Camelot, saying we were racist and that we are against poor people. Notice they didnt say this about the canvassers themselves, just the IWW. This implies two things. First, it implies the IWW has a sinister motive that is separate from the canvassers struggle to gain control over their work environment. Second, it implies that the IWW is really the one in the drivers seat and not the canvassers. In reality, the canvassers make all their own decisions. They dont need to have their decisions or strategies approved by any other IWW body. While individual Wobblies offer advice and input, the canvassers themselves call all the shots. This narrative constructed by the Sisters Camelot collective and their supporters ignores the agency of the canvassers and implies that a union campaign involves a group of professionals that parachute in and rescue workers instead of a struggle involving those directly affected. There is a certain individual that is causing problems for all of us. They are hostile, manipulative and disruptive, and they are destroying our relationship with you. They have ulterior motives. We will all be better off without them. In many union drives, certain individuals and/or social groups will be singled out and scapegoated as the main agitators and instigators to delegitimize the union campaign. This, among other things, takes the focus off the experiences, grievances and demands of the workers. At Jimmy Johns, certain organizers were singled out due to their well-known pasts as IWW organizers in other high profile union campaigns. Additionally, there were attempts to marginalize certain social groups that were seen as the home base of the core organizers of the campaign. Attempts were made by the company to paint the union as young, white male delivery drivers from the Southside of Minneapolis. When the company decided to clean house and fire a group of core organizers after a very threatening escalation tactic taken by the union surrounding a sick day campaign, the bosses specifically decided to fire only six workers, all of whom were white and male from the same social scene. The core organizers who were women or people of color were only disciplined, but not fired. As a result, the company was able to frame a narrative of the union being for certain workers and not others. The phrase drivers union became common in the shop among workers who became convinced of the bosss narrative and is still used by many workers who werent part of the campaign at its height. At Sisters Camelot, a very similar anti-union message has been created. Instead of addressing the workers actual demands, the Sisters Camelot managing collective shifted the focus to one worker who they accused of theft, being abusive, and manipulating the rest of the canvassers into forming the union. The collective and their supporters have continually made the entire struggle about this one worker and not about the concerns of all of the workers. This is done to distract people from the real issues at stakethe experiences, grievances, and demands of the workers.

Graphic: iww.org

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The Dirty Truth: Bosses Will Lie. A final characteristic of anti-union campaigns is a barrage of lies and halftruths coming from management. At Jimmy Johns, our committee spent an enormous amount of energy refuting the spin management put on the organizing campaign. The aftermath of the Jimmy Johns union recognition election is an excellent example. After we narrowly lost our union election, but ULPs against the company nullified its results, the company put out a statement addressing the election and subsequent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) settlement resulting from the ULPs. In the statement, they claimed the NLRB only found merit with one-third of all the ULPs we filed. In reality, they only investigated one-third of the ULPs and found merit with all but two of them (out of more than 20). The NLRB found these ULPs to be sufficient to rule the election null and void. If the company had decided to go to court instead of taking a settlement, the NLRB would have investigated the rest of the ULPs. The statement also claimed that we admitted in the settlement that the company committed no wrongdoing. In reality, the settlement contained a clause stating the company is not admitting to violating Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (which protects concerted activity of workers), which both parties agreed to. The NLRB explained to us this was a standard clause in all settlements involving first-time offenders of Section 7. The Sisters Camelot collective published an FAQ and a letter making several claims that are manipulative and spun to hide the truth. For instance, they claimed that their collective is open, and anyone

who meets the requirements can join. What they conveniently omitted was the fact that any collective member can block any potential applicant from joining for any reason. The collective has also claimed that none of the collective members are paid. In reality, the position of collective member is a non-paid volunteer position, but all the current collective members also hold paid positions within the organization which only collective members can hold. In another statement, the collective claimed that the canvassers union went on strike about an hour after giving their demands. This statement failed to mention that the collective flat-out refused to negotiate with the union, which caused the strike to happen. Similarly, at the NLRB trial to reinstate the fired canvasser, a collective member testified that the canvassers wanted a few of their demands met the first day of negotiations. She also claimed the canvassers said they were going to go on strike at the beginning of negotiations. The reality is quite different. The canvassers asked the collective to pick one or two demands that they could begin negotiations on that day. The canvassers didnt say they wanted the collective to agree to those demands that day. Furthermore, the canvassers stated at the beginning of the negotiations they were willing to go on strike if the collective refused to negotiate in good faith. These are but a few examples of the many lies and half-truths the collective has spun to manipulate the truth. In doing so, they behaved as any other boss: with dishonesty and manipulation. This strike, which continues to drag on, has revealed many things about the nature of the Sisters Camelot organization, its bosses, and those so-called radicals in the community who support the status quo at Sisters. Those who have defended the collective have done so largely in blind defense of the collective model. And in doing so, they have caused the organization to nearly be destroyed. No matter how much Sisters Camelot claims to be anti-authoritarian, their actions speak more truth than the identities they subscribe to. In doing so, they have proven they are no better than the bosses at Jimmy Johns.

Page 10 Industrial Worker October 2013

Wobbly Arts

This (Mobile Rail) Train Is Bound For Glory The Womans Ecosystem
By Sean Carleton, X364847 This song is dedicated to the members of the IWW Mobile Rail Workers Union fighting for better working conditions, unionization and justice in Chicago. Love and solidarity, fellow workers! Tune: This Train is Bound for Glory, traditional. G This train is bound for glory, this train. G D This train is bound for glory, this train. G This train is bound for glory, C Now listen up to this union story. G D G Thisl train is bound for glory, this train. This train dont run without workers, this train; This train dont run without workers, this train; This train dont run without the workers, Try telling that to the bossy burglars, This train dont run without workers, this train. This train is owned by liars, this train; This train owned by liars, this train; This train is owned by liars, Mobile Rail just wants their profits higher This train is owned by liars, this train. This train dont carry no scabs, this train; This train dont carry no scabs, this train; This train dont carry no scabs, Dont want to lose like a bucket full of crabs This train dont carry no scabs, this train. This train is leaving in the morning, this train. This train is leaving in the morning, this train. This train is leaving in the morning Our unions winning, a new days dawning! This train is leaving in the morning, this train. This train is bound for glory, this train. This train is bound for glory, this train. This train is bound for glory, So fight with the wobblies and be jolly. This train is bound for glory, this train.
Photo: IWW Mobile Rail Workers Union

By Nicki Meier Theres an ecosystem in my mind. Its evolving. Ive recently cleared away all the decrepit cobwebs. It smells faintly of my grandmothers attic. A box of old books, some fake pearl jewelry and her old wedding dress, Withered away and stained from years of exposure and moths. It smells of a distant and hazy childhood. Perhaps a lot of which is just my imagination. But its comforting, nonetheless. This childhood was certainly nothing grand. But it was mine. You see, even now, women rarely have much thats their own. But we do have memories. Even if theyre mostly illusions. You see, I have very few clear memories from my childhood. I mostly craft my own stories from still images, from photographs. I imagine these stories Ive dreamed up are probably much more exciting than my real life. Of course, thats not very difficult. You see, poor folks dont usually get to have lives worth telling, goals, or even dreams. Not even the kind you craft between long shifts on the commute home, Were too exhausted for that. But, you see, Im always dreaming, Even while Im awake. My pa used to say I was in a daze. Always off in my own little world. That world in my mind-- my own little ecosystem. Id abandoned all hope of a complex system up there, Until recently. I think it was the passing of my pa that really stirred things up. Now Im more determined than ever. Ive got big plans for this system, My own ecosystem, however small. Like I said before, its mine, and women, especially poor women, We almost never have things of our own. Someday, if youre lucky, Youll be around to take a peek into my little ecosystem. By then it wont be so little anymore. Im growing big things. Just you wait and see.
Graphic: psychotherapist.org

(Untited)

By Shane Everbeck ...after a long pause, he told me it was a ticket to hope, the small crumpled sheet with arcane glyphs being the object of my inquiry, an all too precious commodity hope, we graze on warmed flesh, like the body of christ on Sunday, our daily sacrament, escaping into reality-tv from the grim state of reality for my father, consumed body and soul nine to five, to feed the unending appetite of the chief deity in Americas pantheon Mammon, god of ambition, the prince of hope, his sigil stamped on that crumpled paper and the heart of mankind stuffed in a pack of Camel 99s

Graphic: radicalgraphics.org

Graphic: Tom Keough

From Matteo Zito Pages of the the IW were discovered on th walls of Pl-zen restaurant in Chicago, in a mural done by artist Alejandro Arango.

IW Mural In Chicago

Photos: Matteo Zito

October 2013 Industrial Worker Page 11

Special

A Day In The Life Of An IWW General Headquarters Staffer

Curly fries, a staple food at GHQ (left); FWs visiting headquarters, and busy at work (center); the storefront at 2036 W. Montrose Ave. (right).

Photos: Diane Krauthamer

By Matt Muchowski Hi, my name is Matt Muchowski and Ive been a staff member at IWWs General Headquarters (GHQ) here in Chicago for the last year and a half. Ive been a member of the IWW since 2003 when I got a red card at a Labor Day rally in Pittsburgh. Working here has been hard but fun. I wanted to write a little bit about what its like here to help provide a clearer picture of what we do so that members and anyone thinking of running for General SecretaryTreasurer (GST) in the future, or anyone who wants to stop by now and volunteer, will understand what happens at GHQ. We often talk to potential members who think the IWW is bigger than we are or smaller than we are. I remember one person in Texas called us the Navy Seals of the labor movement. The reality is that for a union with members spread out across the United States and the world, we are small, but growing. One of our biggest tasks at GHQ is working on ways to engage members (especially at-large members, or those who arent connected with a branch, shop, or local industrial union) and to be prepared to handle future growth. GHQs basic duties involve maintaining and keeping a record of the unions finances and member list. Day-to-day, that means we process delegate reports, deposit dues money into the unions bank account, write checks for the various bills the union has (rent, postage, printing and travel costs), receive mail and answer the phone. GST Sam Green handles almost all of the financial side of things while I do a lot of the member list side of things, a job that Sam did before he was elected as GST. The member list entails tracking members dues payments and their contact information. So when we receive a piece of mail returned because the address was incorrect, I am the person who calls and emails members to get their correct address. I also spend some time everyday updating the GHQ Facebook page, communicating with members from different branches about different questions or concerns they have, and mailing supplies to delegates. In the last two years we have started a summer internship program. We make the program very educational for students and have helped some receive

school credit and outside funding. Some days we have volunteers who help out with different tasks around the office such as stamping our return address on envelopes, data entry and packing Literature Department orders. People who volunteer even just a few hours at GHQ save us a lot of time and help us respond quicker to the time-sensitive duties that we have. The IWW does more than any other union in the United States, and probably the world, to keep members informed of how their dues are being used by creating a new issue of the General Organizational Bulletin (GOB) every month. The GOB details the unions finances and member statistics; GHQ is responsible for compiling it and distributing it every month. Currently, GHQ shares a space at 2036 W. Montrose Ave. in Chicago with the Literature Department, whose job is to help spread pro-IWW knowledge and act as a fundraising arm for the union. Our storefront looks like a book store, while the back has desks where we handle the work of GHQ and a conference room which I jokingly refer to as the Joe Hill Memorial Conference Room because we keep Joe Hills urn there with several other historical items. Despite holding onto several items of historical note, including several filing cabinets filled with old copies of the Industrial Worker and the GOB, most of our historical artifacts are at the IWW archive at Wayne State Universitys Walter P. Reuther Library in Detroit. While we are happy to talk to the occasional students and labor history buffs that stop by the office, its not really our primary duty, as our office is not a library or history center but an active union office. We are often asked about the scope of our responsibilities, with questions like: Is GHQ the national office for the IWW? The international? GHQ is ultimately the international office for the IWW, however much of what we do in the United Statesprocessing dues, recording members statusis handled internationally by Regional Organizing Committees (ROCs), who then send us reports. ROCs play an especially important role in helping to organize internationally, as they are more familiar with the on-the-ground situation. Sometimes GHQ is asked to pass a

resolution on an important or timely issue. However, we dont set policy. We simply work for the union and its members. The General Executive Board (GEB) consists of elected volunteers of the union, and they set the budget, pass resolutions, and do a lot of other work to provide oversight to GHQ and the various committees throughout the union such as the International Solidarity Commission, the Organizing Department, and others. Sometimes GHQ receives calls from people suggesting ideas for the unions newspaper, the Industrial Worker. While the Literature Department handles the finances and part of the administrative work for the newspaper, the editor, Diane, is not based out of GHQ. While GHQ is engaged in organizing workers into the union, we mainly focus on keeping the administrative side of the union functional and responsive to members. Most of the time when someone calls us and is interested in organizing at their workplace, we try to put them in touch with the organizing committee of their nearest branch, or lacking that, the Organizing Department itself. In addition to entering delegate reports into our database, I am responsible for providing dues stamps to the several hundred at-large members of the union who pay their dues to GHQ either through the mail or the unions website. Regarding at-large members, we are always trying to put them in touch with other Wobblies in their area. We notify all new at-large members about nearby branches and give them a phone and email address of a Wobbly who has agreed to be a new member contact. Among some of the projects we have taken up since GHQ moved to Chicago a few years ago was a plan to call prospective new members who fill out the member application online. We like to touch base with them, answer any questions they have, and try to put them in touch with Wobblies who live near them. Seeing as how we are the only union that I know of that allows new members to join through our website, we often have people sign up in pretty remote areas. We do not currently have branches in places like Mississippi and Arkansas, yet we have several new members every month

in those states. Its only a matter of time before we have enough critical mass to develop a branch in areas like that. When someone joins in an area without a branch, we like to talk to them to gauge their interest in building a branch. If they are willing and able, we can connect with other members past and present in their area. Many times members join and drop out after a few months simply because there arent other IWW members for them to get together and organize with, but if a Wobbly in the area is willing to do the grunt work to make something happen, those former members are usually more than willing to get involved and pay dues again. This is how the Indiana and Alaska branches became so active recently. The rate of members who drop out is one of our unions biggest challenges and is something that we hope the unions new database will help solve. Currently the union does most of our reports on paper, re-copying information and mailing the paper documents from delegate, to branch secretary, to GHQ. At GHQ we have to enter the information twice, once on our accounting software, and then I enter it on our member database to keep track of members dues. The union as a whole is duplicating our effort and using time on data entry that could be better spent on organizing. GHQ often gets calls from members or delegates checking the status of a report because these reports can sometimes take a month to be compiled, mailed, and processed at GHQ. It can be especially frustrating when GHQ receives six months of old delegate reports from a single branch at once. Hopefully when our new database is set up delegates and members will be able to update their information once and GHQ can spend more time doing follow-up and analysis. Well be able to focus on helping delegates and branches with issues they might have, engaging members who have fallen behind on dues on what is going on, and better connecting members to each other so we can organize and build a strong working-class movement. If you have any questions about GHQ or the unions administration, dont hesitate to shoot us an email at ghq@iww.org or call us at 773-728-0996.

Strike agit prop, artist unknown.

Graphic: Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University

Page 12 Industrial Worker October 2013

Mid Yorkshire Health Workers Strike

The IWW formed the International Solidarity Commission to help the union build the worker-to-worker solidarity that can lead to effective action against the bosses of the world. To contact the ISC, email solidarity@iww.org.

Upstate NY Wobs Picket Baseball Hall Of Fame

Wobbly Solidarity With Garment Workers In Bangladesh

By Greg Giorgio Eagle and other retailers to comThe Upstate New York Genply with implied and legislated eral Membership Branch (GMB) standards to create both safer of the IWW returned to the working conditions and basic National Baseball Hall of Fame rights like collective bargaining. and Museum in Cooperstown, When the Upstate New York N.Y., to conduct informational GMB set up their literature table picketing in mid-August to and began to spread information show solidarity with the garamongst the baseball fans in Cooment workers of Bangladesh. perstown, a Hall of Fame official, This demonstration was largely who never identified himself, a reaction to two factory deathattempted to discourage the acPhoto: Paul Poulos trap tragedies in Bangladesh, at FW Greg Giorgio tion. Do you have a permit? he Tazreen and Rana Plaza, which protests. asked. This was a pretext for his killed some 1,300 wage slaves suggestion to move across the in the sweatshop designed free trade street once the Wobblies assured him they zone where several million earn paltry had no intention to move along. The threat sums as the lowest paid garment workers of police enforcement was an empty one. in the world. Wobblies spent an hour talking to fans FW Paul Poulos told several onlook- about how Major League Baseball is a ers that these workers were murdered big profiteer in sweatshop produced team while handing out the pickets flier, titled logo gear, some fashioned in Bangladesh. The Black Cat Moan. The Tazreen fire The Upstate New York GMB also has killed about 130 workers when fire ex- been working with other Wobs to coorits were locked and extinguishers were dinate actions and conduct fundraising largely unavailable. Rana Plaza claimed in solidarity with the National Garment 1,127 when the building, a flimsy and Workers Federation of Bangladesh in the illegal construction which had begun to wake of these recent factory deaths. Stay give way days earlier, collapsed on mostly in touch with these efforts, join an upcomyoung women. These and other factory ing conference call, and donate. Please deaths in Bangladesh in recent years have contact FW Greg Giorgio at 518-861-5627 prompted Wobblies and other activists or ggwob56@yahoo.com. Donations can to call for renewed efforts to pressure be sent to: Upstate N.Y. IWW, P.O. Box the Gap, Walmart, Benetton, American 235 Albany, NY 12201-0235.

From Libcom.org Bosses at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals National Health Service (NHS) Trust, which provides health care services to the surrounding areas including Dewsbury and Wakefield, thought they could begin an onslaught on the wages and conditions of staff with an attack on what they perceived to be the weakest workers, namely Photo: libcom.org administrative staff. They Picket lines in West Yorkshire. attempted in part to recoup 21.8 million protect the staffs salary for a three-year of cuts over 2012-2013 by downgrading period. In many ways this puts the battle off administrative workers, which meant that some staff were facing wage cuts of 2,800 to a future date, but to millions of workers who are burdened by attacks from the per year. Management poorly miscalculated government, it shows that resolute strike when they thought that administrative action can get results. Now, members are bracing themselves staff would accept these cuts, which would pave the way for attacks on other workers. for a fight against managements proposals After a successful ballot for industrial ac- for a new partnership agreement, which tion, the 2,500 UNISON members took the Royal College of Nursing disgracefully strike action nine times for 24-hour peri- backed and which could result in the UNIods and waged a staunch press campaign, SON branch secretary and Socialist Party hitting the headlines of local television member Adrian OMalley being made and building up public support with well- redundant when his post is deleted. If we are truly to defend workers, we attended picket lines. The strike action prevented management from imposing need more rank-and-file organization of wage cuts and forced them to negotiate workers in different unions, bypassing the through the Advisory, Conciliation and bureaucracy of the unions to ferment inArbitration Service (ACAS), where man- dependent and collective action to defend agement was forced into a deal that will all workers and not just sectional interests.

Bahrain Guest Workers Strike

By John Kalwaic Following the mysterious suicide of Deu Ram Rai, 22, around 500 Nepali temporary guest workers from Nepal, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh went on indefinite strike for increased wages and better living conditions in the Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain on Aug. 24. The strikers, who had only been in Bahrain for 20 months, believe that Deu Ram Rai hung himself because the company was denying his sick days despite him being very ill. Although their fellow workers suicide was the catalyst for the strike, the workers have a set of demands that includes sick time and better living conditions. Currently, the workers do not get sick time even with a doctors note and are cramped together with eight to nine people in a labor camp room designed for four. They

Pittsburgh, Boston Wobs Show Solidarity

By Kenneth Miller On June 8, members of the the Pittsburgh IWW held a nice action in a little upscale fashion district called Shadyside. There were no media and no cops, just a bunch of Wobblies and other antisweatshop activists protesting in front of Benetton. We talked to customers and retail workers about sweatshops and we had copies of the Accord on Factory and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which was passed on May 13, to discuss. We tried to envision how we would process a grievance at Benetton in Shadyside with the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) of Bangladesh. Our signs said Fight Like Hell for the Living and Let's Talk about Benetton Sweatshops. Mike Stout brought enlarged photos of the collapsed factory in Dhaka. We had a nice flier to hand out with a terrific IWW graphic, Workers With the Needle by Andy P. and text by Mathieu Dube and Jacob Brent. Robin Clark brought an updated flier about the Gap and Walmart not being signatories to the safety accord, and distributed some IWW membership information to workers in Shadyside before our action.

also demand more vacation time and a canteen inside their Sitra accommodation. The company claimed that it was only the Nepali workers who went on strike and that they had threatened the other workers from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh to prevent them from going to work. The company also claimed that the strikers are being unreasonable and gave them a time frame for stopping the strike or having their contracts terminated. The majority of the residents of Bahrain are foreign guest workers who work as cheap laborers. Unlike other gulf countries, workers can join unions and strike in Bahrain; however, the workers who are allowed to join a union and strike tend to be native Bahrainis, not foreign guest workers. With files from Gulf Daily News. Jonathan D. Beasley contributed to this piece.

Poland: Protests But No Strike

Photo: Boston IWW Boston Wobs occupy a Gap & protest in solidarity with Bangladeshi garment workers on June 16.

On June 28, Fight Back Pittsburgh organized an action at the Gap in Shadyside. Folks from the United Steelworkers (USW) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) participated. Patrick Young, president of the USWs staff union, did a great deal to help organize this event. After the Gap, they marched past Benetton over to Banana Republic, another retail/ fashion label owned by the Gap. We are doing as much as we can with the fundraising graphic from FW Tom Keough, which is a terrific IWW silent agitator (see below). We are really pleased that Greg Giorgio and Paul Poulos in upstate New York are bottom-lining this fundraising effort. The Pittsburgh IWW is looking to do more actions in the future.

Mass protests in Warsaw on Sept. 14.

Graphic: Tom Keough

From Libcom.org At least 100,000 people joined the demonstrations called by the three main trade unions in Poland against the legislation that basically did away with the guaranteed eight-hour work day in Poland (see Poland Eliminates The Eight-Hour Day, September IW, page 12). Despite the serious attacks against the working class, the unions backed off from calling strikes after the government threatened to do away with the system that gives them subsidized, paid union jobs. It is obvious that this system is used to manage a class of labor bureaucrats who have become used to the understanding between them and the bosses: dont make trouble and we will finance your cadres of unionists. At the rank-and-file level, there are people ready to strike. But they are also

constrained by the unions which follow the restrictive laws on strikes and take all measures possible to moderate any potential action from the workers. Some years ago, there were more workers who were ready to break union discipline, but now many seem quite demoralized. Despite the large number of demonstrators, the protests were much calmer than the ones which Photo: libcom.org took place in the country five to ten years ago. The unions also did little to spread the protest to other unions and social groups, instead choosing to deliberately exclude some, such as the fourth largest union in Poland. The mobilization from the right wing was quite large, whereas the left and alternative mobilizations were very weak, highlighting the unfortunate social situation in the country at present. Nazis and fascists took part in the event, going after various comrades. Despite the large protest, it looks like the Polish working class is still far from taking more resolute action against the attacks against it, exposing it to even further abuse and ensuring its position as a source of cheap labor for capitalists who are looking to dump jobs there. We can only hope some things will happen to turn the situation around in the near future.