By: David Bacon, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed, Friday 27 August 2010

Hashmeya Muhsin, head of the electrical workers union, talks with other union leaders at a meeting in Basra. (Photos by David Bacon)

Early in the morning of July 21, police stormed the offices of the Iraqi Electrical Utility Workers Union in Basra, the poverty-stricken capital of Iraq's oil-rich south. A shamefaced officer told Hashmeya Muhsin, the first woman to head a national union in Iraq, that they'd come to carry out the orders of Electricity Minister Hussain al-Shahristani to shut the union down. As more police arrived, they took the membership records, the files documenting often-atrocious working conditions, the leaflets for demonstrations protesting Basra's agonizing power outages, the computers and the phones. Finally, Muhsin and her coworkers were pushed out and the doors locked.

Shahristani's order prohibits all trade union activity in the plants operated by the ministry, closes union offices, and seizes control of union assets from bank accounts to furniture. The order says the ministry will determine what rights have been given to union officers, and take them all away. Anyone who protests, it says, will be arrested under Iraq's Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005.

So ended seven years in which workers in the region's power plants have fought for the right to organize a legal union, to bargain with the electrical ministry, and to stop the contracting-out and privatization schemes that have threatened their jobs.

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To the Board of Directors of the Ecology Center:

As you are aware, the Industrial Workers of the World represents the workers at Curbside Recycling, which the Ecology Center operates. Over recent years, we have seen a pattern of behavior of your management team that betrays a strong anti-union attitude and borders on outright union busting.

• During negotiations for a new contract in December of 2007, your negotiation team sought to remove from the contract the clause that permits our members to refuse to cross a picket line. In other words, they sought the power to try to turn our members into strike breakers.
• During the negotiations for a new contract in December of 2008, Ecology Center management held a captive audience meeting with our members. This meeting, intentionally called without informing the union representatives, was an attempt to treat the Union as an unwanted "third party". This is a standard method of professional union busters.

At present, the IWW is filing for arbitration on behalf of one of its members. We are forced to do so due to flagrant violation of the contract by the Ecology Center management. This violation concerns the disciplining of one of our members.

• Ecology Center management decided this member was guilty before they even held a hearing with him to hear his explanation of events.
• Ecology Center management illegally demoted this member, in violation of the contract, thus saving themselves $7.50 per hour for every hour this member works.
• During the mediation step, the Ecology Center management once again made statements implying that the Union was some outside force, a "third party".

There are several different avenues that arbitration can take. The Ecology Center management has insisted on taking the most expensive avenue, knowing full well that the IWW is a small union that does not have a large treasury. While we are willing to fight the full length for our members, meaning that we will spend what is necessary, this tactic of the Ecology Center management is not lost upon us, especially in light of their previous actions. Meanwhile, the Ecology Center management team parades behind their "green" and "community oriented" banner while they trample on the rights of their workers and carry on what can only be described as an anti-union policy.

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Sign the National Labor Committee’s petition demanding that apparel licensers step and facilitate an agreement that results in Bangladeshi workers be paid 41 cents an hour - link.

Sign the SweatFree Communities petition demanding the immediate release of Kalpona Akter - link.

YES! We need you to talk about sweatshop on Roberto Clemente Bridge on Saturday August 21! See you there at 5 PM.

YES! We need help following up on every aspect of the letter to Pittsburgh City Council posted below:

Kenneth Miller
Pittsburgh Anti Sweatshop Community Alliance
c/o Thomas Merton Center
5129 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15224

412-867-9213
nosweatshopsbucco@yahoo.com

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The following Resolution was adopted by a unanimous voice vote at its August 2010 General Membership Branch Meeting held Thursday, August 5, 2010:

[Begin]

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) acknowledge that police violence is a tragic yet common occurrence in working class communities and for people of color. A notable example took place January 1, 2009, when BART police officer Johannes Mehserle brutality shot and killed 22-year-old Oscar Grant without justification. Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and will be sentenced November 5, 2010.

The IWW firmly rejects police violence and stands beside the family and friends of Oscar Grant. In recognizing that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ the IWW is in solidarity with organized labor and members of the Bay Area community who seek justice for Oscar Grant and jail for Johannes Mehserle.

Furthermore, the IWW strongly supports the planned demonstration by labor and community groups Saturday October 23, 2010 at Oakland City Hall and joins in the call to ‘jail killer cops.’

[End]

Note: The original call out was made by ILWU Local 10, AFL-CIO

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Omaha, NE- Baristas and community supporters shut down the 15th and Douglas Starbucks (SBUX) this morning demanding that management reverse all cuts to healthcare, staffing, and benefits that have been imposed during the recession. The baristas claim that executives have no justification to squeeze working families with Starbucks raking in profits of $977.2 million in the past four fiscal quarters.

"We are being squeezed, and we can't take it any more. Since the recession began, Starbucks executives have ruthlessly gutted our standard of living. They doubled the cost of our health insurance, reduced staffing levels, cut our hours, all while demanding more work from us. Starbucks is now more than profitable again. It's time for management to give back what they took from us," said Sasha McCoy, a shift supervisor at the store.

Since the onset of the recession, Starbucks imposed a series of deep cuts on its workforce. Starting in 2008 as the economic downturn began, the coffee giant shuttered over 800 stores and slashed over 18000 jobs. The remaining skeleton crew workforce was stretched out, forced to push VIA and other promotional products while keeping the stores running with insufficient staffing levels. CEO Howard Schultz then doubled the cost of the company health insurance plan in September 2009, leaving many workers unable to afford medical treatment because of sky-high deductibles and premiums. While the cuts continue, Starbucks made a record profit of $207.9 million in the last quarter according to company figures.

The protesting baristas are members of the Starbucks Workers Union, which is an international campaign of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union. The store action makes the 15th and Douglas location the first Starbucks in Nebraska to have a public union presence. The workers decided to move to unionize after watching their standard of living be whittled away while top executives chose to reward investors with dividends.

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At Stake Are Their Jobs and $230,000 in Back Pay From Flaum Appetizing, a Kosher Food Producer in Brooklyn

By Maia Efrem - The Jewish Daily Forward, August 4, 2010

Workers who were fired by a Brooklyn kosher food producer after demanding overtime pay have been protesting outside the owner’s house and a supermarket this summer, and preparing for a return to the National Labor Relations Board this fall.

Flaum Appetizing, Inc., a producer of kosher salads, pickles, and smoked fish, has been embroiled in the dispute since it fired17 immigrant workers in May 2008. The terminated workers had complained about working conditions and demanded to be paid overtime after working 60 to 80 hours a week. The NLRB ruled that Flaum had violated the workers’ rights, and ordered their reinstatement with back pay. Flaum has not complied, and a NLRB hearing is set for September 21.

“Our belief is that if you work, if you sweat and deliver a service, you’re entitled to have your legal rights protected, and that includes payment for your work,” said Daniel Gross, executive director of Brandworkers International, a not-for-profit organization that advocates workers’ rights and has taken up the cause along with the Industrial Workers of the World union.

“The [fired] workers are currently very active on the streets, and we seek dialogue, but we are also not afraid to fight,” Gross said.

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Headlines:

• Arizona Restaurant Workers Call For International Boycott
• Immigrant Workers Demand Justice At Kosher Food Company in New York
• A Self-Organized Restaurant In Greece

Features:

• Solidarity With The Palestinian Working Class
• Protesting the G8/G20 Summits in Ontario
• Interview: Cindy Sheehan Talks Peace & Socialism

Download a free PDF copy of this issue.

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Dear brothers and sisters,

This letter is to declare the strong support of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the Pittsburgh Anti Sweatshop Community Alliance (PASCA)for the National Garment Worker Federation's (NGWF) campaign to increase the minimum wage from 1,162 Tk. to 5,000 Tk. per month. We are also declaring our support of the campaign: "No More Fires - No More Gate Lock - No More Garment Worker Deaths.”

These campaigns are sorely needed in the garment industry in Bangladesh. In February of 2010, 21 workers died as a result of fire at a garment factory in Bangladesh. Many of these deaths were a direct result of the front gates of the factory being locked, trapping workers on the premises as the fire raged. Sadly this is not an isolated incident. Since 1990 more than 400 garment workers have been killed as a result of factory fires. These deaths could have been prevented if there were adequate fire and safety measures in every garment factory. Therefore we support the NGWF campaign to bring attention to these preventable deaths. In addition to raising awareness the NGWF is also advocating that new safety laws and regulations be put in to place across the country. If laws such as these are implemented we believe many lives will be saved.

Similarly, we strongly support our brothers and sisters in the NGWF as they demand that the minimum wage be increased from 1,162 Tk. (about 24 US dollars) to 5,000 Tk. (about 71 US dollars) by 27 July 2010. The current minimum wage is grossly inadequate for any person to survive in Bangladesh, especially in and around the capital city of Dhaka. Survival on these paltry wages has been particularly difficult as the price of food and essentials has rapidly increased over the last several years. As was pointed out by Brother Amirul Hoque Amin, Bangladesh’s garment workers are the lowest paid of the major garment producing nations.

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Headlines:

• Unions Call For Blockade of Israeli Maritime Trade
• The "Deepwater Horizon" Oil Rig Disaster
• Wobblies To Sue U.S. Military For Spying And Infiltration In Olympia

Features:

• Organize For Workers' Safety
• On The Ground At The Organizing Summit In L.A.
• Fighting Notes From "Transitional" Serbia"

Download a free PDF copy of this issue.

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By Luci Scott - The Arizona Republic, Jun. 29, 2010

Twelve employees of Pei Wei Asian Diner at 54th Street and Ray Road in Chandler were fired after they skipped work to participate in a May 29 protest of the new immigration law Senate Bill 1070.

That was nearly half the staff at that restaurant, which has a workforce of about 30, said Pei Wei spokesman Peter Marino.

The fired workers violated a well-established Pei Wei attendance policy, he said.

"When employees choose not to show up for a scheduled shift and choose not to give notice, it causes tremendous disruption to fellow co-workers and impedes our ability to serve our guests," the company said in a statement.

At the same time, Pei Wei said it respects the rights of people to peacefully protest, and it does not comment on local, state or federal laws.

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The International Solidarity Commission (ISC) of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a global union dedicated to revolutionary social change and workers self-management, is shocked and appalled by Israeli forces’ attack this morning on the lead ship of a humanitarian aid convoy, the Turkish vessel “Mavi Marmaris”, killing at least ten people.

The ISC holds the Israeli authorities entirely responsible for the provocative storming of the ship, and condemns the harm caused to the civilians on board, who included peace activists and parliamentarians from many different countries.

The ISC supports any efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, who have been suffering the effects of the Israeli blockade since 2007, a suffering greatly intensified by the massacre of Dec 2008-Jan 2009. We salute the brave human rights activists attempting to deliver aid to the people of Gaza, including the crew and passengers on the MV Rachel Corrie, en route to Gaza.

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A protest was recently held at the Oakland docks against an Israeli ship that was due to be unloaded there. There was wide celebration on the left that this unloading was delayed for 24 hours. While this was a success, some weaknesses were also revealed. For more, see the attached article.

Headlines:

• The Right Tools For The Right Job - By George Dozsa
• Welcome to the Business-Friendly Carpenter’s Union - By David Correia
• “The Wobblies Show” Debuts - By Jim Del Duca

Features:

• Reader Suggested Books
• On the Job Crossword Puzzle - by Jay

Download a Free PDF of this issue.

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Note: This action was not called by the IWW, though some IWW members participated in the planning of the event and at least a dozen joined in the action. The organizers included the Transport Workers Solidarity Committee and ANSWER. This article was originally posted here.

In a historic action and unprecedented action today, over 800 labor and community activists blocked the gates of the Oakland docks in the early morning hours, prompting longshore workers to refuse to cross the picketlines where they were scheduled to unload an Israeli ship.

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Original Published at RVAnews [ http://rvanews.com/news/rrichmond-transit-riders-union-holds-first-meeting/29072 ]

Note: The Richmond Transit Riders Union was officially formed June 14th, 2010 at 9:30pm by riders of public transportation, namely Greater Richmond Transit Company, a bus system that serves the City of Richmond, Henrico, Petersburg, Fredricksburg, and *small* portion of Chesterfield County (co-owner with the City of Richmond), Virginia.

Richmond Transit Riders Union holds first meeting

by Erica Terrini

June 15, 2010

About 30 people attended the Richmond Transit Riders Union’s first Community Town Hall Meeting, Monday night at the University of Richmond Downtown building.

The RTRU’s initiating committee — made up of individual activists, Richmond Industrial Workers of the World members and other local organization supporters — spoke to community members about the Greater Richmond Transit Company’s (GRTC) recent service cuts, which they claim began with about five routes being eliminated and five being reduced in January.

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The IWW Starbucks Workers Union is proud to celebrate the sixth anniversary of our campaign for fair wages, consistent scheduling, a healthier and safer workplace, and a voice on the job at the world's largest coffee chain. As we enter our sixth year of struggle, we leave behind us a year marked by the continued rapid deterioration of working conditions at Starbucks: the doubling of our health insurance costs, massive layoffs, reduced staffing, and the continued disregard of greedy company executives for the well-being of hard-working Baristas and their families? even as Starbucks achieves record profits of $760.3 million in the last 12 months. This represents a profit of roughly $5354 from each of Starbucks 142,000 workers. Rather than return the wealth of our labor to hard-working Baristas who are living in poverty, Starbucks executives issued the first-ever dividend to shareholders, further enriching the financial class that has driven our world to ruin in the worst economic crisis since 1929. However, even as conditions continue to worsen in corporate management's greed-fueled race to the bottom, our movement for justice at work continues to gather strength. We now take a moment to celebrate our victories as we prepare for the battles to come.

In the past year, we gained members and took action to win our demands and build power on the job on shopfloors across the world. The Starbucks Workers Union expanded to Canada as Baristas in Quebec City joined the IWW in response to Starbucks new Optimal Scheduling system, which forces students to choose between keeping their jobs and staying in school, and pressures working parents to choose between their children and their careers. In the United States, we have continued to gain ground in our fight to defend our right to organize, with Starbucks cornered into signing its sixth settlement agreement with the National Labor Relations Board pledging to end its anti-union misconduct. We gained valuable public support thanks to our new allies at Brave New Films, who launched a social media campaign to raise awareness of Starbucks' repeated and intentional violation for our right to organize. A YouTube video about the Starbucks Workers Union filmed by Brave New Films was viewed over 80,000 times, forcing a response from Starbucks. In New York, Starbucks was hit by yet another NLRB legal complaint, increasing pressure on company bosses to respect our right to association.

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Members of the Philadelphia General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World will picket the German Consul during his appearance at the Union League (140 South Broad St.) Thursday at noon to speak to members of the German-American Chamber of Commerce. This is the second action held in Philadelphia protesting escalating violations of basic labor rights in Germany.

Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany Dr. Horst Freitag will be speaking in Philadelphia as a German appeals court meets to hear an appeal by the Free Workers Union (FAU) against a court order barring them from exercising basic labor rights, including describing themselves as a union, appealing to the public to support their members engaged in industrial disputes, or seeking to negotiate with employers for better conditions.

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Originally posted here

To friends and comrades in Greece,

On Thursday, May 13 a dozen of us held a demonstration against the Greek Consulate in Chicago. We want to remind you that even in the most difficult times, you have the active solidarity of uncounted others around the world. A vast subversive project is still taking shape everywhere, however slowly, and your struggle is one node among many.

Repression may be raging against you there, and our numbers here might be small, but the important thing to remember is that you've found your resonance. This resonance spreads around the world, laying foundations for real connections and the deepening of struggles.

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Orginally Published for RVAnews [ http://rvanews.com/news/public-bus-users-fight-increasing-fares-route-cuts/28781 ]

Public bus users fight increasing fares, route cuts
by Erica Terrini
June 8, 2010

.Rushing down East Broad Street on a Wednesday morning, 19-year-old Laura McWilliams dons her work uniform and a smile as she talks about her son, who she supports with her job on Virginia Commonwealth University’s MCV Campus.

As a life-long rider, McWilliams says she relies on the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) to get to work every day, traveling approximately 20 minutes from her apartment in Henrico Country to Downtown Richmond.

The roaring engine of the GRTC bus can be heard almost as soon as it becomes visible, and for many riders like McWilliams, the far off sound is as routine as their morning cup of coffee. However, with proposals of increasing fare prices and inaccessibility by cutting routes, public transportation is taking a back seat when it comes to funding, and commuters are beginning to notice.

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Headlines:

• Todos Somos Illegales. Todos Somos Arizona.
• Update on FW Alex Svoboda's Legal Case
• Transport Workers Strike in South Africa

Features:

• Finnish Labour Temple Celebrates 100 Years
• Fighting Rio Tinto's Borax Mining Industry
• International IWW May Day Reports

Download a free PDF copy of this issue.

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