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Wobbly Outreach In DC
by FW David Temple
Mon, 26 Sep 2005 The NYC GMB successfully hosted an outreach
The NYC GMB successfully hosted an outreach
table near the Washington Monument in DC on Sat., Sept. 24.
From 10am to 9pm, our table was always surrounded by interested visitors.
We estimate 200-300 anti-war protesters stopped by. Mostly WF's Mike May,
Renna Temple, FW Daniel Gross, myself, as well as others, took turns talking
with folk about our union and raising funds with the materials provided by GHQ
earlier that morning. We distributed or raised contributions from over 500 IW's,
100 buttons. We sold $462.50 worth of CD's, t-shirts (designed by FW Benjamin
Ferguson) and lots of books. In all, we raised $312.50 for our branch. Two new
fellow workers signed up during the day FW Gross met new Starbucks Workers. Our
table was a focal point of many Wobblies from around the country, and at
least two dozen Wobs from the NYC/NJ GMB's alone.
The day started early for us, meeting at 4am and picking up outreach
materials in Philadelphia at 6am. We arrived in DC and set up before
10am. While a number of Wobblies were converging at Dupont Circle for
the march, we put out our fine banner and set up the table. Despite
the threat of rain, the day turned out fine. Once the program, hosted
by Jello Biafra, came to the stage near us, dozens of anti-war
activists visited us and engaged in lively class-conscious discussion.
Many Wobs found us and relaxed in the grass nearby to chat and enjoy
the show.
100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE WOBBLIES
Celebrated at CUNY Center
By Johnny Shortwave
The "100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE WOBBLIES"A New York City Celebration of the IWW
Centenary was held Tuesday, September 13, 6:30 PM at the CUNY Graduate Center.
The NYC GMB was going to table but one of us couldn't make it. Nevertheless, I
thought of bringing the materials I had alone. With a handful of WC, IW,
buttons, and flyers, we raised $13 from the capacity crowd of 200. FW Nicole Schulman
(who paid ahead 3 months dues) and others ran a nice program. FW Daniel Gross
spoke for 10 minutes about us and retail workers' solidarity unionism. That was
me leading the audience in applause.
FW John Pietaro and his wife played from the new CD 'I DREAMED I HEARD JOE HILL
LAST NIGHT...A CENTURY OF IWW SONG'
Many local Wobblies and supporters were present.
The hundredth anniversary of the Industrial Workers of the World was celebrated
by artists, historians, musicians and today's Wobbly organizers. Performances,
talks, a slide show and exhibit commemorate the Wobblies* role in labor
history.
An exhibit of original art from the "Wobblies!" graphic history book will be in
the exhibition hall (near the student center, ground floor) at CUNY grad center
from Sept. 1 through Sept. 23rd.
URGENT ACTION !
We are writing to ask for your support in defending the workers at the Seneca
Foods Corporation plant in Montgomery, Minnesota. The Seneca Plant employs over
700 workers, mostly migrant workers from Texas, and packs and cans vegetables
under major labels such as Green Giant General Mills, Libby's, Stokely, and
numerous private store brands. The workers at Seneca have decided to organize to
defend their rights and dignity on the job. This year, Seneca unilaterally cut
the annual bonus paid to the workers to 10% from 15%. One reason given by Seneca
was the increase in the Minnesota minimum wage. Such an action is unfair to the
workers who expected and deserved the bonus and it totally defeats why the
minimum wage was raised --to make sure workers are paid a fairer wage. We are
asking supporters of worker rights to send letters and faxes to Paul Hendrickson,
the manager of the Seneca Plant, demanding reinstatement of Jaime Alarcon and
fair treatment for the workers. This abusiv!
e company needs to hear from you and your pressure is essential in this
struggle; the workers need your unconditional support. The season is about to end,
please take action as soon as possible. Stay tune for further actions. For more
information contact: Centro Campesino at 507-446-9599 and ask for Victor
Contreras, Jess Torres o Ernesto V. Bustos.You can also contact us by email at
info@centrocampesino.net
Stop The Deportation of
Omar Lezama de la Rosa
September 19, 2005
The South Street Workers Union asks for your support to stop the
deportation of Omar Lezama de la Rosa
Omar Lezama de la Rosa, a friend to many restaurant workers on South
Street, is facing deportation after being wrongly arrested in July.
Below is a resolution from the Philadelphia Bar Association explaining
the facts of his case.
We are organizing to show the United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement office that our brother Omar has strong support. The
Immigration office has discretion in which cases it chooses to pursue,
so we are trying to stop the proceedings against Omar before they get
to court.
Omar has a year-and-a-half-old son and wants to keep living in
Philadelphia with his family and friends. Please sign our petition. If
you are in a position to collect more signatures, please call the IWW
union office at 215-222-2432.
Yours in solidarity,
Nakiya Heigler and Steve Renzi for the South Street Workers Union
Immigrant Worker Committee Restarted with NY GMB Wobs
By FW Indy Daiwan
The IWW General Assembly in Philadelphia re-started an Immigrant
Worker Committee to address the first language needs of immigrant
workers in organizing unions. We have started collecting information
we have in Spanish about the IWW. There's not much.
When you go to the Spanish section in the masthead of www.iww.org, all
you get is a short description of the IWW and one article called "El
Gran Sindicato." The Santa Barbara branch has some text in Spanish but
that's all we found so far. Make The Road in NYC has flyers in Spanish
for workers who are oppressed, but they direct them to their
organization, of course. We, nevertheless, have a few Wobs here in NYC
who volunteer there and steer trabajadores to the IWW, specifically
the Fresh Direct campaign started by FW Billy Randall. Wobbly City has
initiated a bilingual page in our monthly newsletter (see sample)
which we hope will serve our Spanish-speaking fellow workers Some
members of the NYC GMB have expressed interest in starting a Spanish
newspaper for the Fresh Direct campaign..
South Street Project of the IWW in Philly works with many hispanic
speakers yet there seems to be no material in Spanish. We should
obviously work together and share materials we collect and create new
material specific to current campaigns.
There is little information on our website about the IWW in other
languages. The extensive Chinese translation WF Henry in Taiwan
translated four years ago was arbitrarily removed from our masthead
because of what FW Steve Ongerth calls a glitch in printing Chinese charactors
Something must be done about that.
So begins our functions in the Immigrant Worker Committee. Solicit and
send any hard copy multilingual material about IWW or workers rights
to me at 1210 Ave Y, Brooklyn, Ny 11235.
If you are or know of a bilingual Wobblies able to write in Spanish or
Chinese, or have any bilingual materials for workers, please let us
know. We need contributions to EL GRAN SINDICATO.
Starbucks Union Condemns Torture and Killing of 'Coke' Union Leader
By FW Daniel Gross
It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to another courageous
Colombian union leader and worker, Luciano Enrique Romero Molina.
Starbucks workers have always felt a kinship with the food and
beverage workers of SINALTRAINAL which was solidified in a 2004
meeting between SINALTRAINAL leader Juan Carlos Galvis and Starbucks
Union member Daniel Gross where the two exchanged mutual pledges of
solidarity. The assassination of Mr. Romero is a time for mourning
yes, but even more so, it's a time to act and to organize. Please read
SINALTRAINAL's statement on the killing which follows below and write
the letters they suggest:
SINALTRAINAL LEADER LUCIANO ENRIQUE ROMERO MOLINA ASSASSINATED
It is with deep pain that we inform you of the death of comrade
LUCIANO ENRIQUE ROMERO MOLINA, a leader of SINALTRANAL who was
assassinated in the city of Valledupar, Cesar. Luciano was seen alive
at approximately 9pm on 10 September, then on the morning of 11
September his dead body was found tied up, tortured and with 40 knife
wounds. He was living under the PROTECTIVE MEASURES scheme of the
Inter-American Human Rights Commission of the Organisation of American
States.
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45 War Resisters Arrested At The Pentagon
by FW Thomas Good
Mon, 26 Sep 2005 There were 41 total arrests at the pentagon according to
police - 45 by our count. About twenty of us moved to the south parking lot after
police closed down the metro entrance to the pentagon, arresting 25. I was
arrested with Liz McAlister of Jonah House, Jim Klickor of IndyMedia and several
others. Our cluster blockaded the south parking lot staircase. We were tossed around
a bit by the police (using pain compliance methods) and eventually encircled by the
cops as they formed an ad hoc quarantine. Those of us who police felt ignored this
quarantine were flex cuffed - my entire cluster was eventually arrested. We were
processed at Eads St. and released, all charged with Failure to Obey A Lawful Order.
We were given various court dates in January - in the Federal Courthouse in Alexandria,
Virginia. This is a disorderly conduct violation. This was a very gratifying action for
several reasons: during our period of detention in the ad hoc quarantive we engaged
workers entering the Pentagon. In addition to many averted eyes and a small number of
defensive comments we encountered many pentagon workers who simply appeared stunned
and cowed. The war appears to be grinding down the morale of the work force at the
pentagon. I was particularly pleased that the action included Wobblies, war resisters,
socialists, anarchists and many faith based activists working together for the common
good. The action was disruptive rather than symbolic and I agree with Jim Macdonald's
(a DC based journalist and activist) assessment that this is another example of UFPJ
missing the boat.
Reflections on the NYC Labor Day Parade
by FW J.D. Crutchfield
If you're ever inclined to doubt that there's a class war going on,
don't. It's not a shooting war at the moment, unless you live
somewhere like China, or post-hurricane New Orleans, where the cops
were pulled off search and rescue duty to kill looters. But there is a
bitter psychological war going on. I was at New York City Labor Day
parade last month. It wasn't on the official U. S. Labor Day (let
alone on real Labor Day, the day the workers chose ourselves, May
first), because the business unions can get their members to
turn out on Labor Day, even with the cook-outs and free tee shirts
they provide. It was on Saturday.
The weather was glorious, but the parade was dispiriting. We wandered
up Fifth Avenue, through one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the
world, past Bergdorf and Prado and Tiffany and other stores where
workers would be swarmed by security guards if they ever dared to
enter through the front door. At one point we all filed past a huge
poster of Donald Trump proclaiming, you are fired! Central Labor
Council pie-cards roamed through the parade in $3,000-suits (though a few
had the grace to take off their jackets and cover their hand-made shirts
with union tees). Instead of workers singing the International, a hired
band crooned America the Beautiful and God Bless the U.S. from a sound
truck. The sidewalks were full of puzzled tourists and rich shoppers
who looked on bemused as the thin ranks of workers shuffled by. There
was nobody on the reviewing stand that anybody recognized just some
red-nosed old labor fakers in sashes and a handful of second-string
politicians hoping for union votes, all surrounded by U. S. flags and
red-white-and-blue bunting. Mine was the only red banner in evidence,
and I furled it up out of pity for a nearby pie-card who was terrified
that his boss would see it and think he was with me.
The message for workers was very clear: You are losers. The stately
homes and fine boutiques that surround you belong to your betters, the
winners. You must obey the authority of the rich and successful, or
"you're fired". Those of you who aren't "100% American" are here on
sufferance. Be patriotic: stay in line, don't buck the system, and
follow the winners. I don't want to go to any more of these fake
parades. I want a real workers' parade on the real workers' Labor Day.
It ought to go through some working-class neighborhood in Queens or
the Bronx; but if it has to go past the mansions of the wealthy, let
it be to scare the piss out of them.
SF GMB Steve Ongerth Declines
Nomination For GST
I must respectfully decline your nomination for General
Secretary-Treasurer of the IWW for 2006. Although I appreciate your
vote of confidence in my ability to serve in the challenging and
essential role of GST, there are several reasons why I cannot accept
the job:
I believe my energy and commitment is better dedicated to the
continued maintenance and development of the IWW.ORG network. 2. While
I am certainly capable of carrying out the administrative duties of
GST, I lack other skills that would make me the best candidate for the
job, particularly the ability to delegate. 3. Believe it or not,
taking the job of GST would be a significant financial sacrifice that
I cannot presently afford. Please keep that in mind if you ever want
to consider nominating me again.
Heartcheck: by Political Prisoners Jeff "Free" and Rob "los Ricos" Thaxton
By FW Brendan Story
The phrase "heartcheck" is used in prison slang to call someone out
when you grow weary of listening to him run his neck or talk out of
his ass. For example, if a person is wronged by another and he talks
endlessly about getting him back, but does nothing but talk and whine
quote;Heartcheck!" Do it or shut the fuck up.
US freedom fighters and political prisoners Jeffrey "Free" Luers and
Rob "los Ricos" Thaxton have written a heartcheck for those who
identify with today's radical social movements. It's disorienting to
read a militant call to action in 2005. Much of the rhetoric and
analysis would be more at home in a publication from the early
anti-capitalist-globalization days of 1996 or 2000. Note the scene of
a masked figure aiming his slingshot at a line of riot cops that all
shines out from within a smoking molotov cocktail. I confess that
I rolled my eyes the first time I saw it.
Luers highlights the SHAC7 as an example to all anti-capitalists in
the sheer monetary damage they inflicted on one brutal corporation and
his analysis practical and exciting. He suggests that the model be
adopted not only to make profit difficult for egregiously inhumane
corporations but also to disrupt the daily functions of international
free-trade-enforcement organizations outside of their global summits.
His call for a resurrection of the alliance between idealistic
troublemakers and organized workers is so valid and so important that
it needs to be repeated everywhere from the punk squats to the union
halls. Similarly, los Ricos highlights the Kabylia Uprising in Algeria
as an example of insurrectionary anarchist praxis today and the story
was definitely news to me. Look into it if you haven't.
Is there a bit of prison-sharpened machismo in some of this writing?
Yes. Is there also a sincere appeal to your deepest convictions?
Absoluteely. Read this zine and keep in mind where its authors are
coming from. Imagine that you are a person who has given up everything
to act on your convictions and as a result you spend every day in
prison. You look out at the people and the social movements you had
hoped to inspire but you don't see the kind of action that would
really help you get through the day.
Free Luers, los Ricos, and their message deserve our undivided
attention but more importantly, we need to hear it.
Pick up a copy locally at bluestockings books, St. Mark's Books, Vox
Pop, Clovis Press or by emailing freefreenow@Mutualaid.org
NYC Wobblies Walk Picket Line for Chinatown Workers
By Benjamin Ferguson
A boisterous picket line outside the Golden Bridge restaurant
in Chinatown included Make the Road by Walking, wobblies,
and other unions who supported Local 318 in their efforts to get
pro-union workers rehired and pressure the bosses to end the
intimidation of union activists.
The Golden Bridge has existed under 5 names in the last 10 years, as
the bosses have claimed bankruptcy and changed the name to bust the
union. Thugs employed by the bosses have threatened workers who've
attended union meetings.
Immigrants have played a crucial role in IWW history. Anyone
interested in contributing to this struggle should come to the picket
line every Sunday from 6:30 - 8:30, at 50 Bowery (below Canal).
Music Review: FW John Pietaro's I Dreamed I Heard Joe Hill Last Night
1) CD Review, Chronogram Magazine, September 2005:
"With a voice that sounds like the lovechild of Elvis Presley and
Johnny Cash, singer John Pietaro leads his Flames of Discontent
through Industrial Workers of the World standards and prose pieces on
their new CD, 'I Dreamed I Heard Joe Hill Last Night...A Century of
IWW Song'. A union organizer by day, Pietaro is a noted
multi-instrumentalist who has performed with such geniuses as Pete
Seeger and Alan Ginsberg as a tireless advocate for the dignity of
working men and women (a portion of the CDs proceeds go to the IWW).
With one Pietaro-penned exception, the newest song was written in
1917, but there's no dusty antiquity in either lyrical substance
(workers' battles with big business) or musical style (powerful
50s-based rock and roll with a touch of folk, country, and punk).
Anchored by the transfixing melodic basslines of Laurie Towers,
Pietaro's rallying cries are heightened by cooking with the heart-felt
passion of making kick-ass music for the masses. Between such rousing
anthems as 'Workingfolk Unite', Rebel Girl ' and 'Bread and Roses',
there are three dramatic readings from IWW archives depicting workers'
amd activists' struggles.
A timely, noble work fighting the good fight and rocking what's
right."
Pittsburgh GMB Celebrates Centennial
By FW Kevin Farkas
The Pittsburgh General Membership Branch of the IWW
welcomes your participation in our upcoming Centenary
celebration. The Centenary celebration will be held between 10am to
6pm on October 22, 2005 at the historic Pump House in Homestead, scene
of the 1892 Battle of Homestead between striking steel workers and
Pinkerton guards. The event is free and open to the public.
Included here is an official news release and event flyer with agenda
that provides greater detail about the Centenary.
If participating in this event this is something you are interested
in, please contact me by Friday, October 7, 2005.
Please feel free to contact me at your convenience if you have any
questions about the Pittsburgh IWW Centenary.
Contact:
Kevin Farkas, Centenary Committee, PO Box 90315
Pittsburgh, PA 15224 Phone: 724-630-7449
Email: pittsburghiww@yahoo.com
ABOUT THE UNION:
The Industrial Workers of the World, NYC, General Membership Branch
meets the first Sunday of each month from 1 to 3 pm at: The New
Valentino Market, 74 5^th Ave., NY, between 13-14th St.
(Take any train to Union Station or 14th Street.)
HOW TO CONTACT US:
By phone -- (718) 643-1337 By e-mail -
iww-nyc@bari.iww.org By snail-mail - PO Box 7430, JAF Station, NY 10116
IWW Starbucks - Starbucksunion@lists.iww.org
http://www.starbucksunion.org
Wobbly City newsletter- iwwnyc@hotmail.com
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