| Britain, Edinburgh Anarchists Report
By Edinburgh Anarchists 
September 29, 2009
Bin blockades baffle scabs again September 26th, 2009
From a first hand report. (Background to the dispute and an earlier action.
Edinburgh Anarchists Blog ---- Two WCR scab bin lorries were blockaded for an hour in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket on 25 September. This was the third successful blockade of the scab bin lorries operating in the Edinburgh Council Cleansing workers dispute.
---- The two lorries were spotted by the roving band of Scab Stoppers as the scabs went to pick up rubbish bins in the Grassmarket. The crowd of around 25 quickly surrounded the lorries, which were then abandoned by the dispute breakers for the next 40 minutes or so. Eventually they returned, but were unable to drive off due to protesters being present at the front and back of both lorries – though one scab supervisor was heard to urge the driver to just reverse into the path of the demonstrators.
IWW* union placards proclaimed NO WAGE CUTS , NO MORE CUTS, BIN THE SCABS and
SOLIDARITY WITH COUNCIL BIN WORKERS. Copies of the new EDINBURGH MUCKRAKER news-sheet, telling the truth about the Council’s efforts to cut its workers wages, were distributed.
The scab lorries were covered with bin solidarity stickers. When the police eventually turned up the crowd melted into the closes of Edinburgh’s Old Town, no arrests and everyone free to renew the direct action solidarity in the near future.
This action followed successful half-hour long blockades at Hunter Square/ Blair
Street on 18 September and at Spittal Street/ Bread Street on 21 September. The blockades were highlighted on the front page of the Edinburgh Evening News on 22 September.
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* An antiauthoritarian anticapitalist syndicate
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MPG Reacts to Offer of Support for Employees with Criminal Complaint
By Industrial Workers of the World ![]()
September 16, 2009
For Immediate Release:
Industrial Workers of the World
September 16, 2009
Contact: Joseph Sanchez, 410-829-6834
MPG Reacts to Offer of Support for Employees with Criminal Complaint
Campaign for Equitable Severance Agreement at Advertising Giant Heats Up
New York, NY- MPG unsuccessfully attempted last week to cause the arrest of a former employee and his supporters after they visited the company to offer aid to workers concerned about more layoffs at the company without adequate notice or severance. Former MPG employee Joseph Sanchez and other members of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union discussed the availability of free legal and advocacy support for current MPG workers and distributed informational leaflets.
In a sign of its increasing frustration, MPG responded to the know-your-rights event by filing a criminal complaint with the New York Police Department and warning Mr. Sanchez through counsel that they had done so.
"MPG said that they view our visit 'as a very serious matter' while I view the disrespectful and unfair severance agreement that they are peddling to us as a very serious matter," said Joseph Sanchez, the former MPG employee. "To claim that my co-workers and friends were concerned for their personal safety as MPG is claiming is both ridiculous and potentially defamatory."
The campaign for fair severance at MPG was launched after the company laid off 50 workers in April. The Havas-owned advertising company, which boasts large corporate clients like K-Mart, has refused to negotiate the one-sided severance agreements that were offered. The conditions of the agreement included protection of MPG's right to sue and denigration from employee's while taking away the right to sue from employee's and allowing for the company to denigrate their workers. The IWW has been protesting K-Mart to encourage the company to use its influence with MPG and support a fair severance agreement.
Founded in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World is a global labor union dedicated to workplace democracy and the dignity of all working people. More information is available at http://www.iww.org.
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Champion of low-income workers dies at 32
By Rohan Mascarenhas of The Star-Ledger 
Photo courtesy of the Cunningham family
September 09, 2009
From NJ.com:
Sunday, September 06, 2009, 7:57 PM
Rich Cunningham spent the past nine years serving low-wage workers in New Brunswick. On Monday, Labor Day, they will honor him as they celebrate his short life at his funeral.
After a four-year battle with colon cancer, the 32-year-old labor leader died Friday, leaving colleagues to mourn the man whose efforts were nationally recognized.
"It punctuates his life's work that he died at the start of Labor Day weekend," said Joseph Kerrigan, a New Brunswick pastor who frequently collaborated with Cunningham. "He looked at the low-wage worker and migrant situation before a lot of people did and saw another way for justice to be served."
A Rutgers University graduate in labor studies, Cunningham helped found New Labor, a community organization that quickly earned a reputation for its wide-ranging services and unique structure.
Apart from offering English classes and access to computers, the group also has more than 1,500 dues-paying members on its rolls. Those members advocate for workers' legislation and even set up a local soccer league.
"I can't express how significant an organization it is today," said Nancy Finn, the former program manager of the Unity Square community-services project in New Brunswick. "The large number of immigrant families in the city really had no place to turn before New Labor opened its doors. They made such a significant impact in the lives of so many."
In 2004, Cunningham was a finalist for the Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award, established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in recognition of people ages 18 to 30 who work to end poverty and injustice.
Colleagues described Cunningham, a Milltown resident, as a hard worker who was driven by his Catholic faith, his family's union background and an unswerving passion for social justice.
"I'm sure he could have taken more lucrative positions, with less demanding work hours, but he chose to dedicate his life to workers," said Jason Rowe, a New Labor organizer. "He believed in what Catholics call the 'preferential option for the poor,' which means you go out and place yourself in the midst of the poorest, most vulnerable in society."
While dedicated to the cause, Cunningham also made time for a rich personal life.
In college, he started a music label -- named Happy Days Records in a nod to Ron Howard's fictional character from that television show -- which allowed him to dabble in his love for punk rock. Married in April 2005, Cunningham was the father of 2-year-old twin girls, Lily and Reese.
"He was always off the beaten path and revolutionary," his wife, Heather, said. "He was a young, do-it-yourself kind of guy."
Cunningham redoubled his labor efforts after being diagnosed with cancer, balancing a demanding schedule with experimental treatments and a string of surgeries, his wife said.
"He never stopped working, and it drove me crazy," she said. "He would always have his laptop with him, even in the last couple of months."
In addition to his wife and daughters, Cunningham is survived by his mother, Karen Cunningham; and his sister, Melissa Cunningham.
The service will be held at 10 a.m. today at Crabiel Home for Funerals, 170 N. Main St. at Riva Avenue in Milltown. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to: www.armyofrich.org.
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