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
Ap r i l 2 0 14 #176 4 Vol . 111 No. 3 $2/ 2/ 2

Striking Workers At Boston Insomnia Cookies Win Settlement

By Jake Carman On March 3, Insomnia Cookies and four striking workers agreed to a settlement of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charges, officially ending a sixmonth strike. The four workers, Chris Helali, Jonathan Pea, Niko Stapczynski, and Luke Robinson, struck on Aug. 18, 2013, demanding changes at work, including higher pay, benefits, and unionization, and were fired immediately. According to the terms of the settlement, they will all receive back pay totaling close to $4,000, and have their terminations rescinded from their records. Insomnia Cookies will post a notice in their Harvard Square store promising not to fire or otherwise retaliate against workers for union activity, including going on strike. Additionally, Insomnia revised a confidentiality agreement which improperly restricted workers rights to discuss their conditions of employment with one another and third parties (including union organizers and the media). According to organizers for the IWW, the union representing the strikers, This settlement is another small victory in a long struggle to bring justice and a union to Insomnia Cookies. When the four workers, comprising the entire night shift at the Harvard Square Insomnia Cookies, voted unanimously to close the store after midnight on Aug. 18, 2013, they served cookies to the customers already in line, and then locked the doors. The workers put protest signs in the windows, wrote up a strike agreement and informed their boss they were striking for a raise, health care and other benefits, and a union. Jonathan Pea, one of the strikers, said he remembers feeling real conservative that August night, but something told me to stand up for what I believe in. I had Continued on 6

Solidarity Unionism Exposed: The Miami IWW: Fighting Indiana IWW In Iceland Back In High-End Celebrates One Year As Adjunctification Of 12 3 A Branch 5 Higher Education 9 Hotels

New Evidence Shows U.S. Government Spied On Wobblies, Activists

undercover officers to follow Ian. He was arrested and accused of scrawling graffiti on a wall. While he was being booked, the police confiscated all of the anarchist literature in his backpack that he had just picked up at Pitch Pipe. He spent the night in jail but was eventually let out. This is a common story Photo: Elliot Stoller, Works in Progress at demonstrationsthe rally, PMR protest at Port of Olympia in November 2007. the arrest, the time in jail. What is not so common is what happened By Brendan Maslauskas Dunn Ian Minjiras walked out of the anar- to Ian in the aftermath. In 2007, his name, chist community space Pitch Pipe Infos- along with the names of at least three other hop in Tacoma, Wash., and ventured to activists, was entered into a Domestic an anti-war demonstration at a weapons Terrorism Index. His crimes were that he convention where military personnel and attended an anti-war rally and had some law enforcement were in attendance. It anarchist literature. Ian is not alone. He is one of many was not his first protest, but it was the first protest where many activists met John activists who have been targeted and spied Jacob, who would later be uncovered as on by the U.S. military in what is perhaps the most expansive surveillance network a spy for the U.S. Army. As the demonstration wound to a targeting radicals in the United States close, Ian left and walked a distance to since the tumultuous days of the Federal catch a bus to the other side of town. Bureau of Investigations (FBIs) COunter Police were later heard saying they sent INTELligence PROgram (COINTELPRO). That secret FBI program was created to destroy the Civil Rights and New Left movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Since it was uncovered, it has only evolved in more secret ways. Currently, a team of lawyers is taking on the U.S. military with the landmark civil liberties case Panagacos v. Towery. This story, however, starts well before the U.S. government labeled Ian as a terrorist. It starts in the streets of the small port city of Olympia, Wash., in 2006. I remember the feelings of excitement, anxiety and uncertainty that surrounded the Stryker Brigade military shipments that came through the Port of Olympia in May 2006. What started off as just several protesters getting arrested for standing in the road and blocking Stryker military vehicles rapidly grew into hundreds of people, day and night, descending on the port, attempting in vain to stop or slow down the war machine. Activists came up with the name Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) to describe the network of people who started to take decisive action against these shipments. Dozens were arrested and many more were attacked by the police. PMR

Striking workers picket at Insomnia Cookies on March 14.

Photo: Fellow Worker D.

Industrial Worker PO Box 180195 Chicago, IL 60618, USA ISSN 0019-8870 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

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By Shane Burley contacted PDXSol to speak Rush hour is being colout about the abuses that ored with the fury of workhad become institutionalers scorned. The Portland ized in their former workSolidarity Network (PDXplace. While employed at Sol) and the Portland IWW Fubonn for many years have announced the Fridays they were regularly forced of Fury at Fubonna weekto work off the clock, dely picket and rally to target nied comprehensive breaks, the abuses and repressions overlooked for raises that taking place at the Fubonn their male counterparts Shopping Center. This is received, and had racist the most recent stage in an abuses hurled at them and escalation campaign that their co-workers. When Photo: Shane Burley Norma was in the later has evolved over several months, and has intensified in response stages of her pregnancy she was forced to to the repression from the businesss lift heavy boxes that were unusual for her ownership. position, which many assumed was part The campaign began in the spring of of a trend at Fubonnforcing pregnant 2013 when two former workers of the Fu- women to quit so they were able to bypass bonn Asian Market, Marisol and Norma, Continued on 8

Portland IWW Fights Wage Theft

was one of many organizations that took part in the port proteststhe IWW was another. Although we were not successful in stopping the shipments, there was no turning back. We had ignited a spark in the anti-war movement, one that suggested that civil resistance and directly confronting military shipments was a more logical approach to ending the wars. To this day, activists reminisce about the time 200 of us marched to the port entrance chanting, War machine! Tear it down! War Machine! Tear it down! It was an electric feeling, one the military did not want to spread. Deployment after deployment, the military changed its tactics to avoid us. Instead of shipping convoys in broad daylight, they used the cover of night for future shipments through the more desolate Port of Tacoma. The Port of Grays Harbor was also used before the military, again, came back through the Port of Olympia in November 2007 with returning shipments. Perhaps military officials thought that there would be no resistance as these Continued on 6

Page 2 Industrial Worker April 2014

This Summer: Come To Work Peoples College Europe Wonderful IWD Issue!
Fellow Workers, where we can learn with and from each It took us some time, but were finalother. ly ready to announce For all you Wobs that the first Eurofrom other contipean Work Peoples nents: Feel warmly invited to join as College will be taking place in Berlin well! this summer on July We will try to 24 - 27, 2014. A glomeet the requirerious venue has been ments and needs of as many people booked, neatly lo cated close to a lake as possible, but be on the outskirts of Graphic: IWW Work Peoples College sure to mention your Berlin, workshops needs in the regisare being planned and put together, and tration. We will be providing translation almost two-thirds of the money needed and food for the various preferences and has been raised. allergies. There will a bungalow for women For all you Wobblies in Europe who only, a program for Junior Wobblies, and have been wondering what other Wobs in the chance to visit Berlin together. So talk it over with your branches, see your neighboring countries or cities have been up to the past years, what their ex- who is able to come and register online at: periences have been with organizing their http://workpeoplescollege.org/europe/ Also, if you have any questions or want workplace or building job and general membership branches, this summer will to contribute with workshops, translation, be a splendid opportunity to finally meet layout, or money, please write us. some of those fellow workers face-to-face Looking forward to seeing you all. Solidarity! (as opposed to Facebook, or listserves). WPC Europe Planning committee Well be having heaps of good workshops

Letters Welcome!

Send your letters to: [email protected] with Letter in the subject. Mailing Address: Industrial Worker, P.O. Box 180195, Chicago, IL 60618, United States.

May Day! May Day!

The deadline for announcements for the annual May Day Industrial Worker is April 4, 2014. Celebrate the real labor day with a message of solidarity! Send announcements to [email protected]. 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

To the editor, Just wanted to congratulate you on a wonderful International Womens Day issue! Its fantastic. There is so much good stuff in it (covering some pretty bad problems). But you really feel that you get a sense of the struggle against patriarchy as it relates to the fights of our union and its women members. My three favorite pieces (so far) are the front cover narrative by FW Luz, the thoughts of FW Madaline on sexual violence, and the gem from FW Jane Street on organizing domestic workers. I laughed and cried and got angry all in the same letter from her! How inspiring! Mazel tov! And thanks! Solidaridad, J. Pierce Readers Soapbox continues on 11

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 [email protected] www.iww.org GENERAL SECRETARY-TREAsURER: Monika Vykoukal GENERAL EXECUTIVE BOARD: Sam Green, Jason Krpan, DJ Alperovitz, Brian Latour, Ryan G., Kate D., Montigue Magruder EDITOR & GRAPHIC DEsIgNER: Diane Krauthamer [email protected] PROOFREADERs: Maria Rodriguez Gil, Afreen Azim, Anthony Cage, Joel Gosse, Jonathan D. Beasley, Jacob Brent, Mathieu Dube, Don Sawyer, Neil Parthun, Skylaar Amann, Chris Heffner, Billy OConnor, David Patrick, Zachary Snowdon Smith, Nicki Meier, Erika Shearer PRINTER: Globe Direct/Boston Globe Media Millbury, MA Next deadline is April 4, 2014

Asia

INDUSTRiAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD

Taiwan Taiwan IWW: c/o David Temple, 4 Floor, No. 3, Ln. 67, Shujing St., Beitun Dist., Taichung City 40641 Taiwan. 098-937-7029. [email protected]

Australia

New South Wales Sydney GMB: [email protected]. Laura, del., [email protected]. Newcastle: [email protected] Woolongong: [email protected] Lismore: [email protected] Queensland Brisbane: P.O. Box 5842, West End, Qld 4101. [email protected]. Asger, del., happyanarchy@riseup. net South Australia Adelaide: [email protected], www.wobbliesSA. org. Jesse, del., 0432 130 082 Victoria Melbourne: P.O. Box 145, Moreland, VIC 3058. [email protected], www.iwwmelbourne. wordpress.com. Loki, del., lachlan.campbell.type@ gmail.com Geelong: [email protected] Western Australia Perth GMB: P.O. Box 1, Cannington WA 6987. [email protected]. 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: March 21, 2014

U.S. IW mailing address:

IWW Canadian Regional Organizing Committee (CANROC): c/o Toronto GMB, P.O. Box 45 Toronto P, Toronto ON, M5S 2S6. [email protected] Alberta Edmonton GMB: P.O. Box 4197, T6E 4T2. edmontongmb@ iww.org, edmonton.iww.ca. British Columbia Vancouver GMB: 204-2274 York Ave., V6K 1C6. 604-732-9613. [email protected]. www. vancouveriww.com Vancouver Island GMB: Box 297 St. A, Nanaimo BC, V9R 5K9. [email protected]. http://vanislewobs.wordpress. com Manitoba Winnipeg GMB: IWW, c/o WORC, P.O. Box 1, R3C 2G1. 204-299-5042, [email protected] New Brunswick Fredericton: [email protected], frederictoniww.wordpress.com Ontario Ottawa-Outaouais GMB & GDC Local 6: 1106 Wellington St., P.O. Box 36042, Ottawa, K1Y 4V3. [email protected], [email protected] Ottawa Panhandlers Union: Karen Crossman, spokesperson, 613-282-7968, [email protected] Peterborough: c/o PCAP, 393 Water St. #17, K9H 3L7, 705-749-9694. Sean Carleton, del., 705-775-0663, [email protected] Toronto GMB: c/o Libra Knowledge & Information Svcs Co-op, P.O. Box 353 Stn. A, M5W 1C2. 416-919-7392. [email protected]. Max Bang, del., nowitstime610@ gmail.com Windsor GMB: c/o WWAC, 328 Pelissier St., N9A 4K7. (519) 564-8036. [email protected]. http:// windsoriww.wordpress.com Qubec Montreal GMB: cp 60124, Montral, QC, H2J 4E1. 514268-3394. [email protected]

Regional Organisers Central England RO: [email protected] West Scotland RO: [email protected] East Scotland RO: [email protected] Northern England RO: [email protected] Southern England RO: [email protected] Southeast England RO: [email protected] Wales: [email protected] Cymru Wales GMB: [email protected] British Isles Health Workers IU 610: [email protected] Pizza Hut Workers IU 640: [email protected] Sheffield Education Workers: [email protected] London Bus Drivers: [email protected] London Cleaners: [email protected] Bradford GMB: [email protected] Bristol GMB: [email protected] Clydeside GMB: [email protected] Dumfries and Galloway GMB: [email protected] Edinburgh GMB: [email protected] Leeds GMB: [email protected] London GMB: [email protected] Manchester GMB: [email protected] Nottingham: [email protected] Reading GMB: [email protected] Sheffield GMB: [email protected] West Midlands GMB: [email protected] York GMB: [email protected] Belgium Floris De Rycker, Sint-Bavoplein 7, 2530 Boechout, Belgium. [email protected] German Language Area IWW German Language Area Regional Organizing Committee (GLAMROC): IWW, Haberweg 19, 61352 Bad Homburg, Germany. [email protected]. www. wobblies.de Austria: [email protected], [email protected]. 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. [email protected]. Bremen: [email protected]. iwwbremen. blogsport.de Cologne/Koeln GMB: c/o Allerweltshaus, Koernerstr. 77-79, 50823 Koeln, Germany. [email protected]. www.iwwcologne.wordpress.com Frankfurt - Eurest: IWW Betriebsgruppe Eurest Haberweg 19 D- 61352 Bad Homburg. harald.stubbe@ yahoo.de. Hamburg-Waterkant: [email protected] Kassel: [email protected]. www.wobblies-kassel. de Munich: [email protected] Rostock: [email protected]. iww-rostock.net Switzerland: [email protected] Greece: [email protected]. iww.org.gr Iceland: Jamie McQuilkin,del.,Stangarholti 26 Reykjavik 105. +354 7825894. [email protected] Lithuania: [email protected] Netherlands: [email protected] 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): [email protected] Communications Officer / Comms Dept Chair: [email protected] GLAMROC Liaison: [email protected] Internal Bulletin: [email protected] International Solidarity Committee: international@iww. org.uk Literature Committee: [email protected] Membership Administrator: [email protected] Merchandise Committee: [email protected] Organising and Bargaining Support Department: [email protected] Research and Survey Department: [email protected] / [email protected] National Secretary: [email protected] Support for people having trouble with GoCardless signup: [email protected] IT Committee (all IT related enquiries): [email protected] Training Department: [email protected] National Treasurer: [email protected]

Alaska Fairbanks GMB: P. O. Box 80101, 99708. Chris White, del., 907-457-2543, [email protected]. Arizona Phoenix GMB: P.O. Box 7126, 85011-7126. 623-3361062. [email protected] Flagstaff IWW: 206-327-4158, [email protected] Four Corners (AZ, CO, NM, UT): 970-903-8721, 4corners@ iww.org Arkansas Fayetteville: P.O. Box 283, 72702. 479-200-1859. [email protected] California Los Angeles GMB: (323) 374-3499. iwwgmbla@gmail. com Sacramento IWW: 916-825-0873, iwwsacramento@ gmail.com San Diego IWW: 619-630-5537, [email protected] 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. [email protected] IU 520 Marine Transport Workers: Steve Ongerth, del., [email protected] Evergreen Printing: 2412 Palmetto Street, Oakland 94602. 510-482-4547. [email protected] San Jose: [email protected], www.facebook. com/SJSV.IWW Colorado Denver GMB: c/o Hughes, 7700 E. 29th Avenue, Unit 107, 80238. 303-355-2032. [email protected] Connecticut Connecticut: John W., del., 914-258-0941. Johnw7813@ yahoo.com

DC Washington DC GMB: P.O. Box 1303, 20013. 202-6309620. [email protected]. www.dciww.org, www. facebook.com/dciww Florida Gainesville GMB: c/o Civic Media Center, 433 S. Main St., 32601. Robbie Czopek, del., 904-315-5292, [email protected], www.gainesvilleiww.org Miami IWW: 305-894-6515. [email protected], http:// iwwmiami.wordpress.com. Facebook: Miami IWW Hobe Sound: P. Shultz, 8274 SE Pine Circle, 33455-6608. 772-545-9591, [email protected] Georgia Atlanta GMB: P.O. Box 5390, 31107. 678-964-5169, [email protected], www.atliww.org Hawaii Honolulu: Tony Donnes, del., [email protected] Idaho Boise: Ritchie Eppink, del., P.O. Box 453, 83701. 208-3719752, [email protected] Illinois Chicago GMB: P.O. Box 15384, 60615. 312-638-9155, [email protected] Indiana Indiana GMB: [email protected]. Facebook: Indiana IWW Iowa Eastern Iowa IWW: 319-333-2476. EasternIowaIWW@ gmail.com Kansas Greater Kansas City/Lawrence GMB: 816-875-6060. Wichita: Naythan Smith, del., 316-633-0591. [email protected] Louisiana Louisiana IWW: John Mark Crowder, del.,126 Kelly Lane, Homer, 71040. 318-224-1472. [email protected] Maine Maine IWW: 207-619-0842. [email protected], 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, [email protected], www.IWWBoston.org Cape Cod/SE Massachusetts: [email protected] 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. [email protected] Grand Rapids Bartertown Diner and Rocs Cakes: 6 Jefferson St., 49503. [email protected], www. bartertowngr.com Central Michigan: 5007 W. Columbia Rd., Mason 48854. 517-676-9446, [email protected] Minnesota Red River GMB: [email protected], redriveriww@gmail. com Twin Cities GMB: 3019 Minnehaha Ave. South, Suite 50, Minneapolis 55406. [email protected] 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. [email protected] St. Louis IWW: P.O. Box 63142, 63163. stlwobbly@gmail. com Montana Construction Workers IU 330: Dennis Georg, del., 406490-3869, [email protected] Billings: Jim Del Duca, 106 Paisley Court, Apt. I, Bozeman 59715. 406-860-0331. [email protected] Nebraska Nebraska GMB: P.O. Box 27811, Ralston, 68127. [email protected]. www.nebraskaiww.org Nevada Reno GMB: P.O. Box 12173, 89510. Paul Lenart, del., 775-513-7523, [email protected] 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 . [email protected] New Jersey Central New Jersey GMB: P.O. Box 10021, New Brunswick, 08906. 732-692-3491. [email protected]. Bob Ratynski, del., 908-285-5426. www.newjerseyiww.org New Mexico Albuquerque GMB: P.O. Box 4892, 87196-4892. 505-5690168, [email protected]

New York New York City GMB: 45-02 23rd Street, Suite #2, Long Island City,11101. [email protected]. www.wobblycity. org Starbucks Campaign: iwwstarbucksunion@gmail. com, www.starbucksunion.org Hudson Valley GMB: P.O. Box 48, Huguenot 12746, 845342-3405, [email protected], http://hviww.blogspot. com/ Syracuse IWW: [email protected] Upstate NY GMB: P.O. Box 235, Albany 12201-0235, 518-833-6853 or 518-861-5627. www.upstate-nyiww. org, [email protected], Rochelle Semel, del., P.O. Box 172, Fly Creek 13337, 607-293-6489, [email protected] Utica IWW: Brendan Maslauskas Dunn, del., 315-2403149. [email protected] North Carolina Greensboro GMB: P. O. Box 5022, 27435. 1-855-IWW-4GSO (855-499-4476). [email protected] North Dakota Red River GMB: [email protected], redriveriww@gmail. com Ohio Mid-Ohio GMB: c/o Riffe, 4071 Indianola Ave., Columbus 43214. [email protected] Northeast Ohio GMB: P.O. Box 141072, Cleveland 44114. 440-941-0999 Ohio Valley GMB: P.O. Box 6042, Cincinnati 45206, 513510-1486, [email protected] Sweet Patches Screenprinting IU 410 Job Shop: [email protected] 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. [email protected], portlandiww.org Portland Red and Black Cafe: 400 SE 12th Ave, 97214. 503-231-3899. [email protected]. www. redandblackcafe.com Pennsylvania Lancaster IWW: P.O. Box 352, 17608. 717-559-0797. [email protected] Lehigh Valley GMB: P.O. Box 1477, Allentown, 181051477. 484-275-0873. [email protected]. www. facebook.com/lehighvalleyiww Paper Crane Press IU 450 Job Shop: 610-358-9496. [email protected], www.papercranepress.com Pittsburgh GMB: P.O. Box 5912,15210. 412-894-0558. [email protected] Rhode Island Providence GMB: P.O. Box 5795, 02903. 508-367-6434. [email protected] Tennessee Mid-Tennessee IWW: Jonathan Beasley, del., 218 S 3rd St. Apt. 7-6, Clarksville, 37040. [email protected] Texas El Paso IWW: Sarah Michelson, del., 314-600-2762. [email protected] Golden Triangle IWW (Beaumont - Port Arthur): [email protected] South Texas IWW: [email protected] Utah Salt Lake City GMB: P.O. Box 1227, 84110. 801-8719057. [email protected] Vermont Burlington GMB: c/o John MacLean, 204 N. Winooski Ave #2, Burlington, 05401. 802-540-2561. macgilleain@ gmail.com. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ VTIWW Virginia Richmond IWW: P.O. Box 7055, 23221. 804-496-1568. [email protected], www.richmondiww.org Washington Tacoma GMB: P.O. Box 7276, 98401. [email protected]. http://tacoma.iww.org Seattle GMB: 1122 E. Pike #1142, 98122-3934. 206-4295285. [email protected]. www.seattleiww.org, www.seattle.net 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. [email protected]. 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: 1750 A N Astor St., 53207. Trevor Smith, 414-573-4992 Northwoods IWW: P.O. Box 452, Stevens Point, 54481

April 2014 Industrial Worker Page 3

Organizing

Fighting Back In High-End Hotels: An Interview With A Miami Wobbly

By the Miami IWW In November 2013, the Miami IWW interviewed one of its members, Eduardo Segundo, about his organizing and experiences in a high-end hotel in Miami. Miami IWW (M): Describe your workplace. Who were the clients, workers, and how was the environment when you got there? Eduardo Segundo (E): It was a very draconian-style workplace, so for example, if the boss didnt like the stubble under your chin, or didnt like the dirt on your socks, that was considered a heavy burden. They would call you out on itit was that kind of workplace. It was so trivial at the time; I didnt really know what to make of it, but I knew what I was getting into (i.e. high-end hotels have an orthodox view of how particular employees should look). I mean, right from the very start, I saw all kinds of things: degradation of female workers, atrocious treatment of immigrants, management being unorganized in every aspect (from the kitchen to the pool). During that time, I didnt really know anyone, and even when I did, which was only a few people, they didnt have much of a reaction to the abuse (most of the workers had years of experience under these conditions and were already ingrained into the system). As for patrons, they were mostly CEOs, and their families, celebrities, all those sort of people. In fact, whenever a big-shot venture capitalist showed up, theyd make a big fuss out of it by printing a shot of his face, his biography, the kind of foods they liked, what time they wanted their alarm to be rung, all kinds of interesting things. M: What about the workers like you? Mostly young? Immigrants? Low wage? Or more of a spread? E: Yeah, it was mixedold, young, immigrants, gays, etc. I cant say it was low
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.

wage, because in my opinion, all wage is intolerable, but I guess theres a so-called thing as humane wages. I think the wages were fair, to some extent, but no ones ever content with any kind of wage. Look, whatever the wage was at the time, it didnt matter, we wanted more. I mean, why should the manager be paid more when all he ever did was stop by the kitchen and pick out fries? M: In that situation, were workers talking about the problems or was it just something you noticed?

youre working for someone else at that point.

M: When did you start to think you could fight back though? From the beginning? E: My gut feeling was that there was something I could do, its just that I didnt know how to, hence I joined the IWW. And the IWW was helpful. For instance, the IWW provided workshops that were tremendously helpful in assisting me in ways to work and combat these systems of power. And I used them, to the best extent I could, but if it werent for the IWW, I would have had zero knowledge about the interventions of a business union (and I was approached by them, too). So from a revolutionary perspective, it gave me an open eyefighting back, that is. Fighting back doesnt mean throwing yourself into the pit; it means getting along with others and doing things collectively. In fact, another worker and I fought for better pay and we managed to get $10.50 an hour for food running, up from $10. But if it werent for my co-worker, that wouldnt have happened. I had to convince him to fight for better pay. He was fine with $10 an hour until the workload picked up. It took him a while but I got him to fight with me. M: How did you convince him to fight? And how did you all win that raise? E: He was the food-running veteran. He was hired as a barback but eventually they forced him out and into food running. When I got there, it was just him doing the work by himself, but at the beginning, it was slow. I maintained loyalty with him, but I was always persistent and I wanted him to know that he was worth more than what he was bargaining for. Every worker is worth more than what theyre paid. Thats not

even an argument; you have to be a fascist to argue otherwise. But anyway, when we were hired, they were paying him $9 an hour as a food runner; another runner and I were getting paid $10. It wasnt until he found out about the pay disparity that he really became angry. We didnt know it at the time, but they eventually back-paid him all the dollars for that month. M: How did that happen? Just by confronting management individually? E: No, collectively. He was getting paid the wages he worked as a barback. When they transferred him as a runner, they just kept him at $9 (the wage actual wage for a runner is $10). M: Did that include the raise to 10.50? Or did that come later? E: That came later. M: Howd you get that? E: Same, we went to the manager. The managers promised us a raise, but it wasnt easy. We had to ask every week, reminding them...The managers had so much to do, because of the busy season, and just to find time for us...I thought we got lucky. I mean, managers were clocking in at 7 a.m. to help whatever way they could (of course, all the real physical labor was on the workers), but they were stressed out. M: And eventually they gave in? E: They did, but only with that issue. We had other issues, all completely ignored, as usual. M: Were there ever times when your co-workers confronted management together? E: Oh, yeah, of course. I remember one time, a female pool server was demanding promised pay or something, but it was only involving the servers (the majority of whom were females). I was at my lunch break, and I saw this pool server confront the boss, I had never seen anything like it. But she was demanding better pay or something like that. M: Anything come of it? E: No, nothing. Just promises. M: Anything you would do differently a second time around? E: Doing things a second time around means learning from your mistakesand there were mistakes, without a doubt. Personally, Im someone who goes through SAD [social anxiety disorder] so just talking in groups or whatever is a tough task in and of itself. Having joined a syndicalist union has helped me to break these fears, its helped me to jump into situations which I would have never dared to do. Furthermore, just having a base of solidarity has played a critical role in my politics, which is why I joined the IWW in the first place (Ive been anti-authoritarian since I was a kid).

E: They were, but the guys who were talking about it were ones who came from a union background; in fact, there were two brothers who spark my memory, both from Chicago, and they were the ones who had some idea of how helpful a union would be. Again, most of the workersI know from experienceare already ingrained into the system: they speak when only theyre spoken to. That kind of militarized-style of hospitality only leads to the worst kind of conformity. So there was a ton of isolation, mainly because of the competitiveness, but there were sectors of the pool and beach who spoke out against it, but it was nothing too noticeable. If you were lucky, like these two brothers, then you already knew the situations at hand. M: What got you to start organizing there? Was there some spark or cause that made you think it was time to start doing something? E: Its the service sector, why waste a second not to organize? This is an industry that takes you nowhere, unless you want to reach the level of management, but even there, youre someone elses boss. But to more accurately answer your question, the spark comes at the very second you walk into work and punch in:

IWW Constitution Preamble

he IWW is a union for all workers, a union dedicated to organizing on the job, in our industries and in our communities both to win better conditions today and to build a world without bosses, a world in which production and distribution are organized by workers ourselves to meet the needs of the entire 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 issues to address and what tactics to pursue are made by the workers directly involved. 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).

Join the IWW Today

__I affirm that I am a worker, and that I am not an employer. __I agree to abide by the IWW constitution. __I will study its principles and acquaint myself with its purposes.

Educate yourself and your fellow workers with the official newspaper of the IWW. Just mail in this form, or visit us online at: http://store.iww.org/industrial-worker.html 10 issues for: US $18 for individuals. US $30 for institutions. US $30 for internationals. Name: ________________________________ Address:______________________________ State/Province:_______________________ Zip/PC________________________ Send to: PO Box 180195, Chicago IL 60618 USA Subscribe Today!

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Page 4 Industrial Worker April 2014

For The Long Haul

By Colin Bossen About 10 years ago, when I was a member of the Chicago General Membership Branch, I got to know a Wobbly who had been a member of the union since the 1960s. In his decades as a Wob he had seen many people come and go. He had a term of scorn for people who took out a red card briefly for reasons of ideology or nostalgia. He called them thirty-day wonders. Thirtyday wonders join the union, pay their initiation fees and a months dues and then disappear. I have been a member of the IWW long enough now that I have seen my share of thirty-day wonders come and go. I have also watched multiple cohorts of Wobs develop who are committed to the union for the long haul. I expect Fellow Workers like Liberte Locke, Nate Hawthorne, Adam Weaver, Erik Forman, and the Industrial Workers editor, Diane Krauthamer, to be part of the union for decades to come. Watching them, and the development of my own life, I have started to think about what it means to be a Wobbly, not for 30 days, but for a lifetime. When I joined the IWW I was 22, filled with youthful militancy, just entering the workforce and totally nave about workplace organizing. Today I am 37; I have a family, a career and have had the privilege of being involved in four significant organizing campaigns. I also chaired the committee that reformed the unions Organizing Department in 2006 and have been editing this column for close to eight years. My experience has helped me reach a few conclusions about what long-term commitment to the IWW requires. First, and perhaps most importantly, it requires the ability to take care of yourself. The better world that Wobblies seek isnt going to come anytime soon. Committing to the IWW for the long haul means making time for family and friends, for exercise and whatever else you need to maintain your health. There will always be another meeting, another organizing campaign, and another picket line. It is alright to miss something or step back for a while

from organizing. If you dont take care of yourself chances are you will burn out pretty quickly. Second, be kind and compassionate towards other workers. We have a range of ideologies and experiences in our organization. It is easy to be a jerk about bad ideas. Resist the temptation. If you are kind towards others chances are they will be more willing to listen to you. Also, if the IWW is about building the new society within the shell of the old, then one of the things we need to do is learn to treat each other as if the new society has already come. Third, organize the worker, not the job. Jobs come and go. One of the big advantages the IWW has over the large business unions is that when Wobblies leave a job we take our union membership with us. If we are going to continue to build the union we need to exploit this advantage. We can help each other develop skills and networks of solidarity that we can carry with us no matter where we end up. We can do this by continuing to improve our organizer training programs and building a strong culture that people want to be part of. Finally, commit to building the organization. Workplace struggle comes and goes. Most workers dont want to be in a constant state of conflict with their employers. Many people think this desire for stability can be solved by contractualism. I have my doubts about that. Instead, I think building the kind of organization that we activate to defend past gains and win new ones is the solution. Such an organization almost certainly transcends specific workplaces. I suspect that other longtime members of the IWW have their own lists of things that they believe are necessary for a longterm commitment to the union. I would be interested in seeing those lists and starting some collective reflection on what it means to be a Wobbly for the long haul. If you have thoughts please send them my way. I would be delighted to put them in a future Workers Power column.

The IWWs Break With Political Socialism

By FW Klas Batalo It is impossible for anyone to be a part of the capitalist state and to use the machinery of the state in the interest of the workers. All they can do is to make the attempt, and be impeachedas they will beand furnish object lessons to the workers, of the class character of the state. - Vincent St. John, The IWW and Political Parties

In this article I look at the early fights over the Preamble and the role of political socialism. I focus in particular on the ideas of one of the IWWs founders, Thomas Hagerty, in order to open up a discussion on the relationship between the historical IWW and electoral politics. My real interests here are not in historical IWW but in what lessons the IWW can learn for relating to statist politics today. While the organization currently includes many self-described anarcho-syndicalists, antistate Marxists, and others who oppose the state, there hasnt been much written on the IWWs relationship to the state, nor has the organization done enough analysis of the role of the state. According to Luther M. Gaylords Politics vs. Syndicalism: a Case Study of the IWW, anti-statist politics did not come from the influence of the European syndicalists, but arose from actual concrete experiences of the lower grades of workers in the Western states. That is, anti-state perspectives arose organically or indigenously from the U.S. working class, rather than being an intellectual import from theorists abroad. The Western IWW members looked upon the whole modern system of government with considerable disdain. They saw

parliaments as little more than clearinghouses for the exchange of vague and sterile platitudes. They saw the modern state only as an instrument capable of servicing the interests of the capitalist class. While IWW members in the Western United States were an important part of the organization, there is a myth in the IWW that these anti-statist politics came almost entirely from the West. If we look at the founding convention in 1905 almost all of the delegates who came together could be described either as socialists, militant trade unionists or anarcho-syndicalists. Sal Salernos Red November, Black November discusses the influence of anarchists at the founding convention, including famous Wobblies like Thomas J. Hagerty and Lucy Parsons. Hagerty is of particular interest, in part because he composed the first draft of the IWW Preamble. He had been a member of the Socialist Party until he became disgusted with what he called the slowcialists, and turned to revolutionary unionism. In a speech to miners at Telluride, Colo., in 1902, Hagerty alluded to arguments he would later make for economic direct action and organization in the first draft of the Preamble. He advised the miners: That railroad is yours; those large business blocks and office buildings downtown that bring in big rent are yours; if you want them, go and take them. He agitated for direct action, in the form of the confiscation of capitalists property, not the ballot box. Hagertys disdain for political socialism was made clear in his speech at the founding convention, when he declared that The ballot box is simply a capitalist concession. Dropping pieces of paper into

Graphic: Mike Konopacki

a hole in a box never did achieve emancipation for the working class, and to my thinking it never will. Given his views, it is understandable then that Hagerty's draft of the IWW Preamble did not include a role for state-oriented politics. Rather, it emphasized the importance of the union as the center of revolutionary struggle, contending that the proletariat should take and hold that which they produce through an economic organization of the working class, the classic goal of antistatist revolutionary unionists. This wording, however, did not make it into the final draft of the Preamble because of the efforts of electorally-oriented socialists like Daniel DeLeon. Between 1905 and 1908 there were continual arguments over these conceptions of struggle and the unions ultimate goals, leading up to split between the electoral socialists and the rest of the IWW in 1908. In that year the version of the controversial clause in the Preamble was completely re-written to

reflect Hagertys original intent for an economic organization of the working class: Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the earth and the machinery of production and abolish the wage system. Later commenting on the IWWs 1908 Preamble, Samuel Yellen was struck by its similarity to the original Pittsburgh Manifesto of the Chicago anarchists. In principle, he wrote, the IWW resembled the Chicago idea anarchists of 1886, but advanced beyond them to syndicalism. It was the conscious efforts of anarchists like Hagerty who continued to affirm in the face of great adversity the principles for which the Chicago anarchists gave their lives defending. Hagertys contribution to the revolutionary union movement lies in the endurance of the original intent of the Preamble he authored and the courage of the IWWs rank and file to affirm this core principle.

April 2014 Industrial Worker Page 5

Around The Union

Wobbly & North American News

Compiled by FNB est in the IWW along the The Boston IWW is Front Range of the Rockies in a celebratory mood bewith members in Boulder, cause Insomnia Cookies has Colorado Springs, Denver, agreed to pay four Wobbly Ft. Collins and Pueblo. The strikers back pay after they Denver GMB is investigatwere illegally terminat ing holding an organizing ed for union activity. The training in the next couple Boston General Memberof months. ship Branch (GMB) has been busy signing up new Lithuanian IWWs are members, especially in the forming a Regional Orgamany fast food joints in and nizing Committee. around Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass. Condi Belgium IWWs will tions in the area are ripe for be attending Work Peoples Graphic: Midwest Dumpster Press organizing, with rampant College in Berlin this suminjustices such as the routine denial of pre- mer. mium overtime pay, refusal to pay workers their compensation, and managers insis The Portland IWW and Portland tence that employees should work off the Solidarity Network activists won several clock. Harvard Square could emerge as the wage theft cases in February. They are site of a new corridor campaign for our still working on the campaign for back branch, with the goal of making this trendy wages against a large Asian grocery store. neighborhood a hotbed of unionization. An IWW-led campaign to raise the miniWeve produced a new flyer for outreach to mum wage by $5 per hour is going into retail and service workers that is targeted neighborhoods with IWW and supporters at employees of Insomnia, where the cam- canvasing. IWWs also helped blockade paign to unionize local stores continues. scabs at the Port of Vancouver, Wash., and Our Insomnia Cookies IWW Organizing again against a Guatemalan vessel. Committee has been holding productive and well-attended meetings. We are also An organizer from West Scotland making store visits (when managers are reports that Wobblies in the United elsewhere) to introduce workers to the One Kingdom are sending 1,200 for the EuBig Union. All fellow workers are invited to ropean Work Peoples College in Berlin. please come to Boston and visit our vibrant The Clydeside GMB is also subsidizing and growing branch! And what better travel for two delegates to Berlin in July. place to come salt than our city by the The Sussex branch was unfortunately desea, plagued by gentrification but also sim- chartered. There are 802 members in all of mering with barely contained class rage? the United Kingdom (with the 90 members in Scotland included in that number). The The Denver GMB will be hosting IWW National Conference will be held in commemorations of the 100th anniversary London late May, but the exact date is not of the Ludlow Massacre in both Boulder yet finalized. A workshop for trainers will and Denver, Colo. There is renewed inter- be held in Birmingham in April.

By John Kalwaic In Portland, Ore., there has been a small victory by the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) for more hired teachers and less of a workload. Students from local high schools came out to support their teachers as part of the Portland Student Union (PSU). Teachers were up for a new contract, which may affect issues like health care and workload. The PAT was Students protest on Jan. 13. Photo: Bette Lee, Labor Notes also pressing for a cap on class sizes. There were walkouts at Wilson High by students in favor of the PAT. On Feb. 5, School on Dec. 13, 2013, and at Garfield the teachers voted unanimously to strike. High School on Jan. 10, 2014, both in sup- That same day a large student walkout port of the Portland area teachers in their occurred, in which 600 students from ongoing negotiations with the Portland Cleveland High School walked out in Public School (PPS) Board. The PPS was support of their teachers. The high school firmly on the side of the Portland Busi- picketers went by a middle school and an ness Alliance, which proposes that PAT elementary school, where the principal put his elementary school on lockdown advocates for school reform. The PSU, afraid that the PPS would while they were marching past the school. force the PAT to strike if they gave them an The strike was set for Feb. 20 as the PAT unacceptable contract, launched the Port- and the PPS continued bargaining; howland Teacher Solidarity pack the school ever the PAT never backed down from the board night. On Jan. 13, PSU members, threat of a strike. Community members, parents and teachers packed the school students, teachers and parents planned to board meeting with song and chants. picket every major school in the area. The Students chanted: Stay at the table, dont PPS finally caved in and the teacher and impose and If you do well strike too. student strike was narrowly averted. The The crowd was numbered at around 400. PPS agreed to some of the demands of the School board members who were teachers, such as hiring 150 new teachers, against the teachers left the building, which would reduce the class size by 5 perleaving only one board member to listen cent. The teachers also won more planning to the protest. The struggle has not been time for elementary school and special just against a bad contract, but the overall education teachers, but agreed to phase cuts to education, union busting against out early retirement benefits. The intense teachers, and more mandated standard- solidarity of the students and parents as well as the resolve of the teachers is what ized tests for students. The PPS claimed they support the led to the victory. With files from Labor Notes, Oregon students, but students are striking for themselves. There were seven walkouts Live, and Oregon Public Radio.

Victory For Portland Teachers, Students

University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center Workers Organize

By Kenneth Miller On March 3, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) hosted the biggest labor rally in Pittsburgh since the occupation of Peoples Park more than two years ago. Workers from Pittsburgh's largest employer, the non-profit University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, are organizing a union with the SEIU. Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) have had a union contract for 40 or 50 years, are making poverty wages, and Wobblies,workers protest in Pittsburgh. this year. Maybe the health care workers are mobilizing for a new contract as the current one expires at the end of June and retail workers can stick together and

Remember The Miners Strike

Photos: Kenneth Miller (left), Eric Bergerud (right)

Indiana Wobblies Celebrate One Year As A Chartered Branch

By Michael White On Saturday, Feb. 15, the Indiana General Membership Branch (GMB) celebrated our first year as a chartered branch of the IWW. We held our monthly GMB meeting that Saturday in the afternoon from 3 - 5 p.m. in Indianapolis at the Workers Justice Center. We had a fairly typical meeting; we attended to business as usual and had a turnout of about 27 members and non-members. After adjourning our meeting, we began to prepare for festivities. From about 6 - 11 p.m., we had our Red and Black one-year anniversary celebration. The entire space was decorated with red-and-black streamers, red balloons, and IWW posters. We had a raffle sign-up area set up, displaying prizes. There was a huge table of all kinds of union-made merchandise. We had the Indiana GMB charter and several other framed documents and posters belonging to the branch displayed. There was a delegate table set up in order to assist any persons interested in knowing more about or joining the IWW. We had a potluck style buffet, including a huge variety of delicious foods, along with a variety of beverages including juice, pop, and plenty of coffee. And there were branch members at posts throughout

both bargain a whopping $15 an hour starting rate.

This display commemorating the start of Miners Strike 30 years ago appears in a pub window in Glasgow.

Photo: Keith Millar

the evening to help chandise table, and guests in need. the delegate table The entire eveat the back. Then ning went off withI had the great out a hitch. It behonor of introducgan as I, the host, ing our headlinintroduced the ing entertainment event, describing for the evening, what we were celFW J.P. Wright ebrating and introof Louisville, Ky. ducing the nights FW Wright was entertainment. kind and generFirst up, we had a ous enough to degreat original set of vote the evening music by comrade to come out with Jared Gills. Then Indiana GMBs Patriarchy Photo: Michael White his family, hang we had really won- Resistance Committee. out for the evederful and powerful collective statement ning, and give us a really great show. JP by our fellow workers (FWs) in the Indiana played labor and folk songs, told stories, GMBs Patriarchy Resistance Committee, and passed on his sage-like wisdom for identifying their mission, articulating how an hour-and-a-halfbreaking only for and why patriarchy negatively affects our hilarious interjections by his son Jonah. efforts in organizing, and how and why we We rounded out the evening by raffling all must work together against patriarchal donated items for FWs and the branch. behavior. They introduced our evenings The raffle included donated handmade next entertainer, FW Matt Church, who red-and-black scarves, pins and buttons, gave an insightful and riveting 20-minute posters, a few Uganda IWW t-shirts, and poetry reading of several different authors some labor history calendars. that captivated the entire audience. Then I All in all, the event was a success. did my duties as host, reminded everyone Highest count puts the total just shy of 50 of the food and refreshments, the mer- people in attendance, with many new and

friendly faces. We had lots of really creative and productive conversations about plans for moving forward, funny conversations about past events, and got to relax with friends and fellow workers. When youre organizing its hard to step back and really enjoy the accomplishments that you and/or your branch achieve; things always seem to be going on, and people always seem to be busy. But, after having done so much, you really have to appreciate and enjoy what you have achieved thus far. Or else whats the point? Having organized for a little more than a year with the Indiana branch, after having started from nothing, and no one really knowing what was going to happen in a year, its great to stop and see that we have built a strong and well-connected group of members, supporters, and sympathizers, and that everyone involved is dedicated and invested in. Building social relationships is a very difficult task, there are plenty of obstacles and events that can discourage people, but we must continue to build bonds and connections, educate more people, and get more people involved and active. The labor movement, and specifically the flavor that the IWW espouses, needs to expand, involve more people, and have fun; people like fun.

Page 6 Industrial Worker April 2014

Front Page News

Striking Workers At Boston Insomnia Cookies Win Settlement

Continued from 1 nothing to lose but I had much to gain. The following morning they returned to set up a picket line, and reached out to the IWW, which sent union organizers to help. Within the first few days, all four were fired, and all four signed union cards. For the next six months, strikers, IWW members, allies, and student organizations at both Harvard and Boston University held pickets, marches, rallies, forums, phone blitzes, and a boycott, while workers continued organizing at both the Cambridge and Boston locations. The union also pursued legal charges through the NLRB. The settlement reached on March 3 came two days before a scheduled NLRB hearing on the charges. Since the first utterance of the word strike that late August night, it has been an uphill battle for all of us, said striker Chris Helali. The Industrial Workers of the World answered the call when no other mainstream union was interested in organizing a small cookie store in Harvard Square. We picketed, we chanted, we sang. I thank my fellow workers, the IWW and all of our supporters for their continued work and solidarity through this campaign. I am proud to be a Wobbly! Other outstanding issues remain unresolved between workers and the company. Wages, benefits, break time, scheduling, safety, independent contractor status of delivery workers, the November 2013 firing of IWW member and Insomnia baker Tommy Mendez, and police violence against a picket line and resultant charges against IWW member Jason Freedman, top the list of grievances. The union vows to continue organizing efforts at Insomnia Cookies. Helali said, I am extremely pleased with the settlement, however, it does not end here. This is only the beginning. The IWW, along with our supporters, will continue to struggle until every Insomnia Cookies worker is treated with respect and given their full due for their labor. There is true power in a union; when workers come together and make their demands with unified voices and actions. But for now, union members are celebrating. Being a part of the IWW means something to me, said Pea. I will never forget the four amigos, Niko, Chris, Luke, and I. We actually made a difference. Being a Wobbly can change your life! I just want to really thank everyone for their solidarity and commitment to crumbling down on this burnt Cookie, Pea added. UPDATE: Six days after the settle-

Continued from 1 were not outbound shipments. They were wrong. Activists saw the ports as revolving doors. We knew that these Stryker vehicles would be repaired and shipped right back out again to continue in the senseless slaughter. The model that PMR created was contagious. Activists in New York City shut down a military recruitment center in solidarity with one of our actions. There was a short-lived attempt to start a New Yorkbased PMR. Unionists in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in the Port of Oakland made connections with us to organize their own actions while Hawaiian activists were in regular discussion with us as well. Olympia and Tacoma became the epicenter of the antiwar movement. All eyes in the movement were on the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the resistance in the ports and streets, there was a parallel resistance evolving in the ranks of the military. Lt. Ehren Watada refused to serve in what he saw as an illegal war in Iraq. Suzanne Swift went AWOL (absent without leave) when she was asked to ship back out and remain under the command of a superior who had raped her and put her on suicide missions whenever she refused his advances. PMR activists helped build political movements supporting Watada and Swift and made their stories national news. Many other soldiers refused to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some did it publicly, asking for our support and going to the media with their stories. Most did it quietly. At least one soldier who went AWOL joined PMR. For the first time, these soldiers realized who their true enemy was. Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) became very active in the Northwest. The group established an anti-war G.I. coffeehouse called Coffee Strong just across the street from the massive military base Fort Lewis (now called Joint Base LewisMcChord). It was not uncommon for soldiers to show us peace signs and clench their fists in the air as they drove by during military shipments. Off duty, soldiers approached us in tears, telling us they were preparing for their third or fourth tour of duty and thanking us for taking action. One soldier, in what might be called an act of mutiny by his commanding officers, refused his orders to ship more vehicles and marched out of the Port of Olympia to a jubilant crowd of protesters. The situation was becoming a threat to the war efforts. Militant, raucous demonstrations followed the Army wherever they went. Soldiers and workers at Fort Lewis joined PMR. More and more soldiers refused to fight. Public opinion was not only turning against the wars but was turning into direct action to end the wars. The Army had to do something to put an end to this so their mission could continue unabated. This is where John Jacob entered the scene.

New Evidence Shows U.S. Government Spied On Wobblies, Activists

John said he worked as an information technology (IT) specialist at Fort Lewis and was an Army veteran. He was around 40, donned a beret and wore IWW and anarchist buttons. He was welcomed with open arms into the anti-war and anarchist movements. He became very active with PMR and spent much of his time hanging out at the Pitch Pipe Infoshop in Tacoma. I considered him not only a fellow activist but a friend. We gave a workshop together on community organizing at the Tacoma Anarchist Book Fair in 2007. Suspicious individuals came onto the scene. Many of us were routinely harassed. My house in Olympia, where I lived with several other activists, was under almost constant surveillance by police. They regularly parked their cars across the street, facing our house, and often came onto our property to harass us. I also discovered that the police at the college I attended kept a picture of me on their wall alongside that of another PMR activist for reasons I am still unaware of. In Tacoma, a surveillance camera was secretly installed on a utility pole across the street from Pitch Pipe. In September 2007, and again in the same month in 2009, I was detained and interrogated by Canadian border officials on trips to British Columbia. The first time, they threatened to put me in a Canadian jail without charge, temporarily confiscated my passport and deported me. The second time, I was informed I had an FBI number. A criminal trial called the Olympia 22 that stemmed out of the 2006 port protests was also sabotaged by law enforcement (and later, we learned Towery was in on this) when they hacked into our attorney-client listserv. Former IWW General Secretary-Treasurer (GST) Sam Green and I were both in this case. But there was one thing that tipped us off and made the Olympia IWW branch decide to file a public records request. In April 2008, the Olympia Police Department stole the IWW newspaper box located downtown. The box was given back only after a lawsuit was threatened. In response, I filed a public records request for any information on the IWW, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and anarchists. The hundreds of documents that were released included one that was an email sent by a John J. Towery II. It did not take long for a small group of activists to research and discover that John Jacob was in all actuality John Towery, Army informant. The jig was up for John but this revelation was only the tip of the iceberg. Other activists filed more public records requests and over the next few years we would receive hundreds upon hundreds of documents that provided fragments of information detailing a vast surveillance network. Not only was the Army spying on us, but the Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force were as well. We also learned that countless federal agencies, including the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security were spying on us. Even Air Force personnel from as far away as New Jersey and the U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C. were part of the network. Not to mention the seemingly endless list of local and state police departments that were involved. We discovered that at the core of this network was a fusion center that Towery worked for. Fusion centers are a shadowy post-9/11 development cre ated to monitor terrorist activities and threats to national security. They blur the lines between local and federal law enforcement agencies and the military. There have been congressional hearings on fusion centers in the past for overstepping their boundaries and trampling civil liberties. Fusion centers have gone so far as targeting Planned Parenthood and peace groups. Occupy Austin was also infiltrated by a fusion center informant. The danger of course is that fusion centers do intelligence gathering on threats to U.S. national interests and in doing so see peace groups, Occupy and Al-Qaeda as all part of the same monolith bent on destroying the government. The only thing fusion centers have been successful at is helping prop up a national security state. Civil liberties and constitutional law are simply viewed as annoying inconveniences to fusion centers. There are currently almost 80 such centers in the United States. Towerys exact role within the fusion center is still unclear but he did prepare threat assessments on local activists. He was not alone in his work. Clint Colvin was outed as a spy for the Coast Guard. Sandy Kortjohn, whose husband, Mike Kortjohn, worked in the same circles as Towery and spent his time gathering intelligence on SDS and PMR, infiltrated an anti-imperialist group in Olympia and was outed by another activist. Towerys superiors not only knew what he was doing, they encouraged it and gave him orders. To this day, however, Joint Base Lewis McChord maintains that he was a rogue individual and did not have clearance from his superiors to spy. Documentary evidence that has come in the form of public records requests states otherwise and turns their lies into a thin veil they are finding harder to hide under. Knowledge of this surveillance went way up the chain of command, all the way up to the Secretary of Defense. It started under the Bush administration and continues, to this day, under Obamas presidency. Towerys role as a spy gives us a glimpse into the dynamics of this vast surveillance network. Although I cannot speak about the details yet as I signed onto a protective order, the Army recently gave my attorneys nearly 10,000 pages of discovery documents. Hopefully, the day will come when we can share these and other documents. Im really curious about the details of this program and am confident that we will get a better picture during trial this June.

ment, on Sunday, March 9, Insomnia Cookies suspended bicycle delivery driver and IWW organizer Tasia Edmonds. Edmonds was disciplined for speaking out against workplace injustices, which the boss called insubordination. According to Edmonds I was suspended for my union involvement. I have never been disciplined before. I was not served any paper work detailing why I was suspended. I want to get back to work, and I want back pay for the days I missed. Two dozen IWW members and allies picketed the Boston Insomnia Cookies location, where Edmonds is employed, on Friday, March 14. Organizers planned another rally for Saturday, March 22, after student allies from the abutting Boston University return from spring break. The IWW demands that the company follow through on its promise to cease targeting union organizers.

The parameters of this surveillance network could fill the pages of a book. This should of course concern everyone in the union. Not just for the obvious reasons that Wobblies were spied on, including former GST Sam Green, or that our union was targeted by an institution which has the main goal of neutralizing and killing threats to U.S. governmental interests. I plan on writing more on this, on who John Towery was, and on what practical things we can take from this experience. There are some new revelations I am still wrapping my head around. I recently learned that while Towery was spying on us, he carried a concealed gun with a bullet in the chamber. I also learned that he tried to convince a friend that anarchists and fascists had much in common, that we should work together. It also seems likely that the U.S. Army was planning an entrapment case on my friends, on fellow anarchists in Tacoma. These are stories for another day. What we need to do is turn our rage over these revelations into love, into action. To take the words of one Wobbly that was murdered by the state of Utah years ago, Dont mourn, organize! Thats precisely what we need to do in moments like this. Yes, repression is real. But we need to use the story of Army spy John Towery to agitate and organize other workers. We need to educate workers that this government will take excessive measures to ensure that big business accumulates as much profit as possible through perpetual warfare and propping up a national security state. You can help with this case by giving a donation to our legal defense fund. We need it. Thankfully, we have a brilliant team of lawyers representing us, including Larry Hildes, who joined the IWW during our unions Redwood Summer campaign with Earth First! Dennis Cunningham is also helping us. He represented radicals the FBI targeted for neutralization, like Black Panther Fred Hampton and Wobbly Judi Bari. It is however a grassroots legal defense on a shoestring budget. Like Ian Minjiras, I am considered a domestic terrorist by the U.S. government. Not a day goes by that I am not reminded of this fact. The bigger question is: Does the government consider the IWW a terrorist organization? This would not be the first time that the government labels those fighting for freedom and liberation as terrorists. And it wont be the last, unless of course we continue in our struggle to create a society rooted in true freedom, in mutual aid, cooperation, and dignity and abolish the system that shackles the poor of the world. Thats a system the military, law enforcement, both the Republicans and Democrats, the rich, and the national security state that protects all of them are deathly afraid of. We have a world to win! Lets keep on fighting for it. Donate to the legal defense fund by visiting http://www.peoplevtowery.org.

April 2014 Industrial Worker Page 7

Organizing

Why The Boeing Deal Is A Defeat For Us All

By Andy Piascik In a move that strikes yet another blow to democracy and to the living standards of working Americans, Boeing forced major givebacks on its 30,000 union employees in the state of Washington while simultaneously pulling off what may be the biggest welfare rip-off in the nations history. Confronted with company threats to move production of a huge new project out of state, workers reluctantly voted by an extremely narrow margin to give up defined pensions in exchange for risky 401(k) retirement plans. Thus, Boeing, which made $3.9 billion in profits in 2012, joins the long and growing list of major corporations around the country that have successfully eliminated defined pensions in order to dramatically increase profits. In addition to the pension takeaways, the agreement includes a new stipulation that allows the company to contract work out of the union. The national office of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) joined the company in a classic case of vote and vote again until you get it right by forcing the second vote, even though the local union and 67 percent of those who voted in November opposed the deal. Moreover, the IAM national office scheduled the second vote on Jan. 2-3 when many workers were using vacation days to tack extra time off onto the end of the annual Christmas/New Years shutdown. Predictably, turnout dropped precipitously as there was no possibility for in-plant discussion of the companys demands and possible strategies for resistance because of the shutdown. The aerospace industry is one of the last in the United States where workers are able to make wages to enter the muchtrumpeted, rapidly disappearing middle class. With this move, however, Boeing has announced that it is determined to see that aerospace workers knuckle under to its every demand or see their jobs moved elsewhere. It is the same strategy corporate elites used against steel, rubber and autoworkers, with disastrous consequences. In many instances, employers forced one concession after another while dangling the threat of job flight, then closed up shop anyway. With the added clause in the revised contract about non-union outsourcing, its perfectly reasonable to conclude that Boeing also has a not-so-long-term plans to bust the union. What makes this case all the more galling is that the take-backs worth billions to Boeing came at the same time the company was extorting $8.7 billion in handouts from Washingtons governor and state legislature. This, too, was accomplished with threats of relocation and follows a long tradition of corporate welfare to Boeing worth tens of billions of dollars. It is one more of the countless examples that underscore how the philosophy the Super Rich and their government and media flacks espouse of free markets and market discipline is a colossal sham. The Super Rich love welfare as long as its exclusively for them and they abhor markets except when applied to the 99.9 percent. The disgraceful conduct of the IAM national office cries out for Boeing workers and the working class as a whole to confront serious questions regarding collective bargaining and the union bureaucracy. Bureaucrats like IAM president Tom Buffenbarger, who earns in excess of $300,000 per year have, interests that conflict with those of the workers they purport to represent and often mesh nicely with those of corporate elites. In addition, the fulcrum of the union bureaucracys political strategy remains, even after so many beat-downs, supporting the DemocratsDemocrats like Washington Governor Jay Inslee and the majority of the legislature that approved the $8.7 billion Boeing handout and pushed hard for the take-backs. Perhaps of greater significance for building the kind of militant movement we need, workers have for decades been saddled with no-strike clauses in their contracts, no-strike clauses that union bureaucrats who wholeheartedly share the business classs desire for a tame workforce happily agree to. The no-strike clause in the Boeing/IAM contract came into play because the companys demands for pension surrender came in the middle of a contract, thus depriving the work-

ers of their most potent weapon. In a society with a long history of violent repression of workers by the business class, strikes and other forms of labor militancy are most responsible for the advances made. Surrendering the right to strike has dramatically hastened the decline Photo: Jim Levitt, Labor Notes Machinists vote no to Boeing at a in the reversal of rally in January 2014. IWW when the Wobs recognized that almany of those admost every sentence that is added to a colvances. There is nothing immutable about lective bargaining agreement is meant to no-strike clauses; they can be bargained restrict worker self-activity. Militant workout of collective bargaining agreements as ers of the 1930s who lay the foundation for surely as they were inserted. That will take the Congress of Industrial Organizations some doing but one certainty is that it will (CIO), such as those whose stories appear never happen until we begin to push the in Alice and Staughton Lynds great book question. Its also time to revive sit-down Rank and File, likewise bitterly opposed strikes, plant occupations such as the restrictions on strikes that John L. Lewis one that five years ago successfully kept and the Roosevelt Administration forced Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago upon them. If the people of the United States are open, as well as the issue of plant closure legislation to protect both workforce and going to turn back the relentless class warcommunity, an issue that arose in many fare the Super Rich are waging against us, places in the late 1970s and quickly died. we are going to have to organize on many Given the burgeoning worker-owned fronts. Within unions, rank and filers are coop movement, such legislation could going to have to go beyond workplace conbe linked to promoting the idea that its tractualism and add eliminating no-strike both reasonable and beneficial to push for clauses, management prerogative clauses the right of communities and workers to and perhaps even exclusive representaassume control of plants that employers tion to the agenda or union reform will deem not sufficiently profitable. Among continue to end up looking like Arnold other examples from history, we can take Miller and Ron Carey. Such demands are inspiration from how little national dis- a perfect complement to direct action, cussion there was about wealth inequality where we again have a wealth of history on our side, what with the Freedom Riders prior to Occupy. Green, socialist and other radical par- of 1961, the sit-down strikers of 1936-37 ties and candidates can make plant closure and so many more. The Occupy movement legislation part of their campaigns while that so electrified the country and brought within unions, rank-and-file activists can awareness about corporate class warfare challenge continued inclusion of no-strike to millions of people was a start; we must clauses. In many ways, history is on our now find ways to bring that approach and side, not against us. We can, for example, spirit to higher levels and into workplaces draw inspiration from the heyday of the and communities everywhere.

Freedom School Along The Mohawk

By Brendan Maslauskas Dunn We make the road by walking. The statement was scrawled on the chalkboard in a small classroom in an old churchs school building. The students discussed the meaning of the quote attributed to Paulo Freire, the visionary educator and radical who promoted the concept of popular education. It was the very first class of the Mohawk Valley Freedom School, a new initiative in Utica, N.Y. that puts Freires ideas into practice. The idea of the school came out of discussions from Occupy Utica but also comes out of a tradition that goes back years. The original Freedom Schools were launched as part of the Freedom Summer campaign in 1964 which sought to propel the Black Freedom struggle to a new level through grassroots organizing, voter registration, education, and independent politics to challenge the Dixiecrats. Staughton Lynd was the director of the original schools and commented on its legacy in the book Wobblies and Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism and Radical History. Although the schools only lasted the summer, the idea far outlived the institution. Today there is a new wave of Freedom Schools and the one in Utica is just the most recent one to form. There are of course other schools that have inspired the formation of the Mohawk Valley Freedom School. Los Angeles, Chicago and Brooklyn have all become recent homes to Freedom Schools which have connections to the Oc-

cupy movement. of the school, SoAnother school cial Movements, in New Haven, Social Change, Conn., which has surveys many sobeen part of the cial movements public school sysand makes contem for decades, nections with the is another such daily lives of stuexample. There dents. Whether is no principal. the discussion Instead it is run is on the Arab o n c o n ce pt s of Spring, Haymar democratic selfket, or the ZapatisPhoto: mvfreedomschool.wordpress.com management and FW Brendan at the Freedom School. tas, the question students have a constantly asked very direct role to play in this. is, How are these movements relevant Yet another school is the Akwesasne to us? Freedom School located in Mohawk NaMarquis hopes that the school will tion, just a few hours drive north of Utica. have an impact on the students, many of The curriculum of the school is directly whom are young workers, in becoming rooted in the culture, tradition, history, more socially active or event labor activand language of the Mohawk people. It ists. The idea of a Freedom School is a was founded in 1979 and has resisted im- process of learning without the studentmersion and any funding from both the teacher dynamic. Workplaces need that U.S. and Canadian governments. In es- toothe idea that you dont need a boss sence, the Mohawk are making their own but youre working collectively to reach a road by walking by providing a liberatory goal, said Marquis. education. The emphasis of the school of course is An enthusiastic student, IWW mem- praxisthe idea that reflection and action ber and co-founder of the Mohawk Valley are intricately connected and in constant Freedom School, 17-year-old Marquis dialogue with each other. Marquis emphaPalmer, thinks the school has much to of- sized that the school is rooted in social fer a city that has been pushed to the brink change and that the discussions in class of disaster by de-industrialization and can directly benefit the union and building urban decay. Marquis helps to break down workers power. A large component of the the student-teacher division by teaching program will be labor history and labor his own classes, one on the history of the organizing. An IWW workplace organizer Black Panther Party. The initial program training was also held at the Freedom

School where students met with workers from across Upstate New York. This is exactly the spirit of what praxis should be. Although Wobblies have had a significant part to play in launching the program, the idea is that the community will lead it. Mohawk Valley Community College professors, educators, students, and workers from all walks of life have gotten involved in different ways and are excited that working-class and social issues are at the core of this education. More importantly, this education is tied to social action and places power directly in the hands of the students. A summer school is being planned with a possible trip to Akwesasne to learn how to eventually make the Mohawk Valley Freedom School a lasting institution. While the IWW has its own history of liberatory education, especially in the Work Peoples College which will also launch in Europe this summer, the Freedom School may be a good model for the IWW to build working-class power wherever the union has a presence. For Marquis Palmer, the Mohawk Valley Freedom School has breathed life into a city that once boasted an active and militant union movement. He thinks the school will be a benefit for the union because discussion can lead to workplace issues. Once you tackle those you can tackle bigger things. For this little Freedom School along the Mohawk River, praxis paves the way forward. For more information, visit: http:// mvfreedomschool.wordpress.com.

Page 8 Industrial Worker April 2014

Organizing

By Scott Nikolas Nappalos Organizing has taken a new direction in our current society where we have to build movements rather than join. A new level of commitment is needed. Miami IWW member Scott Nikolas Nappalos provides a great analysis and critique of organizing today in the piece below. When people hit a brick wall organizing today they are very quick to look at big picture aspects to explain their failures. For many of the tiniest fights we see calls for large revisions of structure of social organizations, committees, and demographics in countless versions. Ideology is also popular with a deep drive towards critique and adopting new ideologies as technical fixes for hurdles in organizing; forms of born-again ideology. The worst of this is relying on large-scale analyses of the economic environment to explain away concrete daily problems that seek to persuade people not to fight in vast sections of society and the globe because of often amateurish crystal gazing and doit-yourself political economy. The focus is generally on us, likely because of how demobilized society is, which shifts the view away from the people struggling. There is a basic element of organizing people to fight around their daily interests that rarely is discussed and yet is a fundamental aspect of nearly everything political happening today. A question we should ask ourselves perpetually is: do these people want to organize? As revolutionaries we ask people not only to engage in their immediate problems, but also to take on the system itself; to abolish the wage system and hierarchical exploitation and oppression. Even peoples immediate issues, say low wages, take a significant commitment of time and emotional energy to deal with. People have to be willing to plan, meet, and exert their resources towards something they may already hate (their job, their conditions). There are lots of detours that allow people to avoid this stuff. We move jobs, we change buildings, move to different cities and neighborhoods; try to avoid the police, take matters into our own hands, etc. The forces against sustained action are powerful, especially today when there is no liberatory social force that intervenes consistently within society. People are working in isolation with bad odds when there are more pleasant things they could probably be doing. Simply put, its often better for people not to fight than to fight in the immediate. Organizing involves sinking more of ones life into something that

What Went Wrong With The Organizing: The Elephant In The Room Of Political Will
makes you miserable with little prospect for big successes, and more than likely you may end up worse off. Organizing goes against the current both of overt oppression and coercion, and tactics that allow people to delay, defer, or avoid the nasty stuff in society. This is something that should be recognized, understood, and inspires us to put minds together to deal with it. In the film The Wobblies, an old IWW member retells the story of a recruit who asked What does this membership card entitle me to? to which the IWW delegate said Fifteen years in the penitentiary. The recruit signed up. That example provides good contrast to common thinking about how this all works. Today people often fixate on victories, material gains, and winning something for people. The problem is that fighting often involves losing more on a social level than any immediate gains we might achieve. Even when we have all-out wins, its not clear that it is actually a win for those people. This Wobbly who signed up did so not because of concrete gains they might have gotten, but in spite of the misfortune that would ensue. Put politics aside and think of all the meaningful, pleasant, and important social things someone has to sacrifice in order to do the tedious, tense, and often hostile work of organizing. Attempts to understand commitment to political projects in terms of a cost-benefit analysis will trip up here consistently. To build movement we need sustained long-term action on a consistent basis something that is not likely to be enjoyable, filled with victories, or motivating by itself. What allows people to maintain this action is bigger. A will to struggle in spite of everything comes from deeper inspiration; ideas and ethics that carry people through misery. Union contracts and campaigns usually focus on breadand-butter issues like wages, healthcare, retirement, etc. Yet when attending union meetings where grievances are aired and you talk to workers organizing, you hear distinctly different discussions. Workers persistently raise issues of respect, dignity, and injustice as their primary motivating force. The union often channels that anger into those wage fights, but the issue is different. To carry things out, people need to be inspired to work towards a better world. In doing so, they become willing to do things that do not make sense on a strict dollars and sense basis, and even can make them happy having contributed to something bigger in life. Just do the math. I once participated in a four-month strike allegedly for a $1.50 per hour raise. At the workplace, turnover was high with most workers lasting less than a year and nearly all less than three years. The costs of being on strike immediately went beyond anything the workers would ever see. Likewise the workers were willing to occupy board members businesses and be arrested to help win the strike, incurring more personal harm, both financial and otherwise. When the union pressed to settle the strike it was for 25 cents per hour, and after the negotiating of the contract nearly everyone quit. A few likely were disillusioned, but for many it was an eye-opening experience. Some co-workers went on to become active in unions and more committed to working in their industry. The logic of this scenario makes no sense unless we look to the motivations of the workers that go beyond their immediate demands. In fact the demands seem to matter very little beyond the will to address injustice, work against management that is perceived to be tyrannical and wrong, and a willingness to work for something better. I call this the collective mood or political will. Rather than an appendage to our work, it should take a center role in our thinking about how things play out. Today there are countless opportunities to organize and potentially motivating issues, and yet given the circumstances people often choose not to. That is a reality we have to deal with, and that should be pointed out in our work. When you pull that element out, it becomes apparent why people are not ready at any moment to dedicate the bulk of their life to politics. Without the collective mood to fight, the best organizing will ebb and flow with the amount we are asking from people and their level of frustration with short-term issues. This is in keeping with most recent fights. Places heat up, people mobilize, and then life goes back to normal with the exception of a few individuals who become more active for years, and a smaller minority for their lives. Coming to act can change people even when they lose. Some come to see the possibility of a better life through experiences with organizing, and this can open space for revolutionaries. Our job is not just to help open that mental space, but also to offer our analysis, ideas, and values that can carry people from immediacy to the bigger picture. For those who are interested, we need to work hard to both prepare them for future fights and inspire them to carry

Graphic: iwwmiami.wordpress.com

Portland IWW Fights Wage Theft

on and go deeper. With others who dont want to continue, our focus should be on planting seeds and understanding that there has been an increase in the social experience of struggle; things which may ripen at other times. If we can sustain individual militants and work towards networks of organizers who come out of struggle, those linkages and experiences can form a backbone of social organization that isnt identical with our projects or groups, but that can in crucial moments bear fruit. This is part of why it is so demobilizing when people try to hide, remove, or actively prevent revolutionary politics from the day-to-day work of organizing. Without engaging people politically we are abdicating our ability to provide tools that can motivate potential militants. It also gives us clarity as to why apolitical and neutral organizing is such an idealistic approach; the very basis for action comes out of how people think about the world and their actions. All action is inherently political, and our response can contribute to or stunt its trajectory. In the present environment we have to take into account that likely only a few will want to commit themselves to sticking it out for the long haul. That doesnt mean necessarily we change what we do, but it should change our expectations and how we respond to difficulties. When we can contribute to making organizing happen, it does have an impact on peoples lives and thinking even when they return. This situation could change. There are times when broad swaths of society catch a wind and hunker down for social change. By recognizing the role of political ideas and ethics in motivating and the force of political will within social action, we arm ourselves to understand and act on different situations that may come at us. Today this means finding ways to plant seeds, spread collective activity that can help transform people, and investing in people who rise above and become willing to commit to something bigger.

Continued from 1 maternity leave. Once she had given birth to her child, the only place she was provided with for breast-pumping breaks was a closet filled with caustic chemicals. Together, PDXSol and the two women put together a demand of just over $4,000 in compensation, as well as for Fubonn to bring their workplace up to current labor standards. A demand delivery took place, and the campaign began with regular picketing, leafletting, and the placement of posters in the owners neighborhood that indicated the kind of wage theft and worker abuse that was taking place. Fubonn responded by filing a lawsuit for defamation against the two women and two of PDXSols organizers, one of whom is also an IWW member.

Photo: Shane Burley

To settle the lawsuit, Fubonns attorney demanded a list of all members, all supporters, all funding sources, and all supporting organizations, as well as a public apology. Because of the loose nature of the network, they found it difficult to actually target PDXSol as an organization itself. If they were to comply with Fubonns demands and release the expected information into the public record, it would have given the effect of incorporating the group into a legal entity. This would have allowed Michael Liu, the chief owner of Fubonn, to have the legal ability to broaden the targets of his legal repression. After looking over these demands, PDXSol decided to arrange a delivery of a counter-offer. A group of approximately 50 members and supporters entered Fubonns attorneys office with a letter of counter-demands. While the lobby was occupied, their attorney refused to leave his office and accept the letter, and the irate office manager called the police. The demands were spoken aloud through an echoing mic check, and the letter was left for later review. In addition to the financial remuneration for the two women, the lawsuit also needed to be dropped if PDXSol was to stop the campaign. The pickets resumed shortly thereaf-

ter, with a large rally in front of Fubonn to publicly indicate that the campaign would continue despite the lawsuit. With the support of organizers and members from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), UNITE HERE, the painters union, and the Portland IWW, several new stages of the campaign were announced. First, the Portland IWW and PDXSol would start regular Friday pickets called the Fridays of Fury at Fubonn, which would target one of their busiest customer rush periods. Second, an alternative labor coalition would be created to intensify the Fubonn campaign and to create a permanent working relationship between alternative labor organizations. As Brandon Feld, the PDXSol and IWW member who is facing the lawsuit, mentioned, The coalition is right now focused around the Fubonn case, but eventually we would like to see it turn into a broader alternative labor coalition. Different groups would be able to bring their projects there, and tap into support. The final announcement would be the creation of a website, http://www.dontshopfubonn.com, that would target the business directly and act as a hub for the ensuing boycott and escalation campaign. PDXSol follows a direct action case-

work model that targets worker and tenant issues without having to appeal to representative institutions to see results. Instead, a target is set and winnable goals are identified so that members can collectively see what success would look like. I think its important because it works, said Feld, Weve seen it over and over again, with different organizations, that these campaigns work. That escalation tactics and direct action applies more pressure to bosses and gets the goods faster than a lawsuit does. Building power around people taking direct action against oppressors is important. When we hand it off to lawyers we are giving away our agency and power. The goal then is to see that this campaign not only achieves material wins for those involved, but also ignites a sense of power in those participating and builds the organization so that larger and more permanent struggles can take place. This boils solidarity down to its most core elements and attempts to solidify these bonds between workers into an organization that has the ability to respond when those in power move towards exploitation. The coalition is now moving forward with several partner organizations, including the Portland IWW.

April 2014 Industrial Worker Page 9

Organizing

The Adjunctification Of Higher Education: Its Dirty Little Secret Exposed

By Ana M. Fores Tamayo I was an adjunct but no longer call myself such. I have not taught since last summer. I hope that for education, for usthe precariat, the adjunct, the contingent, the casual, the occasional worker, whatever we want to call ourselveswe have a new year filled with promise, hope, action, change. I am hoping against hope that our tenuous existence will no longer be that invisible barrier that blocks us from the great light against darkness this year, 2014. Tarrant County College District in Fort Worth, Texaslike all schoolsessentially dismissed me, although they said they were rearranging my classes. They saw the petition for adjunct justice I had begun as a threat. With a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), all but dissertation (ABD) in Comparative Literature from New York University, they paid me only $1,800 per semester course, no healthcare. When I looked at my education, then I checked out my income tax return, I realized I did not even make $15,000 per year. This was a sad state of affairs. But the sadder truth is that I am not unique. There are 1.5 million faculty members in higher education today. Only 25 percent of this number is tenured. Thus, I am a one in 1 million, and of this number, over 50 percent average $2,700 per semester, no healthcare, and another 25 percent have no tenure and are hired on limited contracts. This means that their job security is just as precarious as ours, and though some instructors may have healthcare, their pay is still not much better, and their insecurity is such that they struggle everyday with the conditions of their palpable precarity. Over 75 percent of professors today are in this predicament. We ask ourselves daily: Should we really stick it out in education? The fact too that I went about my days for four years and knew not one other faculty member well speaks volumes; the administration tried to keep us separate, isolated and distinct. Administrators knew they could easily replace me with others who were more complacent or fearful; they did not care with whom, as long as they were not questioned. Silence and obedience was the golden rule. And thats what colleges and universities count on. They want us to be afraid. The year before, the college took two of my classes away each semester, hoping that would quiet me into submission. The following calendar year, they gave me my full course load back, thinking I had learned my lesson. But they were wrong. Fear and intimidation cannot quiet truth. Thus, when they realized that had not worked, they threw me out completely, without notice. What happened to me happens time and time again to those who dare question the status quo. This is why the adjunctification of higher education has been a secret for so long; colleges rid themselves of rabble-rousers like me. While two of my Writing Composition classes had 35 students each, how many students did full-time instructors teach? Adjuncts do not have the wherewithal to give individualized care. Why is it that both adjuncts and their students suffer? Yet how could the full-time instructor who taught the same exact classat the same exact timehave so many less students and be paid three times as much? Students did not register individually, so they were not choosing me. How many fullAdjunct Justices logo. time faculty members who say they feel badly for adjuncts turn a blind we originally championed, is now being eye when they realize such disparities ex- used against us. ist? Moreover, I had to sign a draconian Many universities have been placing contract every semester, checking registra- adjunct course limits starting in 2014. tion to see if classes would make. So many College systems, such as my own Tarrant faceless adjuncts suffer this indignity every County College District, and all over Texas, semester. have been notorious in cutting adjunct How many of us find ourselvesbe- hours. This does not even factor in private fore the start of a semesterdesperately or public four-year institutions, such as trying to figure out how to make ends St. Edwards University; they are limiting meet because our classes have just been contingent faculty to six credit hours in cancelled? And how many of us work on 2014 while saying changes have nothing to our syllabi weeks before only to find we do with the Affordable Care Act. If I could have no classes to teach? Or how many of not survive before on $14,400, how will I us are hired two weeks, one week, or even ever survive on less? How can any adjunct two days before the start of class? I am survive? Texas is not alone. Many private, sure the adjunct who was hired to replace public, online, for-profit and not-for-profit me found himself in just such a quandary. institutions all over the United States are How many administrators do you think playing this cruel game. care what adjuncts know or even how we So what happens to students as educateach? We are just bodies to them, filling tion deteriorates? If we do not teach, who up their desired quotascheap labor to will? If universities are not willing to pay meet their needs. healthcare to adjuncts who average $2,700 A while back, I watched the 1960 per semester course, do you think they will documentary, Harvest of Shame (http:// shell out more money for full faculty hires www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJTVF_dy- to replace the adjuncts who are already a7E), which introduced migrant workers quitting in droves? who were dirt poor; poverty was a sad I have heard it mentioned that adbut immediate presence. What is not so juncts are worth a dime a dozen. Where obviousbut because this is so, it is much there is one, there are 1,000. How many of more insidiousis the plight of adjuncts. these so-called 1,000 newfound last-minWe are these same poor depicted in the ute hires, these superfluous adjuncts, will film. We might wear different clothes, hide be ready to teach at a last minutes notice? our destitution a bit more in the urban or Worse yet: How many will be able to teach suburban dwellings of todays modern effectively? Think about this logically. The universities, but otherwise, there is not adjunctification of higher education affects much difference between us. How can we all society, whatever role we might play in survive on the compensation we are paid? it: teacher, student, parent, administrator. Yet many of us need to. Worse, as profes- Teacher working conditions are student sionals, how can we show or talk to our learning conditions. Do we really want to students about our abject poverty? How be on the losing side? On the side that is can we tell them truthfully it is worthwhile morally, ethically wrong? to learn, when we cannot even make ends What is being done to education today meet at the end of the day, with our great is a complete travesty. It is unethical and education? immoral what my collegeand with it, the More so, for many of us todayunlike world of higher educationis doing. Not years agowhat we teach is our sole source only do they exploit contingent faculty by of income. And now, with the ambiguity of denying us living wages and healthcare, the Affordable Care Act, higher education but they also deny us any sustainable is limiting courses in fear it will have to livelihood. If we do not fight them, we are pay healthcare. Thus, schools are doubly complicit. Yet how can we fight them when crippling us. The Affordable Care Act, we have no sustenance? The contingent lawhich was intended to help us, and which bor force or what most call us, adjuncts, add-onsis now at least 75 percent and growing. Yet we are not in the news. We are not talked about. We are not anyones concern. The classrooms keep filling up with students, their test grades keep faltering, and we keep teaching out of car trunks, managing two, three, sometimes four jobs to eke out a living. When good educators are dismissed from work without reason, when we are paid substandard wages, when we are left dangling until the last minute semester after semester, when we are given no healthcareor have classes cut because they do not want to give us healthcarewhen no one, including the media, is willing to do anything to help, what can we do? Higher education as we know it seems doomed. Although now mainstream media seems to be awakening, it is still a far cry to public knowledge. Why is that? It cannot be because people are not interested. People seem not interested because they do not know. If people actually knew, they would be devastated. Students are faltering because their teachers cannot survive. And if people really knew all this, do you think

Graphic: facebook.com/AdjunctJustice

Sponsor an Industrial Worker subscription for a prisoner! The IWW often has fellow workers & allies in prison who write to us requesting a subscription to the Industrial Worker, the official newspaper of the IWW. This is your chance to show solidarity! For only $18 you can buy one full years worth of workingclass news from around the world for a fellow worker in prison. Just visit: http://store.iww.org/industrialworker-sub-prisoner.html to order the subscription

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they would sit silently by? How can we teach the students of tomorrow if teachers cannot survive today? I am not giving up on higher education or on my petition, which now has over 7,200 signatures (please sign and share!: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ better-pay-for-adjuncts). I have begun a page for Adjunct Justice too (https://www. facebook.com/AdjunctJustice), with 600 followers, though there is always room for more. I know the power of words, of solidarity, of our 1 million strong. I have given up my individual fight, but I have not given up our fight for justice. We teach todays students, tomorrows world. How can we give up on that? This is why I am writing now. Lets raise our voices. Take our cry to our senators and representatives, to our state officials, to our relatives, friends and enemies alike. To our churches and schools, our media. Lets shout out. We need to unite with students, parents, educatorsboth tenured and contingent workers alikebecause we are all one; we cannot let higher education get away with this blatant act against what is good and noble in our profession. Indeed, we have been shunned, turned down, forsaken. We have been abandoned. We are invisible. But we can say, See who we are. We will not give up. Come fight with us: join us. Be our David against Goliath. Support us against those who want to crumble our Ivory Walls of true learning. A friend and colleaguean academic from Texas whom I call Professor Tenacious Texan (TT)read this with tears coming to her eyes. She cried because it was her story. She worked hard for that dream, yet she saw that dream destroyed as she slaved away for meager pay, hours and hours spent without gratitude or pay. She could not live on students praise alone. She could not live without security. So she became angry. But she looked around and instead of saying, I am leaving this crazy profession, she said, I am going to fight. This is worth the struggle. And she is fighting now. TT joined the team of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). She is beginning her struggle with Adjunct Justice in New York, but this struggle is a national struggle. What is happening now in New York is also happening in Boston, Los Angeles, D.C. and Seattle. And it can happen anywhere, if we decide to form a real uniona state of harmony or agreement. After all, what is a union, but an association formed by people with a common interest or purpose? So if I believe that people have a right for better compensation, benefits, support for research and scholarship, academic freedom, and so on, and Professor TT believes that as well, and she can persuade others to join her, and we can keep doing this in pockets everywhere nationally, wont we have a movement? And thus, wont we make change happen? There are public campaigns on the east coast, in the northwest, the west, and now New York. Its the domino effect: it becomes infectious in its beautiful cascade across America. It may begin slowly, tortuously, but it can build up, especially if we nurture it. And we can all be a part of this beautiful initiative. Lets make it so.

Page 10 Industrial Worker April 2014

Wobbly Arts

Caring For the Aged

Walking beneath brown tile floors I pass several rooms besides me An aged soul resting in each Waiting for a promise given by birth To cover their eyes with darkness

By Luz Sierra The following piece is a poem by Miami IWW member Luz Sierra. She expresses the hardships of being a certified nursing assistant who has witnessed her patients falling victim to a profit-based healthcare system. After having cared for the elderly for over four years, she now recognizes how they are neglected the care needed and deprived of their wealth. It is a great sentimental anecdote that many healthcare workers could relate to. No matter how much, I hold those cold and pale hands, I tend their open wounds, I lend my ears for understanding, I share a loving smile, They cannot look into the light for too long, As ones fortune is running with time, And its getting harder to gulp air each day. I sometimes wonder, How long can I practice this art of care? How many images of final breaths can I collect? How can I allow such wicked institution to persist? Havent my wings suffered enough pain? Havent I shed enough tears?

I cannot remorse anymore, For theres other moaning angels searching for hands, To unite against this lethal toxic system. I cease the day tyrants will no longer suck innocent lives away, When a wall of militants will protect all his prey, Shattering teeth, Draining their power, Ending promises.

As each day gets dimmer Angels covered in white from head to toe Manage to keep their eyes open As we surrender our arms and legs Replacing theirs until the final grain of sand drops I am a chattered angel Watching wrinkle children stepping into a cold building, A cage controlled by men who lust for capital, Grabbing all they need until each child disperse

Graphic: Gadflye

Graphic: X374242

The Best Brick Youll Ever Read: Why Wobblies Should Read Capital
Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volumes 1, 2 & 3. Penguin Classics (Reprint edition), 1992. Paperback, 1,152, 624 & 1,152 pages pages. By Lou Rinaldi Karl Marxs Capital looks like a brick and weighs about the same. And its an old brick, from 1867. Seeing it, you might think, I cant do this, its too long, too boring. Plus, its so old, this cannot possibly be relevant. Youd be wrong. And youd be wrong to think that Capital is too hard for you to comprehend. I think a big problem is that, as working-class people, we doubt ourselves and our ability to be intelligent. After all, were told were stupid nearly every day by our bosses! You should be assured that although a work like Capital may seem like a wall that cannot be scaled, it is possible to get through it. There are even various guides out there to help you along the way that might be worth looking into! Another reservation you might have is thinking of it as something only for academics. If Marx had intended for his work to be relegated to the universities, he would never have done the work he did. Instead he presents us with a tool: an in-depth study of capitalism, a critique of capitalist ideology, and strategy and vision for a new society. Although parts are undoubtedly difficult to read, there are others that are extremely readable. Dont let a few tough pages hold you back, read at a pace that is comfortable. Skip parts you have trouble with and come back to them later. But dont give up on it, its a book youre supposed to readits not just for European professors. We should give Capital a chance, especially as members of a revolutionary union like the IWW. In the past, Wobblies have taken Capital and Marxs writing seriously. So seriously that our Preamble nearly quotes Marx verbatim when it proclaims we ought to replace the conservative motto, A fair days wage for a fair days work, with the revolutionary watchword, Abolition of the wage system. The founding convention of the IWW in 1905 included discussion of Marx and his ideas and after the union was formed, some IWW branches formed reading groups to study Capital. The IWWs political education pamphlet An Economic Interpretation of the Job from 1922 was essentially a short synopsis of Marxs ideas in Capital. And from the 1910s to the 1930s the IWW Work Peoples College repeatedly offered courses on Marxs critical understanding of capitalist economics. There is a history within our own organization of taking this book seriously, of studying, and using it as a tool in our work. However, there are many ways to read Capital. The way we should think about it is reading it politically, that is, reading it as a weapon in our hands. If we can think of it this way, then it becomes an invaluable tool, a practical book that is important for all revolutionary, class-conscious workers to read. win reforms and keep capital intact while using some radical forms or strategies, to make their demands and even win them as long as the value-form is not challenged, or in other words, so long as the circulation of commodities does not stop. A Critique of Capitalist Ideology Capital becomes a weapon for revolutionaries in two ways: as a lesson on struggle and on ideology. The subheading of Capital is A Critique of Political Economy. What does Marx mean by this? His work not only shows us the technical processes that are performed in capitalism, but also the ideological war on the working-class consciousness. Namely, Marx looks to famous early economists, names that many of us will recognize: Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo. Marx contends that while these thinkers seem to get capitalism, they have absolutely no understanding of the real, social processes that occur in the system. Their analysis of capitalism is only a crude interpretation of what is happening in the daily lives of workers. The result is gross dismissals of the horrors of the system, and their so-called science thinly veils a true disdain of the poor and exploited. In particularly damning phrases, Marx summarizes and condemns all that capitalism truly stands for, from degrading a worker to the level of an appendage of a machine to dragging our partners and children beneath the wheel of the juggernaut of capital. A Strategy and Vision for a New Society Capital is a weapon for workers, not merely a trophy on your bookshelf or an academic thought experiment. Because it chronicles the history of the implementation of capitalism and workers resistance to it, we learn something about ourselves when we read it. We can see ourselves in the processes and struggles that Marx describes. This is class consciousness. The description of the working day, in chapter 10, shows how the day was lengthened and shortened through struggle. This chapter is of enormous relevance to us today as the gains of the old labor movement are torn apart and today, like then, Capital [is] celebrating its orgies. Recently in Poland, the eight-hour workday was taken away from the workers, and in

Review

A Description of Capitalism Like No Other The breadth of Capital, Volume 1 is simply unmatched by other works on the economy. Marx was relentless in his research on how the system of capitalism functions. He researched history, economic figures, and philosophic works in order to complete the book. Each chapter in Capital is another piece of the puzzle for understanding how the capitalist economy functions. Capital touches on everything that has become part of our everyday lives, things which every working person experiences. Why we work, how we work, how we are exploited: Marx takes these subjective experiences and puts them into a larger view of things, in the perspective of a class and class struggle. An important component of the book is a history of working-class struggle against capital and the system it tries to implement. This makes the book an important weapon for revolutionaries. It helps to know this history, and to know how the capitalist system works overall. Take chapter 25, for instance, which is about The General Law of Capitalist Accumulation. This chapter describes the effect that creating profit has on working people in terms of wages and employment, but also the lengths that businesses must go in terms of monopolizing an industry. This describes an important element of capitalism: its flexibility and its ability to be dynamic. It has the ability to make wages and standards of living rise, to make them endurable. At the same time, it can increase the levels of exploitation and increase the amount of misery we experience. These fluctuations can create space for militant reform movements, movements like Fight For 15 that seek only to

Graphic: libcom.org

the global South the working day remains similar to Marxs time: 12 or more hours a day. If Poland, whose loss of privileges won through struggle, is an indicator of anything, it may be that this is the direction the West is going. Without a combative movement to fight for something better we will see more places go in the direction that Poland has gone in. In identifying the features of capitalism, Capital gives us some heading. It shows us that our workplaces are battlegrounds of conflict. It shows us that our lived experiences are important and worth fighting for, to improve them, to live in a truly human community. It shows us, conscious revolutionaries, how to examine the economy to choose the best places to strike and advance the struggle, to make gains for our class. In reading Capital its important to remember that in the struggles of workers we can see the beginning of the creation of a new society, a classless society. The only way to understand the system is through conceiving of its destruction, as the Italian radical publication Quaderni Rossi put it in 1962 (as quoted in Steve Wrights Storming Heaven: Class Composition and Struggle in Italian Autonomist Marxism). Or, as Marx once put it, we need to imagine, for a change, an association of free men (sic), working with the means of production held in common. As IWW members and members of the working class, this is our struggle. Capital describes in detail what were fighting against and enriches our fight to achieve a new society.

April 2014 Industrial Worker Page 11

Readers Soapbox

The IWW Should Fight To Win By Any Means Necessary

By Matt Muchowski I wrote a piece in the December 2013 Industrial Worker (IW), The Contract As A Tactic, which appeared on page 4, discussing the IWWs relationship with contracts, and I encouraged the union to see them as a tactic that can be used when it makes sense. Im glad to see that it has sparked some conversation, with separate response pieces printed in the January/February and March 2014 issues of the IW. I wanted to write another piece to keep this conversation going, and perhaps clarify my views on the topic. Overall, the decision about which tactics and strategies to use is up to each workplace, and Im glad that our union is big enough to support workers with different views on strategy and tactics I agree with Fellow Worker (FW) Juan Conatz, who wrote in Contractualism Should Be Avoided (January/February IW, page 4), that organization is the base of the IWWs strength, but at times a contract can be used to organizewhether it be offensively to mobilize workers around their demands, or defensively as a shield to keep union supporters employed when the boss tries to fire them. We should not make our strategies or goals revolve around a tacticwhether it be contracts, strikes, or picketing. Using any given tactic does not prevent us from using other tactics either at the same time, or at a different time. Contractualism is something that should be avoided just as much as strikeism, electoral politics-ism, OSHAism, or picket-ism. Turning any tactic or tool into an ideology or strategy leads us to build towards an action or event, with no follow-through. Our goal is have workers democratically control the means of production, and its not my intent to compare contractualism to all-out-revolution; rather it is my intent to encourage any and all tactics necessary to build our union so that we have the strength to follow through on our unfinished business as former IWW General Secretary-Treasurer (GST) Fred Thompson put it. FW Conatz makes the point that if a shop were strongly organized enough to get a contract without certain promanagement clauses, we could be strong enough to simply impose the will of the workers without a contract. I feel like this is a slippery slope argumentif we are strong enough to do X, we are strong enough to do Y and Z. The fact is that workers organization isnt always strong enough to get X, Y and Z, but if they can get X and Y, why shouldnt they take it, and use those extra resources to fight for Z as well? The reality is that workers in each shop and throughout the IWW and the labor movement have to assess their strengths at the moment and make decisions that will allow them to build off of that strength. Having an all or nothing approach will hurt our ability to get it all. In his article Contracts Are Not A Tool, Theyre A Trap, which appeared on page 11 of the March IW, FW Scott Nappalos described a bad experience with contracts at his branchs shopwhere workers became apathetic because, despite having a contract, there was a lack of organizing. Unfortunately, sometimes the union loses battles. Workers are fired and unable to get their jobs back, strikes end with the workers returning to work to keep their jobs without obtaining the goals they set out on strike for, and occupied factories can be evicted by force. In FW Nappaloss example, a contract was an end in itself and wasnt used to organize and mobilize workers. The fact that these tactics sometimes fail to achieve the unions goals is not a reason for us to swear to never use them under any circumstance. Rather, its a reason for us to examine the particulars of why that tactic in that circumstance didnt lead us to our goal of better and stronger organization of the working class, and what we can change about it in the future. In some ways, FW Nappaloss article actually supports my point. The contracts gave the union a foothold in the shops, and when effort was applied, the union was able to organize in these shops. No matter what tactic is used in organizing, effort is necessary to make it successful. Some tactics are always bad, as they do not even try to lead us to our goalany tactic that undermines union democracy or pits workers against each other for example. However, tactics that are used to advance us towards our goal, even if they might not succeed, are up to workers to decide on a shop-by-shop and in-

1920s pamphlet, The Immediate Demands of the IWW. Graphics: workerseducation.org

dustry-by-industry basis, and eventually as a whole social class. Granted we need some standards to make sure that a particular shop doesnt do something which is inconsistent with the values and goal of our union. Some of these are hard-line standards, some are best practice standards, and some will be left up to shops to decide on a case-bycase basis. Historically our union set standards for contracts by requiring that they be approved by the General Executive Board, and that they be consistent with the values of the union. The IWW has also rejected contracts that had specified lengths of time or required workers to state their demands before taking action on them. You can read more about these standards in a pamphlet that the union put out in the 1920s that examined how the union can organize around bread and butter issues in a revolutionary way called The Immediate Demands of the IWW, at: http://www. workerseducation.org/crutch/pamphlets/ immediate.html. FW Nappalos said that we shouldnt expect our opponents to play fair, and that they often use legalistic framework to keep us from organizing. Our opponents wont play fair, and they will use any means and any tactic to keep us from organizingnot just legalistic ones. With that said, we dont have to play fair either.

Were not required to tell the boss our strategy, tactics or intentionsin fact sometimes it may be useful to mislead the boss. We can talk to them about contracts while we are organizing direct actions. We can make the boss think that we are conceding something big, when we didnt have it to concede in the first place. The boss can feel free to mistake our tactics as reformist, and give in to some immediate demands of ours. However as a democratic union we are required to be honest with each otherthat we will fight to end against the system of wage slavery, no matter what we take from the boss, or what they give to us in the meantime. I think it is important that the IWW fights to win in a big picture way. We need to win against capitalism. There will be ups and downs in that fight, day-to-day battles, as well as struggles that last months, years and decades. But just as the boss leaves every tactic on the tableincluding contracts that they dont like, including legalizing strikes, including force, etc., we too need to leave every tactic on the table. Contracts, like any tacticincluding strikes, if done in a reformist waycan be a trap for workers, but if done in a smart, revolutionary way, it can help set traps for the boss. Ive commented on some of the related posts on Libcom, and fellow workers interested in the conversation can follow or contribute there in addition to the IW.

Criticisms Of The Anti-Democratic Of Big Unions

By Tom Jayman This is a response to the piece, The Anti-Democratic Nature Of Big Unions, which appeared on page 15 of the November 2013 IW. The article starts off talking about the big unions, such as the AFL-CIO and Change To Win Federation. However these are union federations, and unions collectively determine the course and platform of the federations. They are then considered labor aristocracy. This is not even an applicable description at this point. As a former member of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), as a grocery cashier, I made between $6.25 and $8.85 per houra far cry from being a member of the labor aristocracy. Additionally, the Service Employees Industrial Union (SEIU) has done much organizing in janitorial work and some in food service. Their contracts arent great and people are often still making less than a living wage, but once again, this is not labor aristocracy. Big business Democrats is just rhetorical flare, and after some analysis you will see that larger businesses have higher rates of union density, higher wages, and higher rates of benefits compared to small businesses. To chastise the Democrats as being pro-big business is only an insult if you think that small business is in some way preferable, which it is not. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is then referred to as a protectionist piece of legislation, but it is quite the opposite. Protectionism is implemented through tariffs (taxes on imports) and quotas on imports. NAFTA was a treaty that decreased these things. Free trade and protectionism are opposite approaches to trade policy, with Democrats since Bill Clinton endorsing these polices; however, the AFL-CIO and member unions have been consistently protectionist. I support the AFL-CIOs position, as did the majority of the left back in the 1990s. NAFTA has been devastating to the industrial north, now known as the Rust Belt. Many of these workers were unionized and there has been a direct correlation between a decline of union industrial manufacturing jobs and expansion of free trade policies. It is not as though this has had a positive effect in Mexico. Agricultural imports to Mexico have flooded the market, causing worse conditions for agricultural workers while small factories/sweatshops dot the United States/Mexico border. So this supposed labor aristocracy, a complete fabrication, is somehow having a negative effect on middle-class and working-class Americans. Well, middle class is a meaningless term. It is rightist rhetoric, used to make the rich seem poor or to ignore class relations. Owning class, working class, the haves and have notsthese tell you something. Middle class takes that hostility of opposing interests out of the equation and Id suggest leftists avoid using the obscure term. This supposed unionist then quotes a judge J. Lindley in 1896, the moment that trade unions become tyrants in their turn, they are engines for evil. This was said in a case against striking workers to justify an injunction against a picket! So, at the top of unions, some officials are paid large salaries. I agree, but the majority of employees of unions are working class, with no substantial variance in pay between members of and employees of any given union. As an intern for the AFL-CIO, I received $15 per hourhardly the wage of a member of the labor aristocracy. The article goes on to support various alt-labor organizations and tactics, mentioning that these organizations were popping up independent from the mainstream unions, with OUR Walmart mentioned as an example. However, OUR Walmart was started by the UFCW, and years back, the UFCW had an organizing campaign at Target. Currently, the SEIU is focusing heavily on low-paid fast-food workers through Good Jobs Nation. The article called the Democrats the secondmost pro-capitalist party in the United States. The United States has a Constitu-

tion Party and a Libertarian Party, both of which are much more right-wing than the Democrats. There is then a criticism that more unions have not endorsed a cohesive labor party, but that critique is neither here nor there. Would this strategically be more viable than donating money to the Democrats? Would this new labor party end up being as moderate as the Democratic Party has become if it ever controlled a majority of the U.S. Congress? Quite possibly. I do not necessarily support the Democratic Party, but much of the American working class does, and many of them are more left-wing than the Democrats who get elected. Certainly preferring Democrats over Republicans, even to the point of campaign donations, is in no way supportive of an entire platform. To act as though the employees and members of a given union are as moderate as the Democrats they give money to just ignores the dynamics of the U.S. electoral system. We must drop this attitude of hostility towards other unions and their members and employees. We must support our union sisters and brothers in their struggles, and then they will support us in ours. Every union is different and many Wobblies could learn from the successes of other unions, and not write off their members and employees as pro-capitalist labor aristocrats. Being too quick to alienate potential supporters is too common on the left. Lets take some steps to remedy this.

Page 12 Industrial Worker April 2014

Cleaners In Brazil Go On Wildcat Strike By Tristan Bunner

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 [email protected].

By the IWW International Solidarity Commission (ISC) The International Solidarity Commission recently published a solidarity statement and a protest letter. We support the Greek health care workers in their current struggle. The shutdown of the call center Leadamorphosis in the Philippines which left the workers behind with unpaid wages caused us to send a protest letter to the General Electric (GE) management, their biggest customer. Please find the statements as follows: Protest Letter to GE Dear Mr. Jeffery Immelt, We have heard about the unacceptable treatment of employees of the call center company Leadamorphosis in Cebo, Philippines. The workers first suffered from a period of unpaid salaries before the company illegally shut down without warning. As GE is one of the major clients for Leadamorphosis you should be aware and worried about the illegal and inhumane actions within your supply chain. We strongly disapprove of Leadamorphosiss actions against the workers and encourage you to intervene in this affair. Your mission statement says, We make things that matter, things that make life better. We want to ask you, Mr. Immelt, will you help make life better for your clients employees in the Philippines? We hope that you will act responsibly and show how you live your culture. The IWW will continue to inform workers around the world about the Leadamorphosis actions and their connections to GE. Respectfully, ISC IWW Solidarity Statement with Greek Health Care Workers Solidarity with Health Care Workers in Greece: Neo-liberal Adjustments Destroy the Healthcare System The International Solidarity Commission of the Industrial Workers of the World stands in solidarity with the struggle of all health care workers, doctors, and nurses in Greece against the regime of availability Photo: libcom.org imposed on the public Health workers in Greece occupy a sector, supposedly to re- hospital in February 2012. duce debt. This availability regime, or mobility reserve system, entails the collective redundancy of 4,000 public sector workers and the transfer of 25,000 workers to part-time pay for eight months with subsequent dismissal or relocation. While these changes aim to spread fear and reduce the workers collective agency, these public sector workers wont let the government intimidate them while they stick together to fight against this clear injustice. Certainly, the first that will be hit by redundancies among those employees are the most active unionists. Especially hospitals, but also the general health care system will be seriously damaged by this measure. On the one hand, the quality of public health will suffer and deteriorate enormously by this neoliberal restructuring. On the other hand, the economization of the health sector will proceed, making these vitally important services unaffordable to an increasing number of people, as the logic of profit in privatized health establishments gains ascendency. Therefore the struggle of public health care workers is one of crucial importance for the whole of Greek society. It should also be a warning sign for the working population of other European countries, as these processes reflect what happens, and will increasingly happen, everywhere under capitalism. Solidarity with all Health Care Workers in Greece! No to the Neo-Liberal Adjustments! An injury to one is an injury to all! Solidarity is our weapon!

Solidarity With Workers In The Philippines, Greece

Against the direction of their union, city cleaners in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, illegally walked off the job for the Carnival holidays, demanding better pay and conditions. Though they still cleaned the tourist neighborhoods of Copacabana and Ipanema, the workers refused to clean the central neighborhoods of the city. In the face of physical attacks from the Policia Militar (military Work stoppage in Rio de Janeiro Photo: Tristan Bunner police), including being forced on March 1. to work at gunpoint, and verbal attacks in Monday when we returned to the city centhe capitalist press, even from their own ter it was piled with trash. Residents did union, the cleaners stood strong and won their best to sweep the rubbish into piles, but no one was coming to gather it from their demands. On Saturday, March 1, the first full day there. Despite the mess, the two locals we of our visit, we crossed paths with a small were able to talk to about the strike, our march of the cleaners, which may have tour guide and a post office worker, were even been the beginning of their strike. staunchly in support of the workers. In the end the cleaners courage paid Running towards a bus carrying more of their workmates, the cleaners intercepted off. By the end of the week, the city had and surrounded the bus, forcing the work- agreed to a pay increase to 1100 Reals from ers and driver to abandon the bus in traffic 802 Reals per month, and a food stamp and join their march. I tried to speak with increase to 20 Reals from 12 Reals. The some of the workers to learn why they city also agreed to enact overtime pay and were striking, but none of them spoke a health hazard allowance and guaranteed English or Spanish, so the most I was able that there would be no retaliation for the to understand was that they were fighting cleaners action. This goes to show that when workers are committed and united for better pay. They could not have picked a more they can win not only against their employeffective time to stop work; during the ers, but against entrenched bureaucrats five days of Carnival most of Rio goes on within their own unions as well. With files from http://revolutionholiday and daily street parties, called blocos, pack the neighborhoods of the city. By news.com.

Iceland: When Solidarity Happens

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Assessments for $3 and $6 are available from your delegate or IWW headquarters: PO Box 180195, Chicago, IL 60618, USA.

By Paul Fontaine this agreement, from ediRight now, its pretty tors of daily newspapers, safe to say there is a kind amongst others, is that it of class war taking place is meant to be temporary, in Icelandone which to last only a year, so why management is waging fight over the terms now? against the working class. To go by the daily chatAt the time of this ter, it seemed almost a writing, Icelands unions foregone conclusion that got the opportunity to vote the contract would sail on a collective bargaining May Day in Photo: Maria Alva Roff through. agreement worked out Reykjavk. When voting was between the Confederation of Icelandic done, however, over half the labor unions Labour Unions (AS) and the Confedera- in the country17 against and 14 in tion of Icelandic Employers (SA). At the favorrejected the agreement. Why? I heart of the issue were wage increases for would speculate its because, to anyone the lowest paid workers. SA maintained whos been paying attention, there is no and still stands by the positionthat wage such thing as temporary when it comes increases beyond 5 percent for the lowest to this lie about wage increases. Even after paid, and 2.8 percent for everyone else, this result, SA is still repeating it. would unleash inflation across the country. Another thing that tends to happen They even bought a TV spot to repeat this when management digs in its heels at point. Many companies pre-emptively times like this is that workers organize. raised their prices; some of them still Most of the unions that voted against the havent lowered them. agreement turned out in larger numbers The ploy is not only transparently than those who voted for it, which would falseprofits in the billions of krnur only make sense when the best enthusiasm (ISK) at some fishing companies, for ex- anyone could work up in support for such ample, could put to rest any fear that new an offer is resignation. money would have to be printed to fund a When faced with such a situation, pay riseit is also a very, very tired refrain workers can, and quite often have, walked. that management has been singing for Let us not forget that SA did more than generations. refuse the reasonable demands of workIn fact, studies conducted at the Eco- ing people. It engaged in a concerted nomics Department at the University of PR campaign to sell its inhumanity as Leicaster from 2004, 2006 and 2008, common sense, while heads of business show that an increase in minimum wage blatantly extorted people with price scares. does not significantly increase inflation. SA might soon find itself learning a lesson But thats a lesson weve already learned, of its own when it comes to the historic and will apparently have to keep learning. response this elicits in people who need SA added insult to injury by proposing to earn a living wage. a tax plan that actually benefited higher The result of this collective bargaining income-earners more than those making vote may indicate a new wave of solidarity the lowest wage. By their offer, a person unionism in Icelands labor movement. making 246,000 ISK per month will see There is clearly a core of workers moti8,000 ISK more per month, before taxes, vated to push back, and if AS leadership and no rebates on their taxes. At the same cant represent them, they dont seem to time, another person making 1 million ISK have a problem representing themselves. per month will get an extra 28,000 ISK Past precedent can attest to numerous inper month, plus 3,500 ISK taken off their stances of even larger numbers organizing monthly taxes. effectively. In order for Iceland to awaken Amazingly, AS President Gylfi Arn- from its inequality nightmare, such a new bjrnsson argued in defense of this agree- wave will most certainly have a part to ment. Maybe a 1.2 million ISK monthly play. Management is, ironically, helping salary has a way of distancing you from ensure that it happens. the experience of making ends meet on a This piece originally appeared in the salary of about 190,000 ISK. Part of the Reykjavk Grapevine. It was reprinted apologist rhetoric that has been used about with permission from the author.