Submitted on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 10:57pm
From the Industrial Worker, June 2008
Since the IWW Industrial Union 460 began organizing in foodstuffs warehouses 3 years ago, we’ve organized in ten workplaces with varying degrees of success. One issue at every shop has been the employer’s failure to comply with wage and hour laws.
Many companies have retaliated by firing workers for their union activity. Workers have fought back through strikes, pickets, demonstrations, and selective legal action, among other tactics. We find legal action to be most effective when combined with these other methods, and when viewed as a means and not an end. This is a report on our legal status, but readers should understand that legal action is one of many tools workers are using to win their demands.
About a year and a half after we began utilizing legal action, several favorable rulings have recently come down and several settlements have been reached. Since the rulings have just came down, companies have not yet begun making payments.
Submitted on Fri, 05/30/2008 - 2:44pm
Flaum Appetizing, a kosher food distributor, terminated 20 IWW
members last week. The IWW had a strong presence at Flaum, with about two-thirds of the warehouse being union members. Workers had been struggling for respect from the boss for almost a year before the firings occurred.
The chain of events began last Thursday when the boss fired a woman known for being a strong union member. When her fellow workers
decided to confront the boss about her termination, they were all fired on
the spot.
The IWW is putting up daily picket lines this week and will fight the terminations through direct action, media pressure, and legal
action.
Supporters can write letters to management at:
Flaum Appetizing
288 Sholes Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Submitted on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 2:31am
Please keep calling City Bakery; apparently it has cut off the general manager's extension! You can call at (212) 366-1414 and then just press 0 and ask for a manager. Please send the revised call to action below to your lists, otherwise folks won't be able to get through:
The City Bakery chain enjoys an image of being a "green" and "socially conscious" business. Yet, the City Bakery NY sells seafood from labor rights violator, Wild Edibles, Inc.
Given City Bakery's progressive image, current and former Wild Edibles workers were surprised when owner Maury Rubin refused to even enter into a dialogue regarding the hardships they face.
Submitted on Mon, 05/05/2008 - 2:29pm
By By Alex Kane - The Indypendent, May 2, 2008
Brooklyn, New York—Around 150 people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge with Make the Road New York and the Industrial Workers of the World NYC Branch for a May Day
immigrant rights demonstration. Flanked by red and black Wobbly flags
and signs that read “Opportunity for Immigrant Workers,” the
demonstrators chanted slogans like “Si se puede,” and “El pueblo,
unido, jamas tera vencido.”
There was a boisterous rally held before the march at Cadman Plaza
Park in Brooklyn, with music, dancing and chanting. One song’s lyrics,
roughly translated, said “we will overcome misery” and “we’ll have to
break the chains.”
Submitted on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 3:38am
From: Teresa Gutierrez
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:37 AM
Subject: Truck Drivers & May Day
We are excited to report that a truck will be leading the May Day March from Union Square to Foley Square tomorrow.
This is great news to show our solidarity among all workers of all nationalities, documented, undocumented or born in the U.S.
For Immediate Release:
Transportation Workers Coalition for Change
Contact: Billy Randel, 646-645-6284
New Jersey Port Truckers to Strike Over Fuel and Energy Costs
Workers Will Rally Off the New Jersey Turnpike in Large Work Stoppage.
WHAT: Port truckers will stop work for two days to protest rising fuel and energy costs.