Submitted on Sun, 01/14/2007 - 10:28pm
Fellow Workers and Friends –
The Twin Cities GMB is hosting an organizer training on Saturday and Sunday the 3
rd and 4
th of February. We cordially invite you to attend the training, which will focus on how the IWW does workplace organizing.
Any member of the IWW is welcome to attend. There is no charge. Please RSVP if you plan on attending - call our branch voicemail at (612) 339-1266 or email [email protected]. If you let us know in advance we can find housing for those who need it. We're also planning a hootenanny that weekend for members of the union and friends.
We hope to increase the core of workplace organizers in the union, while growing our capacity to organize strong branches and regional organizing structures. Please join us!
Submitted on Tue, 01/02/2007 - 2:26pm
The Twin Cities GMB has written a letter to Scottish Parliament Members expressing our solidarity with the affected workers in the current dispute there, whose struggle has been endorsed by both the local IWW and the National Union of Journalists. Full text below the fold...
Industrial Workers of the World
Twin Cities General Membership Branch
TO:
Tommy Sheridan MSP
Rosemary Byrne MSP
George Reid MSP (Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament)
Scottish Parliament
Holyrood, Edinburgh
EH99 1SP, United Kingdom
CC: Barbara Scott
14 December 2006
The Twin Cities General Membership Branch (GMB) of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) supports the IWW and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the Scottish Parliament in their industrial dispute with Tommy Sheridan MSP and Rosemary Byrne MSP. We call for:
- an immediate return of all misappropriated funds to the employees resources group, an apology from the two MSPs, and for the Scottish Parliament to accept its culpability in conspiring with Sheridan and Byrne to unilaterally abrogate workers' collective contracts, thus forcing them into redundancy.
- The workers in question, who are employed by the Scottish Parliament as Caseworkers, Researchers and Parliamentary Assistant's for the SSP group, gained a major improvement in their employment situation when the May 2005 contract pooling MSP employment funds was won. These are collective gains; precisely the kind that we value the most and must protect.
The workers have made it very clear, and the Twin Cities GMB reaffirms, that this is not a political dispute but an industrial one. It is untenable that politician-employers could unilaterally, with the connivance of the Scottish Parliament, discard these collective gains for the sake of a political dispute. Workers' rights are not subject to political machinations.
Submitted on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 1:47pm
The Twin Cities Branch of the INDUSTRIAL WORKERS of the WORLD (IWW) is pleased to announce the opening session of the WORK PEOPLES COLLEGE. The WORK PEOPLES COLLEGE continues the legacy of working-class education for emancipation carried out by the Duluth, MN IWW in the first part of the 20th Century.
The initial Fall class offering is "LESSONS OF THE SPANISH REVOLUTION":
Using texts, movies and group discussion, this class will focus on one of history's most significant efforts to achieve working-class freedom: The Spanish Revolution of 1936.
Come learn, discuss, and debate the lessons from this heroic, but ultimately failed attempt to kick the bosses out.
The class meets Saturdays October 14 - November 18 from 3-5 pm at the new Minneapolis Central Library -- 300 Nicollet Mall Conference Room N-202.
Submitted on Tue, 08/08/2006 - 3:10am
Adopted August 1, 2006 by the Twin Cities General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
I. Whereas the IWW has always stood for international solidarity and against all exploitation, oppression and attempts to divide our class by war,
II. Whereas the State of Israel’s U.S.-backed aggression against the people of Lebanon and Palestine has caused the murder of hundreds of working-class civilians (including many children), the displacement of hundreds of thousands, and the destruction of communities and infrastructure,
III. Whereas this war - like the rest of the so-called “War on Terrorism” will not bring security to working people in any country, but only more violence and repression,
Submitted on Sat, 06/17/2006 - 2:10am
By Kdog - Twin Cities IWW GMB Friday, Jun 16 2006
In August 2005 the mechanics and cleaners at Northwest Airlines (NWA), the world’s fourth largest passenger airline went out on strike. The workers were rejecting the company’s final offer of massive concessions, including 53% job cuts, 26% wage reductions and sharp cuts to their benefits and pensions.
This battle is in response to a new round of attacks by the old large industrial corporations, such as the Airlines and Automakers against their heavily unionized and relatively better-off workers. Out-sourcing (reducing unionization), and sharp scaling back of pay, benefits, and pensions are the general thrust, part of their drive to make US workers more “competitive” with the rest of the world. The enormous power and prestige these brand name corporations have means these attacks set the tone and establish the trend for all class relations in the US. As the necessary norm for doing business in the global market.
Today’s unions for the most part accept the logic of the capitalist market and are completely out of practice of any kind of militant struggle. This poses the question how are workers going to be able to resist these attacks, and how are we as revolutionary anarchists and class partisans going to be able to best aid our sisters and brothers given our extremely limited size, resources, and influence? Let’s look at this strike and try and draw out some lessons so far.