Submitted on Wed, 06/29/2005 - 2:37am
By Marie Trigona--Grupo alavio, Buenos Aires - Industrial Worker, June 2005
Since the turn of the century Argentine labor movements have marked May Day as a remembrance of class struggle and resistance. Since the 1890s, anarchists gathered in Plaza Lorea to commemorate the Haymarket Martyrs of Chicago who were murdered for their ideas and fight for a eight hour day. This year, workers in struggle held May Day in this same plaza, separate from the left parties.
"Fighting for a 6-hour work day is similar to the struggle for the 8-hour work day," said subway delegate Roberto Pianelli. "Today, the working class doesn' t have time for rest, leisure activities, or for their lives. The economic system has transformed us into working beasts. The average working day for Argentines is 10 hours. This has resulted in a unified struggle among active workers and unemployed, fighting together against capitalism and super-exploitation."
Subway workers who have been organizing wildcat strikes for salary increases have spearheaded Argentina' s movement for a six-hour work day. In 2003, subway workers (in all sectors from ticket office to train drivers) won a six-hour day. Metrovias, the private corporation contracted to take over the once state-run subway lines in Buenos Aires, has had to respect the 6-hour work day, improve working conditions and salaries, and address gender inequality. Since this victory, subway workers, other workers, economists and unemployed organizations have formed a movement for a 6-hour work day for all, with increased salaries. In addition, Metrovias employees (organized outside of the official UTA transport workers' union) held week-long wildcat strikes in February and won a 44 percent wage hike.
Submitted on Wed, 06/29/2005 - 2:19am
Industrial Worker - June 2005
Millions of workers all around the globe, from Mozambique to Manila, joined May Day rallies and marches demanding a living wage, the right to organize and immigrant rights, and in opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq.
In Germany, more than half a million workers rallied against layoffs and falling wages. In Bangladesh, thousands rallied to demand better safety standards weeks after a garment factory collapsed, killing 76 workers. In Nepal, thousands marched in the capital city Kathmandu, demanding an end to martial law.
In Japan, hundreds of thousands called for a global ban on nuclear weapons. In Russia, 20,000 unionists marched down one of Moscow's main boulevards, demanding a living wage. In Turkey, workers organized three different rallies in Istanbul, despite a government ban on May Day events.
Half a million marched in Mexico City. In Maputo, Mozambique, 30,000 marched behind a banner: "Mozambican workers in the struggle against HIV/AIDS." Marchers also demanded an increase in the minimum wage and back wages for factory workers, some of whom haven't been paid for months.
Submitted on Wed, 06/29/2005 - 2:12am
By Scott Satterwhite - Industrial Worker, June 2005
For the first time in a long time, local activists in Pensacola held major demonstrations on May Day, the international labor holiday. The story told most often is what happened at the rally, how many people were arrested, and who got beat up by the cops. While that is important, the story least told is how the event came to happen.Pensacola is a small town in the Florida Panhandle with a generally conservative political slant. More like Alabama than Miami, as the local saying goes. However, there has almost always been resistance, from the days of the first invaders, to the abolition movement, anti-war movements, civil rights, gay rights, the fight for reproductive freedom, etc. Pensacola was even the site of one of the largest industrial strikes in Florida history.
This is true all over, I'm sure; it's just that people rarely hear about this because “we” don't own the newspapers that write most small town history. Or American history, for that matter.But there had not been a May Day demonstration in Pensacola for some time.
I would be remiss if I didn't remind readers that nearly a year ago, Pensacola was hit by one of the worst hurricanes in recent history. Almost a year after Hurricane Ivan, the area is still in recovery. Visitors still remark about how devastating the destruction looks nine months later.
Submitted on Wed, 06/29/2005 - 2:03am
Industrial Worker - June 2005
Smiling faces were everywhere in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York on May 1st as workers marched for higher wages and overtime pay on Knickerbocker Avenue. Even the police were smiling as they herded more than 300 marchers through the neighborhood to the raucous sound of chants and home-made drums.
The march was sponsored by Se Hace Camino Al Andar/Make the Road by Walking, a community organization that sponsors a workers' rights group, Trabajadores en Acción/Workers in Action. The workers' group is also supported by members of the IWW's New York City GMB, who turned out for the march with banners and puppets.
Knickerbocker Avenue is the main shopping thoroughfare in Bushwick, and its merchants are notorious for paying sub-minimum wages, mandatory overtime without overtime pay, and other abuses. A recent report documents wages as low as $3.10 per hour and sexual harassment of women workers. Employers have been quick to fire any worker who dares to complain about conditions. Lawsuits sponsored by Make the Road by Walking have won significant back-pay awards for individual workers, but have had little effect on general conditions.