All workers in blast furnaces, steel mills, aluminum plants, etc. All workers engaged in the production and repair of agricultural machinery, cars, locomotives, engines, automobiles, bicycles, air craft, and various instruments. Tool makers, jewelry and watchmakers.
Submitted on Wed, 05/09/2007 - 3:29am
The author of this article is not a member of the IWW, and the do not necessarily support our organization or this campaign.
By Ed Ericson Jr. - City Paper OnLine, May 9, 2007
It's day three of the union at Joe's Bike Shop in Mount Washington, and owner Joe Traill steps outside to say that nothing has changed "so far."
Traill wears a worried look and chooses his words carefully so he won't sound too defensive. On May 1 he learned that all 10 of his employees had joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)--the storied Wobblies.
"My guess is the significance of May Day was not lost on them," he says.
The IWW formed in 1905, and while it never numbered more than about 200,000 members, its radical influence is still felt today. Wobblies got the eight-hour day for lumberjacks, put backbone in the dockworkers unions, integrated racially and across gender lines, were imprisoned for sedition, and were lynched. Legendary leftists like Big Bill Haywood, Mother Jones, and Joe Hill were red-card-carrying Wobblies, and the men and women of the rank and file were tough, fearless class warriors fighting mine barons and government repression.
And now all that history is falling on Traill's head.
Josh Keogh, who has worked at Joe's Bike Shop for seven years and says he'd like to work there indefinitely, led the union effort. He is 23 years old and only one credit from graduating with a bachelor's degree in American studies from the University of Maryland. Unlike many students, he is not saddled with student loans in the five or six digits. "There was plenty of money in the family to put me through College Park," he says.
Keogh says he really likes his boss.
"He's really been somewhat of a mentor to me--he hired me when I was like 15 years old," Keogh says. "But this is more about what we think is fair and what we think is just and how we're going to go about getting it."
Keogh says the top wage at the shop is $32,000 a year, with no health benefits. The full-timers with health insurance get $12 an hour, he says, which is about the going rate at bike shops.
Wages aren't the issue so much as information and consistency, Keogh says. "Part of what we're looking for is more transparency in business practices. Obviously nobody here wants Joe to go out of business, [but] we don't really know what he can pay us." He says the union has asked Traill to open his business records in preparation for negotiations. Unlike other unions, the IWW doesn't go in for contracts with no-strike clauses, so the ball is in Traill's court. The business review will come "after summer--after the busy season," Keogh says.
And so things go on as they always have at Joe's, except now there's a bright class distinction between Joe and everyone else who works there. Traill, who bought the shop in 1999, says he doesn't think anyone in his family has any experience with a union--either as a member or as management. He says he "barely" graduated high school.
For now, Traill plans to "wait and see," he says. "I don't know what else to do. This is a new experience for me."
Submitted on Thu, 05/03/2007 - 2:41pm
All of the ten employees at the Mt. Washington Bike Shop have joined the Industrial Workers of the World, one of the oldest and most storied unions in our country. The workers have taken these actions in order to secure and improve their jobs in the “best bicycle shop” in Baltimore.
The demands by the union center largely around the lack of employee policy. Before the union there was no system for scheduled raises, sick days, or vacation policy. Decisions were the sole prerogative of the boss. Now a reasonable consensus must be reached regarding these important factors of running a business.
“I feel a sense of empowerment,” says Johnny May, one of the full time employees at Joe’s Bike Shop. “ The union has given me a more active role as a more active role as a worker.”
The Mt. Washington Bike Shop workers have chosen to affiliate with the Industrial Workers of the World because they are an organization that is dedicated to shop floor democracy. “There are no professional organizers telling us what is in our best interest. Every member is an organizer, every member is a leader.” says Josh Keogh, another full time worker.
While a local small business might seem a odd place for a union, full time worker Kris Auer makes it clear that “It is not a direct attack on the owner; it is a step toward securing my future.”
Joe’s will join Red Emma’s, Baltimore’s radical bookstore and coffee shop, as the second IWW shop in baltimore. Both workplaces anticipate this federation of industrial democracies will grow and prosper in the near future.
For more information about the Mt. Washington Bike Shop Workers Union, or to schedule an interview please call Josh Keogh at 410-627-3715, or email
jskeogh (at) umd.edu
Submitted on Sat, 06/17/2006 - 2:04am
Disclaimer - The following article is reposted here because it is an issue with some relevance to the IWW. The views of the author do not necessarily agree with those of the IWW and vice versa.
By C. Alexander - Originally for publication April 2006
On October 8, 2005, Delphi Corporation filed for business reorganization under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the end being: the elimination or downsizing of 25 of it’s 45 U.S. plants - resulting in an estimated 20,000 job losses (2/3’s of it’s total U.S. labor force); a 60% slashing of wages, dropping pay to an estimated $9.50 an hour for it’s remaining production workers; increasing the healthcare costs it’s workforce must pay from 7 to 27 percent; and the scrapping of worker programs such as the “Jobs Banks” which provides workers with schooling and alternative work assignments when laid-off.
The following month during a November 2nd speech to union leaders, international United Auto Worker (UAW) president Ron Gettelfinger, called for a "work to rule" in which auto workers would do the bare minimum of labor required of them stating, "We should not do one thing more than what is required". Nearing a month since Delphi announced its intent, and as fear and frustration mounted among workers, Gettelfinger was forced to respond and attempt to exhibit some oppositional spine.
Within days, militants from the auto industry gave meaning to Gettelfinger’s words. In a non-UAW sanctioned meeting auto workers said they would organize to fight Delphi. Using Gettelfinger’s statement as justification, the militants have embarked on a campaign to build a grassroots fighting movement whose aim is to engage and prepare fellow rank and filers for an unfolding struggle to resist corporate attacks – both within the auto industry and on the broader working classes.
Submitted on Sat, 10/22/2005 - 2:27am
Disclaimer - The following article is reposted here because it is an issue with some relevance to the IWW. The views of the author do not necessarily agree with those of the IWW and vice versa.
Reposted from the World Socialist Web Site; written by Jerry Isaacs - 22 October 2005
The degeneration of the American trade unions has long been a repugnant spectacle with tragic consequences for the working class. But the events of the last week in Detroit have underscored a basic rule of thumb: never underestimate how low the labor bureaucracy can descend in its services to corporate America.
The week began with the agreement by the United Auto Workers union (UAW) to grant historic concessions to General Motors, including the company’s demand to cut billions of dollars worth of health care benefits for its 750,000 workers, retirees and their dependents. The agreement will impose enormous hardships on former auto workers and their families, including the imposition of hundreds of dollars a year in out-of-pocket expenses for premiums, deductibles and emergency room visits.
Submitted on Tue, 08/16/2005 - 1:53pm
After three months on Strike it is hugely important any kind of support so please, resend this comunicate asking for solidarity with the AUSSA workers. The following is translated from Spanish by non-native English speakers.
Request for Solidarity
Information about the AUSSA (Sevilla Municipal Car Crane) conflict and request for national and international solidarity
More than 90 days of indefinite time strike and there is no sign of a solution to the conflict affecting to thirty workers.
All the Municipal Car Crane workers began, on the 16th of May, an indefinite time strike after the sacking of 4 workers and a number of work sanctions to all the workers that had followed a previous strike. The indefinite time strike begun because of these reprisals on the side of the company. The sacked workers have also had a 8 day hunger strike while locked at the Seville cathedral.
The offer of the company is to admit only 2 of the 4 sacked workers but under employment and wage suspension for 11 and 25 days, insisting on the other 2 dismissals. This is totally unacceptable to the workers and the CNT. The strike was convoked basically to demand the readmission for all the sacked workers, without counterweight. Otherwise there is no possible solution.