All workers in playgrounds and places of amusement and recreation. All professional entertainers.
Submitted on Sat, 05/13/2006 - 3:15am
By Dean Dempsey, special to iww.org - May 12, 2006
Landmark Shattuck Cinema workers are fed up. Years of bad hours, poor pay, a hostile work environment and the demoralizing treatment from theater management has led the Cinema workers of Berkeley, CA, to push for a union; for the One Big Union of the Industrial Workers of the World.
At 4pm on May 12, 2006, approximately 80 Wobblies and supporters gathered in what some hailed as one of the largest IWW gatherings in recent Bay Area history, next to the May Day contingent earlier this month. Theater workers, union organizers and locals from the community attended the rally to demonstrate their solidarity for the union effort, carrying signs that read “An injury to one is an injury to all”, and “Union Now”. A drum team kept the crowd enthused, as they sang union songs and recited pro-worker chants to the public. Some Cinema employees were still on the clock, but were very much committed to participate in the rally while on their breaks, wearing their IWW pins and showing support for the union. Shattuck Cinema organizer, Harjit Gill, says “I think what we see here today is a great success. There has been the participation of IWW members from the past and the present, and those who haven’t been recently active. Ultimately, we’re very excited about this campaign.”
Submitted on Tue, 05/09/2006 - 5:43pm
By Judith Scherr - Berkeley Daily Planet, Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Aurelia River has worked six years at the Shattuck Cinema in downtown Berkeley, with a 50-cent increase in salary during that time, going from $6.75 to $7.25 an hour for almost full-time work. She earns no benefits.
Demanding decent wages and working conditions, River and 22 of her 28 co-workers filled out cards Monday morning, beginning the process of petitioning the National Labor Relations Board for a union.
The Shattuck Cinema is owned by Landmark Theatres, which did not return Daily Planet calls.
“We’re really asking for dignity and respect, the respect that comes with fair treatment,” said Harjit Singh Gill, branch organizer with the Industrial Workers of the World. Among the demands are fair wages and a grievance procedure, Gill said.
Submitted on Mon, 05/08/2006 - 11:59am
BERKELEY 8:30AM-- This morning workers at Landmark Shattuck Cinemas turned in authorization cards to the National Labor Relations Board, filing a certification petition for representation with the Industrial Workers of the World. Rising tensions at the Shattuck Cinemas over the year have pushed workers to demand an end to unfair working conditions and greater accountability from management.
“We're only asking for work conditions that are reasonable and humane. Management needs to start listening to our concerns and valuing its workers. We need our voice to be heard. It's time we had a union!” says Lauren Grady, cinema employee age 25.
23 out of 28 workers have signed authorization cards, the last straw in a long debate with management. Primary worker concerns include the recent revoking of worker privileges, lack of management accountability, inconsistent raise policies, inadequate breaks, all contributing to the increasingly hostile work environment at the Shattuck cinemas. Further source of tension lies in a worker wage cap at over three dollars less than the city standard.
“We treat moviegoers with the utmost dignity and respect, and we expect our employers to grant us the same courtesy,” says Nick Hubbard.
Shattuck cinema workers' discontent with Landmark corporate policy has grown over time, especially since its purchase by Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Landmark is a well-known art-house chain with a long established reputation for supporting progressive film. Whether management continues to uphold its progressive values is yet to be seen.
Submitted on Sun, 04/23/2006 - 11:50am
Despite being a world-class competitor, Monson finds time to remain politically engaged. In 2003, he marched against the Iraq War in Seattle, and protested the Free Trade Area of the Americas in Miami (where the notoriously aggressive cops wisely left Monson alone). He is also a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, and despite the controversy that surrounds him, continues to engage people within the fighting community about politics.
By Gabriel Thompson - In These Times, April 21, 2006.
He is, without a doubt, the toughest subscriber to In These Times. Standing 5’ 9” tall, weighing 240 pounds and sporting a shaved head, Jeff “The Snowman” Monson looks like a cartoon ready to pop, a compressed giant of crazy shoulders, massive biceps and meaty forearms.
When he sneers, people shudder. When he sweats, they turn away. When he’s angry, your best bet is to run.
He’s angry right now, even though his combat career in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)—an often-bloody tournament that combines martial arts disciplines like Brazilian Jujitsu and Muay Thai Kickboxing—is taking off. In February’s pay-per-view event, Monson easily beat his opponent with a chokehold in the first round. If things keep going this way, he could have a title shot in the heavyweight division, against the explosive Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski. So no, it’s not his future career prospects that have him pissed. It’s the state of the world.
Submitted on Tue, 04/11/2006 - 3:10pm
A Force More Powerful is a new game produced by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict and York Zimmerman as a followup to their collaboration on the PBS documentary of the same name. It is billed as "The Game of Nonviolent Tactics" and is intended as a fun, educational game for people involved in mass struggle worldwide.
Above: An anti-goverment rally in the city of Grbac
In AFMP, the player controls one movement, the Opposition, which is attempting to defeat the other movement, the Regime, using nonviolent tactics. There are ten scenarios included with the game, though with various difficulty levels and choices of victory conditions for each scenario it seems likely that there will be a lot of gameplay possibilities even before you download the scenario editor and have a go at designing your own. An interactive online forum provides a space for discussion of these scenarios and for you to upload any new scenarios you create for sharing with other gamers.
