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, 04/30/2006 - 9:20pm
Join Us: 5:30 AM till afternoon MAYDAY Morning Picket line (5/1) On Gardner between Metropolitan & Meadow in Greenpoint. L train to Grand St. walk east on Grand over bridge and right on Gardner. Contact Tomer at 646-753-1167 if you can make it.
Or Jam Up The phone Lines! call 718-821-3388 or fax 718-497-9550 demand a fair election, an end to violations of minimum wage and overtime laws, and respect from the boss. www.iww.org/en/node/2396.
Recent Developments
On April 28th Workers at Amersino voted whether to join the Industrial Workers of the World. 35 people voted and 20 votes are contested. Throughout April, the boss made threats to fire the workers and close the wharehouse. He bribed workers to not vote for the union. After weeks of this anti-union activity the boss unsurprisingly manipulated the election. Several of the votes were taken from managers or workers that do not work at that location. Also, around 10 pro-union worker's votes were withheld on the account that the boss claims they do not work at that location.
Submitted on Fri, 04/28/2006 - 8:40pm
La Comisión de Solidaridad Internacional de los Trabajadores Industriales del Mundo (el IWW) se solidariza con los miembros del Sindicato Mexicano de Mineros (SNTMMRM) que exigen el derecho a elegir sus oficiales sindicales, y que resisten en su ocupación de la fábrica de acero SICARTSA en Lázaro Cárdenas en Michoacán. Condenamos el uso de la violencia contra los miembros del sindicato en protesta, incluído el asesinato de por lo menos tres trabajadores de SICARTSA a manos de la policía y las fuerzas armadas bajo las órdenes del estado y el gobierno federal mejicano, en cooperación con la gerencia del Grupo Villacero.
Por muchos años el gobierno mexicano ha servido los intereses del capital nacional e internacional a través del control de los movimientos laborales del país. Estos actos, que han resultado en represión a los trabajadores que exigen sindicatos democráticos e independientes, continúan en la era de TLCAN con la intención de mantener a los trabajadores mexicanos en un estado de pobreza y desesperación. Los trabajadores mejicanos siempre han resistido y reivindicado su dignidad. En los últimos años han habido victorias en la lucha por la libertad sindical que han llevado a mejorar las condiciones de vida de los trabajadores. Los Trabajadores Industriales del Mundo ofrece sus mejores deseos para este movimiento y extiende su apoyo en cualquier momento posible.
Submitted on Mon, 04/24/2006 - 12:48pm
On April 22nd, Earth Day, Madison area union activists are launching a union organizing drive targeting restaurant and service workers employed on State Street and downtown Madison with the help of internationally acclaimed musicians, David Rovics and Alistair Hulett.
Officially titled, the Madison Downtown Workers Union (MDWU), the organizing drive is an effort to unite thousands of workers in hundreds of workplaces -- taverns, restaurants, cafes and retails shops -- across the city. IWW members believe that in building a union, workers will gain the power to improve their wages, benefits and working conditions. Unlike traditional unions, the IWW seeks to organize cooks, wait staff, dishwashers, bus persons, bartenders and baristas, shop clerks and others across multiple shops and job positions into One Big Union.
Submitted on Sun, 04/23/2006 - 11:09am
By Dana Hooker - Wisconsin State Journal, April 21, 2006
Bartenders, servers, baristas and others who work Downtown could soon be carrying more than your food or drinks. They may also be carrying union cards.
Local organizers for the Industrial Workers of the World union hope to sign up some of the over 4,000 Downtown Madison employees, many of them students who work part time in small businesses - a notoriously difficult group to unionize.
"(Downtown has) a very good concentration of similar kinds of workplaces and ones that are generally ignored by other unions because of the small size and the transient nature of the workers," said Amy Mondloch, an IWW member and lead organizer of the campaign.
But this wouldn't be a typical union, where labor leaders try to get a majority of the employees in a workplace to sign up and form a union.
