IWW Infiltrates Pirates Fest 2007 at Pittsburgh's David L Lawrence Convention Center
Submitted on Wed, 02/07/2007 - 5:02pm
Submitted by Bret Grote, FW #x361200
On January 28th, IWW members and Friends of Labor infiltrated the Pittsburgh Convention Center floor during Pirates Fest 2007, announcing April 14th as Union Solidarity Night @ PNC Park and informing fans, employees, and press about sweatshop exploitation in factories sewing our hometown logo. Pirates Fest is the annual kickoff for the baseball season, a staged media spectacle for the family designed as a promotional vehicle for ticket sales. Through skillful coordination and superior cunning the Pittsburgh IWW rendered the event a textbook example of the Wobbly tradition of creative direct action, education, and international solidarity.
Members of the Pittsburgh IWW and the Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance have been talking about sweatshops at PNC Park for years. “Fans tell us that they expect their team to be accountable for the factories sewing our hometown apparel, but they want to know more,” said IWW organizer Kenneth Miller. “It’s about time that labor unions combined a night out at PNC Park with some education about the Pirates’ sweatshop profiteering. We are confident that local manufacturing workers will understand the need to create solidarity relationships with workers in other parts of the world. We cannot be competitive with people whose Human Rights are systematically violated at work.”
Pittsburgh Pirates and Convention Center officials were informed that leaflets regarding sweatshop exploitation in Major League Baseball’s supply chain would be distributed to fans entering Pirates Fest. Despite the warning, event security threatened participants until the authorities were forced to back down after realizing that IWW unionists and supporters were unwilling to negotiate away their constitutional rights. This diversionary tactic lulled officials into a false sense of security, providing cover for those inside the Convention Center who did not believe that the Pirates had any right to protect the diehard element of their consumer market from unpleasant realities regarding the home team’s profit margins.
After casing the event floor inside, activists set out to distribute media releases to ticketing staff, Pirates employees, and press organizations, the whole time watching each other’s backs and giving away anti-sweatshop ‘baseball cards’ to fans. Yet to encounter any unwelcome scrutiny, we made our way to the merchandise booth to gather data on Pirates apparel produced in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Peru, Thailand, and elsewhere. While performing this reconnaissance the effectiveness of the diversionary tactic became apparent, as the merchandise staff proceeded to have a loud conversation about the activities outside without noticing the not-so-discreet behavior of those of us right in front of their face. Fellow Worker Laney Trautman commented, “the diversionary tactic worked brilliantly. The Pirates thought they had the situation under control, but we were smarter than that.”
Following some anti-sweatshop photo-ops the internal team went looking to deliver a letter to Patty Paytas, Vice-President of Communications for the Pittsburgh Pirates, recent recipient of the Renaissance Communicator of the Year award and PASCA’s Human Rights All Star. By this time the Convention Center floor had been subjected to an hour of sweatshop education, and sympathetic employees had warned us that officials were hunting the Wobblies. Charging into the private staff area, we found Patty Paytas.
Visibly enraged at our presence amongst their precious core consumers and displaying what can only be described as an occupational pettiness, Patty announced that we were not permitted to discuss the daily brutalities inflicted upon workers in the supply chain connected to the Pirates profits in general and her salary in particular. Friend of labor and community organizer Crystal Gamet graciously thanked Patty for the “small, small steps you have already taken for Human Rights,” while instructing her that it was time for “some larger ones.” IWW action participants held their ground admirably, inviting the award-winner to join them at the ballpark on April 14th, and delivering to her and other team officials a letter requesting information about group ticket prices and an anti-sweatshop message on the jumbotron. As we were congratulating Patty for being the “Communicator of the Year” and taking our leave, friend of labor Hannah Thompson expressed that “we hope you will be as diligent in investigating and correcting workers’ rights violations in the Pirates supply chain as you are upholding the rules of distributing materials to fans on the Convention Center floor.” With that Patty turned tail, no doubt furiously pondering how she could have been so easily outwitted.
Pirates Fest 2007 was a brilliant tactical success and alerted our home team that the IWW will be coming to the ballgame on April 14th, demanding answers about sweatshops. During the All-Star game in Pittsburgh last year the Pirates committed themselves to “devote serious and proper attention” to evidence of sweatshop exploitation in their supply chain. Their follow up has been unacceptable.
No Sweatshops Bucco! Members of the Pittsburgh IWW are now signing up baseball fans for Union Solidarity Night @ PNC Park April 14 when the Pirates play the Giants. A possible theme for the nights is “Sweatshops: The Global Economy on Steroids.” Members of the IWW invite Pirates Fans to “register” their favorite items of Pirates apparel for us to research using the Workers Rights Consortium factory database.
Check back here for PDF of sign up for the April 14 Union Solidarity Night @ PNC Park and to register your favorite Pirates' apparel!