AMERICAN LABOUR:

LATEST EDITION OF THE 'INDUSTRIAL WORKER' IS OUT AND ABOUT:

The latest edition of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), is out and available- even available as a downloadable pdf. Here's the announcement from the IWW's website.

ALALALALALALALALALAL
Industrial Worker - Issue #1718, August/September 2009:

Headlines:
**Korean Motor Workers Under Police Siege
**French Auto Workers To Blow Up Factory?
**Starbucks Workers Union Expands To Canada
Features:
**London Workers Shut Down Underground
**Honduras Uprising Against Coup
Review:

Capitalism And The Transformation Of Africa

Download a free PDF copy of this issue.

AMERICAN LABOUR:

THE 'INDUSTRIAL WORKER', JULY 2009:

The following announcement of the July (Issue #1717- yes, it has been going for a long, long time) issue of the 'Industrial Worker' is from the website of the syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World. The IWW is active in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and Germany. While many may think that the printed word is a fossil in the age of the internet there is still much to be said for holding your reading material in your hands. For over a century the Industrial Worker has been bringing news of the class struggle worldwide. Check it out.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Industrial Worker - Issue #1717, July 2009:

Headlines:
***UE Workers in Chicago Facing Another Plant Closure
***PIDC Hunger Strike Leader Assaulted & Threatened
***Indigenous People Massacred in Peru
Features:
***Recession: Time To Organize
***Special: Wobbly Art & Poetry
***Post-Fordism in Northern Ireland

Download a free PDF copy of this issue.
Visit Industrial Worker

SPEAKING TOO SOON:
The latest edition of the Industrial Worker, the published organ of the IWW, has a rather self congratulatory article entitled 'NY foodstuffs workers win contract at EZ supply'. It reports how the IWW had won a contract with the NYC based EZ Supply company that supplied food to various restaurants in that city (see http://www.iww.org/en/node/3052 for details of the contract negotiated by the IWW, a contract that included wage raises of $1.70 to $2.45 an hour over the next two years, a grievance procedure, paid vacation and sick time and extra pay for certain types of work. The management and union had also agreed that all company files would be purged of mention of union organizing and that back wages for unpaid work (ie theft of time- Molly) would be paid). Looked pretty good at the time of the agreement on November 27th, but over the Christmas time a little idea dawned on the bosses of EZ Supply, just as it dawned on bosses at five other warehouses in New York City where the IWW has organized in the last year and a half. If you can't beat the union in a normal way, then try and threaten the workers with threats regarding their "immigration status". On December 26th, Boxing day, the boss at EZ Supply reneged on his agreement and issued threats to his workers about their "status". On the evening of December 28th EZ Supply fired all its union workers.
The IWW Food Industry and Allied Workers' Union is calling on EZ Supply and other warehouse owners in the NYC area such as Amersino, Handyfat and Top City produce to cease their anti-union activities, reinstate fired workers and to negotiate in good faith with the union. It should be noted that any penalties that may be applied to the bosses for KNOWINGLY hiring undocumented workers will be VERY minor compared to the penalties applied to the workers. What famous French writer once opined that "the law in all its majesty equally forbids both a rich man and a poor man from sleeping under a bridge" ? A Molly prize for the answer.
In any case, if you want to see how you can help these workers follow the cases on the IWW website , phone "Tomer" at 646-753-1167 or phone the bosses at EZ Supply directly at 718-386-3600.
One more example of counting your chickens before they are hatched, but in this case the IWW can be forgiven for missing the idea that an egg-sucking dog can steal the eggs even as the chicks are pecking out of the shell.
Molly

TELLING TOO LITTLE:
The December edition of the Industrial Worker had a brief article on the recent Bill C-257 which passed second reading by a margin of 167 to 101 in the House of Commons on Oct. 25th. The article reads as follows,
"The House of Commons voted Oct. 25 167 to 101 in favour of Bill C-257, which would make it illegal for employers covered by the Canada Labour Code to hire scabs. The bill was supported by union activists across the country including CUPE members who sent in hundreds of emails to their MPs. According to the 2.2 million-member Canadian Labour Congress, the bill will help create more tranquil labour relations in the federal jurisdiction, including a significant drop in work days lost due to strike or lockout."
This article was far too brief and actually obscures more than it tells in the effort to present "good news". A little background is in order. The bill is actually the 11th time that the Bloc Quebecois has attempted to introduce such legislation under the provisions for "private members bills". All previous attempts have been defeated. The Act entitled 'An Act to Amend the Canada Labour Code (replacement workers) would indeed forbid the hiring of scabs in labour disputes governed by the Canada Labour Code, but these are a small minority of the disputes that occur in Canada. In the Canadian federal system most labour disputes and regulation fall under provincial jurisdiction.
Presently two Canadian provinces ban the use of scabs during strikes, Quebec since 1977 and BC since 1993. Right wing ideologues at the Fraser Institute tout so-called "evidence" as opposed to the position of the CLC that such legislation reduces ! time lost to strikes in such publications as 'Budd, John W. (2000)."The Effect of Strike Replacement Legislation on Employment." Labour Economics 7:225-247' and 'Budd, John W and Yjiang Wang(2004) "Labour Policy and Investment:Evidence From Canada". Industrial and Labour Relations Review 57, 3 (April), saying that "employment and investment decrease in jurisdictions that ban the use of replacement workers".
The academic studies cited are deeply flawed. Can you say, "lack of controls". The case of these two Canadian provinces, the most militant in Canada is taken in isolation from not just the numerous other union factors that may make a jurisdiction seem "unfriendly to business" but also in isolation from general economic trends that affect all Canadian provinces, with or without anti-scab legislation. In particular, even though the Fraser Institute mentions them, the cases of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland where scabbing has been prohibited via precedent setting court cases rather than legislation are ignored in such reports. Any old piece of academic driftwood if your ship appears to be going down I guess.
The reading given the bill was actually only the 'Second Reading', the stage of a bill in the Canadian system where "the principle and object of a bill is either accepted or rejected". The Bill now goes to committee. Hearings for said committee began today, with presentations from various interest groups. Detailed examination of the clauses will be conducted through a lengthy process of hearings and consideration (and, of course, wheeling and dealing) before any such bill is presented to Parliament for a third and final reading.
From Molly's point of view this Bill is very much one of the 'Christmas Bills' that will be "lost in committee". The process of passing an Act of Parliament is a little more complicated than the layperson might imagine. A Bill is, of course, automatically lost if a given Parliament ends with the calling of an election. It can, however, also be lost due to the ending of a "session of parliament" that end with the dissolution of the session and the introduction of a new speech from the throne. Should Bill C-257 miraculously avoid both pitfalls and come to a vote in the Commons before either event it still has to pass the Senate before such events to become law. More than a few little hurdles to pass before the partial protection becomes the law of the land for the few Canadian workers who fall under federal jurisdiction. I wonder when the RCMP will go on strike ?
The prohibition of scabs has less of an effect than other right wing ideologues who are more shrill than the Fraser Institute imagine. A great number of editorials (and same disguised as "news) have hit the more right wing papers and airwaves in the recent days bringing up the spectres of no 911, no fire protection, no police, etc.,etc.,etc.. In actual fact the legislative power available to governments in BC, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland has been more than equal to countering the "wild in the streets" scenarios. Essential services legislation, compulsory arbitration, court injunctions, etc. have always ! been more than enough to defeat public sector strikes without ! the use of scabs- which for emphasis- could hardly ever be used in ANY public sector strike anyways.
To a large extent the new Bill is more of a symbolic statement than a realistic reform. Something like the eternal "Quebec as a nation" statement in Canadian politics.
Molly note: The whole matter discussed above falls very much into the usual category of anarchist and syndicalist advocacy of "direct action" versus "political action" as means to achieve workers' rights. It, however, brings up an interesting question of what "reforms" to support.
First, it should be noted that 99% of anarchists in the historical sense have seen anarchism as a method to change "property rights", in particular the property rights of workers vis-a-vis those who control "the means of production", whether they be capitalists, managers of corporations or government bureaucrats, "socialist"(sic) or otherwise. There are some who may disagree, particularly in the USA where cults of anarcho-capitalism (to whom private property is as sacred as the Blessed Host) and primitivists who think such questions are "petty" in terms of their existential quest for an identity of the "most radical". Ego-boo big time.
But most anarchists have seen the gradual (or sudden-revolution) extension of workers' rights to the control of their work time and the product of same as close to the heart of anarchism. To anarchists this is justice, equality and liberty rolled into one. As such there is the ever present tendency to compromise and simply applaud any effort of government to legislate such matters, such as anti-scab legislation. The "right wing danger" in this, as opposed to the "left wing danger" of fools such as the primmies or less foolish people such as left communists who reject ALL reforms is to begin to pretend that such legislation is anarchism. To forget that it is merely a compromise that has BOTH good and bad points. To get carried away with a bipolar view of the world that cheers each and every lefty cause and government act without any consideration of the limitations of same. Cheer leading in other words.
The idea of "reform" is important to anarchism. Without it it becomes a silly little cult that gives identity and nothing else. The posing of "revolution" as the "final answer" to every small question is no answer at all, and an "ultra" position is NOT a useful political position. It is, however, important to judge reforms realistically, and to be very much public about their limitations. When anarchism has organizations that can continually and persistently "push the envelope" about the major questions of public policy such as anti-scab legislation then it will have "arrived" as a real movement and force in society. It may fall short of apocalyptic dreams, but it will be much more real for abandoning illusions.
Until then...
Molly

ITEMS FROM THE IWW:
The latest issue of the 'Industrial Worker', the monthly of the IWW (December, 2006) has arrived at the ol' cathouse. It contains an interesting insert with the title 'Books for Rebellious Workers'. Well, books it is in part, on the history of the IWW and on contemporary labour struggles, IWW and otherwise. There's the old faithful 'The Little Red Songbook' with guitar chords for the musical amongst us. The catalogue also has other items, posters, tee shirts, buttons, baseball caps, patches, sports pennants and CDs for those who prefer their music heard rather than read. There's also the 'Solidarity Forever' 2007 IWW calender.
Seems like there might be something here to leave under the tree for your favourite black cat this Christmas. The items can be viewed and ordered online at the IWW website http://www.iww.org -or see the syndicalist links at the bottom of this blog. a copy of the insert is probably also available by emailing the IWW at books@iww.org , phoning them at 215-222-1905 or writing them at Industrial Workers of the World, Box 42777, Philadelphia PA, 19101, USA.
Molly aside: How do you do like my new do in the upper left? It's the getup I wore to the Black Cat Ball last All Souls Day. A hissing good time was had by all. Enough of the off-green stuff. I promised more icons and I deliver. Order from the IWW, and they'll deliver too.

Matters From The Latest 'Industrial Worker'
The 'Industrial Worker' is the house organ of the IWW (http://www.iww.org , Box 23085, Cincinnati, OH 45223, USA).
The latest issue contains a few interesting matters. The first is an article by Eric Lee entitled 'War, Wobs and the Web'. Lee has a regular column in the IW, and he is also the webmaster for a labour solidarity site that I personally subscribe to. Seems that the IWW website linked to his personal webpage, but that some matters contained there were offensive to other Wobblies. No, it isn't what you think. FW Lee has been a member of the Socialist Party of the USA, a rather decent outfit, and his writings in this article and others make it very plain that he still holds a certain sympathy for their views. The problem was NOT "anarchist purism". The problem was that he also, horror of horrors, has sympathy for the people of Israel and, therefore, is less gung-ho to jump on the so-called "anti-imperialist" bandwagon of the American left in giving unconditional support to whatever is opposed to Israel.
Lee goes on the argue that there are disagreements in the IWW about such matters as Cuba or Iraq. He mentions these as examples of where an "agree to disagree" attitude holds sway because of the more important matter of "a different kind of trade unionism" which is actually what unites the IWW. There was a campaign waged against Lee from within the IWW, though you can bet that it gathered people who were not just non-members of the IWW but who oppose the organization. The campaign ignored Lee's work in raising solidarity funds for unionists in Lebanon because the American left DEMANDS total agreement with its goal of "politically correct" dogma. Lee mentions that he is probably in a minority within the IWW, even though his position is "up for debate" in England where he presently lives, "elsewhere in Europe" and in Australia. He even adds, perhaps as a slight, "perhaps even in the USA". I would express it in much stronger terms. The left in the USA is the most juvenile left in the world outside of a totalitarian regime. It always attempts to impose uniformity of opinion within its ranks with an arsenal of insult terms and with hysterical campaigns and conspiracies against any dissidence whatsoever. To make matters worse, despite its crude ideology of "anti-imperialism" it is always willing to try and impose its views on the left in other countries.
The American left is just as mindlessly convinced of its "righteousness" as the American right. When not cheerleading for restrictions of freedom within their own country or arguing for special privileges that almost always translate as not "uplifting the poor" but rather as schemes for getting money for those who "work product" could be defined as "social control"- if they have any product at all- the American left looks at those of us on the left outside of the USA as either benighted savages who have to be educated in the latest "ism" or, worse, as benighted savages whose abstract situation can be used for the furtherance of their own projects.
Lee ends his column with an argument for tolerance within the IWW of views that differ in matters that are NOT related to the goals of the IWW. I suspect that he is realistic enough to know that this will not end the campaign against him.
Also in the latest IW:
There's a report of an IWW gathering in the American Midwest entitled 'Midwest Wobfest". Besides being an encouraging sign of the revival of the IWW, something that real anarchists can be nothing but pleased by it has the very pleasing (to me) note that the gathering finished off "with a barbecue and more socializing". The reason I find this heartening is that you can bet bottom dollar that the barbecue didn't involve "tofu on a stick". One of the reasons why the IWW is worthwhile is that it attempts to go beyond the cultural ghetto of present day anarchism and engage ordinary people-most of whom yes do eat meat and commit dozens of other daily offenses against the political correctness that is fashionable but which has NOTHING to do with anarchism.
To be gross, you will know that anarchism has "arrived" when a hot dog salesman at an anarchist gathering can call out, "get your fried primmies, get your fried primmies here". At that point the primitivists will come to serve a useful purpose.

From the pages of 'The Industrial Worker', the monthly newspaper of the Industrial Workers of the World, a syndicalist union, mostly active in Canada and the USA:
The latest issue contains some articles on recent IWW organizing. The first is 'Starbucks Fires 3 IWWs For Union Organizing'. It is a report of the latest events in the ongoing campaign of the IWW to unionize workers at the Starbucks coffee shops. This campaign has been ongoing since 2004, and the IWW Starbucks Union has had at least some limited success in their organizing. This is, of course, a very difficult job considering the dispersed nature of the employer and the fantastically high turnover of staff at places such as Starbucks. The campaign has had the most success to date in NYC. Further information can be found at the IWW website at http://www.iww.org .
Also in this issue are reports on the Chicago Couriers Union (IWW), the Shattuck Cinema Landmark Theatre in Berkley, CA, the Ecology Center Curbside Recycling Program, also in Berkley, and the Pittsburgh East End Food Co-op. Though the astute may discern something of a "pattern" in the above, previous issues of the IW have reported on organizing campaigns in "non-fashionable" workplaces such as independent truck drivers in Stockton, CA and taxi drivers in California. Both of these campaigns have been about the organization of immigrant workers.
The IWW continues to grow, and its many recent organizing campaigns provide a much better example of anarchy in action than the silliness promoted by some who wish to prolong the long dead tactic of playacting at militancy by travelling anarchists who have no connection to a locality and no practical proposals but who want to seem so brave by challenging and losing against the police whenever an international meeting of the ruling class is held. Without, of course, any enduring results.
The IWW has become a lighthouse for NA anarchists who want to get beyond the stage of childish rebellion and actually create anarchism. It continues to attract the best of young anarchists today.