Welcome! If you work in grocery, retail, or any other job that deals with selling goods, we know that it is likely that you are mad as hell at the employer for the way you are treated. It is even just as likely that you are mad as hell at your union (if you are one of the few that happen to be in a union at all), for doing nothing about that! This is an aside to all of the hassles that many of us have when dealing with the public.

Our answer is to not quit, but to organize and be The Union. Quitting means that we are only putting off the inevitable, which is that conditions will become so bad that it will be even harder to stand up for ourselves. And granted, we may be fired, reprimanded, and punished by our employers for trying to bring in a union. We may be chewed out, lied to and manipulated by a union representative for insisting that something is done in a shop that is already union. But the only solution is to organize with our fellow workers in our shop and in our industry who are both union and non-union. It is not easy, and it is a challenge, but who said maintaining our self respect was easy?

Our work lies in Education, Organization, and Emancipation. Education is the easy part; it means learning about how our industry works, how the other unions work, and how this union will work within both. Organization is the tough part; this means we have to do something about it, and take risks. Emancipation is the best part; this is when we win respect and more control over our jobs, and a better living.

Business unions in our industry make many claims to entice workers to their ranks, especially in unorganized shops. In a consumer society, we all know that the product and the sales pitch are two different things. Some folks want to make these corrupt unions better unions. Reforming a union may expand limited freedoms for a period of time, but the best we can expect from doing this exclusively is bigger cages and longer chains. In our industry we believe that independent unionism is the best solution because it is limitless.

What are Our Goals?

We, as workers in retail, grocery, wholesale, warehouse, and jobs that comprise the Industry of the General Distribution of Goods, in order to defend our collective rights, to pursue our joint interests and achieve our common goals, and as members of the IWW, we unite as the General Distribution Workers Industrial Union 660 of the Industrial Workers of the World under the following principles:

The only place where we posses the direct power to improve wages and conditions is in the workplace. It is through our own collective and self-organization that we can be most effective in winning our demands. This is called Direct Action.

We are for One Big Industrial Union in the General Distribution Industry. We are determined to exert all of our strength--both as an independent organization of workers in unorganized shops, and as members of our other unions, to bring into being complete organizational unity of all workers in our industry.

We are for Direct Democracy from the bottom up in our workplace and our unions, and we are against the bureaucratic, authoritarian method of unionism prevalent and pervasive in our industry. We commit ourselves to expanding the rights of democratic participation in all aspects of our work, and we shall do everything in our power to assure full voice and vote on all matters in the workplace, though our own independent organization; we will negotiate for and vote on our own contracts, resolve our own grievances, and elect our own shop committees and stewards.

We are for Organizing the Unorganized and all non-union workers into a powerful fighting Industrial Union that will defend our rights and interests on the job. We recognize that the low wages and inferior conditions of our unorganized fellow workers drags down conditions in the whole industry and undermines our hard won gains.

No Sub-standard Contracts! We recognize that there are unions which exist in our industry whose leadership will not fight for our best interests, but intentionally acts to undermine our organizational initiative in the workplace in order to maintain a relationship with the employer; in turn this undermines our wages, working conditions, job security, and self respect. We will not be forced to accept a contract by any employer or union that is not acceptable by us.

These are our Demands

• A Livable Minimum Wage in the Industry: - $10.00 per hour in the US, $15.00 in Canada.
• Employers cover full costs of health benefits.
• We elect our department shift supervisors.
• 30 days severance for all layoffs.
• Paid vacation, holidays, and sick leave.
• No mandatory overtime: An 8 hour work day and a 40 hour week.
• Equal Pay for Equal Work.
• The right to talk union on the job, and settle grievances on the clock.
• At least 12 hours between shifts.
• The right to refuse service to abusive customers.
• All lunches and breaks entitled to us by existing labor laws.
• An end to employer dominated "team management" programs.
• Managers are held to same work standards as workers.
• Employee representation in all management meetings.
• Product discounts for employees.
• An end to arbitrary discipline.
• The right to honor all picket lines by our fellow workers.
• Pension Plan not linked to stock speculation, controlled by us.

We have an IU660 Industrial Organizing Committee based in Joliet (south of Chicago), and are working on many projects. We encourage you to get involved; the only way to better our lives is organization!