International Solidarity

International Solidarity

IWW statement for March 6 Day of Action

Posted Wed, 03/05/2008 - 1:00pm by x344543

Statement for March 6 International Day of Action in Solidarity with the Workers of Iran

The International Solidarity Commission of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), an international rank-and-file labor union, warmly extends our solidarity with the workers of Iran, on this, the occasion of the March 6th Global Day of Action. Reflecting on the 100+ year history of our own union, we in the IWW recognize that real victories for workers have never come without struggle, hardship, and--all too often--repression. For years now, the Iranian workers have bravely faced down brutal opposition from government forces, right-wing clerics and their supporters, and of course, the bosses themselves. They have paid a terrible price for their efforts to bring about justice in the workplace and in society. We know that workers, organizers and activists have been harassed, threatened, beaten, fined, fired, whipped, jailed and worse, simply for exercising their right to organize.

IWW and Friends Prepare to Take on Useless Blood Service Bosses

Posted Wed, 02/06/2008 - 2:27pm by x344543

Originally published at UK Indymedia

The last year saw the IWW and their allies launch a nation-wide campaign to prevent NBS management from enacting dangerous cuts that will only serve to ease their own workload. IWW members in the NBS’s recognised unions (Unison and Unite) have also been at the forefront of the campaign to push the big unions to act against the plans, rather than seemingly roll over and let management do whatever they want.

NBS bosses plan to centralise thirteen blood processing centres into three ‘supercentres’ in Colindale, Manchester and Bristol. This means 600 jobs will be slashed and local economies and labour markets are going to be hit hard. What’s more, the transport of blood will be even more reliant on our already-overcrowded and polluting road system, with many hospitals more than 100 miles from the nearest centre. Put simply, these plans are a danger to workers, communities and patients.

Autoworkers sit-down strike! - Please support this action, the jobs of 300 working people are on the line!

Posted Tue, 01/01/2008 - 2:46pm by x344543
Workers in struggle, Barcelona, Spain
Workers at the Frape Behr factory in Barcelona have occupied their factory because of a company plan to fire 295 workers. The Behr company is in Stuttgart, Germany, and it specializes in manufacturing of car air conditioning and engine cooling systems. The need for solidarity by December 31 is urgent.

From CNT-AIT Barcelona we are supporting the workers of the Frape Behr factory (sister company of the german Behr) in Barcelona. Behr has reported a labour force adjustment plan (LFAP) to 50 workers and profit limits. For three months the workers have rejected this offer.

Letters as leverage - Bay Area activists leading the fight against a new Bush administration crackdown on undocumented workers

Posted Thu, 09/20/2007 - 2:50am by x344543

Disclaimer - The following is not an IWW campaign, it is featured here because it has relevance to current IWW organizing efforts. The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.

By Joseph Plaster - San Francisco Bay Guardian, Wednesday September 19, 2007

It's a thin, seemingly innocuous letter. The Social Security Administration mails it when names and Social Security numbers don't match on an employee's I-9 form. The intent is to make sure workers receive their benefits.

But unions and immigrants have long charged that unscrupulous employers use SSA "no match" letters to harass undocumented workers and squelch union organizing efforts. Now, after a failed immigration debate in Congress, the George W. Bush administration wants to pass a regulation that would explicitly turn the letter into an immigration enforcement tool.

With Fewer Migrant Workers, Farmers Turn to Prison Labor

Posted Sat, 08/25/2007 - 11:32am by x344543

Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW.  This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines. 

By Nicole Hill, Christian Science Monitor. Posted August 22, 2007.

Weren't employers who lose access to cheap foreign labor supposed to start paying Americans fair wages?

Picacho, Ariz. -- Near this dusty town in southeastern Arizona, Manuel Reyna pitches watermelons into the back of a trailer hitched to a tractor. His father was a migrant farm worker, but growing up, Mr. Reyna never saw himself following his father's footsteps. Now, as an inmate at the Picacho Prison Unit here, Reyna works under the blazing desert sun alongside Mexican farmers the way his father did.