News - All Departments and Unions

This is the news page for all IWW Departments and Unions. This page displays *all* news items from every Department and Union. To see news only from a particular Department, click on the Department title below.

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101st Anniversary Party of the IWW Vancouver

Posted Thu, 07/13/2006 - 6:55am by x346507
American Storyteller Chris Chandler is coming back to Vancouver!

Most will know him from when he performed here with Anne Feeney, but he has a new partner now, the very talented David Roe.

They will be performing here on:

Tuesday, July 18, 2006, 9 PM
at The Foundation
Main St. & 7th Ave.

Entrance by donation $5 to $20 and
nobody turned away!

This is also the 101st anniversary party of the IWW Vancouver, with special guests The Joey Only Outlaw Band and Justicia For Migrant Workers.

The Foundation was a proud supporter of the Modern Auto Plating strikers of  Steelworkers Local 2952 during their extremely long dispute nearby.

Chris and David are longtime supporters of labour and social justice

Millions strike, march in massive May Day protests

Posted Tue, 06/06/2006 - 12:05pm by x344543

By Adam Welch - Industrial Worker, June 2006

From California to the northeastern seaboard and the deep south, May 1st was marked by massive demonstrations. People poured into the streets of over 200 U.S. cities in support of immigrant workers' rights as part of the "Grand Paro Americano de 2006," or the Great American Boycott of 2006. With between two and three million participating, it was largest single day of protest ever in the United States.

But the day was far more than a movement of mass demonstrations, as nation-wide restaurants were shuttered, meat processing plants were idled, ripe fruit laid waiting to be picked and the nation's largest port stood at a near standstill. Classrooms were empty in some cities as well, as students, often joined by teachers and staff, skipped school in support. Many of those participating in the "Day Without An Immigrant," both documented and undocumented immigrants along with their supporters, heeded the call by some groups to not work, buy goods or attend school. The tactic is a traditional one called paros civicos, borrowed from social movements in Mexico.

General Strike hits employers in pockets

Posted Tue, 06/06/2006 - 11:58am by x344543

Staff Report - Industrial Worker, June 2006

Thousands of businesses across the country closed their doors May 1st -- some because there were no workers, others because managers preferred to avoid a fight with their employees that they could only lose. Many more worked short-staffed.

In Latino barrios throughout Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago and Miami, thousands of restaurants, warehouses, newsstands, and money transfer services were closed. Many McDonald's outlets cut hours or shut down.

In Los Angeles, hundreds of sweatshop garment factories were closed. The strike paralyzed  construction sites and industrial food production plants across the country.

"It was one thing to march," said Armando Navarro of the California-based National Alliance for Human Rights, referring to the earlier wave of immigrant protests. "Now we're going to hit Ôem where it hurts Ð in the pocketbooks."

Cargill, the country's second-largest beef producer, closed seven meat-processing plants employing 14,000 workers. Tyson, Perdue and other meatpackers followed suit. Tens of thousands of farm workers stayed out of the fields, and the American Nursery and Landscape Association estimated that 90 percent of the half million workers in its industry took the day off.

According to Jack Kyser, an economist with the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., the economic impact of the strike could total $200 million just in Los Angeles County. No one has done similar calculations for the rest of the country, but the total would have to run more than a billion dollars.

While several companies threatened to fire or discipline workers who took off work for the day, and some carried out those threats, many employers' associations urged caution -- warning that such actions could lead to further actions.  

"Law firms have been advising their clients that the immigrant labor boycott is protected by the National Labor Relations Act, even though it isn't specifically a union action," reported the May 2 Wall Street Journal, which had real-time coverage of the May Day actions in its online edition.

May Day 2006: World-wide Surge in Marches & Protests

Posted Tue, 05/30/2006 - 12:08pm by x344543

By Harvey Goldberg - Epicenter News Service; Reposted from East Bay News Service. 

Events marking May Day, International Workers Day (May 1st), hit a new high in 2006, with major events occurring on every continent and millions of workers mobilized. Workers and their representatives took the day to stand up for their rights and interests, commemorate their achievements, and to wage new struggles.

May Day events made headlines around the world, particularly in South America and, surprisingly, in the United States, where May Day was born,but had largely been forgotten.

Long gone are the Cold War days when May Day was most noted for the military displays by the Soviet Union and China, and when Communist regimes and movements seemingly held the franchise on May Day.

Contemporary May Day events are about rank and file mobilizations which revolve around key working class struggles particular to each country, though a strong sense of international solidarity also pervades them. Most are organized by labor unions, mass movements, and a variety of left-wing political parties. Communists continue to be involved, but no longer play a leading role in most countries. Only Cuba, with its prestige gained in standing up to the U.S., continues to be held in high esteem at many May Day events.

General strike in South Africa

Posted Sun, 05/21/2006 - 11:42am by x344543
Hundreds of thousands of workers yesterday (Thursday 18th) supported trade union giant Cosatu’s one-day general strike in protest against job losses. Huge marches brought the central business districts of Johannesburg and Durban to a standstill as police sealed roads and businesses closed shop. The strike also crippled some gold mines and shut numerous schools, but other sectors of the economy were largely unaffected.

Authorities in Cape Town banned a march planned as part of the stoppage after striking security workers rampaged through the city smashing shops and cars two days earlier. At the time of going to press there were no reports of violence during yesterday’s marches. But two Golden Arrow buses were torched before dawn in Khayelitsha by what the bus company claimed were people wearing Cosatu sweaters.