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.

For an overview of the IWW's Union structure, please visit the Unions homepage.

For branch, campaign, or general labor news, click on the appropriate sub-menu bars at the left under the main "news" bar.

Virginia Wobblie's Join 'Virginia Organizing' for a protest on Senator Webb's Office

Posted Sat, 12/11/2010 - 4:35pm by x370724

Webb wasn't at his office, but some good coverage was had. The Richmond IWW including fellow worker Andrew Ragland had good things to leave behind for Webb in this article. Check out the video here:

[ http://www.wtvr.com/videobeta/b2341456-ccfb-406c-b0b8-b847dbe916e1/News/Protest-At-Senator-Webb-s-Richmond-Office ]

Protestors- Webb Holding Everyday Americans 'Hostage'

WTVR Channel 6 News - Sam Brock Anchor

IWW supports Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in support of Palestinian Rights

Posted Thu, 12/02/2010 - 3:13pm by x344543

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December 2, 2010

12/2/2010 The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) has officially voted to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in support of Palestinian rights. The “Resolution in Support of the Workers of Palestine/Israel” was adopted in an overwhelming vote both at the IWW’s convention in Minneapolis and by the membership via referendum. This vote makes the IWW the first union in the US and the third union in Canada to officially support the Palestinian United Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.

Inspired by the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, the BDS movement calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until such time as fundamental Palestinian rights are recognized. The BDS call is supported by a broad cross-section of Palestinian society, including Palestinian unions.

The resolution to support the BDS campaign comes out of the work of the IWW’s International Solidarity Commission and the IWW Friends of Palestinian Workers Group, a grassroots network of Wobblies supportive of the Palestinian, Israeli and international struggle against Israeli apartheid. Support for the BDS campaign was also stressed by all the Palestinian workers who met with members of the IWW on the IWW delegation to Palestine, particularly the Independent Workers Federation of Palestine, with whom the IWW shares a close bond of solidarity.

Keep Monroe Park Public: An Open Letter from the Richmond IWW

Posted Thu, 11/04/2010 - 1:33pm by x370724

For more information and complete back story refer to: http://monroecampaign.wordpress.com/

Dear City & Monroe Park Advisory Councils,

“There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people,” states the beginning of our labor union’s preamble. We, the Richmond members of the Industrial Workers of the World, feel that the renovation plans for Monroe Park, as they currently stand, will serve to exacerbate hunger and want in Richmond. We, as concerned citizens of the Richmond area and hardened activists and organizers, will not let this issue slip by without a struggle.

These renovation plans include fencing off the entire park for several months, and up to a year, denying access to all who depend on it, including the services provided there. This translates to the homeless being forced out of the park and dispersed into the VCU and Greater Richmond community, without concern for where they might await refuge in otherwise nearby shelters or sustenance via various meal programs that congregate there.

A New Society - By Arthur J. Miller

Posted Wed, 10/27/2010 - 3:32pm by x344543

When miners get tired of being buried alive for them, the few.

When keyboard pounders get tired of wearing their hands out for them, the few.

When the truckers get tired of the weariness of driving endlessly for them, the few.

When fast food workers get tired of producing large quantities of food quickly at near starvation wages for them, the few.

When women workers get tired of being paid less and used as sex objects for them, the few.

When farm workers get tired of picking the food for all to eat while being poisoned and not having enough to eat themselves for them, the few.

When workers of color get tired of racism and having to labor in the worst jobs for them, the few.

When hospital workers get tired of working for the profit of the bosses, caring for the sick and injured for long hours for them, the few.

When construction workers get tired of building the homes and buildings of society under dangerous conditions for them, the few.

When child workers get tired of producing the latest fashion statements of the rich while having their childhoods robbed by them, the few.

When ship workers get tired of long hours in hot, miserable conditions and having to be far from home for them, the few.

End VCU/MCV Parking on Richmond's African Burial Ground

Posted Wed, 10/27/2010 - 9:31am by x370724

By: Kenneth Yates x370724

A place called Shockoe Bottom in Richmond, Virginia was once the center of the African slave trade in North America. However if you were to visit this area you would never know it. Beneath the night clubs, condominiums, office buildings, and streets lies a history grossly repressed by capitalist appetites for commercial development.

One hidden piece of history in particular lies beneath a parking lot publicly owned and utilized by the Virginia Commonwealth University & Medical College of Virginia staff and students.

In 1992 local historian and author Elizabeth Cann Kambourian, while researching for a book about a local slave rebellion leader named Gabriel, discovered something. Around 1800, inspired by the Haitian Revolution which was in full swing at the time, Gabriel plotted one of the most organized slave revolts in United States history. The plan was for hundreds of enslaved Africans, free Blacks and a few whites to to enter the city of Richmond, take the governor hostage and demand the abolition of slavery in Virginia. The revolt, however, was crushed after an intense 100 year storm flooded the area, making it impossible for Gabriel and his army to enter the city.

With information given by one of Gabriel's collaborators, the then Richmond Governor James Monroe formed a militia to hunt down Gabriel and his co-conspirators. Gabriel was eventually captured, tried and, on Oct. 10, 1800, executed at the town gallows, located in what was then called the Burial Ground for Negroes. At least 25 of his comrades met the same fate, either at the same site or in surrounding areas.

The burial ground was retired sometime around 1810, after hundreds, perhaps thousands of enslaved Africans had been buried there. The exact number is unknown. Before long the burial ground itself fell into obscurity, eventually buried beneath 10-20 feet of filler as the land took on many other uses over the years.

Kambourian discovered an old Richmond City map placing the African Burial Ground just north of 15th & Broad Street. That area is now partially covered by Interstate 95, with the remaining portion of the Burial Ground buried beneath a parking lot utilized by both VCU & MCV staff and students. The exact boundaries are yet to be determined.

The Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality have been fighting to reclaim this sacred ground from its present desecration. VCU & the City of Richmond have been aware of the history surrounding the Burial Ground since its discovery in 1992, however they have to this day done nothing to preserve and respect the dead residing there.

The Defenders have initiated an on-line letter writing campaign directed at VCU President Michael Rao, Richmond City Mayor Dwight C. Jones, & Virginia Governor Bob McDonell, demanding that they "End VCU / MCV Parking on Richmond's African Burial Ground."

Please visit http://tinyurl.com/275kzuj and sign or edit the following letter. If you are sending the e-mail on behalf of an organization, please also include your position in the group.