IWW Star Tickets Workers To Vote This Week

Posted Mon, 03/04/2013 - 6:08pm by x359437

By Garret Ellison | Mlive.com, March 4, 2013

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Employees at the Star Tickets call center in Grand Rapids will decide this week whether to organize into a collective bargaining unit with the Industrial Workers of the World union.

Tom Good, resident officer at the National Labor Relations Board office in Grand Rapids, said the election process will take place at the company’s call center, 620 Century Ave. SW on Wednesday, March 6.

Good said the election will occur from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in front of union and employer observers, and the results will be tallied on site after the vote.

BREAKING: Non-Profit Workers Go On Strike After Negotiations Fail

Posted Fri, 03/01/2013 - 4:26pm by x359437

CLICK HERE to donate to the Sisters' Camelot Strike Fund

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Canvass workers at Sisters Camelot, a non-profit mobile food shelf and soup kitchen, have gone on strike today after the organization’s managing collective refused to negotiate with the canvass union. The workers went public as members of the Industrial Workers of the World on Monday, and met to negotiate with the collective this morning. This unionization comes after months of organizing among the workers in response to changes in the workplace, resulting in a decline in conditions and mismanagement of the worker’s time and the organization’s resources.

The strike began this afternoon at 12:30PM when the managing collective announced that they were unwilling to negotiate on any demands. The workers are now prepared to continue the strike by refusing to canvass door-to-door or conduct fundraising efforts until the collective comes back to the table ready to meet the workers’ demands.

“It’s deeply disappointing that the collective isn’t willing to take the demands of its workers seriously,” said Maria Wesserle, a canvass worker, “The last thing we wanted in this situation was to be pushed to the point of a strike.”

Canvassers at Sisters Camelot are employed as independent contractors. Workers began organizing with the IWW after a restructuring of the organization’s door-to-door fundraising operation left workers with increased work stress and less control over conditions. They are demanding that management positions in the canvass program be replaced with coordinators elected by the workers, and that hiring and firing be conducted by a worker committee. In addition, workers are asking for better conditions such as sick pay and medical coverage of job injuries, as well as common sense items such as more frequent training and regular repair of work vehicles.

Twin Cities Non-Profit Workers Announce IWW Membership, Enter Negotiations With Management

Posted Fri, 03/01/2013 - 1:32pm by x359437

 

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Canvass workers at Sisters’ Camelot, a non-profit mobile food shelf and soup kitchen, have unanimously gone public as members of the Industrial Workers of the World and have entered into negotiations with management this morning. This announcement comes after months of organizing among the workers in response to changes in the workplace, resulting in a decline in conditions and mismanagement of the worker’s time and the organization’s resources. If an agreement is not reached as a result of these negotiations, the workers are fully prepared to cease fundraising operations and go on strike. Read more. 

Ottawa IWW Wins Wage Theft Fight

Posted Thu, 02/28/2013 - 6:35pm by x359437

Ministry Issues Cheques For Unpaid Wages Case

OTTAWA—Fifteen months is a long time for workers depending on minimum wage to wait for justice.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour issued cheques to IWW members Stephen Toth and Brandon Wallans, owed unpaid wages, in response to a long and arduous battle with a holdout employer.

“This satisfactory settlement is a message to other Ottawa employers that respecting their workers and paying them their wages is not optional,” said Ahmed, an IWW spokesperson.

Stephen and Brandon are very happy with the result and look forward to helping other workers defend their rights on the job and fight wage theft.

Wage theft is a growing trend among bosses who decide not to pay some or all of the wages earned by their employees. These thefts can be fought by workers most effectively when they unite and take action, not just through formal legal channels but also by hitting the picket lines.

For more information, visit http://ottawaiww.org.

Occupy the Workplace: Solidarity with Workers of Vio.Me (Thessaloniki, Greece)

Posted Tue, 02/26/2013 - 9:18pm by IWW.org Editor

The International Solidarity Commission (ISC) of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) congratulates the workers of Viomichaniki Metaleftiki (Industrial Mining) for taking control over their factory and restarting production after having occupied it for more than 20 months.
 
After fighting for the payment of their stolen wages since May 2011, the workers have now decided in a direct-democratic assembly to collectively organize production without bosses. They have brought the factory back into operation, shifting to the production of building materials that are not toxic or damaging for the environment. The IWW International Solidarity Commission is in full support of this move.
 
As the world plunges deeper into economic and ecological crisis, the workers at Vio.Me have shown us the way forward. Instead of waiting for the state to decrease unemployment, instead of leaving their fate in the hands of the capitalist legal system or state bureaucrats, the workers of Vio.Me decided to take the factory into their own hands and to operate it themselves. The Vio.ME workers have given us all a living example of workers’ power and have lit the way for all of us in the struggle against capitalism throughout the world. It is now up to all of us to take the next steps in our own workplaces and struggles. Let this be one of millions of workplace takeovers to come across Greece and the world.
 
The IWW is committed to a grassroots, global resistance to the employing class. We aim to work with others to build a movement that can defeat the capitalists and construct a new world based workers control of the means of production and a radically democratic economy. We salute the seizure of the Vio.Me factory as a step in the right direction, and pledge our solidarity and our commitment to stand at the side of all workers in the struggle for the emancipation of the working class, for the creation of a world without bosses!