IWW

Building the One Big Union: the organizing campaign

An article by Alex Erickson on IWW organizing campaigns on how they are what will build the IWW.

In “Building the One Big Union: A Strategy for a Strategy,” I laid out a roadmap for building a union of 10,000 Wobblies- 100 branches of 100 members. We have several branches of 100 members currently, so it should be possible to reverse-engineer and replicate these successes in all of our local groups.

The struggle continues at Chicago-Lake Liquors - John O'Reilly

A reportback of a IWW picket in Minneapolis of Chicago-Lake Liquors, which fired 5 organizers in April 2013. More information can be found here.

Over a month after the retaliatory firings of five works shocked South Minneapolis, a noted progressive community within the Twin Cities, workers at Chicago-Lake Liquors continue their fight for justice at work by taking it right to their bosses.

Working at Artistry Bakery and Cafe - Madaline Dreyfus

Submitted by Recomposition on Apr 13 2013 21:02

In this article, Madaline tells the story of how she fell into organizing and the IWW – pushed both by terrible bosses and by amazing solidarity among her coworkers.

If the first week of work at Artistry Bakery and Cafe was any indication, there was no way this four-month experience should ever have resulted in two of the strongest friendships in my life. I was introduced on the first day to a group of men and women, mostly about University age, who were also going to be working with me at the restaurant.

IWW liquor store workers in Minneapolis fired for union activity

Submitted by Juan Conatz on Apr 7 2013 08:12

Some updates on a recent IWW campaign in Minneapolis, in which 5 workers were fired for organizing.

From The Organizer:

Statement of the IWW for the international syndicalist reunion March 22 – 24 2013 Paris

A statement answering questions presented to the IWW in lead up to and presented at a conference on "alternative unionism" hosted by the SUD in France.

1.) Regarding Crisis of capitalism – what kind of answers, positions and contributions can alternative basic-democratic syndicalism give?

IWW non-profit workers enter second week of strike in Minneapolis

Submitted by Juan Conatz on Mar 16 2013 22:27

An update on an ongoing strike at a nonprofit 'mobile foodshelf' in the Twin Cities.

As I previously blogged, canvassers who work for a local nonprofit 'mobile foodshelf' in Minneapolis affiliated with the IWW and went out on strike on March 1st.

Here is their 2-week update

Statement from autonomous union-busting firm in the Twin Cities

A public statement on a labour conflict by a group of anarchists and radicals in Minneapolis. The statement resembles typical union-busting strategies, combined with the language of anti-capitalism. We do not agree with this article, but reproduce for reference, and have written a critical introduction.

Recently, in the Twin Cities, canvassers with Sisters Camelot, a nonprofit food shelf, affiliated with the IWW because of grievances at work. On March 1st, after the managing collective that runs the organisation refused to negotiate with the union, the canvassers went on strike.

The Industrial Workers of the World and the unemployed In Edmonton and Calgary in the Depression of 1913-1915

Submitted by wojtek on Mar 11 2013 12:55

A paper by David Schultz studying the IWW's efforts to organize the unemployed of Edmonton and Calgary during the economic depression of 1913-15: most were transient, unskilled workers, and many had just arrived from railway construction camps in the interior where the IWW had led massive strikes.

Labour /Le Travail Vol. 25, (Spring, 1990), pp. 47-75.

IWW non-profit workers in Minneapolis go on strike after negotiations fail

Submitted by Juan Conatz on Mar 2 2013 01:34

Information on a just begun strike at a non-profit mobile food shelf and soup kitchen in Minneapolis.

From the Twin Cities IWW blog:

Consuming lattes and labour, or working at Starbucks - Bryant Simon

An in depth portrait of what it is like to work at one of the most conspicuous components of the neoliberal order: the upscale looking, fast-food acting coffee chain, Starbucks. Simon discusses the emotional labors of being a happy and chatty “partner” (employee), the difficulties of the uneven scheduling, the unexpected physical aspects of the job, and the culture of conformity at the nation’s largest seller of coffee and affordable luxury.

The essay assesses the corporations’ reputation for being a good employer and contains extensive interviews with Wobblies trying to organize the chain. It suggests how workers are consumed by and with the brand in what the author calls “New Age welfare capitalism.”

International Labor and Working-Class History / Volume 74 / Issue 01 / September 2008, pp 193-211.