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.
Building relationships and community in an IWW workplace committee
Submitted by Recomposition on Oct 11 2012 08:07
A fellow IWW member sent us this article about the importance of relationship building in our organizing, and the importance of not limiting our relationships to being narrowly about work.
When I first started out as an IWW a number of years ago my organizing was very detached with my co-workers and the thought of focusing on them never crossed my mind much. Because of that I kept the majority of my co-workers at a certain arms length and even with my fellow committee members I was emotionally unavailable.
Informal work groups and resistance on the sunrise shift
An account of an informal work group at UPS taking on a grievance with management.
This is a story about a situation that happened at my workplace. Ideally, this will add to a conception of what Direct Unionism is, how it exists in everyday situations, and where we can go with it as an organization. This event happened around a year ago.
Fighting and firings at Canada Post
Submitted by Recomposition on Feb 17 2012 08:57
In this post, Phinneas Gage tells a story about action on the job, management retaliation, and workers’ responses.
Harjit stood outside the depot in the cold for 15 minutes before anyone else arrived. He had a stack of picket signs next to him. The sticks poking out from the garbage bags the signs were packed in. They were slowly collecting snow. It was going to be a long day, at work a half hour early to get people their picket signs and whistles, eight hours of work, and then whatever overtime was coming.
The committee in action - Phinneas Gage
Submitted by Recomposition on Jan 31 2012 22:16
In this article Phinneas Gage describes how workers at Canada Post have organized themselves, and the ups and downs and risks of organizing.
“So let’s talk about what happened in the last month or so”. I said looking over the room full of the usual suspects. Harjit told the story like this: “the supervisors came out on to the floor to talk to everyone about taking forceback (forced overtime), they didn’t think anything was up when they asked the first person and they refused. They just nodded made a note and moved down the row”.
Holding the line: informal pace setting in the workplace
Submitted by Recomposition on Dec 20 2011 20:56
Juan Conatz recalls an experience working in a warehouse which was trying to increase productivity and the resistance that some of his co-workers responded with.
Often when talking to people about their frustrations at work and the prospects for organizing, a common response is one of negativity and desperation.
“I could never get anything goin’ where I work!”
“Other people don’t care.”
“It would be too hard.”
'Photocopying? No thanks!' Teachers 'work to rule' in force
Submitted by Choccy on Dec 7 2011 17:27
Since 1st December, teachers in the NASUWT have been on a 'work to rule', engaging only in tasks within their job description in an attempt to tackle workload issues.
Since last Thursday, NASUWT members are supposed to be enacting a 'work to rule'. This came about as a separate item on that unions November 30th strike ballot.
Workmates: direct action workplace organising on the London Underground
In the late 1990s, plans to outsource track maintenance on the London Underground were being pushed through by the government. Workers at one depot responded by forming a new workplace group, both inside and outside the existing union, the RMT. This pamphlet charts the highs and lows of the Workmates collective, highlighting their successes and failures, their radically democratic organising method and their creative forms of direct action. We hope it can provide an inspiration to other workers frustrated with the limits of the existing workplace organisations.
Introduction
Postal worker solidarity defeats compulsory overtime - Rachel Stafford
Submitted by Recomposition on May 5 2011 08:57
One worker's account and analysis of a wave of wildcat stoppages and collective refusals of "forceback" compulsory overtime in the Canadian post office.
Go slow strike at Mondragon factory
Submitted by akai on Jan 25 2011 09:55
Workers fight for wage increase at FagorMastercook in Poland, part of the Mondragon capital group.
A work-to-rule strike in underway in Wroclaw's FagorMastercook factory. Despite exceptionally good output, increased exports and a healthy profit, most workers are still taking home a meager 350 euros a month, much lower than wages in other nearby factories and certainly lower than for similar work in other European countries. The strike should last at least til the end of the week.
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