has there been any progress on this? it must be very hard for them to keep going all this long. have the employers hired new people, and if so, have there been any attempts to get them on board?
Action Alert: March & Picket to demand Justice for fired IWW Warehouse workers
The campaign has been expanding as resources have allowed. We've been actively recruiting new people as they enter shops, and had some recent success in crossing the racial divide between latino and chinese workers in these shops. We have some deeply dedicated workers that have kept this going. There have been a number of firings, but in some cases that has brought new shops in, as our workers get employment in new places in the same industry. This has also cost the union large chunks of cash in strike benefits to help our workers survive, so if people or branches feel like kicking cash our way, it would be greatly appreciated. All of it is getting challenged in the courts, but they move so slow that they're damn near useless. We've also gotten many of the restaurants that use these suppliers to stop until the union is recognized. These companies are getting hammered and are losing huge amounts of money, and we're hoping that this summer we can push them past the tipping point, and win recognition and good contracts so we can expand this beyond the several warehouses this campaign has been based in.
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re NYC folks concerned that as the campaign grows it might be targeted for a raid by another union? Do you have any plans on how to combat this if it happens?
How do you know the campaigners might not bring their organizing into another union without a raid?
Seriously, I suspect this open forum is not the place to have tactical discussions.
I'll only say that from personal experiance, don't ever be surprised if the boss/es come out and say they've signed closed shop collective agreement with a mobbed up "union". In years past, there's always been some fake union in the metro area calling itseld novelty,production, service workers or some varietion thereof. a real sweatheart union. then there were these fake independent locals set up by corrupt teamster guys. not to mention all the afl-cio unions which would offer up cheap contracts for a closed shop agreement (i suspect this has come under a bit more control over the past few years).
The Plastic and Novelty Workers had to be decerted by trade show production workers here years back. They suddenly appeared with a contract in a company being organized by IATSE. Nobody, even the officers of the local, had a copy of the contract, they never had meetings, they had no stewards. Hell, IA isn't exactly a bastion of workers democracy but those guys made them look good.
<edit for clarity>
Apparently they have legit contracts in leather goods and toy manufacturing , but I've never heard of them doing anything but being a company tool. They used tob e chartered in the AFL-CIO, but i see they've been merged into SEIU. I hope they've changed their ways but i doubt it.
Online is definitely not the place to get into the details of organizing strategy for an ongoing campaign. That being said, I'm no expert in labor law, but wouldn't the workers have to agree to have some shitty union represent them? If that's the case, I doubt they would get any traction, as the workers have shown strong loyalty to the IWW throughout the vicious anti-union campaign. Maybe I'm being naive though, who knows?
Not to be a prude, but can someone delete the photo.
On the question of labor agreements and workers voting for em. Yes and no. If the boss and some labor racket sign an agreement --even behind the workers back--it can be construed as a legal agreement for the period of time signed off for. Assuming there's a time period in the agreement. Of course the workers could challenge it and the struggle takes on a different course.
Anyway, good to hear that the members remain loyal their union.
In the courts and in the streets, the IWW Food and Allied Workers Union
(IU460/640) is refusing to back down against EZ-Supply and Handyfat
Trading's illegal union-busting.
What: March from EZ-Supply (a.k.a. Sunrise Plus) to Handyfat, two Food
Wholesale Warehouses that illegally fired 21 workers in December in
retaliation for organizing a union with the Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW).
When: Saturday, June 9th 9:30am.
Where: Starting Location: E-Z Supply, 48-01 Metropolitan Ave. Ridgewood,
Queens 11385. (Just on the border of Ridgewood, Queens and Bushwick,
Brooklyn).
Directions by Subway – Take the L train to the Grand stop. Walk east on
Grand (you will pass a tortilla factory and then a block later a gas station
on your left). Walk over a bridge then veer slightly to the right on
Metropolitan Ave. Walk on Metropolitan past a fork in the road for a total
of 6 blocks until you reach EZ Supply on the left hand side of the street. A
map is included below or see Mapquest.com if you need to.
People will be stationed at the Grand Street L stop (Look for IWW Flags)
from 9:15AM to 9:45AM to give directions and lead contingents to E-Z Supply.
Contact:
Billy Randel (646) 645-6284
Alex van Schaick (201) 388-9887
The EZ-Supply and Handyfat Workers' Struggle for Justice
At the end of 2005, workers at EZ-Supply and Handyfat, two Brooklyn
restaurant supply wholesalers, joined the Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW) to end the sweatshop conditions at their jobs. In both warehouses, the
workers were paid around $4.50 to $5.50 an hour with no overtime for a 60 to
70 hour workweek – far below legal wages. To make matters worse, they had no
benefits or sick days and they had no power to stop abusive managers. After
organizing with the IWW and taking action against their employers, workers
began receiving legal wages, won an NLRB election at EZ-Supply, and reached
a minority contract at Handyfat. In December of 2006 the union filed class
action lawsuits in federal court to recover over a million dollars in back
wages owed by the employers. Shortly following Christmas, the owners of
EZ-Supply and Handyfat fired all the IWW workers in crass retaliation for
their participation in the lawsuit and other legally protected union
activity.
Since then, many of the fired workers have found new jobs. However, they
continue to fight against their employers' unscrupulous behavior on the
streets and in the courts. Join them as they demand justice on Saturday,
June 9th.