Just to let folks know (in our ceaseless efforts to be much much cooler than our frieds across the pond 
), the IWW in the UK has launched a website for people working in coffee shops and the like, not just starbucks. i don't know who did it, but it's quite smart methinks:
Oct 9 2006 14:02
Oct 9 2006 14:05
Hmmm so that site says it's an actual union?
a site for coffeeshop workers seems like a very good idea... but a union... well it's ambitious. the iww got much of a base in coffee shops here?
Oct 9 2006 14:20
Quote:
I take it you'll be organising workers in greasy spoons as well, going by the bit I've highlighted.
hehe, oops!
it's a union insofar as the Starbucks workers union in the US is a union. it is an industrial union which constitutes a part of the over-all IWW union. but it's much easier to say it's a union, and then describe the details later
Quote:
the iww got much of a base in coffee shops here?
not much. but nor did the IWW in the US a few years ago
Oct 9 2006 14:47
Is the IWW U.K. state recognised yet? As if you're not, you won't have any legal recourse for being fired for organising.
Good luck too you!
Oct 9 2006 14:47
ftony wrote:
it's a union insofar as the Starbucks workers union in the US is a union. it is an industrial union which constitutes a part of the over-all IWW union. but it's much easier to say it's a union, and then describe the details later
But is the overall IWW in the UK an actual union?
Oct 9 2006 15:23
yes it is recognised as a proper union.
Oct 9 2006 20:05
Has anyone produced a flyer to hand out/leave at coffee shops?
Oct 9 2006 20:07
Jason Cortez wrote:
Has anyone produced a flyer to hand out/leave at coffee shops?
Good idea....
Oct 9 2006 20:08
ftony wrote:
yes it is recognised as a proper union.
So they shelled out the £4grand then? And are subject to the union laws (have to ballot one month before industrial action, no more than 7 pickets, etc.)?
Oct 9 2006 21:02
John. wrote:
So they shelled out the £4grand then? And are subject to the union laws (have to ballot one month before industrial action, no more than 7 pickets, etc.)?
oh here he goes again ...
Oct 9 2006 21:05
newyawka wrote:
John. wrote:
So they shelled out the £4grand then? And are subject to the union laws (have to ballot one month before industrial action, no more than 7 pickets, etc.)?oh here he goes again ...
I'm asking to clarify, cos last time this came up one person said they registered and did that then someone else said no they didn't.
Oct 9 2006 23:09
Yeah the only reason we keep repeating the same questions is because we never get a straight answer.
Oct 10 2006 08:32
I think the confusion is, is that registration is a two-tier process. A quick scan of the Certification Office website reveals that the IWW in the UK is "entered on the list" of British trade unions: -
http://www.certoffice.org/links/index.cfm?action=display&strLetter=i&strType=t&showActive=1
However, doing this doesn't necessarily mean they've shelled out the full whack.
Oct 10 2006 09:57
pretty much what button said. we're registered on the first tier, which means we get legal protection, but not as many of the freedoms and titbits of the big mainstream unions. we have all the basic rights of any of the big unions.
yes it is a bit annoying that we're not all the way there, but the fact remains that we are a proper certified union with protection of the law. John., the reason no-one's giving you a definite answer is because of this two-tier system.
Quote:
Has anyone produced a flyer to hand out/leave at coffee shops?
yes, i think that's on its way
Oct 10 2006 10:11
out of interest, does this legal protection come at the price of the requirements mentioned - ballots a month in advance of strikes, potential for sequestration of funds and imprisonment of elected 'officials' etc?
Oct 10 2006 10:30
i don't know all the ins and outs of the legal side of this, since it was all discussed and decided before i joined. i would guess that it would be a yes to what you're asking.
i know i know i know that sounds scary as fuck, but i'm sure people knew what they were letting themselves in for when they were deciding whether or not to register, and i'm sure that there are procedures in place to account for the problems that may arise. unfortunately i don't know everything about this issue
Oct 10 2006 10:32
fair enough
Oct 10 2006 21:32
The whole idea about being a legally listed union is so that people don't get sacked for simply being a member of the IWW. In other words, it's to make recruitment a bit easier. And that's all there is to it!
Oct 11 2006 22:42
Joseph K. wrote:
out of interest, does this legal protection come at the price of the requirements mentioned - ballots a month in advance of strikes, potential for sequestration of funds and imprisonment of elected 'officials' etc?
Surely that's what purely informal, completely independent groups that just happen to be made up of the IWW members in that particular shop are for?
Oct 12 2006 01:20
Oct 12 2006 04:58
ftony wrote:
Baristas United
You should preview your site in firefox, as it's caught on and a few people use it. Some of the text overlaps for me and the left nav is really big. I dunno if it's supposed to be that way. It looks really unprofessional to have text that big if it's not a headline though. BTW the IWW link on the left should not go to an outside site when the rest of those links are internal, as it is unintuitive and folks might get lost. (Hope all that doesn't come off as harsh, certainly not meant that way, just honest.)
I think I may have written a leaflet for IWW Clydeside trying to recruit folks in this industry. As I recall it was quite good. 
Maybe they can fish a copy of it up for you. Some customised content is definately needed.
Good work on getting a recruitment drive going! I think it's a great idea without which there's not much of a point having a wee syndicalist union. Hopefully Ottawa can follow suit.... (Now that we've got mr moore back from you.
)
Oct 12 2006 05:37
madashell wrote:
Surely that's what purely informal, completely independent groups that just happen to be made up of the IWW members in that particular shop are for?
that's the spirit, even the leftist unions pull that one off so why not 
Oct 12 2006 06:40
Gwen wrote:
You should preview your site in firefox...
That's weird. I've just looked at it in Firefox and nothing overlaps anywhere. The only difference is that all the links are underlined????
Oct 12 2006 17:00
It looks pretty bad on my computer in both Firefox and Opera: Overlapping text, text flowing out of the boxes in the right-bar, and too big text for the links.
I took a look at your source code, and you are setting everything up with absolute positions, which is generally not a good idea when you are making web pages. (If you don't know what I'm talking about here, and want help with cleaning up the code, feel free to PM me.)
Oct 13 2006 12:10
madashell you might want to keep that post to use as and when needed, as i suspect you'll need it. Although adding a few headbangers might be necessarily. How about one added every time it's used.
Oct 13 2006 13:48
it all looks fine for me too
Oct 13 2006 14:45
Gwen wrote:
(Now that we've got mr moore back from you.
Bye.
Oct 13 2006 20:56
Can someone in the UK please direct me to resources on the laws on workers' rights and unions in the UK? I'm in the US and I think things work differently here at the legal level. I have a basic grasp of US labor law. What folks have said here about the UK stuff is a little confusing. Thanks
Oct 14 2006 01:45
Try this one: www.tuc.org.uk/tuc/rights_main.cfm
And this one: www.emplaw.co.uk/emplaw/employerhome/information.aspx
And this one: link
Oh, and this one: www.acas.org.uk/
Happy researching!
Oct 14 2006 10:11
Can comment on articles and discussions
I take it you'll be organising workers in greasy spoons as well, going by the bit I've highlighted.