retail and food

JJB steward sacked

Submitted by Ed on Dec 6 2006 12:51

Only weeks after JJB workers scored a massive victory over anti-union boss Dave Whelan, their union (GMB) is under serious attack. One steward has been sacked and the convenor is facing disciplinary action as well.

JJB boss Whelan is notoriously anti-union and pro-poverty. His own personal fortune of £200 million is creamed from the low wages of his own staff. In 1997 workers forced JJB to increase wages. In 2006 the workers at the Wigan distribution depot took five days of strike action to secure improved and fair pay for all employees.

1913: Wheatland Hop Riot

Submitted by Alex... on Nov 28 2006 22:15

A brief history of the riot that occured at Wheatland in Northern California after a meeting of farm labourers of the radical union the IWW was broken up by police.

Agricultural labour in the hop fields of California was amongst the most strenuous, badly paid and time consuming labour that a worker could undertake in early 20th century America. The situation of the hop pickers who worked at the Durst Ranch, the single largest employer of agricultural workers in the state, near the Northern California town of Wheatland in 1913, was no different.

Striking olive harvest workers in Spain, 2005

Submitted by Steven. on Nov 23 2006 16:28

Article about the agricultural industry in Spain, and the strike of mostly immigrant olive harvest workers in 2005.

Action against Nestle factory closure, Marseille, 2004

Submitted by Steven. on Nov 22 2006 12:30

Information about an action and assembly taken against closure of a Nestle factory in France, October 2004.

Strike at McDonalds, Paris, August 2004

Submitted by Steven. on Nov 22 2006 12:25

A brief account and information about a CGT union strike at the McDonald’s Place d’Italie branch in Paris in 2004.

A short history of the Frog pubs strike, 2003

Submitted by Steven. on Nov 22 2006 12:12

A brief account of a strike of Tamil pub workers in Paris.

Lessons of MWR - Interview with former McDonalds Workers Resistance member, 2006

Submitted by Steven. on Nov 21 2006 10:32

libcom.org interviews one of the founder members of the workplace group McDonalds Workers Resistance about the experiences and lessons learned from one of the UK's most important recent attempts at libertarian organisation.

So, who are you?
The proletarian formerly known as Funnywump.

Briefly, what was McDonald’s Workers Resistance?

McDonald’s Workers’ Resistance - reflections, 2004

Submitted by Steven. on Nov 21 2006 10:19

The founding Glasgow branch reflect on their time in MWR as it basically winds itself down.

McDonald’s Workers’ Resistance was set up by a group of teenage workers at one restaurant in Scotland in 1999. In 2000 those workers decided they needed to communicate with other McDonald’s workers in the UK and around the world.

Non-union pork plant workers walk out

Submitted by Ed on Nov 18 2006 18:45

Hundreds of, largely Hispanic, non-union pork plant workers walked out on strike yesterday against poor working conditions and unfair dismissals.

In a move highly unusual for nonunion workers, more than 500 employees walked out yesterday at the Smithfield Packing Company’s hog-killing plant in Tar Heel, N.C., the largest pork-processing plant in the world.