strikes

1982 South African Grand Prix strike

Short account of the only strike in Formula One history, an almost unanimous 24 hour sit in in response to contractual changes.

In January 1982, the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) drew up new superlicense conditions that would tie drivers to 3 year contracts. They also had to sign an agreement not to "harm the moral or material interests or image of International Motorsport or the FIA Formula 1 World Championship".

Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers strike after factory collapse

Submitted by Steven. on Apr 26 2013 11:24

Hundreds of thousands of workers went on strike on Thursday in protest at the deaths of hundreds of workers in a factory collapse the previous day.

Workers downed tools and blockaded major highways in several industrial areas outside the capital Dhaka, forcing factory bosses to declare a day's holiday.

Factories where the owners did not grant the day off were attacked.

The chief of police told press that many of the workers also "wanted to donate blood to their fellow workers", over 1000 of whom were injured in the collapse.

Strike! - Jeremy Brecher

Submitted by Anonymous on Apr 22 2013 09:51

In possibly the best book on the American working class movement ever written, Jeremy Brecher narrates the hidden history of mass strikes from 1877 to 1970 from the point of view of the workers themselves.

Attached in PDF format is the 1972 version of this book. We heartily recommend readers buy this book - a revised version was published in 1999.

Sparks #21

Issue of anarcho-syndicalist public transport workers' bulletin Sparks from January 1990. Importantly this was a special issue produced during the Melbourne tram lockout, where anarcho-syndicalist-influenced workers took over the tram system before bosses cut the power.

The need for a labour movement that can defy the law

Submitted by Phil on Apr 5 2013 06:16

The Public and Commercial Services Union has responded to threats of legal action by removing one section of its membership from the strike action due to take place on the 5 and 8 April. This shows the limits of legal trade unionism. It also underlines the urgent need for strong rank-and-file movements in the UK.

We’ve been here before. At the end of 2011, Balfour Beatty threatened to get an injunction against Unite the Union to stop the industrial action it had called for its members in construction. Unite responded by instantly capitulating.

March of discontent: lessons in work struggles (Italy)

Submitted by Italy Calling on Mar 30 2013 20:25

Reflections on the escalation of workers' struggles in Italy in the wake of the large logistics workers' strike of March 22.

The working class is awakening, and the mobilisations of the last few days among the logistics sector workers in Emilia Romagna are the first signs.

Lionesses of Cisanello: workers’ victory in times of austerity

Submitted by StrugglesInItaly on Mar 19 2013 20:58

Cleaners at the Cisanello hospital in Pisa picketed their workplace for over three months, from October 2012 to January 2013. They were protesting the proposed cancellation of 78 jobs to comply with the cutbacks to healthcare spending. Their determination earned them the nickname of "lionesses," several tensions with local high ranking members of their union, and, eventually, victory against the contracting firm. Their resistance and solidarity shows that workers can still win in times of austerity.

The lionesses of Cisanello
For the cleaners at Pisa’s Cisanello Hospital, the nightmare began in October 2012 when the Local Health Agency of Pisa announced a reduction of 5% in the cleaning budget to comply with the Spending Review bill passed by the Monti cabinet. The hospital had only recently been renovated, with the Emergency Department opening in 2010.

"To delightful measures changed..." - Reflections on the 1978-79 Winter of Discontent

Submitted by Red Marriott on Mar 17 2013 15:06

An analysis of a major 1970s highpoint of class struggle in the UK; its character, implications and consequences.

Preamble and Introduction:
History & Class Consciousness in the UK: Now Is The Winter Of Our Discontent

1: Preparing the fire: The period up to the Winter of Discontent
2: The spark that lit the prairie fire: The Ford Strike (Autumn 1978)

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

Punching out - Martin Glaberman

Seminal text by Marty Glaberman detailing his experiences of wildcat strikes and union policing of the workforce during the heyday of the UAW in Detroit's auto factories.

Not long ago two men in a Detroit auto plant were discussing their steward. Both had known him for long years. They had worked together in the same department when the shop was unionized in 1937. None of them were very active in the union but all three were among the first to join.