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
The rebellion contained: the empire strikes back
Submitted by automattick on Mar 16 2013 19:41
Will from the east coast revolutionary collective, the Fire Next Time, analyzes the ongoing events in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Last night the Empire struck back. It is too simple to say that the NYPD is what I am referring to. No doubt the NYPD came out in greater force and presence then the night of the rebellion. Cops were not only in the air, on horse, but on top of the buildings. There was virtually no escaping the eyes of the law last night.
Statement from autonomous union-busting firm in the Twin Cities
A public statement on a labour conflict by a group of anarchists and radicals in Minneapolis. The statement resembles typical union-busting strategies, combined with the language of anti-capitalism. We do not agree with this article, but reproduce for reference, and have written a critical introduction.
Recently, in the Twin Cities, canvassers with Sisters Camelot, a nonprofit food shelf, affiliated with the IWW because of grievances at work. On March 1st, after the managing collective that runs the organisation refused to negotiate with the union, the canvassers went on strike.
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 depart ment 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.
Queens, hookers, and hustlers: Organizing for survival and revolt amongst gender-variant sex workers, 1950-1970
Submitted by wojtek on Mar 13 2013 15:30
A selection from Mack Friedman’s Strapped for Cash: A History of American Hustler Culture.
From the Introduction:
Silencing America’s Radical History: Where Do We Go From Here?
James Frey and Jocelyn Cohn critique a panel held at the progressive New School University where Grace Lee-Boggs was giving a lecture.
Last year The New School hosted a rare New York appearance by Grace Lee Boggs, a Chinese-American revolutionary active in the US for over 70 years. As a member of the Johnson-Forest tendency and other revolutionary organizations, Boggs worked closely with such luminaries as CLR James, Raya Dunayaveska, and her late husband, James Boggs.
IWW non-profit workers in Minneapolis go on strike after negotiations fail
Submitted by Juan Conatz on Mar 2 2013 01:34
Information on a just begun strike at a non-profit mobile food shelf and soup kitchen in Minneapolis.
From the Twin Cities IWW blog:
Grand Jury refusers Katherine Olejnik and Matthew Duran are free
Submitted by John E Jacobsen on Feb 28 2013 09:23
After refusing to cooperate with an investigation against anarchists in the Pacific Northwest, Katherine Olejnik and Matthew Duran, who have spent the last 5 months in prison - much of which was in solitary confinement - are finally being released.
Article taken from Seattle Free Press - By Brendan Kiley of the Stranger:
Consuming lattes and labour, or working at Starbucks - Bryant Simon
An in depth portrait of what it is like to work at one of the most conspicuous components of the neoliberal order: the upscale looking, fast-food acting coffee chain, Starbucks. Simon discusses the emotional labors of being a happy and chatty “partner” (employee), the difficulties of the uneven scheduling, the unexpected physical aspects of the job, and the culture of conformity at the nation’s largest seller of coffee and affordable luxury.
The essay assesses the corporations’ reputation for being a good employer and contains extensive interviews with Wobblies trying to organize the chain. It suggests how workers are consumed by and with the brand in what the author calls “New Age welfare capitalism.”
International Labor and Working-Class History / Volume 74 / Issue 01 / September 2008, pp 193-211.
“The Ku Klux Government”: Vigilantism, lynching, and the repression of the IWW
Submitted by wojtek on Feb 28 2013 00:49
Michael Cohen's journal article on the extra-parliamentary repression of the IWW that ran parallel to that of the state at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Cohen, Michael. Journal for the Study of Radicalism 1. 1 (2006): 31-56.
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