[olympiaworkers] Union Workers Under Attack in Foodstuffs Industry!

11 January 2007 more info at iww.org

Dear Friend of Labor:

Bosses in the foodstuffs industry in New York City are staging a concerted
attack against organized workers in an attempt to crush union organizing.
In the past two weeks, two shops have fired all of their union workers,
and others are likely to do the same in a very short time. This is war,
Dear Friend, and we need every man and woman who cares about justice and
democracy in the workplace to help in the defense of labor.

Since late 2005, the I. W. W. has been organizing workers in small
foodstuffs warehouses that serve the New York restaurant industry. Before
they organized, these workers, mostly immigrants from Latin America and
East Asia, were paid poverty wages, usually well below the legal minimum,
and worked fifty to seventy hours a week without overtime pay. Because
many do not have legal status, it was an act of tremendous courage for
these workers to stand up for themselves and their fellow workers. By
organizing with a militant, worker-run labor organization, and with the
help of the wider labor community, the foodstuffs workers have been able
to force their bosses to obey wage-and-hour laws; they have won
wage-raises above the legal minimum; they have won vacations, sick-leave,
and paid holidays, which most of them never had before. Most important,
they have won dignity and respect on the job.

Bosses don't like having to treat workers like human beings, so they're
fighting back. They have money and organization behind them, so we need
money and organization to win this struggle. We're appealing to you to
help.

Here are some things you can do to help us:
. Send money. We need to protect more than twenty workers and their
families from hunger and eviction. You can send checks, made out to "IWW
NYC GMB" to P. O. Box 7430, J. A. F. Station, New York, NY 10116; or you
can give on-line through PayPal by making a payment to iww-nyc [at] iww.org at
www.paypal.com. You can also sign up on PayPal for a monthly, automatic
payment in any amount that's manageable for you.
. Get your union to support us. Call me to find out where our pickets are
and how union workers can help.
. Write letters. Our web site at http://nyc.iww.org has a list of people
to contact.
. Call the bosses. Our web site tells you how.
. Talk to management at the restaurants that trade with these bosses.
Again, please see the web site.

If you don't have access to the internet, please call me at the number
below to learn more. If you have other ideas for helping, please call or
email me.

The I. W. W.'s treasury is "in the members' pockets". We depend on our
membership and the labor community, rather than big reserves of money, to
support workers in need. Please do all you can to help. Thank you very
much.

Yours for Industrial Freedom,

J. D. Crutchfield

Industrial Workers of the World · New York City General Membership Branch
J. D. Crutchfield, Treasurer
646-373-1166 * P.O