[olympiaworkers] Support striking sanitation workers

OWLS is an open, multiracial, multicultural group of labor activists
formed to forge solidarity across union lines, and to promote the
unionization of all workers, especially the lowest paid.

For more information: www.organizedworkers.org

From: owls@riseup.net
Date: Thu, April 22, 2010

April 22, 2010

Dear Friend,

Teamsters 174 members are striking Waste Management, affecting about
one million customers in the region. No one wanted to strike, just as
no one wants to have their garbage sitting on the curb for weeks on
end. This crisis is a crisis of the private sector system. Workers are
expected to produce more and more for less and less in order to drive
profits up. Waste Management pulls in $1 billion in PROFIT (that's
after payroll, after taxes, after expenses) and expects their drivers,
the people who generate all that profit, to sacrifice the health care
of current drivers and retirees so they can make more profit. That is
SICKENING.

Thank goodness the Teamsters have the courage to stand up to this
assault and defend what they've earned on the job, what they've fought
for at the bargaining table, and what other drivers are getting for the
same work. Waste Management isn't just attacking their workers-- they
are attacking all of us. They are attacking everyone with employer paid
health care (63% of Americans), everyone who faces hazards on the job,
everyone who has to work for a living. The Teamsters need our support.
We aren't protecting their benefits-- we are protecting our own, and
fighting for a future where all people have a living wage and health
care not only while working, but after retiring.

Please join OWLS on the picket line on Saturday, April 24, at noon, at
8605 1st Avenue South. We stand with the Teamsters, with working
people, and against corporate greed. We will also be sending along
other ways you can help and support the Teamsters.

And please plan to attend our April meeting. On Tuesday, April 27, at
7pm, we'll gather to discuss what's happening with the Teamsters'
strike, and how we can all support it. We'll also get a report from
OWLS members about the dangers of privatization. As the Teamsters'
fight with Waste Management illustrates very clearly, when companies
weigh the health of their workers again the bottom line, the workers
always lose unless they fight back. We meet at the Seattle Labor Temple
at 2800 First Ave in hall 6. We hope to see you!

Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity
www.organizedworkers.org
Owls@riseup.net