[olympiaworkers] Inmates in Six Georgia Prisons on Strike for Third Work Day

Libcom.org Dec 14 2010

An historic prisoners' strike underway in the state of Georgia with
inmates in at least six separate prisons refusing to leave their cells for
the third work day.

Of note, this strike seems to be entirely organized by the inmates
themselves who have worked across the (particularly in prison) stark lines
of race and religion which so often keep workers divided.

When the strike began, prisoner leaders issued the following call: "No
more slavery. Injustice in one place is injustice to all. Inform your
family to support our cause. Lock down for liberty!"

On Thursday morning, December 9, 2010, thousands of Georgia prisoners
refused to work, stopped all other activities and locked down in their
cells in a peaceful protest for their human rights. The December 9 Strike
became the biggest prisoner protest in the history of the United States.

Thousands of men, from Augusta, Baldwin, Hancock, Hays, Macon, Smith and
Telfair State Prisons, among others, initiated this strike to press the
Georgia Department of Corrections ("DOC") to stop treating them like
animals and slaves and institute programs that address their basic human
rights. They set forth the following demands:

* A LIVING WAGE FOR WORK
* EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
* DECENT HEALTH CARE
* AN END TO CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS
* DECENT LIVING CONDITIONS
* NUTRITIONAL MEALS
* VOCATIONAL AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
* ACCESS TO FAMILIES
* JUST PAROLE DECISIONS

The action is taking place in at least half a dozen of Georgia's more than
one hundred state prisons, correctional facilities, work camps, county
prisons and other correctional facilities. According to Elaine Brown and
other sources, inmates have planned the strike with the use of contraband
cell phones. Inmates who have spoken to Elaine Brown are reporting that
the strike is be honored by almost all inmates. This may be partially
because the wardens have responded to their refusal to work, by locking
down the prison.

Despite that the prisoners' protest remained non-violent, the DOC
violently attempted to force the men back to work—claiming it was "lawful"
to order prisoners to work without pay. At the heart of this strike, is a
very real outrage at legalized slavery that exists within US prisons. The
13th Amendment to the US Constitution which is widely believed to have
abolished slavery reads "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to
their jurisdiction."

The peaceful inmate strike is being led from within the prison and some of
those thought to be its leaders have been placed under close confinement.

In Augusta State Prison, six or seven inmates were brutally ripped from
their cells by CERT Team guards and beaten, resulting in broken ribs for
several men, one man beaten beyond recognition. This brutality continues
there.

actical officers rampaged through Telfair State Prison destroying inmate
personal effects and severely beating at least six prisoners. The warden
aso shut off heat Thursday when daytime temperatures were in the 30s.

At Macon State, the Tactical Squad has menaced the men for two days,
removing some to the "hole," and the warden ordered the heat and hot water
turned off. Inmates there also say authorities cut the prisoners' hot
water.

Prisoners have responded to violence and intimidation by screening their
cells with blankets, keeping prison authorities from performing an
accurate count, a crucial aspect of prison operations.

As of Friday, inmates at several prisons say they are committed to
continuing the strike. "We are going to ride it," the inmate press release
quotes one, "till the wheels fall off. We want our human rights."

Still, today(12/12/10), men at Macon, Smith, Augusta, Hays and Telfair
State Prisons say they are committed to continuing the strike.

Inmate leaders at Macon, Smith, Augusta, Hays, and Telfair State Prisons
representing Blacks, Latinos, whites, Muslims, Rastafarians, Christians,
have stated the men will stay down until their demands are addressed, one
issuing this statement:
Quote:

"…Brothers, we have accomplished a major step in our struggle…We must
continue what we have started…The only way to achieve our goals is to
continue with our peaceful sit-down…I ask each and every one of my
Brothers in this struggle to continue the fight. ON MONDAY MORNING,
WHEN THE DOORS OPEN, CLOSE THEM. DO NOT GO TO WORK. They cannot do
anything to us that they haven't already done at one time or another.
Brothers, DON'T GIVE UP NOW. Make them come to the table. Be strong.
DO NOT MAKE MONEY FOR THE STATE THAT THEY IN TURN USE TO KEEP US AS
SLAVES…."

Elaine Brown, former chairman of the Black Panther Party gave a detailed
interview about the ongoing strike, and has apparently been asked to be a
mouthpiece for the strike leaders who are nameless. Listen to the
interview here

People are being asked to call into the various prisons and the Department
of Corrections to show solidarity with the striking prisoners.

Macon State Prison is 978-472-3900.

Hays State Prison is at (706) 857-0400

Telfair State prison is 229-868-7721

Baldwin State Prison is at (478) 445- 5218

Valdosta State Prison is 229-333-7900

Smith State Prison is at (912) 654-5000

The Georgia Department of Corrections is at http://www.dcor.state.ga.us
and their phone number is 478-992-5246

Sources:
http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/day-3-of-historic-prison-strike-in-georgia-blacked-out-by-media-guards-committing-violence/
http://www.correntewire.com/ga_inmates_stage_one_day_peaceful_prison_strike_authorities_react_violence
http://blackagendareport.com/?q=content%2Fga-prisoner-strike-continues-second-day-corporate-media-mostly-ignores-them-corrections-offi

[olympiaworkers] Europe calling: it's just the beginning! from Rome to London

Libcom.org Dec 11 2010

A call from the Italian site uniriot for solidarity and coordination
between the emerging European student movements.

…You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows: occupation
of universities everywhere in Europe, blockage of the cities, manif
sauvage, rage. This is the answer of a generation to whom they want to cut
the future with debts for studying, cuts of welfare state and increasing
of tuition fees.

The determination of thousand of students in London, the rage of who
assault the Italian Senate house against the austerity and the education
cuts, has opened the present time: this is because the future is something
to gain that starts when you decide collectively to take risk and to
struggle.

The extraordinary struggles that we are living have the capacity to show a
present with an intensity that exceed the linearity of the time, that
refuse our precarity condition: it is an assault to the future!

We don't want to get into debt, we don't want to pay more fees to study in
London as well as in Paris, Wien, Rome, Athens, Madrid, Dublin, Lisbon.
This European movement is about refusing austerity policies, refusing to
get into debt for these miserable politicians. Que se vayan todos!

What is happening nowadays in Rome first spread out in Athens and Paris,
then in Dublin and London: it is the irruption of a movement who speaks a
common language, the same young generation in revolt, who inhabits
different cities but shares the same determination to struggle, "floating
like a butterfly and stinging like a bee".

We have to meet each other and invent a new political grammar against the
weakness of the nation-state and their strategy to face the crisis: their
recipe is just austerity, cuts and debt.

In Italy we have occupied not only universities, but also blocked
motorways and the mobility of the country in order to circulate struggles
outside the national borders and coming in Europe and beyond. The
circulation of struggles is living within the Book Block and the wild
demonstration in London, Paris and Rome.

This autumn we are living a real European student movement, that is
various and radical, really heterogeneous. Its common reclaim comes from a
protest that is born in the middle of the crisis, and that represents the
most courageous answer. It is a struggle composed by different struggles,
heterogeneous temporalities that reclaim more scholarships for student and
a public university for everyone.

Within the book block a new generation recognized and found itself in the
protest. Today in lots of cities the Italian student movement is showing
something more than just solidarity: this is because your struggle is our
struggle and all around Europe students are against the increasing of
fees, the privatisation of the university and the education cuts. You are
not alone in the UK: a European event, a new generation does not want to
stop. We have the force whom want to change the world and we have the
intelligence to do it. It is just the beginning!

We propose to students, researchers, precarious workers and PhD students
to build up together an European meeting at the beginning of the 2011, to
continue the struggle, to transform this wind into a tempest!

[olympiaworkers] Andrej Grubacic in Olympia Dec. 10

--- On Wed, 12/1/10, Peter Bohmer <peterbohmer@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Peter Bohmer <peterbohmer@yahoo.com> Subject: Posting this To: "Russ Frizzell" <russfrizzell@yahoo.com>, "Janet Jordan" <janetjordan@fastmail.fm>, "Janet Jordan" <jordanjanet@hotmail.com> Date: Wednesday, December 1, 2010, 9:24 AM Janet, Russ-If you can post this to  the Greens and IWW list I would appreciate it, Thanks, Peter Andrej Grubacic, will be speaking next Friday, December 10th on his just released book, "Don't Mourn, Balkanize:  Essays After Yugoslavia". Andrej Grubacic is a radical sociologist, an anarchist, an activist and a refugee from the former Yugoslavia. He is also the co-author of the important and outstanding book, "Wobblies and Zapatistas:  Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism and Radical History  ". Friday, December 10th, 2010 3 P.M. Evergreen, Seminar. 2, A1105 7 P.M., Last Word Books, 211 E. 4th Ave., downtown Olympia my web-page: http://blogs.evergreen.edu/bohmerp

Andrej Grubacic, will be speaking next Friday, December 10th on his just
released book, "Don't Mourn, Balkanize:  Essays After Yugoslavia". Andrej
Grubacic is a radical sociologist, an anarchist, an activist and a refugee
from the former Yugoslavia. He is also the co-author of the important and
outstanding book, "Wobblies and Zapatistas:  Conversations on Anarchism,
Marxism and Radical History  ".

Friday, December 10th, 2010
3 P.M. Evergreen, Seminar. 2, A1105
7 P.M., Last Word Books, 211 E. 4th Ave., downtown Olympia

[olympiaworkers] Labor Center News: Job Opening & Mother Jones

LABOR CENTER RISING AND ON THE MOVE!

WASHINGTON STATE LABOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER

SOUTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

 

December, 2010

 

These monthly email bulletins announce Labor Center news and activities. IF YOU WISH TO BE REMOVED FROM OR ADDED TO THIS LIST, PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE TO slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu.

 

What’s New

 

JOB OPENING - The Washington State Labor Education and Research Center at the South Seattle Community College is looking for a new Labor Educator! The Labor Educator will work with Center staff to plan and implement trainings and workshops with unions and community organizations throughout the State of Washington and with regional partners. These trainings and workshops will provide education and skills development for and about workers and their organizations. Some examples of workshops the Labor Educator may be asked to facilitate include labor history classes, trainings for union stewards, collective bargaining, leadership and communication skills, community-labor alliances, and organizing. The Labor Educator will do strategic outreach to the labor community to develop programs and be a resource to faculty and staff at the Seattle Community Colleges. Candidates are encouraged to emphasize specializations they may have in particular skill areas such as collective bargaining, contract enforcement, union management, labor law, or strategic research, and/or particular content areas such as working women, immigrant workers, young workers, workers of color, the building and construction trades, or global labor.

 

The job is open until December 29^th, 2010. Please circulate this announcement to any individuals you think may be interested or appropriate lists.

 

The application process for this position is entirely on-line. Please go to

http://hr.seattlecolleges.edu/jobs.aspx?id=392&type=3&int=External for more information and to complete an application.

 

 

MOTHER JONES IS COMING TO SEATTLE!  Don’t miss this great event on Saturday, December 11^th, at 7:30 p.m., in Hall 1 of the Labor Temple (2800 1^st Ave, Seattle). The evening’s entertainment will include Therese Diekhans performing David Christie’s one-woman play The Most Dangerous Woman in America: Machine Guns, Coal Dust, Mother Jones and the Making of the American Dream and the Seattle Labor Chorus. To reserve tickets email pcls@u.washington.edu. Co-sponsors include the Washington State Labor Education and Research Center, the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, the MLK County Labor Council Education Committee, and the Puget Sound Labor Agency. If you have questions, call Sarah Laslett at 206-764-5382.

 

 

The next meeting of the MLK County Labor Council book group is tonight - Wednesday Dec. 1st from 5:30-7:00 p.m. in Room 226 of the Labor Temple at 28001^st Ave in Seattle.  We will be having our first discussion of A Troublemaker’s Handbook: How to Fight Back Where You Work and Win!  Want more info? Email slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu.

 

 

NEED A TRAINING FOR YOUR UNION?  We design and implement trainings on a wide variety of topics.  Our standard fee schedule is $65 per hour or $500 per day for preparation and training. Some of the topics we can train on include:

 

Rank & File Leadership

Collective Bargaining

Recruiting the Next Generation of Leaders

Basic Workers' Rights – Union or Not

Immigration and Labor

Strategic Planning & Campaign Design

Salting

Meeting Facilitation

Organizing: Internal and External

Shop Stewarding

 

FREE LABOR HISTORY PRESENTATIONS AVAILABLE!!  These presentations include great stories from the history of labor organizing, a Power Point slide show, and music!  We will bring this educational, entertaining, and dynamic presentation to your meetings or events.  To schedule a presentation, email slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu.

 

WORKERS’ RIGHTS MANUAL:  This is an invaluable resource that offers easy access to lots of vital information about workers’ rights in Washington State.  It can be downloaded for free at our website in both English & Spanish - http://laborcenter.evergreen.edu/.  We will be moving our website to the South Seattle Community College soon.  Until then, our Evergreen site will continue to function.

 

MEETING FACILITATION

Having a critical meeting to help your union figure out its goals and strategies?  Would you benefit from having an outside facilitator who can help to make your meeting as productive as possible?  The Labor Center can provide this service for a fee as well as combine facilitation with education about how to have effective meetings in the future. Contact us.

 

Staff & Contact Information:

 

Sarah Laslett, Director

     206-764-5382

     slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu

 

The Labor Center has a Facebook page!  Go to www.facebook.com and log in or join, then search for “solidarity works” and you will find the link to our page.  Enjoy!

 

Want to know more? Current information about our programs comes primarily through this e-bulletin. Our website at http://laborcenter.evergreen.edu is still functioning if you wish to look at past newsletters, etc. We will soon have a website at S Seattle Community College with a more complete listing of the resources and programs we offer. Feel free to call or email at any time with questions or ideas.

 

LABOR CENTER RISING AND ON THE MOVE!
WASHINGTON STATE LABOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER
SOUTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

December, 2010

These monthly email bulletins announce Labor Center news and activities.
IF YOU WISH TO BE REMOVED FROM OR ADDED TO THIS LIST, PLEASE SEND A
MESSAGE TO slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu<mailto:slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu>.

What's New

JOB OPENING - The Washington State Labor Education and Research Center at
the South Seattle Community College is looking for a new Labor Educator!
The Labor Educator will work with Center staff to plan and implement
trainings and workshops with unions and community organizations throughout
the State of Washington and with regional partners. These trainings and
workshops will provide education and skills development for and about
workers and their organizations. Some examples of workshops the Labor
Educator may be asked to facilitate include labor history classes,
trainings for union stewards, collective bargaining, leadership and
communication skills, community-labor alliances, and organizing. The Labor
Educator will do strategic outreach to the labor community to develop
programs and be a resource to faculty and staff at the Seattle Community
Colleges. Candidates are encouraged to emphasize specializations they may
have in particular skill areas such as collective bargaining, contract
enforcement, union management, labor law, or strategic research, and/or
particular content areas such as working women, immigrant workers, young
workers, workers of color, the building and construction trades, or global
labor.

The job is open until December 29th, 2010. Please circulate this
announcement to any individuals you think may be interested or appropriate
lists.

The application process for this position is entirely on-line. Please go to
http://hr.seattlecolleges.edu/jobs.aspx?id=392&type=3&int=External for
more information and to complete an application.

MOTHER JONES IS COMING TO SEATTLE! Don't miss this great event on
Saturday, December 11th, at 7:30 p.m., in Hall 1 of the Labor Temple (2800
1st Ave, Seattle). The evening's entertainment will include Therese
Diekhans performing David Christie's one-woman play The Most Dangerous
Woman in America: Machine Guns, Coal Dust, Mother Jones and the Making of
the American Dream and the Seattle Labor Chorus. To reserve tickets email
pcls@u.washington.edu. Co-sponsors include the Washington State Labor
Education and Research Center, the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies,
the MLK County Labor Council Education Committee, and the Puget Sound
Labor Agency. If you have questions, call Sarah Laslett at 206-764-5382.

The next meeting of the MLK County Labor Council book group is tonight -
Wednesday Dec. 1st from 5:30-7:00 p.m. in Room 226 of the Labor Temple at
28001st Ave in Seattle. We will be having our first discussion of A
Troublemaker's Handbook: How to Fight Back Where You Work and Win! Want
more info? Email slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu<mailto:slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu>.

NEED A TRAINING FOR YOUR UNION? We design and implement trainings on a
wide variety of topics. Our standard fee schedule is $65 per hour or $500
per day for preparation and training. Some of the topics we can train on
include:

Rank & File Leadership
Collective Bargaining
Recruiting the Next Generation of Leaders
Basic Workers' Rights - Union or Not
Immigration and Labor
Strategic Planning & Campaign Design
Salting
Meeting Facilitation
Organizing: Internal and External
Shop Stewarding

FREE LABOR HISTORY PRESENTATIONS AVAILABLE!! These presentations include
great stories from the history of labor organizing, a Power Point slide
show, and music! We will bring this educational, entertaining, and
dynamic presentation to your meetings or events. To schedule a
presentation, email slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu<mailto:slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu>.

WORKERS' RIGHTS MANUAL: This is an invaluable resource that offers easy
access to lots of vital information about workers' rights in Washington
State. It can be downloaded for free at our website in both English &
Spanish - http://laborcenter.evergreen.edu/. We will be moving our
website to the South Seattle Community College soon. Until then, our
Evergreen site will continue to function.

MEETING FACILITATION
Having a critical meeting to help your union figure out its goals and
strategies? Would you benefit from having an outside facilitator who can
help to make your meeting as productive as possible? The Labor Center can
provide this service for a fee as well as combine facilitation with
education about how to have effective meetings in the future. Contact us.

Staff & Contact Information:

Sarah Laslett, Director
206-764-5382
slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu<mailto:slaslett@sccd.ctc.edu>

The Labor Center has a Facebook page! Go to
www.facebook.com<http://www.facebook.com> and log in or join, then search
for "solidarity works" and you will find the link to our page. Enjoy!

Want to know more? Current information about our programs comes primarily
through this e-bulletin. Our website at http://laborcenter.evergreen.edu
is still functioning if you wish to look at past newsletters, etc. We will
soon have a website at S Seattle Community College with a more complete
listing of the resources and programs we offer. Feel free to call or email
at any time with questions or ideas.

[olympiaworkers] Portugal shut down by general strike

Libcom.org Nov 24 2010

Nearly empty check-in a hall of Lisbon's international airport.

A 24-hour general strike protesting the government's austerity policies
largely paralysed Portugal on Wednesday, with planes grounded, trains
cancelled and rubbish going uncollected.

Unions hailed the action as a massive success. The national strike is
Portugal's first since 2007, and the first called jointly by the two big
trade union confederations, CGTP and UGT, in 22 years.

Incoming and outgoing flights were cancelled in Lisbon, Porto, Faro and
the Azores islands, the airport authority ANA said. In neighbouring Spain,
the airport authority AENA said 41 of the 53 flights between Spain and
Portugal were cancelled. Most counters were closed at Lisbon airport.

More than 70% of scheduled train connections were cancelled in the
morning, the rail operating company CP said. Most Lisbon buses did not
circulate, and ferries did not operate on the River Tagus in the morning.
The Lisbon underground remained closed, and 90% of Porto underground
engine drivers had reportedly joined the strike.

Ports remained closed, rubbish collection and postal services came to an
almost complete halt in many places, while many hospitals and health
centres were only offering minimum services, according to union sources.
Several large factories in the car and shipbuilding sectors reportedly
came to a standstill.

Meanwhile, the police denied union accusations that they had violently
dispersed post office pickets in the capital.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates' economic policies "demand too many
sacrifices from workers, while leaving out many (wealthy citizens) who
could pay much more," UGT leader Joao Proenca said. Far-left leader
Francisco Louca hailed the strike as an "enormous success" which would
force the government to reconsider its policies.

The government, however, sees its spending cuts and tax hikes as
indispensable for Portugal to restore the confidence of financial markets
and to put its finances in order. Socrates' budget was due to be given the
definitive green light by parliament this week. The budget slashes public
sector wages by five per cent, freezes pensions, and raises value added
tax from 21 to 23 per cent. The government wants to cut the budget deficit
from an expected 7.3 per cent this year to 4.6 per cent in 2011. The
deficit would then be trimmed below the EU limit of 3 per cent by 2013.

Lisbon is trying to reassure markets concerned that Portugal might need an
international bailout similar to those requested by Greece and Ireland.
Portugal's unemployment rate climbed to a record 10.9 per cent in the
third quarter.

Socrates has already faced a string of strikes and demonstrations against
his liberalizing economic reforms.

[olympiaworkers] Wildcat strike by Canadian postal workers

Libcom.org Nov 22 2010

A number of Canada Post employees in Winnipeg walked off the job Monday to
protest a change in the mail sorting procedure.

Canada Post's website says the corporation is undergoing a "postal
transformation," with Winnipeg being the first location where new sorting
equipment and delivery methods are being rolled out before the changes are
implemented across the country.

The new, automated way results in postal carriers having to carry three
bags along their routes. Under the old sorting method, done by hand,
carriers eneded up with two bundles because the sorters were able to
combine flyers with mail destined for each house.

A man who was sorting the mail the old way on Monday at the Wilkes Avenue
facility was suspended, according to Bob Tyre, head of the Canadian Union
of Postal Workers' Winnipeg local.

That prompted 40 other employees at the facility to walk out in solidarity.

"They [Canada Post] suspended him on the spot. And the other carriers
decided that that was the line in the sand and they left, too," Tyre said.

About 60 carriers at the downtown sorting plant then left their jobs for
similar reasons, but only walked out for about a half-hour, said Tyre.

However, a postal worker on libcom commented: "As of now there are about
140 workers on strike by my count, this is not a temporary work stoppage
like the last wildcats in Edmonton, workers are packing their things and
going home to spend time with their families. Everyone across the country
is keeping in touch about this and watching Canada Post's next move
closely."

Bob Tyre also noted that seven carriers at the Transcona plant were also
threatened with suspension for sorting mail the old way. Tyre said the new
procedure is causing an increase in workplace injuries and is slowing down
the delivery of mail.

Carrying the three bags "makes walking treacherous [and is] hard on their
necks and their backs," he said, adding "there's been a skyrocketing
increase in injuries."

"And [the carriers] have tried to, and the union has as well, talk to
Canada Post about the delivery method, how it's causing injuries and it's
not safe and it slows the delivery down on the streets, so they're all
working overtime. They've been working that way now for about six weeks.

"And they've gotten nowhere with Canada Post so they just decided that
they can't work that way and they went home."

[olympiaworkers] Organizing Tips

Organizing Tips

Use Your Imagination

  In gaining anything through struggle the key is to cost the other side more than they are willing to pay. That could be economically (withhold your labor or a boycott), that could be their public image (most non-profits depend upon their public image), or psychological stress or all three at the same time. But the poiint is getting the boss to want to settle with the union rather than continue fighting the union.

  The problem is that a lot of organizing and job actions do things about the same way most of the time as if it is out of some tech. manual, step1, step 2 and so on. Most bosses are not dumb and they can see that process. Some bosses will hire unionbusting outfits that know the union process very well. So if the boss knows what you are going to do that makes it a lot harder to win.

  The way to overcome this problem is to change things up, do different things, try completely new things. In other words USE YOUR IMAGINATION!!!!  The more that you do this the more you will get the boss thinking "now what?" And that creates stress on the boss. By the time the boss figures out how to react to the new tactic, you can change tactics again.

  I would suggest in picking tactics that you keep in mind how those tactics will play out in the public mind. If the public mind sees your tactics as silly or destructive or that the tactics harm them then your tactics can backfire on you. 

  So a good imagination makes for a good organizer.

Communication

  We live in a class society that includes class bigotry, some call classism. This bigotry includes the idea that those that have gone through the systems educational system have greater knowledge and understand of things than those who have not gone as far in that educational system. But knowledge is gained in many ways. If you think that college alone gives a person more knowledge than those that have never gone to college, next time your car breaks down take it to a college professor to fix it rather than an auto mechanic.

  I work in shipyards, the college educated marine architects are looked upon as having superior knowledge. But what they don't have is superior experience. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to fix mistakes those with the so-called superior knowledge have made. On one job there were so many problems with the blueprint that the marine architect asked me to pipe in the system and that he would come in behind me and draw it out for a new blueprint.

  As Wobbly organizers we must realize that knowledge gained through direct experience is just as important as knowledge gain through studies in colleges. And thus no worker should be treated as less than any other worker based upon how far they went threw the education system.

Often those that have gone threw the education system up to the colleges seek to talk down to workers as if these workers are below them. What they fail to understand is that they are trained in academic shop talk. And when they try to speak to those outside of the academic world they try to "dumb down" how they speak or write. I would like to point out that if I sought to speak to people outside of the maritime industry using maritime ship talk fewer of them would understand me, and that includes those of the academic world. Should I then "dumb down" my talking or writing?

The point is that most everyone has their shop talk or cultural talk that is a means of communication within a group. And just because not all workers are of each grouping does not mean they are in anyway lesser than others or dumb. This also applies sometimes to union talk or Wobbly talk. There is a point where most all workers come together and that is in common language. Common language is that language that most all workers have in common with each other. When speaking to workers, outside of groupings, it is important to use common language and if there is a term that might not be understood by all, then define that term clearly.

In the academic world people tend to speak and write in the 3^rd person using abstract theories. Most working people tend to communicate in the 1^st person and explain ideas based upon stories, real experiences. The purpose of communication is to convey ideas and information. So that means when talking to people who generally speak one way then learn how to covey your ideas and information in that way if possible.

Friends and Families

  Often the greatest amount of pressure on workers involved in organizing or job actions comes from their families and friends. Most of the time this pressure is unseen by the organizers. Over the years I have seen how some of the strongest union supporters among the workers give up on the union, go back to work or just find another job because of the pressure they get at home becomes too much for them..

  This pressure comes about for a number of reasons: First there are the economic reasons during a strike. Then there is the personal reasons. Most workers live rather simple lives, they go to work and then spend most of their free time with their families and friends. Then the union comes around and takes some of that free time away from families and friends and it becomes union time. And often in organizing drives and job actions the union will become the major focus in workers lives. And families and friends can feel neglected and scornful of the union. And this can lead to disharmony at home.

  On the other hand if families and friends become union supporters with the workers being organized or in job actions you have a strong bond that is hard to break. Some unions like miner's unions understand this very well..

  Some families and friends with union backgrounds or with very good communication will support the union, but many may not. So either the organizers must hope things work out for the best, or they can take proaction to deal with this. The following are some ideas how to take proactive steps in dealing with families and friends.

  1. In your one on one talks with workers and at union meetings, talk to them about this and make sure that they have an understanding of the problem from the begining so that they are not blindsided by the problem.

  2. If your organizing includes a number of organizers let one of them be the union liaison for families and friends. Someone they know they can talk to for information and to talk about problems.

  3. Hold informational meetings by the union for families and friends. In other words make sure that they are informed. At these meetings ask them what union issues are important to them. This will give them input into the situation and it will allow the organizers to understand the issues important to the families and friends. And where possible include their issues as union issues.

  4. Find ways that families and friends can help. There is a lot of union work that goes on and thus there are many things they can do. Even organizing social events is helpful in creating stronger bonds. During a strike they can work on food and supplies.

  5. A step further can be to organize an auxiliary support organization of families and frends. There are somethings that the union can't do that such an organization can do because it is not the union. They could be useful in organizing support in the communities. They can take on general support for the problems that families and friends have during organizing and job actions. They can publish a newsletter where they can have their own self-expression.

  To think that families and friends do not matter in union organizing and job actions and thus are no concern for the union agenda is just naive. But if the union communicates with and involves families and friends it helps create a bond that is almost unbreakable.

Notebooks

  Much of organizing has to do with gathering information and using that information. But unfortunately many times we lose good information because we don't record it somewhere and then we try to use our memory to regain that information when it is needed. Sometimes what does not seem very important at the time we hear or read it later becomes important.

  Every good organizer collects and analyzes information. The following is a suggestion of how to retain information.

  TYPES OFNOTEBOOKS

  1. Your main organizing notebook: Get yourself a three ring notebook and a hole punch. The reason for a three ring notebook is so that you can add to it. You can find notebook dividers that allows you to label and divide your notebook into sections.

  2. Get a regular notebook and keep it by your telephone.

  3. You might have a notebook by your computer. I use to do that. Now I either print things out as they come or save them and later, like addresses and phone numbers, and paste them together on a page and print it out. I do this because it is easier and if you deal with a lot of addresses and phone numbers and you write them out every so often you may make a mistake.

  4. Carry with you a small notebook to write things down.

  All the information you record from your smaller notebooks place into your main organizing notebook.

  Some folks may keep everything in a computer. Unless it is a laptop you are not going to bring your computer to meetings. Also computers can crash and you lose what you have.

  If you have an organizing committee or you are organizing through a branch, make sure that each organizer has the same information so copy things for the other organizers to use.

  TYPE OF INFORMATION TO RECORD IN YOUR NOTEBOOKS

  1. Contact information: For members, for those that you are trying to organize, supporters, and resources. Make a note as to which way of contacting someone is best and if it is by phone then when they are likely to me home. For example I don't use my phone much. First off I am not around it much, I don't have long distance phone service. It is really faster to get me by e-mail. Other people don't check their e-mail much.

  2. All the information you can find on the company you are organizing. This would include your industrial mapping.

  3. Notes on the people you are trying to organize.

  4. Issues: Sometimes all issues will not come out at meetings. Sometimes folks will think only money issues are important and will not at meetings express other things that are important to them. But in talking to those that you are trying to organize they may express things that are important to them that are not on the issues list. Write it down.

  5. Comments both good and bad. Write this down. The comments that are about good things that are happening give you an idea to what the workers relate to and like. Comments that are negative can give you an idea of where you need to improve things. Sometimes, even if said in anger, may show things that are being thought. Often those things are perceptions that are based upon misunderstandings. This things you will need to deal with.

  6. Things that happen: Keep records of things that happen that are related to the organizing and witness statements.

  7. Research: There are many things like your issues that need to be researched. First, keep a list of things that need to be researched and add on to it. And keep copies of your research material and record where information can be found like books and web sites.  

Arthur J. Miller 

[olympiaworkers] A New Society

A New Society
When miners get tired of being buried alive for them, the few.

When keyboard pounders get tired of wearing their hands out for them, the
few.

When the truckers get tired of the weariness of driving endlessly for them,
the few.

When fast food workers get tired of producing large quantities of food
quickly at near starvation wages for them, the few.

When women workers get tired of being paid less and used as sex objects for
them, the few.

When farm workers get tired of picking the food for all to eat while being
poisoned and not having enough to eat themselves for them, the few.

When workers of color get tired of racism and having to labor in the worst
jobs for them, the few.

When hospital workers get tired of working for the profit of the bosses,
caring for the sick and injured for long hours for them, the few.

When construction workers get tired of building the homes and buildings of
society under dangerous conditions for them, the few.

When child workers get tired of producing the latest fashion statements of
the rich while having their childhoods robbed by them, the few.

When ship workers get tired of long hours in hot, miserable conditions and
having to be far from home for them, the few.

When older workers get tired of bodies being worn out through years of labor
for them, the few.

When younger workers get tired of getting the worst jobs and being
dehumanized just because of their age for them, the few.

When retired workers get tired of being told that they are all used up and
forced to live on less than when they labored for them, the few.

When service workers get tired of trying to serve the needs of people, while
their own needs are not met by them, the few.

When house care workers get tired of working in the houses of the rich while
hardly being able to afford housing for themselves for them, the few.

When disabled workers get tired of being treated as less for the greed of
them, the few.

When steel workers get tired of working in hot and dangerous steel mills for
them, the few.

When assembly line workers get tired of working endless hours of speed-up
conditions for them, the few.

When baristas get tired of of making and serving coffee drinks at low pay
and bad conditions for them, the few.

When immigrant workers get tired of working low paid jobs with bad
conditions while being demonized as the cause for economic problems by them,
the few.

When working class students get tired of being trained to produce profit
while being dehumanized and barely getting any compensation, instead having
to pay to be exploited by them, the few.

When shipyard workers get tired of having to work in deep dark cramped tanks
for low pay for them, the few.

When oil workers get tired of deadly explosions and hazardous exposure for
them, the few.

When sweatshop workers get tired of working themselves to death for the
decadence of them, the few.

When road workers get tired of working out in the hot sun or in the rain for
them, the few..

When newspaper workers get tired of being forced to write and print the lies
of them, the few.

When military workers get tired of killing other workers for the profit of
them, the few.

When the workers of the world get tired of being injured, sickened, and
dying for the profit of them, the few..

When the workers of the world get tired of putting up with dehumanizing
conduct where we are not only expected to labor to produce profit but also
to endure abuse from them, the few.

When the workers of the world get tired of minimum gains for us and
producing maximum profits for them, the few.

When the workers of the world decide that enough is enough and organize
together in a one big union for the day-to-day struggles for a better life.

When the workers of the world decide that an injury to one is an injury to
all and stand together in universal class solidarity.

When the organized power of the working class is greater than the organized
power of the capitalist class, then workers will refuse to produce or
provide services for them, the few, and take control of our labor, the means
of production and services, and at that time we, the workers of the world,
will have our new society. A society that ends all class conflict by
eliminating classes all together. A society where production and services
are for needs and the well-being of all. A society where the earth matters
and we workers take responsibility for the effects our labor has on the
environment that we all are dependent upon.

It is up to each of us, Fellow Workers, to build this new society, for it is
built one worker at a time.

So Fellow Workers with whom do you stand? With the exploiters and
oppressors, those who would doom our world, or with your Fellow Workers to
help create a new society? The choice is up to you!

Arthur J. Miller

[olympiaworkers] France - The Cold Autumn Hots Up

Libcom.org Oct 19 2010

Students in Paris blockade their high school

Despite the colder weather, and the increasing lack of petrol, the social
movement is hotting up, fueled by fun, fire and fury. "Operation Snails'
Pace", strikes, mini-riots, schools blockades, General Assemblies,
occupations, and today the 4th 24 hour "General" Strike since 7th
September ...but where is it all going? What contradictions aren't being
confronted? Read on...

Lorry drivers yesterday joined the movement, with the explicit aim of
"blocking the economy". They have been launching "Operation Snails' Pace"
(going slow on major roads and motorways) around Lille, Toulouse, Lyon,
Bordeaux, south of Paris, Tours, Frontignan, Arras, various parts of
Normandy and lots of other places - officially there were 30 "go-slows"
around 15 different towns yesterday. This, on the day before the
Union-called "General" Strike called for today, Tuesday October 18th:
"General" is in inverted commas because clearly there've been loads of
people who have worked in those sectors which have officially come out on
strike. Some of these 'go-slows' lasted only 20 minutes, but others for
several hours. Ordinary cars go-slow in the fast lane, because big lorries
aren't allowed there.

Various petrol depots have been blockaded. Despite the government claiming
on Sunday that only 200 petrol stations have closed down, the organisation
responsible for producing petrol station statistics said yesterday -
Monday - that 1500 have closed; and the amount of petrol stations that
have run out of Unleaded 95 or Unleaded 98 must be a great deal more than
that. This shortage is as much to do with the refineries' strikes and
blockades as with the dockers strike which has left at least 60 tankers
stuck in the Mediterranean, unable to embark.

Lycees continue to be blocked (officially - ie Ministry of Miseducation
figures - 260, but 600 according to UNL - the Union Nationale de Lyceens).
There have been mini-riots and stand-offs with the CRS in at least 5 towns
- Nanterre just outside Paris, Lyon, Lille, Mulhous and Borges. So-called
"casseurs" (literally "breakers": see this text from 1994 in English "Nous
sommes tous des casseurs") have been attacking this and that all over the
country, sometimes intelligently, sometimes indifferently, sometimes
stupidly and sometimes really nastily.

In Marseille the binmen have been on strike for over a week (joining the
dockers and the refinery workers). The rubbish is upsetting the tourists,
who are anxious to consume the new gentrified areas, brought in by artists
and the construction of a modern tramway, free from the stench of
revolting proles. The mayor is also upset. Marseille is already preparing
for the year it becomes the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2013. With
Ryanair withdrawing from its airport base there, giving the term 'capital
flight' an almost literal meaning, the project of bringing in the punters
from the four corners of the globe could well be grounded. All that
glorious regeneration of a nice cleaned up surface, designed to reduce all
sense of a past into a souvenir photo, could be destroyed by radical
subversion. A binman said, "We're the proletariat, we can't just sit and
twiddle our thumbs." Though this possibly comes from an old-style
CP-influenced guy, in the atmosphere of Repuboican ideology where everyone
is encouraged to describe themselves as a "citizen", this is a refreshing
reminder of a basic socially antagonistic truth. A 16 year old from
Marseille, Sarah Jlassi, added "This has gone beyond pensions, it's about
our unjust, divided society." (The Guardian today). Though this is
certainly at the centre of the movement, youths in the media and on the
street, from whatever background, are constantly saying how stressed their
parents are after work, how consequently they can't communicate with them.
A few years back, the mayor brought in the army to clear the rubbish.
Whether he does so again, in the current more generalised climate of class
war remains to be seen, but he could encounter more frustration than
merely Ryanair's O'Leary playing hard to get. Certainly in the longer term
- the overtly 'radical milieu' there has long been organising against
gentrification and the cultural rubbish that's going to fill the streets
in less than a bit over 2 years time (a translation of this text on art
and gentrification has become very popular there over the last 18 months).

In Languedoc-Roussillon, where I live:
Nimes (Gard county), all the lycees closed, and there were sit-ins at the
prefecture.
Ales (also the Gard) - a blockade of the railway lines, with fires to keep
warm.
Firemen were on strike throughout the Gard, only answering the most urgent
calls.
In Perpignan, 150 strikers blocked a petrol depot for 4 hours, with tyres
burning all over the roads. A train driver supporting the blockade said on
telly, "This is not just about retirement but about the whole future of
this society", though the different ways of understanding the implications
of that are about as many as there are people who feel the same way. 200
teachers occupied a local state institution (didn't catch what it was). A
firetruck was attacked with stones.
In Frontignan, near Sete, 300 train drivers and truck drivers, plus
others, blocked an oil depot, beginning very early in the dark morning -
stopping distribution in 3 counties. A train driver said, "We're doing
this for the future - for our grandchildren", though they were also
clearly doing it for themselves.The cops, preceded by a nicey nicey
reasonably-toned Prefet (head of administration for the area) asking for a
calm dispersal, unblocked the depot in mid-afternoon without resistance -
300, in a fairly isolated spot, not being enough against cops armed with
tear gas and flash balls. However, the expulsion was immediately followed
by a mini-General Strike in the Frontignan area.
Aude also had a blockade of an oil depot up till mid-afternoon.
In Montpellier the "concierge" (security/surveillance office) of a lycee
was completely wrecked by fire. And many of the windows of this lycee were
"broken" (they're very thick top security windows, so none of them
shattered) by 50 or so hooded youths. A teacher, who quite possibly
objected to this reasonable attack, had a molotov thrown towards her,
without touching or injuring her at all. She called them terrorists. The
school was evacuated.
On Friday 15th October, 60 or so youths attacked the blockade of a the top
notch lycee in Montpellier ("Joffre") - the BAC (anti-criminal brigade)
and suspected RG (equivalent of Special Branch) cops had been seen in
their cars outside, leaving just a minute before the crowd of youths
arrived. The youths also attacked "college" (12 - 15 yr olds) students,
and went on to attack another school nearby, this time going through the
dormitories robbing what they could. A car with a couple in it was
overturned outside this school, and apparently a tram driver was stabbed
in the hand. A radio journalist told a teenage girl he was interviewing
that he had inside information that they'd been manipulated by the police,
though he never actually broadcasted any of that (probably for fear of
losing his job). Clearly, however, the degradations of life on the estates
and the gang mentality that survival engenders, means that some youths
don't really need to be manipulated - they see everything in terms of a
dog eat dog world, and it will take some considerable risk of a dialogue
between those who identify with and participate in a more general social
movement and these more nihilistic but utterly directionless youths to
shift this to the advantage of both. Certainly moralistic finger-wagging
is the last thing that will influence any change in this area: it's part
of the world they rightly hold in contempt, but cannot see or struggle or
really want to find any way out of. This is not helped by the catch-all
condemnations of anything that involves violence as "casseurs who've got
nothing to do with the movement". The local press was full of condemnation
of these acts (though some of the worst, surprisingly, weren't reported)
but when the headmaster of Lycee Joffre pushed the gate onto the hand of a
blockading school student and broke his wrist, this was played down as an
'accident'. At another school in town, an anti-blockade teacher on the
inside of a gate blockaded on the outside pushed a large barrier (that had
been placed on top of the dustbins that are the main structure of lycee
barricades) back onto the pavement, narrowly missing seriously damaging
the faces of a couple of students. A parent who politely warned the
teacher of the dangers of what he was doing was later punched in the face
by this teacher. But blanket criticism of "casseurs" is a convenient way
of ignoring these contradictions, and of not looking at what is
justifiable and what is sick in "casseurs" actions.

Lycee youth chant of the week: "In Parliament the MPs jerk off all day"
(it rhymes in French and they sing it).

A lot more could be said, and I haven't even been to develop the answers
to the questions posed in the introduction, but I've got to go now.
Apologies for the lateness, and insufficiency, of this: internet, computer
and personal problems have caused the delay............

For the moment, check out these brilliant (well, half of them were written
by me, so that almost goes without saying) texts on some of the past
history of social movements in France:
France Goes Off The Rails (on the movement of 1986-7)
French strikes - 1995-6
Notes on the French movements 2003
Culture in danger - if only! (on the movement of casualised cultural
workers, 2003-4)
[url=
http://libcom.org/library/2005-movement-secondary-school-students-france]Notes
on the lycee movement, 2005[/url]
Brief notes on the riots of November 2005
All quiet on the French front (on aspects of the anti-CPE movement,
written during the movement)

[olympiaworkers] Justice for Oscar Grant! Jail for Killer Cops!

Justice for Oscar Grant! Jail for Killer Cops!
Longshoremen Will Shut Down All Bay Area Ports

By JACK HEYMAN counterpunch.org

Emotions ran high when longshoremen at their July membership meeting were
addressed by Cephus Johnson, the uncle of Oscar Grant, the young black man
who was killed by a cop at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland on New
Year's Day 2009. Recounting the sidewalk mural in the front of the hiring
hall near Fisherman's Wharf that depicts two strikers lying face down with
the inscription: "Two ILA (longshoremen) Shot in the Back, Police Murder",
he appealed to the union to support justice for his slain nephew. He said,
"That mural shook me because that's exactly what happened to Oscar".

It got even hotter in the union hall when Jack Bryson took the mike. He is
the father of two of Oscar Grant's friends terrorized by police at the
train station as they sat handcuffed and helpless watching their friend
die and hearing him moan. Bryson reported that police were calling for a
rally the following Monday in the lily-white suburb of Walnut Creek to
demanding that Johannes Mehserle the convicted killer cop go free. He
asked the union members to join Oscar Grant supporters to protest the cop
rally and they did. Outnumbering the 100 or so pro-Mehserle demonstrators
by 3 to 1.

The New Year's Day horror scene was videotaped by other young train
passengers and broadcast on YouTube and TV news across the country. Grant,
the father of a four year old girl worked as a butcher's apprentice at
Farmer Joe's supermarket nearby on Fruitvale Avenue. The litany of police
killings of innocent young black and Latino men has evoked a public outcry
in California. Yet, when it comes to killer cops, especially around
election time, with both the Democratic and Republican parties espousing
law and order, the mainstream media either expunges or whitewashes the
issue.

Angered by the pro-police rallies and news coverage calling for killer cop
Mehserle's freedom, Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse
Union has called for a labor and community rally October 23rd in Oakland
to demand justice for Oscar Grant and the jailing of killer cops. Bay Area
ports will shut down that day to stand with the black community and others
against the scourge of police brutality.

Anthony Leviege, a longshore union rally organizer, said "Many unions,
including the San Francisco and Alameda Labor Councils, have endorsed and
are mobilizing for the rally. They see the need in the current economic
crisis to build unity with the community to defend jobs, public education,
health care and housing for all. And unions defending black and brown
youth against police brutality is fundamental to that unity

In this race-caste society there's nothing more controversial than a white
cop convicted of killing a young black man like Oscar Grant… or of a black
man like Mumia Abu-Jamal, framed by a corrupt and racist judicial system,
accused of killing a white police officer when the opposite was the case.
Jamal was nearly murdered by the police. His "crime" was that he didn't
die on the spot, as Oscar Grant did. Mumia, the Frederick Douglass of our
time, exposes the hypocrisy of democracy in America while fighting for his
life on death row in Pennsylvania. His possibly final hearing is set for
November 9th. Killer cops belong in jail, their victims (those who survive
like Mumia) should go free. But that's not how justice in capitalist
America works. The racist heritage of slavery is still with us.

Despite the election of its first black president, the United States has
still not moved beyond the Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision, "the
negro has no rights which the white man was bound to respect". Just how
deeply racism is embedded in the fabric of American society can be seen in
President Obama's "teachable moment" in the case of Harvard professor
Henry Gates (arrested by police for "breaking into" his own home!). The
president, a friend of Professor Gates, upon hearing of the bizarre arrest
called it a stupidity". When police loudly objected, Obama quickly and
apologetically retracted his characterization over a photo op with the
cop, the professor and him over a friendly beer.

Civil rights activists who were targets of racist attacks used to joke
that the KKK wore white at night and blue in the daytime. Killer cop
Mehserle was convicted of "involuntary manslaughter", though the
videotapes show him shooting Grant as he lay passively face down about to
be handcuffed. The media universally has tainted outraged protesters,
blaming them for rioting while favoring Mehserle whose sentencing hearing
is set for November 5. During a recent Giants' baseball game in San
Francisco Mehersle's father was sympathetically interviewed on TV. But
where is the justice for Oscar Grant's family and his now 5 year old
daughter?

LABOR MUST DEFEND MINORITIES AGAINST RACIST POLICE ATTACKS

The police murder of two strikers provoked the 1934 San Francisco General
Strike. Seven maritime workers in all were killed by police in West Coast
ports during strike for the union hiring hall. Every July 5, Bloody
Thursday, all ports on the West Coast are shut down to honor the labor
martyrs. It's a living legacy that burns deep in the hearts of longshore
and other maritime workers.

Some have asked, what's the connection between unions and the killing of a
young black man? Plenty, according to Richard Washington, an Oakland
longshoreman. He recalled the history of the longshore union and its
struggle against the favoritism and racism of the "shape-up" hiring system
that preceded the union hiring hall. At start of the 1934 S.F. Maritime
Strike, Harry Bridges, head of the militant Strike Committee, he said,
appealed to the black community. Strikers implored blacks to support the
strike and vowed to share work on the waterfront after their victory in
the midst of the Great Depression when jobs were scarce, not unlike today.
Blacks were integrated on the docks, a shining example being set by the
San Francisco longshore local, and the union has been fighting against
racist attacks and for working class unity since then.

A wall mural in the union hiring hall depicts the Red Angel, Elaine Black,
of the International Labor Defense (ILD) during the '34 Big Strike which
defended strikers. ILD has a rich history in the radical labor movement,
originally headed up by James P. Cannon, an early leading communist. The
ILD's pioneering class struggle defense began with the mass labor
demonstrations defending Italian anarchist immigrant workers Sacco and
Vanzetti, uniting all of the labor movement regardless of political
differences.

In 2003, at the start of the U.S. war in Iraq, protesters in the port of
Oakland and longshoremen were shot by Oakland riot police with "nonlethal"
weapons. The UN Human Rights Commission condemned this police attack as
"the most violent" police attack on antiwar demonstrators. Then-mayor
Jerry Brown, now backed by the police in his bid for California governor,
gave cops the green light. The rational for the bloody attack was given by
a spokesman for the state's anti-terrorism agency newly formed by Democrat
governor Gray Davis and Attorney General Bill Lockyer. The spokesman for
the Callifornia Anti-Terrorism and Information Center in a twisted
tautology said that anyone demonstrating against a war against terror
could be a terrorist themselves. The OPD attack cost the city of Oakland a
couple of million dollars when the dust settled.

ILWU longshoremen have given up a day's wages time and again to show
solidarity with dockworkers in Liverpool, England, Charleston, South
Carolina and Australia and to protest with dock actions on moral issues of
the day like apartheid in South Africa, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
in defense of innocent death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal and recently the
Israeli military killing of civilians bringing aid to Gaza by boat.

Now, the ILWU is calling on unions to link up with community organizations
under their banner, "An Injury to One is an Injury to All." From all
accounts it's a clarion call that will muster thousands fed up with the
economic crisis and the scapegoating of minorities.

Jack Heyman, a working longshoreman, sits on the Executive Board of ILWU
Local 10 and the Board of Directors of the John Brown Society. He has been
active in all of the union's struggles mentioned in this article.