Industrial Worker 2011 Vol. 108, No. 4 (Official Newspaper of the IWW (May, 16 Pp.)

7/28/2019 Industrial Worker 2011 Vol. 108, No. 4 (Official Newspaper of the IWW (May, 16 Pp.)

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Industrial Worker PO Box 180195Chicago, IL 60618, USA

ISSN 0019-8870 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Periodicals PostageP A I D

Chicago, ILand additionalmailing of ces

O f f i c i a l n e w s p a p e r O f T h e i n d u s T r i a l w O r k e r s O f T h e w O r l d

Key Figures fromthe IWW in SouthAfrica 15

The Art of the IWWProtest Song

10-11

INDUSTRIAL WORKER

The Evolution of May Day Worldwide

6-7

M y 2 0 1 1 # 1 7 3 5 Vo . 1 0 8 n o . 4 $ 2 / 2 / 2

Fired Union Barista Achieves Victory In Brooklyn

Six Jimmy Johns Workers Fired For Whistleblowin

ILWU Local 10 ShutsDown Oakland Port

5

By NYC Wobblies After an aggress ive nine-month cam-

paign consisting of both legal action andincreasingly more militant direct action,the New York City IWW was victoriousin seeking justice for Fellow Worker Jeff Bauer, who was red from the 7th Avenuelocation of Ozzies Coffee & Tea in Brook-lyn, N.Y., on June 29, 2010.

Bauer worked at the independentPark Slope coffee shop, a neighborhoodinstitution, for more than one year andproved himself to be a hard worker with astrong work ethic. The quality of his labor was never ques tioned before his unionaf liation with the IWW was leaked tomanagement when Bauer helped orga-nize a May Day bene t event for the NYCIWW in 2010. In fact, Bauer was offeredthe store manager position, but turned itdown on principle as it went against hispolitical beliefs as both an anarchist anda Wobbly. When management was made

Solidarity Greetings From TheIW Wobblies protest Ozzies on Jan. 29, 2011. Photo:images.suite101.com

s :M y d y !

aware that Bauer was organizing with theOne Big Union, their response was harshand relentless. Bauer was subjected tomistreatment, harassment and verbalabuse on a daily basis.

In June 2010, Bauer suffered a severe cut in hours when he stood up for acoworker who was physically assaultedand threatened by store manager RaphaelBernadines boyfriend, a former cop, onthe shop oor. In response to this retalia -tory attack on Bauers right to defend hiscoworker from a violent confrontation,as well as his legally-protected right todiscuss workplace conditions, Bauer leda union delegation of six Wobblies andsupporters into Ozzies Coffee & Tea. Thepurpose of this March on the Boss wasto deliver a demand letter directly to the boss and of cially notify him of Bauersaf liation with the IWW. Bauers list of demands included his hours be restored to

Continued on 9

By the IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union

Thousands of community supportershave jammed Jimmy Johns phone linesand ooded the chain's Facebook page with messages of outrage and support forsix whistleblowers who were red for ex -posing widespread coercion to work at thechain while sick. On March 25, the work-ers announced that they plan to escalateactions against Jimmy Johns until theirdemands for the right to call in sick, paidsick days, and reinstatement of the red workers are met.

We will not be silenced. Speakingout against the policy of forcing workersto work while sick is not only our right, itis our duty, said Erik Forman, one of thered sandwich workers. The unfetteredgreed of franchise owner Mike Mulliganand Jimmy John himself jeopardizes thehealth of thousands of customers and workers almost every day. We will speak

out until they realize that no one wantsto eat a sandwich lled with cold and ugerms.

Under currentpolicy, Jimmy Johns workers are disciplinedfor calling in sick if they cannot nd areplacement. In ad-dition, many workersare unable to afford totake a day off if they are ill because wagesat the sandwich chainhover around the fed-eral minimum of $7.25an hour. The resultof these pressures isthat sandwich-makersoften have to work while sick, creatingan enormous publichealth risk.

After franchisemanagement rebuffednumerous employee

requests to reform thesick day policy,Continued on 8

To all the

workers fghtingagainst the

bosses on theshop oor andon the streets,

remember:

this is your day.Happy May Day!

The JJWU calls attention to six Wobblies who were red. Graphic: IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union


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Page 2 Industrial Worker May 2011

AustraliaRegional Organising Committee: P.O. Box 1866,Albany, WAAlbany: 0423473807, [email protected]: P.O. Box 145, Moreland, VIC 3058.0448 712 420Perth: Mike Ballard, [email protected] IslesBritish Isles Regional Organising Committee (BI-ROC): PO Box 7593 Glasgow, G42 2EX. Secretariat:[email protected], Organising Department Chair:[email protected]. ww w.iww.org.ukIWW UK Web Site administrators and Tech Depart-ment Coordinators: [email protected], www.tech.iww.org.uk

NBS Job Branch National Blood Service: [email protected] Print Job Branch: [email protected] Construction Workers IU 330: [email protected] Workers IU 610: [email protected], www.iww-healthworkers.org.ukEducation Workers IU 620: [email protected],www.geocities.com/iwweducationRecreational Workers (Musicians) IU 630: [email protected], [email protected], Legal, Public Interest & Financial O ceWorkers IU 650: [email protected] ord: brad [email protected] GMB: P.O. Box 4, 82 Colston street, BS15BB. Tel. 07506592180. [email protected],[email protected] GMB: IWWCambridge, 12 Mill Road,Cambridge CB1 2AD [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected], [email protected] GMB: Unit 107, 40 Hal ord St., LeicesterLE1 1TQ, England. Tel. 07981 433 637, leics@iw w.org.uk www.leicestershire-iww.org.ukLondon GMB: c/o Freedom Bookshop, Angel Alley,84b Whitechapel High Street, E1 7QX. +44 (0) 203393 1295, [email protected] www.iww.org/en/branches/UK/LondonNottingham: [email protected] GMB: [email protected] eld: she [email protected] and Wear GMB (Newcastle +): [email protected] www.iww.org/en/branches/UK/TyneWest Midlands GMB: The Warehouse, 54-57 AllisonStreet, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 5TH [email protected] www.wmiww.orgYork GMB: [email protected] www.wowyork.orgScotlandClydeside GMB: c/o IWW, P.O. Box 7593, Glasgow,

G42 2EX. [email protected], www.iw-wscotland.orgDum ries and Galloway GMB: dum [email protected] , iwwdum ries.wordpress.comEdinburgh GMB: c/o 17 W. Montgomery Place, EH75HA. 0131-557-6242, [email protected]

CanadaAlbertaEdmonton GMB: P.O. Box 75175, T6E 6K1. [email protected], edmonton.iww.caBritish ColumbiaVancouver GMB: 204-2274 York Ave., Vancouver,BC, V6K 1C6. Phone/ ax 604-732-9613. [email protected], vancouver.iww.ca, vancouverwob.blogspot.comManitobaWinnipeg GMB: IWW, c/o WORC, P.O. Box 1, R3C2G1. [email protected]. Garth Hardy,del., [email protected] GMB & GDC Local 6: 1106 Wel-lington St., PO Box 36042, Ottawa, ON K1Y 4V3

Ottawa Panhandlers Union: Andrew Nellis,spokesperson, 613-748-0460. [email protected]: c/o PCAP, 393 Water St. #17, K9H3L7, 705-749-9694Toronto GMB: c/o Libra Knowledge & In ormationSvcs Co-op, P.O. Box 353 Stn. A, M5W 1C2. 416-919-7392. iw [email protected] Montreal GMB: cp 60124, Montral, QC, H2J 4E1.514-268-3394. iw [email protected].

EuropeFinlandHelsinki: Reko Ravela, Otto Brandtintie 11 B 25,

00650. [email protected] Language AreaIWW German Language Area Regional OrganizingCommittee (GLAMROC): Post Fach 19 02 03, 60089Frank urt/M, Germany [email protected]: [email protected]. www.iw-waustria.wordpress.comFrank urt am Main: iww- rank [email protected] GMB: IWW, c/o BCC, P aelzer Str. 2-4, 50677Koeln, Germany. [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected]: iw [email protected]

South AfricaCape Town: 7a Rosebridge, Linray Road, Rosebank,Cape Town, Western Cape, South A rica [email protected]

United StatesArizonaPhoenix GMB: P.O. Box 7126, 85011-7126. 623-336-1062. [email protected] : Courtney Hinman, del., 928-600-7556,[email protected]: P.O. Box 283, 72702. [email protected] GMB ( Washington): 741 Morton St NW, Wash-ington DC, 20010. 571-276-1935CaliforniaLos Angeles GMB: P.O. Box 811064, 90081.(310)205-2667. [email protected] Coast GMB: P.O. Box 844, Eureka 95502-0844. 707-725-8090, [email protected] Francisco Bay Area GMB: (Curbside and Buy-back IU 670 Recycling Shops; StonemountainFabrics Job Shop and IU 410 Garment and TextileWorkers Industrial Organizing Committee; ShattuckCinemas; Embarcadero Cinemas) P.O. Box 11412,Berkeley, 94712. 510-845-0540. [email protected] 520 Marine Transport Workers: Steve Ongerth,

del., [email protected] 540 Couriers Organizing Committee: 415-789-MESS, [email protected] Printing: 2335 Valley Street, Oakland,94612. 510-835-0254. [email protected] Jose: [email protected] GMB: 2727 W. 27th Ave., 80211. LowellMay, del., 303-433-1852. [email protected] Corners (AZ, CO, NM, UT): 970-903-8721,[email protected] GMB: c/o Civic Media Center, 433 S.Main St., 32601. Jason Fults, del., 352-318-0060,[email protected] IWW: [email protected] Sound: P. Shultz, 8274 SE Pine Circle, 33455-6608. 772-545-9591, [email protected] GMB: P.O. Box 2662, Pensacola 32513-2662. 840-437-1323, [email protected],www.angel re.com/f5/iww

GeorgiaAtlanta: M. Bell, del.,404-693-4728, [email protected]: Tony Donnes, del., [email protected]: Ritchie Eppink, del., P.O. Box 453, 83701.208-371-9752, [email protected] GMB: 2117 W. Irving Park Rd., 60618.773-857-1090. Gregory Ehrendreich, del., 312-479-8825, [email protected] Ill GMB: 903 S. Elm, Champaign, IL, 61820.217-356-8247. David Johnson, del., [email protected]

Freight Truckers Hotline: mtw530@iw w.orgWaukegan: P.O Box 274, 60079.IndianaLa ayette GMB: P.O. Box 3793, West La ayette,47906, 765-242-1722IowaEastern Iowa GMB: 114 1/2 E. College Street, IowaCity, 52240. [email protected] Rodrigue, 75 Russell Street, Bath, 04530.207-442-7779MarylandBaltimore IWW: P.O. Box 33350, 21218. [email protected] Area GMB: PO Box 391724, Cambridge02139. 617-469-5162Cape Cod/SE Massachusetts: [email protected] Mass. Public Service IU 650 Branch: IWW,P.O. Box 1581, Northampton 01061

MichiganDetroit GMB: 22514 Brittany Avenue, E. Detroit48021. [email protected]. Tony Khaled, del., 21328Redmond Ave., East Detroit 48021Grand Rapids GMB: PO Box 6629, 49516. 616-881-5263. Shannon Williams, del., 616-881-5263Central Michigan: 5007 W. Columbia Rd., Mason48854. 517-676-9446, [email protected] IWW: Brad Barrows, del., 1 N. 28th Ave E.,55812. [email protected] River IWW: POB 103, Moorhead, 56561. 218-287-0053. iw [email protected] Cities GMB: 79 13th Ave NE Suite 103A, Min-neapolis 55413. [email protected] City GMB: c/o 5506 Holmes St., 64110.816-523-3995St. Louis IWW: [email protected] Rivers GMB: PO Box 9366, Missoula 59807.

406-459-7585. [email protected] Workers IU 330: Dennis Georg, del.,406-490-3869, [email protected]: Jim Del Duca, del., 406-860-0331,[email protected] GMB: P.O. Box 40132, 89504. Paul Lenart,del., 775-513-7523, [email protected] 520 Railroad Workers: Ron Kaminkow, del., P.O.Box 2131, Reno, 89505. 608-358-5771. [email protected] JerseyCentral New Jersey GMB: P.O. Box 10021, NewBrunswick, 08906. 732-801-7001. [email protected]. Bob Ratynski, del., 908-285-5426New MexicoAlbuquerque GMB: 202 Harvard Dr. SE, 87106.505-227-0206, [email protected] YorkBinghamton Education Workers Union (IU 620):P.O. Box 685, 13905. [email protected]://bewu.wordpress.com/

New York City GMB: P.O. Box 7430, JAF Station,10116, iw [email protected]. www.wobblycity.orgStarbucks Campaign: 44-61 11th St. Fl. 3, LongIsland City 11101 [email protected] Valley GMB: P.O. Box 48, Huguenot 12746845-342-3405, [email protected], http://hviww.blogspot.com/Syracuse IWW: [email protected] NY GMB: P.O. Box 235, Albany 12201-0235, 518-833-6853 or 518-861-5627. www.upstate-nyiww.org, [email protected], Rochelle Semel, del., P.O. Box 172, Fly Creek13337, 607-293-6489, [email protected] Valley GMB: P.O. Box 42233, Cincinnati45242.Textile & Clothing Workers IU 410: P.O. Box 31774Cincinnati 45231. [email protected]: P.O. Box 213 Medicine Park 73557, 580-5293360.OregonLane GMB: Ed Gunderson, del.,[email protected],www.eugeneiww.orgPortland GMB: 2249 E Burnside St., 97214,503-231-5488. [email protected], pdx.iww.orgPortland Red and Black Ca e: 400 SE 12th Ave,97214. 503-231-3899. [email protected]. ww w. redandblackca e.com.PennsylvaniaLancaster GMB: P.O. Box 796, 17608.Paper Crane Press IU 450 Job Shop: 610-358-9496. [email protected], www.papercranepress.comPittsburgh GMB: P.O. Box 5912,15210. [email protected] IslandProvidence GMB: P.O. Box 5795, 02903. 508-367-6434. [email protected] & Fort Worth: 1618 6th Ave, Fort Worth,76104.South Texas IWW: [email protected] Lake City IWW: 801-485-1969. tr_wobbly@yahoo .comVermontBurlington GMB: P.O. Box 8005, 05402. 802-540-2541WashingtonBellingham: P.O. Box 1793, 98227. [email protected] GMB: P.O. Box 7276, 98401. TacIWW@

iww.org. http://tacoma.iww.org/Olympia GMB: P.O. Box 2775, 98507. Sam Green,del., [email protected] GMB: 1122 E. Pike #1142, 98122-3934.206-339-4179. [email protected]. www.seattleiww.orgWisconsinMadison GMB: P.O. Box 2442, 53703-2442. ww wmadison.iww.org/Lakeside Press IU 450 Job Shop: 1334 Williamson,53703. 608-255-1800. Jerry Chernow, del., [email protected]. www.lakesidepress.orgMadison In oshop Job Shop:1019 Williamson St.#B, 53703. 608-262-9036Just Co ee Job Shop IU 460: 1129 E. Wilson,Madison, 53703. 608-204-9011, justco ee.coopGDC Local 4: P.O. Box 811, 53701. 608-262-9036Railroad Workers IU 520: 608-358-5771. rail [email protected] GMB: 1750A N Astor St., 53207. TrevSmith, 414-573-4992.

IWW directoryIndustrial WorkerThe Voice of Revolutionary

I ustri l U io is

ORganIzaTIOn

EdUcaTIOn

EmancIpaTIOn

Of cial newspaper of theI ndustrIal W orkers

of the W orld

Post Of ce Box 180195Chicago, IL 60618 USA

773.857.1090 [email protected] www.iww.org

G eneral S ecretary -t reaSurer :

Joe Tessone

G eneral e xecutive B oard :

Koala Largess, Ildiko Sipos,Ryan G., John Slavin, Jason Krpan

John Reimann, Greg Giorgio

e ditor & G raphic d eSiGner :

Diane [email protected]

F inal e dit c ommittee :

Maria Rodriguez Gil, Tom Levy,Nick Jusino, FW D. Keenan, J.R.

Boyd, Mathieu Dube, Neil Parthun,Michael Capobianco, Skylaar

Amann, Chris Heffner

p rinter :

Globe Direct/Boston Globe MediaMillbury, MA

Next deadline isMay 6, 2011

U.S. IW mailing address:IW, P.O. Box 7430, JAF Sta -

tion, New York, NY 10116

ISSN 0019-8870Periodicals postagepaid Chicago, IL.

POSTMASTER: Send addresschanges to IW, Post Of ce Box180195 Chicago, IL 60618 USA

SUBSCRIPTIONSIndividual Subscriptions: $18

International Subscriptions: $20Library Subs: $24/year

Union dues includes subscription.

Published monthly with the excep-tion of February and August.

Articles not so designated donot re ect the IWWs

of cial position .

Press Date: April 20, 2011

Send your letters to: [email protected] with Letter in the subject.

Mailing address:IW, P.O. Box 7430, JAF Station, New York, NY 10116, United States

Letters Welcome!

Organizing In Wisconsin: Looking Back & Moving Forw

Get the Word Out!IWW members, branches, job shops andother af liated bodies can get the wordout about their project, event, campaignor protest each month in the Industrial Worker . Send announcements to [email protected]. Much appreciated donations forthe following sizes should be sent to:

IWW GHQ, Post Of ce Box 180195,Chicago, IL 60618, United States.

$12 for 1 tall, 1 column wide$40 for 4 by 2 columns$90 for a quarter page

By Oliver LantiI was lucky enough to recently spend

a month in Wisconsin organizing for theIWW. I plan to write collectively about theexperience with some of the other Fellow Workers who were present, but for now Ill write something less formal from my ownpersonal thoughts.

Ive never been more proud of my redcard than when I rst read that the IWW was agitating for a general strike, and thatthis was resonating in the broader workingclass. I think the IWW is the best game intown for those who want to fan the amesof discontent, and I have thought thatever since I joined, just after the centenary. Although our strength and our successeshave been limited, it seems that we are theonly organization in the United States orCanada that has any program for buildingup new working-class militants, throughour model of solidarity unionism.However, during the May Day protests of 2005 and 2006, the IWW was relatively uninvolved: most branches marched insolidarity with immigrant workers, but asan organization we had basically nothingto offer to any militant, self-organized

militant workers who wanted to moveforward. Ive been hoping for years that theIWW would develop organically to be ableto in uence future working-class strugglesthat will take place beyond the walls of asingle factory (or coffee shop). To be clear,the focus on actual workplaces and actual worke rs, as opposed to the comple tely spectacular activism that I saw everywhereelse, was what brought me into the IWW back in 2005.

In 2011, it was the IWWs agitationfor working-class collective action on a broad social level that brought me back after about 18 months of inactivity. Amongother things, to use FW J. Pierces ideaof Goals, Strategy, Tactics, Id beendiscouraged by a feeling that the IWW had a goal (that the workers of the worldshould take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system, andlive in harmony with the earth) and atactic (build working-class militants and win concessions from employers throughsolidarity unionism), but, like a group of gnomes from South Park, we lacked a steptwo, a strategy that could link the goal andthe tactic. We still dont have one, really,

but from our experi encein Wisconsin it is clearthat we are building onecollectively, just as it isclear that we never wouldhave been ready to havethe impact that we didif we hadnt already wetour feet, as an organiza-tion, in the day-to-day classstruggles at Starbucks, Jimmy Johns, anda myriad of other businesses.

I look forward to the debate in theIWW about what we can learn from thisstruggle and how we can better preparefor the next one. Ill close this letter witha quote from an excellent pamphlet I read just after leaving Wisconsin, Justus Eb-erts The I.W.W. in Theory and Practice(1919):

This brings us to another question,namely: Does the I.W.W. believe in and advocate politics? Absolutely! The I.W.W.is neither anti-political nor non-political.The I.W.W. is ultra-political. That is, the I.W.W. believes that getting votes and winning of ce is not politics of a funda -mental kind.

Graphic: iww.org


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May 2011 Industrial Worker Page 3

__I af rm that I am a worker, and that I am not an employer. __I agree to abide by the IWW constitution. __I will study its principles and acquaint myself with its purposes.

Name: ________________________________

Address: ______________________________City, State, Post Code, Country: _______________Occupation: ____________________________

Phone: ____________ Email: _______________ Amount Enclosed: _________

The working class and the employingclass have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and wantare found among millions of workingpeople and the few, who make up the em-ploying class, have all the good things of life. Between these two classes a strugglemust go on until the workers of the worldorganize as a class, take possession of themeans of production, abolish the wage

system, and live in harmony with theearth. We nd that the center ing of the man -

agement of industries into fewer and fewerhands makes the trade unions unable tocope with the ever-growing power of theemploying class. The trade unions fostera state of affairs which allows one set of workers to be pitted against another setof workers in the same industry, thereby helping defeat one another in wage wars.Moreover, the trade unions aid the employ-ing class to mislead the workers into the belief that the work ing class have interestsin common with their employers.

These conditions can be changed andthe interest of the working class upheldonly by an organization formed in sucha way that all its members in any one in-dustry, or all industries if necessary, cease work whenever a str ike or lockout is on inany department thereof, thus making aninjury to one an injury to all.

Instead of the conservative motto, A fair days wage for a fair days work, wemust inscribe on our banner the revolu-tionary watchword, Abolition of the wagesystem.

It is the historic mission of the work-ing class to do away with capitalism. Thearmy of production must be organized,not only for the everyday struggle withcapitalists, but also to carry on production when capitali sm shall have been over-thrown. By organizing industrially we areforming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.

TO JOIN: Mail this form with a check or money order for initiationand your rst months dues to: IWW, Post Of ce Box 180195, Chicago, IL60618, USA.

Initiation is the same as one months dues. Our dues are calculated

according to your income. If your monthly income is under $2000, duesare $9 a month. If your monthly income is between $2000 and $3500,dues are $18 a month. If your monthly income is over $3500 a month, duesare $27 a month. Dues may vary outside of North America and in RegionalOrganizing Committees (Australia, British Isles, German Language Area).

Membership includes a subscription to the Industrial Worker .

Join the IWW Today

T he IWW is a union for all workers, a union dedicated to organizing on the job, in our industries and in our communities both to win better conditionstoday and to build a world without bosses, a world in which production anddistribution are organized by workers ourselves to meet the needs of the entire popu-lation, not merely a handful of exploiters.

We are the Industrial Workers of the World because we organize indus trially that is to say, we organize all workers on the job into one union, rather than dividing workers by trade, so that we can pool our strength to ght the bosses together.

Since the IWW was founded in 1905, we have recognized the need to build a truly international union movement in order to confront the global power of the bossesand in order to strengthen workers ability to stand in solidarity with our fellow workers no matter what part of the globe they happen to live on.

We are a union open to all worke rs, whether or not the IWW happens to haverepresentation rights in your workplace. We organize the worker, not the job, recog-nizing that unionism is not about government certi cation or employer recognition but about workers coming together to add ress our common concerns. Sometimesthis means striking or signing a contract. Sometimes it means refusing to work withan unsafe machine or following the bosses orders so literally that nothing gets done.Sometimes it means agitating around particular issues or grievances in a speci c workplace, or across an industry.

Because the IWW is a democratic, member-run union, decisions about what issuesto address and what tactics to pursue are made by the workers directly involved.

IWW Constitution Preamble

A Week Of Commemoration For The Triangle Factory F

Babul Akhter & Kalpona Akter, Bangla-desh Center for Worker Solidarity.

By Tom KeoughIn the month of March, IWW members

commemorated the 100th anniversary of the terrible Triangle Shirtwaist Fac-tory Fire. Nobody has forgotten how the businessmen were allowed to treat theiremployees so badly that 146 people werekilled and the owners got away with serv-ing no prison time, paying no money to the victims families and eventually becomingthe proprietors of a new factory nearby andcontinued to live the good life.

Recently, an excellent website, http:// www.rememberthetr iangle fire.o rg, wasset up that helped facilitate and publicizemany activities designed to memorial-ize the tragedy. They published a list of events which included 94 different typesof events in New York City and nearly that many in other parts of the UnitedStates. The television station PBS ran anexcellent documentary on the fire andthe labor movement of that time. Theseevents were organized and sponsored by dozens of unions, Jewish organizations, wom ens gro ups , schoo ls, mus ici ans,Italian-American and Asian-Americanorganizations, church groups and evensome elected of cials.

Wobblies participated in severa l of these events. Wobblies from New York and New Jersey went to a very well-orga-nized evening forum at the Fashion In-stitute of Technology (FIT) on March 23.Entering the hall, attendees walked by cardboard buildingseight feet tall withcardboard womenon re leaping totheir deathsa very dif cult image toforget. The entireFIT communitystudents, staff and

administration worked skillfully to remember thispro t-driven horrorin our industry.The forum included

a combination of speakers and a fashionshow by students. The event was hosted by the staff union, the United CollegeEmployees of the Fashion Institute of Technology (UCE FIT). The president of the union, Juliette Romano, was greatshe spoke about her union and said thatshe is very proud that her union wasalways a union of all the staff at FIT. Allstaff, from building staff, of ce staff, andprofessors, are members of one union.

The main speaker was Kalpona Akter,a former child garment worker and Execu-tive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidar ity (BCWS). She spoke of a recent re which killed 54 women inBangladesh. She said that, Bangladeshessentially has a Triangle Fire every year.She spoke about the suffering of the work-ing class and their recent ght back, as wellas problems of the U.S. working class buy-ing clothes made in sweatshops. Last yeargarment workers in Bangladesh organizeda massive strike. Many of the workers wereimprisoned. Akter and several other lead-ers were given special treatment in prison,and they were tortured repeatedly. It wasonly through international solidarity frommany organizations, including Amnesty International and the International LaborRights Forum (ILRF), that brought theirrelease. The ILRF and SweatFree Com-munities were also sponsors of the event,proving, once again, why solidarity is stillso important today.

Akter felt thatthe strike did not

achieve enough of its goals. The strike

and the previousorganizing did get

a pay increase,raising the pay froman amount equal to

$10 per month be-fore the organizing began to $20 per

month. Last yearsstrike changed the

pay to $40 per

month. Some improvements were madein the areas of safety, sanitation andscheduling.

This forum led up to the main TriangleFire remembrance eventa spirited marchand rally in front of the building where there occurredon March 25, 2011.

Early that morning a group of peopleassembled in Union Square. One-hundredforty-six people wore the names of the vict ims of the fire . Many unio ns wererepresented by groups of their members with their families and friends. LaborersLocal 79 and other unions also gave theirmembers signs which had the names of people who died in the re. The Team -sters, the Amalgamated Lithographersof America (ALA), the Retail, Wholesaleand Department Store Union (RWDSU), Actors Equity, the Hudson County LaborCentral Labor Council of N.J., UCE FITand FIT students as well as union staff

and students from New York University,United Students Against Sweatshops,other organizations and even some electedofficials marched. Some marchers hadlarge photos of the Triangle workers, while others wore t-shirts with the names

all listed on the back. Some people whomarched were relatives of people who werekilled. The message of the march was ex-plained with signs with such messages asWhen it comes to Corporate Pro ts LIFEis an Expendable Commodity.

IWW member David Temple was there with his high school student s. Many of these students are from Bangladesh. Fel-low Worker Temple was actually able tohave his students meet with U.S. LaborSecretary Hilda Solis. He teaches his stu-dents about international labor issues andhas long run a program called the Breadand Roses Curriculum. The students metSolis while marching down Broadway fromUnion Square Park. She recognized him bringing his students to the commemora-tion and chatted with the students. Sheasked them where they were from and a19-year-old told her three of them werefrom Uzbekistan, seven from China, eight

from Bangladesh, and one from Tibet!Earlier, in the park, FW Temple spottedBjorn from SweatFree Communities withthe garment labor leader from Bangla-desh, Kalpona Akter, The students chatted with Akter, mostly in English. After thisevent, Akter went on to speak in Chicago,Boston,Washington, D.C., Philadelphiaand then at New York University the fol-lowing week.

It was meaningful and emotional. I washed a tear to think that my Bubby andPop could have been victims, too, and feelso proud of my radical union grandfather,said FW Temple. There were about 2,000people present and the entertainment wasgood. Another highlight was when MayorBloomberg went on to speak, the crowd booed him. Bloomberg is known for want-ing to break city unions.

On March 26, Wobblies attended theSweatfree Upper West Side Rally. This wasorganized to connect the other Triangleevents to the problems of sweatshopstoday in New York City. This event was or-ganized to support the red workers at theSaigon Grill restaurant who protest andlea et every day outside the restaurant.In 2009, the Saigon Grill was the scene of a year of protest by the workers and many support groups including unions, studentgroups, workers centers and other social justice groups. The IWW had joined thesepicket lines many times. In December2009 the owners were arrested and jailedfor numerous crimes including wage andsafety violations. A new owner bought the business. He received community support,including the required community approv-al to get a liquor license, because he toldthe community that he would be a socially conscious businessman who would runSaigon Grill different from the previousowners. He then red his s taff, saying thathe wanted younger looking workers. Thestaff has picketed and lea eting every day since, even in the worst weather. Severalhundred people were at the rally, includ-ing elected of cials and clergy. A unionorganizing group from Dominos Pizzaattended the demonstration in solidarity.One worker told me how they had been

inspired by the Starbucks Workers Union.

Photo: Tom Keough

Commemorating the Triangle victims at the site of the re. Photo: Diane Krauthamer


4/16


Graphic: Mike Konopacki

Their Interests And OursBy Scott Nappalos

The employers interests are our inter-ests. We are all in a circle with the patientsin the center, a union president told us atthe rst meeting of nurses in my moribundhospital local. The union administratorhad been sent from out of state to developa labor-management partnership com-mittee and try to create a collaborativerelation between the bosses and the union. At my workplace, management routinely reminds aging workers they would re athird of them if they could to achieve achange in culture.

The union administrator wanted us todevelop programs that would cut costs formanagement and help our working condi-tions. After exploring op-tions management wouldnot accept and ones that would not help us, I half- jokingly suggested we reall the managers and runthe units ourselves.

A veteran nurse whousually is a union yes-woman told us a

story. A hurricane swept into our state. All the hospitals initiated their emergency plans. At her hospital, the director of nurs-ing ordered everyone to go home in themiddle of the storm because she wantedto save money, and was hoping it would be a small storm.

The workers disobeyed and carried outtheir own plan to run the hospita l withoutmanagement on board. They successfully cared for the patients in a disaster situa-tion. No one was disciplined for refusingto go home.

Health care is special in that we needthe services it provides. In a sense weall have common interests in keepingit running. At the same time having aclass analysis of society as a whole helpsus understand where management and workers interests diverge even in healthcare. Management is a class that earns its

living through managing and increasingthe labor of others. That pressure leadsto interests against our own, and againsthumanity as a whole.

My coworkers at the meeting instinc-tively resisted the administrators attemptsto sell partnership. Every day we face de-humanizing behavior and a factory modelof lean production that turns our caringlabor for others into a mechanized form of assembly labor. Our bosses routinely tellus they want to eliminate us, and wouldsee us on the streets if they could. They do not put forward any concept of workingtogether for the patientinstead their po-sition is that we are the problem. Manage-rial organization is directed at solving the

problem posed by work-ers unwilling and unableto conform to their engi-neered designs. At best,they offer us apologies forthe health care system, but emphasize discipline,subservience and utilize

heavy threats.

At the same time my coworkers werenot inherently opposed to the idea of apartnership. We care about the patientsso we see the need to have some way of moving forward. The union leadership hadto pitch the idea. The workers rejected it but did not spontaneously propose classstruggle as an alternative, or any alterna-tive for that matter. This dynamic, beingpulled between worlds, is not an aberra-tion but is a part of our experience in work. Workers are torn between two worldstheideas and practices of the dominatingclasses and our ownstunted and held back by the constant reproduction of classrelationships all around us. As organizers,it is our job to draw that process out, andcontribute to building the struggles thatcan rupture that teeter-totter and facilitateour coworkers becoming conscious of theirpower and interests.

ATTENTION!IMPORTANT DUES RETENTION NOTICE FOR ALL

MEMBERS WITHIN THE 300 DEPARTMENTIn February 2011, the IWW General Executive Board granted the 330 Industrial OrganizingCommittee voluntary dues retention of all its members falling on the jurisdiction of the 330IOC. This means that all members within the 300 department may opt to pay their dues totheir IOC to further the organizing of their Industry.

How will this work for 300 members that currently belong to a GMB?For the time being, 300 members will have to decide whether they want to continue beinga part of their general membership branch, or if they want to be a part of their IndustrialOrganizing Committee. I f you wish to pay your dues to your IOC, simply tell whatever delegatethat you are paying dues to that you wish to have your dues go to the 330 IOC. However,

we are working with the GHQ to make it possible for individuals to belong to both of themin the near future.How will this work for 300 members that do not belong to a branch?

This is your chance to belong to and participate in a body of the IWW. If you currently paydues through an at-large delegate, you can continue to do so. You must tell the delegatethat you want your dues to go to the 330 IOC (More information for delegates can be foundbelow). If you are paying online, you will need to stop and begin paying your dues to eithera nearby delegate or to a 330 delegate. You can use the information below to contact theIOC for more information on how to do this.

Im a delegate. How do I collect dues for the 330 IOC?Clearly earmark the dues that are collected for 330 on your delegate sheet. Make sure torecord what member(s) on your sheet are paying to 330. It is of the upmost importance thatif a member belonging to the 300 department is paying dues to you that you inform theFellow Worker of their right to pay dues to their IOC. If the Fellow Worker chooses to do so,you must be very clear in your recording of the destination of those dues.

Im a branch secretary, what do I do?GHQ has put together a new Branch secretary report for dues collected for IOCs. When youtake in the delegates sheets every month, you will check to see if there are any earmarkeddues for the 330 IOC. If so, you will record this on a separate report that you will receive fromGHQ. (If you do not have this report form contact GHQ for instructions). The dues will not besplit with the branch. The full dues will be sent to GHQ, and headquarters will split the duesthere between the IOC and GHQ.************

This is a great step in the march to Industrial democracy within the construction industry.Our dues retention will provide us with the ability to provide our members with new memberpackets, hardhat stickers, and trainings. Also it will provide us with sustainable funds to insurethat we have the ability to take on organizing drives.

We thank everyone in the entire union for your work and support as we move forwardin building the construction union in the IWW.

To our fellow 300 members, this is the time to make the 300 IUs strong once again. Thereis a lot of work to be done and a lot of different seats to be lled. If we are going to createa union that will better our jobs and our lives, all members must stand up and contribute nomatter how small or large the task. Get in touch with a committee member to nd out howyou can help the work along.

Sincerely,330 [email protected] [email protected]

Solidarity Greetings from the PittsburghAnti-Sweatshop Community Alliance

And the IWWs unof cial

Cartography Departmentplease send maps to KennethMiller, 1306 Shef eld Street,3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA15233. Call 412-867-9213 forinformation about the IWWsCar tography Depar tmen t .

On May Day, the IWW t r anscends l anguage ,geogr aphy and t i m e .

Graphic: Bill Yund, published in The Point of Pittsburgh by Charles McCollester


5/16


By Chris Garlock, Labor NotesWherever Scott Walker goes, he

needs to know that were going to bethere waiting for him, said InternationalFederation of Professional & Technicaly Engineers (IFPTE) President Greg Jun-

emann at a demonstration in Washington,D.C., against the controversial Wisconsingovernor. Walker testi ed at the HouseOversight and Government Reform Com-mittee hearing on April 14.

Outside, two dozen demonstratorschanted, Hey, Walker, you cant hide, we can see your corporate side and Tax Wal l Str eet , no t Ma in Str ee t, dra w-ing interest from passing tourists and aspeedy response from Capitol Police. Po-lice threatened arrests and dispersed theunpermitted demonstration organized by National Nurses United.

Ann Loui se Tetr ault , a nurs e from Wisconsin, was booted from her seat in thehearing by a Republican committee staffer before the hearing began, and report er

Chris Garlock of the Metro Washington AFL-CIO was ejected from the hearingentirely.

The people of Wisconsin did not vote for his agenda, said Junemann, a Wisconsin native.

The House Republicans had plannedto use the hearing to give Walker andthe National Right to Work Committee anational stage to attack workers rights,under the guise of fixing broken state budgets. More than half the Republicancommittee members are recipients of funds from the anti-union Koch brothers, big donors to Walker.

The plan back red when Walkerfound himself the subject of toughquestioning from Democratic commit-tee members. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio forced Walker to admit that severalanti-union provision in his controversialbudget repair bill had nothing to do with balancing the states budget. Rep.Elijah Cummings of Maryland called

politicians effortsto use the eco-nomic downturnto strip American workers of theirrights shameful.

And despite Walkers bestefforts to dodgethe question, henally had toadmit to Rep.Gerry Connelly of Virginia that hednever brought uprepealing workerscollective bargain-ing rights duringhis campaignfor governor. Even fellow witness PeteShumlin, governor of Vermont, chidedhis colleague, saying, If you want to goafter collective bargaining, just comeout and say it, but if you want to balance

your budget, you bring people together, you have a dialogue.

This story originally appeared on April 14 in Labor Notes . It was reprinted

with permissiion.

By John KalwaicOn April 4, International Longshore

and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10shut down the Big Container Port in Oak-land, Calif., as a line of trucks waited in vain for the workers to unload the cargo.The initiative to strike and not unload theport was spearheaded by the rank-and- leunion members. The demonstration waspart of nationwide labor demonstrationsto protest anti-union measures againstpublic employees in several states as wellas to commemorate the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was killed while supporting striking sanitation work-ers in Memphis, Tenn. Also, in Oakland,approximately 100 teachers and educatorscame out to protest Wells Fargo Bank. Theteachers chanted bail out schools, not the

ILWU Local 10 Shuts Down Oakland PMacys Union Square in San Francisco waspaying in 1987, except Macys provided100 percent employer-paid bene ts.

The union is currently in contractnegotiations with the owners. Stonemoun-tain offered the same contract as they did three years agono wage increase,a pitiful increase in paid time off and afour-year agreement to these terms. We were proud ly told by the owners that weare some of the highest paid fabric store workers in the United States, which sug-gests that others are horribly underpaid. All of the current employees a t the store

are womenits sad thata female business ownerfeels she can exploitother women.

The owners appar-ently think we all haveother jobs which areextremely lucrative and we dont need the mon-ey. In reality, standing

on a concrete oor for nine hours a day,three or four days a week, doesnt leave

anyone a whole lot of energy for doinganything else.

We ar e as ki ng fo r su pp or t fr omStonemountain customers and the com-munity at large in our ght for a decent wage. We love the store and the customersand we want it to succeed, but we also wantto share nancially in that success. Pleaseemail the owners, Suzan at [email protected], and Bob at steinbergdiane@ yahoo .com, and tell them you supporthigher wages for Stonemountain workers.

By Jane PowellThis year marks the 30th anniversary

of Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics,an institution based in Berkeley, Calif., andone of the few independent fabric storesleft standing as chain fabric stores aretaking over. Stonemountain has remainedpro table even in this dif cult economy,grossing over $2 million in 2010. Own-ers Suzan and Bob Steinberg are proudof the stores longevity and their claimof giving back to the community, butthey should be ashamed. Their business was actually built by retail workers whoseskills and knowledgethey tout constantly, but who hav e nev er beenpaid a living wage oroffered more than part-time hours.

The store was rstunionized by the IWW in 2003, and a few concessions have beenmade since then. The base wage is now a whopping $10.70 per hour, and you

can get crappy Kaiser health insurance if youre willing to devote one- third of yourmonthly paycheck to the premiumexcept you wont be able to afford to use it, seeingas how it has a $1,500 deductible. A $10.70per hour wage may seem like a lot topeople who are being paid minimum wagein other retail jobs, but the reality is thatretail wages have barely risen at all overthe past 25 years while the cost of gas, foodand rent have tripled. The Stonemountainstarting wage today is approximately what

Stonewalled By Stonemountain banks.

Protesters took turns at the bullhorn,demanding that workers jobs, pensions,schools and social services must be safe-guarded before one cent of interest is paidto the banks and wealthy bond investors. Which has priority, they asked: pro ts forthe wealthy, or our childrens future?

They also highlighted Wells Fargosrole in the foreclosure epidemic and de-manded a moratorium on foreclosures,so that families can stay in their homes.

On April 4, The Bail out the PeopleMovement organized demonstrations at Wells Fargo branches in Los Angeles andBaltimore, in solidarity with the teachersaction in Oakland. Wells Fargo is based inCalifornia, with their main headquartersin San Francisco.

Demonstrators outside Walkers hearing in D.C on April 14.

By the Industrial Worker In the Correction: The Real Matilda Rabi-

nowitz, which appeared on page 5 of the April2011 IW , we mistakenly said that Matildasgranddaughter contacted the IW . Robbin Hen-derson is, in fact, Matildas grandson. The IW apologizes greatly for this error.

Correction To The Correction

Chloe Reynolds and Helen Reichelt demon-strate in Perth, Australia, on International

Womens Day, March 8, 2011.

By Bruce CampbellThe actions of the IWW in Australia in the early years of the 20th century still shape the face of unionism in the

country. Before the IWW, Australian unionism, despite its many good points, had a huge downsideit was for advanc-

ing the causes of the white man only. Of course, there were good people who knew that the worker deserved better.The arrival of IWW ideology in Australia helped to organize these people into a radical force, leading to the formationof the IWW Australian Regional Organizing Committee (ROC) in 1907.

The legacy of the IWW in Australia is hugely important, as the IWW was the rst unionor for that matter, groupin Australia to call for an end to racism, the right of free speech, equal rights for women and many other policies that arenow part and parcel of mainstream union policy in Australia. We should note that while there sure is still a distanceto travel, much of what the IWW called for back in the 1910s and 1920s is largely in place today.

Australian IWW members of the past are particularly famous for their vocal and outspoken opposition to conscrip-tion. They can be said to have led this successful struggle to stop poor workers from being sent overseas to ght otherpoor workers who were defending their homelands while the wealthy on both sides just got richer.

After the rs t of cial push on conscription failed, thanks to the actions of the IWW, the Aus tralian governmentused the War Precautions Act and the Unlawful Associations Act to arrest and prosecute anti-conscriptionists. TomBarker, editor of the IWW newspaper Direct Action , was sentenced to 12 months in prison in March 1916. Addition-ally, 12 prominent IWW activists, called the Sydney Twelve, were arrested in New South Whales in September 1916for arson and other offenses, despite a to tal lack of evidence. The Australian government even locked up the legendary proto-Wob Monty Miller, con ning him to a lthy cell, despite Monty being in his mid-80s.

The good news is that the Australian government lost a second push to introduce conscription after they had locked

up all the leading Wobbliesan indication of how much the Wobblies had in uenced the conscription debate and othersocial justice matters in the broader community. So, despite the Australian governments attempts to run them out of town, the Australian IWW fought on against injustice, as it does to this day.

The IWW continues to occupy a mythological place in Australian union history as the militant social justice avant-garde of the Australian labor movement. It is to the memory of Fellow Workers past that Australian Wobblies o f today have arranged for the IWW Australian ROC to become Foundation Members of the Australian National Museum of Labour, which is to be built in the nations capital, Canberra, in the coming months. Heres to our heroes pastmay you inspire us always to ght the good ght!

IWD In Australia, Part Two To The Memory Of Heroes Past: IWW & The Australian Labour M

Photo: Jake Scholes

Graphic: iww.org

Hey Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: You Cant Hide!

Photo: Chris Garlock, Labor Notes

Photo: workerspower.netILWU Local 10 demonstrates on April 4.


6/16


May Day Special

A famous rendition of Chicagos Haymarket bombing in 1886.

Celebrating May Day Throughout The World:By Autumn Gonzalez andNicholas DeFillipis

May Day has its origins in thelong, ferocious struggle for aneight-hour work day. The conceptof a celebratory work stoppageto achieve this goal started in Australi a on April 21, 1856. Al-though the Australian workersoriginally planned this to be aone-time event, annual proletar-ian celebrations gained popularity in Australia and quickly caughton across the globe. May Day as we know it burs t on to the laborand political scene in 1884 whenthe Federation of OrganizedTrades and Labor Unions (which became the American Federationof Labor) passed a resolution pro-claiming that eight hours wouldconstitute a legal work day afterMay 1, 1886. The resolution calledfor a general strike to achieve thisgoal, gaining the support of over250,000 workers by April 1886.

On May 1, 1886, more than300,000 workers across the Unit -ed States walked off their jobs. InChicago alone, 40,000 workers struck. Thestruggle continued beyond May 1, with thenumber of strikers in Chicago swelling to100,000 by May 3. This resulted in policerepression of the strike, causing clashes between workers and cops that led to theHaymarket Massacre.

In 1889, the International WorkersCongress, attended by 400 delegationsfrom across the world, called for May 1,1890, to be a day of international dem-onstrations for an eight-hour work day.It was a huge success, and workers in the

United States, most of Europe, Chile, Peruand Cuba took to the streets. The next year,Brazil, Ireland and Russia celebrated theirrst May Day. In 1913, Mexican, CostaRican and Ecuadorian workers held theirrst May Day celebrations, followed by Chinese workers in 1920 and Indian work-ers in 1927.

Since its inception in 1905, the IWW vowed to continue the annual May Day tra-dition. In 1907, the Wobblies kick-startedtheir May Day activities by publishinga class-conscious statement criticizingLabor Day:

Labor Day has completely lost itsclass character. The very fact that Labor Day was legally, formally and of ciallyestablished by the capitalist class itself,through its organized government, tookthe starch out of it: destroyed its classcharacter. The First of May has not been disgraced, contaminated, and blas- phemed by capitals of cial sanction and approval, as has Labor Day. The capital-ist class can never be a friend of May Day;it will ever be its enemy.

In 1911, the IWW was making a major

commotion in its ght for the eight-hour work day. Under IWW leadership, eight-hour-day groups were set up across thecountry, printing and distributing thou-sands of stickers which read, I wont work more than eight hours a fter May 1,1912, how about you? The struggle was to be topped off with a massive demonstra -tion on May Day 1912. To celebrate May Day in 1918, as well as to protest poor working conditions, thousands of IWW lumberjacks soaked their blanket rolls inkerosene to make a huge bon re, forcing

the bosses to supply them with more ac-ceptable bedding.Commemoration of the holiday led

to violence in May 1919, when union-ists, workers, socialists and anarchistsmarched in Cleveland to protest the jailingof Eugene V. Debs. As the group movedthrough the city, some police on the side-lines demanded they lower their red ags;the marchers refused. Fighting broke outand lead to two deaths, 40 injuries andover 100 arrests. Some years later, duringthe Great Depression, the unemployedmarched en masse on the holiday, andmany were attacked or arrested by police.

On May 1, 1944, imprisoned Ger -man, Polish, Czech and Russian leftistsin the Buchenwald Concentration Campsecretly rendezvoused to celebrate May Day, singing working-class songs and giv-ing speeches. This came only a few daysafter German communist Wilhelm Pieck broadcasted his May Day greetings to theGerman people from Soviet radio waves,predicting the Nazi regime would soon bedefeated. On May 1 of the very next year,the world breathed a sigh of relief as of-

cials reported that Hitler was dead!In 1946, in an economically troubled

and defeated Japan, workers celebratedtheir rst May Day since 1934. Singingleftist songs, 250,000 Japanese workersdemonstrated in Tokyo to demand a sev-en-hour work day, the dissolution of theShidehara Cabinet, and, most importantly,food. The event was dubbed Food May Day. In 1952, anger mounted among Ko-rean workers in Japan over the American war in Korea, and Japaneseleftists were unhappy about

the collaboration betweenthe Japanese and Americangovernments. As a result,3,000 people rioted in Tokyoand Kyoto, clashing withpolice, overturning cars,and breaking U.S. Air Forceof ce windows. This riot be -came known as the Bloody May Day Incident.

During post-war years, workers continued to honorand celebrate May Day. American author and com-munist Howard Fast, in apamphlet to promote a May Day march in New York City, explained in artfulprose why protest in 1951 was as impor tant as ever :an end to the Korean War,a call for a powerful unionmovement, freedom from want, an end to segregation.His words ring true today as wars persist, the labor move-ment continues to fend off

attack, the gap between rich andpoor expands exponentially, andthe powerful use race as a tool todivide and distract.

May Day returned to Indone-sia in 1995 for the rst time in 30 years. Organized by the Centre forIndonesian Working Class Strug-gle and Students in Solidarity withDemocracy, workers protestedfor an increase to the minimum wage, freedom to organize, andthe release of political prisoners.In the Indonesian capital of Ja-karta, a delegation of 100 peopledelivered their demands to theMinistry of Labour. In the city of Semarang, 1,500 people took partin a rally resulting in brutal assault by authorities. Many workers were beaten in the streets and arrestedthat year, but Indonesians perse- vere and continue to celebrate May Day. Thousands took to the streetsof Jakarta during last years rally

to demand a guaranteed pension.In the 21st century workerscontinue to honor the traditionof dissent and protest that has

marked May 1 for over 100 years. In May 2006, Latino immigrants called for a boy-cott of businesses and a day-long strike inthe United States. The call to action wastouched off in part by the xenophobic bor -der fence movement, which gained trac-tion in the Sensenbrenner Bill in Congress.The bill would also have made it illegal toknowingly assist an undocumented im-migrant to remain in the United States.

Continued on next page

Graphic: kasamaproject.org

Stamp from May Day in Italy, 1990. Graphic: iisg.nl

I LOVED it.

The Smell of Money

What great music too, but I really enjoyed the lyrics! Reminded me so much of all my comrades from all my years as an activist. I kept trying to pick a favourite song to tell you - but each new one changed my mind.

- Delores Broten, editor of The Watershed

Sentinel , B.C.Smokey Dymny has been writing political songs

since the 1970s.Hes played on picket lines from sea to shed-

out sea. Hes played four of Torontos Labour Dayparades, many May Day events, and many, manyprotest rallies. He was arrested at least six of these .

His rst CD,The Smell of Money: Dollars, Dirt& Desolation, has full accompaniment by Canadian

jazz & folk virtuosos. The song General Strike was recommended by Utah Phillips for inclusion in the Little Red Songbook. The title song is about pollution in industrialtowns in Canada. Smokeys political & environmental songs are often laced with satireand feature many sing-a-long c horuses, appropriate for a member of the IWW.

Now he has a new CD outSolidarity Is Easywhose title song is in the latestLittle Red Song book.

For more information, visit http://radio3.c bc.ca/#/bands/Smokey, http://unionsong.com/reviews/dymny.html and http://www.newunionism.net/solidarityidol.htm.

Purchase CDs at: http://store.iww.org, or send $17 (CAD) to:Smokey Dymny, Box 745, Quathiaski Cove, B.C., V0P 1N0, Canada


7/16


May Day Special

Continued from previous page Although the b ill managed to pass in

the House, it had the unintended effect of mobilizing immigrant communities andallies around the nation, centered aroundthe actions on May 1. The call for a day-long boycott and strike was heeded by Latinos, with major marches bringing asmany as 100,000 people into the streetsin many major cities. The huge turnout brought much-deserved attention to the is-sue of immigrant rights, sparking nationaldebate on immigration policy, reformand racism. The push for a border fenceand criminalization of undocumentedimmigrants was defeated for a time, as workers, immigrants, students, churches,unions and entire communities raisedtheir voices and withheld their work inprotest on May Day.

As the Iraq War has continued on,the International Longshore WorkersUnion (ILWU) used May Day 2008 toshow solidarity with both the people of Iraq and with the working-class youth of

the military. The ILWU, much like theIWW, has a long tradition of standing upagainst unjust wars and taking aggres-sive direct action to further their goals;the ILWU helped organize the groupLabor for Peace, and during the 1930s,ILWU members blocked shipment of supplies to fascist movements in Eu-rope and Asia. In that spirit of solidarity

and action, on May 1, 2008, the unionshut down WestCoast ports to protestthe war. Iraqi port workers, also unionmembers, shut downtheir port for an hourin concert with theaction and sent amessage of solidarity to their brothers andsisters in the ILWU.

May Day protestsin 2010 targeted Arizonas SenateBill 1070 and otheranti-immigrant leg-islation. Similarly in 2006, thousandsmarched in citiesaround the UnitedStates, comingtogether against billsthat target Latino and

immigrant communi-ties.On May Day 2010,

the Uni ed Communist Party of Nepal(Maoist) launched a general strike thatlasted for six days, involving upwards of 600,000 workers. The strikers demandedthe resignation of the prime minister, who was widely viewe d as a puppe t of

the expansionistIndian govern-ment to Nepalssouth. Seventy-thousand strik-ers surroundedthe national cap-ital of Kathman-du on May 4 .Pro-governmentgroups and thepolice clashed wi th th e Ma o-ist strikers, butoverall it was a

A Look Back And A Look Ahead

peaceful strike. Although the strike waseventually called off and did not lead to theresignation of the prime minister, it was agreat advancement for the anti-capitaliststruggle in Nepal.

During the infamous Greek May Day of 2010, hyped by trade unions, left- wing political parties and anarchists, atleast 20,000 people marched through Athens to combat the unpopular auster-ity measures of tax increases, wage cutsand pension reductions demanded by theEuropean Union in exchange for a bailoutof the economically-troubled Greek state.Chants of Hands off our rights, IMF andEU Commission out! echoed throughoutGreece as protesters clashed with police,smashed windows and started res in tsof justi able indignation.

Clearly, recent events in Wisconsinand Ohio, and the assault on collective

barga ining rights for employees every - where, are on our minds this May Day. Workers, students, small business own-ers and members of the community havemarched into the streets and reclaimed thepublic space of their state houses. We haveall been reminded that, yes, there is thepossibility for large-scale protest and dis-sent in this country. Workers everywherehave watched people rise up in Egypt andthroughout the Middle East, against insur-mountable odds and at great personal risk.The world has seen rst-hand the powerof a peoples action to topple even themost entrenched regimes. The movementtoward a better world begins with smallsteps. When we talk openly about currentstruggles internationally and at home, wecan educate each other on the power of workplace and community solidarity, andorganize for action!ILWU port shut-down, 2008. Photo: sites.google.com/site/maydayilwu

Thousands march on the streets in Greece, May Day 2010. Photo: cedarlounge.wordpress.com

By Jon HochschartnerThey say familiarity breeds contempt. Thats certainly how I feel about the protest songs of the Wood-

stock generation. So in honor of May Day, the international workers holiday, Id like to present 10 of the best protest songs from my lifetime.

10. Fight the Power by Public Enemy Theres probably never been a more obnoxiously shameful sellout than Flavor Flav, but

Public Enemys in uence is undeniable. So theyre here.9. The New World Order by De ance, Ohio Despite amisleading title, which often relates to right-wing conspiracy theory,this is a joyful lampooning of the myth of American exceptionalism. As Sherri Miller puts it, If you cant hear Gods calling, youre prob-ably from France.

8. Take the Power Back by Rage Against the Machine If Howard Zinn could rap, he might sound a little like this. Here,RATM takes on cultural bias in mainstream accounts of history. Zack de la Rocha rhymes: The presentcurriculum, I put my st in them / Eurocentric, every last one of them!

7. When the President Talks to God by Bright Eyes You can hear so much of the collectivefrustration with Bushs fundamentalist arrogance distilled in Conor Obersts voice.

6. Changes by 2pac Less than 15 year ago, Tupac Shakur declared the obvious: We aint ready to see a black president. Yet I hardly think the election of Barrack Obama would mollify him. Indeed, wereShakur to release the song today, its famous opening would no doubt stay the same: I see no changes! After all, the songs lyrics sound more relevant than ever: Theres war on the stree ts and the war in theMiddle East / Instead of war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me.

5. Fuck tha Police by N.W.A Once upon a time, Ice Cube, now the s tar of family-friendly faresuch as Are We There Yet?, was thought a grave threat by white America. Here, in what was a harbingerof the 1992 L.A. riots, he and the group offers a scathing critique of racial pro ling and police brutality, which earned them a letter from the FBI.

4. 4th Branch by Immortal Technique It takes signi cant talent to recite what is, in essence,a laundry list of U.S. crimes without sacri cing musicality. Immortal Technique accomplishes this. Butlike too many otherwise progressive artists on this list, he holds a deeply reactionary attitude towardgender issues which should not be excused for the sake of solidarity.

3. Know Your Enemy by Rage Against the Machine In a time when celebrity activismmeant shilling for the Democratic party, RATM brought genuinely left-wing politics to a mass audience.Theyre particularly passionate here taking on apologists for American empire. Zack de la Rocha spits:What? The land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy!

2. Rich Mans War by Steve Earle More than the Lefts answer to the jingoism of Toby Keith,this song manages a near timeless quality which transcends both the country genre and the Middle Easterncon icts it describes. Its about all war.

1. Keep Ya Head Up by 2pac Shakur was no great feminist, and perhaps thats what madethis song more necessary, more moving. He takes on sexism, domestic violence, and reproductive rightsin what is arguably the rappers greatest song, political or otherwise.

May Day Mix Tape

Photo: thejosevilson.com


8/16


By Michael MooreMicah Buckley-Farlee was born with

a severe medical condition that results inthe spontaneous partial collapse of hislungs. On a Saturday night last year, while working his shift at a Minneapolis Jimmy Johns, Buckley-Farlee began sufferingsevere chest pains.

I went to my manager and said, Hey,

I need to go to the hospital. I think my lungis collapsing, Buckley-Farlee said.

His managers response: Find some-one to work out the remainder of the shiftor youre red.

Fortunately for Buckley-Farlee, oneof his co-workers was willing to work onshort notice that night. But several currentand former workers at area franchises say the incident raises concerns about thehealth of Jimmy Johns workersandthe safety of the sandwiches theyre paidto make.

Workers are disciplined for calling insick, said David Boehnke, who was redfrom his job at a downtown MinneapolisJimmy Johns after raising concerns about

employees working while sick. The new attendance policy mandates disciplinefor workers who call in sick or cant ndsubstitutes.

Boehnke, who is active in the upstartIWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union, joined30 other workers and supporters in rais -ing awareness of the franchises sick-dayspolicyor lack thereofon March 31 by playfully quarantining a Jimmy Johnsstore in Cedar-Riverside with a picket line.

Jimmy Johns Workers Quarantine Sandwich Sh

Continued from 1members of the IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union (JJWU)posted 3,000 copies of aposter warning the public of health risks at the sandwichchain. Management red sixoutspoken union members

The supporters includedrepresentatives of two state- wide unions that represen t worke rs in the health careeld, the Minnesota Nurs -es Association (MNA) andSEIU Healthcare Minnesota.

Because I work unionand because I have a con-

tract, I can call in sick. Thereare no consequences for meto do that, said Barb Martin,a nurse at Fairview Uni- versi ty Hospi tal. Im heretoday on behalf of the MNA to support the workers atJimmy Johns who are tryingto gain the right to call in sick when they are sick. I really dont want you making me asandwich when you have theu or strep throat.

But according to Boehn-ke, thats exactly what hedid for three days straightduring a bout of strep throat

last year.Were making minimum wage, and that just means wecant afford to not be at work and make the money we needto pay our bills, pay for our kids, pay forour livelihoods, Boehnke said.

Kent Wilcox, a vice president of SEIUHealthcare Minnesota and an employeein a St. Paul hospital, called out Jimmy Johns for putting pro ts before product

safety.When I heard Jimmy Johns corpo-

rate leadership was forcing people to work sick, I knew I had to be here, Wilcox said.Unfortunately, I was not surprised thatanother corporation is putting their dirty greed ahead of their customers and theiremployees health, safety and welfare.

Work er s at the 10 Ji mmy Johnsfranchises owned by Mike and Rob Mul-ligan took part in an organizing electionlast year, but the results were tainted by employe r interf erence , accord ing toa ruling of the National Labor RelationsBoard (NLRB), which nulli ed the elec -tion results.

Six Jimmy Johns Workers Fired For Whistleblowing

While they re-organized support foranother election campaign, Jimmy Johns Workers Union supporters focused on theissue of working sickdistributing iers topatrons warning them of the franchisespolicy of punishing workers for callingin sick.

That activity got six workers firedin March, although the union has ledcharges with the NLRB to get the workersreinstated.

This story originally appeared on Apr il 7, 201 1 in Wor kda y Min nes ota . It was rep rin ted in accord anc e with Workday Minne sota s non-commercial use policy.

in retaliation.The anti-union firings at

Jimmy Johns could easily back re on the company. TheJJWU filed charges with theNational Labor Relations Boardon March 24, seeking reinstate -ment of all red workers.

Poster advising the public of health risks at the sandwich chain.Graphic: IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union

Graphic: JJWU


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A May Day greeting to all of ourbrothers andsisters in the build-ing trades. To allthe people who get upevery day and buildourcommunities we sendgreetings. To allthose who labor for their families totheir own detriment we offer anadditional hand to ease the load. To allthose who work eight to ten hours a dayworking tall in sweat we offer asympathetic ear and shoulder. To all

those who strugglein darkness weoffer the light ofthe One Big Union

and IndustrialDemocracy. Tothose who woulddeny us our rightswe offer a warn-ing. May the poortake courage andthe rich takecare. Our day willcome.

x337310

Happy May Day!from Hit The Bricks (IWW Building Trades Newsletter!)

Continued from 140 hours, his only written warning be re -tracted and removed from his permanentrecord, an immediate cease to any and allharassment and/or retaliation based uponhis union af liation, and for Ozzies to obey all federal labor laws, including those thatrelate to paid overtime.

When Ozzies co-owner Me lissa Azu-

lai found out about the demand letter,Bauer was immediately removed fromthe schedule and unlawfully terminateda week later. Azulai didnt have the de-cency to re Bauer to his face; instead sheinformed his then legal counsel, friendand comrade Daniel Gross, via a phonecall. During this same phone conversation Azulai told Fellow Worker Gross that this will all blow over, it always does. Grossinformed Azulai that thats not how theIWW operates, that when we start a cam-paign we stick with it until the bitter end. When Azulai refused to reinstate Bauer,Gross helped Bauer le an Unfair Labor

Practice (ULP) complaint with the Na-tional Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Atthe same time, the NYC IWW launched anaggressive campaign of direct action thatranged from union-wide phone and emailzaps to increasingly more spirited picketsand demonstrations in front of the store.

Six months later, on Dec. 23, 2010,Region 29 of the NLRB found merit with

Bauers claims and issued a complaintagainst Ozzies Coffee & Tea. A hearingdate was set to take place on Feb. 8, 2011,in front of an administrative law judge.This was later postponed due to the begin-ning of heated settlement talks between Azulais lawyer, Eric M. Baum, and Bauerslegal representation, Benjamin N. Dictorand Quisquella Addison, legal interns fromthe Labor and Employment Law Clinic of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

After a boisterous punk percussionprotest involving whistles, pots and pans,noisemakers and the radical marching band Rude Mechanical Orchestra, OzziesCoffee & Tea nally caved to increasingly militant union pressure and rising legal

fees. In mid-March, Ozzies signed a settle-ment in Bauers favor, worth $15,500.The right to form a labor union is

fundamental; campaign victories like Jeffsare critical to making that right real. This win is a great testament to the power of creative and determined worker-led cam-paigns, said Gross.

FW Bauers victory is a great inspi-ration to every Wobbly barista out there.He has been a driving force of solidarity behind the Starbucks Workers Union formany years. He has stood with us, so westood with him. That is solidarity union-ism. The SWU toasts his hard-fought vic-tory, added NYC IWW member LiberteLocke.

According to the te rms of the NLRBsettlement, Bauer is to be made whole forall lost wages, estimated tips and overtimepay in the amount of $15,400 by May 29,

2011, nearly a year after he was red for organiz ing. Anadditional $100 is attached toa side agreement. Ozzies co-owners Melissa and Alon Azu-lai have agreed to pay Bauer inthree monthly installments.

In addition to makingBauer whole for lost wages,

management is required by the NLRB to conspicuously display a notice stating thatthey will not discharge, issue warnings to, reduce the work hours of, or otherwise discrim-inate against, any employeefor engaging in activities on behalf of Industrial Workersof the World, or any otherlabor organizations, or for en-gaging in protected concertedactivities.

The notice goes on to statethat Ozzies Coffee & Tea willpay Jeff Bauer the wages andother bene ts he lost because

of the alleged discriminationagainst him and that Bauerindicated that he does not want to return to work and would not accept an offer of employment. Furthermore,Ozzies is required to notify Bauer in writing that they haveremoved from their les any references to his warning anddischarge, and that the warn-ing and discharge will not be used againsthim in any way.

Ozzies violated my legally protectedright to join, form or assist a union, Bauersaid. They harassed me, retaliated againstme, reduced my hours, demoted me andterminated me for engaging in protectedconcerted activity.

Im happy that this is almost all be-hind me. I can move on knowing that at

least one boss will think twice before in-terfering with a workers right to organizefor respect and dignity on the job and fora safe, non-hostile work environment,he added.

Bauer is now employed as a proud,dual union card-carrying janitor at theCollege of Staten Island, and is a Wobbly for life.

For more information, visit http:// www.wobblycity.org.

FW Bauer signing the settlement. Photo: Liberte Locke

Graphic: iww.org

Fired Union Barista Achieves Victory In Brooklyn


10/16


Wobbly Arts

Solidarity Forever: A History Of IWW MusiciansBy John Pietaro

Of all U.S. radical organizations, theIWW is perhaps that which has most fully embraced the notion of the revolutionary cultural worker. Many of its early organiz-ers were writers, musicians or visual artists(often simultaneously) who successfully used the arts as a tool in o rganizing work-ers across the globe. The Lefts focus onfolk arts as a representation of culturaland national heritage has been a foremosttool in outreach since the turn of the 20thcentury. This foray into a culture of thepeople became a major point of identi-cation by the proponents of the massesand was the natural outgrowth of the useof songs by workers and others in tryingsituations. Folk song collectors grew inprominence during the rst decades of the20th century, producing a folk revival, which had blossomed by the 1940s. Ironi -cally, in the United States, the political Left(primarily the Socialist and Communistparties) did not acknowledge the impor-tant role of folk arts for decades, thoughthis media was a vastly important histori-cal point of reference. This is particularly true in the IWW.

Accounts of Wobbly musicians have been recorded as early as 1906, jus t one year after the IWWs founding. The Spo-kane IWW branch was approached by highly active Socialist Party orator/orga-nizer Jack Walsh , who developed a planto aid the Wobblies somewhat stuntedorganizing attempts. Though Walsh wasable to draw a considerable crowd in thedepressed tenderloin district of the city,he was encountered purposeful disrup-tions by the missionaries of the Salva-tion Army and one of their particularly pious brass bands. Not to be outdone by

the cacophony, Walsh and the Spokane Wobblies soon had its own powerhouseIndustrial Workers Band . Blaringon cornets and marching to the thunder-ous pulse of drums and tambourines, the Wobbly band were said to have devastatedall whom they crossed. The band, clad in black overhauls and red work shirts, leftno corner safe for the street evangelicals.

According to John Greenways book,American Folksongs of Protest:

Walsh organized a brass band of hisown, in which Mac McClintock played an E- at baritone horn and a giant lum -berjack beat, as McClintock recalled, thebjeezuz out of a bass drum. Walshsband learned four tunes and hammered away at these over and over until theevangelists capitulated.

The Industrial Workers Band, takinga cue from the popular parodies of theevangelists songs, began to perform theirown such lampoons of the Religious Rightof their day. Among them was When theRoll is Called Up Yonder, as well as songs by Harry Mac McClintock (1883-1957), already a noted songster in the hobo jungles, and Richard Brazier . Armed with this minimal repertoire and copiesof song-lyric lea ets they printed up, theBand embarked on something of a tour

of the Paci c Northwests coastal towns.Mac McClintock had come to the

IWW with an arsenal full of topical originalsongs including Halleluiah, Im a Bumand The Big Rock Candy Mountain andhe helped to popularize many of Joe Hillssongs including The Preacher and theSlave. He traveled the country organizingfor the IWW, spending much of his time inthe hobo jungles of the period, where hehad been a frequent guest since his teenage years. Prior to the IWW, McClintock had worked as a railroad switchman in South Afr ica and then , acco rding to Wobbly historian Joyce Kornbluh:

[he] bummed his way to London toattend the coronation of Edward VII in1902. He was a civilian mule skinner inthe Spanish American War, and had alsomade his way to China at the time of the Boxer Rebellion.

Of course McClintock also had thehonor of leading that rst IWW march -ing band, which became a xture in thePaci c Northwest for several years. Mc -Clintock, like others of his generation,remained a Wobbly throughout his life.He began to perform songs of labor andstruggle on radio broadcasts in 1925 andhe continued to have a show through themid-1950s. In addition to his IWW membership, McClintock had also joined the American Fede ration of Musicians Local6 in California, but he is best known as asongwriter of the IWW.

Ultimately the Industrial WorkersBand and the IWW Spokane branch dis-pensed with its early leader Jack Walsh, whom they saw as a shrewd businessmanlargely out for his own pro t. But the dyehad been cast and the cultural workersamong the Wobbly ranks had become

celebrated by the people and notorious by the powers that be. Greenway writes :his idea had taken root, and be-

fore long street singing and organiza-tion became the principal activity of thestruggling Pacific locals. The national policy board besto wed its bened ictionon topical singing as a weapon of revolt,and Walshs four-page lea et grew largeryear by year .

Another important songwriter asso-ciated with the IWW was T-Bone Slim (dates unknown, c. 1890-1942), whoseactual name was Matti Valentine Huhta.T-Bone served the movement as a highly active Wobbly musician/organizer, thoughhe was a journalist by profession in addi-tion to laboring in other elds over the years. He became af liated with the IWW around 1910 and quickly began to write fortheir various periodicals. He also put many of his poems to music. The best known of these was The Popular Wobbly, a parody of the then-hit The Girls Go Wild, Simply Wild Over Me, which Slim transformedinto a sardonic protest song. The Wobbliesown historical documents call T-BoneSlim one of the most famous and popularof Wob writers, as he penned numerouspamphlets in addition to a number of songs. He would remain an active Wobbly

throughout his life.Starting with 1909, the

Wobblies began publishingThe Little Red SongBook which made songsof labor and social changeavailable to all workers.

Richard Brazier, an IWW musician, was part of thecommittee which producedthe rst IWW songbook. Hedescribed how the music of the Industrial Workers rstdrew him in:

What rst attracted me to the IWW was itssongs and the gusto withwhich its members sangthem. Such singing, I thought, was good propa-ganda, since it had origi-

nally attracted me and

many others as well;and also useful sinceit held the crowd forWobbly speakerswho followed.

Wobbly historianSalvatore Salernoclari es:

Cultural expres-sions such as songs,cartoons and poetrybecame a critical form and means of communication be-tween the IWW and its members. While IWW worker intel-lectuals had a majorrole in disseminat-ing knowledge of theactivities, prin-ciples and tacticsof industrial union-ism, worker artistswent beyond formal political expressionsto create a languageand symbolism that made the IWWs principles meaningful within the con-text of the workers cultural and social alienation.

A Wobbly poet/organizer of almostlegendary proportions, later an associ-ate of the Socialist Party, was ArturoGiovannitti (1884-1959). This Italiananarchist relocated to the United Statesin 1901 and became entrenched in thecause of radical labor, developing power-

ful journalism skills along the route.Giovannitti worked as a coal miner and joined the Italian Socialist Federation of North America. Soon thereafter his writ-ing skills led him to the post of editorof the Italian-language left periodical Il Proletario . Quickly, Giovannitti joinedthe IWW and focused his efforts on orga-nizing the textile workers in Lawrence,Mass. He and organizer Joseph Ettorled the groundbreaking Bread and Rosesstrike of 1912, during which both men were arrested on a bogus murder charge. While serving his jail term, Giovannitti was encouraged to write about it and hecomposed the multi-verse book-length work Arrows in the Gale , whichspoke of the struggle and brandished anintroduction by Helen Keller. It includedthe haunting poems The Walker andThe Cage which told of the sense of eternal hopelessness of the men heencountered in jail. A 1913 article in Cur-rent Opinion magazine wrote of Giovan-nitti and his poetic works:

He has the soul of a great poet, the fervor of a prophet and, added to these,the courage and power of initiative that mark the man of action and the organizerof great crusadesThis jail experienceof Giovannittis has given the world oneof the greatest poems ever produced inthe English languageThe Walker ismore than a poem. It is a great humandocument.

More so, a piece in Forum magazineof the day stated:

The signi cant thing is that here wehave a new sort of poet with a new sort of songHe and his songs are productsof something that few Americans yet understand. We do not comprehend the problem of the unskilled just as we do not comprehend the IWW that has come out of it. A poet has arisen to explainIn theWalker he has pointed the prison as noman, not even Wilde, has done.

The charges against Giovannitti andEttor were overturned on appeal and thepair were freed after ve months. Uponrelease, they found that their strike had been a success and the mostly Italian im-

migrant workers had won. Indeed, they

had secured not only a voice on the job but fair and just wages. Following this,Giovannitti participated in the IWWsunsuccessful Patterson Silk Strike and wrote for signi cant Left magazines in both English and Italian, including The

Masses and The International Socialist Review . He also created his own anti-warorgan, Il Fuoco , as World War I erupted.Giovannitti, long considered one of thelabor movements greatest orators, wasexpelled from the IWW in 1916 along withEttor and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn due totheir activities in a Minnesota iron-orestrike that IWW leaders did not agree with.

Joe Hill (Joel Emmanuel Haaglund,a.k.a. Joseph Hillstrom, 1878-1915) wasand remainsthe IWWs guiding culturalforce. A model for the ghting cultural worker, Hill wrote globally relevant, mili-tant topical songs and biting parodies insupport of the union cause and in theprocess spawned a legend. Among hismost famous pieces are The Preacher andthe Slave, Casey Jones, the Union Scab,There is Power in the Union, Mr. Block,and Where the Fraser River Flows,amidst a stream of others. He performedon piano, guitar and various other instru-ments. Hill composed songs in bars andIWW halls at night, so that he would havethem ready for union meetings, picketsand other functions the next day, spread-ing the word of this global industrial unionthrough music. Hill came to the UnitedStates from Sweden as a young man andsaw rsthand the terrible conditions work -ers had to endure in the rst part of the20th century; shortly thereafter he pledgedallegiance to the cause of the IWW. He became a mythic character in all Left fac-tions when he was silenced by the state of Utah via his infamous unjust execution.Famously, his last written statement wasDont mourn for meorganize! Hill, forall the mythology that surrounds him, has been the subject of numerous biographicalsketches; his life, and the frame-up whichended it, have been the viewed as a prin-cipal to the labor historians repertoire.

IWW members Dean Nolen and FredThompsons detailed booklet, Joe Hill:IWW Songwriter, offers considerable in-sight, even if some of it remains shroudedin the Joe Hill legends. While they cite thatHills rst years in the United States wereoften a rather desperate attempt tond employment (he became something

Continued on next page

Joe Hill by Wobbly artist Carlos Cortez.Graphic: favianna.typepad.com

Wobbly musician T-Bone Slim. Graphic: beaugrande.com


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Wobbly Arts

Continued from previous page of a wharf rat,) the rst accounts of hiscultural work date back to 1906. Hill wasthen living in San Francisco and chroni-cled The Great Earthquake for his home-town paper. Later, living in New York, he worked as a porter by day and played pianoin downtown saloons by night. But muchmore to the point:

The earliest parody written by Hill that we know of went to the hymn In the Sweet Bye and Bye, a Salvation Army favori te. It was already in circulationbefore it appeared in the 1911 edition of the IWW songbook.

The IWWs official historical docu-ment, Rebel Voices: An IWW Anthology,describes Hills cultural work as such:

Hills songs and writings articulated the simple Marxism of the IWW Preambleand the Wobbly philosophy of direct ac-tion..Wobblies, socialists, communists, AFL-CIO members transcend sectariandifferences to sing Joe Hills songs and share his lore.

John Greenways American Folk-songs of Protest tells of Hills rst possibleencounter with the Wobblies as well ashis presentation of The Preacher and theSlave to the IWW:

One evening late in 1910 Joe Hill walked into the Portland, Oregon IWW hall with a song he had written to thetune of the popular Salvation Army gospel hymn, In the Sweet Bye and Bye. Hegave it to the secretary of the local, George Reese, who handed i

Documents

Industrial Worker 2011 Vol. 108, No. 4 (Official Newspaper of the IWW (May, 16 Pp.)