When We Fight For Our Rights...

This was the conference WikiWeblog, done posting h ...

This was the conference WikiWeblog, done posting here, it was a fun example of how you can make ideas out of anything.

they call us "troublemakers"

See the slide show of the protest ...

See the slide show of the protest

John Sweeney was apparently led off in cuffs in Ne ...

John Sweeney was apparently led off in cuffs in New Haven this afternoon, not wanting to be one-upped by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was sent to the slammer by New Haven police last week. I wonder if the rally is going to help build momentum here. Yale has historically been really one of the worst.

I'd be interested in hearing what folks thought ab ...

I'd be interested in hearing what folks thought about the organizing discussion today between Kim Moody (Labor Notes), Kate Bronfenbrenner (Cornell U), Jeff Crosby (IUE-CWA), and Suzanne Wall (SEIU). A few thoughts off the top of my head:
1) People did talk about reforming labor law, but the obvious question was never raised: How do we get enforcement of the labor laws already on the books? Even that seems a ways off.
2) S. Wall made the statement "Workers want power. I'm sure they want democracy too. I hope they can have both. K. Moody said he didn't think democracy and power were, or should be, at loggerheads. Obviously, M. Parker and M. Gruelle's book, Democracy is Power, is part of a project aimed at breaking the dichotomy. The question that we must raise is, Power for who? Power for union presidents who lunch with legislators? Power for union staff? Power for local leaders? Power for rank and file leaders. We cannot pretend that these are all one and the same.
3) Another issue re labor law. Why is it not the ONE AND ONLY TOP PRIORITY for the labor movement right now? Why is it not the litmus test to determine support? If Dems do not talk seriously about reforming and enforcing labor law, isn't it just a question of a slow bleeding vs. a quick death?
More to come, but others want to use the internet here.

I have just now learned of them, the first one was ...

I have just now learned of them, the first one was 15 years ago, until 2000 - there were 30 of them. Now over 200. wow.

Off to find out more.

Great conference, see if I can get some photos up.

Best, MarkDilley

We had the worker center pre conference today, and ...

We had the worker center pre conference today, and it was fantastic. It was if not the first, one of the first international worker center meetings with representatives from over 20 worker centers across the country and Mexico. Folks talked about their political vision, the work they do, their organizing strategies, and really drew out the wonderful variety of strategies and structures across the country. - Teo Reyes (2003-09-11) via comments section

I was disheartened to see Harold Meyerson's piece ...

I was disheartened to see Harold Meyerson's piece on
SEIU, HERE, and UNITE [â��Organize or Die,â�� September
2003] in which he simply equated more members with
more strength. Meyerson toutsâ��multiple
timesâ��SEIU's 535,000 new members, but
neglects mentioning that many of those "new"
members come from mergers. A fellow organizer at an
SEIU local that I worked at used to joke with me that the
organizing department in the International should be
called "Mergers and Acquisitions."

In this light, Meyerson's assertion that "it's hard to argue
with 535,000 new members" loses its luster. And
despite Meyerson's quick dismissal of it, the
member-based organizing strategy of the
Communications Workers of America merits another
look. As a white male college student who participated
in a heartbreaking failure of a campaign to organize
women of color at a nursing home, I have developed
doubts about a staff-driven strategy.

Meyerson touts the New Left credentials of Stern,
Wilhelm, and Raynor (the "Ivy Three," as he calls them)
without questioning the lack of certain 60's principles in
the group's "progressive" unions. For example,
SEIU's New Strength Unity plan, which aims to
combine small locals into mega-locals is seen by
many members (some of whom, like library and
facilities management workers at my school, are
successfully deserting the union) as a top-down power
grab that is slowly killing SEIU's participatory
democracy. Meyerson touches on the concern for union
democracy and the need for rank and file leadership in
one paragraph, but he is apparently too smitten with the
"Ivy Three" Presidents to consider the issue thoroughly.

Peter Asen
Member, Brown University Student Labor Alliance
Providence, RI

Teresa Alert IDC 25 Aug 2003 Dear colleagues, Iâ ...

Teresa Alert
IDC
25 Aug 2003

Dear colleagues,

Iâ��m sending you again some information about the Labor Notes Conference in Detroit. I can confirm the presence of Kenneth Riley and JuliÃ¡n Garcia as speakers at the conference. Also, dockworkers from Australia, South Africa, ILA and ILWU already confirmed their assistance. I would like to encourage dockworkers from around the world to participate in this conference, as it could be very interesting for everybody.

In solidarity,

Teresa Alert
Coordination Office
International Dockworkers Council (IDC)
coordination@idcdockworkers.org
www.idcdockworkers.org

If that is ok with folks. . . :-) ...

If that is ok with folks. . . :-)

By Jon Gambrell, Enquirer contributor OX ...

By Jon Gambrell, Enquirer contributor

OXFORD - Under the American flag on the front lawn of Miami University's administration building, Local 209 union president Randy Marcum began a hunger strike Monday to draw attention to a salary dispute between the university and its support staff. via The Cincinnati Enquirer

The links below this post are not working either. ...

The links below this post are not working either. I think because I have used a bunch of different templates, let's see if this one works, then hopefully on to getting comments and rss working again.

:-)

...

i lost my formatting for comments and my rss fee ...

i lost my formatting for

comments and

my rss feed.

oh well, it will take me a little while to get the back, but I know I can.

Will the feed work? ...

Will the feed work?

I am trying to modify the HTML, which is rather fr ...

I am trying to modify the HTML, which is rather frightening, and easy at the same time, let's see if it works!

Subject: Deal on Airport Shuttle to Labor Notes fr ...

Subject: Deal on Airport Shuttle to Labor Notes from Airport

We are really excited about seeing a great bunch of trouble-makin'
folks in Detroit this weekend!

Today's Message Includes:

* Big Kiss for registering now, so we can order the right amount of
food

* RED/BLUE Confirmation cards, and notify us for VEGETARIAN meals

* GREAT DEAL AIRPORT SHUTTLE

* WORKSHOP AND SCHEDULE: Available at
www.labornotes.org/conferences/index.html

* Show off your vintage T-shirt or poster

* DISPLAY TABLES check-in

* Don't Miss Out if you're in driving distance

****************************************************

*REGISTER NOW and get a big kiss! (And a speedy process when you
arrive to the conference.) If you are planning to attend, it helps us
a great deal in planning our hotel food and other needs. You'll be
joining hundreds who have registered already! You can register by
phone at: (313) 842-6262, or on line at: www.labornotes.org.

*RED/BLUE Confirmation Cards & VEGETARIAN meals: Please contact our
office to let us know if you require a vegetarian banquet dinner, if
you have ordered one for Saturday night. Also, don't forget to bring
your RED or BLUE registration confirmation card.

* GREAT RATE---AIRPORT TRANSPORT to the Hyatt Hotel Rock bottom fares
are available from the Detroit Metro Airport to the Hyatt
Regency-Dearborn by Lorraine Cab (and Vans): $25 total for up to 9
people--so for a full van, it's about $3 (plus a tip). The vans are
ORANGE and will have a sign on them saying "LABOR NOTES". Vans depart
approximately every hour. Look for them in the Taxi stand areas at
the airport. Participants can gather and ride together when possible
to share the fare.

No prior reservation is required, but if you do not see a van, you can
call Lorraine Cab: (313) 582-6900, or Michael Grace at (734) 673-1349.

* WORKSHOPS AND SCHEDULE and conference highlights can be seen and
printed from our website: www.labornotes.org/conferences/index.html.
Check out the workshops now to help you decide what to go to...There
are so many choices!

* Vintage Labor T-shirt or Poster: We will have a display at the
conference---Bring your favorite union/labor T-shirt or poster to show
off and you'll take it with you when you leave.

* DISPLAY TABLES check-in. For those who have purchased literature
tables, supplies should be shipped to the Labor Notes (address is
below). Tables can be set up as soon as Friday 9am in the Great Lakes
Center, ground floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dearborn. You must
check-in for your assigned space at the Labor Notes Conference Office
or at the Labor Notes Information Table.

* Don't Miss Out if you're in driving distance! Contact the Labor
Notes Office at 313-842-6262 for information about ride shares that
are available from Madison, Chicago and elsewhere.

Note that there are some road construction projects around Detroit
currently. For information on construction in the Detroit Metro Area, call
1-800-641-6368. For information on contstruction throughout Southeast
Michigan, call 1-800-411-4823.

"Putting the movement back in the labor movement"

Labor Notes
7435 Michigan Avenue
Detroit, MI 48210
Tel: 313/842-6262
Fax: 313/842-0227
mailto:labornotes@labornotes.org

East Coast Office:
104 Montgomery St
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Tel: 718/284-4144
Fax: 718/287-3287
mailto:marsha@labornotes.org

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"...there is one class of workers who are largely ...

"...there is one class of workers who are largely ignored during Labor Day celebrations, even as our country remains at war on multiple fronts: members of the U.S. armed forces."

via MetaFilter

by Pam Galpern September 2003 On Saturday, Augus ...

by Pam Galpern
September 2003

On Saturday, August 2, Verizon workers in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions cleared out their desks, emptied their lockers, and turned in their tools. They removed the batteries from their equipment and got rid of anything that might make it easier for managers and scabs to do their work while they were on strike. No one doubted that a strike was imminent, and most people expected it to be a long one.

The company was well prepared for a long strike. They lined up 30,000 managers and scabs to work as soon as the union members walked, many of them flown in from around the country. Verizon reportedly reserved eight months worth of hotel rooms and hired additional security personnel to monitor strike-related activities.

But a few hours before the contracts between Verizon and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) were set to expire, the unions announced that they would continue negotiating.

Get more of the INSIDE STRATEGY via Labor Notes official website

Pam Galpern is a field technician and a shop steward in CWA Local 1101 in New York City.

For more information on the carrier switch campaign

Possible syndication of this site, by having this ...

Possible syndication of this site, by having this website show us how to add the correct code to the template for this site.

This would allow people to use a free rss reader program to bring the headlines of this site to a program running on your computer. You don't need to come to this site to get your labor news, it comes to you.

All 146 member governments of the World Trade Orga ...

All 146 member governments of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will stand accused next week of complicity in gross human rights abuses. The accusation will come from the international trade union movement. via LaborStart