From: Kenneth Alan Miller (pgh_iww_iu450@yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Apr 30 2002 - 11:37:19 EDT
MAY DAY EVENT – CHARLSTON 5 - ORGANIZE THE SOUTH!
Oh my gosh, May Day is tomorrow! What a great night to get out there and struggle. As you figure out your plans for May Day 2002, consider coming out to hear Ken Riley of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1422 from South Carolina. It is 5 of his Union Brothers that were targeted by the police for picket violations during a strike 2 years ago.
When do workers have rights to organize for better conditions and pay?
What is the real context of the "right to work" laws versus the living wage?
How does the corporatization insinuate itself in every aspect of the workers daily lives?
The South of the United States is sort of right between the Global and us South. Come out and engage in the epic struggle to organize the South!
The event is on Wednesday – THE INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’ HOLIDAY – in 7:30 in the David L Lawrence Hall Rm. 120. Sponsored by the Black Radical Congress with Labor Unions and Union Organizers.
This should be a fantastic event. This is a long fight – and they’ve had a recent legal victory. There is going to be open tabling there. I was thinking of setting up a table with the No Sweatshops Bucco! petition and whatever else is in the box of IWW stuff that has not been sold yet. If anyone on this list wants to work the table and bring things to be on the table from other organizations that would be cool. Please email me if you can help with tabling tomorrow – or even help set up (I have to work until 7, really, I’m going to call folks tonight, please help)
Other dates to stew on:
The 4 that were arrested at open house on March 2 are back in court this Friday. I guess we sort of think that the charges will be dropped or that we the judge will throw them out. Please think some kind thought on Friday morning and remember that cops lie. We are lucky that it looks like they won’t get away with it this time.
The next IWW meeting is this Sunday at 1 PM, probably in Wilkinsberg. Join the IWW Today – but non-members are welcome too. Sometime next month the General Executive Board will consider our petition for Pittsburgh General Membership Branch, rock’n’roll, let’s build the Union! Direct Action Gets the Goods! One Big Union!
Also, May 12 is a good date to head back down to the ballpark. The Buccos play Houston in the afternoon – details still in the hopper, but mark the date.
A few other notes from anti-sweatshop land:
The is one hell of a movement to be a part of. I learned recently that USAS had been approached by the Fair Labor Association (evil, company-monitoring system) who wanted some token students to boost their credibility. USAS told them to fuck off, USAS would never be part of a corporate monitoring group and the work of the WRC would bury the FLA in a tomb of irrelevance. In terms of figuring out how to use these licensing contracts, it sure seems like the good guys have the high ground for the moment. - - - - Not only that but rumor has it that the FLA has been pushed to deal with the New Era facility in Derby and it seems as though the FLA will deny New Era a membership application. - - - It’s pretty neat to watch all this happen. I hope that some of my emails to the Pirates Plan list are helpful.
Also – Major League Baseball continues to stand out as a target to jump on. On May 6 Sisters and Brothers in Phoenix AZ will be demanding multiyear licensing contracts from MLB and MLFull Public Disclosure. USAS and some AFL-CIO Unions in Chicago are slamming the Sox game later this week (or next weekend). Apparently the Pirate Cap Company equivalent in Chicago is actually called the "New Era Store." It is also rumored that they will try some actions INSIDE the stadium.
NEWSLETTER ITCH
There are a lot of very exciting things going on. The landscape in anti-sweatshop land is really shifting in the right direction. There is real news and important fights are being defined. Now is the time for a kick ass newsletter. Now is the time for a kick ass newsletter. Now is the time for a kick ass newsletter. Folks think about a collective scratching?
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