Industrial Workers of the World

Hey there agitators !

Melbourne Union Solidarity members went along to Bourke Street central melbourne event part of international cleaners day.

Multi-cultural speakers in Greek and Spanish revved up those gathered and Latin-American style percussion on inverted metal rubbish bins warmed us up as we chanted along the Mall.

Lots of leaflets were distributed to the passers-by and some stopped and joined in shouted out too as we called for justice and a "CLEAN START"

I used to work as a cleaner in 1989 in Perth Western Australia at the Children's Hospital when we were each on individual contracts renewed

On May 17 2007 a group of Starbucks baristas in Chicago marched into their store today and served a declaration of union membership on their store manager. On the same day working people in countries around the globe demonstrated in solidarity with Starbucks coffee farmers and café workers.

"As members of the Industrial Workers of the World, we won't allow Starbucks to play dice with the amount of work hours we get each week," said Liz Clarkson, an IWW barista at the Chicago store. "Taking this action for secure work hours and a livable wage on the third anniversary of the SWU's founding makes it all the sweeter."

NYC’s immigrant food warehouse workers unionise with the IWW

But Not Without a Fight ……...

by Diane Krauthamer

For every restaurant and every shop in New York there is a backbone — the workers who make sure ingredients reach those restaurants and their staff. No one is supposed to think about them. Certainly not the diners.

But they exist, because they have to: behind the closed doors of dank and often filthy wholesale and distribution warehouses in Brooklyn and Queens’ industrial areas, suffering under sweatshop-like conditions, pulling shifts that begin before dawn and end well after dusk. Owners regularly take advantage of these immigrant workers' lack of familiarity with United States labor laws by pushing the envelope of exploitation, refusing overtime and paying far less than minimum wage.

May Day 2007
National Mobilization to Support Immigrant Workers!

A national day of multi-ethnic unity with youth, labor, peace and
justice communities in solidarity with immigrant workers and building
new civil rights movement!

http://www.MayDay2007.org

Points of Unity

- No to the anti-immigrant legislations from Congress
- No to militarization of the border
- No to criminalization of immigrant communities
- No to the planned immigrant crackdown across the country
- No to the guest worker program
- No to the Employer Sanction

- Yes to amnesty for undocumented immigrants

Comrades, The following recently appeared at www.resist.com.au

http://www.resist.com.au/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3447

Good idea, (albeit yet again) an attempt to bring some kind of unity, what does anyone think? pjl

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Hi I'm one of the central steering committee members, responsible for communication, of the Third Voice Alliance, a new political movement aimed at increasing the cooperation between the progressive minor parties and opposition groups and community organisations to form a real Opposition to the dangerous neo-conservative trend in federal and state politics.