Industrial Workers of the World

Say it loud and say it proud.  What do we need?  A four hour day with no cut in pay. 

If real prices are going up, up, up, up, up, then real wages should at least match the prices of other commodities.  Meanwhile, we're stuck, seemingly powerless, caught in mind-traps which say, "Work harder for the bosses, get recognition and leave the others behind."  Yet, as the dust settles, we find ourselves working harder, longer hours for the same real pay (adjusted for inflation) and our standard living tanking.

No wonder the most 'type A" amongst the non-class conscious workers are feeling rage.  

Suggestion: why not put that rage into taking out a Red Card.  Show that to the bosses and get your fellow workers organised.  That'll show the bastards.

Y

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Desk rage spoils workplace for many Americans

By Ellen Wulfhorst

Thu Jul 10, 7:13 AM ETNEW YORK (Reuters) - Get out of the way, road rage. Here comes desk  rage.

Qatar remains on top of the per capita CO2 emissions rankings.

Congratulations go to the rulers of this tiny State in the Middle Eastern region of our planet.  They are allowing the globe to be warmed up the fastest and thus are the winners in the climate change promtional sweeps.  They are followed by the ruling classes of the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United States of America.  Australia's ruling class comes in 8th place.  Not a bad showing really, when you think about it: eighth out of the 176 nations examined at "Nation Master".

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/env_co2_emi_percap-environment-co2-emissions-per-capita

Indonesia is 102, just ahead of Tonga and Zimbabwe.  Coming in at 176th and last in the per capita CO 2 emissions race is the ruling class of The Democratic Republic of Congo. 

A lot of interesting articles, films and links for the class struggle over

shorter work time here.

http://shorterworkweek.blogspot.com/

From Ira Steward's 1865 pamphlet (for more see http://www.archive.org/details/documentaryhisto014386mbp):

"Well," says a workingman, "I should certainly be very glad to work less hours, but I can scarcely earn enough by working ten to make myself and family com- fortable."

#1: What is the IWW?

It is a fighting labor union that believes that the interests of labor can be fully served only when working people are united as a class. It wants to see all on the same job united, all in the same industry in one union, all who work for wages in one big union.

The IWW differs sharply from the position of other unions in that, we believe the problems of the working class can not be solved by begging crumbs from employers or praying to politicians for favors. While it fights for better conditions today, the IWW insists that working people are entitled to everything they produce, instead of a meager share.

You could live under Stalinist police-State capitalism, as opposed to the lower stage of communism. Failure to abolish the wage system, was precisely what Marx was criticising the Social Democrats of the Gotha Programme for i.e. attempting to run capitalism as opposed to overthrowing it and what he was slamming Proudhon for in his 'equality of wages" scheme, enforceable only by employing the most brutal methods of party dictatorship, and this from an anarchist.

The "real world" was what was supposed to be changed as a result of the Russian Revolution, because the "real world" was class ruled, slavish, submissive and sadistically dominated by the few who controlled the wealth produced under the wage system. The 'real (capitalist) world' was supposed to be supplanted by a free association of producers using the means of production for themselves to create use values based on their needs. It didn't happen. And a lot of the reason why it didn't happen is directly connected to the wages system, a social relation of Capital, in this case a generalised Capital as opposed to private Capital.

The IWW is a revolutionary organisation because it advocates the abolition of the current system of production--the wages system. This distinguishes us from garden variety leftist groups as we are not just asking for parts of the social product of our labour e.g. a better, more comprehensive medicare system which by-passes private, commodified sales of health insurance, we're organising for the eventual TOTAL return of the social product to the democratic control of its producers, the working class. We have a critiique of the the wages system which is based in the everyday life of the working class. Workers produce the wealth of the world using what if found in Nature and their own brain and muscle. Why is it that they have to struggle to keep their heads above water? It's the wages system. Why is it that they have virtually no political power? They're unorganised as a class. Being organised as a class would give workers the power to control the wealth they create. As long as capitalists and landlords control the lion's share of the wealth workers produce, workers insterests will take a backseat to the interests of their rulers.