R338718
7 months ago

GNN’s Sam Urquhart just put together an excellent roundup of MayDay protests around the world...

R338719
7 months ago

Truckers To Strike In NYC On May Day and Rally Off New Jersey Turnpike In Mass Action

From Teresa Gutierrez

We are excited to report that a truck will be leading the May Day March from Union Square to Foley Square tomorrow.

This is great news to show our solidarity among all workers of all nationalities, documented, undocumented or born in the U.S.

For Immediate Release:

Transportation Workers Coalition for Change

Contact: Billy Randel, 646-645-6284

New Jersey Port Truckers to Strike Over Fuel and Energy Costs

Workers Will Rally Off the New Jersey Turnpike in Large Work Stoppage.

WHAT: Port truckers will stop work for two days to protest rising fuel and energy costs.

WHY: Rising fuel and energy costs are threatening the ability of port truckers to earn a decent living and support their families as well as negatively impacting communities across the country. NJ port truckers are taking action as part of a national effort of transportation workers including – longshoremen and women, taxi workers, port and long haul truck drivers, and railway workers – to build rank and file unity.

WHEN: April 30th at 10:30am.

HERE: Vince Lombardi Truck Stop at Exit 18 of the New Jersey Turnpike.

WHO: Port truckers, labor supporters from the Industrial Workers of the World IU460/640 and Teamsters Local 805, and community allies.

Related Links:

Motor Transport Workers Industrial Union 530
www.iww.org/unions/dept500/iu530

Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
www.transportworkers.org

www.iww.org

R338724
7 months ago

Mayday bump!

R338739
7 months ago

happy första maj!

R338746
7 months ago

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said some 10,000 workers joined the anti-war protest, spurred in part by its belief that big shipping companies are profiting from the war.

“Longshore workers are standing down on the job and standing up for America,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath. “We’re supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq.” ^*

R338809
7 months ago

I am such a wimp… in 02/03 i wanted to make a bumpersticker
if u go to war i will bang your woman
i did not because i thought it would cause fights
but i wuz sure right
now they all laugh about how they are divorced or just accept their spouses cheat ‘back home’ while adultery rules have been suspended in the service because… cheating on cheaters is not cheating, is it?

R338817
7 months ago

USA: West Coast Ports Shut Down to Protest War:

Terminal operators say West Coast cargo traffic halted

— By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES – Terminal operators say West Coast cargo traffic has come to a halt as port workers stage daylong anti-war protests.

Pacific Maritime Association spokesman Steve Getzug says thousands of dockworkers did not show up to work Thursday morning, leaving ships and truck drivers idle at ports from Long Beach to Seattle.

The West Coast ports are the nation’s principal gateway for cargo container traffic from the Far East.

A spokesman for the National Retail Federation says shippers and exporters planned for the slowdown that coincides with May Day and expected no significant long-term disruptions.

R338822
7 months ago

what we need is the workers at all the ports to stop shipping arms indefinitely.

R338823
7 months ago

and when the army comes to crush the workers, that is when the barricades go up. from the experience of the Port Militarization Resistance emerged the underground (and “nonexistent”) Port Liberation Front. with the assistance of the workers, what’s next?

such actions are the only real threat to the war machine. from the ports, we take the railroads and the interstates, and then the bases. that’s what happens when a people is truly fed up with a war, and not just pretending like they are in order to make themselves feel better and appear to resist the policies from which they benefit (as citizens of an empire and a nation-state).

R338825
7 months ago

then there’s the trucker thing. if the truckers connect their struggle to that of other insurgent workers, and become an anti-war and anti-empire force, the ability to halt the flow of munitions is magnified a hundred fold. this works for domestic insurrection as well. the police state needs workers in order to efficiently function. that’s why resistance movements, no matter how proletarian, are always cast by the ruling class as the enemy of the workers. a true working class resistance with the potential for general strikes is the most potent weapon we have against the war machine.

R338827
7 months ago

maybe next year, after the election, when amerikkka is still at war with the world while a new puppet is “power,” the workers will be prepared for a general strike of indefinite proportion and duration. what is important in such a revolutionary context is to continue to provide for the people. those who refuse to produce or transport the weapons of war can instead dedicate their labor to the rehabilitation of the land base and the sustainable “production” of food, drink, and merriment.

R338832
7 months ago

Union’s War Protest Shuts Down West Coast Ports: William Yardley, for The New York Times: “West Coast ports were shut down on Thursday as thousands of longshoremen failed to report for work, part of what their union leaders said was a one-day, one-shift protest against the war in Iraq. Cranes and forklifts stood still from Seattle to San Diego, and ships were stalled at sea as workers held rallies up and down the coast to blame the war for distracting public attention and money from domestic needs like health care and education.”

R339053
7 months ago

those who refuse to produce or transport the weapons of war can instead dedicate their labor to the rehabilitation of the land base and the sustainable “production” of food, drink, and merriment.

word up, hermano!
a labrar la tierra!

R339227
7 months ago

six years, one day off, pretty intense!

R339666
7 months ago

Iraqi labour movement’s May Day statement to the workers of the world

Submitted on 7 May, 2008 – 12:14 Iraq

May Day 2008 Statement from the Iraqi Labour Movement

To the Workers and All Peace Loving People of the World

On this day of international labour solidarity we call on our fellow trade unionists and all those worldwide who have stood against war and occupation to increase support for our struggle for freedom from occupation – both the military and economic.

We call upon the governments, corporations and institutions behind the ongoing occupation of Iraq to respond to our demands for real democracy, true sovereignty and self-determination free of all foreign interference.

Five years of invasion, war and occupation have brought nothing but death, destruction, misery and suffering to our people. In the name of our “liberation,” the invaders have destroyed our nation’s infrastructure, bombed our neighbourhoods, broken into our homes, traumatized our children, assaulted and arrested many of our family members and neighbours, permitted the looting of our national treasures, and turned nearly twenty percent of our people into refugees.

The invaders helped to foment and then exploit sectarian divisions and terror attacks where there had been none. Our union offices have been raided. Union property has been seized and destroyed. Our bank accounts have been frozen. Our leaders have been beaten, arrested, abducted and assassinated. Our rights as workers have been routinely violated.

The Ba’athist legislation of 1987, which banned trade unions in the public sector and public enterprises (80% of all workers), is still in effect, enforced by Paul Bremer’s post-invasion Occupation Authority and then by all subsequent Iraqi administrations. This is an attack on our rights and basic precepts of a democratic society, and is a grim reminder of the shadow of dictatorship still stalking our country.

Despite the horrific conditions in our country, we continue to organise and protest against the occupation, against workplaces abuses, and for better treatment and safer conditions.

Despite the sectarian plots around us, we believe in unity and solidarity and a common aim of public service, equality, and freedom to organise without external intrusions and coercion.

Our legitimacy comes from our members. Our principles of organisation are based on transparent and internationally recognised International Labour Organisation standards.

We call upon our allies and all the world’s peace-loving peoples to help us to end the nightmare of occupation and restore our sovereignty and national independence so that we can chart our own course to the future.

1) We demand an immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from our country, and utterly reject the agreement being negotiated with the USA for long-term bases and a military presence. The continued occupation fuels the violence in Iraq rather than alleviating it. Iraq must be returned to full sovereignty.

2) We demand the passage of a labour law promised by our Constitution, which adheres to ILO principles and on which Iraqi trade unionists have been fully consulted, to protect the rights of workers to organize, bargain and strike, independent of state control and interference.

3) We demand an end to meddling in our sovereign economic affairs by the International Monetary Fund, USA and UK. We demand withdrawal of all economic conditionalities attached to the IMF’s agreements with Iraq, removal of US and UK economic “advisers” from the corridors of Iraqi government, and a recognition by those bodies that no major economic decisions concerning our services and resources can be made while foreign troops occupy the country.

4) We demand that the US government and others immediately cease lobbying for the oil law, which would fracture the country and hand control over our oil to multinational companies like Exxon, BP and Shell. We demand that all oil companies be prevented from entering into any long-term agreement concerning oil while Iraq remains occupied. We demand that the Iraqi government tear up the current draft of the oil law, and begin to develop a legitimate oil policy based on full and genuine consultation with the Iraqi people. Only after all occupation forces are gone should a long term plan for the development of our oil resources be adopted.

We seek your support and solidarity to help us end the military and economic occupation of our country. We ask for your solidarity for our right to organise and strike in defence of our interests as workers and of our public services and resources. Our public services are the legacy of generations before us and the inheritance of all future generations and must not be privatised.

We thank you for standing by us. We too stand with you in your own struggles for real democracy which we know you also struggle for, and against privatisation, exploitation and daily disempowerment in your workplaces and lives.
We commend those of you who have organised strikes and demonstrations to end the occupation in solidarity with us and we hope these actions will continue.

We look forward to the day when we have a world based on co-operation and solidarity. We look forward to a world free from war, sectarianism, competition and exploitation.

Endorsed by:

Hassan Juma’a Awad, President, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Falah Alwan, President, Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI)
Subhi Albadri, President, General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)
Nathim Rathi, President, Iraqi Port Workers Trade Union
Samir Almuawi, President, Engineering Professionals Trade Union
Ghzi Mushatat, President, Mechanic and Print Shop Trade Union
Waleed Alamiri, President, Electricity Trade Union
Ilham Talabani, President, Banking Services Trade Union
Abdullah Ubaid, President, Railway Trade Union
Ammar Ali, President, Transportation Trade Union
Abdalzahra Abdilhassan, President, Service Employees Trade Union
Sundus Sabeeh, President, Barber Shop Workers Trade Union
Kareem Lefta Sindan, President, Lumber and Construction Trade Union, General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW)
Sabah Almusawi, President, Wasit Independent Trade Union
Shakir Hameed, President, Lumber And Construction Trade Union (GFWCUI)
Awad Ahmed, President, Teachers Federation of Salahideen
Alaa Ghazi Mushatat, President, Agricultural And Food Substance Industries
Adnan Rathi Shakir, President, Water Resources Trade Union
Nahrawan Yas, President, Woman Affairs Bureau
Sabah Alyasiri, President (GFWCUI) Babil
Ali Tahi, President (GFWCUI) Najaf
Ali Abbas, President (GFWCUI) Basra
Muhi Abdalhussien, President (GFWCUI), Wasit
Ali Hashim Abdilhussien, President (GFWCUI) Kerbala
Ali Hussien, President (GFWCUI) Anbar
Mustafa Ameen, Arab Workers Bureau, President (GFWCUI)
Thameer Mzeail, Health Services, Union Committee
Khadija Saeed Abdullah, Teachers Federation, Member
Asmahan, Khudair, Woman Affairs, Textile Trade Unions
Adil Aljabiri, Oil Workers Trade Union Executive Bureau Member
Muhi Abdalhussien, Nadia Flaih, Service Employees Trade Unions
Rawneq Mohammed, Member, Media and Print Shop Trade Union
Abdlakareem Abdalsada, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Saeed Nima, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Sabri Abdalkareem, Member, (GFWCUI) Babil
Amjad Aljawhary, Representative of GFWCUI in North America

The AWL disagrees that the statement’s call for “an immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops” is the right way to pose opposition to US imperialism and the occupation of Iraq, in the context of a three-cornered struggle between the occupation, the sectarian “resistance” militias and the labour movement. However, we welcome the initiative represented by this statement and reprint it in solidarity with our comrades in Iraq.

May Day Message from the General Union of Dock Workers in Iraq to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in the United States

Dear Brothers and Sisters of ILWU in California,

The courageous decision you made to carry out a strike on May Day to protest against the war and occupation of Iraq advances our struggle against occupation to bring a better future for us and for the rest of the world as well.

We are certain that a better world will only be created by the workers and what you are doing is an example and proof of what we say. The labor movement is the only element in the society that is able to change the political equations for the benefit of mankind. We in Iraq are looking up to you and support you until the victory over the US administration’s barbarism is achieved.

Over the past five years the sectarian gangs who are the product of the occupation, have been trying to transfer their conflicts into our ranks. Targeting workers, including their residential and shopping areas, indiscriminately using all sorts of explosive devices, mortar shells, and random shooting, were part of a bigger scheme that was aiming to tear up the society but they miserably failed to achieve their hellish goal. We are struggling today to defeat both the occupation and sectarian militias’ agenda.

The pro-occupation government has been attempting to intervene into the workers affairs by imposing a single government-certified labor union. Furthermore it has been promoting privatization and an oil and gas law to use the occupation against the interests of the workers.

We the port workers view that our interests are inseparable from the interests of workers in Iraq and the world; therefore we are determined to continue our struggle to improve the living conditions of the workers and overpower all plots of the occupation, its economic and political projects.

Let us hold hands for the victory of our struggle.
Long live the port workers in California!
Long live May Day!
Long live International solidarity!
The General Union of Port Workers in Iraq
An Affiliate Union with General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)

——————————

Oakland: Police disperse striking truckers after vandalism at port

Disclaimer: The action described here was not organized by the IWW.

By Francine Brevetti – staff writer, inside bayarea.com, May 6, 2008

OAKLAND — About 80 striking truckers from Middle Harbor Road at the Port of Oakland were ticketed and dispersed Tuesday after some of them committed vandalism, police said.

Some drivers had damaged a truck’s window while the driver was operating the rig, Sgt. Peter Lau said.

Nevertheless, the protesting truck drivers who own and operate their own rigs vowed to continue demonstrating at the port for the rest of the week. They say motor carrier firms have been underpaying them for diesel fuel.

“No Stopping Anytime” signs are posted along Middle Harbor Road. But on Tuesday the port’s main artery was lined with protesters’ automobiles and some truck cabs.

“Yesterday (Monday) was peaceful,” Lau said. “There were agreements among the officers here that we would let them (the strikers) use their First Amendment rights. However, the port’s traffic was not going to be obstructed and people were not being hurt.”

Now that is all changed.

Police will be there in force for the rest of the week, and will enforce the area’s parking rules, Lau said.

The crowd on Tuesday was highly agitated. At one point, five police officers surrounded and detained a man driving a station wagon, then ordered him to depart.

The crowd then became extremely vocal. Several strikers said police should support them, not oppose them.

Driver Kibraab Weldaad was among those who said the motor carrier firms — which act as brokers between shipping lines and customers — have not been reimbursing drivers for the rising cost of diesel fuel, as stipulated in an agreement struck four years ago.

“It costs me $700 to fill up the truck,” he said. “In a week it cost me $1,200 because I only get 7 miles to a gallon.”

Jerry Philips, a partner of Impact Transload & Rail, said his firm and the other major motor carrier companies serving the Port of Oakland pay drivers fairly. This week’s unrest was organized, according to him, by truckers from the Central Valley who serve railroad carriers.

Traffic at the port has slowed considerably, Philips said.

“We are at a dead standstill,” he said. “A few drivers managed to get some stuff out before picketers showed up.”

Port officials said they would not know the impact of Tuesday’s disturbance on traffic until today.

Related Links:

Motor Transport Workers Industrial Union 530

Bay Area IWW

Links from Article Text

——————————

Pics from the repression of recent May Day parade in Jakarta

R340658
7 months ago

a new edition of LNR is in the yard, but i would like to post Mayday related news here on the Mayday edition thread, so…

Oakland City Bosses Threaten SEIU 1021 Members For Supporting May Day 2008 Actions: Say it ain’t so. The City of Oakland issues May Day threats of suspension to union workers.

The Media Misses the Historic Meaning of ILWU Anti-War Strike: Workers, students, immigrants, and antiwar activists came together in historic fashion on May Day in San Francisco, but it was hard to tell from the next day’s mainstream media coverage, which adopted its usual cynical view of the growing movement to end the war in Iraq.

R340660
7 months ago

Iran: Fears grow over continued detention of three activists: There are growing concerns over the continued detention of three activists arrested in connection with this year’s May Day events in Iran. Eleven other detained workers have now been released, some on heavy bail.

R340662
7 months ago

Haiti: Civil society organisations call for an increase in the minimum wage:

On the occasion of the first of May, we, the undersigned organisations, salute all the workers of the world, in particular Haitian workers who are exploited in Haiti and abroad. This year the first of May finds workers here in Haiti toiling under the exploitation of bosses paying them just 70 gourdes a day. This year the first of May finds thousands of Haitian working like slaves in the neighbouring country. The application of neo-liberal policies, and the unequal distribution of wealth, labour, and produce, are obliging lots of workers to search for a living in other countries, despite the humiliations and poor working conditions they find there.

In Haiti, the conditions in the factories are a lot like the conditions of slavery. Workers don’t have water to drink, have no access to healthcare, and after a day’s work, often lasting more than eight hours, only get paid 70 gourdes. More than that, the bosses can do what they like with the workers. The bosses can sack them when they like, and the State institutions such as the Ministry of Social Affairs and the labour tribunals, are completely under the influence of the bosses.

The things that are happening today at SOHACOSA, under the management of Jean Paul Faubert, in the Sonapi Industrial Park, is a clear case in point. Jean Paul Faubert started sacking workers in December 2007, and then he closed down the factory, just like that, on 26 March 2008. Around 800 male and female workers were left unemployed. He simply attached a notice on the gate notifying them to go and collect their pay at the Labour department of the Ministry of Social Affairs. To this day, those workers have not been able to get what they are legally owed, in spite of several television and radio reports concerning this case.

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