Today's Topics:
1. US, THE MYTH OF NON-REFORMIST REFORMS By Black Rose/Rosa
Negra - Burlington (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Poland, Anarchist Federation, organize at Rozbrat -- Pawel
C. Poznan darling ... Rafal Jakubowicz [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, Alternative Libertaire - Who owns the women's body ?
March 15 in Montreuil by AL Montreuil (fr, it, pt) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. US, black rose fed Portland - UNIONISM FROM BELOW: INTERVIEW
WITH BURGERVILLE WORKERS UNION (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. anarkismo.net: Fascism on the march by Melbourne Anarchist
Communist Group - MACG (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Greece, liberta salonica: PAN-BALKAN DEMONSTRATION OF
INTERNATIONALIST SOLIDARITY -- NO NAME DIVIDES US
-- NO NATION
UNITES US (gr) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Britain, solfed.org: PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
This gem of a passage by left economist and author Robin Hahnel has been locked away for
years in a book of his, Economic Justice and Democracy: From Competition to Cooperation,
but deserves a bigger audience, especially these days given the popularity of the phrase
"non-reformist reform." ---- Hahnel's central point here is that it's not the kinds of
reforms that matter so much as *how* the working class fights for reforms. ---- The Myth
of Non-Reformist Reforms ---- What many libertarian socialists failed to realize was that
any transition to a democratic and equitable economy has no choice but to pass through
reform campaigns, organizations, and institutions however tainted and corrupting they may
be. The new left tried to exorcise the dilemma that reform work is necessary but
corrupting with the concept of non-reformist reforms. According to this theory social
democrats erred in embracing reformist reforms while early libertarian socialists erred in
rejecting reforms altogether. According to new left theorists the solution was for
activists to work on non-reformist reforms, i.e. reforms that improved people's lives
while undermining the material, social, or ideological underpinnings of the capitalist
system. There is nothing wrong with the notion of winning reforms while undermining
capitalism. As a matter of fact, that is a concise description of precisely what we should
be about! What was misleading was the notion that there are particular reforms that are
like silver bullets and accomplish this because of something special about the nature of
those reforms themselves.
There is no such thing as a non-reformist reform. Social democrats and libertarian
socialists did not err because they somehow failed to find and campaign for this
miraculous kind of reform. Nor would new leftists prove successful where others had failed
because new leftists found a special kind of reform different from those social democrats
pursued and libertarian socialists rejected. Some reforms improve peoples lives more, and
some less. Some reforms are easier to win, and some are harder to win. Some reforms are
easier to defend, and some are less so. And of course, different reforms benefit different
groups of people. Those are ways reforms, themselves, differ. On the other hand, there are
also crucial differences in how reforms are fought for. Reforms can be fought for by
reformers preaching the virtues of capitalism. Or reforms can be fought for by
anti-capitalists pointing out that only by replacing capitalism will it be possible to
fully achieve what reformers want. Reforms can be fought for while leaving institutions of
repression intact. Or a reform struggle can at least weaken repressive institutions, if
not destroy them. Reforms can be fought for by hierarchical organizations that reinforce
authoritarian, racist, and sexist dynamics and thereby weaken the overall movement for
progressive change. Or reforms can be fought for by democratic organizations that uproot
counter productive patterns of behavior and empower people to become masters and
mistresses of their fates. Reforms can be fought for in ways that leave no new
organizations or institutions in their aftermath. Or reforms can be fought for in ways
that create new organizations and institutions that fortify progressive forces in the next
battle. Reforms can be fought for through alliances that obstruct possibilities for
further gains. Or the alliances forged to win a reform can establish the basis for winning
more reforms. Reforms can be fought for in ways that provide tempting possibilities for
participants, and particularly leaders, to take unfair personal advantage of group
success. Or they can be fought for in ways that minimize the likelihood of corrupting
influences. Finally, reform organizing can be the entire program of organizations and
movements. Or, recognizing that reform organizing within capitalism is prone to weaken the
personal and political resolve of participants to pursue a full system of equitable
cooperation, reform work can be combined with other kinds of activities, programs, and
institutions that rejuvenate the battle weary and prevent burn out and sell out.
In sum, any reform can be fought for in ways that diminish the chances of further gains
and limit progressive change in other areas, or fought for in ways that make further
progress more likely and facilitate other progressive changes as well. But if reforms are
successful they will make capitalism less harmful to some extent. There is no way around
this, and even if there were such a thing as a non-reformist reform, it would not change
this fact. However, the fact that every reform success makes capitalism less harmful does
not mean successful reforms necessarily prolong the life of capitalism - although it
might, and this is something anti-capitalists must simply learn to accept. But if winning
a reform further empowers the reformers, and whets their appetite for more democracy, more
economic justice, and more environmental protection than capitalism can provide, it can
hasten the fall of capitalism.
For further and more detailed commentary on left, socialist, and anarchist strategy we
recommend the following pieces "Below and Beyond Trump: Power and Counter Power" and "The
Post-Modern Left and the Success of Neoliberalism."
http://blackrosefed.org/myth-non-reformist-reforms/
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Message: 2
... or a short story about how few PR treatments are needed to make Paul C. become Dr.
Pawel Cieliczko. ---- Filip Springer in the book of 13 floors wrote: "«Factory of Housing
and Earth»begins to harass tenants in 2010. In four years Piotr S., Pawel Z. and their
accomplices turn into the lives of several hundred people from dozens of Poznan tenement
houses. Most are located on Lazarus. It is a very neglected, but pretty district in the
center - there are two large parks, the old buildings dominate, full of beautiful Art
Nouveau buildings with large apartments. And more of them find new owners. As later
revealed by Piotr Zytnicki and Marcin Kacki from the Poznan «Gazeta Wyborcza», they are
bought by bus companies associated with Neo Bank, the Wielkopolska Bank Spóldzielczy. The
well-known lover of literature and the resident of the salons Pawel Cieliczko also
participates in the procedure. When the tenement house becomes too loud, its companies
will take over the buildings.[1]. Springer referred to m.in. to the history of the
tenement house at ul. Ostrich 11, belonging to the Beneficial controlled by NeoBank, which
was started to "clean" in 2010, using, among others, such methods as disconnecting the
media, dismantling the roof or plastering [2]. This tenement house was then sold together
with the said company. "It was taken over by a Poznan businessman Pawel C., involved in
the swindling of multi-million loans from one of the Poznan banks. He was placed among
others charge of participation in an organized criminal group, because the extorted money
flowed into the underworld. Prosecutor's Office - Piotr Zytnicki and Ludmila Annanikova
pointed out - he does not know what happened to them "[3]. Pawel C. arranged a private
dormitory called Sofa Hostel. Sofa is now a network of seven dorms - at ul. Asnyka,
Lodowa, Rynek Lazarski, Malecki, Siemiradzkiego, Ostrich and Strzelecka[4].
Pawel Cieliczko is a co-author of the Poznan literary guide[5]and founder of the Kochanie
Poznania Foundation. Katarzyna Cieliczko and artists and visual artists, graphic artists
and photographers - Krzysztof Kakolewski, Tomasz Koryl, Anna Pilch Mikoda, Justyna
Szadkowska and Agnieszka Zaprzalska also cooperate with the Kochanie Poznania
Foundation[6]. Among them are graduates of the Poznan University of Arts.
The name of the foundation, "Kochania Poznania Foundation", whose slogan is "We operate
for love of the city of Poznan", in the context of destructive, irreversibly damaging
social tissue and activities of Pawel C. leading to human tragedy, sounds like a gloomy
joke in the "Factory of Housing and Earth" "Piotr S. The Cieliczki Foundation is the
initiator of the creation of, among others two squares on Lazarz - Skweru Gadul Lazarskich
and Skweru Marszalka Ferdinand Focha. Why exactly on Lazarus? Not only because the
foundation is based at ul. Matejki 55/2. "Lazarus is one of Poznan's districts, which in
recent years has been trying to tell about itself anew, wanting to refresh or maybe even
change its stereotypical image. One of the ways to achieve this is the action «Lazarus -
Open Culture Zone», which this year was organized under the slogan: «Turn Lazarz - New
Heroes». On this occasion, it is worth recalling the "old" heroes coming from this
district, because sometimes it is in the past that you can find figures whose attitudes
should be particularly inspiring for modern Lazadians "- we can read on the foundation's
website[7].
Pawel Cieliczko realizes projects not only on Lazarz. "Poznan legends - cultural route" is
a project of the Poznan Kochania Foundation consisting in organizing a permanent cultural
route leading through urban squares, streets, squares and parks, where extraordinary
events took place, which we know from legends and stories about old Poznan " on the
foundation's website[8]. The Square of Three Trams is to be built on Jezyce. It is about
three conductors, Helena Przybylek, Stanislawa Sobanska and Maria Kapturska, who were at
the head of workers' protest during June 1956 wounded. "The square at the intersection of
ul. Dabrowski and Kochanowski is the perfect place to honor these brave women. It is
located near the ZUS building, from where the jamming station equipment was thrown and
near the former UB building, from where the first fire was opened to demonstrators in June
1956. Geopoz is shocked that no one has ever thought of such an idea. The project is
supported by MPK Poznan, which very much wants to get involved in commemorating the tram
drivers. I trust that the councilors will support the idea above the divisions and during
the next anniversary of June, the square will be able to be solemnly opened "- these are
the words of Pawel C.,[9]. A simple PR catch meant that "Pawel C." in a magical way, like
in the touch of a magic wand, turned into a media narrative connected with the underworld,
accused of washing house cleaner in "dr Pawel Cieliczko", a respectable animator of
culture and social worker.
The activities of the Kochanie Poznania Foundation are one of the most perfidious examples
of using artwashing strategies. The term "artwashing" was initially used to criticize the
corporate sponsorship of art and described cases of large corporations based on patronage
of relations with cultural institutions to improve reputation and blur the negative
impressions. Artwashing, a hybrid strategy for whitewashing the image through cultural
activities, is used both by city authorities, developers, as well as corporations and
apartment building cleaners. It serves to divert attention from controversial interests or
even scams, to calm the mood and make the local community more alert, to create the
appearance of pro bono activities and, above all, to tame unfavorable media. Artwashing is
a gate leading to the salons. It allows various suspect types to embrace narcissistic
ambitions and pose for lovers of art and discovering stories or, for example, propagators
of ancient legends. Nowadays, the activity of artists and culture animators is
increasingly described with this term, which are indicated as responsible for the
processes of gentrification.
Apart from its strictly image-related benefits, running the foundation gives Cieliczce
more tangible benefits, such as raising funds from the city budget. "In our opinion, our
greatest success of the past year is the victory in Poznanski Civic Budget 2017 in the
Stare Miasto area" - boasted in February 2017 "Team of the Foundation"[10]. It is to be
expected that these funds will support gentrification processes taking place in the city.
How? Increasing the symbolic and material capital of the space leads to its ennoblement
(ubuzuzyjenie) and is necessary to work out, through speculation with real estate, the
pension gap, "whose value - as Neill Smith believes - changes over time depending on
external conditions"[11].
Exploitation by Pawel C., facebook administrator of the fanpage Square of Three
Tramwaisters[12], the history of June 1956 is a vulgar manifestation of the gentrification
of workers' memory. The initiative of commemorating the Three Tramwaiders, easy and quick
to gain approval from residents, has been instrumentalized for the use of the media image
of the initiator whose deeds and reputation offend the memory of the heroines of the
Poznan uprising. On the eve of the commemoration of the sixty-first anniversary of
workers' speeches, on June 27, 2017, "Pawel C." or - if someone prefers - "Dr. Pawel
Cieliczko", he was sentenced to imprisonment and a fine. Soon, in March 2018, the
appellate hearing will take place.
It is worth to see Pawel Cieliczka on WTK television, perorating about "contempt and
exclusion" with which the heroine of the June met[13]. It is a pity that this newly-baked
social worker is unable to translate his sensitivity, so demonstratively shown to
Tramwajark, to the experiences of Poznan tenants from cleaned tenement houses.
The streetcar protesters in 1956 would probably protest together with the activists of the
Wielkopolska Tenant Association against the common interests of Pawel Cieliczka and
NeoBank (rightly called Neo-Gang), supporting the condominium pickets, such as the one
that took place on June 7, 2014 under the cleaner's sofa academy Hostel[14]. Because the
space fights that we observe in Poznan and many other Polish cities are currently one of
the most important fronts of the ongoing class struggles. They are as significant as
fighting in the sphere of production - at workplaces. This is a continuation of the rich
tradition of workers' struggles, including the protests of employees and employees of
Zaklady Przemyslu Metalowego H. Cegielski Poznan.
That's why it is worth it - I am thinking here especially of graduates and students of my
alma mater, the University of Art - I think it over before the surname of the foundation
can be given.
NOTES:
[1] Filip Springer, 13 floors, Wolowiec 2015, p. 165.
[2]Maria Bielecka, Piotr Zytnicki, They buy tenements and "clean" tenants, "Gazeta
Wyborcza, 10 November 2011,
http://poznan.wyborcza.pl/poznan/1,36001,10620802,Kupuja_kamienice_i__czyszcza__z_lokatorow.html
(access: 10.17.2017)
[3]Cf. Piotr Zytnicki, Ludmila Annanikova, "I have a nice kiosk for sale", "Gazeta
Wyborcza", Poznan, 17 June 2013,
http://wyborcza.pl/1,76842,14114129,_Mam_fajna_bude_na_sprzedaz_.html (access: 19.02.2018)
[4]See the dorm sofa page: http://www.sofaroom4you.pl/pl/sofa-strzelecka.html(accessed on
17.10.2017)
[5]Cf. Pawel Cieliczko, Joanna Roszak, Poznan Literary Guide, Poznan 2012.
[6]See the website of the Kochanie Poznania Foundation,
http://fundacjakochaniapoznania.pl/#zespol (accessed on 19/02/2018)
[7]See the website of the Kochanie Poznania Foundation,
http://fundacjakochaniapoznania.pl/projekty/w-przestrzeni-miejskiej/skwer-gadul-lazarskich/
(accessed on 19/02/2018)
[8]See http://fundacjakochaniapoznania.pl/projekty/ksiazkowe/poznanskie-legendy/
(accessed: 22/02/2018)
[9]Cf. Bartosz Nosal, the Square of Three Tramunters will commemorate the heroines of June
1956?, "Gazeta Wyborcza", Poznan, 19 February 2018,
http://poznan.wyborcza.pl/poznan/7,36001,230396311,1,12 for-tramwaters-from-1956-r.html #
Z_BoxLokPozLinkImg (accessed on 19/02/2018 )
[10]See the website of the Kochanie Poznania Foundation,
http://fundacjakochaniaapoznania.pl/mamy-roczek/ (accessed on 19/02/2018)
[11]Quote after: Lukasz Drozda, Enriching the space. How gentrification works and how it
is measured, Warsaw 2017, p. 75.
[12]Cf. https://www.facebook.com/skwerTrzechTramwajarek/ (accessed: 22/02/2018)
[13] Cf. They were shot at, tortured and poked with their fingers. "Trams from Poznan in
June" may have their square ", WTK, 22/02/2018,
https://wtkplay.pl/video-id-37235-strzelano_do_nich_torturowano_i_wytykano_palcami_tramwajarki_z_poznanskiego_czerwca_moga_miec_swoj_skwer
(accessed: 28/02/2018)
[14]Cf. Poznan: Pickets against anti-social housing policy, "pl.squat.net", 7/06/2014
https://pl.squat.net/2014/06/10/poznan-pikiety-przeciwko-antyspolecznej-
polityce-mieszkowej / (access: 22/02/2018)
http://www.rozbrat.org/publicystyka/sprawy-lokalne/4601-pawa-c-poznania-kochanie
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Message: 3
Today, in France, can women have their body as they see fit ? Who decide what we do with
our body ? The husband who would like us to lose weight a little ? The boss who wants us
to be well dressed for the customer ? The state that claims to control the right to
abortion ? ---- Between the public policies of austerities, which affect our health and
thus our bodies, between the pressures to dress neither too short nor too long, between
the injunctions to thinness and the stigmatization of poor mothers of large families ...
Can we really, concretely dispose of our bodies ? ---- As part of a March 8 fight for
women's rights, Alternative libertaire Montreuil offers to discuss these topics on March
15 at 20h at the Mojito's bar in Montreuil. In the tradition of our apero-debates, the
discussion will be open to the maximum participation of each and everyone.
The FB event
Apero-debate
on March 15 at 8pm at Le Mojito's bar
20, rue du Capitaine-Dreyfus,
Montreuil (93)
Metro Croix-de-Chavaux
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?A-qui-appartient-le-corps-des-femmes-le-15-mars-a-Montreuil
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Message: 4
Launching a historic three-day strike and boycott launch that began on February 1, workers
across several Portland, OR Burgerville stores took the next steps in what is perhaps an
unprecedented campaign for the current US labor movement. The strike was centered at the
prominent Convention Center Burgerville store and spread to three additional locations, in
total involving 40 workers of the Pacific Northwest fast food chain that markets itself as
a "fresh, local, sustainable" alternative to mainstream burger chains. ---- In an era
where labor organizing of low wage service workers is often stage-managed and relies far
more on media narratives than on-the-job action and the power of workers to withdraw their
labor, the campaign stands in contrast to more typical mainstream labor union efforts. As
a recent Truth Out piece on the organizing of Stamford hotel workers notes, "many unions
have resorted to experimenting with campaigns that seek to win union recognition without
substantial worker organization." But this is quite the opposite of the Burgerville
Workers Union.
Backed by the Portland Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), also known as "the
wobblies," the union is no stranger to pushing the envelope of labor organizing. One time
thought unorganizable the union made important inroads with nationally prominent campaigns
at Starbucks from 2004 until roughly 2008, a series of Jimmy John's stores in Minneapolis
from 2007-2011, and more recently at Times Square Stardust diner. Each campaign has used
the approach of "solidarity unionism" which emphasizes rank and file democracy and eschews
traditional forms of legalistic and staff driven organizing models. The Bugerville Workers
Union has followed in these footsteps, slowly building their organized presence of shop
committees over nearly two years and taking on smaller issues such as gaining a 50-cent
raise, a floor mat added at one location and intervening with a manager to allow a sick
worker to go home early. On Labor Day in 2017 more than half the workers at one location
waged a one-day strike around the demand of holiday pay. With this recent action
Burgerville workers are hopefully bringing back to the table the strike as "the most
important source of union power." Let's hope they continue to pave the way in showing that
building a militant, worker-led, alternative unionism of low-wage workers is possible.
#PowerFromBelow
Introduction by Adam Weaver. The below interview is an edited transcription of It's Going
Down podcast "Audio Report: Burgerville Workers Union Finish Three Day Strike" released on
February 3, 2018. Please consider donating to support their work.
It's Going Down: We're joining you today with somebody from the Burgerville workers Union
in Portland, which is a part of the IWW, Industrial Workers of the World. They just
finished a three day strike that included four stores. So we're going to be talking about
that strike today, what went into it, what all went down, what's next. But first, our
guest, if you want to introduce yourself.
Luis: Sure, my name is Luis Brennan. I'm an organiser with the Burgerville workers Union.
I've worked at Burgerville for three and a half years now, I work at the Portland Airport
location. And yes, it's exciting, we're all pretty energized.
IGD: Yes, it's incredible to think that four stores were going to end up going on strike
and this is just the next phase in the struggle. But let's just take people back to how
this came about? Was this a straw that broke the camel's back type of situation or this
was something that was in the works? How did this strike come about?
Luis: We've always been oriented towards direction action, we've always been thinking
about how we can use our power as workers directly on the job to try to make things happen
and this is not the first time we been on strike. We had a few workers go out on strike on
Labor Day demanding holiday pay. It was successful. It didn't win holiday pay but it
definitely shook management.
And I think this one is really in response to the increasing anti-union campaign and in
response to the fact that it's been so many months and almost two years now of just
management sticking its head in the ground pretending we don't exist. We wanted to prove
to them that they couldn't ignore us anymore. So the best way that we know how to prove
that is to take action on the job, we ourselves wanted to go on strike.
A Burgerville store during lunch hour.
IGD: Was the plan that there was going to be four stores that eventually went out or was
that just something that spread?
Luis: Yes, that was the plan to have four stores go out. I mean my message to anyone who
wants to do this is it does take planning and it does take preparation and organizing
work. Those magic, spontaneous moments happen but there's a lot of hard work behind too.
The cornerstone of the strike was three days at the Convention Center location where we
had 13 workers on strike and then three other stores did one day strikes in solidarity
with that. The most successful one was at the 92nd and Powell location where we had
everyone who wasn't a manager walk off the floor and they had to shuffle in people from
around the company to come in and cover for that day. And I think that they really didn't
expect that sort of show up and that kind of force and we were all really proud of the
folks in that shop for that kind of solidarity.
IGD: So just off the gate has anybody been retaliated against by the company for engaging
in the strike?
Luis: We haven't seen anything directly yet. It's only been a couple of days.[Editor's
Note: Since this interview Burgerville management has fired another worker of color and
union leader, Michelle.]We've seen some great improvements. At the Convention Center
location they got a table to hold stuff for the grill line that they've been asking about
for months and another store management is working on fixing the air conditioning that
they've been talking about for months as well - so managements riled a little bit. But
we're not out of the woods yet, I mean there's definitely a few workers who I think we
need to be careful with.
They did fire two workers in the weeks before the strike. Presumably they were union
supporters and presumably it was to try to shake up the organizing. One of them, a man
named Canaan, was fired for putting a little bit of ice cream in his coffee, something a
manager had told him he was allowed to do the day before.
And then a week before that another worker, Arsenio, was fired. Management claimed that he
smelled like marijuana. They didn't have him do a drug test, they didn't do anything. He
never admitted that he had smoked or whatever, and marijuana is legal in Oregon, so the
fact that he smelt like marijuana could have been that he'd walked by a pot store. But the
fact is that he actually does have a medical prescription for marijuana because he has
epilepsy. He's got a newborn child, he has epilepsy, he's managing that, he's an active
performer and MC with a hip-hop crew and they fired him. They gave him a week's suspension
and then they fired him. He's an active union supporter and the combination of racism and
anti-unionism in that is pretty transparent to everybody.
Workers fired from Burgerville for their union efforts. From left to right: Michelle
Ceballos, Arsenio Arnold, Canaan Schlesinger, and Jordan Vaandering. (Images: Northwest
Labor Press)
IGD: Bringing it back to the IWW, I was told by somebody that was in the Wobblies that
because the IWW members run the union when they decide to strike that is not considered a
wildcat strike. That it is just a strike. Is that a fair assumption?
Luis: Yes, I would love to take on the word wildcat at work, but my understanding is it
applies to when the rank and file strikes in opposition to the official agreement of the
organization. The IWW is unique among unions in the United States in that our constitution
prohibits us from signing agreements that have no strike clauses. So there's never going
to be a time when we give up our right to strike. It's your labor, it's your time, it's
your body on or off the clock. And you know, that kind of direct action is always there as
an option.
IGD: We know that there is the Fight for $15 movement in the United States. There's been
lots of actions but what are the ramifications of this strike over the weekend? I mean
what's the historical precedent?
Luis: Yes, I'm humble enough to know there's always stuff I don't know. The past
strikes[by Fight for $15], for folks who are knowledgeable about stuff will know that
these usually had a small handful of workers at any given store walk off and only for one
day at a time.
There was also a strike in the '70s at Church's Chicken, a wave of strikes organized by
the Southern Christian Leadership Council, organized around racism. And no matter what the
numbers are[for the recent Burgerville strike]I think it is historical. I feel like the
Burgerville Workers Union is historically noteworthy in that we're building a real
organization of fast food workers. We're building something that's trying to have staying
power, that's trying to be a voice for low wage workers in a way that very few attempts
have been made previously.
IGD: So I think some people listening to this may wonder why the strike was three days
long. Was that the plan all along or why three days?
Luis: Well, three days is a good time to show that kind of force. A one day strike is one
thing, a three day strike disrupts it for that much longer. And there's also a question of
legal protections in thinking about this because given the state of labor law in the
United States, it's very hard for workers to be protected going on strike. We declared to
management that this was a strike over unfair labor practices. If they replaced workers
then they would have to have left but they could have contested that of it being over
unfair labor practice.
And if you strike over wages management can hire scabs and then you don't have to get your
job back at the end of the strike. And so there's a sort of tactical calculation about how
long the strike could be. But it's a show of force and we wanted make management stand up
and listen and realize that they can only ignore us for so long before we start forcing
their hand.
IGD: From my understanding the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in Portland has a
hall, there's other IWW members, people within the community that support Burgerville
workers, but I'm just curious how did the union, the IWW itself, support the strike?
Luis: There's lots of work to do. Whether it's making buttons, getting snack packs
together for striking workers, turning out to pickets, putting media press releases
together, or doing turn out for things - there's lots of work to do whenever you pull off
actions like this. And I think it's a beautiful thing that it was our fellow workers who
don't work at Burgerville who spent a lot of their valuable time and energy making those
things happen.
We have a big support of other working class folks in town who believe in our cause and
believe in supporting us. I think it's inspiring to see people inspired by our struggle
and it's inspiring to realize that we're bigger than just Burgerville. We're really a
movement for workers in Portland.
IGD: Can you just talk a little bit about the support from other labor unions? Looking at
the pictures there's construction workers and people from other unions that are out there.
What role did they play and more importantly how did you build those relationships to get
them to take such an active role?
Luis: The support from other unions in town has been crucial to keeping us going and to
getting as far as we have. I apologize to any unions that I miss but there have been a
number that have been really good friends[to us]. The Carpenters Local 1503 has been a
real strong support for us. Longshoremen, especially the Longshoremen Local 4 in Vancouver
have been a real help to us. SEIU, UNITE-HERE, Portland Association of Teachers, and
Laborer's Union always lent us their inflatable rat.
IGD: Scabby?
Luis: Scabby, yes. So labor has been super important and they've done all things from
turning out to picket to running pickets for us, to doing actions, donating money, and
signing onto the boycott. And you know, the work of doing that is really the work of
organizing and building relationships.
I would also like to think that we're inspiring to folks and people want to support us. As
good unionists know, labor struggle going on in our town helps all workers, one of the
most exciting things that I can imagine coming out of this is rank-and-file members of
other unions thinking that more is possible and being inspired to take action themselves.
The Carpenters have this great program called Carpenters in Action where they are
developing a core of their rank and file who are ready to take action and they are on a
text alert system. Just that experience of walking picket lines and turning cars away,
staying cool when the cops show up, and heckling management - that kind of
under-your-fingernails experience is crucial. And I can't wait till there's a carpenters
struggle that they want our help with because I want to return that solidarity.
IGD: Let's talk about the boycott. You mentioned turning cars around. First off, what was
the response from potential customers that saw the strike unfolding? And give a little bit
of a spiel as far as the active boycott.
Luis: Portland is a unique town, it really is true. If we were in Little Rock, Arkansas it
would be a different experience but we had a lot of success just having conversations with
people in their cars coming into the drive thru and asking them to go somewhere else. It's
nice to be in a town that appreciates workers and appreciates organizing.
We've launched an active boycott which is a new step coming out of the strike. We have a
long list of organizations who have signed on, including many union locals who have
already endorsed. And this is a hard decision for workers to make because when the company
isn't making money, we're not necessarily getting hours. It's been two years we're facing
a serious anti-union campaign and Burgerville needs to stand up and take notice. And it's
going to take longer than just the three day strike to turn this situation around and so
we're calling a boycott until we come to agreement with the company.
I think the response has been tremendous[so far], I've heard through the grapevine a
number of my friends who are not connected to activist left the networks who have said
they've heard about the boycott and have said that they're not going to cross the line. I
heard an anecdote from a worker I know at a Burgerville where we don't have an active
campaign that the construction workers stopped coming in today, that he's used to a rush
in the morning with the construction workers. And I think that Jill Taylor, the current
CEO of Burgerville, should be doing some hard thinking round about now.
IGD: Can you explain to people the anti-union campaign that Burgerville has launched
against you all?
Luis: Yes, it's looked like a lot of things in different places. They've hired a union
busting law firm called Bullard Law which has a long history of breaking up unions. And
they've just released a new employee handbook that includes two full pages about their
perspective on the union. They've pulled workers off the floor and had them sit down and
watch videos from the CEO telling them why they shouldn't join the union.
They've done nastier stuff too, whether its cutting people's hours or firing people like
Jordan, Canaan and Arsenio, and just intimidating people. For instance one of the workers
at Convention Center told me that this one corporate goon[sent by the company]was just
standing behind him for a whole day Just sort of standing there[saying]‘I'm not doing
anything, just managing.' But it didn't feel great. So I think that when you try to make
change you should expect resistance, the system is the way it is for a reason. And I think
that Burgerville is definitely not living up to the values that it says it lives up to.
As a matter of fact[on February 6]the current CEO of Burgerville, Jill Taylor, was
speaking at a conference in Seattle called the Sound Food Summit which was a progressive
food movement event, talking about living out your philosophy in business. And we had our
fellow workers from the Seattle IWW and other organizations up there passing out leaflets
and talking to people about why it was pretty ridiculous that she be doing that while
running a union busting campaign and firing workers on lies.
IGD: In closing what's next for the campaign and, more importantly, people listening to
this that want to support what should they do?
Luis: Next in this campaign is we're going to keep rolling with this boycott and keep
pressure on the company. We are going to keep organizing and keep taking action. You know,
that's the lifeblood of any struggle, is taking action. So keep your ears peeled on our
Facebook.
How you support? You should join the boycott if you're living in the Burgerville area.
Don't go to Burgerville or go to Burgerville and tell them you're not going to pay any
money there because they don't support the union. And you know there are ways to donate if
you have some extra cash lying around. We're low wage workers so running stuff like this
is important. And the website for the boycott is boycottburgerville.com and there's plenty
of other information about how to get involved there.
IGD: Awesome. Well thanks so much for joining us. Anything else you want to say that we
perhaps didn't cover?
Luis: I think the last thing I'll say is that we're really only going to win if other
people take on fights like this of their own in workplaces or in our communities. So we
want to be an inspiration and we want everyone to be taking action and fighting back
against the system.
IGD: Well thanks so much for joining us and again best of luck to you.
http://blackrosefed.org/unionism-from-below-burgerville/
------------------------------
Message: 5
The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group believes the best immediate response to Fascism is
an internationalist working class movement of resistance in the form of a united front.
Within this, we can put forward a libertarian communist solution to the many crises of
capitalism. We participate in the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism because, although it
has severe flaws, it does some good work and is the only working class united front
available to us at the moment. We hope to contribute to solving its problems, most
importantly its isolation from the union movement, and fight for a world where Fascism is
consigned permanently to the dustbin of history. ---- Fascism, in various guises, is on
the march in most advanced Western countries and some underdeveloped countries. The extent
of its rise is related to the history and the state of society in each.
The situation is most severe in Europe, where liberal capitalists' illusions about the
"end of history" have been shattered most cruelly. Mass Fascist parties have risen in
Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands,
Sweden and Ukraine. In Austria, they have even entered the government, while in Ukraine
they were officially part of the government for a time after the Euromaidan protests. In
addition, the governments of Hungary and Poland are hard Right wing national
conservatives. They share some of the features of Fascism and are implementing parts of
the Fascists' program. Meanwhile, the Russian government openly collaborates with Fascists
both at home and abroad.
Two factors have been driving this. Firstly, Europe is a more accessible destination than
Australia, Canada and the US for migrants from the Third World fleeing poverty and
oppression. It has traditionally been a source of emigration, not a destination for
immigrants. Accordingly, many societies are experiencing challenges to deep seated
nativist currents for the first time. The capitalist class cannot resist using cultural
anxieties about immigrants to divert popular anger so they do not become targets
themselves. The Fascists are able to take the capitalists' racism to its logical
conclusion, arguing forcefully for what the capitalists usually only imply.
The second factor is the failure of the European Union. The EU is a utopian project,
aiming to solve the fundamental problem of Europe - the fact that the forces and relations
of production there have far outgrown the suffocating confines of the nation state. While
the problem is intractable under capitalism, there is no law of history that says you
can't try. Thus the EU.
What has occurred in Europe is that the project of economic and political integration has
become trapped half-way. The capitalists have found they cannot drive it further, while a
return to unco-ordinated national autonomy would produce economic ruin. On the other hand,
the current shape of the EU is dysfunctional, producing both neo-liberal austerity and
pointless bureaucracy. The Fascists advance a solution - to cut the Gordian knot of the EU
and make somebody else pay the costs of its break-up. This is a recipe for war against
both the enemy without and the enemy within. The parties of the political Centre,
meanwhile, are like kangaroos in the headlights - doomed if they stay where they are, but
frozen into immobility.
In the United States, an entrenched two party system has prevented the emergence of a mass
Fascist party, but there is a plethora of new Fascist groups trying to take advantage of
the social toxins released by Donald Trump. The US has its own cultural anxieties around
immigration. In particular, racists are agitated by demographic trends indicating that at
some future date, white people (a category subject to moveable and conflicting definitions
anyway) will decrease from being a majority of society to being merely a plurality. Once
again, in a society founded on genocide, slavery and violent racism, capitalists use
immigrants and ethnic minorities as lightning rods for discontent and Fascists take the
capitalists' racism to its logical conclusion. While the growing Fascist current is yet to
take clear organisational form, there are worrying signs that the Republican Party may be
vulnerable to Fascist colonising.
In Australia, the Fascists are still marginal, having their political space largely taken
up by the hard Right half-way house of Pauline Hanson's One Nation. Hanson has worked hard
to keep open Fascists off her candidates' list, though one or two have slipped through and
it's clear her party is infested with them at the grassroots. Organisationally, Fascists
in Australia have proven a disaster, a pantomime on the theme of "Everybody wants to be
Führer". It would be a serious error to be complacent however, because a talented leader
could come along tomorrow and unite them. Further, even disorganised Fascists can be
dangerous for Muslims, Jews, African immigrants and others.
One thing holding back the development of Fascism in Australia, though, is the fact that
the capitalist class here is conflicted about fomenting racism. While all the usual
minorities still function as attractive lightning rods for internal discontents, there is
an external constraint. Australia, being a European settler outpost on the edge of Asia,
is vulnerable to being denounced as racist by Asian governments and locked out of trade
with the region. This would be a disaster for Australian capitalists and they have so far
been much more careful and targeted in their racism than in Europe and the US. There are,
however, no guarantees that this will endure in the event of an economic crisis.
The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group believes the best immediate response to Fascism is
an internationalist working class movement of resistance in the form of a united front.
Within this, we can put forward a libertarian communist solution to the many crises of
capitalism. We participate in the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism because, although it
has severe flaws, it does some good work and is the only working class united front
available to us at the moment. We hope to contribute to solving its problems, most
importantly its isolation from the union movement, and fight for a world where Fascism is
consigned permanently to the dustbin of history.
*Article published in "The Anvil" which can be found and downloaded at
https://melbacg.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/anvil-201802-v-web.pdf
Related Link: https://melbacg.files.wordpress.com
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/30862
------------------------------
Message: 6
At the moment of the continuous de-evaluation of our living standards, current affairs are
monopolised by the so called "macedonian issue", which in reality is nothing less than the
accession of the neighbouring country to the E.U., so that it can advocate NATO's
interests in the Balkans. We, on the other side, have nothing to divide us. The
authoritarians' interests are the same, whatever language they speak, whatever name they
have. We owe it to claim our life and freedom in common, against names and national
identities. ---- The two rallies organised in Thessaloniki and Athens are nothing more
than the effort to incite the most conservative reflexes of society and ?? rally its
members under the umbrella of a national identity. The result was the creation of a
vehicle for certain fascist formations to spring up, carrying out attacks against
structures of social struggle, as, for example, the Ffree Social Space "School" for the
Learning of Freedom", Libertatia squat and the free self managed theatre "Embros". It
seems that fascists in this city want to believe that they can jump out of their holes.
Very soon, however, they are going to realise that this is not so.
NO FASCIST ASSAULT WILL REMAIN UNANSWERED
PAN-BALKAN DEMONSTRATION OF INTERNATIONALIST SOLIDARITY
SATURDAY 10/03 12:00, ????R?, THESSALONIKI
Open assembly of the western districts of Thessaloniki, Libertarian Initiative of
Thessaloniki, Libertarian Syndicalistic Union of Thessaloniki, Free Social Space "School",
Squat Terra Incognita, Collectivity of Anarchists from Eastern Thessaloniki, other Comrades.
https://libertasalonica.wordpress.com/2018/03/02/pan-balkan-demonstration-of-internationalist-solidarity/
PAN-BALKAN DEMONSTRATION OF INTERNATIONALIST SOLIDARITY | Anarchist Federation
NO NAME DIVIDES US
NO NATION UNITES US
PROLETARIANS HAVE NO MOTHER COUNTRY
The resurgence of the "Macedonian issue" has been a rare opportunity for all kinds of
nationalist and fascist scums to take up space in the public discourse and try to promote
their murderous political plans. The nationalist rallies in Thessaloniki and Athens served
this very purpose.
It became obvious, even to the most naive, that the supposedly non-partisan and
non-political character of the rally, promoted with so much diligence by the mass media,
was simply a sheepskin disguising the beast that hid underneath it; the beast that -as it
turned out- did not need much to feel confident and reveal its real face. At the
Nationalist rally in Thessaloniki, on 21/01, fascist groups attacked the Free Social Space
"School" (where they were pushed back) as well as the Libertatia squat (where they
proceeded to setting the building on fire conveniently covered by the cops who were
present). They also attempted to attack the anti-nationalist gathering at Kamara, while
during the same day the Golden Dawn proceeded to the desecration of the Jewish Holocaust
Memorial. In addition, at the end of the respective rally in Athens, on 04/02, they
attacked the Free Self-Managed Theater "EMPROS" (where they were also pushed back by its
members). Fortunately, however, the anti-fascist reflexes of the movement did not allow
them to further expand such actions.
NO FASCIST ASSAULT WILL REMAIN UNANSWERED
The oppressed and exploited have nothing to divide among us. Our oppressors are the same
and they have the same names, regardless of their nationality; they are no others than the
state and capital. We must, therefore, struggle together with the oppressed and the
exploited of all countries in order to create a common internationalist front that will
raise a barrier to nationalism and fascism; a common front which will declare as loudly as
possible that the we will not allow the bosses to divide us on the basis of nationality,
color, sexual orientation, sex, religion or any other terms of segregation, a common front
that is determined to fight for a stateless, classless, non-national(ist) life.
PAN-BALKAN DEMONSTRATION
OF INTERNATIONALIST
SOLIDARITY
THESSALONIKI
SUTURDAY 10/03
12:00, ????R?
Anarchist Federation
https://libertasalonica.wordpress.com/2018/03/02/pan-balkan-demonstration-of-internationalist-solidarity-anarchist-federation/
------------------------------
Message: 7
It's snowing. Snow is fun, and lots of us will have a rare day off today to go sledging,
have a snowball fight, watch daytime TV and generally do anything we like other than going
to work. ---- However, some of us will have to go to work despite the weather. This is
some potentially life-saving advice for anyone who finds themselves layering up and
trudging in regardless. ---- 1) Do not drive anywhere under any circumstances. Avon and
Somerset Police have advised not to use any roads in the region. People have had serious
incidents on the Bristol roads over the last 24 hours. Don't risk life and limb for a boss
who would replace you in a few weeks if anything happened. There aren't any buses running
currently either, so if you can't safely walk to work, don't go in. ---- 2) Your workplace
needs to be properly heated. If your workplace is below 13 degrees C, your boss is
breaking the law. Go home.
3) If you work outdoors, your boss still has a legal duty to keep you safe and well. In
this temperature, this should mean canceling or postponing anything except the most
important work. The Health and Safety Executive recommends a number of steps which
employers should take to keep employees safe when outdoors in the cold. These include:
-Issuing PPE which is appropriate to the weather,
-Providing facilities where workers can get warm and encouraging workers to drink plenty
of hot drinks,
-Giving workers more frequent rest breaks,
-Making sure workers know how to recognise the early warning signs for cold stress.
Your employer has a duty to keep you safe. If you absolutely have to work today, make sure
they're keeping up their end.
Otherwise, enjoy the snow!
http://www.solfed.org.uk/bristol/public-service-announcement
------------------------------
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