Good Praxis – The Right to Sit

From the Milwaukee Independent – “The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represents about 100,000 workers, has been pushing to include in the contracts it negotiates, including at Barnes & Noble, a guaranteed right to sit during work that can be done seated, said Stuart Appelbaum, the union’s president.

During one bargaining session, an employer objected to the demand. Union negotiators used a break that emptied the conference room to underline their position. “The employer came back and saw we had removed all chairs from the negotiating table,” Appelbaum said. “I think the point was made.” (emphasis added).

In the end, the union got the chairs it wanted written into the contract, he said.” Read all about it here.

1,100 Operational Student Employees at WWU have filed to form a union – FOR THE THIRD TIME

The Washington State Labor Council is reporting that these operational student employees intend to change current Washington State law that bars them from unionizing. Read more here.

Occupational Student Employees celebrating filing for their union. Photo: WAWU-UAW

JOIN US THIS WINTER/SPRING 2026 FOR FREE MOVIE NIGHTS

3RD SATURDAYS 4:30 – 7:00 PM, JANUARY THROUGH JUNE

@ KARATE CHURCH, 519 E MAPLE ST, BELLINGHAM, WA 98225

January 17th:

The recently released PBS/American Experience Documentary Hard Hat Riot.

An important history lesson about the massive and bloody 1970 post-Kent State-massacre riot on NYC’s Wall Street that pitted anti-war “elite” college students from NYU with the local construction workers building the Twin Towers. Many of those workers had fought in the Vietnam war, and their sons were still overseas. The documentary explains how Nixon and Republican Party used the riot’s aftermath to stoke a political and cultural divide that is still with us present day.

Starbucks Workers Strike

More than 1000 workers disrupted their employer’s busiest day of the year, their so-called “Red Cup Day”, by striking at 65 separate locations across the United States. The Associated Press’s article and video can be found here: https://apnews.com/article/starbucks-workers-strike-stores-union-6d9a5c8761fb7a251cb9bf7c13908877

IWW expands in Finland

The Finland IWW Regional Organizing Committee has been chartered by the IWW administration for Europe. The charter was issued by the delegate council of the IWW WISE-RA (Wales, Ireland, Scotland & England Regional Administration). The Whatcom-Skagit Branch congratulates and welcomes the Finland Regional Organizing Committee (FINROC) as the latest international section to be formally charter as a Branch of the union. The IWW already has an inspiring historical reputation within Finnish labor history, this latest initiative demonstrates a significant development to the revival of radical unionism in the region as well as the international working class struggle.

If you are interested in some history of rebel Finnish workers in the NW corner of the USA, here are two great reads. The Red Coast by Aaron Goings is a history of Finnish Wobs and socialists on the coast of Washington State, and their communities in the first few decades of the 1900s. Many were expatriates from Russian imperialism. The other is a huge novel, Deep River, by Karl Marlantes. The book, based in part on the authors’ family history, tells of an ex-patriot Finnish woman and her family (the Koskis) who flee the Russian occupation and settle at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1904. She joins up with the IWW; one of her brothers becomes a logging capitalist. Lots of IWW history. Also a very powerful novel portraying a brave and indomitable woman. Highly recommended to all.

May Day in Bellingham

International Workers Day at the New Prospect Theater. Poetry from Victoria McCallum and Carly Haapala, and musicians Lantz Simpson, “nickles”, and Jeffery Slough (Jeffrey Slough Music – EPK). A brief introduction to the IWW by D. Tucker.

Admission by donation, pay what you will. Advance tickets here

newprospecttheatre.thundertix.com/orders/new?performance_id=3159293

St Jo’s NURSES picket is ON!Tuesday April 22

Nurses at Bellingham’s St.Joseph Hospital rejected management’s “last, best, and final” offer yesterday. It was “pretty insulting” a nurse reported. See the 4/17 post on this website

See you on the picket line!

Nurses plan picket at St. Jo’s on April 29

*Evidently PeaceHealth doesn’t believe this anymore.*

Excerpted from Cascadia Daily News 4-17-2025 [edited for brevity and with comments by IWW]:

Nurses plan to picket outside PeaceHealth St. Joseph’sr on Tuesday, April 29, one month after rejecting a proposed contract (follow that link for more on the story- IWW). The picket is on if the hospital and union do not come to an agreement by April 18 (IWW will post on that).

The Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) represents 1,100 nurses at the hospital. Wages, a change in insurance providers and “a feeling of disrespect from management” are the union’s main issues, a press release states.

The union’s contract expired March 31, freeing members from its “no strike” clause which also forbade pickets. The union has not had a bargaining session with the hospital since mid-March, before the contract vote.

The proposed contract, rejected by the union, would have given nurses 4.25% across-the-board raises effective April 1 in addition to a $1 wage increase for nurses with eight or fewer years of experience. Nurses would have received a 4% raise each April for the following two years. A nurse with one year of experience, under this wage plan, would have been making $44.67 per hour starting this month.

The union contends the proposed wages do not cover Bellingham’s cost of living. In March, a union spokesperson said management had been unwilling to move on wages during negotiations.

In an earlier interview, union representatives said the hospital’s switch to providing Moda Health insurance to its employees was a major sticking point. The plan is more expensive and effectively limits employees’ care options to PeaceHealth providers (the equivalent of being limited to shopping at the ‘company store’- IWW).

A nurse at the hospital, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, has felt the impact of the new plan. “I just made the decision to not refill medication because it got too expensive because of health insurance,” he said. “It is directly because of PeaceHealth’s choices.” He said he wanted to see wage increases that kept pace with the increased cost of living and health care, and will attend the picket. Two other unions at the hospital are also bargaining with the hospital system over a new contract. The union representing technicians and lab professionals, among others, authorized a strike last week. PeaceHealth is contesting the collective bargaining rights of another union, representing hospitalists.

MOVIE NIGHT APRIL 16– SALT OF THE EARTH

Salt of the Earth [1954] is one of the most influential films in US history. It’s a feminist drama based on a 1950 strike by Chicano and white miners in New Mexico. The pro-union film was censored by the House Un-American Activities Committee. The directors and several of the actors were blacklisted by mainstream Hollywood; a couple of the leading actors were deported before the film was completed.
Without giving too much away, the union men are prohibited from picketing by a court injunction- so the wives and daughters take over. Very inspiring film about community, race, and class.Hope to see you there!

IWW strike continues in Bay Area

After two years of bad-faith bargaining by bosses, the IWW-organized workers at Berkeley retail salvager Urban Ore began a strike last week. The workers began solidarity union organizing in 2021, and in 2023 voted to join IWW for greater support and organizational structure. Wages are the principal issue.

Urban Ore is somewhat similar to Bellingham’s ReStore- retailing recycled building materials to the public- except Urban Ore is a for-profit privately owned corporation. Since at least 2017, owners have claimed they’d like to transfer shop ownership to workers, however, Urban Ore’s management has been consistently absent from meetings and has delayed bargaining sessions with workers.

The wage system is unconventional and the main source of conflict. Workers get a starting wage of $21.50 which is better than the Berkeley minimum wage ($16.50) but still significantly below what it takes to make a living in the Bay Area (graph).

Beyond the base pay, workers get a share of revenue that is ostensibly added to their hourly wage. The third tier is supposed to be a bi-annual share of profits, but the bosses stopped paying that out in May 2023 when bargaining began.

Fellow Worker Benno Giammarinaro, an organizer in the receiving department, reported that in practice, the revenue-sharing incentive creates an unstable wage structure for workers; their pay fluctuates each pay period in unpredictable ways. What’s more, workers don’t have access to the revenue numbers for each pay period and thus can’t accurately calculate it themselves- and they think they are being shorted.

“They don’t provide weekly profits for us to do the calculations ourselves … They display the revenue totals each month but that’s not broken down by pay period. So we don’t actually see the revenue broken down into that pay period,” said FW Giammarinaro.

During collective bargaining negotiations, workers uncovered inconsistencies in the revenue-sharing formula which were dismissed by the owners. Workers say that ownership has not provided financial information that is legally required in such collective bargaining negotiations, like expenses for example.

IWW Organizers said “…our first proposal was $25 an hour starting wage, still below the calculated living wage for a single person, with a 3.5 percent annual cost of living adjustment and 5 percent raises from time of employment at specific intervals. They said right away, that’s way too expensive, that’s gonna bankrupt the company, that’s gonna drain our cash reserves in a year, all of these other things”.

FW Giammarinaro added “and we’re like this is not why we work hard. We work hard because we like what Urban Ore does and we like working together and we take pride in our work but not because of this shitty pay structure that you have”.

Contribute to strike support here.

MOVIE NIGHT TONIGHT! LABOR WARS OF THE NORTHWEST

Labor wars flyer

IWW organizes in Cyprus

As promised a couple days ago- IWW members in Cyprus have been organizing lately. Visit their website. Go there to read about a strike in an IWW-organized digital media company, Optilink, and contribute to their strike fund. Our Cypriot Fellow Workers are a Regional Organizing Committee within WISERA- the Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England Regional Administration of the IWW.

*Picket line outside Optilink in Nicosia, Cyprus. The Wobs there make clever use of ‘black cat’ imagery to protect their identities.The red banner is in both Turkish and Greek.*

IWW in Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England- going strong

Let’s not forgot that the Industrial Workers of the WORLD is an international union. There is a strong presence across the pond; in fact the Wobs are sufficiently numerous over there to have their own independent administration, separate from ours in North America. They are the same IWW; but with different labor laws and organizing culture. They produce a great newsletter called ‘Wildcat’. The March 2025 issue talks about the affiliation of the pan African Workers Association affiliating with IWW, brewery worker organizing, International Womens Day actions, and a lot of other cool stuff. See their website to access Wildcat 54.

Tomorrow: The IWW in Cyprus.

Fiamma Burger, Fiamme Pizza rip off their workers, says Department of Labor

This article appeared in the February 20, 2025 Bellingham Herald. Thanks to the Herald for reporting on this. We are highlighting a few items in bold to emphasize them.

Rachel Weedman, a former employee of Fiamma Pizza, stands in front of the business on Feb. 18. Weedman said she intends to take legal action against the company after the Department of Labor determined it owes more than $82,000 in back wages to 73 employees due to violations involving tip pool collection and overtime payments. Rachel Showalter The Bellingham Herald

Managers at two well-known downtown Bellingham restaurants have been improperly taking tips intended for dozens of servers, cashiers and others — and those employees are owed more than $80,000 in back pay, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report.

La Fiamma Wood Fire Pizza and Fiamma Burger are the two restaurants named in an investigation that started with a complaint filed in May 2023 and concluded in 2024.

An investigation conducted by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in Seattle found that 73 employees of the two restaurants are owed $82,068.68 in tips and overtime, according to a document obtained by The Bellingham Herald.

“Therefore, as the firm has agreed to future compliance but has refused to pay the back wages, the liquidated damages and civil money penalties, the file should be reviewed for litigation,” the Wage and Hour Division report concludes.

Because of budget constraints, the Labor Department isn’t taking punitive action or forcing La Fiamma to pay, a department official told The Herald. That official could only speak on background, citing the current political climate in Washington, D.C. (Emphasis by IWW, and we add- dependency on government bodies to safeguard workers and their issues is not ‘direct action’- unionizing and taking action on the job are, and can get immediate result. This is the IWW’s strategy of ‘solidarity unionism’. )

Nevertheless, the Labor official verified the investigation’s findings that employees at Fiamma Pizza and Fiamma Burger were forced to share tips in a pool that included seven managers who were not eligible to receive combined tips. A worker is not eligible for tips if their duties include scheduling, hiring and firing of employees — even if they are an hourly worker, the official said.

The official said that La Fiamma was breaking labor law and that the former employees are owed back pay. Since the Labor Department isn’t pursuing legal action, the employees will have to sue on their own or under a class action to get their money, the official said. (Or- how about a boycott?)

That’s exactly what former Fiamma Pizza employee Rachel Weedman told The Herald she intends to do because the company’s owners are refusing to pay, according to Weedman and a July 5, 2024, summary of the investigation.

“What they did was wrong,” Weedman said in an interview with The Herald. “Other people were hurt. A lot of people were screwed over. I see it — I can’t just not do anything.”

“What they did was wrong,” Rachel Weedman said in an interview with The Herald. Rachel Showalter The Bellingham Herald

The DOL report criticizes owners Ken Bothman and Daniel Bothman — along with their lawyer, Carrie Blackwood of Barron Quinn Blackwood of Bellingham — for their confusion with labor law and for failing to contact federal authorities in a timely manner in response to the inquiry.

“They keep trying to feign ignorance, as if that means you are not culpable and not responsible for breaking the law,” Weedman said. “They know what the right thing is. They know. They’ve been told by many, many people. There are 72 other employees that had money taken from them.”

In emails to The Herald and in a separate letter to employees, La Fiamma’s Ken Bothman denied responsibility for back tips, wages and overtime. He also claimed the investigation was “dropped,” which is false, according to the Labor official.

“After we shared information with the DOL to help them better understand our practices, they made the determination not to move forward with the complaint,” Ken Bothman told The Herald in an email.

“To our knowledge, we are, and have been, operating in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Bothman said in a Nov. 5, 2024, letter to employees that was shared with The Herald.

Bothman said the company’s restaurants are in compliance with the law, but he did not respond to specific questions from The Herald about whether the company intended to pay back the lost wages to its employees or whether it had changed its tip pool practices.

“At our restaurants, as allowed by law, the only individuals participating in the pooling of tips are hourly employees providing direct service to customers. This is the industry standard and is fully compliant,” Bothman told The Herald. “Again, our compliance remains, and the department did not determine the case suitable for litigation.”

“To our knowledge, we are, and have been, operating in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Fiamma Pizza co-owner Ken Bothman told employees. Rachel Showalter The Bellingham Herald

Bothman said the company has made mediation offers to “one former employee,” who he said “raised further concerns” after the DOL decided not to pursue litigation.

“We have made multiple offers to meet with this individual to fully explain our compliance — including with the assistance of a mediator — but this one person has not taken advantage of this opportunity, making it challenging to resolve this matter constructively,” Bothman said.

Weedman said she isn’t interested in mediation. She said she cares about the employees who are owed back pay.

“What do we have to mediate? This is not a gray area situation. This is black and white, period,” Weedman said. “We’re not asking for anything egregious. This is just for everybody to get the money they’re owed.”

Weedman said she hopes the restaurant “does the right thing” and “takes responsibility.”

“It’s a great place. I loved everybody I worked there with. It’s not that I don’t want people to be able to get their delicious pizza in town. But I want there to be some accountability,” Weedman said.

Though the federal government is not suing, La Fiamma still owes the money to its employees as the investigation concludes, the Labor official said.

The Department of Labor investigation started with Fiamma Pizza, but expanded to include Fiamma Burger, “due to systemic violations found,” the report said.

IWW MOVIE NIGHT WEDNESDAY!

The best solidarity movie ever! We all could use a positive jolt these days, this is it! First film in our movie night series. Third Wednesday of Feb, March, April, May.

Review? “I hate this move”- anti-union homophobe; “Best movie ever!” Everyone else.

PRIDE 2025

Picket with Letter Carriers

A good turnout. Lots of honks and waves.

Continue reading “Picket with Letter Carriers”

No NLRB? No Problem

A giant Donald Trump leers over the Department of Labor building, using scissors to cut a carrot off a fishing pole that the government workers are dangling to catch workers. — art by x364181.

Last week Trump fired two members of the National Labor Relations Board, leaving the body without quorum and the ability to process cases. Many unions are wallowing in despair because they are so reliant on the government, but there is an elephant in the room here nobody wants to address. Why is the labor movement so dependent on the government in the first place? Can we afford to be in a situation where one orange man can suspend the union process? The moment has opened our imaginations to what labor organizing would be like without the NLRB.

After being fired, NLRB General Council Jennifer Abruzzo said, “if the Agency does not fully effectuate its Congressional mandate in the future as we did during my tenure, I expect that workers with assistance from their advocates will take matters into their own hands in order to get well-deserved dignity and respect in the workplace, as well as a fair share of the significant value they add to their employer’s operations.” This is interesting because ‘taking matters into your own hands’ is something labor law was designed to prevent.

Taking Matters Out of Our Hands

In the early 1900s, workers across the U.S. faced low wages, long hours, and unsafe working conditions, which were made even worse by the Great Depression. Workers responded with militant strikes and sabotage. For example, in 1919, over 65,000 workers in Seattle launched a general strike, and in 1934, the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike brought the whole city to a halt. It was in this context that Congress created the legal framework for ‘collective bargaining’ that eventually consolidated into the National Labor Relations Act in 1935.

The purpose of the act was to derail militant labor activity into more polite bureaucratic avenues. For the government, workers’ self-activity was too uncontrolled. It interfered with “the free flow of commerce” and risked revolutionary destabilization of the class system. If employers would just recognize unions and engage in bargaining away from the shop floor, capitalism could be made more stable and efficient. It also became obvious to those in power that labor organizations were going to exist whether they liked it or not. What is a government to do? Since they could not beat labor out of existence, the next best thing was to take control over what it meant to be a union. Unions were enshrined in law and given an “acceptable” avenue to express themselves. Union structure and practice were molded to promote ‘industrial peace,’ thereby defanging labor’s more radical tendencies.

Trump’s Childish Statecraft

In this context, Trump has pretentiously sabotaged his government’s own mechanism for containing worker militancy. But it remains to be seen if a dysfunctional NLRB will lead to unions “taking matters into their own hands.” If that were the case, it could be the revival of the labor movement we are looking for. We do not need more of the same labor movement. We need a different direct action movement that operates beyond the control of government – on our own terms – for a world that meets human need and not the profits of the ruling class. Labor’s strength has always been grounded in its control of production, not these arenas of ‘collective bargaining’ we are funneled into by the NLRA. The shopfloor is where class war is waged, while the bargaining table is where labor goes to be tamed, integrated, and defeated.

So however disappointing a dysfunctional NLRB is, it is healthy for labor to think outside the box. Do we even need to be recognized by the NLRB? Are polite negotiations the only way to win? If the General Council of the NLRB can think of an alternative, then we sure as hell better be able to. Although, I stress this should not be a secondary strategy we use when our dear NLRB flounders. It is the only direction that guarantees our power. Regardless of Trump’s shenanigans, the winning strategy for labor has always been to abandon the state’s polite bargaining framework.

Old Habits Die Hard

Taking matters into our own hands will require a great transformation of the labor movement’s habits. In the nine decades since 1935, unions have been shaped to rely on the NLRB. Union leadership will be reluctant to go down any other path; Indeed, that could mean eliminating their own careers since their job is to serve the NLRA’s style of unionism to workers. For this reason, it will be key to develop other kinds of unions, like the IWW, where rank & file committees have control instead of comfy union officials.

Further, most unions have bargained away their ability to ‘take matters into our own hands’ by signing contracts with no-strike clauses; The law does not allow for direct action if the NLRB can’t make quorum. So the heavy legal consequences remain for workers who have signed away their power. Obviously, the government will be more than willing to use the NLRA to protect capitalists from any contract violations. Again, the contract framework provided by the government is more about maintaining the class system than helping workers. It would be great if labor took action overnight, but due to these contractual traps, undoing labor’s habits is more likely a long term project. Unions need to be rebuilt from the ground up, by the rank & file, in a way that preserves the freedom to strike. Then we will have the freedom to move in situations like this.

It is not just the contract or the larger union apparatus that is so dependent on the NLRB, but workers themselves. Workers are trained to ask their bureaucrat, to file the grievance or ULP. Even in the IWW, a union that favors direct action over contractualism, we get starry-eyed new members itching to file for recognition without building a functional committee. They arrive to us miseducated by the NLRA regime, the labor press, and general approach of mainstream unions. The NLRA’s culture has weaseled its way into the very intuition and habits of the working class: “Where are you, bureaucrat? Have you seen the form I filed yet? What can you do on my behalf?” So it is not enough to exclaim workers will just do it themselves. Yes, we must, but it will be difficult to change our habits. Like a smoker attempting to quit cigarettes, people will not immediately claim their power. They will crave the old way of doing things, especially if there is no clear understanding of the problem at hand, and no effort to break the dependency. It’ll take a lot of intention and discipline.

We are at a point in history where the government may not need to channel the labor movement into the NLRB. Labor’s militancy has become so degenerate that Trump can sabotage the board and leave unions hamstrung. The potential absence of the NLRB is a very different scenario compared to the situation prior to the NLRA. Back then unions were more wild and capable. They were just beginning to be led into a cage and still possessed wild traits. But now a sudden removal of the NLRB avenue is like depriving cattle of the farmer’s feed. Perhaps this is giving Trump too much credit, because I doubt the blathering fool is aware of the history of social control, but look at it from the enemy’s perspective: there is a good chance that tossing a softened, polite animal out into the wild will just result in their death. He senses labor’s weakness.

Perhaps a dysfunctional NLRB will cause rank & file workers to get upset, adapt, and take a different direction. However, once things get rowdy, the government can simply open the floodgates of the NLRB and channel labor into its normal avenues. They’ll remember how to dangle the carrot in front of us. Even Trump will realize his mistake and learn that the NLRA is the most sophisticated technology of capitalist rule. At that point, workers may feel inclined to come home to roost, for their bodies have not forgotten what it’s like for ‘someone else’ to do it. Will any new habits be strong enough to resist old temptations?

Trump’s gutting of the NLRB is timely. It’s happening at a point where the tameness of the working class is at an all time high, and union membership is rock bottom. It makes sense for them to sabotage the NLRB until unions prove they can ‘take matters into their own hands.’ It’s like a test to see if social control is even required anymore. Perhaps labor is so domesticated everyone will slave away without disrupting anything. But I know we can shake things up.

MAURY FOISY- FAREWELL FELLOW WORKER

By Dave Tucker, IWW

Maury Foisy of Bellingham died January 21 age 88.

Maury was a charter member of the old Bellingham Branch back in the 1980s and paid his IWW dues for a good 20 years, long after that first reincarnation of the IWW faded away in the 1990s.

His obituary was in Friday’s print edition of the Cascadia Daily News. Some of the following is from that obit and others’ recollections, some is from my own friendship with Maury.

Maury was a political science prof at WWU from 1970 to 1997. He was loved and admired by many, and a dear and respected friend of mine- always good for a talk and a beer. Or two.

Maury was a hell of a unionist. He was a Wobbly to the core. He was the son of a coal miner and as a young man was employed in a slaughterhouse; he worked on Eastern Washington wheat farms as a youngster. He told me he knew he was a member of the working class at a very early age.

That laid the foundation for his lifelong belief in unions, and his passion and commitment to the importance of education and social justice.

He was president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) at Western and was a leader in the AFT both locally and nationally. He was a powerful advocate for protecting teachers’ rights and improving the quality of education.

Maury was active in the Whatcom County Human Rights Task Force and “Jobs with Justice” advocating workers’ rights, economic justice, and fair working conditions. He protested wars, beginning with the Vietnam War. I met him during our activism in the fight against Reagan’s intervention in Central America. He was well-known in the “Not in Our Names” anti-Iraq war movement.

A celebration of Maury’s life will be held March 9 at 1 PM, at the Bellingham Ferry Terminal. We will share music and memories and snacks.

So- to our friend and our Fellow Worker, Maury Foisy: Rest in Power, Fellow Worker.

Tuck

Delegate

Whatcom-Skagit Branch

Industrial Workers of the World

PEETS COFFEE TRIES TO BUST IWW UNION

Peets Labor Union Baristas in the Peet’s Coffee chain have been organizing into IWW’s Peet’s Labor Union for several years. In 2023, workers at three Peet’s stores in Berkeley and Oakland decided to organize with the IWW. In 2024, workers at the 4th Street store in Berkeley and at the NE Broadway store in Portland joined the IWW. Peet’s Labor Union website

The nearest Peet’s to Bellingham is way down in Redmond, but we figure there would be interest here in what’s going on, as there are certainly a ton of coffee shops around here, including Starbucks- and Peet’s corporate is taking a page from that union fight.

Management has engaged in stonewalling and union busting. This has recently escalated with disciplinary actions taken against seven Fellow Workers as well as the firing of Fellow Worker Deya.

The Wobbly 7 received final warnings in autumn late last year. These warnings related to union actions taken on October 10, 2024. On that day, union members showed up at a Peet’s Store to support a worker at a disciplinary hearing. None of the workers that received subsequent “final warnings” had any previous disciplinary measures taken against them. The final warnings contained no specific allegations or put forth any evidence that fellow workers had violated Peet’s Coffee policies.

Fellow Worker Deya, one of the Wobbly 7 and a prominent organizer, has now been
fired. Peet’s Coffee terminated Deya for breaching a policy which is often ignored by management. Deya failed to inform a manager that she was alone in the store while waiting for another store opener to arrive. This situation happens frequently. Due to being given her final warning as part of the Wobbly 7, this minor breach has been used as justification to terminate Deya.

The IWW is urging customers of Peet’s who are outraged by the union busting behavior of Peet’s management to contact Peet’s customer service. 1 (800) 999-2132, Monday through Friday from 6 am to 6 pm PT

The IWW hopes that Peet’s will promptly come to the bargaining table instead of continuing to target union activists while rebuffing contract negotiations.

An Update from the Evolve Workers

A spokesperson from the Evolve workers asked us to circulate this message.

“We are disbanded as a boycott/protest group. Most of us have decided to move our energy into securing our next job, so we won’t be picketing outside Evolve again.

Wish I could say otherwise, but my voice is in the minority and I want to respect the wishes of my former coworkers and their need to find some stability in this time.

Thank you for everything’s you’ve given and I hope this last time will not be the final time we stand on a line together!”

Whatcom-Skagit IWW sends our very best to the workers at Evolve. We stood with them in solidarity after they walked off the job to protest the firing of a fellow worker and the poor work conditions in the Evolve Cafe. The experience for all was hopefully positive in the long run, and will encourage all of them to be prepared to organize wherever they end up working.

REBEL WORKER MOVIE NIGHTS RETURN TO BELLINGHAM

We revived our ‘Rebel Worker Movie Nights’- public film showings of worker, radical and union oriented films. You can see the list of films with a brief description of each- click the news and events button above.

Feel free to share widely!

WORKERS AT EVOLVE CAFE WALK OUT, call for BOYCOTT

20250125_101528 0.50 labeled — *Evolve workers and supporters picket at corner of 11th and Mill, Bellingham*

Virtually the entire workforce at Bellingham’s Evolve Cafe (above Village Books in Fairhaven) walked off the job early last week to protest work conditions. When a dishwasher was fired, the fuse was lit and the walk out was on.

Workers are calling for a boycott of the cafe to protest the arbitrary work rules as well as pressure from the owners to work through breaks. A statement was sent to IWW by the workers:

“We, the staff of Evolve Chocolate + Cafe, are standing together to address several ongoing issues that are harming our well-being and the integrity of our workplace. We are calling for a labor boycott of the business

Key concerns include:

The wrongful termination of our colleague..
Lack of formal workplace policies on critical issues like breaks, meals, sick time, tip sharing, dress code, and workplace harassment.
A toxic environment where the moods of the owners directly affect staff treatment, fostering fear and intimidation.
Chronic under-staffing that places unfair pressure on workers.
A power imbalance where employees feel their jobs are at risk based on personal dynamics with the owners.

We are not attacking, but advocating for necessary changes that will improve conditions for both staff and owners. We invite you to join us in solidarity to demand fair treatment, transparency, and a safer, more supportive workplace for all.

Your support in this boycott is essential to ensuring that these issues are addressed, and that Evolve Chocolate + Cafe becomes a better place for everyone involved.”

The workers organized a picket line on the street last Saturday, joined by IWW members and other supporters. The cafe closed down rather suddenly that day. A second picket was held at the building entrances today, despite the chilly conditions.

Last week, one of the dishwashers, R., was sick and felt they shouldn’t go in. Taking the initiative, they called another dishwasher to take the shift- this wasn’t unheard of. The owner of the small cafe (ten workers, usually three or four on a shift, none of whom are full time) took offense at her toes and management prerogative being stepped on and fired R.

The bosses insist everyone voluntarily quit; the workers informed IWW they walked off in a job action in an effort to improve working conditions. That is ‘protected activity’ under the NLRB. Workers wanted to negotiate with the bosses, who lawyered up immediately and replied that a meeting could be held for 30 minutes in the lawyer’s office. No dice, no way. Never agree to that!

IWW’s involvement came about when one of the workers went to a store to gather poster board for picket signs. An IWW member there alerted the Whatcom-Skagit IWW. Another IWW member, who formerly worked at Evolve, heard through the workers’ chat and almost simultaneously notified the Whatcom-Skagit Wobs. A couple members met with a delegation of Evolve workers to talk strategy.

The bosses have posted signs at WWU and elsewhere advertising for new employees. Feel free to remove them if you see them, or even better help educate by using a sharpie and write ‘bad boss- don’t scab! A strike is on’.

During today’s picket a delegation of supporters (not including any of the strikers) entered the coffee shop to make sure the bosses (both of them were there) knew that there was a small crowd of pickets out the front and back doors and that there is support from the community. Two new hires, who surely were in the dark about what is going on, were in the kitchen this morning and heard the entire confrontation between the community supporters and both bosses.

Stay tuned for notice of future pickets and updates. Email Whatcom-Skagit IWW at bellingham@iww.org and ask to be added to our ‘Solidarity Alert’ list, we will notify you directly of future developments.

IMG_20250130_134749 0.5 labeled

Inslee refuses to pardon IWW union men in 100-year-old Centralia murder case

January 10, 2025

Washington Governor Jay Inslee has refused to pardon eight Centralia, Washington union men convicted in a controversial murder case following the 1919 Centralia Tragedy. The men, members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), were convicted in 1920 “…in a trial that history has shown to have been marred by jury tampering, witness intimidation, and judicial bias” according to a statement by Cecil Roberts, UMWA International President. Five jury members later recanted their guilty verdicts after they were presented evidence withheld from them during the trial.

The pardon petition was sent to the governor in 2023 by the North American Regional Administration of the IWW and the UMWA. It requested “…a full and complete pardon for the eight workers unjustly convicted and imprisoned.”

The governor’s decision was announced in an email from his policy advisor, Barbara Serrano, to the IWW’s Centralia Committee. The notice said the Governor was “not comfortable passing judgment on events in Centralia and a jury trial that occurred more than a century ago”.

Other supporters of the petition were the Washington State Council of Firefighters, the Kitsap Central Labor Council, labor historians, and surviving relatives of the union members.

The convicted men, Eugene Barnett, Britt Smith, Ray Becker, John Lamb, James McInerney, Loren Roberts, and brothers Bert and O.C Bland, were Centralia-area loggers or coal miners. Their lawyer, Elmer Smith, was found not guilty but he was disbarred for representing them. IWW organizer Wesley Everest was pulled from jail and lynched the night of November 11, 1919. No one was ever charged with the murder. In 2022 the City of Centralia moved towards acknowledging the Union perspective by accepting an I.W.W. memorial in Washington Park.

The trial followed the 1919 Armistice Day attack on the IWW’s Centralia union hall by members of the American Legion. The union men were advised that they had a legal right to armed defense of their office, which had been attacked and destroyed the previous year. In the attack, four Legion men- Warren Grimm, Ben Casagranda, Arthur McElfresh and Dale Hubbard, were killed. In the trial, no evidence was presented indicating that any particular defendant fired any fatal shots, and the jury recommended leniency. A ‘labor jury’ organized by Seattle, Portland, Everett and Tacoma Labor Councils sat through the trial and returned a ‘not guilty’ verdict. The guilty verdict was condemned by a number of church councils.

The convicted union members were sentenced to 25-to-40 years at Walla Walla State Penitentiary. McInerney died in prison; the rest spent between 11 and 19 years before they were paroled following pressure on the state’s governors from church, union, and civil liberties groups.

UNION PICKET AT BELLINGHAM REI November 16

INFORMATIONAL PICKET AT BELLINGHAM’S REI

Saturday, November 16th, from 1-4

REI’s union members will leaflet customers to keep them informed on corporate delays at the bargaining table . ALL ARE INVITED! Drop by anytime between 1 pm and 4 pm to show your support for the workers! Wear your union pin and colors (shirts, hoodies, hats) if you belong to one. Let the workers know you are a union member in solidarity.
REI has continued to spend money on union-busting lawyers and excludes workers from its Board.

During the action, the union will update the community on the candidate they support for the REI Board, Shemona Moreno, Executive Director of 350 Seattle. Shemona is running to push REI to lead the way by stopping union-busting efforts and including workers on the Board. For more on the union effort- https://www.ourrei.com/

UFCW asks REI ‘Coop’ members to follow this link to learn more and vote for Shemona Moreno for the REI Board: https://www.ourrei.com/shemona-moreno-for-rei-board-of-directors

Two Union Films at Pickford Film Center, Bellingham

Union, and The Day Iceland Stood Still.

Union is about organizing at Amazon warehouses and the malicious response of the company we all love to hate. It will be shown at the Pickford on Friday October 25 at 5:35. Whatcom-Skagit IWW will have a literature table in the lobby prior to the film, so come see us. The new student’s union on campus, Western Academy Workers Union (WAWU) will give a presentation after the film.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 30: Members of the Amazon Labor Union and others protest outside of the New York Times DealBook Summit as Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, will be appearing on November 30, 2022 in New York City. Labor activist Chris Smalls joined the morning rally and protest at Manhattan’s Columbus Circle. The independent ALU won a union election at a warehouse in Staten Island last April, but has been unable to win other union elections elsewhere in the country.

Another great film to see during Doctober is The Day Iceland Stood Still, the joyous and inspiring story of the nation-wide, highly effective women’s strike of 1975. Women stayed away from work, refused to work at home, and dropped the kids off at dad’s job. It was intended to show that women’s work, of all kinds, was indispensable to the countries economy. It is showing Thursday Oct 24th and Saturday the 26th.

Iceland’s women, including the prime minister, struck again just a year ago, maybe we can learn more about that, too.

4th Bellingham Starbucks Unionizes!

Here is a photo the Bellingham Herald (Friday October 11, 2024, ran with their article. IWW is there- the red sign just left of center. This is a strike SBWU held earlier this year.

Congrats to the workers at the Starbucks at Old Fairhaven Parkway and 30th! They voted to unionize with Starbucks Workers United on September 30. This makes 4 union Starbucks in town- only the store on Bakerview remains (so far) unorganized. This is the 500th store across the country to join SBWU.

The union’s press release said “The Old Fairhaven Parkway and 30th store became the fourth Starbucks in Bellingham to join the union Monday and the 30th in Washington. These baristas join a growing nationwide movement of more than 11,000 baristas working together to win justice at work, including protections on core issues like respect, living wages, racial and gender equity, and fair scheduling.”

So, drop by and congratulate the baristas! If you order a drink, place an order under the name of ‘Union Strong!’ or ‘Solidarity Forever!’

Bellingham Starbucks Union Organizer Fired!

PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUPPORT FUND.

https://gofund.me/50af181c

Sehome starbucks strike sign. — *Gwen Williamson, on the right, at the Starbucks Workers United strike on November at the Sehome Starbucks.*

On February 17th, Sehome Starbucks union organizer Gwen Williamson was cruelly fired by Starbucks bosses when she had to call out of work due to a housing emergency. This is an inhuman way to treat anyone, but we are gettng really used to this behavior from Starbucks Inc. There is a GoFundMe to try to alleviate some of her financial stress. Please share this link however you feel is best to get the word out and help this worker out.

Here is Gwen’s account:

“Hello everyone, my name is Gwen. I have worked an accumulative 3 years at Starbucks as a Shift Supervisor, and over the past 5 months I’ve operated as the front runner for the Sehome Union. Recently, I went through an extremely difficult and financially/emotionally draining life change due to an apartment flood I experienced. My wife, pup, and I had to move from a variety of hotels and AirBnB’s, paying out of our own pocket while an inefficient property management company refused to adequately address our issues and concerns in a timely manner. They lied to us about there being no asbestos risk and put our health at risk in the process. Due to this event, I had to call out of several shifts and spend every waking moment looking for other short and long term living situations, and it was these callouts that Starbucks used as justification for firing me.

While still being in a deep, unstable hole of debt from the previous situation, a situation (Starbucks) management was well aware of, they decided that it was at this point that I should be removed from the company. As a trans woman who was already having her hours cut, I desperately relied on the health insurance offered through my employment, and now I have huge concerns about being able to afford basic necessities and bills on top of worrying about gender affirming care. My separation from the company was unjust, and it is evident that it was retaliatory since early on in the unionization process I was outed as the leader.

Please consider donating and/or spreading the word to help me stay afloat during two back to back critical life emergencies. I hope to be able to stay on top of bills and necessities long enough for Union lawyers to help me seek justice for this situation. Thank you.

Picket line at Mount Baker Roofing in Bellingham- an update

Around 20 roofers at Mount baker Roofing company called a work stoppage this morning. The picket line was at the company’s offices but the workers were from the MB Roofing shop in Skagit county.

Yesterday, a group of workers presented a demand to the Skagit manager to follow state health and safety rules, and to provide toilets, drinking water, and legal work breaks. The five workers who presented the letter were fired. The picket today was to pressure the bosses to provide those things, and also to reinstate the fired workers- it is illegal to fire workers for protesting working conditions, but as we probably all know, the law isn’t always enforced in the interest of the working class.

There were around 50 people on the picket line at 6 AM today. Dark and cold- where’s are the burn barrels? There were workers from the roofing company, and supporters from Community 2 Community, Familias Unidas por la Justicia [our good friends, the farmworkers union in Skagit County], IWW, and a few individuals from UFCW, Teamsters, and the firefighters union. [Sorry if we left anyone out].

We lined the sides of the entrance road with our signs. It was heartening to hear honks from trucks passing by on the freeway and along Pacific Highway. The picket ended at around 9, not long after the sun came up to warm our bones, to consider the owner’s response and to decide next steps.

To stay informed, write bellingham@iww.org and ask to be on our Solidarity Alert email list. You’ll get alerts about solidarity actions you can participate in, and updates on local IWW activity. Maybe 2-3 emails a month, and its easy to unsubscribe.

The IWW Today- a presentation at Village Books Feb 15, 7PM

An IWW member from Bellingham presents ‘The IWW Today’ at Village Books.

https://www.whatcomreads.org/event/the-iww-today/

This talk will explain how the IWW works in North America and elsewhere today, with examples of some of our union campaigns. We’ll have a literature table.

TIO 2nd edition cover 0.25 — Think it Over! Join the IWW!

IWW Events in Bellingham

Have you read the novel Cold Millions by Jess Walter? It is set in Spokane during the 1909 IWW Free Speech fight. The book is the Whatcom County Library’s selection for this winter. It is a national bestseller and:

A Library Reads Pick | An Indie Next Pick”

Check out these events! Because the book deals extensively with the IWW, a number of events IWW-related events are coming up around here:

February 15- an IWW member from Bellingham presents ‘The IWW Today’ at Village Books. You have to register [Free] to attend. As a counterpoint to all the historical stuff brought up in the book, this talk will explain how the IWW works in North America and elsewhere today, with examples of some of our union campaigns. We’ll have a literature table.

https://www.whatcomreads.org/event/the-iww-today/

February 25th- Songs of Protest– in Deming. https://www.whatcomreads.org/event/songs-of-protest-with-jimmy-brite/ sung by Jimmy Brite from Glacier.

March 2- A live on-stage interview with Jess Walter for Chuckanut Radio Hour. Interviewer is Dave Tucker, secretary of the Whatcom-Skagit IWW branch. Questions about the writing of the book. Should be fun. You must RESERVE A SEAT- $5!

https://www.villagebooks.com/event/litlive-crh-jess-walter-030223

March 3- Jess Walter discusses his book at the Mount Baker Theater. No registration, just show up. https://www.whatcomreads.org/event/an-evening-with-jess-walter/

STAY IN THE LOOP! You may be interested in upcoming events about the IWW. If you would like to be on our ‘solidarity alert’ email list write us at bellingham@iww.org and we will add you. We send notices about local strikes and picket lines, events like the above.

Contribute to the IWW Monument in Centralia, WA

Friends and Fellow Workers!

Centralia Gofundme title image 2023-01-19

Contribute to our GoFundMe here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/centralia-iww-monument-fund

The IWW is purchasing and installing a monument in Centralia, Washington to commemorate and honor the Wobblies who died or were imprisoned following the ‘Centralia Tragedy’ of November 11, 1919. On that day, the IWW union hall was attacked for the second time by a mob of American Legion men acting on behalf of the city’s business interests. Armed union members defended their hall. Four legionnaires were killed, a Wob, Wesley Everest, was lynched, and nine others went to prison after a sham trial that is widely regarded as a severe miscarriage of justice. Since 1919 the Tragedy’s history has been falsely told by the aggressors, who purchased their monument in Washington Park shortly after the Tragedy. After years of effort, the Centralia City Council has agreed to the IWW monument design. It will be in the park next to the Legion’s. All expenses are on the IWW. Help us purchase the 2×3′ bronze plaque, mounted on a boulder, and get it installed. The Whatcom-Skagit General Membership Branch of the IWW in Bellingham, Washington will hold the funds.

If you would rather make a contribution by check, donations can be made to order of ‘IWW Monument fund’ and mailed to:

Whatcom-Skagit Branch, IWW
Box 192
Bellingham, WA 98227

Thanks,
IWW Centralia Committee

Starbucks Workers United Strike in Bellingham

Shuts down three stores all weekend

Union workers at Bellingham Starbucks stores at Sehome Village, Cordata, and Iowa & King struck all weekend, and kept the three stores closed. Pickets from other organizations, including IWW of course, showed up to add to the picket line. Starbucks corporate made no effort to open the stores.

The strike was a nationwide protest by Starbucks Workers United to protest continued corporate shutdown of union storesacross the country. Over 1000 Starbucks workers [I’m sorry just can’t call them ‘partners’ anymore] at 100 stores participated in the strike.

So far, Starbucks management has made no good faith attempt to bargain with the union. So much for ‘progressive’ business. Capitalism is just that; you can’t successfully window dress it because it is by its nature exploitative.

IWW CENTRALIA MONUMENT FUND

Friends and fellow workers,
The campaign to raise funds for the MONUMENT TO THE IWW VICTIMS OF THE 1919 CENTRALIA TRAGEDY is underway.

Please contribute here.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/centralia-iww-monument-fund

An ad hoc committee of Wobblies from around the Northwest are working to raise funds for an IWW monument in Centralia Washington. We want to tell our side of the story- that many union members were victims of this tragic confrontation. After years of effort by a local Wob, the town’s City Council voted in October to permit our design. We will be responsible for all expenses, including installation of the monument. The Whatcom-Skagit IWW Branch has agreed to hold the funds until we raise enough to purchase the 2×3 foot bronze plaque. It will most likely be mounted on a boulder we will have to purchase and transport to the park.

The ‘Centralia Committee’ will periodically report on the progress of this project.
The IWW monument will be right beside the statue memorializing the American Legion put up in the early 1920s called The Sentinel. [check the link, its instructive]. The Legion is the outfit who attacked the union hall as proxies for the city’s employing class.

WWU STUDENT WORKERS FORM A UNION

Students employed by Western Washington University have formed a new union, unionized as Western Academic Workers United, affiliated with the United Auto Workers. A large majority of graduate and undergraduate student employees who do research or instructional work filed for union recognition on December 2 with the Washington Public Employment Relations Commission. The Union hopes there will voluntary recognition by the powers that be, rather than forcing the unnecessary delay of an NLRB election.

Learn more at the WAWU website: https://www.wawu-union.org/

Members will not pay union dues until a contract is negotiated.

The Whatcom-Skagit IWW sent solidarity greetings, and will be there in solidarity if and when called upon. We have a number of WWU student members of our union.

Sehome Starbucks votes UNION- YES!

Baristas at the Starbucks in Sehome Village just voted to join Starbucks Workers United. The vote was 15-6. A small group of Starbucks workers from the three union stores as well as some Wobblies milled around outside waiting for the for the vote tally, which was announced at 6:25 PM.

Three down, two stores to go. Will they unionize too?

Congratulations to Bellingham’s newest Union Shop, and Solidarity forever!

Starbucks strikers shut down a scab store in Bellingham

20221117_093415 0.5 There was a large turnout for the very successful Starbucks Workers United ‘Red Cup Day’ strike on November 14. IWW photo.

By FW X331980

This is a personal account by one IWW member.

Stopping the strikebreakers: Starbucks Workers United organizers [all are rank-and-file baristas, not professionals] sent word to me around 5 AM [yawn!] that managers from several stores had opened the Sehome Village store – reportedly the most profitable Starbucks north of Seattle, and one of the three Bellingham Starbucks on strike. “Can you rally some of your union members and get down here quick to help us out? ” A few of us gathered in the dark at the

Sehome starbucks — *Strikers at the Sehome Starbucks in Bellingham, Photo by FW Peter.*

planned rally site at the Iowa & King Starbucks. A flying squad of three women from SWU drove over to the Sehome store and set up a solid picket line in the dark and windy cold at Sehome. The focus of activity had to very quickly change to that store, so a couple of IWWs stayed at Iowa & King to hold the fort and direct folks who showed up to get across town to the ‘scene of the crime’; about 30 union members and community supporters adjusted their plans and joined the hastily set up picket line at Sehome. They marched and chanted outside, and very few customers went into the store. Management eventually got it through there thick heads that the union’s support was too strong and they were wasting their time. They shut down by 8:30, having lost a LOT of business on Red Cup Day.

Meanwhile, back at Iowa & King….. Two IWWs maintained the picket at the drive thru/walkup store at Iowa & King. Even though the store was closed- the manager was trying to break the strike at the Sehome store- there had to be someone there to talk to the many customers who were turned away, and give the Red Cup collectors a souvenir Starbucks Workers United Red Cup instead.

At one point a very big, very black SUV with heavily tinted windows and a bunch of radio aerials stopped in front of the two of us Wobs standing right in the drive thru. We stood our ground. Then the car veeeeerrrrrrry sloooooowly pulled right. up. to. us. I mean RIGHT UP! Though it looked like a cop car, there was no insignia, no roof flashers, no nothin’. So one of us walked up to the closed window to see a guy sitting there in a black coppish uniform without any badges or patches or other cop insignia. Big computer screen mounted to the dash.

The window rolled down.

“You need to move out of the driveway.”

“Are you a police officer?”

“No, I’m a private security consultant.” [say whaaa? You mean, like a damn Pinkerton?]

“Why do we need to move.”

“You are restricting entrance to my clients store.”

“Uh, you realize the store is closed down, and there is no one inside to serve customers?”

“I don’t know about that.”

“So we aren’t affecting your client’s business, right?”

“Wait, you mean there’s really no one in there?”

“Nope.”

“Oh. Uh, well, I guess not.”

“It’s been so nice talking to you. Bye.”

And the rent-a-cop drove off, into the cold not-quite-dawn. I know, just another worker doing his miserable job…I guess. The other FW and I continued our vigil; we were eventually joined by our newest member, FW j., who just joined up the day before. A nice way to start her life in the IWW!

The sun came up. The breeze died down. Automobile and truck traffic at the very busy intersection of Iowa & King picked up. Pickets arrived from Sehome and for the planned rally- the crowd grew on the sidewalk. LOTS of people honked and held up fists out of car windows. Truckers and small trades people in vans cheered and waved. One guy stopped a couple lanes over at the red light and shouted ‘Well done! You show those fuckers!’ There was no effort to open the three shut stores [Cordata was also the scene of a very small ‘show the Union’s face’ picket.]

20221117_104556 crop — *The crowd gathers at Iowa & King. Starbucks Red Cup day strike 2022. IWW photo.*

Redcup strike 2022 A visit to the nonunion stores. Two IWWs got a wild hair idea to pay lightning visits to the two nonunion [so far] Starbucks in town- north up on Bakerview and the Fairhaven Parkway store down on the far south side. We walked into the busy stores. FW T put a ‘red cup day’ strike sign up on a bulletin board and I shouted out “Solidarity with the Starbucks Union! Nationwide strike today! Organize! Join the union!” At the Fairhaven store an officious person told us we “would have to change our attitude if we wanted to stay in the store”. You kidding me? We didn’t walk in to get any of your lousy burnt Charbucks coffee!

SWU organizers here have been trying to negotiate with management for a contract. Local managers have refused to sit at the table, or have showed up, then left without taking any proposals, or suddenly said they need to reschedule. Boo hiss.

The picket was real good, and must have built the confidence of the rank and file Starbucks workers [why do you still call yourselves ‘partners’? Clearly corporate doesn’t think you are!]. Certainly there is a lot of support from ordinary people going about their business on a winter day. Bellingham is indeed a ‘union town’.

A bad day for Starbucks. It was a brilliant tactic to strike nationwide on Red Cup day, the biggest day of the year for the company. They lost a lot of money because of the strike!

So….where the hell were the other unions? I’d say the only low point was the absence of any other unions in any formal show of solidarity. IWW members were there as Wobs, wearing our shirts and hats and carrying our own picket signs, and waving our union flags. Several of us took time from work or school or stuck around as long they could before they had to get on with their lives. There was no other organized union presents. A couple individuals from UFCW, maybe an SEIU person, a retiree from OPEIU, a retired professor or two; a firefighter at the Sehome store; that was it as far as I could ascertain, and I asked around. What’s up with that? Show some organized solidarity for cryin’ out loud! Let these brave, young, new unionists know that the rest of the unions in Bellingham can stand in solidarity.

SOLIDARITY FOREVER!

17268 20220811

NATIONWIDE STARBUCKS STRIKE!

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 17. Union Starbucks in Bellingham will join the nation-wide strike! Join the picket line at the Starbucks at Iowa and King from 7 AM to noon. If you are a union member wear your union colors and pin. Bring a picket sign. The stores at Cordata and Sehome Village are joining in and will be SHUT but the picket line will be at the Iowa & King location. IWW will be there and we hope other unions will be, too. SOLIDARITY FOREVER! Redcup strike 2022

Wobblies hold Everett Massacre commemoration on November 5th

20221105_132647 crop — West end of Hewitt Avenue, Everett, Washington. November 5th, 2022.

Several Fellow Workers from our branch traveled to Everett last Saturday to commemorate the November 5, 1916 EVERETT MASSACRE. We gathered with Wobs from Everett and Tacoma on the old brick pavement under the railroad trestle at the foot of Hewitt Avenue to tie 12 wreaths to the chain link fence. The wreaths are in memory of twelve IWW members murdered by a posse of drunken deputies and Snohomish County Commercial Club goons on a dock a couple hundred yards away. To learn more about Bloody Sunday, the Everett Massacre, check out the story just published in the IWW’s official publication, Industrial Worker. Wobs gather for this commemoration pretty much annually.

Sunday was a clear but chilly breezy day. We hung up the wreaths and sang some Union songs from the IWW’s ‘Little Red Songbook’. A young fellow read the poem written for the funeral of our murdered comrades back in 1916- ‘November Fifth’ by Charles Ashleigh.

Grace 1 Everett crop — IWWs killed on Nov 5, 1916- Fellow Workers Hugo Gerlat, Felix Baran, William Colman, Fred Berger, Charles Taylor, John Looney, Gustav Johnson, Tom Ellis, Abraham Rabinowitz, Peter Viberts, Edward Raymond, and a Wobbly unnamed. Farewell, Fellow Workers.

Everett, November Fifth

by Charles Ashleigh

(“…and then the Fellow Worker died, singing ‘Hold the Fort’…”– From the court testimony of an eyewitness, referring to the murder of FW Hugo gerlot.)

Song on his lips, he came;

Song on his lips, he went:–

This be the token we bear of him, —

Soldier of Discontent!

Out of the dark they came; out of the night

Of poverty and injury and woe,–

With flaming hope, their vision thrilled to light,–

Song on their lips, and every heart aglow;

They came, that none should trample Labor’s right

To speak, and voice her centuries of pain.

Bare hands against the master’s armored might!–

A dream to match the tools of sordid gain!

And then the decks went red; and the grey sea

Was written crimsonly with ebbing life.

The barricade spewed shots and mockery

and curses, and the drunken lust of strife.

Yet, the mad chorus from that devil’s host,–

Yea, all the tumult of that butcher throng,–

Compound of bullets, booze and coward boast,–

Could not out-shriek one dying worker’s song!

Song on his lips, he came;

Song on his lips, he went:–

This be the token we bear of him, —

Soldier of Discontent

we-never-forget-blood-sunday-image-rsz

‘Drive-by Soapboxes’ by the IWW in Bellingham

Whatcom-Skagit IWWs have been standing along busy streets at rush hour to promote the union idea, and the IWW’s brand specifically. We have been along Lakeway, Holly and James. We get lots of waves and honks and ‘solidarity fists’. Sure, a few fingers too, but not very many. People stop to talk to us; we have leaflets they can take with them. Keep an eye out for us on a street near you and wave and stop by to say hello.

Subscribe to IWW media- Seattle Worker and Industrial Worker

The Seattle Worker is the bimonthly newsletter of the Seattle IWW. Seattle is one of the largest and most actively unionizing branches in our union. You can subscribe to get paper copies in the mail, and also view content online. It is locally focused, and occasionally features articles from Wobblies in the Whatcom-Skagit branch.

Industrial Worker is the official online publication of the North American administration of the IWW. You’ll find news and thought-provoking articles about direct actions in workplaces, and book reviews. Subscribe! Its free.

Know Your Rights: Washington Equal Pay and Opportunites Act

[This article is copied from the Seattle IWW web site.]

The “Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities Act” went into effect on July 28, 2019. It states that when interviewing for a job:

Your potential future boss can’t ask you how much money you make (or even how much you have made in the past) until after they have made you a job and compensation offer.
And, if the company you are interviewing at has 15 or more employees, and they offer you a job, your potential new boss has to tell you the minimum salary for the job if you ask.
If you already work at a company that has 15 or more employees, and you get a new position or promotion, your boss has to give you a pay range for your new position if you ask. Finally, your boss can’t stop you or your coworkers from discussing how much money you make.
If your boss, or potential future boss, violates this law, file a complaint with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. You can also sue the bastards for up to $5,000 plus interest, costs, and attorney’s fees.

You can find out more, and also get details on how to file a complaint, at the Washington Labor and Industries website:

https://www.lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/equal-pay-and-opportunities-act

Of course, if you really don’t want to worry about your workplace rights being violated, join the IWW and get organized!

UPDATING THE BELLINGHAM IWW WEBSITE

Friends and fellow workers, The Whatcom-Skagit IWW branch is finally beginning to update our website at bellinghamiww.org. Many links lead to an outdated IWW website so we are fixing those. We will get back to regular blog posts. To learn more about the IWW in Northwest Washington write to us this cleverly disguised address bellingham at iww dot org

Our IWW branch has grown by leaps and bounds since we last attended to the website, and our members are agitating-educating-organizing in several work places. If you aren’t yet a member of our union you are encouraged- no you are URGED to join IWW , Members in Whatcom, Skagit, and now Island Counties can affiliate with our branch, learn about unionizing, spread the word, and help the work along. There is a world to gain for the working class.

“ORGANIZE ON THE JOB- WHERE YOU ARE ROBBED”

Teamsters in Bellingham vote to strike

If the workers at Bellingham Cold Storage do strike, IWW encourages you to show up and walk the picket line with them in Solidarity.

The following was posted on “The Stand” https://www.thestand.org/?p=99324 with information from Teamsters Local 231:

BELLINGHAM (June 15, 2021) — Teamsters Local 231 members at Bellingham Cold Storage (BCS) have voted unanimously to authorize a strike against their employer, after months of contract negotiations have led nowhere. The group of more than 100 workers receive product from ships, run forklifts, and work in cold storage warehouses in Bellingham, Wash. These workers are a critical part of the supply chain for perishables, and if they were to strike, there would be a severe impact on the food supply chain.

Negotiations for a new contract started in November 2020, and since then the two sides have met more than 20 times, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, even against the backdrop of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, BCS has insisted that health care for their hardworking employees is a luxury they do not deserve.

Managers from the company, which was recently bought by Seattle-based investment firm Joshua Green Corporation, approached the Teamsters with an insulting offer that would force our members to pay an absurd amount of their medical premiums out-of-pocket. When Teamster leadership demanded to know why the company would make such an offer, Joshua Green Corporation Executive Vice-President Aaron Singleton admitted the company’s goal was to invite government subsidies of their employees’ health care, saying “we want to incentivize our employees to seek other options for covering their dependents, such as Apple Health.”

Although the employer has since modified their medical proposal, management’s offers on pension and wage increases were similarly insulting and demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the work their employees perform each day.

“We are reasonable people, but there was nothing remotely reasonable about BCS’s contract offer – and our group is more than willing to strike to prove that,” said Teamsters Local 231 Secretary-Treasurer Rich Ewing. “This investment company wants to make money, but we will not allow them to make that money by scooping it out of our members’ pockets. These Teamsters are not rich, but they work hard and they deserve to be respected and compensated for that. To say they should seek government-subsidized health care is insulting beyond words.”

“Approximately 80 percent of the membership attended the strike authorization vote, and the vote was unanimous,” Ewing continued. “I think this tells BCS management everything they need to know. A strike is always a last resort, but if that’s what our members need to do to get respect, then believe me, we will head to the street with picket signs.”

Bellingham Cold Storage, long a locally owned food processing firm, was sold to The Joshua Green Corporation, a Seattle-based investment firm, in 2018.

Subscribers to the Whatcom-Skagit IWW ‘Solidarity Alert List’ will receive direct notice by email if the workers walk out. Subscribe by writing to iwwbellingham@gmail.com . We send very few emails, usually less than one per month, and all are related to strike activity or notices of IWW public events.

IWW will do our best to keep updates here.

Union loses at Amazon- one postmortem

There will surely be many analyses of why the Retail, Warehouse, and Distribution Workers Union [RWDSU] lost the union election at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer Alabama.

Here is one very insightful analysis of why RWDSU lost the union campaign in Bessemer. The mistakes made by this union are astonishing; things we learn on day 1 in the IWW Organizer Training 101. To think these were professional union organizers makes my heart sink.

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/bessemer-alabama-amazon-union/

It is a longish read but very revealing, and worth remembering these lessons- repeated over and over again by business unions.

It will be very interesting to hear what the IWW- influenced ‘Organizing Work’ Blog will say. I highly recommend taking out a free subscription at https://organizing.work/

This RWDSU sign says it in a nutshell- the ‘union’ apparently is not the workers, it is something external. This is a cardinal error and shows lack of a connection between organizers and workers in the plant. Were the organizers also the workers inside? No, in fact. another cardinal error.

https://storage.googleapis.com/afs-prod/media/bfb4573a56d3474a8e8783601ed19e73/2000.jpeg

Strikes expand and continue in Yakima Valley

There are now 6 fruit packing houses on strike in Yakima and Selah. Workers at Matson Fruit in Selah walked out Friday AM. Safe working conditions in the crowded packing sheds is the immediate concern, but other safety and wage issues are ever-present. The son of the owner at Hansen reputedly referred to the strikers as ‘animals’. Strikes are now on at both Monson and Matson fruit companies in Selah, Allan Bros in Naches, and Columbia Reach, Hansen and Jack Frost in Yakima.

The best immediate source for information is the Familias Unidas por la Justicia union’s Facebook page. IWW social media is trying to keep up. We want to have some ‘boots on the ground’, and hope to have people there within the next few days- unless the owners cave.

It has been 8 Days since Allan Bros workers went on strike and began this movement in the Yakima Valley.
Yesterday representatives from all 6 packing houses supported each others’ strikes by standing on the picket line in each others workplace. There was a moment of tension in the morning when someone threatened the workers with violence, luckily nothing happened.
It should also be said that the majority of the leadership and people on strike are women. Many elders are also on strike and fighting alongside younger workers. the company.STay tuned for updates here, or on the Whatcom-Skagit IWW facebook page, or at Familias Unidas por la Justicia. To donate much needed cash to purchase food and supplies for the strikers and their families, go to https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=fBBm3Nh_bb8y9maWD_nF8n75Jgo2LssD72A0_5wM7pGgkj-W4pbVxq-qEI7RGHJSlKv5RW&country.x=US&locale.x=US

pickets are insistent on social distancing. Most wear masks.

Solidarity Forever!

The Wobblies of the Whatcom-Skagit General Membership Branch, IWW.

Fruit industry workers go on a wave of strikes in the Yakima area

“Workers of the World Unite”. Striker at Allan Fruit Co, Naches, WA

There has been a wave of strikes and job actions by largely Hispanic fruit packing house, winery, and other farm workers in the Yakima area. A 5-day strike at Allan Bros Winery in Naches won pay raises today. Workers at Roche Fruit Co. in Yakima won a pay raise on May 11. New strikes have broken out in the past day or so at Jack Frost Fruit, a packing house in Yakima, and Matson Fruit in Selah. To support on the ground organizing in the area, contribute to www.familiasunidasjusticia.org
The strikes focus on hazard pay, general wage increases, enforcement of the State’s Covid-19 rules for workplaces, abusive supervisors, and care for workers who have tested positive for Covid-19. Union organizers from Familias Unidas por la Justicia have been on the scene and their facebook page and Twitter feed @FUJWashington is the best source for up-dates. More strikes are anticipated. Much of the media coverage to date has been in Spanish. Some links for English speakers are https://www.elsoldeyakima.com/…/article_d4922408-84c1-5248-…
and
https://kimatv.com/…/allan-bros-fruit-company-resumes-opera…
Whatcom-Skagit IWW stands in solidarity with these workers, and wishes Familias Unidas por la Justicia the greatest success in further union efforts.

Workers celebrate their victory at Roche Fruit Co. in Yakima. Photo courtesy El Sol de Yakima.

(Labor Notes) Safety: Bosses Want to Fix the Worker, Unions Want to Fix the Job

Unions and bosses have different outlooks on safety. Employers say illnesses and injuries are caused by worker carelessness: he didn’t wash his hands enough; she touched her face. That’s the way the boss wants you to think, too.

But the union realizes that it’s the hazards themselves that cause injuries, and that it’s the boss who sets up the workplace, either designing in hazards or failing to design them out. The boss has everyone work in the same tiny space. The boss won’t install a cough guard between you and customers. Emphasize these different outlooks with workers.

Bosses want to fix the worker. Their only way to reduce illnesses and injuries is to require gloves and other personal protective equipment (PPE). They focus on getting workers to work safely by threatening discipline and punishment. Now there are shortages of PPE and they have no other ideas.

The union wants to fix the job itself. Identify and eliminate hazards. Reduce existing hazards with engineering controls like improving ventilation or safer procedures, and move people away from each other.

The boss wants workers to think about safety his way. But workers become passionate when they start thinking about safety like unions do. Injuries turn from “I did something stupid” to “The boss did this to me.” Now more than ever, safety is ripe for organizing.

Full article here.

Do You Feel Essential… or Expendable?

Noam Chomsky: Bosses Are Making Coronavirus ‘Worse, for Their Benefit’

“Well, first of all, we should recognize that unless we get to the roots of this pandemic, it’s going to recur, probably in worse form, simply because of the manipulations of the capitalist system which are trying to create circumstances in which it will be worse, for their benefit. We can see that in the stimulus bill and many other things.

…

“Sure. We’ve done it before. I lived through the Depression. That’s why I have this long white beard. But in the 1920s the labor movement was totally crushed. Take a look at David Montgomery, a labor historian, one of his great books is The Fall of the House of Labor. He’s talking about the ’20s. It was crushed by the liberal Wilson administration, the Red Scare and all the rest. In the ’30s it began to revive. The CIO organizing sit-down strikes, great threat to management, sit-down strike, workers are sitting there. Next thing that’s going to come to their heads is, “We don’t need the bosses. We can run this place ourselves.” And then you’re done. It’s a very fragile system. Well, that led to reactions. There happened to be a sympathetic administration, which is critical. A very good labor historian, Erik Loomis, has studied case after case of this and he points out that moments of positive change have almost always been led by an active labor movement [emphasis added] and the only times they succeeded were when there was a relatively sympathetic administration, at least a tolerant one.”

Full interview here.

Restaurant Staff Fight for Coworkers Left out of Pandemic Relief

[Via organizing.work.]

Marianne Garneau interviews a restaurant worker organizing support for migrant coworkers who cannot access government assistance in the wake of pandemic-related layoffs

The restaurant industry in New York runs on migrant labor – especially the “back of house” or kitchen — much of it undocumented. As explained in this excellent article by Eater, employers are fully aware when they are hiring undocumented labor, but use third-party fixers to maintain “plausible deniability if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) comes knocking.”

When most restaurants closed last month, migrant workers were left out of account, by both employers and government. The undocumented will not receive stimulus checks, and cannot even access benefits like unemployment insurance, even though they pay billions in taxes and into Social Security on their paychecks. Even documented migrant workers risk long-term penalties for accessing relief, because of a new “public charge” rule that discriminates against them with respect to residency or citizenship if they use certain kinds of public assistance.

One union looking to address this is Stardust Family United. SFU is a solidarity union at the landmark Ellen’s Stardust Diner in Times Square, home of the singing waitstaff. Workers have been organized with the IWW since 2016 (full disclosure: I worked as an outside organizer on that campaign). They don’t have — or even want — formal recognition or a contract, but they nonetheless regularly secure gains and improvements in the workplace, including fixing unsafe equipment, winning pay raises for workers, and ending tip theft. Membership in the union is voluntary, and instead of dues checkoff by the employer, they have a worker “delegate” who collects dues from workers every month, depositing them into the union bank account. Formally chartered with the Department Of Labor and IRS, they elect a treasurer and secretary every year — also “rank-and-file” workers in the workplace.

The restaurant closed on March 16, along with most businesses, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the main attraction of the restaurant was the singing staff, it has not remained open for take-out. As a result, all staff have been laid off. Some have been able to apply for unemployment insurance, and receive other government aid, but they also immediately thought about their coworkers who may not have so easy a time. Therefore, the singing staff started a fundraiser, donating $2,000 of their own dues to kick it off, and set to work offering to sing requests for donors.

I spoke to Alexis, one of the workers at the restaurant and organizers of the fundraiser.

Tell me about what you are doing.

We are fundraising through GoFundMe for our coworkers who are struggling the most right now by being out of work. I believe it was March 16 that [we] got a message from management that all employees would be laid off and furloughed until this crisis was over. That’s over 200 people, and there are some that are struggling more right now. [The fundraiser is] for those who need it most.

How did you decide to do this?

The idea had been floated around by some members of the union. At some point our secretary said we should have a meeting to discuss it, and discuss the parameters of the fundraiser. I think there were 21 union members on the call. We decided to do the fundraiser as Stardust Family United, and we set up parameters: who is eligible, and the deadline for applying for aid and for the fundraiser, how money would be handed out and split between people.

How are you running it?

There are about seven of us on this fundraising committee. There are a lot of different parts to this: running the webpage itself, keeping the momentum going, reaching out to staff. We are trying to split up those tasks between the people on this committee. We also had to gather the contact info for all 200 employees. We had the campaign go live [last] Monday, and now we’re just trying to figure out how to keep [up] the momentum.

You contributed some of your own dues?

During the Zoom call with the union, we voted to start the fundraising off by donating $2,000 from dues we’ve collected. So it started with a $2,000 donation from SFU. I think it was a unanimous vote to do that.

And people are donating individually?

There are a lot of SFU employees that have donated their own money to the campaign. They’re part of the group that doesn’t need extra assistance right now.

What about the boss? Are you putting pressure on the employer to help these workers out?

That is something we’re still discussing, but ideally we would like to see the owners either match what we fundraise or make some kind of contribution.

Tell me about the rewards you are giving to donors.

That’s our brand, is singing. You can make a song request if you donate a certain amount of money, and we’ll send that to you personally. We’re hoping that will incentivize people. We’ll continue to use our talent and the time we have now.

Can you tell me what you think this fundraising effort represents? How does this relate to your union?

I think it’s a shining example of solidarity because none of us are contractually obligated to do any of this, but it really goes back to “an injury to one is an injury to all.” When there are people suffering who we work with, we take it personally and we want to help them.

Are there other examples of this kind of solidarity between “front of house” and “back of house?”

We have worked with them to make certain demands of management and owners. And we’ve won those demands. Pay raises, getting their uniforms laundered by the company, and a big one was when the A/C was not working, and it was the guys in the kitchen who were suffering the most because they have the stoves and all this equipment in a very small space. We all decided as a workplace, one shift, to walk out until they fixed the A/C. So we do our best to help them with what they need.

Donate to their relief efforts here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/9nt52-stardust-diner-employee-relief-fund

IWW’s ORGANIZER TRAINING 101

IN BELLINGHAM

February 29- March 1, 2020. 9AM-4PM both days. $10 donation requested at the door OT 101 Feb 2020

A two day workshop for workers gearing up to plan or help out with a union campaign on the job, whether formal or ‘guerilla style’.

This workshop is taught by IWW’s certified trainers. It focuses on the IWW’s model of SOLIDARITY UNIONISM, which uses direct action techniques to get what you need from your boss, with or without a formal union or a contract. The workshop includes a discussion of the basics of US labor law, and when to use, or not use, it. For more info write to us at

iwwbellingham at gmail dot com. Or, go ahead and register. Full info once you register.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdph6xSP_fChsYA5udc7zIpXfDB8etaJ3Pkg6D7IUk_p3dSMQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1

IWW General Executive Board Statement on the Iran Conflict

The General Executive Board recently passed the following statement:

As an internationalist union, the IWW has always stood in opposition to the wars brought upon the world by the capitalist class. As one of the founders of the IWW, Eugene Debs, once said in his famous Canton speech (1917), “The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles; the master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, and the subject class has had nothing to gain and all to lose—including their lives.

We cannot allow the potential for conflict to rip apart the bonds that we as all workers share. The IWW encourages workers to double their efforts organizing their workplaces so we may overthrow capitalism, because capitalism produces imperialist wars. We want to build a better world without capitalism and imperialism, two blights on humanity. We encourage workers to engage in industrial actions which they deem necessary to democratically and safely prevent war.

Organizer Training 101 February 9-10

As most people who visit this website know, the IWW differs from both social activist groups and other labor unions in some very important ways.

We are not a social activist group, our agenda never takes place on a political platform, and taking to the streets will always be directed at a workplace.

Also, we are not like other labor unions. We do not rely on the NLRB or other third party systems to speak for us at our jobs.

What we rely on is our own actions and our own relationships with our coworkers to work for the things we need or want, and our agenda will always be to improve working conditions for everyone and to eliminate the wage system that degrades our working conditions.

Over time, the IWW has established a First Step towards becoming the kind of worker that help those goals, it’s the Organizer Training 101. It’s an eight hours a day-two day course in practicing solidarity and direct action. You learn how to gauge your coworkers reliability and enthusiasm, how to speak with the people around you effectively, different tools of direct action and organization, and the follow-through. There’s role playing, work shops, and two IWW-trained trainers to guide you so that you have what’s needed to go to work next week and start effecting change.

We are excited to host another one this weekend, February 9-10, from 9 am to 5 pm both days. We’re having a big group dinner Saturday night at a local restaurant, and coffee, breakfast, and lunch will be provided at the class.

It will take place at the ReSources library (2309 Meridian St) and will be guided by a trainer from Portland and one from our own branch.

You have until the 6th to register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfY9yzTkijmHDk66mESfSfTJF0Lo5YqXWDwnF9DV2W_3wAH-g/viewform?usp=sf_link

We are so excited to host this training and to continue the goals of the One Big Union.

IWW Movie Night: SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

IWW’s Rebel Worker Movie Night returns for our third winter series!

BELLINGHAM PREMIER OF

SORRY TO BOTHER YOU [2018] sorry-to-bother-you

Thursday, December 6, 8 PM

Alternative Library, 519 E. Maple

$5 donation requested, to support the Library and the IWW Organizing Fund.

No one turned away for lack of funds.

How did a film this radical get made in Trumpian America?

Sorry to Bother You, directed by Boots Randolph, is set in a world so similar to our Sorry-to-Bother-You-Trailer own that its dystopian futurism seems familiar. The economy is such that many ordinary people have signed lifetime contracts with a company called Worry Free Living, which guarantees them grueling work, crowded shelter, subpar food, and a modicum of free time. In other words: slavery. This absurdist dark comedy was written and directed by Boots Riley, in his directorial debut. It stars Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Terry Crews, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, and Armie Hammer. Set in Oakland, California, the film follows a young African-American telemarketer who adopts a white accent in order to thrive at his job. Once he does, he rapidly gets swept up into a conspiracy, and must choose between making money at the expense of humanity and joining with his activist friends to organize his fellow workers. [Wikipedia].

The Wobs who have seen it say this is a VERY WOBBLY MOVIE

This movie won the National Board of Review’s Top Ten Independent Films award.

Looking forward to seeing all our friends there!

In solidarity,

Movie Committee

Movie about IWW at Pickford Cinema, Oct 7 and 16

The Pickford Cinema in Bellingham will show “BISBEE ’17” about the deportation of over 1000 IWW miners from Bisbee Arizona in 1917 during “Doctober”. Heavily armed cops and Phelps-Dodge Corporation gun thugs rounded up union members and community supporters, loaded them onto boxcars, and dumped them without any provisions in the desert. The film discusses the current residents of Bisbee who try to learn about their communities dark past, and who recreate the infamous deportation. Bisbee clipping

Showtimes:

Sunday October 7, 6:45

Tuesday October 16, 4:45.

Whatcom-Skagit IWW has requested permission to give a very short intro, and to put up a literature table in the lobby.

Info on the movie is here: https://www.impactpartnersfilm.com/films/bisbee-17 deportation-boxcar

Information on the deportation is here:

http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/bisbee/history/overview.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisbee_Deportation

Photos from IWW picket in Seattle, June 15

P1040316 Yesterday’s picket in front of the Grassroots Campaign Inc offices was impressive. Lots of Wobblies and some friends showed up in Fremont [ a Seattle neighborhood], including 4 from the Whatcom-Skagit IWW branch. We marched around on the narrow sidewalk, chanted, and sang rabble-rousin’ songs. IWW members in Industrial Union 650 won a union election this spring, but management is not negotiating. Similar pickets took place at the same time at GCI offices in New Orleans [the workers there just won an IWW union election], Raleigh-Durham, Boston and Denver. Stay tuned for updates. Info also posted on these facebook pages:

Whatcom Skagit IWW; IU650 at GCI

IWW picket line in Seattle

GCI what we want. IWW members recently won a union election at the Seattle field office of Grassroots Campaigns Inc. The local management agreed to negotiate but corporate [in Boston] gave the word to bust the union. So much for ‘progressive’ liberal businesses. [That’s GCI’s own term.] The union held a 13-hour march on the boss Friday the 8th to get some immediate demands met, and were assured that their terms would be met. Then the workers found themselves locked out last weekend. The doors have been shut since.

June 14 was the first day of a mass picket out front. The picket will continue. Come GCI picket Seattle June 14 2018 join in! Contact the IWW IU650 shop at GCI via their Facebook page IWW 650 at GCI Seattle or write to this blog for info.

Solidarity Forever!

June 17: IWW meeting in Bellingham

So few of him, so many of us Monthly general meeting of Whatcom-Skagit IWW is Sunday June 17. All workers are welcome. An informal social begins at 5:30 [meet us, ask questions, pay dues]. The business meeting call to order is at 6:30. The meeting is not thrilling but if you are interested in IWW you can see how we do things. For location or to ask questions email iwwbellingham@gmail.com.

Follow our Facebook page Whatcom-Skagit IWW disturbing_trend

International Workers Day in Bellingham

All are invited to celebrate May Day on Tuesday, May 1. This is the International Labor Day. Bring food and stories to share. No alcohol, please. Kids welcome.

Intro to the IWW

disturbing_trend Public presentation:

WHAT IS THE IWW AND SHOULD YOU JOIN?

Sunday, July 9, 2017 at Bellingham’s Alternative Library.

519 W. Maple

6-8 PM

Free

IWW members will explain what our union is all about, and help you decide if membership is right for you. Industrial Workers of the World is North America’s only revolutionary, specifically anti-capitalist union. We urge all workers [employed or not, students welcome] to come learn about our organization, and then, if convinced and ready to take out a Red Card as a member of the Wobblies. Learn how IWW members organize workplaces and society. Since 1905 our aim is ‘One Big Union’ with the workers in complete control of the workplace and economy. What do we mean by ‘Industrial’? Where is IWW organized in the world? How can organizing in the IWW help you get more control of your working situation? What does it cost to be a union member? What do you get from it? There will be plenty of opportunities for questions.

The event is posted on the Whatcom-Skagit IWW facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/717323748460348

Questions? Write us: iwwbellingham@gmail.com

CWA Union STRIKES in Whatcom, Skagit Counties

PICKET LINE!!! Support STRIKING AT&T Workers in Bellingham.

Stand With Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Saturday and Sunday! [Thanks for the notice, Janet McK!]

Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21,
from 9 am to 7 pm during store hours:

4291 Meridian St, Bellingham

1820 S Burlington Blvd, Burlington

Communications Workers of America members across 36 states are fighting for a new contract with AT&T’s wireless department, “Mobility.” They took a strike vote and it begins today, Friday, May 19 at 3pm.

The strike is on!!!

Join the CWA members on their pickets.

Background info
http://www.labornotes.org/20…/…/att-mobility-workers-dial-it

And more:
https://actionnetwork.org/event_camp…/strike-at-att-mobility
(this site doesn’t show Bellingham or Burlington picket lines, yet)

IWW’s Rebel Worker Movie Night!

20-feet-from-stardom-by-getty1 “20 FEET FROM STARDOM”

Tuesday, May 9, 7PM

Alternative Library, 519 E. Maple

$5 requested, but all welcome. Proceeds benefit IWW Organizing Fund and the Library.

The film is a documentary about the lives of the mostly black women who were the vocalists behind R&B and Rock’s greatest hits. They are largely uncredited, but if you love the music you know there voices very well. This film won best documentary Oscar in 2013. Great music and interviews. A must see. When this film played The Pickford it was held over. And over, and over, and over…..

There will be an IWW literature table. Open to all. No alcohol please.

Come meet the wobblies and have a fun and educational evening. If driving: PARKING IS TIGHT, so leave plenty of time to find a spot in the neighborhood.

Picket in support of PeaceHealth Lab Workers. Friday Apr 14, 9-10:30 AM

VERY IMPORTANT 15352 rsz picket at corner of Ellis and Squalicum [near St. Joe’s entrance]

9-10:30 AM

Sorry for last minute, folks, we just found out. Lab workers union is meeting with PeaceHealth admin Friday AM over the plan to sell the labs to for-profit Quest Diagnostics megacorp. Need AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE to show that the community cares about this and supports the lab workers whose jobs are on the line. Please come to the picket! We have big banners and signs but make your own! PLEASE SHARE WIDELY!!!

Can’t make it? CALL THE BOSS! ALL DAY FRIDAY. EVERYDAY.

360-788-6300 ext 0 and say ‘Dale Zender’. Tell him you oppose the lab sale and for him to tell that to corporate HQ.

PICKETS in support of Peace Health lab workers and their union

So few of him, so many of us IWW encourages you to help put public pressure on Peace Health to keep their labs open and not sell them to a California company with a terrible labor record. Join Peace Health workers and community members as we tell PeaceHealth administration

DON’T SELL THE LABS. KEEP UNION JOBS IN BELLINGHAM

PICKETS

Tuesday March 28th 4:30-6 PM Corner of RR and Holly with your signs and banners. IWW will have one large banner and a doxen or so red solidarity signs. MAKE YOUR OWN PICKET SIGNS. If enough of us come down, we can send some picketers up to RR and Chestnut to catch east-bound rush hour traffic.

Saturday, April 1 NOON: A big IWW- sponsored rally at Opening Day of the Bellingham Farmer’s Market on Railroad Avenue.

More to come. Watch here or our facebook page [ Whatcom-Skagit IWW ] for dates and times

You can show solidarity at any time in front of any of the Peace Health labs.

Background: In February PeaceHealth announced they are selling their labs to Quest Diagnostics, the largest lab corporation in the U.S. Lab tests will be sent to Seattle and patients’ care may be affected because they will have to wait longer for results. Quest has a history of many questionable practices: defrauding taxpayers by overcharging Medicare and Medicaid, stifling competition from other labs, faulty lab tests, and discrimination against employees. Our community will be hurt by this sale as workers lose living wage jobs. Nearly 100 workers are impacted by the sale and will have to reapply for jobs with Quest, undoubtedly at lower wages and diminished benefits. And workers will lose the union they fought hard to create three years ago. THIS SALE IS UNNECESSARY–PeaceHealth is acting like a for-profit corporation, not the non-profit that they claim to be.

peacehealth labs near Bellingham, WA

Peacehealth Laboratories Cordata Main

Medical Laboratory·

4545 Cordata Pkwy ·(360) 788-6330

Peacehealth Laboratories Fairhaven Center

Medical Laboratory·

1100 Larrabee Ave ·(360) 788-6330

Peacehealth Laboratories Birchwood Center

Medical Laboratory·

500 Birchwood Ave, #500b ·(360) 788-6330

Peace Health Laboratories

Medical Laboratory

2075 Barkley Blvd ·(360) 788-6330

Peacehealth Laboratories Medical Arts Building

Medical Laboratory·

3001 Squalicum Pkwy, #130 ·(360) 788-6330

Peace Health Laboratories

Medical Laboratory· SEDRO WOOLEY

205 Stewart Rd ·(360) 336-2699

Peace Health LaboratoriesMedical Laboratory·

FERNDALE205 Stewart Rd ·(360) 336-2699

April 1918: Trial of the Century

From Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, we have this passage to share with you:

“In early September 1917, Department of Justice agents made simultaneous raids on forty-eight IWW meeting halls across the country… 165 IWW leaders were arrested for conspiring to hinder the draft, encourage desertion… One hundred and one went on trial in April 1918; it lasted five months, the longest criminal trial in American history up to that time… One IWW man told the court:

‘You ask me why the I.W.W. is not patriotic to the Untied States. If you were a bum without a blanket; if you had left your wife and kids when you went west for a job, and had never located them since; if your job had never kept you long enough in a place to qualify to vote; if you slept in a lousy, sour bunkhouse, and ate food just as rotten as they could give you and get by with it; if the deputy sheriffs shot your cooking cans full of holes and spilled your grub on the ground; if your wages were lowered on you when the bosses thought they had you down; if there was one law for Ford, Suhr, and Mooney, and another for Harry Thaw; if every person who represented law and order and the nation beat you up, railroaded you to jail, and the good Christian people cheered and told them to go to it, how in hell do you expect a man to be patriotic? This war is a business man’s war and we don’t see why we should go out and get shot in order to save the lovely state of affairs that we now enjoy.’

The jury found them all guilty. [Big Bill] Haywood jumped bail and fled to revolutionary Russia, where he remained until his death ten years later.” (pgs. 372-373)

Rebel Worker MOVIE NIGHT Feb 28

“THE TAKE” A documentary by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis [2004]

Argentine workers expropriate shuttered shops and keep them going!

Thursday February 28

7 PM

Alternative Library’, 519 E. Maple [the ‘Karate Church’]

$5 recommended donation. Proceeds to IWW organizing projects

In 2004, workers throughout Argentina occupied and then expropriated factories, work shops, health clinics and small businesses. The International Monetary Fund had put the squeeze on the government to institute austerity, and many businesses laid off employees or shut down. Workers in several hundred places were not going to take this. In some instances, they broke into locked factories, turned on the machinery, and resumed production as worker coops. Some of these shops are still today under the control of the workers, and turning out ceramics, auto parts, and offering health care services. The movie follows the sequence of events at one of these factories.

After the movie [90 minutes] an IWW member will update us on the current situation. Then open up for discussion.

Popcorn provided. Bring your own drinks. NO ALCOHOL. We suggest you bring a pillow for the metal chairs, or your own comfy camp chair.

Solidarity,

Organizing Committee, Whatcom-Skagit Industrial Workers of the World

for One Big Union of All Workers

Organizer Training in Bellingham

FEBRUARY 25-6 IN BELLINGHAM

9-5 BOTH DAYS

Whatcom-Skagit IWW is hosting a two-day organizing workshop. If you ever wanted to organize your fellow workers, or think you might try in the future, this is for you. It emphasizes direct action solidarity unionism over bureaucratic National Labor Relations Board procedures. All are invited to register [but no bosses!]

The training is spread over two full days. You can’t learn how to do everything in two days, but you can learn the basics and help avoid the kinds of mistakes that new workplace organizers tend to make. A handbook will be provided to record notes and fill in questions that are answered as the training progresses.

The training is designed to incorporate your real-life work situation to make it as realistic as possible and help tailor it to your needs. The point is to help you think through how to organize where you work. The tactics taught are based on successful IWW organizing work over the last decade in the US and abroad, and the training is constantly being adapted to incorporate the latest experiences of direct action organizing. Our trainers are coming from Seattle and Salt Lake City, and are experienced organizers.

Only people who register will receive the training site location. The training costs $5 for both days; for an extra $2 you get breakfast and lunch both days. Deadline is February 19.

Here is a testimonial from someone who took the course.

https://goo.gl/forms/n1hOcSF07dEu0EDq1

IMMIGRANT RIGHTS MARCH BURLINGTON FEB. 12

picket-sign-1 Familias Unidas por la Justicia los invita a marchar con nosotros.

Familias Unidas por La Justicia Invites You to March With Us.

IWW members will march with our big red banner.

MARCH BEGINS in the corner of Fairhaven Ave & Burlington Blvd. in Burlington, WA 98233 and ENDS AT CITY HALL in downtown MT. VERNON. The full march is 7 miles. March the whole way, part way, or come for the rally at either end. THIS WILL BE VERY POWERFUL and LARGE. https://www.facebook.com/events/409732362695018/

We invite our Brothers and Sisters from all movements to join farmworkers in solidarity. Our struggles are not isolated.

Worker Rights and the rights of immigrants are under attack. With the new administration, we can expect things to get harder. What we know:

The appointed Secretary of Labor who is against raising the minimum wage and no overtime for workers.
The president has vowed to “build a wall” to divide our people and to further criminalize immigrants.
Programs such as DACA and DAPA will most likely be suspended leaving millions vulnerable to deportations.
The Guest Worker Program is set to expand drastically as well.
Environmental Protections that are supposed to protect workers and consumers will be taken away and further expose us to dangerous chemicals.

Our local economy in Skagit County is dependent on our labor. We want to show our community that we will not be silenced or intimidated. The only way to be safe is to organize.

Together we can come up with solutions and actions and make our community and workplace a safer one.

ORGANIZE CARPOOLS AMONG YOURSELVES.

contact: iwwbellingham@gmail.com

Intro to the Industrial Workers of the World ( IWW )

disturbing_trend Thursday January 5th. 7-8:30 PM.

Public Market meeting room [behind Film is Truth counter]

1530 Cornwall, Bellingham

Learn what about the Industrial Workers of the World [IWW; ‘Wobblies’]. We will have updates on IWW around the world. All workers in all types of work are invited to this presentation. Our union seeks to help workers organize on the job and in the community, one-by one or as a group in a workplace. We are a member-controlled, dues paying union. Members will be present to explain their reasons for joining. We organize today for worker control of hours, wages, and work conditions, and in the long run for worker control of the workplace and the economy.

Discussion after. Delegates will be on hand to sign up new members.

Minimum Initiation ($11) + First Month’s Dues ($11) = $22 (US) – if you make less than $2,000.00 (US) per month;
Regular Initiation ($22) + First Month’s Dues ($22) = $44 (US) – if you make between $2,000.00-$3,500.00 (US) per month;
Maximum Initiation ($33) + First Month’s Dues ($33) = $66 (US) – if you make more than $3,500.00 (US) per month.

CORRECTION: IWW on RADIO

We will be on the radio WEDNESDAY NOV 30, not today. Sorry.

IWW on radio in Bellingham WEDNESDAY

Friends and fellow workers,

Two members of the Industrial Workers of the World from Bellingham will be interviewed live on the Joe Show, KBAI 930 AM, noon to 1 today [Wednesday]. Topic is the IWW’s attitude toward the election, though it will likely evolve into more of a discussion of IWW’s methods and goals.

It is a call in show so you can ask your own questions.

D. Tucker

Whatcom-Skagit IWW

Official IWW response to US election

A message to the working class in the wake of the 2016 United States Presidential election from the General Executive Board of the Industrial Workers of the World

Submitted on Tue, 11/22/2016 – 2:41pm https://iww.org/

Official Statement – IWW General Executive Board, November 22, 2016

These are difficult times for the working class, times of struggle and hardship. The employing class controls more of the world’s wealth and power than ever before, and the divide between working people and our oppressors grows wider by the day.

It is important to remember that this is nothing new. The ruling class has been waging a war against the working class since the birth of capitalism. We, the workers of the world, continue to be exploited and abused, the value of our labor always falling into the boss’ pockets. While they rake in unprecedented profits, the employing class continues to damage our planet through the unsustainable and irresponsible extraction of natural resources. These vultures tell you that your disappointments, your failures, and your hardships are the fault of other working class people. People of different races, genders, nationalities, and religions. “Blame immigrants,” they say. “Blame blacks and Latinos,” they say. As we fight amongst ourselves, the ruling class celebrates in their gilded halls, making toasts to the disunity of the working class.

Many people in the working class sought out hope in the electoral system this year, confident that reason and compassion would hold the day. Many other people in the working class were motivated by bigotry. The electoral system is designed to disenfranchise all working people, to take their hopes and desires as mere suggestions rather than as concrete demands. Unions, which are supposed to fight for all working people, organized people to put their faith in fighting bigotry at the ballot box – and now they say they are “ready to work with” the representatives of bigotry and division.You are no doubt feeling disillusioned, fearful, and angry, and are ready to consider different ways of fighting back against our oppressors.

We, the Industrial Workers of the World, invite you to work with us in building a new kind of labor movement, one that refuses to play by the rules of the employing class. An approach where we no longer allow them to divide us along artificial lines of race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or religion. From housewives to factory workers to prisoners to office workers, we are all the working class, and it is our labor that creates all wealth. We can challenge the ruling class if we unite with each other, but that unity must start with defending the most oppressed and vulnerable groups among us first, for “an injury to one is an injury to all.” It is clear that there is a strong current of bigotry within the US working class, and we pledge to confront that head on in our organizing. We believe we can win workers away from bigotry if we show that we have a plan to win a better world. We must work towards the creation of a new world in the shell of the old, and the only way to do that is through organizing in our workplaces and in our communities.

The Industrial Workers of the World have been organizing working people for over 110 years, and our future as a revolutionary union is bright. Our approach is one of direct action. Instead of relying on elected officials and other intermediaries, we take the fight directly to our oppressors. We have been trailblazers in the modern labor movement, organizing fast food workers in Oregon, package handlers in Minnesota, entertainers and restaurant workers in New York, and prison laborers throughout the country, to name just a few. Our members have been at the forefront of resistance to police violence and the Dakota access pipeline. We have been working tirelessly to build a genuine and truly representative working class organization that can provide strength to working people, and we need your help.

If you have questions about exactly who we are and what we do, let’s talk. If you’re ready to organize and resist, join us and we will welcome you as fellow workers and fellow members of the working class. It is time to organize, it is time to fight back. Let’s make white supremacists, fascists, and other hate mongers fear our power. Our struggle will be long and it will be difficult, but we will win. Sign up for the One Big Union today, and let’s organize together in our workplaces and communities. Nothing is too good for the working class, and we want all the good things life has to offer.

IWW group is forming in Snohomish County

A new IWW delegate has been credentialed in Snohomish County, and membership is taking off. Since the Everett Massacre commemoration on November 5th, new members have been signing up. If you live in the Everett-Edmonds-north King County region, contact the group directly:

snohowobs at gmail dot com.

Members of the new group are paying dues through the Whatcom-Skagit Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World. Dues are held in a special account on behalf of the Snohomish IWW group, for their organizing purposes. Their first meeting will be announced in the next month or so.

Dont Mourn: Organize. Message from Swedish SAC to IWW

The election of Donald Trump sends ripples of fear and uncertainty around the world, and terror into the hearts of people who are his targets for hatred and discrimination: immigrants of all kinds, the LGBTQ community, Muslims, and minorities. Union-organized workers are expected to feel the heat, too, especially once his Supreme Court begins to erode long-standing union rights. However, Industrial Workers of the World sees this as a tremendous opportunity to

AGITATE EDUCATE INOCULATE ORGANIZE UNIONIZE!

Today the IWW received this statement of solidarity from our fellow workers in the Swedish Workers Central Organization [IWW-equivalent in that country].

sac-syndikalisterna

10 November 2016
Statement of solidarity from Sweden

Dear comrades of the IWW

The outcome of the US elections sent a shockwave through Europe and Sweden. Many people, not just our fellow Wobblies, feel worried and politically depressed and it’s hard to even imagine what the consequences of Trump’s presidency will be like for you. The future is looking dark, but we try to remind ourselves and our members that despair is not the answer – resistance, antifascism and solidarity is.

The SAC (Sweden’s Workers’ Centralorganization – The Syndicalists) hereby gives you, the IWW, our full support and solidarity. We feel confident that you will continue your great work in organizing the working people of the US, fighting racism, sexism, inequalities and defending worker’s rights as always. We know there is great power in a union – you give us hope of a brighter future.

Stay strong, stay together. If you ever wish to reach out to activists in Sweden, or if we can do anything to support you in your future struggles, don’t hesitate to contact us.

To all our American comrades: Don’t mourn – agitate, educate, organize!

In solidarity, SAC Syndikalisterna fira-1-maj-med-sac-syndikalisterna_medium

Intro to IWW in Everett

Two “Intro to the IWW” presentations in Everett for prospective members and the curious. All are welcome.

Thursday November 10, 7-9 PM, Firewheel Coffeehouse 2727 Colby

Saturday November 19, 3-5 PM, Anchor Tavern, 1001 Hewitt.

Find out how the IWW organizes and what we are up to today. IWW members from Whatcom-Skagit and Seattle branches will talk about the IWW red-card and answer your questions. Delegates will be on hand to sign up new members and collect dues. Fees are payble in cash [preferred] or check.

Minimum Initiation ($11) + First Month’s Dues ($11) = $22 (US) – if you make less than $2,000.00 (US) per month;
Regular Initiation ($22) + First Month’s Dues ($22) = $44 (US) – if you make between $2,000.00-$3,500.00 (US) per month;
Maximum Initiation ($33) + First Month’s Dues ($33) = $66 (US) – if you make more than $3,500.00 (US) per month.

IWW commemorates Everett Massacre on Nov. 5th.

we-never-forget-blood-sunday-image-rsz On November 5th, 1916, a dozen members of the Industrial Workers of the World were shot and killed as they tried to enter Everett Washington by boat. IWW members in the northwest AND ALL OUR FRIENDS in the UNION and RADICAL WORKERS MOVEMENT will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Everett Massacre. Meet at the west end of Hewitt Avenue in Everett in front of the Anchor Pub, 1001 Hewitt. We will lay wreaths and memorialize the IWWs killed that day. We will then march up the street 7 blocks to the site of the 1916 IWW Free Speech Fight, the destination of the wobblies aboard the boat. There will be a bit of music from Linda Allen and Gary Kanter [tune up your voice box to sing Solidarity Forever and Hold the Fort], and a soapbox for anyone to use. At around 3 we will close up and those who wish will caravan down to the Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle to lay wreaths at the grave of three of the IWWs killed in Everett.

everett-funeral — 1916 funeral for IWWS killed in Everett.

PLEASE SHARE WIDELY. THIS IS A COMMEMORATION. PLEASE NO PARTISAN POLITICS!!! For CARPOOL information from BELLINGHAM scroll down.
Contact Whatcom-Skagit IWW for more info. iwwbellingham at gmail dot com. http://www.historylink.org/File/9981
We expect Wobblies from Vancouver BC, Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Everett/Edmonds, Seattle, Tacoma, Bremerton, Olympia and Portland, and friends from the region.

CARPOOL FROM BELLINGHAM:

Leave from the Public Market parking lot 1530 Cornwall at 11:45 AM on Saturday.
Drivers and vehicles are needed. BELLINGHAM FOLKS: PLEASE let IWW know if you are going. Please email iwwbellingham at gmail dot com . Let us know if you can drive, or if you have no ride.

Rebel Worker Movie Night Oct 25

rebel-worker-movie-night-poster-generic-copy

Tuesday, 7 PM, Public Market Building Meeting Room [behind the Film is Truth counter]. $5 suggested donation, proceeds to the IWW organizing fund. No one turned away for lack of funds.

MATEWAN [1987] is a drama about the 1920 mine wars in West Virginia. White miners are fighting coal company thugs to protect their union. Then the company tries to import black strikebreakers to foment racial tensions. You can imagine the potential for nastiness. A union organizer tries to get the white and black miners together into the union. It is a great tale of bravery, gun thugs, and injustice. There are several shoot outs and anti-union violence.
Starring James Earl Jones, Chris Cooper, Mary McDowell. Directed by John Sayles. Nominated for an Oscar.
The miners wore red neckerchiefs to distinguish themselves from the comp;any gunmen, and called themselves Rednecks. You can be a Redneck too: Wear your red bandana!
FREE ADMISSION. FEEL FREE TO DONATE $5 to IWW ORGANIZING FUND
Seats are metal folding chairs. Consider bringing a small pillow. The film is 2 h 15 m.

IWW cafe workers campaign in NYC continues

x29c97607f-a615-ed5c-1338b629eb2e58da-jpg-pagespeed-ic-e-iueoer1x The famous Singing Servers and other restaurant workers at Ellen’s Stardust Diner continue their protest over illegal firings of union members. So far, 15 IWW members have been fired at the popular tourist destination just off Broadway. The organizing campaign of the Stardust Family United IWW union continues.

http://www.stardustfamilyunited.com/

New management at Ellen’s decided to no longer 14369927_10153652224507126_1984134696211347100_n uphold a years-long agreement with restaurant staff. The cafe is famous with tourists for tne highly talented wait staff, who belt out Boradway hits at work. The understanding allowed staff to take a leave from work when they got short-term acting or singing roles. Suddenly returning food service workers were not rehired, and so far 15 have been fired for union organizing. Nightly song-filled protests take place outside the cafe, with much local and even political support- the latter rather unusual for an IWW campaign. It is expected that the new management will soon cave to the relentless union members, who draw large crowds away from the restaurant.

14232647_314020218950973_4757702637384003019_n This is the face of the IWW. It is what the mainstream business unions need to become- youthful, modern, active, direct action, rank-and-file organizatons. The Stardust Family United union is classic IWW- run entirely by the cafe workers themselves. IWW has no paid organizers or union bureacrats. No one outside the cafe workers’ own IWW branch has any say in how those choose to fight their boss, or what their demands are.

Videos of the boisterous and musical rallies out side the cafe are posted frequently at the Stardust Family United facebook page. They are inspiring and well-worth checking out.

Support has been tremendous, and there has been a lot of publicity favorable to the union. Selections:

http://www.playbill.com/article/singing-staff-of-ellens-stardust-diner-go-silent-amid-firings

Ellen’s Stardust Diner accused of violating labor laws after newly unionized employees fired

http://www.metafilter.com/162279/Ellens-Stardust-Diner

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Unionized-Staff-at-Ellens-Stardust-Diner-to-Stop-Singing-After-Multiple-Terminations-20160914

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Just-In-Stardust-Diner-Family-United-Says-15-Employees-Fired-in-Retaliation-of-Union-Activity-20160924

Picket to support WWU staff union

P1030665 — PSE Union picket on August 19.

Wednesday, August 31, 4-6 PM

Rally in front of Western Washington University offices

Herald Building, corner of Chestnut and State, Bellingham

Join members of Public School Employees [the classified staff at WWU] to show support for negotiations for a union contract. Bring signs supporting these workers, who truly make WWU function.

When an institution such as Western Washington University can affect the well-being of a community the size of Bellingham, when a great many of its 2200 employees and community members are not doing well economically with respect to the cost of living, in a city that now is the 4th most expensive city in Washington State to reside in… this becomes a problem for all. No one goes unaffected.

Please join us in support of our/your contracts.

Meet the IWW- REMINDER! Tonight

Friends,

A reminder that the first “Meet the IWW” event is tonight, July 25th, 7-9 PM at the Alternative Library, 929 N. State in Bellingham.

A chance to meet IWW members, cool down with some ice cream, learn what we do, and how we do it. Free and open to all workers. We will want to hear from you, too: your interests, if IWW can help you, if you can help us. If you are hesitant or reluctant to join, we need to hear why that is, too.

Meet the IWW in Bellingham!

All workers are invited to an introductory presentation about the Industrial Workers of the World.

Monday, July 25th, 2016

7-9 PM

Alternative Library, 929 N. State

Hosted by Whatcom-Skagit IWW .

A public presentation on the IWW and how we organize, and our goal of the One Big Union for all workers. All are invited. Members wil be there to speak with and to answer your questions following the introductory presentation.

MAY DAY MARCH with Farmworkers in Bellingham

IWW is proud to join with Familias Unidas por la Justicia in the annual Farm Workers March for Dignity on INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY, May 1, in
Bellingham.

Farmworkers begin their long walk down Guide Meridian from Lynden to Bellingham. We urge you to join the march at Costco, 11 PM. There will be an informational picket in support of the Driscoll Berries/Sakuma Farms boycott, then the march continues downtown to Maritime Heritage Park for speakers and a May Day Potluck at 2:30. All are welcome. Friends of IWW are invited to join our contingent- look for the big red banner, and our smaller banner, both on poles above the crowd.

CLIMATE, CLASS, and CAPITALISM Panel

Wednesday, May 4^th

7 pm – 9 pm

1^st Congregational Church

2401 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham

Throughout the world, the oppressed bear the brunt of Climate Change. Going it alone is not an option. To save ourselves, we must save each other. How are we all connected? The Blue-Green Committee of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) will hold a forum to explore the intersections of our common struggles: climate, labor, race, class and capitalism.

Speakers:

Darrell Hillaire, Lummi Nation

Maru Mora, Latino Advocacy

Sawyer Joy, sHellNo!

Larry Hildes, IWW Whatcom-Skagit Branch

For more information IWWBellingham@gmail.com or Whatcom-Skagit IWWW on Facebook

IWW Movie Night #2: Salt of theEarth

IWW REBEL WORKER MOVIE NIGHT

salt-of-the-earth-movie-poster-1954-1020243906

SALT OF THE EARTH

APRIL 16, 2016, 7 PM

Garden St. Methodist Church, 1326 N. Garden

Salt_of_the_Earth women

“Salt of the Earth” [1954] is one of the first movies to advance the feminist social and political point of view. Its plot centers on a long and difficult strike, based on the 1951 United Mine Workers strike against the Empire Zinc Company in Grant County, New Mexico. After police brutality and slick company strategy, the union men are ready to throw in the towel- but then the WOMEN take over and add backbone and new tactics. The producers and director cast miners and their families as actors in the film.
It is the only movie ever banned by the US Gov’t, at the behest of Senator McCarthy’s House Unamerican Activities Committee.

$3 at the door; $2 with any paid-up union card

Hope you can all make it! Bring all your friends!

More info about the film.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047443/
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_of_the_Earth_%281954_film%29

IWW Movie Night

PRIDE

March 19, 7 PM

Bellingham Alternative Library

929 State Street

“Pride” (2014, 2 hours) London gays and lesbians raise funds to support striking coal miners in Thatcher’s Britain. Based on a true story, the developing solidarity between the initially homophobic miners and the LGBTQ community is inspiring.
This is the first in the Whatcom-Skagit IWW’s Rebel Movie Night film series.

EVERYONE INVITED. Sponsored by Whatcom-Skagit IWW and Jobs with Justice. Pride film

IWW Website updated

Friends and Fellow Workers,

Most of the pages on the Whatcom-Skagit IWW website have been updated including new photos. If you have photos of any IWW or related actions, please email them to iwwbellingham at gmail dot com

14951 Tesoro strike Feb 7, 2015 — Wobblies on the line with United Steelworkers- Tesoro Refinery strike, February 2015

The Joe Hill commemorative show- November 15, Bellingham

JOE HILL 100 CONCERT

Featuring Linda Allen, David Rovics, George Mann, and Rebel Voices

Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the murder of IWW songwriter and organizer Joe Hill. Scroll down to learn more about Joe Hill and the tour.

Sunday, November 15th

Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship

1207 Ellsworth Street, Bellingham

Doors at 6:30, Show at 7:00

$10-20 at the door. All proceeds to the musicians so don’t be a tightwad!

Advance tickets $15 : Village Books and Community Food Co-op

Contact: iwwbellingham@gmail.com

#joehill100 #whatcom-skagit IWW

ICONIC LABOR ACTIVIST JOE HILL HONORED WITH NATIONAL ROAD SHOW TOUR, COMING TO BELLINGHAM

This year, musicians and labor activists have organized the “Joe Hill 100 Road Show,” a national concert tour, to mark the 100th anniversary of his death. After traveling through the Midwest, East Coast, and South in the Spring and Summer, the tour reaches Bellingham at last.

Each local show includes a mix of local and national touring artists. Bellingham performers are Linda Allen (a feminist and labor singer, songwriter and historian), David Rovics (an activist singer songwriter from Portland), Rebel Voices from Seattle (who took their name from an anthology of artistic works by the IWW), and George Mann from New York (the tour organizer), all stellar Labor and People’s musicians. The performers will sing labor anthems, including, of course, the songs of Joe Hill, and other songs they deem appropriate.

On November 19, 1915, labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill was killed by a firing squad in Salt Lake City, Utah. After national and international appeals for clemency that included the American Federation of Labor, Helen Keller, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, the Swedish Ambassador and many more, Hill was executed for the murders of a grocer and his son, who were shot in a robbery on January 10, 1914. There is little doubt today that Joe Hill was framed for the crime because he was a foreigner and a well-known labor activist. His death inspired several songs, and his life has inspired many fellow workers, but Joe also wrote some of our best-known labor songs, including “The Preacher and The Slave,” “Casey Jones,” and “There is Power in a Union,” which are still sung today at union rallies and events.

Joe Hill (October 7, 1879 – November 19, 1915), was born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund in Gävle, Sweden. He came to the United States in 1902 and learned English as an itinerant laborer. Joe Hill was an organizer, songwriter, cartoonist and journalist during his 36 short years. He travelled from the east coast to the west coast, Mexico to Canada, fanning the flames of discontent on the waterfront and in mines and lumber camps.

After signing up as a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, Joe began writing songs for IWW organizing campaigns. His first surviving effort was “The Preacher and The Slave” (which added the phrase “pie in the sky” to the American lexicon), written for the Free Speech Fight in Spokane, Washington, in 1910. His songs, written to the popular tunes of the day, have continued to inspire young agitators, and he remains the best-known songwriter among the IWW tunesmiths.

Joe Hill’s life and legacy have been memorialized in songs written and sung by Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Si Kahn, Phil Ochs, Paul Robeson, Bruce Springsteen, and countless others. Alfred Hayes and Earl Robinson’s “I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night” has been performed in union halls and in concerts around the world, speaking to Joe Hill’s lasting legacy — the “man who never died.”

Other commemorative events this year include the Joe Hill edition of the “Solidarity Forever Labor History Calendar” and a special reproduction of the 1917 IWW “Little Red Song Book” – which was issued at the time as a Joe Hill Commemorative edition. These items, and others, along with the Musicians’ CDs will be available for sale at the concert.

For more information on all of this year’s events, visit: http://joehill100.com. Information on the performers can be found at: http://lindasongs.com, www.davidrovics.com, www.rebelvoices.com, http://georgemannmusic.com

Whatcom-Skagit IWW website is being updated!

Friends and Fellow Workers,

Boycott Sakuma! Bocott Driscolls! IWW picket in Bellingham, February 2015.

Work has begun to update the Whatcom-Skagit IWW website. It is still a work in progress. Some new pages have been added (see tabs at top). Still work to be done, but in the meantime subscribe to the website and tell us what you want to see on it, and send material, too!

Industrial Workers of the World in Whatcom and Skagit Counties

Contact the local IWW via email : IWWBellingham at gmail.com. There is also a Whatcom-Skagit IWW Facebook page.

Solidarity forever!