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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

Friends and Fellow Workers,

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!

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

Solidarity forever!