Category: News

Transatlantic Workers Focus On Same Company

Jeld-WenWritten by Bill B. (Portland IWW)

The Sheffield IWW Branch contacted the International Solidarity Commission in late 2014 requesting aid in getting in contact with Marty of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA. Klamath Falls organizers are in the process of organizing Jeld-­Wen Industries. The Sheffield, England plant had been an independent company, but has since become a Jeld-­Wen division due to a buyout. Working conditions have deteriorated considerably since that time.

FW Bill B. of the Portland IWW Branch boarded the Coast Starlight heading south, and as the winter sun sank early in the west, the train made its way through the wild and snowy Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Cell (mobile) phone connectivity disappeared, only to be restored as the train approached Klamath Falls an hour late and just as the hands of the clock neared midnight.

Bill and Marty arranged to meet for breakfast the next morning. The IAMAW was threatened with gun violence by a Jeld-­Wen manager while picketing on public property outside the local plant. It perhaps goes without saying that threats of that nature are illegal. Workers at Jeld­-Wen receive strong anti­-union indoctrination upon hiring and are told that if a union representative speaks with them and they don’t immediately report it to management, they will be fired. Firing for union activity is also illegal. However workers in Klamath Falls are cowed, and feel “lucky to have a job.” It is also a small town, and word gets around.

Jeld-WenDick Wendt, said to be very anti­-union, founded Jeld­-Wen in 1960. He died in 2010 and his sons began divesting portions of the company. Onex Corporation, based in Toronto, recently purchased a controlling interest in Jeld-­Wen and has moved some of its management functions to North Carolina, including its CEO. This was said to be due to the fact that the new CEO did not want to move to Klamath Falls. It should also be noted that North Carolina is much more hostile to union organizing.

A large manufacturing complex remains in the town and is one of its largest employers. Bill and Marty drove around the various factory buildings and took photographs of the plant and its surroundings. These include a golf course. The late Mr. Wentz was very interested in sports and hoped to bring the winter Olympics to Klamath Falls. The Jeld­-Wen name was on the Portland soccer (football) stadium for a number of years.

IWW members in Sheffield are anxious to work in concert with organizing efforts in Klamath Falls. Here is to a long and productive association!

Open post

A Good Old-Fashioned I.W.W. Chinwag!

Please join us for the first good old-fashioned I.W.W. Chinwag of 2015!

TUESDAY, JAN. 6
6:00pm – 10:00pm
The Lucky Lab Brew Pub
915 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

This is simply an excuse to meet up, hang out and have a good time with your comrades!

And this is NOT a private I.W.W. function. Quite the contrary! This is open to all, so tell your friends, drop by and join in the fun!

Children are permitted at the Lucky Lab Brew Pub until 9:00pm!

Walmart Black Friday Rally PRE-GAME with the I.W.W.

Join the Wob Squad as we meet up at the Portland IWW office on Friday, Nov. 28 before the official Black Friday Rally at the Walmart on SE 82nd Ave in Portland!

WHEN: 8:30 am on “Black Friday”

WHERE: 2249 E Burnside, Portland, OR 97214

INFO: The Portland GMB of the Industrial Workers of the World is pleased to announce we will be hosting a pot-luck style breakfast and organizing carpooling to the Black Friday Rally from 10:00am – 12:00pm in solidarity with hosts Jobs with Justice, 15Now PDX and UFCW: https://www.facebook.com/events/836515136370460

Please SHARE, bring anyone else who might be interested in attending, something light to eat and share, and be ready for an exciting morning of direct action!

Oregon Canvassers Workers Push for Unionization at Union-Funded Workplace

Seven workers and union activists head toward the office on September 17, just before the morning shift begins, debating how to enter. Should they all parade in together? What if lower management is out front smoking before the shift begins? Should they go in early, or wait until the day’s canvassers are already inside?

They agree to head in together in a show of solidarity, a few minutes before the bell rings. As the workers file in the front door, their union representatives in tow, management declares that outside people are not allowed to enter during business hours.

“Don’t worry, we won’t be long,” says Jonathan Steiner, a rep for the United Campaign Workers, a project of the Industrial Workers of the World Workers. The workers and their union representatives enter and declare there is announcement to be made: They have joined a union and are inviting other workers to join them.

Read the FULL STORY at In These Times

Street Canvassing for Good Causes: The Worst Job in Town?

Outside of coffee shops and bookstores, crowded Whole Foods stores and worker-run co-ops nationwide, you‘re bound to find canvassers asking for donations or signatures in support of a host of causes. They’re often young people shaking the can for high-profile nonprofits. But as we get deeper into the post-crash precarious economy, the image of canvassers as idealistic college students making a few extra bucks on summer break quickly disintegrates. People are turning to this occupation as their primary source of income, according to many active campaigners. They are hired by independently contracted companies to canvas for nonprofits. The quotas are demanding, making the work one of the most difficult low-wage jobs to hold on to.

In Portland, Oregon, one union local as formed precisely to take on this precarious world of street canvassing, and they are growing at a pace no one could have predicted.

Last week, the United Campaign Workers union, an affiliate of the Portland Industrial Workers of the World, announced its second organized workplace in its less than two months of existence. (The first was the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp.)

Read the full story here.

Starbucks Workers Union Releases Critical Report on Starbucks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sarah Madden, Sarah.starbucksworkersunion@gmail.com

August 12, 2014

Starbucks Workers Union Releases Critical Report on Starbucks

Company Enriches Shareholders While Maintaining Inadequate Working Conditions

NEW YORK, NY – The Industrial Workers of the World, Starbucks Workers Union released a report today, “Low Wages and Grande Profits at Starbucks” with an analysis of company performance over the last decade. The report describes how Starbucks has dramatically improved profitability at the company since the Great Recession of 2008-2009, and that the company has enriched shareholders at the expense of its nearly 200,000 workers.

The report finds that “an analysis of company performance and staffing before and after the Great Recession of 2008-2009 shows that the stores are now staffed at a lower level, workers are working harder, and they are bringing in much more profit for the company. Instead of funding a living wage for workers, the company has transferred almost $4 billion to shareholders in the past few years, equivalent to over $3 per hour for every worker at the company.”

At a time when retail and fast food workers are organizing for higher wages and the right to organize a union, the working conditions at Starbucks remain inadequate for its “partners” to support a family. Despite the company’s reputation for social responsibility, barista wages are often below the $9.00/hour national median wage. Many workers also lack access to affordable health care, with less than half of the workers participating in the company health plan. There is also erratic scheduling and inadequate hours, with many workers assigned only 20-30 hours per week.

The report calls on the company to compensate its workers with a living wage, ensure better store staffing and scheduling, and respect the workers’ rights to organize a union. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has expressed support for a federal minimum wage increase, but he has the ability to raise wages dramatically for workers at the company now.

Former Starbucks workers Sarah Madden states “The wages and hours at Starbucks result in poverty level compensation, and consistent and stable scheduling is important for workers. Companies like Starbucks claim to offer ’flexible scheduling’ as a benefit of employment. This means workers are given 7 to 1 day notice for their work times and hours vary week to week, making it nearly impossible to schedule doctor’s appointments, plan for childcare, get and keep a second job or internship and maintain a budget.”

The report can be found here.

May Day 2014 in PDX!

Fellow Workers!

On Thursday, May 1, we invite you to march with the I.W.W. during the May Day celebration in downtown Portland!

ALL WORKERS are welcome to join us! Our strength lies in our numbers, and working class solidarity is our goal and the tool with which we will create a better society within the shell of the old.

We’ll see YOU on May Day, at Park Ave. & SW Main St. in downtown Portland, at 3:00pm!

(look for the red balloons!)

May Day 2014 – People Over Profit! on Facebook

March with the I.W.W. on May Day!

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