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Think about it (Last part)

Here finally the third and final part of Think, Thin it Over, an introductory pamphlet written by a fellow worker member of the IWW section of Portland, Oregon, Tim Acott. Text in English here.

First part

Second part

The Labor Law in a word
The Labor Law is a subject of study that are taught at the university until Ph.D., and which can provide a very profitable career. You could buy a car per year, live in a big beautiful house in good neighborhoods, meet the needs of a wife or a husband who never has to leave home to make money, be a member of high society club, wear beautiful clothes, and send your children to the most prestigious universities. You would all. Of course, you would not have much in common with the people you spend your days defending. It's the common attorney-e-s - a specialized profession and well-paid. Understand me. We value our lawyer-e-s, especially when justice knocks on our doors. We want them and they are vivid and bright, and they and they intimately understand the complexity of the Labor Law. But neither you nor I have the time and money to study labor law at a prestigious university. However, we must understand the basic principles of labor law and how it affects our daily lives at work.

well, here it is in a nutshell. The Labor Law is implemented by the bosses and their government system and courts to prevent us, Workers medium-do-s, to come together and fight for our fair share, for fear that we would, and that one day we would, all. This is essential information. The basic idea, behind the great laws governing unionization, is it possible to have a union if you really want, but he can only fight for certain causes. It can only solve some problems. It must be sufficiently low and weighed, and follow a set of sophisticated rules that do not apply, at least in practice, your boss and friends at the golf club. You are forced-e-s wait while the latter get a fast court. You should limit your activities to certain legal forms, but these people can virtually do what they want. Their e-s-attorney are recognized-e-s as ours, because they and they cost more. You should see if only their cars !

It surprises you in this country ? I sincerely hope not. You see, this is not really a democracy, economic decisions are made democratically, yet they underpin all other decisions taken there. The circulation of money, the merchandise, goods and services, food and shelter, health and holidays, all fall under this other decision-making system. You can nominate capitalism, corporate reign, business, or what you want, but you can not name it democracy. Everyone laughs. The law is not that of the people, by the people, for the people, no matter what your teachers taught you. Sorry, but it does not work well.

The Labor Law is the result of the influence of corporate interests on the government and the judiciary, and implies that you need to protect your head and your ass, and pay attention to what you say and do. If you want to play their game, just follow the system in place : sign your cards, call for a certification election, and wait. It is possible that by the time this is the right approach to take. But never let the boss set the playing field and decide everything.

This is a street fight, an agression, a coldly calculated assault, and you must defend yourself as much as possible. Protect your head and your ass, use your creativity and above all with your workers comrades, and each tactic, strategy, and interesting idea that you find. If you let them set the playing field and shape the rules, you do not have a single chance to win. It's as simple as that the Labor Law.

cardBut remember that their game is not the only one there. This is not the only way to, the only solution to our problems com
Muns. Take for example the IWW-SITT. Think about it - join the union of your class and fight for full-product of your work, in the manner of Wobblies. Do not let them decide for you. This is our game : we do the work, we manufacture and trans
carry all. Finally, we control the economy. If we organize democratically to advance our own interests, we can share the wealth we produce already and we would have enough for all and all those who are doing the work.

Help advance work
William D. Haywood, alias Big Bill, he used to sign his letters and correspondence "Help advance work, William D. Haywood. "It was a founding organizer and treasurer-general secretary of the ISTC-IWW for many years in our most turbulent times, and it was a great figure of the union. This closing formula will tell you a lot about his leadership methods and the union at that time.

Help advance work. We joined, Today as in the past, to do a job, to accomplish a task, for ourselves and one-e-s for others, for our class and for future generations. This task, clearly affirmed in the preamble, is the abolition of wage labor. Building a new society right inside the old. finishing, once and for all, with the tyranny of money, the bosses on workers.

It's a big job. Too big to accomplish by a single person or e-strip of great people, no matter how powerful-e-s. Help advance work. This is a big job that takes as much time as necessary, no matter how many battles and how many hours of volunteer work and thought we must be. Regardless of the number of tasks, small or large, are accomplished ; How many hours away ; How many editions of newspapers ; how many meetings, discussions, of sent and ballots counted, sold stamps, licked, and affixed in how little red books, and how much money counted and verified.

It is an unglamorous work as a whole. This is serious, and often laborious. A hard job lightened by many arms, and advancing with small steps. Sometimes it's just holding the line against setbacks. Sometimes, it's not even that. And yet sometimes, is vast leaps forward.

"Every member organizer / organizer, "" We are all leaders and all, "" If every wobbly new registered or new e-wobbly weekly, we syndicates the world in a few years. "Help advance work.

Work : Educate, Organiser, emancipate. These are the names of the three stars on the emblem of the IWW-SITT, part of each card and macaroon. Self education and comrades. Self-organization and comrades. The emancipation of a class in the struggle, the war, and earth that feeds us and lulls everyone.

So will you join us ? Will you help advance the work ? We left there to do other ?

IWW-ITS

Translation and adaptation to French by
Communication-Translation Committee, SITT-IWW Montreal
2015

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Think about it (part 2 sure 3)

The following is the second part of an introductory pamphlet written by a fellow worker from the Portland IWW, Oregon, Tim Acott. Text in English here.

Union democracy
The unions to which most working people belong today, when they have it, are among the most undemocratic organizations in the world. Officers are appointed instead of being elected, agreements are made behind closed doors and then presented to the base for approval, the nonconformist premises are sequestrated by the central and the union bosses are rooted for life, never facing a return to real work, if they were there to start.
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Is it then surprising to note that membership is declining and that workers' confidence in their leaders is almost non-existent ? Is it a miracle that we lose the gains that we fought hard for in the past ? Is it a surprise that the favor and convenience contract, that the union boss and the enriched bureaucrat are clichés associated with the modern worker movement, while the basic organizer is seen as a picturesque figure from the distant past ?
So that we defend ourselves, us and our families, we must unite in unions. We need our combined strength to face the wealthy and their governments. We need the union, but it must be democratic. If not, how could he defend our interests and not those of the bosses ? How else can we control our own struggles, and choose our own goals and challenges. We need democratic unions, base control, and democracy at work to lead our own struggles. No union bureaucrat
totally fought for workers, and none will. We have to defend ourselves, ensemble, in a democratic union. If we can't control our union and its leaders, then we cannot trust them. It's that simple.

 

Wobble is a verb
The essential value of a union is what it can do. What it can do for you and your loved ones, and for your whole class. What can you do with him ? How can you use it to accomplish what you have to do ? Do is the verb. Action is the subject.

 

When we come together at work to respond to common problems by force of our collective action, we do something. We don't talk about it, even if it’s important, and we're not looking to advertise or make it a big show, even if these things can be useful at a convenient time. We act. Fire. Make. We are the subject, to put it in terms of grammar, the problem is our object, on which we act collectively to change it.

 

In the construction industry, the verb "wobble" in English is often used to designate a group action that seeks to respond to a problem at work, or a problem with the boss, as is often the case at work. "Wobbler" work, is to disengage, slow down, or go together to the boss to "chat" during paid hours. More directly, is to come together to face problems directly. This is what it is about.

 

It happens everywhere, All the time. It’s a necessary part of everyday work life. You can also do it. You and your colleagues, at work, can "wobbler"
the situation to improve it. It’s work control, and this is the thing that we have to establish and protect, for our own safety and health, in order to ensure good compensation for our precious time, to have fun, enjoy, and relax from the boredom and loneliness that floods our lives in this modern working world.

 

The key to good "wobbling" is union. It’s the small union of cooperation and concerted efforts among comrades, people with the same needs and circumstances – the people you work with every day, for example. Alone, we are weak and helpless. Together, we are full of power. We only have to organize this power to handle it, for our common good, in order to build a better world. Together we can win. We only have to do it. Act now.

 

The working class and the employing class have nothing in common
"The working class and the boss class have nothing in common" tells us the preamble to the Constitution of SITT-IWW. This is the basis of our approach to labor relations and unionism. Let’s study this statement for a few moments.
thinkitover2It does mean that workers and bosses are different species., they do not breathe the same polluted air and drink the same water, even if the water and the air of a working-class district are much more disgusting than on the hill. This implies that the two classes, that do exist, are in opposition to even their nature.

 

What's good for bosses - cheap labor, maximum controlled and passive - is bad for workers. What's good for the working class - maximum control at work, on working conditions, methods and objectives, and maximum compensation for our precious time - is the fear of the bosses, and these will fight tooth and nail against it. It's nothing personal. No more than a lion hates a gazelle. It's just natural hostility, impersonal and economic, which cannot be bypassed or easily
ignored. This is the principle that governs our lives, capitalist and mass combined.

 

If a boss tries to make workers his friends, his business will suffer. If a worker tries to make the boss his friend, he or she will be more easily exploited and betrayed. Natural economic enemies. You can be part of the same parish or drink at the same bar, but you cannot care for their interests long without endangering yours. It is quite simple and clear for all workers who pay attention to everyday life. A smart boss never forgets. It’s not at all esoteric ; it's common sense and pragmatism.

 

What it implies in terms of unionism is very radical. That is to say : an orientation towards the source of problems and solutions. This implies class solidarity. All workers have the same interests and the same class enemy. This implies union democracy. We are all involved together, and only bottom-up control can reliably and continuously guide the union. The only people we can trust are ourselves, and a union that we cannot directly control is a
great danger to our interests.

 

This therefore implies militancy, because it illuminates the situation of an ongoing class war (that’s the appropriate term, in view of the resulting destruction) which must be won to complete it. We must fight at all costs to defend our interests and our security. It's the war, fellow workers. But as ugly as it is,
we are stuck there, and we can only get out of it by organizing and fighting the right fight.
The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. It’s a common sense truth, and we cannot afford to ignore it.

 

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A 9 December National Strike, chapter 2

Half a million strikers in Quebec! This is in terms of the largest number of strikes that the province has seen since 1972. It has taken in years of zero deficit, reengineering, PPP and austerity to the bottom of the barrel seems close enough to cause a reaction to his measure!

Protest across the province

The day began in Quebec where members of the Federation of Unions of Education and the Union of Public and parapublic sectors Québec demonstrated, and their families, friends and allies of the community movement. They broke into the offices of the Minister Blais, before showing the Victoria Park in the Upper Town, after a quick run to the permanence of the Liberal Party where walls and windows were covered with pro-strike and pro-negotiation tights. Finally there are more than 18 000 people gathered in front of the National Assembly

In Laval banner Laval United Against Austerity hung above the highway 15 and early in the morning in Montreal members of the Autonomous Federation of Education is already grouped in front of the Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports to erect a camp they intend to occupy until Friday and in despite threats made by the city that has to involve the police "if necessary". The AWF also held a demonstration bringing its members the heart of the popular neighborhood in South Central Square Émilie-Gamelin where they joined a second meeting before ending the walk to Victoria Square where they joined a gathering of about 3 5000 People around 13:30. Now without a contract since 4yrs, the 8000 White-collar of Montreal took advantage of the moment to take a half-day strike and organize a demonstration outside City Hall.

In the evening many more focused on a fighting trade union pressure groups, see solidarity, including Spring 2015, called to resume the street at 20h. These are a few hundred people that it met again at Émilie-Gamelin Square, or of the procession marched towards the city center before being blocked off by the police forcing them to turn back. He was not even 21h out that police tear gas for a dispercer the crowd, in all Likelihood, was exercising his right to demonstrate peacefully. When publishing, it is lived or blessé.es, nor arrest.

In Abitibi-Témiscamingue, where one finds 10 000 of the 400 000 members of the Common Front, solidarity and combativeness was also the rendezvous. In Ville-Marie have had over a hundred health workers in the streets, while in Temiscamingue was the Teachers who occupied the place.

In the Mauricie region, whether members of the Union of the Teaching Vieilles Forges organized buses to join the protest in Quebec, 3000 other public services workers, in addition enseignant.e,s de Shawinigan, opted for a demonstration in Trois-Rivières which carried them from the Exhibition Park in Downtown.

The side of the Eastern Townships, Those are 2000 Persons séparées between a contingent en provenance du CHUS et un autre here folks Reuni aux Galeries Quatre Saisons here, despite the heavy police presence, stormed the viaduct passing on the highway 610. For organizers, this event 2000 people appears as a historic mobilization time, not only for Quebec as a whole, but also for the Estrie region in particular.

On the North Shore, besides the many buses that left the area early this morning to go lend a hand to the strikers of Quebec City, demonstrations and picket lines were held in Baie-Commeau and Seven Island.

the IWW

True to form, Wobblies of the cities of Montreal, Sherbrooke and Quebec joined the mobilizations. Sometimes in solidarity as they and they did so on the picket lines of SÉTUE earlier this week and the demonstrations of the Red Hand coalition 28 November in Montreal and 5 December in Quebec, but mainly also because qu'illes are touché.e.s by government attacks. A significant number of the membership of the IWW currently has two cards, either that of the Grand Union for All and All (IWW, One Big Union), but also those of any affiliated plants Common Front. These members typically found among the most active in their union know that an attack against a portion of the working class is an attack against the entire working class, a victory of a portion of the working class as a victory for the whole working class.

But will that be enough, the big risk of strikes is limited to one or two days is, as big can it be-you, they are not for the government a hard time to go. A 24 during which he will hold on the time the storm passes. The Common Front is not fooled and has kept some days pocket strike issue to return to the charge in January, but-what will happen to the movement once these past strikes? What are the next actions and how to react the higher echelons of power plants, as well as the base support when the 6 strike days will be passed?

Many articles have attempted to answer this question by highlighting the weaknesses of the current trade union movement and the strategies put forward by the government, including the use of special laws, to better prepare syndiqué.es. Among these items include The portrait of the current situation SITT-published by the IWW and available on this blog, but also Will miss us this rendezvous of history? For the webzine Hard Reality and Le bluff missed the Common Front by Ricochet who put forward a militant analysis of strategies used These are important questions and decisions and actions that will result are just as.

Today we were half a million in the streets, tomorrow, with courage and determination we will 7 billion. Solidarity!

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Pickets of 16 and 17 November

The 16 and 17 on November, several members of the Montreal branch of the Industrial Workers Union and Workers (SITT-IWW) participated in the picket lines of the common front. These two days marked the return of the rotating strike the common front on the island of Montreal. several wobblies, Solidarity's call-Country Committee, took the opportunity to show their solidarity to workers in education as well as those in health and social services.

The 16 November, a dozen members showed up on the picket lines at Cégep de Dawson to support the two striking unions, either the Dawson Teachers Union (DTU), member of the FNEEQ-CSN, and the Dawson Support Staff Union (DSSU), member of the FPSES-CSQ. The strikers were present in large numbers and it was with enthusiasm that they walked around the school building with trumpets and signs in hand. We received a warm welcome from the members, as well as performers.

The 17 November, fifteen wobs went to St-Luc hospital to picket with union members of the Union of Employees of the CHUM (Secher), member of the CSN, and the Alliance of Professional and Technical Health and Social Services Staff of the CHUM (APTS-CHUM). The Essential Services Act only allows health and social service workers to be on strike only during 10% of their schedule, it is alternately that dozens of union members full of energy landed on the picket line. There too, a great welcome awaited us.

These days, where we rubbed shoulders with members of unions belonging to three organizations with different political opinions than ours, shows us well, in my opinion, that it is on the ground that solidarities are created. That despite different ideologies, and tensions caused by a misunderstanding of the intentions of each group, on a picket line, we are all workers struggling against crappy living and working conditions.

Solidarity!

X377508

 

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Wobbly in Dublin – Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

Introduction et mise en contexte

Lorsque j’ai décidé de partir vivre en Irlande pendant deux ans, I had just joined the IWW-SITT and was eager to learn more and take part in the fight. So, the first thing I thought is : "Is there a branch in Ireland ?»

Eh bien non, me confirme le GHQ (General Headquarters), qui me met quand même en contact avec ERA (European Regional Administration), qui elle, me met en contact avec des Wobblies d’Écosse qui, finally, me mettent en contact avec de potentiels membres, dont un en particulier semble plus motivé encore, un certain dénommé Jules. Read more →

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A 7 very busy in September!


This 7 September, history of thumbing its nose at employers, on the occasion of the "Day" of work, Montreal branch of the IWW held a colloquium under the theme "Make the fight ! ». Under a blazing sun and the watchful eye (read harassing) for SPVM patrol, a few tables occupied the Parc des Faubourgs and this, from noon. On schedule : music, food, workshops, info tables and merchandise, and to conclude, popular demonstration. Read more →

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Pay your claims : Victory in Station des Sports !

I worked at the Station of the September Sports 2014 June 2015. A big nine months not knowing what to think because there are so many guidelines issued by the Head Office and so that managers who spend no longer knows what is expected of us. There was the manager with a barmaid who had obstinately because he wanted to put the shoes of everyone in the garbage. He thought it was not clean clean 'our runnings be in a cabinet under the bar, then hop ! the garbage ! There was one that made animal noises passing behind the waitresses. Whoever was collecting contributions for porters and pocketed. One who made us dig through the trash to pick up the stuff he escaped there. And even the one who rained warnings and that ended up getting fired for sick callé. I'll spare you the classic : non-paid training, of paid shortened fifteen minutes here and then and bills to pay instead of the customers who fled. I think you have already entered the picture. Read more →

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Two militant-e-s union condemned-e-s


While Jennifer Pawluck, the militant Industrial Workers Union and Workers (SITT-IWW) has been convicted of harassment Ian Lafrenière, spokesman for the Police Department of the city of Montreal and Hamza Babou, Member of the Association for Student Solidarity Trade Union (ASSÉ) is sent to the Rivière-des-Prairies prison pending trial, it is legitimate for militant.es union to ask where does all this stop.

Recall that in the case of Jennifer Pawluck, that the injustice system called harassment, is in fact nothing but the publication on his instagram account cash 81 abonné.es, the picture of a graffiti showing the SPVM spokesperson with a bullet in the head. Pawluck did not do graffiti, she encouraged people to share the photo and she especially encouraged person to reach the safety of Lafrenière. Pierre Trudel, Professor of Law at the University of Quebec in Montreal, interviewed by The duty, worries also limits the Court is in the process of asking for freedom of expression, noting that the language codes are not the same on the internet than in real life.

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On the side of Hamza Babou, Those are 14 Heads of the charges against him. Including those of armed aggression, read : throwing spray coils son in the face of an agent (it is still not clear if it is a Garda or a policeman) and breaking a court injunction banning democratically voted during raised by student associations at UQAM. Recall that the Judge Denis Laberge is not his first in terms of wrongful imprisonment. In 2003 he was sentenced to a protester 18 days in jail awaiting trial and, Despite Canadian laws, had forbidden him to present evidence in his own defense during his bail inquiry. For Véronique Robert, responsible for the defense of Babou, there is no doubt that the Court is trying to make the accused an example and that his trial is in charge of political will to crush the protest movement that takes place in Quebec.

We can not ignore that this is at best a funny coincidence, the trial Pawluk and Babou take such drastic turns in two weeks 1is May, International Day of Workers and day general strike and social push by several base unions affiliated to the Union of Industrial Workers and Workers (SITT-IWW), the National Trade Union Confederation (CSN), the Quebec Federation of Labor (FTQ), the Central of Quebec Unions (CSQ) or to the Association for Student Solidarity Trade Union (ASSÉ) in addition to numerous community groups orbiting the Red Hand Coalition.

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As long as protest repression will mean it will be the most important for all workers and all workers to stand together. To remember that those who face justice today have been chosen to serve as examples and in this sense represents us all. Tomorrow it might be our turn to face justice for them and they. Because an injury to one or one of us is an insult to all and to all, Local Montreal section of the IWW-SITT appeal to your solidarity, the only weapon that we have in the fight against austerity.

When they came for the Communists,
I said nothing,
I was not a Communist.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I said nothing,
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I did not protest,
I was not Jewish.

Then they came for me,
And it was no one left to protest.

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Radicalization of the strike on May 1 2015 !

To read this article in English, click here.

A specter is haunting Quebec. this spectrum, it is the general strike. Since that time 2012, our elites know that the working class, the students, and all those that injustice and repression are not indifferent yet, may take to the streets and impose their legitimacy facing the State. But despite this dread, the apostles of capitalism, and particularly his liberal vision, cannot help but wage an open war against everything that is not a commodity, against anything that is not financially valuable. From budget cuts to police over-arming, from our underpaid jobs to public insults against the poor and the exploited, everything leads us to believe that Quebec has been blighted by unbridled capitalism. This neo-liberal paradise, protected by the state and its henchmen, ruin our daily life and that of our loved ones, willfully tramples on the remnants of our freedom, spits in the faces of the most destitute and of a misery that he himself has engendered. We long ago stopped believing in the regulatory capacity of this system. By self-destructing, he will lead us all simultaneously in his wake. Every day we experience new reminders of this planned failure: environmental disasters, rising inequalities, deterioration of working conditions, institutional racism, systemic corruption of our political system, harassment of women in their workplaces or at university ... In general, these are all forms of dominations that are increasing dangerously, pushing the exploited and dominated of our society to their limits, to install our elites on a pedestal far too comfortable.

This is why we call the rebels to the insurgency. We hope this spring will see all the rabid ones, all those who dislike this system, in the streets and in action. Because apathy is not for us, we strongly believe in our common ability to create a better world. Beyond a simple one-off fight against austerity, we see in the distance the premises of a social war, including the strike of 2012 was just the beginning. Successive and repetitive governments, from right to left, have been trying for too long to impose on us their deadly conception of the economy, and more broadly from society. A single day of strike is not enough to roll back a government that protects the financial interests of the dominant. We believe that a global revolt of the whole of society must emerge this spring. This revolt must take place on the long term : in Quebec as in Europe, too many examples of recent social movements have proven the uselessness of ad hoc actions against governments now accustomed and prepared for social discontent.

Against capitalism and liberalism, we reaffirm our right to manage our own lives, whether or not it suits those who lead us. Our daily life is ours, our cities are ours. We firmly believe that capitalism must be banned from Quebec. For that, we will always show solidarity with those who fight, but forever unsympathetic in the eyes of the resigned and prostrate. We will be alongside workers and students in struggle, and we will oppose police brutality with proletarian solidarity. In the street, in the workplace and study, in our neighborhoods, we are here to support and help you.

Let’s not be afraid of our utopias!

Dare to fight to overthrow the established order!

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founding meeting of the ISTC-IWW Sherbrooke

To read this article in English, click here. 10306167_1819959058228201_421577575073620815_n

Section SITT-IWW Sherbrooke goes ahead and founded his local! We will hold a founding meeting on Thursday 26 March, the 187 Laurier, Alphonse Desjardins room, from 19 hours.

The objective of this meeting is to inform the SITT-IWW in Sherbrooke, de formaliser la création de notre branche (adoption des règlements du syndicat, élections), d’annoncer et de définir nos actions futures, et bien entendu de recruter tout-e nouveau ou nouvelle membre intéressé-e à se joindre au combat!

Le SITT-IWW est un syndicat inclusif, who, par le réseautage et la solidarité, souhaite créer un véritable réseau de travailleurs et de travailleuses capables de se défendre les un-e-s et les autres pour, ensuite, viser un meilleur contrôle de leur milieu de travail.

Que tu sois travailleur ou travailleuse, que tu sois étudiant-e ou bien chômeur, chômeuse, viens nous rencontrer le jeudi 26 March!

Solidarity!

La section locale de Sherbrooke du SITT-IWW.

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