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Panorama of past struggles and future Gaspésie

1909- Everywhere in Gaspésie, fishing is conducted by foreign companies of & rsquo; Jersey, with the head Charles Robin, Collas and Co. Charles Robin is by far, the worst employers ; Indeed it puts up the "Robin system" : it ensures loyalty forced the fisherman to the retailer. To do this , s & rsquo; he wants to pay his debt accumulated during the & rsquo; winter in the general store run by the same trader, the fisherman can not see a solution : increase the amount of cod caught the next season. However, as is Robin decides the price of products and sockets, repayment is, every season, far from complete.

September 1909, fishermen learn that merchants set the price of cod quintal 3,50$ so that & rsquo; they expected 5 piastres. The situation is clear : we must act collectively in & rsquo; interest of everyone. It is with in fear, but raised fist, fishermen begin their claims on the fourth day of September. Starting from small villages near Rivière-au-Renard, the population began a march that leads the up & rsquo; the place where traders located ,with the intention of ending more & rsquo; d & rsquo a century; operating.

Following the & rsquo; history is predictable, Merchant appeal to the armed forces to ensure their safety, Punishment is implemented, there will be death, wounded, imprisonment among fishermen and claims will be rejected. However, several years later, fishermen will be organized into cooperatives to break the monopoly in place and will become available as the direct influence of traders. The revolt of the fishermen was the first step towards their emancipation from unscrupulous employers. Through this collective movement, fishermen n & rsquo; not learned that & rsquo; to demand better terms from their bosses, but especially, they understood that & rsquo; they had s & rsquo; organize to be able to pass d & rsquo; them.

1957- Best known recently highlighted due to its 60th anniversary : the strike of miners in Gaspésie Murdochville . The main cause of the strike was the refusal of employers & rsquo; affiliation of workers and ourières a more combative union versus the company union and Catholic whom he was affiliated-the-art. The strike was also heavily repressed and no direct gain was obtained by strikers. Two d & rsquo; them died during the conflict, about 500 were dismissed and replaced by scabs. However, recognizes aujourd & rsquo; hui this uprising, in the reign of Duplessis, was the trigger many other social movements. He forced the implementation of some reforms towards the & rsquo; partial improvement of working conditions and above, to the right of workers to choose the union of their choice instead of & rsquo; a system of representation of men and women workers. This system of representation, often set up by employers, indeed favored a permanent peace between the two parties. Despite this victory, this union culture inherited from the Catholic unions still persists.

So, behind a holiday destination image, Gaspésie, through its history since colonization, is d & rsquo theater; major battles between productive forces vs. the owners of capital and means of production. Of course, this relationship of domination of the latter on the first is always d & rsquo; news.

Speaking holiday destination, seasonal work related to the & rsquo; tourism industry here is a prime economic sector. Small traders, in the field of food e.g., must enjoy the summer windfall to accumulate the necessary capital to keep afloat their business and their rate of consumption in the & rsquo; year, while the employee hopes to accumulate enough & rsquo; hours to collect his unemployment to his layoff once the season or, if he or she is a student-e, to try & rsquo; accumulate the necessary to survive a school year. So, the seasonal-eras employees must produce intensively during the summer and it, despite the weak received salary. The shopkeeper will say then have to offer small salaries during the & rsquo; was to garner sufficient economies and low wages remains the & rsquo; year, to take up & rsquo; in the next season.

This is what m & rsquo; leads to speak of & rsquo; first difficulty in the field of & rsquo; organization and claim. C & rsquo; is that & rsquo; it seems difficult, in this context, to demand better working conditions without being accused of s & rsquo; take "small businesses that sustain the & rsquo; local economy". The pretext of "economic insecurity" of small businesses seems to justify Gaspé, the eyes of many, precarious workers, workers and students with Gaspésie-nes. So, people working d & rsquo; hard in the kitchen, dining rooms, cafes, various shops for tourists to feel es received as king and queen, forever play the role of disposable economic support and cheap serving patrons and tourists.

Another difficulty d & rsquo; here in the same field towards the fact that in this environment where everyone knows, conflict situations seem to be avoided at all costs, for fear that & rsquo; they affect social relationships outside work and that the names of the persons concerned do not become synonymous with "trouble maker" and so they lead to some exclusion from the labor market, problem less present in the & rsquo; anonymity of large urban centers.

A third difficulty is the short-term nature of the season in which these jobs abound. Cultural change is long to perform and requires constant involvement of many people. Many of these workers n & rsquo; is that passage, they and they leave behind them and the same working conditions that & rsquo; they arrive, thinking that anyway it n & rsquo; is only temporary. The winter season would be a good time to s & rsquo; organize those who inherit this precarious situation in & rsquo; year.

Besides this, sing here often promise better days thanks to the & rsquo; arrival of big industry : Pulp (Gaspésia), cement (McInnis cement in Port-Daniel), oil (Pétrolia), the industry & rsquo; wind (LM windpower)etc. These industrial giants, in collaboration with the & rsquo; State finance, are as the safeguard for the region. "They would bring jobs and prosperity", so that & rsquo; many times, this type of economic model that generates unemployment and devitalized. Indeed, except in the case of LmWindpower that engages hundreds of workers and workers, these industries advocate the & rsquo; purchase & rsquo; automated equipment and n & rsquo; brings and some jobs that will disappear as soon as the & rsquo; business will suffer the jolts d & rsquo; any economic crisis on Wall Street or d & rsquo; administrative decisions taken far d & rsquo; here. So, they will leave behind people without income and polluting ruins. Short, it seems to me that & rsquo; work organization by and for workers in the & rsquo; optical d & rsquo; an improvement of all the quality of life and all would probably be greater than a distribution of work by d & rsquo leaders, businesses and d & rsquo; state, deciding to produce any and n & rsquo; anything, provided that & rsquo; there is a profit to be drawn for each other and for their campaign promises to create jobs seem to be held, the risk of & rsquo; d & rsquo add, other social and environmental scars in the region.

To conclude, throughout their history, people d & rsquo; here have endured d & rsquo; intolerable treatment by d & rsquo; economic and political elites, as the sea that & rsquo; at the bottom of the mine through the & rsquo; factory. On the other hand, l & rsquo; popular history also shows us that when it's time to stick together among peers to improve our conditions, passion, l & rsquo; organization and & rsquo; action are waiting for you. A long work remains to deconstruct the prejudices that divide the working population, especially for those without jobs, or between permanent es and seasonal workers (unemployed and seasonal es chômeuseuses). Also, with a new "chapter" of the d & rsquo group The Pack extreme right in Gaspésie, the issue of racism and fascism becomes a priority, without forgetting the struggles against sexism, l & rsquo; homophobia, Aboriginal struggles etc.. The SITT-IWW account here very few members currently, but its development in the area seems to me very relevant and even urgent. So, s & rsquo; there are people interested to come "salter" in the corner, embarrass you not!

 

Photo credit: Camping Québec.
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Let's talk about the minimum wage !

A reluctance to increase its

The main reluctance to 15$ time as minimum wage increase that amount to cut jobs and / or raise prices.

This request for an increase frightens the main industries where e-s-employee are paid-e-s minimum wage, to know : Trade details, the accommodation and food1 because they fear that their survival depends and must then lay off the employee-s and / or the key under the door.

According to the study2 professors Michael Lynn and Christopher Boone, even when the restaurants raise their prices according to the increase in salaries of their employee-s, there is no significant change in the influx of customers nor in the profit and therefore restorers, not in the number of employee-s. In fact, they even attended greater productivity of these.
Yet according to a study3 conducted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey by professors David Card and Alan Krueger, raising the minimum wage leads to no job losses.

And to finish, according to economic analyst David Cooper4, in fact, increase the minimum wage could even lead to the creation of more jobs and more moderate increase in economic activity.

The argument that the increase in the minimum wage would cause job loss, lost profits or even handicap the overall economy then falls. Austerity or fear of bankruptcy are no longer arguments for denying minimum wage increase.

The importance of the minimum wage increase

According to Philippe Hurteau and Minh Nguyen, Researchers at IRIS, “for a single person living in Montreal, a wage 15.38$ Time is needed [to have a living wage]5“

Indeed, the minimum wage in Quebec 10.55$ does not allow a worker or a worker pursuing his full-time job, meet these needs, even the most basic, because they and they find themselves under the poverty line. The increase in 15$ Time would allow this population of workers and working poor, because that is what he is, to achieve a decent quality of life, viable.

In 2015, work full time to 10.55$ Time equals win 21 944$ per year. The poverty line is at 22 831$ per year (in 2014). With 15$ /h, annual income would shift to 28 800$, barely 6 000$ above the threshold.
This is far from the account if it is found that the 1is May 2016, the minimum wage will increase to 10.75$ /h, either 0.20$ per hour. Apparently, this augmentation (from 1.9%) will be greater than inflation (from 1.5%) but the fact remains that the cost of the market basket increase of 2% and 4%6 in 2016, and this without mentioning energy costs are also increasing, the price of public transport etc..

The number of minimum wage workers in Quebec increased from 163 500 in 1998 at 210 200 in 20147, and, against popular belief, more than half of the employee-s are not student-e-s and work full time. We are witnessing here a significant increase of poor workers who have multiple jobs in order to make ends month and meet their basic needs for their survival.

Workers and working poor

It is indeed a reality today in Quebec. The work is not synonymous with sustainability and even less dignity because it is often synonymous with little holiday and not get sick (with little rest in the amount of leave to which they are entitled and they). We are not even talking about the employee-e-s gratuity which only affects 9.05$ /h (and that will affect 9.20$ the 1is May 2016) and live the vagaries of goodness and influx of e-s-client on their workplace ...

A minimum wage 15$ /h, it's not luxury !

This is just viable !

1 According to the Statistical Institute of Quebec, Ministry of Labor of Quebec (ISQ)

2 Have minimum wages increases hurt the restaurant industry? The evidence says NO! Dr.. Michael Lynn and Dr.. Christopher Boone de la Cornell University’s school of Hotel Administration.

3 Minimum wages and employment: a case study of Fast Food industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania professors David Card and Alan Krueger

4 Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would lift wages for millions and provide economic boost David Cooper, 19 December 2013

5 What is the living wage ? Calculation for Montreal and Quebec 2015 Philippe Hurteau and Minh Nguyen, Researchers at IRIS, april 2015

6 According to Sylvain Charlebois, professor of food distribution and policies of the University of Guelph

7 Figures from the ISQ

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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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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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Call for strike on May 1 2015

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.

/0 Comments/by

disturbance action Canada Post, 16 February

To read this text in English, click here.

This morning, Industrial Union of Workers – Montréal (IWW / HIS), the Union of Student Employees of UQAM, as well as users disrupted the Canada Post sorting center in Laval.
This action in solidarity with postal workers is part of the movement to fight austerity measures and the campaign for a day of social strike on May 1st. 2015.
Many workers are today faced with cuts : those in the health sector, municipal employees, the firefighters, les postier-you are, the students, private sector workers…
But everywhere resistance is organized. We will not let the different governments (whether conservative or liberal) and the employers impose their anti-social measures on us. Gone are the days when a minority is enriched on the back of a majority of increasingly poor.
Our unity gives us a radical response to the employer's side logic. It must go by amplifying.
The various government budget cuts will have an impact on services and the quality of public services. So, it is the population that will suffer the effects and this, in his daily life. The abolition of the home mail delivery service is no exception since this will affect accessibility for the elderly., single parents, living with a disability, etc.
This also has consequences for Canada Post workers., since their jobs are now at stake, only for users. We, we therefore wanted to demonstrate our solidarity and express our anger at the deterioration of public services.
Faced with employer measures: Union response : General strike!
It is in this context of austerity that the Industrial Union of Workers section of Montreal is launching a call for mobilization for a day of national general strike on May 1st. 2015.

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15$ the minimum time to arrive !

To read this article in English, click here.

L’État et son allié le patronat veulent garder les travailleurs et travailleuses dans la pauvreté en les maintenant au salaire minimum. Le nombre de ménages utilisant plus de 80% de leurs revenus pour le loyer a augmenté de 26% in 5 ans seulement, and more 220 000 ménages doivent consacrer au moins 50% de leur revenu pour se loger. Seulement à Montréal, it's over 365 300 people, dont 208 800 women, qui travaillent au salaire minimum. And, comble de l’insulte, lorsque ces travailleurs et travailleuses se retrouvent sur le chômage, quand ils et elles y ont droit, c’est à un maigre 55% de leur dernier revenu.

On pousse de plus en plus les travailleurs et travailleuses vers le salaire minimum, and, thereby, même, vers l’endettement. Le patronat veut amener les gens à travailler toujours plus, parfois à deux jobs, tout en payant les plus bas salaires possibles dans le but de maximiser ses profits.

Furthermore, cela a pour effet d’épuiser et d’isoler les travailleuses et travailleurs, tout en limitant leurs possibilités de se rebeller, tant ils et elles sont occupé-e-s à survivre et à joindre les deux bouts.

Les travailleurs et travailleuses au salaire minimum sont les plus vulnérables de la classe ouvrière.

Améliorer leurs conditions de vie immédiate, c’est aller contre les intérêts du patronat, et ainsi, faire un pas vers une société plus juste, une société anticapitaliste. Cela démontre aux travailleurs et travailleuses que des avancées peuvent être réalisées par la force de leur solidarité, de leur union. Car il ne faut pas oublier que « l’histoire de toute société jusqu’à nos jours, n’a été que l’histoire des lutte de classes » (Karl Marx).

Empêchons les travailleuses et travailleurs de crouler sous le poids du capitalisme, exigeons et luttons pour le salaire minimum à 15.00$ de l’heure pour tous et toutes!

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Le congrès contre l’austérité et vers la grève générale du 1er mai 2015 a eu lieu les 15 and 16 on November. L’objectif de ce congrès était de créer une coalition large regroupant différents groupes et syndicats de divers horizons politiques afin qu’ils s’unissent pour une journée de perturbation et/ou de grève générale le 1er mai 2015.16418_478768425597432_605857773974586701_n

Le Syndicat industriel des Travailleurs et des Travailleuses (SITT-IWW) souhaite réaffirmer son appui à la Coalition du 1er mai 2015 et rappeler qu’il n’est pas au centre du processus décisionnel. Tel que statué lors du congrès de fondation de la Coalition, les membres gardent leur autonomie de base, ce qui veut dire qu’ils et elles sont libres d’agir dans leurs champs respectifs lors de la grande mobilisation qui aura lieu le 1er mai 2015.

Le SITT-IWW est membre de cette coalition afin de faire valoir ses luttes particulières tel que l’abolition du salariat et du patronat dans une perspective autogestionnaire, voire révolutionnaire. Le SITT-IWW est d’avis qu’il faut s’unir et être tous et toutes solidaires afin de résister contre l’État pilleur, mais surtout pour faire des gains afin d’améliorer nos conditions de vie en tant que travailleurs et travailleuses. La solidarité est d’autant plus importante par temps d’austérité. Il faut mettre nos efforts en commun et passer de la parole à la pratique. Les coups se font sur tous les fronts, ripostons sur tous les fronts!

En tant que SITT-IWW, nous pensons qu’il est grand temps de mettre en causele patronat, l’État et ses subordonnés! Le droit de grève au Québec et au Canada ont été écrit par cette même classe dirigeante et possédante à notre détriment. Comme si c’était à eux de déterminer la façon qu’on les abolira. Le SITT-IWW est d’avis que tant qu’il y aura des classes et des patrons, la grève sera toujours légitime! Reprenons-nous en main, le 1er mai 2015, bloquons nos milieux de travail, ralentissons nos moyens de production, take the street, grevons! Dans la solidarité, on ne pourra nous réprimer. La classe ouvrière et la classe dirigeante n’ont rien en commun!

Le 1er mai 2015, je ne travaille pas, je n’achète pas, je ne chôme pas, je combats par la grève générale!

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Greece: the European version of the shock doctrine

Kostas Svolis, OCL

The dawn of a new dark era

All the austerity measures imposed on the Greek people since 2010 constitute a small hors d'oeuvre compared to the tsunami of poverty and the social misery which is announced and that capital, the greek government, IMF and EU leadership will serve as main course.

The percentage of “official” unemployment has exceeded 16%, while the actual figure is estimated to be over 20%. The situation is really dramatic for young people because the percentage of real unemployment concerning this age group reached 40%, whereas it is estimated that, by the end of 2011, the number of unemployed is expected to exceed 1 million. Workers' wages are constantly falling and it is estimated that between 2010 and 2012 the total decrease will have reached 30%.

Read more →

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