solidarity is strenth
10th August, 2007
Yesterday Sheffield Industrial Workers of the World held an information stall in support of striking posties outside the main central post office on Angel St. The postal strike had been officially called off earlier in the day in the reopening of talks between the CWU and Royal Mail bosses, but many workers are still ‘working to rule’ and taking unofficial wildcat actions.
The aim of the stall was to distribute the Dispatch (
http://libcom.org/library/dispatch-public-sector-pay-dispute-1-august-2007) strike bulletin to striking workers, but it became clear that if the 2:30 strike had gone ahead in Sheffield it wasn’t doing it publicly in the same place as last week. Wobblies came prepared and instead handed out general information about the strike to the busy intersection, as well as a few ice cold drinks from our ever popular, multi-faceted, tea urn.
Response was positive, couple of ‘they get paid too much anyway’ comments. Given that nothing much happened to report, lets just re-state the idiocy of these sentiments: Adam Crozier the chief executive of the Post Office gets £1,000,000 per year – and the posties are overpaid? He (was) demanding 40,000 job losses and 2000 closed Post Offices – and the POSTIES are overpaid? Posties are better paid than most workers because they have been willing and able to organise their collective power and take industrial action, inside and outside of their trade union. And that’s what it’s all about.
IWW
Yesterday Sheffield Industrial Workers of the World held an information stall in support of striking posties outside the main central post office on Angel St. The postal strike had been officially called off earlier in the day in the reopening of talks between the CWU and Royal Mail bosses, but many workers are still ‘working to rule’ and taking unofficial wildcat actions.
The aim of the stall was to distribute the Dispatch (
http://libcom.org/library/dispatch-public-sector-pay-dispute-1-august-2007) strike bulletin to striking workers, but it became clear that if the 2:30 strike had gone ahead in Sheffield it wasn’t doing it publicly in the same place as last week. Wobblies came prepared and instead handed out general information about the strike to the busy intersection, as well as a few ice cold drinks from our ever popular, multi-faceted, tea urn. Response was positive, couple of ‘they get paid too much anyway’ comments. Given that nothing much happened to report, lets just re-state the idiocy of these sentiments: Adam Crozier the chief executive of the Post Office gets £1,000,000 per year – and the posties are overpaid? He (was) demanding 40,000 job losses and 2000 closed Post Offices – and the POSTIES are overpaid? Posties are better paid than most workers because they have been willing and able to organise their collective power and take industrial action, inside and outside of their trade union. And that’s what it’s all about.
IWW
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more info
12.08.2007 03:18
I am a worker and i am interested about the Wobblies. I know the historical stuff about them, but i am not sure how the IWW works for people who want to set one up at their workplace, the IWW relationship with the bosses, and the difference between the IWW and UNISON, paying dues etc. I hate UNISON because they are so fake, and i have wasted so much money paying my dues for, really, nothing in return and to sustain the lives of a TU bureaucrat and the bloody Labour party ( surely there is not anyone left who still believes that the Labour party in some way represent the interests of working people, is there, but all the mainstream TUs indeed believe this) How are the IWW different from the mainstream trade unions?
eugene debs
A real difference
13.08.2007 12:57
1. The union is controlled directly by its members. Union democracy starts and ends on the shop floor not amongst overpaid and corrupt union officials.
2. The IWW is a fighting union. It is not satisfied with piece-meal settlements and bowing down to the pressure of the boss class. It will only be satisfied with the complete abolition of wage-slavery.
3. It only costs a pound a month to join!
4. The IWW is a union for all workers of all industries (and even those traditionally considered without an industry such as homemakers or the unemployed). It does not restrict its membership to those in a particular workplace, but encourages workers of all industries to unite under the banner of "one big union". Traditional unions divide workers interests, the IWW unites them.
These are very brief points, if you need more info then don't hesitate to contact me at the email given or check out our web site:
Solidarity,
Sheffield Wob
e-mail:
ShefIWW@googlemail.com
wow
13.08.2007 14:06
Wish I'd heard of you before when working in some really shit non unionised jobs
mace