|
 | G'day maaaaate ! | Jan 5, 2008 |
Howzit gaaarn then ? Well I hope; that you are curious and think that "it is fucking great to be alive" which is kind of a theme here. later agitator   | Photos | Dec 29, 2008 |
|  | Blog | Jan 2, 2009 |
 | Music | Sep 25, 2008 |
Pat Mackies speaks about the 1965 Mt Isa mine dispute  | Links | |
| |  | Video | Dec 29, 2008 |
 Let Normality Sink In It's Own Crisis http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ0u3F01_E8 The maker http://au.youtube.com/user/Wormdei 29 December 2008 A few days after uploading my piece "In Vino Veratis", I was sent an excerpt from the... more | Reviews | Dec 7, 2008 |
 Gomorrah, directed by Matteo Garrone (2008) 28 November, 2008 Capturing the corruption of a criminal organisation as de facto government, this film lets the real state off the hook. This Toxic Thing of Ours. Film review – Tom Jennings... more | Guestbook | |
 | if you really want a sport watch do not fret because there are designer sports watches that is just right for someone wearing a coat and tie as well. Face Watch swiss watches sale |
 | cool... mantab ...  |
 | Note: a poor WOMAN gets stressed too
:- )
V
HOW CAN A POOR MAN STAND SUCH TIMES AND LIVE
Blind Alfred Reed's version 1929
There was once a time when everything was cheap
But now prices almost puts a man to sleep
When we pay our grocery bill
We just feel like making our will
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
I remember when dry goods were cheap as dirt
We could take two bits and buy a dandy shirt
Now we pay three bucks or more
Maybe get a shirt that another man wore
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Well I used to trade with a man by the name of Gray
Flour was fifty cents for a twenty-four pound bag
Now it's a dollar and a half beside
Just like a skinning off a flea for the hide
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Oh the schools we have today ain't worth a cent
But they see to it that every child is sent
If we don't send everyday
We have a heavy fine to pay
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Prohibition's good if 'tis conducted right
There's no sense in shooting a man 'til he shows flight
Officers kill without a cause
They complain about funny laws
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Most our preachers preach for gold and not for souls
That's what keeps a poor man always in a hole
We can hardly get our breath
Taxed and schooled and preached to death
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Oh it's time for every man to be awake
We pay fifty cents a pound when we ask for steak
When we get our package home
A little wad of paper with gristle and a bone
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Well the doctor comes around with a face all bright
And he says in a little while you'll be all right
All he gives is a humbug pill
A dose of dope and a great big bill
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Page last updated: 02 May 2007
Originally written in 1929 by Blind Alfred Reed who recorded it on 04 Dec 1929 in New York City and released as RCA VICTOR Vi V-40236.
It had Blind Alfred Reed on fiddle and vocals and his son, Arville Reed, on guitar.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bruce Springsteen updated 2006 version
HOW CAN A POOR MAN STAND SUCH TIMES AND LIVE©
Well the doctor comes 'round here with his face all bright
And he says "in a little while you'll be alright"
All he gives is a humbug pill, a dose of dope and a great big bill
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
"Me and my old school pals had some mighty high times down here
And what happened to you poor black folks, well it just ain't fair"
He took a look around, gave a little pep talk, said "I'm with you" then he took a little walk
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
There's bodies floatin' on Canal and the levees gone to Hell
Martha, get me my sixteen gauge and some dry shells
Them who's got got out of town and them who ain't got left to drown
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Go ahead!
Got family scattered from Texas all the way to Baltimore
Yeah and I ain't got no home in this world no more
Gonna be a judgment that's a fact, a righteous train rollin' down this track
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live
Liner notes from We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions - American Land Edition:
Written and recorded just weeks after the 1929 stock market crash by singer and fiddler "Blind" Alfred Reed. I kept the first verse, then wrote three more, portraying the government negligence that made the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina so much worse for the poor of New Orleans.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No jobs on a dead planet - Earth Worker
Live in harmony with the Earth
www.iww.org.au
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
| Tweedledum and Tweedledee Agreed to have a battle; For Tweedledum said Tweedledee Had spoiled his nice new rattle. Just then flew down a monstrous crow, As black as a tar-barrel; Which frightened both the heroes so, They quite forgot their quarrel. - Lewis Carrol (adaption of popular folk rhyme) Crow on the Cradle - Sydney Carter http://unionsong.com/u115.htmlFirst heard this song on a Pete Seeger record in the early 1960s. Its juxtaposition of nursery lullaby and the fear of nuclear war make it a powerful statement against war |
| Vale Freddie Hubbard - 29th December 2008. Sing Me a Song of Songmy 1971. Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and his quintet, of tenor-saxophonist Junior Cook, pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Art Booth and drummer Louis Hayes; are joined by a chorus, a string orchestra, several reciters, an organist and a variety of processed sounds emanating from tapes. The project was composed and realized by Ilhan Mimaroglu . The topical thoughts and anti-war messages expressed in the music are marvellous: the abstract sounds will be enjoyed by the open minded. The reciters include Mary Ann Hoxworth on the first track Threnody for Sharon Tate Nha Khe reciting Fazil Husnu Daglarca's Poverty on This Is Combat I Know. Charles Grau reciting Soren Kierkegaard's That Individual Gungor Bozkurt recites from Daglarca's Bloodless on the third track The Crowd. Nha Khe also recites his own poem Lullaby For A Child In War The cover of the original LP features Pablo Picasso's Massacre in Korea painting from 1951. I echoes Francisco Goya's painting of 1814 of The Third of May 1808, which shows Napoleon's soldiers executing Spanish civilians under the orders of Joachim Murat. To the left of the canvas stand a group of naked Korean women and children, who are situated at the foot of a mass grave. To the right are a number of heavily armed "knights", which represents the United States Army, who are also naked but equipped with "gigantic limbs and hard muscles reminiscent of prehistoric giants". The painting was a protest against the United States Korean War deployment of troops in Korea under the United Nations flag. Inside the cover is a collage of musical notation, cut up images, scribbled notes & some great quotes eg: "In fact, rock, rather than being an example of how freedom can be achieved within the capitalist structure, is an example of how capitalism can, almost without conscious effort, deceive those whom it oppresses." Michael Lydon Among his many excellent recordings with Ornette Coleman (Free Jazz), John Coltrane (Ascension), Herbie Hancock (Maiden Voyage), Wayne Shorter (Speak No Evil) etc. check out Freddie Hubbard on the Out to Lunch project with Eric Dolphy, 1964. VIDEO: Misty (live in Japan) http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=EnSYHzyjZcMMore: http://www.freddiehubbardmusic.com/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/brecker-picks-hubbardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Hubbard |
| HINDSIGHT IS ACE Dept. "The U.S. economy likely will not see a recession for years to come. We don't want one, we don't need one, and, as we have the tools to keep the current expansion going, we won't have one. This expansion will run forever." Rudi Dornbusch, "Growth Forever", Wall Street Journal, July 30, 1998, p. A18. Yet there are a few political analysts and academics who dare to blaspheme against capitalism, which is the “God” this benighted land truly worships—despite the disgustingly hypocritical veneer of faux Christianity. Remember that Michael Parenti has one of the filthiest mouths you’ll ever hear. He dares to repeatedly spew profane diatribes against capitalism, the sacrosanct basis for our precious American Way of Life. Parenti has the chutzpah to derisively attack our system, which we all know is the best that’s ever been (or will be), by asserting that there are divisions amongst US Americans based on socioeconomic standing. And worst of all? He uses the “C” word! Somebody needs to give his mouth a good cleansing with a bar of Dial! Parenti recently answered a few questions Jason Miller threw his way. Let’s see how much further he traveled on the road to perdition….. http://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/?p=1455Live in harmony with the Earth. http://www.iww.org.au/ |
| TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF & HURL THEM - THE PREZ IS HERE ! The campaign will proceed in demand of the release of the Iraqi Journalist, Montadhar Al-Zaydi who hurled a pair of shoes at George Bush on 12/14/2008 in Baghdad in reaction to Bush&circle's immoral invasion of Iraq and the war-crimes committed by the occupying forces with the aid of local warlords. We hereby sign below to demand the immediate release of the Journalist Montadhar Al-Zaydi, without any constraints or conditions. We also hold Iraq's government and the Bush administration accountable and responsible for his life, dignity, and well-being. "The 50,000 Signatures Campaign for Muntataha Zaidi" http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/iwffomuntatharalzaidi?eGreece is Still the word So when & where are the occupations of workplaces, and their transformation under community and worker control so we may "live in harmony with the Earth" ? http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2008/12/15/these-days-are-ours-too/ |
| http://www.fightdemback.org/2008/12/14/southern-cross-soldiers-life-in-the-trenches/Southern Cross Soldiers: Life in the trenches Following the police shooting of Tyler Cassidy last Thursday evening (December 11), and the subsequent exposure of his membership of the ‘Southern Cross Soldiers’, there has been a barrage of media attention coming the Soldier’s way. In response, some appear to have ducked for cover (their main page on Myspace has been deleted: see Google cache) while others are cowering in their foxholes (setting their pages to ‘private’). In summary, the tragedy surrounding Tyler’s death is now competing for public attention with the farcical manoeuvrings of the volunteer army that is the Southern Cross Soldiers. Below are links to a number of posts on the slackbastard blog which discuss the Soldiers and which provide further links to some of the enormous (and growing) media coverage that Tyler’s association with SCS has generated. Call for answers after cops kill 15-year-old Tyler Cassidy, Julie-Anne Davies and Milanda Rout, The Australian: …According to Cam Smith, the organiser of FightdemBack, a group which fights race-hate groups in Australia, the Southern Cross Soldiers is mainly organised through MySpace and there are at least 1000 members in nine chapters across the country. The gang is made up of mainly teenagers, but the leaders were aged in their mid-twenties and the group was set up through the internet after the Cronulla riots. “They are mainly young people and are organised extensively through MySpace,” Mr Smith said. “It is a post-Cronulla thing. A lot of people who had been inspired by Cronulla have connected through the internet.” Mr Smith said the Southern Cross Soldiers first came across the radar in January. “They are a gang whose activities are mainly limited to fights with other groups and occasionally picking on the random minority in the street,” Mr Smith said. “A number of them are fairly hard-core neo-Nazis. The rest of them are fairly hard-core racists. They are interested in racial purity in Australia.” MORE: Several weeks ago I noticed new graffiti on street signs in the Melbourne suburb Northcote from an unknown group: the Saracen Soldiers. A block away from the most prominent graffiti two houses displayed nationalist flags in their front windows. It could have been coincidence or maybe a signalling game to establish psychological turf… http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=1548Fascists on di attack? Don't worry 'bout dat. Fascists on di attack? We will fight dem back! |
| " Even before the current economic downturn those under 25 faced sky high levels of unemployment and limited prospects in low paying jobs. This combined with a deep sense of distrust of the government fostered by years of scandal has found its expression in violence and protests seen over the last four days. In addition the incident has once again thrown light on the Greek police's tarnished record concerning unlawful killings and a systematic lack of accountability even when evidence of abuse is overwhelming. According to the national daily, Eleutherotypia one person a week dies in custody in Greek police stations and jails..." http://www.nowpublic.com/world/another-night-rioting-hits-greece-1Sounds familiar...just like everyday life for indigenous Australians...Palm Island perhaps ? @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ For 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos funeral Tuesday December 9th 2008 Greece Is the Word I solve my problems and I see the light We gotta plug and think, we gotta feed it right There ain't no danger we can go too far We start believing now that we can be what we are Greece is the word They think our love is just a growing pain Why don't they understand, It's just a crying shame Their lips are lying only real is real We start to find right now we got to be what we feel Chorus: Greece is the word (is the word that they heard) It's got groove, it's got meaning Greece is the time, is the place, is the motion Greece is the way we are feeling We take the pressure and we throw away Conventionality belongs to yesterday There is a chance that we can make it so far We start believing now that we can be who we are Chorus This is a life of illusion Wrappe up in trouble Laced with confusion What are we doing? We take the pressure and we throw away Conventionality belongs to yesterday There is a chance that we can make it so far We start believing now that we can be who we are Chorus (x2) MORE: http://teacherdudebbq.blogspot.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/59089088@N00/http://www.nowpublic.com/np-1-487930/ |
| Human Rights Arts & Film Festival Melbourne: 12 - 30 November, 08 Sydney: 4 - 7 December, 08 Perth: 28 - 29 November, 08 Canbera: 20 - 22 November, 08 Brisbane: 6 - 7 March, 09 http://www.hraff.org.au/ |
| Films for Obama to watch:
1. Zeitgeist or The Corporation.
2. Sir! No, Sir! or Winter Soldier Iraq
3. The Money Masters or The Power of Community How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
4. The Crude Awakening or Who Killed the Electric Car ?
5. The film that he will be shown on his first day in office.
The one where you see the JFK assassination shot from an angle that could only be The Grassy Knoll.
The Board: "Any questions?"
Obama: "...er, just what my f**king agenda is!"
(thanks to Bill Hicks)
|
 |
giatt wrote on Nov 4, '08 Hey there,
Great blog! I particularly like the Kev carmody song and vid ... will use as teaching tool. Sister Mary |
| Another comment on Alan "moron" Moran of the Institute of Public Affairs (privatisation push) A.M. appeared on ABC Radio National show National Interest on Sunday... http://www2b.abc.net.au/guestbookcentral/list.asp?guestbookID=353Name ted markstein Subject rail access a socialist Trojan horse? Postcode 2780 Visit Time 2/11/2008 5:51 PM Remark Perhaps Alan Moran, rather than spouting the "private ownership is more efficient" line as if it were God's given truth, might care to rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, the efficiency of the financial sector which, I believe, is largely in private ownership. And, while he's about it, might we be enlightened as to what exactly in his deregulation at all costs ideology constitutes efficiency. Returns to shareholders? Public benefit? Benefit to clients? Construction of multi trillion markets in paper formulation? The 2 world benchmark financial ratings companies manufacturing fraudulent product ratings for their own financial benefit? The self regulating ASX, whose income derives from brokerage on turnover, encouraging insane speculative product and margin lending? Our wonderful deregulated banks who extort around $10 billion a year in "fees" from their hapless and captive clients, that in any other business would be regarded as cost of doing business and therefore be paid from gross margin? Our neverending parade of council bribing developers? Telstra? I await with interest on his wisdom. |
| "working poor" or "economically distressed" (more than 30% of your income on housing....) "There is a class war going on, it is my class that's winning" Warren Buffett (ranked by Forbes Mag. as the richest man in the world during the first half of 2008, with an estimated net worth of $62.3 billion) "I'm here with the haves and have mores" GW Bush (outgoing CEO of USA Inc.) Why Don’t Barack Obama and John McCain Talk About the Working Class? With the economy the number one issue on the campaign trail, major party candidates John McCain and Barack Obama discuss their tax plans, jobs and the financial bailout on the stump. But are they really addressing the needs of the working class? A new study from the Center for the Study of Working Class Life suggests that neither McCain nor Obama have adequately spoken to the needs of one-fifth of the population—the 60 million Americans who are barely surviving in this economy. http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/27/why_dont_barack_obama_and_johnMORE: Economic Stimulus and Economically Distressed Workers by Michael Zweig, Junyi Zhu, and Daniel Wolman As the financial crisis on Wall Street unfolds with intense media coverage, we are losing sight of another crisis: more than a million families across the United States will face foreclosure in the next six months as the last of the sub-prime mortgages contracted in 2006 and early 2007 reset. Accelerating job losses and low wages aggravate the lives of tens of millions of families. In the rush to focus on Wall Street, these are the families whose lives must not be forgotten. These are the working people who need attention and help from a new stimulus package as well as structural economic reforms. This study focuses on the needs of these economically distressed workers and proposes economic policies that will improve their lives while strengthening the overall economy. http://www.stonybrook.edu/workingclass/ecostimulus.shtmlSteve Early: “ Embedded In Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home. Monthly Review Press |
| PILLARS OF SOCIETY The pillars of society Cruise down the road each day; They got the economic wherewithall We can't afford to pay They got numbered bank accounts Their system assures they win They exploit the population we on the outside lookin' in CHORUS Them pillars of society Drive us like a tool To them that cool They drive Mercedes Benz and Porsches Live Rolls Royce gilt-edged lives You can tell the affluent effluent By the status symbols that they drive When you on the dole queue They tell you to your face You a bludger on their system And a blight on the human race They grace the social pages Always make the news At the church on Sunday They crowd in the front pews There's a hierachy of dominace With the power at the top If you think you've found the magic key You'll find they've changed the locks Walkin' down the freeway On their dotted line We'd like to make decisions But they won't allow the time It's said religion is the opium I say the media's the cocaine 24 hours of propanganda druggin' my poor brain They confer titles of status and dominance On their progeny and their class "sir" - "Your honour" - "Your Grace" - "Your Highness" - We're made to polish And lick their____brass But you my friend can be like them If you have their million dollar fee But you'll find their system's designed To keep us in line And walkin' on our knees http://www.kevcarmody.com.au/tracks/messages.html |
| Starbucks Blues Lean times and labor pains are tarnishing the coffee giant’s image Wednesday, October 29 2008 Fall is pumpkin-latte season for those who can still afford to indulge, but for Starbucks workers, it's been a season of discontent. The coffee giant has recently responded to hard times with scheduling changes that are likely to inflict misery on its employees. These policies seem sharply at odds with Starbucks' reputation for social responsibility but make sense in the context of the company's record as an employer. Curiously, the coffee retailer's benevolent image seems most fragile at the moment that the company's best days seem to be receding into the past. Starbucks Blues Lean times and labor pains are tarnishing the coffee giant’s image By Liza Featherstone Fall is pumpkin-latte season for those who can still afford to indulge, but for Starbucks workers, it's been a season of discontent. The coffee giant has recently responded to hard times with scheduling changes that are likely to inflict misery on its employees. These policies seem sharply at odds with Starbucks' reputation for social responsibility but make sense in the context of the company's record as an employer. Curiously, the coffee retailer's benevolent image seems most fragile at the moment that the company's best days seem to be receding into the past. The store atmosphere remains suffused with NPR-style high-mindedness. A fact sheet from Good magazine about the U.S. economy's woes is prominently displayed, as is Helene Cooper's memoir about her childhood in Liberia. So it's fitting that when Starbucks introduced a new human-resources strategy two weeks ago, a new company manual for managers-obtained and shared with TBM by the Starbucks Workers Union, a group of employees pressing for better wages and working conditions-explained the change in lofty terms, insisting that it was "a philosophy, not a program." This new "philosophy" is called "Optimal Scheduling," and it requires that "partners" (Starbucks-speak for employees) must dramatically increase their own flexibility. If they'd like to work full time, they must be available to work 70 percent of open store hours. (For a Starbucks open 16 hours a day, as is typical, this means 80.5 hours per week.) Many Starbucks employees say they want to work more hours; the new system could make it possible for those people to work more by downsizing those who can't or don't want to. Starbucks spokeswoman Tara Darrow says optimal scheduling is "a win-win for our customers and partners" that will lead to "more stable scheduling and more satisfied partners." Liberte Locke, a New York City barista, is not one of those "satisfied partners." Why? Because, although she has opened up her entire day to Starbucks (from 4:15 a.m. to 11 p.m.), the company is "not guaranteeing any hours, not a single one." She's right: The fact that no hours are guaranteed, even for workers classified as "full time," is underscored repeatedly in the company managers' manual. The company is demanding almost all their time and, Locke says, "We are getting nothing in return." Optimal scheduling amounts to a permanent booty call; only the most boorish boyfriend would insist on such conditions. The new availability requirement could make it almost impossible for employees to have a second job, as many low-wage workers must in order to make ends meet. Erik Forman, who works at Starbucks in the Twin Cities' Mall of America, says one of his fellow baristas opens McDonald's and closes Starbucks every day. Another co-worker opens Starbucks and closes IKEA. As Liberte Locke points out, Starbucks "doesn't pay enough to be someone's livelihood," especially with no hours guaranteed. Being available 80.5 hours a week, Forman points out, will also be hard on "a student, a mother, or anyone who does anything besides working." Workers who can't make themselves available for the required number of hours will, within six months, lose their jobs. "It's another way for [Starbucks] to thin the herd," says Locke, "to have layoffs without calling them layoffs." True, and perhaps to be expected. Starbucks' business isn't booming. With consumer sentiment ranging from grim to terrified, who's bold enough to pay $5 for coffee? Just stepping into this emporium of high-priced foamy drinks can feel like a time capsule journey back to pre-recession days. Starbucks' profits have taken a beating, and its stock price has been steadily slipping over the past year. Milk inflation has been disastrous for the company (because, let's face it, Starbucks' drinks are mostly milk). That, along with rising gas costs, led the company to raise its own prices-already prohibitive to increasingly cost-conscious consumers-this summer. Store traffic is down for the first time since the company began measuring it. Under such circumstances, it's not unusual for a company to cut costs (though it doesn't have to fall mostly on employees). When Starbucks closed 600 stores this summer, many baristas lost their jobs, but, as spokeswoman Tara Darrow points out, the company was able to place others in nearby stores. In fairness to Starbucks, its low-wage workers have not borne the pain alone: According to Darrow, about 1,000 jobs were axed at company headquarters in July. Still, optimal scheduling is only one installment in an epic series of workforce management missteps for Starbucks. Like Wal-Mart, the company has an extensive union-busting operation and has been the target of numerous National Labor Relations Board complaints over unlawful violations of workers' rights. In early October, Starbucks was forced to settle the case of Mall of America barista Erik Forman (quoted above), who was fired for talking with co-workers about managers' apparent efforts to fire him for union organizing. It is illegal to dismiss workers for this, and after local publicity and city-wide store pickets, Starbucks invited Forman back to work. The company also faces trial in Grand Rapids, Mich., for firing a barista for union activity and is awaiting a trial verdict in New York City on 30 counts of violating employees' union organizing rights. Earlier this year, a California court ordered the company to pay baristas more than $100 million for tips illegally shared with shift supervisors. http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/saga/2008/10/29/starbucks-blues?page=0,0 Authored by: communitycntrl on Thursday, October 30 2008 a person just arrested protesting starbucks in new orleans just spent 3 days in jail for it. complete bullshit. the NOPD are acting like the fucking pinkertons because Starbucks is getting the red-carpet treatment here during their conference. and their "community service" projects? i saw them removing a downed tree from a McMansion in a nice-ass neighborhood and fixing up other people's yards. helping poltically connected new orleans wealthy people who can get some free labor is apparently their idea of "community service." |
| Supporters of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union Took the Streets in an Energetic Display of Solidarity October 27, 2008 New Orleans, LA- Starbucks Coffee Co.'s first national conference for managers held outside of Seattle and the first since the return of Howard Schultz as CEO, was rocked by a determined pro-worker demonstration here yesterday. In the midst of a worsening economic crisis, New Orleans residents rose up to demand respect for the work of Starbucks baristas and coffee farmers who are bearing the brunt of the downturn while company executives continue to rake in millions of dollars. "We sent a strong message to Starbucks that New Orleans residents are thirsty for workers' human rights all across the country," said Travis Richey, a participant in the spirited demonstration. "Howard Schultz must face the fact that workers have the right to join the IWW Starbucks Workers Union as the company seeks to make baristas' jobs even more precarious." The protest began at the Sheraton Hotel where demonstrators confronted arriving buses of Starbucks managers and handed out pro-worker flyers to passersby. Behind a banner reading, "Starbucks Stop Your Union Busting Now", the group then marched to the Morial Convention Center, the site of the Starbucks Leadership Conference, and chanted in front of a Starbucks store across the street. At the end of the action, police unlawfully arrested one protester for allegedly "interfering" with officers who were detaining a fellow demonstrator without cause. "The union couldn't be more honored that supporters in New Orleans - a city which has been preyed on so egregiously by big business and their cronies in government - showed such powerful solidarity with our struggle," said Daniel Gross, an organizer with the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. "As the corporate-sinking of the economy continues, an aggressive movement highlighting and challenging the dominance of large corporations in our economic, social, and political life is all but assured." The IWW Starbucks Workers Union is an organization of over 200 baristas, bussers, and shift supervisors united for secure work hours, a living wage, and respect on the job. Through direct action, litigation, and public education, the union has won important gains in wages and working conditions for Starbucks employees and remedied many serious grievances with management. The Starbucks Workers Union is a campaign of the Industrial Workers of the World, a union which is controlled and operated by its members. http://www.StarbucksUnion.org________________________________________________________________ More than a dozen people marched in the streets of New Orleans Sunday evening with a “Starbucks Stop Your Union Busting Now!” banner in solidarity with Starbucks baristas across the nation. At the end of the action, police unlawfully arrested one protester for allegedly "interfering" with officers who were detaining a fellow demonstrator without cause. The group started at the Sheraton Hotel on Canal Street where they met arriving buses of Starbucks managers and handed out flyers to pedestrians. The group marched to the Morial Convention Center, the site of the Starbucks Leadership Conference, and chanted in front of a Starbucks across the street. After police officers asked the group to disperse, everyone complied with the request. Yet, as one demonstrator stopped to tie their shoe, an officer detained them and arrested a person who questioned the police action. As a participant says below, the arrestee is still in jail as of Monday. Report from a participant: "There was around 13 of us. we marched in the street, protested arriving busloads of starbucks managers at the sheraton hotel, gave out lots of fliers, got lots of positive feedback and support, and then got forced out of the street by cops. we then protested in front of another starbucks, a cop told us we had to keep moving or be arrested, we went back on the march on the sidewalk this time, someone stopped to tie their shoe just as the "back-up" the cops called for arrived, and the back-up arrested the person for "not moving" and immediately arrested someone else nearby for stopping to witness the arrest. 1 person was released without charge after being cuffed and detained, the other is still in jail right now. those of us not arrested were followed by a cop car even though we stopped protesting and left the convention center area and kept following us for blocks and blocks, asking us where we were parked, etc....we held that protest to show anarchist solidarity with the IWWs fired for organizing by starbucks." Photos: http://neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2008/10/13253.php |
| www.actu.asn.au/climatechange
1 million green collar jobs - instead of bail out build out of the economic crisis and sort out gobal warming at the same time ? |
| "By the mid-1930s, the U.S. economy appeared to be climbing out of the Great Depression. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had bottomed out at 41 in 1932, was advancing. Then in 1937 the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 33 percent in what is often called "a depression within a depression." Joblessness skyrocketed. A principle factor in the meltdown that year was the U.S. Supreme Court's surprise 5-4 decision to uphold the constitutionality of the Wagner Act, which had passed 2 years earlier (Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee, on the "Opinion" page of The Wall Street Journal, "Labor Unions Prolonged Depression," October 28, page A15). This measure, which is still the basis of our labor relations regime, authorized union officials to seek and obtain the power to act as the "exclusive" (this is the monopoly) bargaining agent over all the front-line employees, including non-members as well as member, in a unionized workplace. As Amity Shlaes observed…within a few months after the Wagner Act was upheld, industrial production began to plummet and "the jobs started to disappear with unemployment moving back to 1931 levels," even as the number of workers under union control was "growing astoundingly." …the law meant that efficiency and profitability were compromised, by forcing employers to equally reward their most productive and least productive employees. Therefore subsequent wage increases for some workers led to widespread job losses. Pre-Depression-era growth and prosperity did not return to the private sector until the early 1950s, when the spread of state right-to-work laws prohibiting forced union membership and dues greatly reduced the detrimental effects of the Wagner Act." Get organised now for a society based on "an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." http://www.iww.org.au/ |
|
|
