top
US
US
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

IWW Denied Access to Mall of America by Riot Police, 8/31/08: Video

by dave id
Starbucks workers at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, unionized with the Industrial Workers of the World about a month ago. One worker, Erik Forman, was wrongly fired due to his union organizing. With pressure from the IWW, Starbucks reinstated him and he was set to return to the job today. Riot police at the Mall of America turned back the IWW, but Erik was still able to make it to the job. Jake Bell (pictured below) was interviewed about the day's events and the future plans of the local IWW.
640_jakebell_withiwwandnlg.jpg
As an act of solidarity, several dozen local IWW members and supporters, along with National Lawyer's Guild observers, intended to peacefully escort the reinstated Erik Forman to the Mall of America. In line with recent police aggression in the Twin Cities related to the 2008 RNC in St. Paul (see http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/08/30/18531223.php), police massed at the IWW rally point at the light rail station at Lake & Hiawatha. Initially, police refused to allow the IWW access to the light rail station so that they might escort Erik back to the Mall of America. Later, the IWW was allowed to proceed. Two stations from the mall, police again seemed to be ready to prevent the group's access to the mall yet then allowed the train to proceed. Finally, at the mall itself, a line of riot cops from Plymouth, MN in full riot gear refused to allow the IWW to disembark from the train. Other unrelated passengers, including one diabetic in need of insulin, were also not allowed to leave the train as it was held with the doors closed. Eventually, the train was just sent in the other direction, away from the mall, with no one allowed off. At the first stop in the other direction, Erik Forman got off and walked to his job at the mall. Jake Bell was interviewed right after the IWW returned to the original light rail station.


Wobblies Welcome Mall of America Starbucks Baristas to the Union!
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/07/31/18521261.php

8/31- Day of Action Against Capitalism: All out for the IWW Starbucks Workers!
http://twincities.indymedia.org/2008/aug/831-day-action-against-capitalism-all-out-iww-starbucks-workers


Starbucks Barista's Everywhere Can Sign Up:
http://starbucksunion.org

Those Local to Twin Cities Can Call or Email:
1-651-biliup1
twin-cities-iww [at] iww.org


Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
High-res version (42mb) of interview at http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2008/09/02/iww-starbucksmallofamerica.mov.
§more from Twin Cities IMC
by MikeGW (repost)
img_1713_iww.jpg
Welcome to the Mall of America
Add Your Comments
Listed below are the latest comments about this post.
These comments are submitted anonymously by website visitors.
TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
admin
Tue, Sep 2, 2008 12:18AM
Wob
Mon, Sep 1, 2008 11:41PM
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network