Feature Archives

From the Newswire - Today is Labor Day in the United States (of course the authentic workers’ holiday is May 1). What does “Labor” mean though to most Americans? Perhaps images of factory workers, construction workers, or even teachers and nurses come to mind. Indeed, workers in these occupations and others traditionally associated with organized labor will be out in force at marches, rallies, and those ubiquitous Labor Day picnics.

However, a whole new set of workers has begun to organize to rise out of poverty, gain access to health care, and make their workplaces safe. Even though most people would never associate this group of working people with organized labor, many unionists believe that as jobs are outsourced en masse, these workers may represent the final hope of reviving the labor movement in the United States. They are the working people we interact with every day of the week and many of them are employed by the most well-known brands in the world. [ Read full article ]

8/01/04: The United Farm Workers union held a march in Fresno today. Over 400 union members and their allies protested the intimidation of farm workers through immigration raids and called for support of the AgJobs bill which will allow undocumented field laborers to earn permanent legal status. The march, the first held by the UFW in Fresno for many years, is an indication of the unions interest in having a greater presence in this area.

7/31/04: A sweetheart deal struck between the City and Port of Oakland and Simeon Commercial Properties is bringing the first Wal-Mart store to Oakland. After being foisted on the city with little or no community input, the store is being built near Oakland Airport to anchor the new "Metroport" development project. Studies show that when Wal-Mart enters a community, 3 jobs are lost for every 2 jobs gained, due to job losses at small local businesses, and tax receipt growth actually declines. On July 31, Oaklanders rallied at the Wal-Mart construction site at I-880 and Hegenberger Road, and walked the surrounding neighborhoods to raise awareness of Wal-Mart's use of low-wage, non-unionized jobs with no benefits, and unfair racist, sexist employment practices, the subject of ongoing class action lawsuits. A new study by UC Berkeley reports that Wal-Mart costs the state of California $86 million each year in public assistance for its workers; Wal-Mart is funding Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown's campaign for Attorney General. Report by Poor News Network

7/21/04: The United Farm Workers union is organizing a march in Fresno to protest immigration raids and intimidation and boost public support for the AgJobs bill allowing undocumented field laborers to earn permanent legal status. Several similar UFW-led marches and rallies have taken place this month in the Salinas and Central valleys and in Ventura County. The march will take place Sunday, August 1,starting at 11 AM at the Sal Mosqueda center (Maple & Butler) and finish at Holmes Park (First and Huntington). For more information call (559) 352-0548. Photo: © Jocelyn Sherman

For practically 70 years, Ben Davis Inc. has been a unionized employer in the San Francisco Bay area, famous for manufacturing "Union Made" and "Made in the USA" garments. In recent years, however, the company has reduced its workers benefits, claiming that because the minimum wage in San Francisco has jumped from $6.75 to $8.50, it can no longer afford to provide these benefits. Although this might indeed be a difficult transition for smaller, struggling employers, Ben Davis can most certainly afford to increase the wages and continue providing the same benefits. Write owner Frank Davis and demand that the company negotiate a fair contract with workers! Send Mr. Davis a letter!

7/15/04 - Macy's workers at the Union Square and Stonestown department stores voted on July 11th to go on strike since the company continues to not meet their demands relating to sick pay and health care coverage. Workers voted 90% in favor of authorizing a 24 hour strike -- starting at 11 pm on Friday evening, the 16th of July, and ending 11 pm on Saturday. Workers are calling for community supporters to come out to the picket lines and help them make some noise, wih a special call for people to be at the Union Square store from 11am-1pm on Saturday July 17th for a press conference.
For more info go to UFCW local 101's website for updates on bargaining, pictures, and reportbacks from previous actions.

In May of this year, an estimated 2,000 independent truck drivers (in conjunction with truck drivers in L.A.) held wildcat strikes to protest high fuel costs, low pay, poor compensation and no benefits at the Port of Oakland. Truckers are again calling for a nationwide strike to protest high fuel prices and working conditions at the nation's ports. The strike, slated for the week of June 28-July 4, has been called to be held in cities throughout the U.S., including Oakland, L.A./Long Beach, Houston, & Hampton Roads, Va.

Due to the Port of Oakland threatening civil lawsuits against the Oakland 3 and initiating further civil actions, the truckers are hesitant to picket. There are no injunctions prohibiting non-truckers from picketing and this time the truckers need the help of the community to hold the picket lines. If the truckers see no picket signs they might believe that the Port of Oakland has succeeded in stopping the independent truckers labor movement and may reluctantly return to work. Community support is desperately needed at the Port of Oakland to let the truckers and the Port of Oakland know that our nationwide movement is real, and will not be shut down by this government agency through attempts to abuse of our financial inability to defend ourselves against civil lawsuits. The Oakland 3 are victims of economic imprisonment, a state of the art tool to keep workers from organizing.

A call was put out for picketers for early Monday morning, June 28th at 6am outside the APL terminal and at the UP terminal to show solidarity with the nationwide shutdown.

Call-out to support the Independent Truckers at the Oakland Docks | IWW Call-out for support | Indybay's coverage of the port strikes in May | IWW's coverage of the truckers' labor movement